Before He Was Fat: Raymond Felton’s College Basketball Reign

Before He Was Fat: Raymond Felton’s College Basketball Reign

Duke 92, North Carolina 90: Free Throws Ain’t Free

Duke 92, North Carolina 90: Free Throws Ain’t Free

Dean Smith Taught Me To Love Basketball

Dean Smith Taught Me To Love Basketball

It's Friday, Time to Dance

North Carolina coaches and student-athletes dancing, including Roy Williams? Yep.

16(0) Sweet Words Of March Madness: 2005 Regional Semi-Final – UNC 67, Villanova 66

16(0) Sweet Words Of March Madness: 2005 Regional Semi-Final – UNC 67, Villanova 66

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Duke Vs. North Carolina NBA Alums Each Summed Up In A Phrase

Duke Vs. North Carolina NBA Alums Each Summed Up In A Phrase

Duke vs. North Carolina in the NBA: Perception vs. Reality

Duke vs. North Carolina in the NBA: Perception vs. Reality

Philadelphia Ballers Keeping It Fresh

SLAM once again recently put out its annual Fresh 50, Fresh 25 and Fresh 10, and there are some local high schoolers ballers represented as always.

Fresh 50 - Class of 2012
Amile Jefferson



25 Amile Jefferson 6-7 PF Friends’ Central (PA) Undecided Can do damage facing the basket and is always looking to attack.





Daniel Ochefu



42 Daniel Ochefu 6-9 C Westtown (PA) Villanova Can do damage in the post and facing the basket.





Ryan Arcidiacono



44 Ryan Arcidiacono 6-3 PG Neshaminy (PA) Villanova A scoring point guard, Ryan can put up points in a hurry.







Others of note:
Marcus Paige



26 Marcus Paige 6-0 PG Linn-Mar (IA) North Carolina An offensive orchestrator, Marcus is one you want pushing the ball.







Fresh 25 - Class of 2013
Rysheed Jordan



24 Rysheed Jordan 6-3 PG Vaux Roberts (PA) Explosive guard with quick moves to the basket.





Others of note:
Isaiah Hicks



15 Isaiah Hicks 6-8 PF Body of Christ (NC) A North Carolina-commit, Isaiah can do a bit of everything.

The Frustrations of Playing at Duke, and Other College Basketball Business

Going into a game at Cameron Indoor Stadium, you expect a little favoritism for the Blue Devils. It's something everyone knows and expects will happen. Over the years, especially since the turn of the millennium, you just expect Duke to get the benefit of the doubt on the calls.



When your favorite team is playing at Duke, you know that going in. But it sure as shit doesn't make it any easier to watch.

Let me get this disclaimer out of the way: Temple didn't have much of a shot at beating the No. 1 Blue Devils last night. With two starters on the shelf — Michael Eric done for the year and Scootie Randall out indefinitely — the Owls were undermanned and outclassed. It would take a perfect game even with Eric and Randall in tow to win at Duke. Even with an impressive first half defensively, you just knew it was only a matter of time before Duke would turn it on. They're the number 1 team in the country for a reason, and with or without the benefit of the doubt from the referees, they were going to beat Temple, most likely pulling away in doing so. That's exactly what they did, blowing out the Owls in the second half to win 78-61.

Now that that's out of the way, let me explain to you why everyone else on the planet hates Duke, and no, it's not simply because they're jealous of Coach K's success. I admit, that's part of it, but it's far from the whole story. After all, traditional power such as Kansas, UCLA, North Carolina and Kentucky are far less universally disliked. The main reason? No matter against who, what, where or when — but especially at Cameron Indoor — Duke gets the benefit of the doubt on calls. All the damn time. And what makes that so fucking frustrating is that Duke doesn't need that help. The Blue Devils are so damn good already, the last thing they need is help from the refs. But that doesn't stop the referees from playing favorites, whether they do it consciously or not.



The first half of last night's game was agonizing to watch. Even though Temple played Duke incredibly close in the first 20 minutes, it was almost more frustrating to watch than the second half.

There were at least 5 or 6 fouls called on Temple in the first half alone that were nowhere near fouls. On one, Rahlir Jefferson was called for a reach or block or something on Kyle Singler when he didn't even touch him for a second. If anything, maybe a foul could have been called on a reach in by Aaron Brown, but the replay showed Brown didn't touch Singler either. Didn't matter. Two shots.

That type of shit was happening the entire first half. Ramone Moore picked up two quick fouls. Ditto Juan Fernandez, who ended the first half with three fouls. And that put an already undermanned and less talented Temple team even further behind.

On the other end, things weren't much better. Several times, T.J. DiLeo — who I admit is mostly worthless — got bulled over, clear charges. Had a Dukie flopped the way DiLeo did, it's an automatic charge on the opposition. DiLeo didn't draw a call once.

And most frustrating of all, there were at least 5 times where a Duke player just camped out in the lane, yet the Blue Devils weren't called for a single three-second violation. On one, I swear to god — as did Arkansas Fred — that Singler was in the lane for 8 seconds. I was screaming at the television for a damn three-second violation. Nothing.

And that's why people hate Duke so much. Beyond the smugness of their fans and the hateable faces of their players and coach …



… they just always seem to get the calls. And they don't need them. They're good enough on their own. That's what makes me and everyone else hate them so damn much.

But like I said, that had minimal impact on the outcome. It's just incredibly annoying. Duke is simply a far better team than the Owls, who are certainly no pushovers. Kyle Singler was outstanding, scoring a game-high 28 points, and he got enough help from his teammates to keep Temple honest.

The Owls really only had two guys show up to play. Rahlir Jefferson carried Temple in the first half, scoring 10 points and making great decisions with the basketball. But he was silent in the second half, scoring only one more point the entire way. Still, he was around the ball and finished with 11 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists, a steal and 2 blocks.

Unfortunately, his only other help came in the form of Lavoy Allen, who quietly was the best player on the court not named Singler. Lavoy, who has had a fairly underwhelming season overall, was outstanding last night. He scored a team-high 17 points —  second only to Singler's 28 — and added 13 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks. Hell, he even made 3 three-points in 4 attempts after having only two made threes all season going in.

Sadly, those were the only two Owls to show up. Their leading scorer, Ramone Moore, got in foul trouble early and never got into the flow. He had just 8 points and shot just 3-7 from the field. Khalif Wyatt couldn't provide the offensive spark he's grown accustomed to, going just 2-9 from the floor and netting only 6 points. And Juan Fernandez continued to be missing in action, as he has all season long.


The fuck you forget how to play basketball?

Coming off a breakout sophomore season last year when he averaged 12.6 points while shooting 43 percent from the field, 45 percent from three and 85 percent from the line and won the A-10 tournament Most Outstanding Player, Fernandez was expected to take the next step and be this team's leader in the backcourt. Instead, Juan has regressed to an alarming degree. This season, he's scoring just 10 points a game. He's shooting a career-worst 35 percent from the field and career-worst 30 percent form three, and his free throw percentage has dipped to 76 percent. Last night, he was an abysmal 2-10. Somewhere along the way, his confidence disappeared. He no longer makes the brilliant passes we saw the past two seasons, no longer shoots with confidence, no longer trusts his game.

If he doesn't step his game up, especially with Scootie Randall on the shelf, Temple won't have much of a chance defending their A-10 title in the tournament. The Owls need him to be the tough foe everyone's come to expect in both the A-10 and NCAA tournaments. Let's hope he can find his game and get back to the player he was last season.

In other NCAA basketball news, I just wanted to share a few thoughts on Villanova, Penn State and North Carolina as well.

As we all know, Nova is struggling quite a bit right now. They've lost three of their last five games — one at Rutgers and two at home — and are just 5-5 in their last 10. Oh, and things aren't getting any easier for them to wrap up the regular season. Their last three games are against No. 23 St. John's, at No. 9 Notre Dame and at No. 4 Pitt. Basically, the Wildcats are in a little bit of trouble.

Not "going to miss the tournament" trouble, obviously — Villanova is 21-7 after all and ranked 15th in the nation — but trouble in terms of the Big East Tournament for sure. Right now, Nova is 9-6 in the conference, tied with Cincinnati for 7th. They're already on a skid, and they could very easily lose their last three games to finish at .500 in the Big East and miss out on a bye altogether. And unless they can find a way to make a deep run in the conference tournament, they won't be heading into the NCAA tourney with much confidence or a very favorable seed. So these final three games — all of them incredibly tough — are vital.

To be honest, I think one of the reasons Nova has struggled so much recently traces back to coach Jay Wright. Wright is unquestionably an outstanding coach and recruiter. He took a Villanova program that was on life support and has turned it into a national power. Just two seasons ago, he led the Wildcats to the Final Four, and he's churning out NBA players left and right. But this season, I think Wright has made some crucial coaching errors, magnified during this rough stretch.



For one thing, Wright has been tinkering with his lineup all season long and took much, much longer than usual to get his starting lineup set. That hasn't been his M.O. over his career at Nova. Typically, he finds his starting five early in the season and sticks with it. But this year — in part due to injury (and the year-long absence of top recruit JayVaughn Pinskton certainly hasn't helped) — we've seen so many different starting lineups that's it's hard to discern who is a starter and who is not at times. Of late, he's been going with a big lineup: Corey Fisher, Corey Stokes (when he's been healthy), Mouphtaou Yarou, Isaiah Armwood and Antonio Pena. That's far from the Nova way, when we've grown accustomed to three- and even four-guard lineups: Mike Nardi, Kyle Lowry, Randy Foye, Allen Ray, Scottie Reynolds, Dwayne Anderson, Fisher, et al. For a while, that was the case, with Maalik Wayns starting in place of Armwood, giving Nova the three guards it's grown accustomed to. And while Wayns has certainly struggled with turnovers and ill-advised shots at times, the Wildcats were playing much better basketball with him in the starting lineup than with him coming off the bench.

Then you look at some of Wright's in-game strategy of late and it has you scratching your head. In the epic collapse at Rutgers, his end-of-game coaching was laughable, something I never thought I'd say about Jay Wright. The Scarlet Knights started to catch fire from three late in that game, to the point where the last thing you wanted was for Rutgers to be in position to tie or win the game with a three. So after Corey Fisher missed a critical free throw late that would have made it a four-point game and practically iced it, the only smart thing to do was to foul Rutgers and make it a free-throw shooting contest the rest of the game. That way, Rutgers couldn't tie the game with a three, and chances are Nova would come out on top as the superior foul-shooting team.

I know there's a debate about playing defense and fouling with a three-point lead at end-of-game situations, but the reason I say fouling was the only smart thing to do is simple: Villanova is the best free-throw shooting team in the Big East, shooting 76.2 percent as a team. To prove it was the way to go even more, Rutgers is a really bad foul-shooting team, shooting just 66.7 percent on the season, and they were lighting it up from three. You make it a foul-shooting contest, and more than likely Villanova escapes a scare against a horrible team and gets a W. Instead, Wright didn't play the percentages, and disaster struck:



Yes, it was Corey Fisher who missed a critical free throw and then "fouled" (seriously, I still don't think he touched him) a three-point shooter to suffer the four-point play loss, but Wright also failed to put his players in the best position to win following that miss by Fisher. It wasn't one of his better moments, and that inexplicable loss really started this slide over the past 5 games.

After that, they lost to a really good Pitt team at the Pavilion by just three. That was followed by Nova struggling to outlast a bad Seton Hall team, winning by just three themselves, and they barely escaped DePaul with a two-point win, needing overtime to defeat the last-place team in the Big East.

Then there was Monday night at the Wells Fargo Center. In an important game against Syracuse, a game that was critical in determining seeding for the Big East Tournament, specifically the coveted four spot for a double bye, Jay Wright thought it would be a good idea to throw a freshman that missed the majority of the first half of the season in for the final four minutes with his team trailing in a tight contest. Yeah, instead of going with Maalik Wayns or Dominic Cheek, two more proven, seasoned players and one in particular in Wayns who has come up big late in games for Nova, Wright rode with James Bell, a guy who had played a total of 19 games and had only played 2 minutes to that point on the night.

I was screaming at my television, asking why Bell was in at such a critical juncture, and even more livid when he played the entire rest of the way. In that time, Bell missed two free throws, turned the ball over and missed a meaningless three with time winding down. He didn't help Nova at all. Yet he was in the game, and I was baffled.

It turns out that Wayns was suffering back spasms, that's why he wasn't in. But still, why not go with a guy like Cheek, someone who has been in some wars, even though he admittedly was struggling with his shot too? I'd still feel more comfortable with a sophomore who has played in a lot of big games at Nova than a freshman that has played very little.

So here we are with Villanova faltering as the season winds down. It would be tough to expect Nova to be as good as last year after losing a first-team All American in Scottie Reynolds and important contributors like Reggie Redding and even Taylor King, not to mention the unexpected season-long suspension of Pinkston. But it wasn't out of the realm of possibility to expect Villanova to be playing its best and vying for Big East supremacy by this time of the year. That hasn't happened, and things are only going to be tougher from here on out.

Then there is my alma mater, Penn State. As recently as Saturday, I heard Digger Phelps, Hubert Davis and Jay Bilas all proclaim that Penn State is an NCAA Tournament team. Those guys seem to be under the impression that with three more teams added this year, every major conference will get pretty much every decent team in. This makes absolutely no sense, because there are only three teams being added, not a dozen. The pundits don't seem to grasp that. Any smart person who understands simple math does. And any smart person, despite some people proclaiming there are still crucial road tests for the Nittany Lions, knows Penn State is nowhere near a tournament team.



Does that mean Penn State is the embarrassment that it has been for more than a decade and mostly has been under the incompetent Ed DeChellis? No. Much like the Penn State team that won the NIT in 2009, the 2010-11 Lions are tough and far from a pushover. They've beaten Michigan St., Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota at home, lost by just three at Ohio St. and just one at Purdue, and defeated a Duquesne squad that is fourth in the A-10. But that doesn't make them a tournament-worthy team, especially when you look at the full body of work.

For starters, Penn State is just 14-12 overall. They are a game under .500 in the conference, sitting at 7-8, and they have only one road victory all season long. Read that again: Penn State has just one road victory the entire season, and that came at Indiana, a team that is 12-16 on the season and tied for last in the Big Ten with Iowa at 3-12. And in their road games, they've lost seven by double digits. I'm sorry, but if you can't win any games of consequence on the road whatsoever, you don't deserve to be dancing even a little bit.

Then you factor in some of the losses. This team lost at home to Maine. Maine, for christ's sake, an American East team. And they lost that game by 10 points. They lost by 13 at Mississippi, got blown out by 23 at home against Maryland, lost by 10 at Virginia Tech, got rolled at home by 15 against Purdue. They lost twice to Michigan. And they offset their wins at home against Illinois, Michigan St. and Wisconsin by getting destroyed on the road against those teams in the rematches. This month, Penn State lost by 17 at Illinios, 19 at Michigan State and 10 at Wisconsin. How, exactly, is this a tournament team?

Even if they somehow miraculously beat Ohio State next Tuesday, this team's résumé simply isn't good enough — at least not without a deep run in the Big Ten tournament. And frankly, I don't see either of those two things happening. Hell, they may not even beat Northwestern or Minnesota, two of their final three opponents. Both games are on the road, after all.

Talor Battle is a really, really good player. And some of the younger guys are showing promise and playing hard. This team is far from a laughingstock. But they're not a tournament team either. They just aren't.

However, the Tar Heels are. After a dismal 2009-10 season and a shaky start this year, North Carolina has quietly had a very nice season. UNC is 21-6 overall and just a game behind Duke in the ACC, sitting at 11-2 in conference play. They've won 9 of their last 10 games, with the only loss coming at Duke — and that was a close game the entire way, losing by six when it was all said and done.



The way things are going, the regular-season finale in Chapel Hill against Duke could determine the ACC title. Fresh off a 12-point win at NC State, UNC has just Maryland and Florida State (who they beat by 20) before the clash with Duke. And unlike Villanova, Carolina is playing its best basketball of the season right now.

Harrison Barnes has played the second half of the season like he was expected to play the entire season. Kendall Marshall has been outstanding since being inserted to the starting lineup. And Tyler Zeller and John Henson give the Tar Heels two of the better interior players in the nation. This team rebounds, plays smart and gets contributions from just about everyone. They aren't as loaded as the title teams Roy Williams has coached, but they're getting there.

While I still think they're a year away from being elite, they're getting better every game and could make a deep run in the tournament. It's rare that North Carolina flies under the radar, but with the dominance of Duke in the ACC combined with a bit of a down year for the conference — not to mention everyone's love affair with the Big East — that's exactly what's been happening for Carolina this year. The Tar Heels are quietly having a very impressive season, and the nation will begin to take notice in March.

Hopefully, it begins with a statement victory against Duke to wrap up the regular season. Thank god that game won't be in Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Youth vs. Experience

This weekend, I watched my two favorite college basketball teams pull out tightly contested victories. North Carolina edged out Kentucky 75-73 at the Dean Dome on Saturday, and Temple held on for dear life in DC to beat Maryland 64-61. Both games were an exercise in youth vs. experience, ultimately with the most experienced players making the biggest plays while the youngsters never shied away from the competition.



On Saturday, the marquee matchup was supposed to be a battle of highly touted freshman for two historic basketball powers — Harrison Barnes for UNC and Terrence Jones for Kentucky.



Things didn't go quite as planned. Barnes came to the Tar Heels as the program's savior. Following a season full of struggles that saw Roy Williams' squad miss the NCAA Tournament just one short year after winning the National Championship, things were going to be different in 2010-11 thanks largely to Barnes. He was widely considered the No. 1 player in the class of 2010, and his high school dominance led some to believe he could start in the NBA right now. Hell, Barnes was evened named to the Preseason All-American team, the first time in history a true freshman made the list.

Expectations were sky high. Attainably high, in fact. And Barnes has failed to even approach those expectations through 8 games this season. Including the win on Saturday, the 6'8 freshman out of Ames, Iowa is averaging 11.4 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.9 assists, not altogether alarming numbers when taken in isolation. But when you add to that that he's shooting an abysmal 34.4 percent from the field, turning it over 1.9 times a game and struggling to create his own shot, it's clear that Barnes should not have been anywhere near the Preseason All-America team.

On Saturday, Barnes started out hot, scoring 12 points in the first half on 4-5 shooting. But he got in foul trouble and had to sit extended minutes, and that proved costly. From then on, Barnes looked like he has most of this season — unimpressive. He missed all five of his attempts in the second half, getting shut out, and finished with 12 points on 4-10 shooting, had three turnovers and looked overmatched time and time again.



Barnes is only freshman. He has plenty of time to develop into the player people thought he would be. And he'll most assuredly be better come March than he is right now. But for being touted the same way John Wall and MIchael Beasley and the like have been before him, I just don't see it. Harrison Barnes was supposed to be a difference-maker from day 1, an all-everything, can't-miss stud who would immediately change the fortunes of North Carolina. Those lofty expectations are unfair and unreasonable, but that doesn't make Barnes' play any less disappointing.

Not only does Harrison Barnes not look like an All-American right now; he doesn't even look like a capable starter. To be frank, he sucks. Do I think he will continue to suck? No. Do I think he'll be a pretty good player sooner rather than later? Yes. But through 8 games, he's been terrible. Saturday was more of the same.

On the other side, Terrence Jones has had no such struggles. Through Kentucky's first seven games, Jones has been the catalyst. He leads the Wildcats in scoring and rebounding at 19 points per game and 9.6 boards per game, almost averaging a double-double, all while shooting 45.6 percent from the floor and 36.8 percent from three. And he's not just an offensive talent. Jones also leads Kentucky in blocks (2.3) and is second in steals (1.4) per game.



He's been everything for the Wildcats that Barnes has not been for the Tar Heels. But on Saturday, he struggled. Jones had by far his worst came as a collegiate athlete, scoring just 9 points on a horrific 3-17 shooting performance, nabbing 6 boards before he fouled out.

Needless to say, the duel between Jones and Barnes took a back seat. Of course, with Kentucky being a John Calipari team, there are no shortage of talented freshman to rise to the occasion. Out go DeMarcus Cousins, John Wall and Eric Bledsoe, in come Terrence Jones, Brandon Knight and Doron Lamb.



Knight was other headliner with Jones in yet another top-ranked recruiting class for Calipari, and he certainly put his imprint on the game Saturday: Knight had 15 points, 4 assists and 3 steals. But he also contributed to Kentucky's loss, shooting just 5-12 from the field and turning the ball over six times.

It was neither Knight or Jones who led the way for the Wildcats, rather the third wheel of the touted freshman, Doron Lamb. The 6'4 shooting guard out of Oak Hill lit it up Saturday, scoring a team-high 24 points on 7-12 from the field and 3-4 from three. He added two boards, three assists and a steal, and unlike Knight had no trouble holding on to the ball, not turning the ball over once all game. That's largely due to the fact that each time he touched it, he had the green light to shoot.

Lamb gave UNC fits, and he was the biggest reason Kentucky almost pulled out a road win. This is nothing new for Lamb. In case you haven't been paying attention, Lamb has been every bit as impressive as his fellow freshman. On the season, he's averaging 13.3 points in 26 minutes, shooting the lights out of the ball. He's connecting on 52.5 percent of his shots from the field and an absolutely absurd 58.3 percent from beyond the arc. To all Kentucky opponents, take note: Do not leave Doron Lamb open. The man is an assassin.

While it was the freshman guards leading the way for Kentucky, it was a pair of big men doing the heavy lifting for North Carolina. Sophomore John Henson had a relatively disappointing 2009-10 season, getting off to a slow start much in the same way Barnes has this year. But Henson has taken a step forward this year.



Desperately needing to gain weight, he added a little bulk to his still light frame, and it's paying off. So far this season, he's seen his numbers jump from 5.7 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.6 blocks as a freshman to 11.4 points, 10.5 rebounds and 2.9 blocks in his sophomore campaign. And his shooting percentage is up from 48.6 last year to 53.4 this year.

Henson had another stellar game on Saturday. He was UNC's second-leading scorer with 13 points, and he used his length to control the paint, hauling in a game-high 12 rebounds and blocking three shots. However, there was one key downside to Henson's performance: He went just 3-7 from the line, and in one embarrassing trip airballed back-to-back attempts. It's not the first time he's come up completely empty from the charity stripe.



For all the progress he has made, Henson has somehow been even worse than he was last season at the line. As a freshman, he was a disgraceful 43.8 percent foul shooter. In 8 games this year, he's in all-time worst territory, shooting just 35.1 percent from the line. Saturday's 3-7 didn't help, and foul shooting was a big problem for the Tar Heels in the game. In all, they missed 11 free throws, which is just inexcusable.

The one standout at the line, however, was the best player in the game. In a contest that featured a seemingly endless display of freshmen and sophomores, junior Tyler Zeller was a man amongst boys, literally. He scored a game-high 27 points, shot an incredibly efficient 8-13 from the field, went 11-12 at the line, grabbed 11 rebounds, blocked a game-high 5 shots and didn't turn the ball over once. He dominated in the way Tyler Hansbrough did during his time at UNC.



Zeller was the reason North Carolina was able to pull out a win against the then 10th-ranked Wildcats. He is far and away UNC's best player. In fact, he's really their only complete player right now. There aren't any weaknesses in the 7-footer's game. He has great touch around the rim, can hit the outside shot, is a good free-throw shooter, can run the floor, rebounds and defends. He leads North Carolina in scoring and is having a very good start to the year: 16.2 points, 7.8 rebounds, 1.6 blocks, 52.8 percent from the field, 75 percent from the line.

The fact that Zeller is playing at this type of level makes the Tar Heels even more maddening. The reason this team is 5-3 is very simple: the guard play is atrocious. Dexter Strickland and Larry Drew are awful, players that should never start in the ACC. Then you combine that with the fact that Kendall Marshall is a freshman who isn't ready to play major minutes, Leslie McDonald is nothing more than a bench scorer and Barnes has struggled, and you have yourself the achilles heel of North Carolina for the second straight season.

Neither Drew or Strickland can consistently knock down a jumper, neither is a great finisher, and most troubling of all is that neither one is a good passer. Time and time again I watch Drew and Strickland force plays that aren't there, look for their own shots and completely ignore the bigs. They did it for stretches on Saturday, making Clark Kellogg almost have an aneurysm.

Strickland and Drew have to realize that UNC's best two players are Henson and Zeller. The ball should be thrown to them in the post every single possession. And Zeller should be getting up 15 to 20 shots a night, because he's the guy that can actually carry the team. But they don't because they are terrible, stupid basketball players. It's so depressing to see North Carolina have no guards to speak of.

At least Zeller is good and Henson is improving. If Barnes can turn it around, this team just may be able to do something come March. Because even with no one but Zeller and Henson showing up Saturday, they were still able to beat an extremely talented Kentucky squad. It was Zeller's experience that made the difference.

As for the Temple-Maryland game last night, we knew going in it would be the battle of youth vs. experience. The Owls are led by senior Lavoy Allen and junior Juan Fernandez.



The Terrapins are led by sophomore Jordan Williams and relying on a slew of freshmen.

In the victory for the Owls, it was the upper classmen that led the way. Lavoy had a double-double, scoring 13 points and nabbing 10 rebounds before fouling out at the end of the game. He was a big reason why Temple was about to dominate the paint and outrebound Maryland 39-30. Juan Fernandez scored 14 points and had three assists, really providing the only offense in the second half for Temple as Maryland made its run. And another pair of juniors contributed mightily to the cause: Michael Eric had seven rebounds to help Lavoy down low, and Ramone Moore led Temple with 16 points, hitting some key free throws late and playing a solid all-around game — 5 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals.

With Allen and Eric controlling the paint, Temple playing great defense and the offense making enough plays, the Owls took a 32-21 lead into halftime. They built that up to a 40-25 lead to start the second half. Then Eric got and Lavoy got in foul trouble, Gary Williams subbed in three freshmen and a sophomore to join Jordan Williams, and the game turned just like that.

Especially with Allen and Eric hamstrung by fouls, Williams really became an unstoppable force. The sophomore who is averaging a double-double (17.1 points and 11.7 boards) took over. He wound up scoring a game-high 17 points and grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds.



But Williams wasn't alone. Freshman Terrell Stoglin came in and gave Maryland a different dynamic. The speedy point guard put pressure on Temple's defense and changed the tempo of the game, finishing with 16 points. And fellow freshman Pe'Shon Howard helped break down the defense, handing out 6 assists. Just like that, a 15-point temple lead shrunk to a five-point lead, then a tie game.

As the Terps heated up behind their youth, Temple went ice cold. Ramone Moore started to try to do too much, driving recklessly to the lane. No one could finish around the rim. Only Fernandez was able to stop the bleeding.

The game got way too close for comfort, but ultimately the Owls prevailed. And the biggest play of the game came from a sophomore. With 1:52 remaining, the game was tied at 56. That's when Allen scored on an and-1 layup, hit his free throw and put the Owls up by 3 with 1:41 left. Temple got a stop, and Rahlir Jefferson came down with the board. But then he turned the ball over, and Lavoy Allen fouled Williams, his 5th foul, and was out of the game.

Luckily Williams missed both free throws, Fernandez got the board and Temple had a chance to make it a two-possession game. After a miss by Moore, Jefferson got another big rebound. But again, he turned it over. That's when sophomore Khalif Wyatt came up huge, jumping into the passing lane as Dino Gregory, who made the steal on Jefferson, looked for an outlet pass. Wyatt got the steal and in one motion laid in the ball, 61-56 Temple.



The game then simply came down to making some free throws, and Ramone Moore hit 3 of 4. That was just enough for Temple to get by, though his miss did give Maryland a chance to tie. Thankfully Stoglin's heave came up short and Temple held out, with the veteran Owls besting the youthful Terrapins.

There were plenty of contributions from the youth in both contests, but ultimately it was the more experienced players and teams that made the difference.

Battle of the Baby Blues

It wasn't pretty, but the Tar Heels continued to make something of their lost season by earning a trip to the NIT final to take on Dayton tomorrow night, defeating a very game Rhode Island team 68-67 in overtime. It was another nice step forward for a young team that suffered injuries and plain underachieved much of the year.

Though it wasn't the most aesthetically pleasing performance, on either side. And that's a kind way of putting it. Both the Rams and the Tar Heels were atrocious offensively in Madison Square Garden last night. The teams shot a combined 35.8 percent from the field, 18.9 percent from three and 58.8 percent from the line. UNC was the worse of the bunch, going 29-83 from the field (34.9 percent), 2-17 from three (11.8 percent) and 8-16 from the line (50 percent), while Rhode Island did slightly better, shooting 25-68 from the field (36.8 percent), 5-20 from three (25 percent) and 12-18 from the line (66.7 percent). Both teams had 17 turnovers apiece. And only two players in the entire game shot better than 50 percent from the field (Tyler Zeller for UNC, 5-9; Lamonte Ulmer for URI, 8-12).

The odd thing about it was the game was being played at breakneck speed, with both teams flying up and down the court. Usually that translates to a lot of points and very little defense. Last night was the exception, which prompted Fran Fraschilla to at one point call it the most exciting game with so few finishes he's seen.



It was exciting, at least in some fashion. The brand of basketball wasn't exciting as much as it was sloppy, but the score, the lead changes, the outcome were all exciting. This was a tight contest throughout. The teams were tied 30-30 at half, they both scored 29 in the second 20 minutes of play, and the overtime was decided by just a point, with UNC narrowly outscoring Rhode Island 9-8.

At one point in the second half, North Carolina took what looked to be a commanding lead, only to see Rhode Island fight back with an 8-0 run to tie it. The Tar Heels had a few chances to extend the lead and put the game out of reach at the foul line but couldn't. And in overtime, it came all the way down to the last possession, with Rhode Island securing the ball down one with a few seconds to go, only to cough it up on a slip to end the game. The outcome was in question until the final second. Not a bad way to cap off the Other Final Four.

The unfortunate thing about that game, despite the win, was how North Carolina played. In this tournament, the Tar Heels have been doing a much better job executing on offense, taking better care of the basketball and taking better shots. But not last night. Instead of continuing to evolve, continuing to learn and get better, the Tar Heels made poor decisions with the basketball, poor passes and as a result, the turnovers were up again. They took bad shots, a major reason they shot so poorly from the field. Tyler Zeller had just 9 shots despite being the most efficient scorer for the Heels last night. Deon Thompson hoisted 20 shots despite shooting just 30 percent from the field (though he did have a team-high 16 points and a game-high 13 rebounds). Will Graves went just 1-7 from three, but kept hoisting them. Marcus Ginyard didn't even find a way to make a bucket (though he did have 10 boards).

The good news is despite all that, this young squad found a way to win a game they simply couldn't win a couple months ago. They did it by dominating the glass, outrebounding Rhode Island 54-39, with 23 of those coming on the offensive end. They did it with tough defense, stifling the Rams' offense. That's progress, and this experience should do wonders for these young Heels, giving them confidence to finish up a disappointing season.

It may not be what they had hoped for, but a victory over Dayton tomorrow night and an NIT title could do wonders for a team that was lucky to even qualify for the JV tournament. And with Harrison Barnes and company coming in next season, it wouldn't be shocking to see the Tar Heels right back on top next year.

Will Somebody Get the Kid a (Couple Million) Happy Meal(s)?

That's John Henson, the 6'10", (supposedly) 195-lb. freshman forward for North Carolina. He was supposed to be an all-everything recruit, a McDonald's All-American ready to lead a highly touted UNC freshman class to the top of the ACC. We all know that didn't happen. UNC struggled, and early on, Henson struggled to find minutes with a talented bevy of more experienced frontcourt players ahead of him, namely Ed Davis, Tyler Zeller and Deon Thompson. It didn't help that Henson's extremely slight stature prevented him from banging down low.

But, as North Carolina's season has worn on, and as the team struggled with injuries, Henson has seen more time. And with more time, we've all been able to see his vast potential. No, he's not lighting up the world, but when Tyler Zeller was on the shelf, Henson showcased great shot-blocking ability (he's averaging 1.6 blocks a game) and the ability to run the floor. And since Ed Davis went down with a broken wrist, Henson has slowly been gaining confidence as the season has worn on.

Now in the NIT, he's beginning to resemble the player North Carolina expected to see. In the opening game against William & Mary, Henson complemented Deon Thompson's beastly 20-8 performance with 9 points and 10 rebounds, having a strong influence on the game even while only attempting six shots. Of his 10 boards, six came on the offensive end, giving the Tar Heels six extra possessions all by himself. Defensively, he blocked two shots to continue to up his average and nabbed a steal. And he showed world-class athleticism against a team that lacked as much.



Against Mississippi State and NCAA all-time leading shot blocker Jarvis Varnado, Henson did even better, notching three blocks of his own to keep pace with Varnado's four. And he opened it up more offensively, scoring 12 points on 6-11 from the field, hauling in 8 boards, dishing three assists and nabbing two steals. He did all this against a very athletic Mississippi St. team, showing he wasn't just exploiting less athletic players against William & Mary. In fact, he had a much more impressive all-around game against the Bulldogs.

Then last night, in UNC's 60-55 win over UAB to advance to the semifinals in Madison Square Garden, Henson scored 14 points on 7-11 of the field, doing most of his damage down the stretch. Now, he didn't have the overall impact he had from start to finish in the first two games, finishing with just three rebounds and one block, but he really established himself in the second half, especially the closing minutes, and led UNC to victory. He earned himself a happy meal.

God knows he could use one a million of them. While Henson has certainly come alive here in the NIT, he absolutely has to find a way to put one weight. He won't be able to display his full range of abilities if he doesn't get stronger. This isn't high school anymore, and he's not the all-around scoring machine the thin Kevin Durant was in college. He needs to bulk up.

I suggest he go on the Tyler Hansbrough diet of eating a ton of meals all day. At the very least, he should start out with a couple trips to McDonald's … and a ton of time in the weight room.

Goaltending Like It's 2000 and Bombs Away

If there's been one overriding concern about the Flyers goaltending situation since Michael Leighton established himself as the No. 1, it's what the heck happens if he goes down? Leighton has played so well that Peter Laviolette has been loathe to take him out of the net, even for just one night, meaning backup goaltender Brian Boucher has been glued to the bench. How can you expect a guy to play when he never sees the ice?



Well, we're about to find out. At least for a little while. In the Flyers' 4-3 shootout loss in Nashville last night, Leighton went down with a high ankle sprain in the first period. That's not exactly a great injury for a goaltender to have. As we all know, high ankle sprains are tricky injuries — they can heal in a week or nag for months. Considering a goalie has to be on his feet often and push off to go post to post, you have to think a high ankle sprain is a pretty big deal. Skating puts a lot of pressure of your ankles with stopping and turning and pushing off, and I would think that becomes intensified for goaltenders. Who knows how well Leighton will recover? There's a chance he won't be able to get back to form.

That means Brian Boucher, a guy who has played in just 20 games this season and started only 14 — and none in a long while — will be vital here down the stretch. Whether or not he is forced between the pipes only temporarily or not, it's evident Bouch will need to play much, much more than he has of late. With an injury like this, Leighton will need time to heal and may need some days off even when he returns. Now more than ever, the Flyers need Brian Boucher to recapture that magic from 2000.

Remember that? I sure do. Sure, it was a decade ago and I was only 15 going on 16, but I remember it like it was yesterday. A 23-year-old Boucher took the reigns from remarkable free agent bust John Vanbiesbrouck (an aside, Bieser spent his entire career killing the Flyers: he was awesome against them when he was in Florida and terrible for them when he came to Philadelphia) down the stretch, starting 33 games in all during the regular season and posting a truly awesome 1.91 goals against average with a .918 save percentage and four shutouts. He led the Flyers all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals against the hated New Jersey Devils, where he made this save:



I was there at the Meadowlands to witness it live. Sadly, we all know how it ended, but it was through no fault of Boucher. He was incredible all season long and continued that success in playoffs. Unfortunately, he never could reclaim that magic and has bounced around the NHL since. Ten years later, the Flyers need Brian Boucher to step up again. Now 33, he can draw on a bevy of experience to help the Flyers along during this important stretch run before the playoffs, but the question is can he? He had a very solid year last season in San Jose, playing the role of spot starter behind Evgeni Nabokov, posting a 2.18 goals against average and .917 save percentage in 22 games, 20 of those starts. That's proof he can still be effective in stretches.

This season, however, hasn't been quite what he or the Flyers envisioned. Boucher was brought in to be the backup with Ray Emery and expected to fill the role he did so admirably in San Jose. When Emery got hurt, Bouch played pretty well in a couple games before he himself got injured. Enter Michael Leighton, and ice time has been hard to find. And when he has gotten it, he hasn't exactly instilled the most confidence. His numbers are very pedestrian: 2.77 goals against average, .899 save percentage.

The good news for the Flyers is Boucher has had success in this form before. It first came a decade ago, and then he did a similar job last season, albeit it to a much lesser extent. Now he'll have the chance to get a little playing time, to get a little more comfortable and shake off some of that rust. Hopefully he can do what he did last season and hold down the fort. And who knows, maybe he has a little magic left. Regardless, it's time for Boucher to step up. Michael Leighton already has. Now it's Bouch's turn, at least for a little while.

He performed admirably last night. After giving up a goal on the first shot he saw, which was really another defensive breakdown, not his fault, he stopped the next 24 shots he faced.

Unfortunately, his teammates couldn't lift him to a victory. Despite dominating the majority of the game, outshooting Nashville 45-30, the Flyers needed another furious third-period comeback just to send this thing to overtime. Thanks to sloppy defensive play yet again, the Flyers broke down and let up three goals in the first period. Not good. What is good is that Jeff Carter and Simon Gagne continued to be red hot, and Chris Pronger is showing exactly why the Flyers traded a lot of talent for him.



Not only is he eating up ice time like a machine, he's leading the Flyers in +/- at +22. He's bringing some much needed discipline and leadership this team that lacked that last season. And lately, he's been incredibly clutch. Last night, he snuck in on the power play and scored his 10th goal of the season to tie the game with less than six minutes remaining in regulation. It was Pronger's 50th point of the season, courtesy of a great feed by Richards. It may become something of an annoyance in a few years when Pronger is an old man and Luca Sbisa, Joffrey Lupul and those draft picks are still young and talented, but right now, Chris Pronger is living up to every expectation. If only the Flyers could say the same on the season. Still, they managed a point last night and sit in 7th with 77 points, just two points out of 5th and games in hand.

After the Flyers game, yes, I did tune in to the NIT to watch UNC take on William & Mary. The Tar Heels did manage to win 80-72 to avoid even further embarrassment in an already embarrassing season, thanks in large part to Deon Thompson's monster game (20 points on 9-13 shooting, 8 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals and a block) and Tyler Zeller's efficient 13 points on 5-6 shooting, not to mention two huge steals and slams to seal the victory.

But forget all that. I want to talk about William & Mary. Taking a look at this team, it was hard to believe they are a serious Division I men's basketball squad. The Tribe looks more like a bunch of guys you'd see running pickup games at the gym or local playground, if not a taller version. Not that William & Mary was a tall team, especially in comparison to UNC.

To make the pickup game comparison even more complete, being the smaller, less athletic team, William & Mary employed the same technique smaller, less athletic pickup teams have employed since the dawn of time: Bomb away. And bomb away William & Mary did. Of their 62 shots last night, an astounding 43 of them were from beyond the arc. That's the exact same strategy Arkansas Fred and I used to employ at the IM Building at Penn State, the same strategy silver fox and I have been using since high school. Gotta play with 1's and 2's so we can bomb away and stand a chance. All 1's and we're screwed.

Well, that's what it was like for William & Mary last night. If they were going down, they were going down gunning. So they just kept shooting and shooting and shooting from deep, and it almost worked. William & Mary led late and stayed close until the end, before Goliath eventually squashed David.

But man oh man did W&M senior guard David Schneider put on a show.



The guy scored a game-high 21 points, with 8 assists and 5 rebounds. But more importantly, he kept William & Mary in it with his hot shooting. Schneider took 15 three-pointers, more than anyone, and made 7 of them. And down the stretch with the game tight, he couldn't miss. I thought he would carry W&M to the upset, he was so scorching hot. It was a remarkable performance, something to truly marvel.

It was like watching that one kid on the court that you know you can't leave open. If he can get his shot off, it's going in. That was Schneider in the second half last night, bringing a smile to the small, unathletic pickup players everywhere. And best of all, he did it while still allowing the Tar Heels to win. Well, best of all for me anyway. Not so much for him.

UNC is 'Big'

Ever since the NCAA basketball schedules were set, I've been looking forward to watching North Carolina take on Ohio State in the Coaches vs. Cancer tournament, particularly to see the development of Ed Davis and get a glimpse of freshman John Henson. Immediately upon laying eyes on the Tar Heels, one thing stands out above the rest: This team is big.



UNC right now has six legitimate talented players in their rotation with power forward/center size: senior Deon Thompson, sophomores Ed Davis and Tyler Zeller, and freshmen David and Travis Wear and John Henson. Add in senior leader Marcus Ginyard, who goes around 6'6" and Will Graves (also 6'6"), and this team clearly has an abundance of size and skill in the frontcourt.

And believe it or not, from what I saw last night the 2009-10 version of the Tar Heels reflects Tom Hanks' character in the movie "Big." In the movie, Josh Baskin, whom Hanks played, wishes to break from what he's known his whole life and become big. His wish is granted, as he awakens the next morning in the body of a full-grown adult. He's excited, thrilled and freaked out about his new body, and for a long while, he's extremely awkward and trying to find his way in his transformed, bigger body.

This is not unlike this Tar Heels squad. For the past three seasons, North Carolina — despite always having good size — was dominated by tremendous guard play, led by the smallest man on the floor most nights, Ty Lawson. And Wayne Ellington provided more excellent guard play, to combine with Tyler Hansbrough for an efficient, lethal team.



The team wished to win a national championship, and that wish was granted. But the next day (this season), UNC woke up in an entirely new body. The familiarity of Ty Lawson, Wayne Ellington, Tyler Hansbrough and Danny Green was gone. A transformation has taken place, from a guard-oriented team to one dominated by the frontcourt. With all the talent and newfound size on the front line, the Tar Heels were ranked No. 4 nationally, as people were excited, thrilled and a bit freaked out. But just as Hanks struggled to adjust initially, so too are these Tar Heels.

Yes, they won the game last night 77-73 to remain unbeaten in the early going, but this team is clearly awkward and still finding itself. The new body isn't quite as familiar and efficient as the old one just yet, which is understandable when you lose the top four players from the year before. At times, UNC looked dominant, building an 18-point lead. But turnovers and shoddy guard play, not to mention more missed free throws, allowed Ohio State to creep back into it and forced the Tar Heels to really turn it on the final minutes to prevent blowing what was once an enormous lead.

North Carolina is no longer a team with the most reliable backcourt in America. In fact, their guards are the biggest weakness. Lawson and Ellington were two players who took care of the basketball, ran the team incredibly well, and could score and create shots for themselves or others routinely. This year's backcourt is not there yet, evident by the team's 20 turnovers a game average, and the 19 last night that kept them on such a pace. Sophomore Larry Drew II and freshman Dexter Strickland are clearly still trying to adjust to the college game, and they don't resemble Lawson in the least. Last night, it was evident that neither could generate their own shot when they had too, at least not yet, and the Tar Heels don't seem to have that guy on the team. The size is plentiful, but this team will be a work in progress, just like it was a work in progress for Josh Baskin to get used to being big. The Tar Heels must do the same thing … learn to adjust their game and style to fit their new, big body.

At the end of the movie, Josh realizes that he wasn't quite ready to be big and wanted to return to his old form. He wanted that familiarity back. Hopefully the Tar Heels can be successful this season the way Josh was in his job at the toy company, and just like in "Big," the Tar Heels will go back to resembling a squad that more closely reflects their old self, with the arrival of Harrison Barnes and Reggie Bullock to reload the backcourt, giving Roy Williams the opportunity to get back to his up-tempo, push, push, push style.

In the meantime, UNC will have to adjust and adapt in its new body, and find a way to make it work, just as Josh did until he returned to form.

Basketball Diaries

It's that time of year where nothing happens. My brain is fried, the Phillies are pissing me off, and I'm hours away from a 3-day holiday weekend. So when Dime posted this video, it gave me something put up here:



Oh, and The Big Lead directed me to this post, which ranks Villanova as the second-best recruiting class for next season, behind Kentucky and just ahead of UNC:

2. Villanova Wildcats (Coach: Jay Wright)

Coach Jay Wright reached a Final Four in March and now has put together the best recruiting class in the Big East led by two top-notch guards and two big men with supreme upside. Mouphtaou Yarou may take a year or two to develop but has a physical body/presence and will turn into one of the most effective forwards in the conference. Two Philly-area guards (and both McDonald’s All-Americans) join Yarou in this tremendous class. Dominic Cheek is an advanced shooter with a quick handle and Maalik Wayns is a rough-and-tumble point guard in the Randy Foye mode who will compliment Scottie Reynolds and Corey Fisher very well. 6’8 forward Isaiah Armwood definitely has to develop but could become a player.

3. North Carolina Tar Heels (Coach: Roy Williams)

You had to know that North Carolina would reload right away. Losing four starters from last year’s championship team will be an easier transition with this exceptional recruiting class led by lanky forward John Henson. He’s a top-notch passing big man with great penetration ability and a decent mid-range jumper but adding some more muscle will be beneficial. David and Travis Wear are two California twins are also big men who can shoot and will help Williams off the bench. Dexter Strickland may be more of a 2-guard but is so skilled scoring-wise that he may pose a threat to Larry Drew III at the point guard spot. Leslie McDonald is only an afterthought on a few classes and this is one of them- he’s a big guard who plays well around the perimeter.

UNC, Nova Among Best Recruiting Classes of 2009

At least according to ESPN.

The Tar Heels are ranked as having the top recruiting class for 2009, headlined by 6-foot-10 power forward John Henson from Tampa.



Villanova, who has just had some stellar recruiting classes under Jay Wright, is ranked 7th, headlined by Roman Catholic point guard Maalik Wayns.









I'm real excited to head to some Roman games this year and check out Maalik in person.

What Happened to Kentucky?

It's damn near impossible to fault Kentucky for losing to the No. 1 team in the country on the road, but last night wasn't just about losing. It was about a dramatic free fall from grace for the winningest program in college basketball history.



Right now, that is the face of the Kentucky basketball. Look at it. Concerned, confused and searching for answers. Last year, the Wildcats opened up with a loss to Gardner-Webb at home and never recovered. They lost their final two games of the season, but came in this year with hope. Patrick Patterson was healthy, and some talented young players were on the way. Then they lost their home opener again, this time to Virginia Military Institute. Yikes.

And from the start last night, Kentucky was in trouble. North Carolina jumped out to a 25-6 lead and never looked back. Deon Thompson was an absolute beast, scoring a career-high 20 points to pace everyone, and the junior power forward was having his way. There wasn't a damn thing any Wildcat could do about it.



Kentucky, once one of the elite programs as recently as a few seasons ago, looks just awful. The players seem as if they don't know what to do on offense, and their defense looks like a lost cause. Against VMI, Kentucky turned the ball over 25 times. At home. Against VMI. Last night, they turned it over 28 times in the Dean Dome. That's 53 turnovers in two games in case you're counting.

Patterson was the lone bright spot for the Wildcats, netting 19 points on 8 of 11 shooting and adding 11 rebounds, but his teammates had an extremely hard time getting him the ball. In fact, Kentucky's backcourt was pathetic. Completely awful. Jodie Meeks was 5 for 20 from the floor, and Michael Porter looked like anything but a Division I basketball player. The Cats have no guards, and it's sad to watch.

UNC, on the other hand, looked like a behemoth without its best player and best defender. Thompson, mentioned above, had the best game I've seen him play since he stepped foot in Chapel Hill. Kentucky had no answer for him. It was nice to see him take over with Hansbrough out.

Philadelphia boy Wayne Ellington continued to struggle from the floor, but the rare times Kentucky left him open, he made his shots with ease. His field goal percentage should only climb once Tyler comes back. And speaking of Tyler, freshman Tyler Zeller, while quiet offensively, looked rather impressive defending Patterson early on. He was denying catches, and clearly, this big man has some talent.



Unfortunately for North Carolina, Zeller was injured late the game on a hard foul. Attempting to dunk on the break, Zeller was hit and fell to the floor. As he braced himself for his fall, he landed on his left wrist, and it didn't look good. Just ask Roy:

"It doesn't look good," Williams said.

My guess is a broken left wrist, which certainly isn't good. Zeller was considered UNC's top recruit and expected to be a major contributor down the line. This could certainly slow those expectations down a bit.

The good news, however, is that UNC rolled, and several players impressed. Ty Lawson dished out 9 assists while only turning the ball over twice, looking every bit like the playmaker he was before his injury last season. Danny Green did a little bit of everything with 5 boards, 3 assists, 4 steals, a block and 6 points. And most impressive to me was freshman forward Ed Davis, who was extremely active on both ends of the court, nabbing 10 boards, 2 steals, a block and 9 points on 4 of 6 from the field. He looked extremely athletic, agile and talented.

Even freshman Larry Drew II looked confident running the point when he spelled Lawson, and Will Graves came in to nail two deep three-pointers, showing he hasn't grown shy.

And as a North Carolina fan, all that (minus the Zeller injury) was good to see. But something was missing. Somehow, this game felt hollow. Not because of anything UNC did. More because of what Kentucky couldn't do. There was a time when a Kentucky-North Carolina matchup was must-see TV. The two most winningest programs taking each other on was always sure to be a 12-round bout with an exciting finish, and a potential precursor to a Final Four matchup. But no more. Kentucky just isn't that team anymore. And it's a shame. Because a North Carolina-Kentucky game at 9 p.m. on ESPN is supposed to be something to get excited about. Now it's more like watching Penn State take on Coastal Carolina.

And that just doesn't seem right.

Update: Via The Big Lead, Zeller has a broken wrist and could be done for the year. Gay.

Somewhere, Ed Cota and Jeff Shepherd Will Be Watching

Tonight, in a culmination of ESPN's glorious College Basketball Marathon, the No. 1 North Carolina Tar Heels take on Kentucky in the Dean Dome at 9 p.m. on the World Wide Leader.





Surely, this isn't exactly what ESPN had in mind, what with Tyler Hansbrough out and Kentucky losing at home to Virginia Military Academy. That's just embarrassing.

But, this game still has plenty to offer. For starters, any time UNC is on national television, all eyes should be feasted upon the tube. The Tar Heels are always a fun team to watching, loaded with future NBAers. Philadelphia's own Wayne Ellington has one of the sweetest jump shots this side of Ray Allen, Ty Lawson is one of the fastest, most explosive point guards in the nation and Danny Green can do damn near anything on the basketball court.



Then there are the likes of Bobby Frasor, a heady backup point guard with some size, Will Graves, a gunner if ever there was one, the beast that is Deon Thompson and the 7 foot freshman Tyler Zeller, a young buck who filled in quite nicely for that other pale Tyler in the first game.

And then there is Kentucky. Sure, they underachieved last year and began the season with another terrible loss, but this squad has some talent. Unfortunately for them, not nearly enough to stop the machine that is the Tar Heels, even without the guy whose face Gerald Henderson broke.

So tonight, get comfy on the couch by 9 p.m. I know Ed Cota and Jeff Shepherd will.

Basketball on the Brain

I know the Flyers play the Penguins tonight in Pittsburgh, and I am excited about that, but forgive me for putting that on the backburner to allow my excitement for basketball to take over. You see, tomorrow Villanova, Temple and St. Joe's open up their 2008-2009 season, and Saturday, while out at State College to watch a bunch of chokers play Indiana, I'm going to do everything I can to get in front of a TV in time for the unanimous preseason No. 1 UNC Tarheels (my favorite team along with Temple) as they take on Doug Glanville's alma mater, Penn, at 4. God damn I love college basketball.



Oh yeah, and the NBA is in full swing as well, and last night I had the pleasure of taking in somewhat of a triple-header. Naturally, I began by watching the Sixers take on the Raptors in a rematch of the opener, and the Sixers came out of the locker room like their shoes were on fire. They built a huge lead, doubling up the Raptors 26-13 in the first quarter and getting it as high as 17, and I was excited. Until Chris Bosh completely took over and brought the Raptors all the way back to within a point late in the second quarter.

Here we were again, with the Sixers playing great in one quarter and awful in the next. Except Willie Green hit a three at the buzzer to end the half, giving the Sixers a 6 point lead at halftime. And that proved to be huge.

The Sixers allowed Toronto to hang around for a little while, but the Raptors are a good team so that's understandable. But in the end, the Sixers were too much, as they played tremendous defense, were smart with the ball and most importantly, ran. And finally, Andre Iguodala looked like the Andre of old. Sure, he shot an awful 5 of 13 from the field, but he got out on the brake, dunking the ball, and was everywhere. Shit, he finished a rebound short of a triple double, going for 18 points, 10 assists and 9 rebounds. And while his shot was not there, he was getting to line, where he did some damage, going 7 of 8. It was nice to see him back at it.



It was just a night for men named Andre. Finally, Miller looked like the most underrated point guard in the game that he was last season, epitomizing efficiency. He picked his spots effectively, attacking the backup point guards of Toronto with Jose Calderon limited with a hamstring injury to the tune of 18 points on 8 of 14 shooting, really helping the Sixers pull away in the 4th. But just as important, Andre figured out how to effectively integrate Elton Brand into the offense. All night long, Brand was hanging around the 12-18 foot range, and the Sixers were using him in pick and pop situations. Brand responded with his highest scoring output as a Sixer, leading the team with 25 points, finishing second in the game only to Bosh, who is just a fucking beast.

Again, the Sixers bench played a pivotal role in the victory, and again, it wasn't from the guys they brought in who I thought would help. In fact, Kareem Rush and Royal Ivey both got DNP-coach's decision, as did Theo, which should never happen. Theo should get at least 2 minutes a game to either get dunked on or send back a vicious block.



But still, the bench came up huge. Willie Green, who has been ineffective in the Sixers' losses and tremendous in their wins, was tremendous again last night, scoring 17 points on 6 of 10 from the field and 3 of 4 from three. He's been a pleasant surprise and the main reason Ivey and Rush aren't getting much run. And with Samuel Dalembert having one of those "pick up a ton of fouls Sammy games," Marreese Speights was asked to play 20 minutes and the rook responded. Speights was very active all game long and chipped in with 12 points, 7 boards and a block, not to mention hitting both his free throws. He's giving flashbacks to Thaddeus Young last season with his rapid development, and the kid looks like he's going to be a good one.

I have to say, given all the shit Billy King rightfully got, he started to draft well at the end of his tenure, selecting Iguodala, Young and Lou Will, and Eddie Stefanski looks like he's done well with Speights.

It was a nice win for the Sixers that they certainly needed, and it gives hope that they will be able to pull this together as they become more comfortable with one another.

I also got to watch the end of the Portland-Miami game. My impressions: Rudy Fernandez is sick as shit, Wade is reminding everyone that the best player in the world conversation doesn't necessarily begin and end with LeBron and Kobe (maybe it does), the Blazers are the most balanced team in the league and Beasley is not getting enough touches.

Jon Barry, brother of the most underrated, awesome player in the history of the world, Brent Barry, was gushing over Rudy. Now I know why. The dude is for real. He led the Blazers with 25 points on an insanely efficient 7 of 11 shooting, going 8 for 8 at the line and dishing out a sick assist in the second half. He's a damn good player on a team full of solid players. The Blazers won't be fun to play for anyone come playoff time.

The Heat, on the other hand, have Wade and Beasley and that's it. But they don't use Beasley. The man-child was simply a beast last year at K State, yet he's not getting the same touches this year. And why the hell not? Besides Wade (and with Marion out), who the hell do you want shooting the ball? The answer is no one. Beasley should be getting somewhere in the 18 shot range every night.

Meanwhile, Wade is just insane. He has to do everything for this team, and he does. At this rate, he'll be out of gas by Christmas. Miami has to do something to get this man some help. Last night he went for 36, marching to the foul line 15 times, and he had 8 assists, 6 rebounds, 2 steals and 3 blocks. He has less help right now than LeBron has ever had. But shit, it's fun as hell to watch him do his thing. I'd like to be in his 5.

Finally, I took in the Phoenix-Houston game, and much to my surprise, the best player in the first quarter was Shaq, who wound up being the best player for the Suns overall last night. The Big Cactus just loves to play Yao, and he was pretty awesome last night, going for 18 points on 7 of 12 shooting, nabbing 13 rebounds, dishing out 3 assists and blocking 4 shots. But even more impressive, he went 4 of 4 from the foul line. How? I have no idea.

Meanwhile, everyone else on the Suns sucked. Horribly. By the middle of the 3rd quarter, the game was over. McGrady once and for all established his alpha status on the team with Artest around, putting up 27 points and having an all-around strong game. Aaron Brooks continued to be a spark off the bench, and most impressively, Brent Barry had an insane behind-the-back pass to Carl Landry for a layup, which was named the NBA's Assist of the Night.

Brent Barry is the truth. Remember that.

Rough Week for UNC Ballers

If you know anything about me, you know I absolutely love University of North Carolina basketball. I fell in love with the Tar Heels as a young boy who marveled at Michael Jordan and found out he went to UNC. Immediately, I started to follow the Tar Heels, gained an unhealthy hatred toward Duke and became the biggest George Lynch fan alive.


Yeah, that was George Lynch that forced Webber to call that infamous "timeout," bitches.

I love Rasheed Wallace. And Jerry Stackhouse. And Vince Carter. And Antawn Jamison, Shammond Williams, Ed Cota, Dante Calabria, Reyshawn Terry, Julius Peppers, Danny Green, well you get the idea.

Well, the Tar Heels, who will be everyone's pick as the preseason No. 1 in college basketball this year, have already lost defensive stalwart Marcus Ginyard for 8 weeks, meaning he'll miss the start of the year (thanks TBL).



Luckily, Ginyard should be available for most of the season, but this is not an insignificant loss. Ginyard is the team's best defender and a very good glue guy. Thankfully, Danny Green isn't too shabby on defense himself.






Just because

Well, it's been a rough week for UNC ballers. Earlier in the week Antawn Jamison hurt his knee, and we just found out his Washington teammate Brendan Haywood needs wrist surgery and will be out for quite a while.

Rough week for UNC. But the Heels are still going to win the title this year. Book it.