Before He Was Fat: Raymond Felton’s College Basketball Reign
Showing posts with label unc. Show all posts
Showing posts with label unc. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 17, 2015
Tuesday, February 10, 2015
Friday, April 25, 2014
Thursday, March 13, 2014
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
Monday, March 5, 2012
Duke-Carolina Round 2 Summarized in 2 Plays
In the first meeting between Duke and North Carolina, the Tar Heels blew a late 10-point lead and lost on a last-second buzzer beater by Austin Rivers. There would be no such comeback for the Blue Devils at Cameron Indoor Stadium Saturday for the regular-season finale, as UNC destroyed Duke from start to finish, winning 88-70 and taking home the ACC regular season title.
Three Tar Heels finished with double-doubles on the day, as Tyler Zeller more than likely solidified his ACC Player of the Year award with 19 points and 10 rebounds on 9-11 shooting, John Henson added 13 and 10, and Kendall Marshall was magnificent, scoring a game-high 20 points and dishing out 10 assists.
Carolina did what it was unable to do in the Dean Dome, suffocating Duke at the three-point line and forcing the Blue Devils to beat them inside. Even with the Plumlee brothers playing pretty well, that's a mismatch that no team in America can win. The front court of Zeller, Hanson and Harrison Barnes is the best in the country, and UNC displayed that Saturday.
However, the dominance is best encapsulated by two plays from UNC freshmen James McAdoo and P.J. Hairston.
Those plays displayed the utter dominance UNC had on the boards, hauling in 13 offensive rebounds and out-rebounding Duke 42-22 for the game. If the Heels play that kind of defense, especially at the three-point line (Duke was just 6-21 from beyond), you could just see UNC end up where it started the season — the No. 1 team in the country.
Three Tar Heels finished with double-doubles on the day, as Tyler Zeller more than likely solidified his ACC Player of the Year award with 19 points and 10 rebounds on 9-11 shooting, John Henson added 13 and 10, and Kendall Marshall was magnificent, scoring a game-high 20 points and dishing out 10 assists.
Carolina did what it was unable to do in the Dean Dome, suffocating Duke at the three-point line and forcing the Blue Devils to beat them inside. Even with the Plumlee brothers playing pretty well, that's a mismatch that no team in America can win. The front court of Zeller, Hanson and Harrison Barnes is the best in the country, and UNC displayed that Saturday.
However, the dominance is best encapsulated by two plays from UNC freshmen James McAdoo and P.J. Hairston.
Those plays displayed the utter dominance UNC had on the boards, hauling in 13 offensive rebounds and out-rebounding Duke 42-22 for the game. If the Heels play that kind of defense, especially at the three-point line (Duke was just 6-21 from beyond), you could just see UNC end up where it started the season — the No. 1 team in the country.
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Anatomy of a Meltdown: Poor Coaching, Poor Foul Shooting, Poor Decision-Making
With 2:38 remaining in the first of two meetings between Duke and North Carolina, the Tar Heels held a 10-point lead on their home court and looked to have the game in hand. After a slow start, they stormed back to take the lead before halftime and led for every single moment of the second half … until this happened:
So how exactly did this happen? A combination of poor coaching, poor foul shooting and poor decision-making on the part of Roy Williams and his squad. Just take a look at the key plays in the final 2 minutes and 38 seconds of the game. Following a jumper by Harrison Barnes to give the Heels an 82-72 lead, Williams took a timeout to set up his defense, and at the same time, he took out his team's second-leading rebounder, Tyler Zeller, who had four fouls. Williams had to make the choice between risking Zeller picking up a 5th foul on defense and being lost for the final moments or risk taking out one of his best rebounders when possessions were at a premium. He chose to sit Zeller so he'd have his big man on offense.
It's definitely hard to argue with that line of thinking, but it didn't help that following a block by John Henson on a Ryan Kelly three, Duke nabbed the ball and then got a surprising three by Tyler Thornton to make it an 82-75 game.
Roy then used another timeout, bringing Zeller back and presumably setting up a play that would both bleed the clock a bit and get a good shot. Instead, the normally sure-handed Kendall Marshall, who had only turned the ball over twice all game up until that point, turned it over immediately. That's when Duke took advantage of a break the way North Carolina seemingly couldn't all game long, even as they were leading by double digits for most of the second half.
Thornton threw a skip pass to Seth Curry, who blatantly walked but was not called for it and then proceeded to drain a huge three, 82-78, 1:48 remaining.
To compound that, Harrison Barnes, who had exploded in the second half to help UNC surge to a double-digit lead, made a boneheaded decision, trying to drive through the teeth of the Duke defense, essentially going it alone way too early in the shot clock, and turning it over with a deadly charge. I didn't want to even talk because you could see what was coming. North Carolina was choking after controlling things for more than half the game, and Duke was feeding off it.
Ryan Kelly then followed his own miss, hitting a jumper to suddenly cut a lead that was once as big as 13 points down to 2, 1:10 remaining.
And the meltdown just continued. Zeller, who was a man's man in the first half turned forgotten man in the second half — something of a regular occurrence for UNC — was fouled. The normally excellent free-throw shooter missed the first, ensuring the game remained a one-possession contest. After making the second, the Heels held a three-point advantage with 44 seconds remaining.
Duke used its remaining timeout and executed, with Kelly hitting yet another big shot, making it 83-82 with 14 seconds remaining. Once again, Zeller was fouled, and once again, he went just one of two from the line, now not only leaving the door open yet again for Duke, but giving them a huge opportunity given the way Duke was shooting the ball from deep.
And finally, to cap things off, Reggie Bullock, who had been making Austin Rivers work hard for every incredible bucket he hit, switched off on a screen, handing Rivers over to Zeller. Zeller never stood a chance, and even though he did all he could, putting his hand in Rivers' face, Doc's son drilled the game-winning three to cap off his dominant, impressive night, scoring a game-high 29 points and only turning the ball over three times, to give Duke the stunning 85-84 win.
It was a meltdown of epic proportions: missed free throws, rushed shots, horrid turnovers and a coach just sitting there on the sidelines watching it all unfold.
Truth of the matter is, the Tar Heels could have put this game completely away earlier in the half, as both Jay Bilas and Dick Vitale mentioned. Out of the break, Barnes and Marshall took over and helped UNC build a 13-point lead. But as Barnes began to cool a bit and uncharacteristically struggled from the foul line — missing four freebies on the night — and Marshall's driving lanes weren't quite as gaping as before, the Heels failed to get it to Zeller. It's something that's driven me crazy for years now with Roy. As things start to go south, most coaches will call a timeout or at least drive the point home that things have to run through the best, most reliable player on the team. For Carolina, that is Zeller, no matter how good Harrison Barnes is. When Zeller is getting the touches and making things happen, UNC is nearly unbeatable. And while he did have 23 and 11, Zeller was ignored for much of the second half. By the time Carolina remembered the big guy was on the floor, the game was close, Zeller was cold and he was not able to convert critical free throws in the waning seconds.
Conversely, Mike Krzyzewski got the ball in his best player's hands time and time again. Austin Rivers was simply remarkable last night, so Coach K kept making sure Rivers got his looks. He put the ball in his best player's hands and lived and died with the results. That's what you expect a coach to do. Krzyzewski did, and he stole a victory. Williams didn't, and he gave away what looked like a sure win.
That's the most maddening part. This was an ending that never should have been allowed to happen. It's an embarrassment. And surely, it is on guys like Zeller, Barns and Marshall for coming up small in the final three minutes, missing free throws and turning the ball over at the most inopportune times, but it's also on the coach who failed to rein in his players and make sure they put a very good Duke team away.
Don't get me wrong, Roy is a great coach. He was incredibly successful at Kansas, and since he's returned to his alma mater, he's won two national championships and reestablished the Tar Heels as the cream of the crop along with Duke in the ACC. But he is no Mike Krzyzewski. He showed that last night. And Duke showed its mental make-up, led by a fearless freshman who was cherishing the moment.
Hats off to Austin Rivers for his brilliant performance and stunning buzzer-beater. But it should have never come to that had it not been for some poor coaching, poor foul shooting and poor decision-making by the Tar Heels.
So how exactly did this happen? A combination of poor coaching, poor foul shooting and poor decision-making on the part of Roy Williams and his squad. Just take a look at the key plays in the final 2 minutes and 38 seconds of the game. Following a jumper by Harrison Barnes to give the Heels an 82-72 lead, Williams took a timeout to set up his defense, and at the same time, he took out his team's second-leading rebounder, Tyler Zeller, who had four fouls. Williams had to make the choice between risking Zeller picking up a 5th foul on defense and being lost for the final moments or risk taking out one of his best rebounders when possessions were at a premium. He chose to sit Zeller so he'd have his big man on offense.
It's definitely hard to argue with that line of thinking, but it didn't help that following a block by John Henson on a Ryan Kelly three, Duke nabbed the ball and then got a surprising three by Tyler Thornton to make it an 82-75 game.
Roy then used another timeout, bringing Zeller back and presumably setting up a play that would both bleed the clock a bit and get a good shot. Instead, the normally sure-handed Kendall Marshall, who had only turned the ball over twice all game up until that point, turned it over immediately. That's when Duke took advantage of a break the way North Carolina seemingly couldn't all game long, even as they were leading by double digits for most of the second half.
Thornton threw a skip pass to Seth Curry, who blatantly walked but was not called for it and then proceeded to drain a huge three, 82-78, 1:48 remaining.
To compound that, Harrison Barnes, who had exploded in the second half to help UNC surge to a double-digit lead, made a boneheaded decision, trying to drive through the teeth of the Duke defense, essentially going it alone way too early in the shot clock, and turning it over with a deadly charge. I didn't want to even talk because you could see what was coming. North Carolina was choking after controlling things for more than half the game, and Duke was feeding off it.
Ryan Kelly then followed his own miss, hitting a jumper to suddenly cut a lead that was once as big as 13 points down to 2, 1:10 remaining.
And the meltdown just continued. Zeller, who was a man's man in the first half turned forgotten man in the second half — something of a regular occurrence for UNC — was fouled. The normally excellent free-throw shooter missed the first, ensuring the game remained a one-possession contest. After making the second, the Heels held a three-point advantage with 44 seconds remaining.
Duke used its remaining timeout and executed, with Kelly hitting yet another big shot, making it 83-82 with 14 seconds remaining. Once again, Zeller was fouled, and once again, he went just one of two from the line, now not only leaving the door open yet again for Duke, but giving them a huge opportunity given the way Duke was shooting the ball from deep.
And finally, to cap things off, Reggie Bullock, who had been making Austin Rivers work hard for every incredible bucket he hit, switched off on a screen, handing Rivers over to Zeller. Zeller never stood a chance, and even though he did all he could, putting his hand in Rivers' face, Doc's son drilled the game-winning three to cap off his dominant, impressive night, scoring a game-high 29 points and only turning the ball over three times, to give Duke the stunning 85-84 win.
It was a meltdown of epic proportions: missed free throws, rushed shots, horrid turnovers and a coach just sitting there on the sidelines watching it all unfold.
Truth of the matter is, the Tar Heels could have put this game completely away earlier in the half, as both Jay Bilas and Dick Vitale mentioned. Out of the break, Barnes and Marshall took over and helped UNC build a 13-point lead. But as Barnes began to cool a bit and uncharacteristically struggled from the foul line — missing four freebies on the night — and Marshall's driving lanes weren't quite as gaping as before, the Heels failed to get it to Zeller. It's something that's driven me crazy for years now with Roy. As things start to go south, most coaches will call a timeout or at least drive the point home that things have to run through the best, most reliable player on the team. For Carolina, that is Zeller, no matter how good Harrison Barnes is. When Zeller is getting the touches and making things happen, UNC is nearly unbeatable. And while he did have 23 and 11, Zeller was ignored for much of the second half. By the time Carolina remembered the big guy was on the floor, the game was close, Zeller was cold and he was not able to convert critical free throws in the waning seconds.
Conversely, Mike Krzyzewski got the ball in his best player's hands time and time again. Austin Rivers was simply remarkable last night, so Coach K kept making sure Rivers got his looks. He put the ball in his best player's hands and lived and died with the results. That's what you expect a coach to do. Krzyzewski did, and he stole a victory. Williams didn't, and he gave away what looked like a sure win.
That's the most maddening part. This was an ending that never should have been allowed to happen. It's an embarrassment. And surely, it is on guys like Zeller, Barns and Marshall for coming up small in the final three minutes, missing free throws and turning the ball over at the most inopportune times, but it's also on the coach who failed to rein in his players and make sure they put a very good Duke team away.
Don't get me wrong, Roy is a great coach. He was incredibly successful at Kansas, and since he's returned to his alma mater, he's won two national championships and reestablished the Tar Heels as the cream of the crop along with Duke in the ACC. But he is no Mike Krzyzewski. He showed that last night. And Duke showed its mental make-up, led by a fearless freshman who was cherishing the moment.
Hats off to Austin Rivers for his brilliant performance and stunning buzzer-beater. But it should have never come to that had it not been for some poor coaching, poor foul shooting and poor decision-making by the Tar Heels.
Monday, December 5, 2011
The Best College Basketball Game We May See All Season
Saturday in Rupp Arena, No. 1 Kentucky defeated No. 5 North Carolina 73-72 as freshman shot-blocking phenom Anthony Davis gave junior shot-blocking sensation John Henson a taste of his own medicine as the seconds ticked away.
Our friend Ed broke down the excitement in depth, but I wanted to add a few of my own reactions.
For starters, I was watching the game with my roommate, and just witnessing the sheer athleticism and high level of play for a college game made us both take notice that something was different about this one. Sure, there were still plenty of mistakes that college players make, particularly in the early season, but there was a level of intensity combined with skill in this one that put it on a different plain.
Heading into the season, these were perhaps the two most hyped teams in the country, and as the game approached, many pundits were projecting anywhere from nine to 12 NBA players might be taking the court in this one. After watching the contest, those proclamations are easy to understand.
As Ed noted, highly touted sophomores Harrison Barnes and Terence Jones went toe-to-toe, with Jones getting things started in the first half and Barnes, after a slow start plagued by foul trouble, hit big bucket after big bucket in the second half to keep UNC in it. Tyler Zeller was having his way in the first half before being constantly doubled in the final 20 minutes. Doron Lamb showed a killer instinct, dropping clutch shots for the Wildcats. John Henson and Anthondy Davis used their go-go gadget arms to bother and block shots.
P.J. Hairston showed the shooting stroke he displayed in high school, while Kendall Marshall showed he has an outside shot too. Darius Miller quietly did his thing, and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, one of the top recruits in the nation, exploded for a game-high 17 points and 11 rebounds, becoming the true difference-maker in the 2nd half.
It was an incredibly exciting, fun game to watch. The only thing I didn't like was the outcome — and the final possession for UNC. I know that I just preached to the Tar Heels to get Tyler Zeller the ball, but you absolutely have to put the ball in Harrison Barnes' hands there at the end. He's the team's best shot-maker, he had hit some huge threes in the 2nd half, he has a penchant for hitting game-winning shots, and Kentucky was swarming Zeller every time he touched the ball.
Regardless, it was easily the best college basketball game so far this year, and it very well may be the best one we see all season. As Ed said, we would be lucky as hell to get a national championship game like this one.
Our friend Ed broke down the excitement in depth, but I wanted to add a few of my own reactions.
For starters, I was watching the game with my roommate, and just witnessing the sheer athleticism and high level of play for a college game made us both take notice that something was different about this one. Sure, there were still plenty of mistakes that college players make, particularly in the early season, but there was a level of intensity combined with skill in this one that put it on a different plain.
Heading into the season, these were perhaps the two most hyped teams in the country, and as the game approached, many pundits were projecting anywhere from nine to 12 NBA players might be taking the court in this one. After watching the contest, those proclamations are easy to understand.
As Ed noted, highly touted sophomores Harrison Barnes and Terence Jones went toe-to-toe, with Jones getting things started in the first half and Barnes, after a slow start plagued by foul trouble, hit big bucket after big bucket in the second half to keep UNC in it. Tyler Zeller was having his way in the first half before being constantly doubled in the final 20 minutes. Doron Lamb showed a killer instinct, dropping clutch shots for the Wildcats. John Henson and Anthondy Davis used their go-go gadget arms to bother and block shots.
P.J. Hairston showed the shooting stroke he displayed in high school, while Kendall Marshall showed he has an outside shot too. Darius Miller quietly did his thing, and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, one of the top recruits in the nation, exploded for a game-high 17 points and 11 rebounds, becoming the true difference-maker in the 2nd half.
It was an incredibly exciting, fun game to watch. The only thing I didn't like was the outcome — and the final possession for UNC. I know that I just preached to the Tar Heels to get Tyler Zeller the ball, but you absolutely have to put the ball in Harrison Barnes' hands there at the end. He's the team's best shot-maker, he had hit some huge threes in the 2nd half, he has a penchant for hitting game-winning shots, and Kentucky was swarming Zeller every time he touched the ball.
Regardless, it was easily the best college basketball game so far this year, and it very well may be the best one we see all season. As Ed said, we would be lucky as hell to get a national championship game like this one.
Thursday, December 1, 2011
For the Love of God, Get Tyler Zeller the Ball
Roy Williams is an excellent basketball coach and his North Carolina Tar Heels are a very good basketball team. However, there is one thing that has been bothering me for quite some time when it comes to Roy and his UNC teams, and really it's about coaching.
Since returning to his alma mater in 2003, Williams has certainly done a masterful job, winning two national championships and maintaining the historic excellence Dean Smith created. However, there are spells where Roy's teams have bafflingly and inexcusably ignored their best, most efficient interior players — Tyler Hansbrough excluded.
For instance, take Williams' first national championship team from 2005, a team that included Jawad Williams, Rashad McCants, Raymond Felton, Marvin Williams and Sean May. We all remember the controversial one-point Sweet 16 victory over Villanova in the NCAA Tournament and the infamous phantom traveling call on Allen Ray.
What everyone seems to forget is that that game should have never been that close to begin with. Don't get me wrong, Villanova played incredibly well with an awesomely talented team that included Ray, Randy Foye, Mike Nardi and Kyle Lowry, and there was no way they were going to make things easy for the Tar Heels. However, if you recall, Sean May was literally dominating inside, scoring every time he touched the ball on the extremely undersized Wildcats. No one on Nova could stop him — yet May only managed to hoist 9 shots despite making six of them, hauling in 10 boards and completely abusing Villanova inside.
The entire game, I was screaming at Felton and Roy Williams to demand May get a touch inside on every position, and each time my pleas went unanswered. As a result, Villanova played their tremendous perimeter defense and almost pulled off the upset. In that game, had Roy simply demanded his players to feed May the ball, that game most likely would not have been as close as it was, seeing as Nova had absolutely no answer inside for May. But Williams didn't, and it nearly cost his talented team the national championship it ultimately won.
Fast-forward to last season. All the hype that surrounded the Tar Heels was in large part due to the highly touted freshman Harrison Barnes, a freshman so highly regarded that he was the first-ever to be named Preseason All-American. As we know, it took Barnes a while to fulfill that promise, but he did eventual turn into the player people expected. However, as the Tar Heels had a bit of a roller-coaster season, the one steady hand had been Tyler Zeller.
Plain and simple, Zeller has been without question UNC's most efficient player, if not its best, for the past few years. As great as Barnes is, no one has been more reliable on a nightly basis than Zeller. If you've watched North Carolina the past few seasons, you know that if Zeller has a big game, the Tar Heels win.
And yet, there were stretches of games where Zeller would be ignored for large portions in the first half of last season. It wasn't until Kendall Marshall took over at point that Zeller really began to get the ball consistently, and uncoincidentally, that's when UNC took off.
I was hopeful that the late-season surge from last year would make Roy Williams and the Tar Heels realize that Tyler Zeller has to get more touches more consistently for this team to realize its full potential — much like everything ran through Tyler Hansbrough during his days in Chapel Hill. Yet in this early season, Roy's blind eye toward demanding his players to feed his talented, efficient center has already cost the preseason No. 1 team to lose embarrassingly to UNLV and allowed Wisconsin to keep the game close throughout last night.
In the 90-80 loss to the Runnin' Rebels, Zeller took just six shots. And while he only made one of them, you know that low percentage wouldn't last. Zeller is a career 52 percent shooter from the field and coming off a career-best season of 54.7. The man knows how to score and score efficiently. Yet in that loss, he was essentially ignored.
And last night, as Wisconsin did an incredibly effective job of slowing down the pace and making the Tar Heels play Badger basketball, Zeller was largely ignored again. He only had five field goal attempts — though he did get to line six times — despite this being a half-court game for the most part. That makes absolutely no sense to me whatsoever, and it really comes down to coaching.
I know Roy likes to push the pace and have his team get as many offensive possessions as possible. He likes to score quickly and make it a track meet. But when the opposition effectively slows the pace and your squad isn't the best shooting bunch, you go down low to your most reliable player. That guy is Zeller. The game flow dictated him getting a lot of shots, yet it didn't happen. And that's why Wisconsin was able to keep it close and actually take a second-half lead before Harrison Barnes took over with some remarkable shot-making and Dexter Strickland shut down Jordan Taylor with tremendous defense.
But like in that Sweet 16 game in 2005, last night's contest should not have come down to that, just as the loss to UNLV probably should have never happened. Those games were the pressure-cookers they were because Williams and his Tar Heels ignored their efficient big men who very rarely could be stopped.
It is his one coaching flaw that I have noticed over the years, but a big one. I'll concede that at a school with so much talent, it can be difficult finding enough shots for all the McDonald's All-Americans on the roster. But it's the job of the coach to put his team in the best position to succeed. For the most part, Roy Williams does that. But when his teams ignore their big men, especially when those guys are as good as Sean May and Tyler Zeller, he's not doing his job.
If North Carolina wants to hoist its third national championship banner under Roy Williams this season, they have to stop ignoring their big man and — for the love of god — get Tyler Zeller the damn ball.
Since returning to his alma mater in 2003, Williams has certainly done a masterful job, winning two national championships and maintaining the historic excellence Dean Smith created. However, there are spells where Roy's teams have bafflingly and inexcusably ignored their best, most efficient interior players — Tyler Hansbrough excluded.
For instance, take Williams' first national championship team from 2005, a team that included Jawad Williams, Rashad McCants, Raymond Felton, Marvin Williams and Sean May. We all remember the controversial one-point Sweet 16 victory over Villanova in the NCAA Tournament and the infamous phantom traveling call on Allen Ray.
What everyone seems to forget is that that game should have never been that close to begin with. Don't get me wrong, Villanova played incredibly well with an awesomely talented team that included Ray, Randy Foye, Mike Nardi and Kyle Lowry, and there was no way they were going to make things easy for the Tar Heels. However, if you recall, Sean May was literally dominating inside, scoring every time he touched the ball on the extremely undersized Wildcats. No one on Nova could stop him — yet May only managed to hoist 9 shots despite making six of them, hauling in 10 boards and completely abusing Villanova inside.
The entire game, I was screaming at Felton and Roy Williams to demand May get a touch inside on every position, and each time my pleas went unanswered. As a result, Villanova played their tremendous perimeter defense and almost pulled off the upset. In that game, had Roy simply demanded his players to feed May the ball, that game most likely would not have been as close as it was, seeing as Nova had absolutely no answer inside for May. But Williams didn't, and it nearly cost his talented team the national championship it ultimately won.
Fast-forward to last season. All the hype that surrounded the Tar Heels was in large part due to the highly touted freshman Harrison Barnes, a freshman so highly regarded that he was the first-ever to be named Preseason All-American. As we know, it took Barnes a while to fulfill that promise, but he did eventual turn into the player people expected. However, as the Tar Heels had a bit of a roller-coaster season, the one steady hand had been Tyler Zeller.
Plain and simple, Zeller has been without question UNC's most efficient player, if not its best, for the past few years. As great as Barnes is, no one has been more reliable on a nightly basis than Zeller. If you've watched North Carolina the past few seasons, you know that if Zeller has a big game, the Tar Heels win.
And yet, there were stretches of games where Zeller would be ignored for large portions in the first half of last season. It wasn't until Kendall Marshall took over at point that Zeller really began to get the ball consistently, and uncoincidentally, that's when UNC took off.
I was hopeful that the late-season surge from last year would make Roy Williams and the Tar Heels realize that Tyler Zeller has to get more touches more consistently for this team to realize its full potential — much like everything ran through Tyler Hansbrough during his days in Chapel Hill. Yet in this early season, Roy's blind eye toward demanding his players to feed his talented, efficient center has already cost the preseason No. 1 team to lose embarrassingly to UNLV and allowed Wisconsin to keep the game close throughout last night.
In the 90-80 loss to the Runnin' Rebels, Zeller took just six shots. And while he only made one of them, you know that low percentage wouldn't last. Zeller is a career 52 percent shooter from the field and coming off a career-best season of 54.7. The man knows how to score and score efficiently. Yet in that loss, he was essentially ignored.
And last night, as Wisconsin did an incredibly effective job of slowing down the pace and making the Tar Heels play Badger basketball, Zeller was largely ignored again. He only had five field goal attempts — though he did get to line six times — despite this being a half-court game for the most part. That makes absolutely no sense to me whatsoever, and it really comes down to coaching.
I know Roy likes to push the pace and have his team get as many offensive possessions as possible. He likes to score quickly and make it a track meet. But when the opposition effectively slows the pace and your squad isn't the best shooting bunch, you go down low to your most reliable player. That guy is Zeller. The game flow dictated him getting a lot of shots, yet it didn't happen. And that's why Wisconsin was able to keep it close and actually take a second-half lead before Harrison Barnes took over with some remarkable shot-making and Dexter Strickland shut down Jordan Taylor with tremendous defense.
But like in that Sweet 16 game in 2005, last night's contest should not have come down to that, just as the loss to UNLV probably should have never happened. Those games were the pressure-cookers they were because Williams and his Tar Heels ignored their efficient big men who very rarely could be stopped.
It is his one coaching flaw that I have noticed over the years, but a big one. I'll concede that at a school with so much talent, it can be difficult finding enough shots for all the McDonald's All-Americans on the roster. But it's the job of the coach to put his team in the best position to succeed. For the most part, Roy Williams does that. But when his teams ignore their big men, especially when those guys are as good as Sean May and Tyler Zeller, he's not doing his job.
If North Carolina wants to hoist its third national championship banner under Roy Williams this season, they have to stop ignoring their big man and — for the love of god — get Tyler Zeller the damn ball.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Rising (UNC), Falling (Villanova) and Moving Right Along (Temple)
Saturday was the type of day that can really tell you a lot about teams heading into conference tournament play. Going in, we knew already that Villanova was struggling and North Carolina was on a tear, but both teams' fortunes could turn on a dime against big-time opponents. A win for Villanova at Pitt could help put this horrific stretch behind them.
A loss by North Carolina at home to Duke to drop both games in the season series with its hated rival could derail the young Tar Heels' confidence it had built up during this impressive streak.
As you know, neither one of those things happened. With a victory by Notre Dame, Pitt needed to beat Villanova to win the regular-season Big East title and earn the No. 1 seed in Madison Square Garden. That extra motivation proved lethal for Nova, as the Panthers won 60-50.
It was yet another example of how reliant the Wildcats are on Corey Stokes and Corey Fisher offensively. Stokes pulled a hamstring at practice last Thursday and for the second time this season couldn't suit up against Pitt. With Stokes out, Nova desperately needed Corey Fisher to come out of his three-game slump and score in bunches. He did not. At all.
Fisher was absolutely horrible yet again, going just 3-14 from the field for a measly 7 points.
It was an absolutely embarrassing effort from a big-time senior scorer.
During the course of his college career, I was often a pretty vocal critic of Scottie Reynolds. But one thing was certain with Reynolds, he was going to give Villanova a chance to win, even if he wasn't playing his best, against the big boys. I mean, who can ever forget this?
The guy was infuriating at times with his decision-making and shot selection, but he was a leader that would will Nova to hard-fought victories. As much as I like Corey Fisher, he's just not that guy. Yes, the Wildcats go as he and Corey Stokes go, but those guys just don't have that thing you can't quite describe that Scottie had. They don't rise to the big moments, the big challenges. They fade. And the rest of the Wildcats follow suit.
With Fisher struggling, it looked as though the rest of the Wildcats gave up with the exception for Maalik Wayns. Wayns, the next in line to take over as the man, scored 27 points and hit a rash of late threes to give Nova an ever so slight glimmer of hope. But he was alone. Not a single other Wildcat scored in double digits. In fact, Fisher was second on the team in scoring with his 7 points. Sorry, but that's just not showing enough passion and desire at the end of the season, especially during a rough patch and desperately needing a win.
Credit Pitt. They played great defense, holding Nova to 18 points in the first half and 50 for the game. They needed to win to be crowned Big East Champs, and they did. Even with their best effort, winning at Pitt with all that on the line for the Panthers was going to be a tough task. But to just really go down without a true fight, to drop their fourth game in a row and fall to 10th in the conference, it's disheartening to watch.
Villanova does get one more chance to try and get right before the NCAA Tournament, and it starts tonight against South Florida. If they lose this game, you can forget about any visions of a surprising NCAA run, and the way they're going, losing to South Florida isn't out of the realm of possibility.
One thing is for sure: If Nova has any hope of regaining its early-season form in the Garden, it needs Corey Fisher to play infinitely better, and it needs Corey Stokes healthy and effective.
We've all seen a team struggle late in the season and somehow catch fire come tournament time, so it's possible. But there's just something missing about this Nova team that it's had seemingly every year in the past. A lack of toughness, grit, passion, something. Probably a lack of senior leadership. Because it's hard to lead when the two guys you expect it from have been so up and down this late in the season.
Moving in the complete opposite direction is North Carolina. With Duke losing to Virginia Tech the weekend before, Saturday night's prime-time match-up between the Tar Heels and Blue Devils in Chapel Hill was for all the ACC marbles. Winner takes the regular-season championship and No. 1 seed in the ACC Tournament.
Just like in the first meeting, North Carolina jumped out to a double-digit first-half lead behind the steady hand of Kendall Marshall, shooting of Harrison Barnes and interior presence of John Henson and Tyler Zeller. Unlike the first meeting, however, UNC didn't fold in the second half. Even with Nolan Smith putting up 30 and Seth Curry adding 20, Carolina fed off its home crowd and held Duke at bay to win rather easily 81-67.
Marshall once again completely controlled the game at the point for Carolina. The freshman looked anything but a first-year college player. He put his foot on the gas pedal when Duke was on its heels and slowed things down when the Blue Devils seemed to be making a run. When it was all said and done, he finished with 15 points and 11 assists, shot 5-8 from the field, 1-2 from three and 4-5 from the line. And he was the one player that influenced the pace and momentum shifts more than anyone.
Inserting him into the starting lineup was the best thing Roy Williams has done all season, and it's the biggest reason Carolina is the regular-season ACC champs. I honestly can't say enough about him. If you haven't watched him play, do yourself a favor and tune in before the NCAA tournament so you can see what the opposition is in for against the Tar Heels.
Uncoincidentally, fellow freshman Harrison Barnes has really elevated his game to the next level with Marshall at the point. On Saturday, he was huge yet again.
In the first match-up, Barnes and Duke's star senior Kyle Singler guarded each other and essentially canceled each other out. Both players played such hounding defense that neither was effective offensively. So it was interesting to see what would happen Saturday.
Well, the two matched up once again most of the night guarding one another. And once again, both guys worked incredibly hard defensively to try and slow the other down. Only this time, Barnes was able to overcome Singler's defensive efforts to put up 18 points. Singler couldn't solve Barnes on the other end, going just 3-14 to finish with just 8 points. The second go-round, Barnes was able to outplay Singler offensively without letting up on the defensive end. It was quite an impressive performance.
Then you add Henson's double-double (10 and 12) and Zeller scoring 14 points on 7-11 shooting, and you can see why more and more analysts are calling UNC their dark horse for the Final Four.
Admittedly when I first heard those mentions, I thought, "No way." And when Kenny commented that "North Carolina WILL NOT SNIFF the Final Four," the other day, I agreed with him. But after Saturday night, I don't know.
I mean, think about it. This team has an elite front line with Zeller and Henson, a front line that is dominate offensively, defensively and on the boards. They have a freshman backcourt duo that is playing damn near as well as anyone else. Marshall is a maestro with the ball in his hands and the Heels have lost only once with him in the starting lineup. Barnes is a bona fide scorer who can also defend and rebound, and he's proven to be all sorts of clutch.
They're also getting solid play from the role players: Leslie McDonald and Dexter Strickland in the backcourt, Justin Knox and Justin Watts in the frontcourt.
If they can stay healthy and keep Zeller, Henson, Barnes and Marshall out of foul trouble, this team is as talented as any and can go deep into March and early April. They're built to win in the tournament: Two really good guards, two really strong interior players and an absolutely dominant rebounding team. And they're playing as good as anyone heading into conference tournament play. So yeah, maybe Roy Williams' squad can be a Final Four team. They're certainly built for it if all the pieces fall in line, which lately they have.
The rise of Carolina and fall of Villanova have been well-documented. Flying under the radar nationally (as the entire Atlantic 10 usually does) has been the steady play of Temple. The Owls closed out their regular season by handling La Salle 90-82 to finish 24-6 overall and 14-2 in the A-10, a game behind Xavier to finish second in the conference. They are primed once again to win it all in Atlantic City, and then put a good fight up in the NCAA Tournament.
The biggest factor in Temple quietly running off 11 wins in 12 games since the loss at Xavier has been senior Lavoy Allen. Allen was expected to be a contender for A-10 Player of the Year but got off to a slow start statistically. He never really asserted himself offensively in the first half of the season and was happy to cede the spotlight to Ramone Moore or Scootie Randall or Khalif Wyatt or Juan Fernandez. But as the season wore on and Moore slumped a bit, Fernandez struggled and Randall got hurt, Lavoy has completely taken over.
Since the loss at Xavier, Allen has averaged 14.5 points and 11.9 rebounds a game. He's had double-doubles in nine of those games, including five straight with his 24 points and 11 rebounds Saturday against La Salle. He had 17 and 13 in the loss to Duke, 19 and 16 in a hard-fought win at George Washington, 14 and 18 at UMass. He's been an absolute beast of late, and that's why Temple is comfortably in the NCAA Tournament field and can only help their seeding in Atlantic City.
For his efforts, Lavoy was named First Team All A-10. Temple's all-time leading rebounder certainly earned it with his second-half play.
And there's more good news for the Owls. Khalif Wyatt was named A-10 Sixth Man of the Year, Ramone Moore made Second Team All A-10, and Scootie Randall was honored as well. Plus, Juan Fernandez has started to come alive again, evident by his 15 points and 7 assists against La Salle, including shooting 50 percent from the field and three. The Owls just keep moving right along.
And Talor Battle just keeps moving right along with his impressive play, despite the mediocrity of his team. It's going to take a minor miracle for Penn State to make the NCAA Tournament, something Battle's never been privileged to play in. He probably won't get that chance this year either (unless Penn State makes it to the Big Ten Championship game, I don't think they should make it), but that doesn't diminish his career.
Battle was named First Team All-Big Ten and rightfully so. He finished second behind Purdue's JaJuan Johnson in scoring, finishing just a tenth of a point behind with his 20.4 points per game. And more importantly, he made Penn State semi-relevant this year and has them firmly on the bubble.
It's nothing new for Battle. While the talent around him has been less than great, and the coaching of Ed DeChellis is laughable, Battle has been brilliant during his Penn State career. BSD said it best:
It sounds so cliche to say Talor Battle is one of those players that only comes around once in a lifetime, but it's true. He's one of only three players in NCAA history to score 2000 points, pull down 600 rebounds, and dish out 500 assists. He is one of those players that wants the ball in his hands when the game is on the line, and he's one of the few players that can deliver more often than not in that situation. He's a small guy that isn't afraid to get in the paint and mix it up with guys that have seven or eight inches on him. He bangs around and gets banged around, and yet he still plays more minutes than anyone in the country.
He has made watching Penn State basketball, never my favorite team to watch, fun. He's that good. Soon, he'll be Penn State's all-time leading scorer. As it stands, he has 2,119 points (16th all-time in the Big Ten), which is just 20 shy of surpassing Jesse Arnelle's school record of 2,138. With at least one Big Ten Tournament game and one NIT game, it's inevitable that he breaks the school record. He'll more than likely get there Thursday night against Indiana.
Over the years, Penn State basketball has meant so little to me. Even as an alum who absolutely loves college basketball, I could never bring myself to care more about Penn State basketball than Temple, UNC, Villanova and even St. Joe's. But Talor Battle drew me in more than anyone else before him ever did. It's been fun watching him make Penn State basketball enjoyable again. Sadly, his time is almost up, and he'll more than likely have gone these past four spectacular years without even so much as stepping foot on the court in an NCAA Tournament game.
Regardless, it's been a great career, one that certainly goes down in the record books. It's nice to see him rewarded for that.
A loss by North Carolina at home to Duke to drop both games in the season series with its hated rival could derail the young Tar Heels' confidence it had built up during this impressive streak.
As you know, neither one of those things happened. With a victory by Notre Dame, Pitt needed to beat Villanova to win the regular-season Big East title and earn the No. 1 seed in Madison Square Garden. That extra motivation proved lethal for Nova, as the Panthers won 60-50.
It was yet another example of how reliant the Wildcats are on Corey Stokes and Corey Fisher offensively. Stokes pulled a hamstring at practice last Thursday and for the second time this season couldn't suit up against Pitt. With Stokes out, Nova desperately needed Corey Fisher to come out of his three-game slump and score in bunches. He did not. At all.
Fisher was absolutely horrible yet again, going just 3-14 from the field for a measly 7 points.
It was an absolutely embarrassing effort from a big-time senior scorer.
During the course of his college career, I was often a pretty vocal critic of Scottie Reynolds. But one thing was certain with Reynolds, he was going to give Villanova a chance to win, even if he wasn't playing his best, against the big boys. I mean, who can ever forget this?
The guy was infuriating at times with his decision-making and shot selection, but he was a leader that would will Nova to hard-fought victories. As much as I like Corey Fisher, he's just not that guy. Yes, the Wildcats go as he and Corey Stokes go, but those guys just don't have that thing you can't quite describe that Scottie had. They don't rise to the big moments, the big challenges. They fade. And the rest of the Wildcats follow suit.
With Fisher struggling, it looked as though the rest of the Wildcats gave up with the exception for Maalik Wayns. Wayns, the next in line to take over as the man, scored 27 points and hit a rash of late threes to give Nova an ever so slight glimmer of hope. But he was alone. Not a single other Wildcat scored in double digits. In fact, Fisher was second on the team in scoring with his 7 points. Sorry, but that's just not showing enough passion and desire at the end of the season, especially during a rough patch and desperately needing a win.
Credit Pitt. They played great defense, holding Nova to 18 points in the first half and 50 for the game. They needed to win to be crowned Big East Champs, and they did. Even with their best effort, winning at Pitt with all that on the line for the Panthers was going to be a tough task. But to just really go down without a true fight, to drop their fourth game in a row and fall to 10th in the conference, it's disheartening to watch.
Villanova does get one more chance to try and get right before the NCAA Tournament, and it starts tonight against South Florida. If they lose this game, you can forget about any visions of a surprising NCAA run, and the way they're going, losing to South Florida isn't out of the realm of possibility.
One thing is for sure: If Nova has any hope of regaining its early-season form in the Garden, it needs Corey Fisher to play infinitely better, and it needs Corey Stokes healthy and effective.
We've all seen a team struggle late in the season and somehow catch fire come tournament time, so it's possible. But there's just something missing about this Nova team that it's had seemingly every year in the past. A lack of toughness, grit, passion, something. Probably a lack of senior leadership. Because it's hard to lead when the two guys you expect it from have been so up and down this late in the season.
Moving in the complete opposite direction is North Carolina. With Duke losing to Virginia Tech the weekend before, Saturday night's prime-time match-up between the Tar Heels and Blue Devils in Chapel Hill was for all the ACC marbles. Winner takes the regular-season championship and No. 1 seed in the ACC Tournament.
Just like in the first meeting, North Carolina jumped out to a double-digit first-half lead behind the steady hand of Kendall Marshall, shooting of Harrison Barnes and interior presence of John Henson and Tyler Zeller. Unlike the first meeting, however, UNC didn't fold in the second half. Even with Nolan Smith putting up 30 and Seth Curry adding 20, Carolina fed off its home crowd and held Duke at bay to win rather easily 81-67.
Marshall once again completely controlled the game at the point for Carolina. The freshman looked anything but a first-year college player. He put his foot on the gas pedal when Duke was on its heels and slowed things down when the Blue Devils seemed to be making a run. When it was all said and done, he finished with 15 points and 11 assists, shot 5-8 from the field, 1-2 from three and 4-5 from the line. And he was the one player that influenced the pace and momentum shifts more than anyone.
Inserting him into the starting lineup was the best thing Roy Williams has done all season, and it's the biggest reason Carolina is the regular-season ACC champs. I honestly can't say enough about him. If you haven't watched him play, do yourself a favor and tune in before the NCAA tournament so you can see what the opposition is in for against the Tar Heels.
Uncoincidentally, fellow freshman Harrison Barnes has really elevated his game to the next level with Marshall at the point. On Saturday, he was huge yet again.
In the first match-up, Barnes and Duke's star senior Kyle Singler guarded each other and essentially canceled each other out. Both players played such hounding defense that neither was effective offensively. So it was interesting to see what would happen Saturday.
Well, the two matched up once again most of the night guarding one another. And once again, both guys worked incredibly hard defensively to try and slow the other down. Only this time, Barnes was able to overcome Singler's defensive efforts to put up 18 points. Singler couldn't solve Barnes on the other end, going just 3-14 to finish with just 8 points. The second go-round, Barnes was able to outplay Singler offensively without letting up on the defensive end. It was quite an impressive performance.
Then you add Henson's double-double (10 and 12) and Zeller scoring 14 points on 7-11 shooting, and you can see why more and more analysts are calling UNC their dark horse for the Final Four.
Admittedly when I first heard those mentions, I thought, "No way." And when Kenny commented that "North Carolina WILL NOT SNIFF the Final Four," the other day, I agreed with him. But after Saturday night, I don't know.
I mean, think about it. This team has an elite front line with Zeller and Henson, a front line that is dominate offensively, defensively and on the boards. They have a freshman backcourt duo that is playing damn near as well as anyone else. Marshall is a maestro with the ball in his hands and the Heels have lost only once with him in the starting lineup. Barnes is a bona fide scorer who can also defend and rebound, and he's proven to be all sorts of clutch.
They're also getting solid play from the role players: Leslie McDonald and Dexter Strickland in the backcourt, Justin Knox and Justin Watts in the frontcourt.
If they can stay healthy and keep Zeller, Henson, Barnes and Marshall out of foul trouble, this team is as talented as any and can go deep into March and early April. They're built to win in the tournament: Two really good guards, two really strong interior players and an absolutely dominant rebounding team. And they're playing as good as anyone heading into conference tournament play. So yeah, maybe Roy Williams' squad can be a Final Four team. They're certainly built for it if all the pieces fall in line, which lately they have.
The rise of Carolina and fall of Villanova have been well-documented. Flying under the radar nationally (as the entire Atlantic 10 usually does) has been the steady play of Temple. The Owls closed out their regular season by handling La Salle 90-82 to finish 24-6 overall and 14-2 in the A-10, a game behind Xavier to finish second in the conference. They are primed once again to win it all in Atlantic City, and then put a good fight up in the NCAA Tournament.
The biggest factor in Temple quietly running off 11 wins in 12 games since the loss at Xavier has been senior Lavoy Allen. Allen was expected to be a contender for A-10 Player of the Year but got off to a slow start statistically. He never really asserted himself offensively in the first half of the season and was happy to cede the spotlight to Ramone Moore or Scootie Randall or Khalif Wyatt or Juan Fernandez. But as the season wore on and Moore slumped a bit, Fernandez struggled and Randall got hurt, Lavoy has completely taken over.
Since the loss at Xavier, Allen has averaged 14.5 points and 11.9 rebounds a game. He's had double-doubles in nine of those games, including five straight with his 24 points and 11 rebounds Saturday against La Salle. He had 17 and 13 in the loss to Duke, 19 and 16 in a hard-fought win at George Washington, 14 and 18 at UMass. He's been an absolute beast of late, and that's why Temple is comfortably in the NCAA Tournament field and can only help their seeding in Atlantic City.
For his efforts, Lavoy was named First Team All A-10. Temple's all-time leading rebounder certainly earned it with his second-half play.
And there's more good news for the Owls. Khalif Wyatt was named A-10 Sixth Man of the Year, Ramone Moore made Second Team All A-10, and Scootie Randall was honored as well. Plus, Juan Fernandez has started to come alive again, evident by his 15 points and 7 assists against La Salle, including shooting 50 percent from the field and three. The Owls just keep moving right along.
And Talor Battle just keeps moving right along with his impressive play, despite the mediocrity of his team. It's going to take a minor miracle for Penn State to make the NCAA Tournament, something Battle's never been privileged to play in. He probably won't get that chance this year either (unless Penn State makes it to the Big Ten Championship game, I don't think they should make it), but that doesn't diminish his career.
Battle was named First Team All-Big Ten and rightfully so. He finished second behind Purdue's JaJuan Johnson in scoring, finishing just a tenth of a point behind with his 20.4 points per game. And more importantly, he made Penn State semi-relevant this year and has them firmly on the bubble.
It's nothing new for Battle. While the talent around him has been less than great, and the coaching of Ed DeChellis is laughable, Battle has been brilliant during his Penn State career. BSD said it best:
It sounds so cliche to say Talor Battle is one of those players that only comes around once in a lifetime, but it's true. He's one of only three players in NCAA history to score 2000 points, pull down 600 rebounds, and dish out 500 assists. He is one of those players that wants the ball in his hands when the game is on the line, and he's one of the few players that can deliver more often than not in that situation. He's a small guy that isn't afraid to get in the paint and mix it up with guys that have seven or eight inches on him. He bangs around and gets banged around, and yet he still plays more minutes than anyone in the country.
He has made watching Penn State basketball, never my favorite team to watch, fun. He's that good. Soon, he'll be Penn State's all-time leading scorer. As it stands, he has 2,119 points (16th all-time in the Big Ten), which is just 20 shy of surpassing Jesse Arnelle's school record of 2,138. With at least one Big Ten Tournament game and one NIT game, it's inevitable that he breaks the school record. He'll more than likely get there Thursday night against Indiana.
Over the years, Penn State basketball has meant so little to me. Even as an alum who absolutely loves college basketball, I could never bring myself to care more about Penn State basketball than Temple, UNC, Villanova and even St. Joe's. But Talor Battle drew me in more than anyone else before him ever did. It's been fun watching him make Penn State basketball enjoyable again. Sadly, his time is almost up, and he'll more than likely have gone these past four spectacular years without even so much as stepping foot on the court in an NCAA Tournament game.
Regardless, it's been a great career, one that certainly goes down in the record books. It's nice to see him rewarded for that.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Harrison Barnes and the Tar Heels Make a Statement
About a month ago, I warned everyone that the Tar Heels are coming. Well, after a hard-fought victory against a defensively tenacious Florida State team last night, North Carolina is in position to win the regular season ACC championship. Saturday night's ultimate rivalry match-up with Duke in Chapel Hill will decide the conference winner.
Heading into last night's game, UNC knew it controlled its own destiny following Duke's surprising loss at Virginia Tech Saturday. And seeing as North Carolina had rolled Florida State by 20 in Chapel Hill and the Seminoles were without their best player in Chris Singleton, you had to like Carolina's chances.
However, this Florida State is a different animal at home than it is on the road. The Seminoles had only lost twice all season in Tallahassee — back-to-back losses to Florida and Ohio State — and those losses were back in November. Since, Florida State had been undefeated at home before last night, including a five-point victory over Duke that all but assured an NCAA tournament berth. The Seminoles just play better at home. Combine that with the emotions of senior night, a chance to avenge the embarrassing 20-point loss a month earlier to UNC, and the desire to prove they could win a big game even without their star player, and this game turned into a battle.
I have to tip my hat to the Seminoles. They played their hearts out last night and nearly knocked off the Tar Heels. The defensive intensity limited Tyler Zeller to just 9 points, every shot was contested, and on the offensive end, they took advantage of every North Carolina defensive lapse. But it wasn't quite enough.
The other night, I heard one of the ESPN announcers — I can't remember who off the top of my head, but I think it was Tom Brennan — say he thinks North Carolina is a Final Four team, with all that talent and length, and last night, Jason Williams reiterated those sentiments, saying UNC is his darkhorse Final Four team. The announcer, Brennan I think, said the key was John Henson, because when Henson really decides he wants to play, he makes them really tough to beat.
Guess what? John Henson decided to play last night.
Henson was everywhere in the first half last night. With Tyler Zeller held in check and getting in foul trouble later, Henson took his game to a whole new level. He set the tone for the Tar Heels early, putting up 12 points, 6 rebounds and 3 blocks in the first 20 minutes, and finished with 19, 12 and 3. Further, he was the one Tar Heel that was a disruptive force on the defensive end. His three blocks don't dictate just how many shots he altered. The Seminoles must have missed a dozen shots around the rim because of Henson's incredible length.
He simply went into beast mode last night, and a couple of freshmen helped him out.
UNC has lost just one game since inserting freshman point guard Kendall Marshall into the lineup, and last night he made some brilliant plays as the floor general again. He dished out 8 assists, and despite going just 3-10 from the field, he nailed a huge three late to put Carolina in position to win.
However, it wasn't all good for Marshall. Dick Vitale said it a couple times and I have to agree with him: Believe it or not, Marshall is a little too unselfish. That's an odd thing to say of a point guard, because that's the point guard's job, to be unselfish and get his teammates the ball in position for them to score. He does that incredibly well. But he's so focused on making the pass that he often passes up on great shots. At least three times he drove to the hoop and had what looked to be pretty easy shots, two times layups, but instead he dished off. And a few other times, he had shots to take but looked to pass, only to see no one was open. Then he'd throw up a shot he wasn't expecting to take, making it a lot more difficult than it should have been.
He needs to be more assertive with his own shot and become a better finisher around the rim. When he does that, he'll become truly one of the best guards in the country. A little seasoning would help too.
For all the great plays and smart decisions he's made this year, Marshall almost cost Carolina the game late with some huge freshman mistakes. After a basket by Florida State made it a one-point game with 1:55 remaining, Marshall tried to hurry back with a full-court pass. The only problem was three Seminoles were back, and the pass got picked off easily.
Then, after Dexter Strickland hit two free throws to put the Heels up by three, Marshall grabbed a rebound off a Florida State miss near the sidelines. He was immediately trapped, and this is where he really almost blew the game. There was just a little over a minute left when Marshall got that rebound. UNC was up by three and had four timeouts remaining. Four. All Marshall had to do in that instance, trapped by two bigger players with nowhere to go and no sight lines to make a pass, was call a timeout. Instead, he tried to make a pass, it was deflected and stolen, and Derwin Kitchen got a layup to make it a one-point game again. Horrible mistake.
To top it all off, Marshall, who hadn't really looked for his shot more than three or four times all night, decided to drive the ball to the hoop and shoot it himself with 18 seconds left and Carolina down a point. It was easily blocked right back into his face, and it nearly hit him on the way out of bounds. It was his third terrible decision in a row.
Luckily for Marshall, the ball didn't hit him on the way out, and his fellow freshman bailed him out.
It took a lot longer than people expected, but Harrison Barnes has been the player he was touted to be here in 2011.
He put up 18 huge points last night, going 6-10 from the field and 2-4 from three. But more important than his shooting percentage or final stat line is what happened at the end of that game.
At the beginning of the season, Barnes could not make a shot to save his life. He looked overwhelmed, overmatched and seemed to doubt himself. There was no confidence to be found. But as his shot came back to him and the Tar Heels started to win, Barnes' confidence has grown more and more. And last night, he did what the No. 1 recruit in the nation is supposed to do: He called for the ball with the game on line.
You could see in the huddle that Roy Williams was drawing up a play for Barnes. Barnes was animately talking to Roy, telling him he wanted the ball. And the coach obliged. Barnes inbounded the ball with 11 seconds left to Marshall, got it back from him, and the Tar Heels cleared out for him. This was Barnes' moment, the freshman one-on-one with his defender. You could see he had no intention of passing it. HIs shot was going to decide Carolina's face. There was no panic in Barnes' face, no fear or nervousness. Watching him, you could see the focus and purpose in his dribbles. The freshman calmly stared down his defender, backed him off the slightest bit, rose and drilled the game-winning three right in his face.
There is no self-doubt anymore, and no other doubters either. Harrison Barnes is all he was cracked up to be.
Now Carolina gets its rematch with Duke on Saturday, this time at home in the Dean Dome, for all the marbles. Who would have seen that coming at the beginning of the year, when Carolina lost back-to-back games to Minnesota and Vanderbilt, lost to Illinois, and Barnes couldn't make a shot?
Doesn't matter, because this is a completely different team with a completely different demeanor. Three months ago, the Tar Heels could not have won a game like last night's, especially with Zeller putting up just 9 and 4. But these Tar Heels can, and they're a victory away from winning the ACC.
Is it Saturday yet?
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
The Tar Heels Are Coming
Two seasons ago, Roy Williams was cutting down the nets for the second time as head coach of his alma mater. Then, just like the first time around, he lost damn near every major contributor to the team. In 2005, it was Jawad Williams, Sean May, Raymond Felton and Rashad McCants who went on to the NBA.
In 2008, it was Tywon Lawson, Wayne Ellington, Danny Green and Tyler Hansbrough who won their title and pursued the riches of the NBA.
North Carolina was able to weather the storm from losing a quartet of NBA players in 2005-06 thanks to talent that was still in place and a trio of freshmen that came in and contributed right away. David Noel provided senior leadership, juniors Wes Miller and Reyshawn Terry steadied the hand, and freshmen Tyler Hansbrough, Marcus Ginyard and Danny Green proved the Tar Heels were in good hands. They finished 23-8, 2nd in the ACC and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament before getting upset by Final Four-bound George Mason.
Last year they couldn't handle things the same way. For the first time under Roy Williams, the Tar Heels really struggled, so much so that they didn't even make the NCAA Tournament. There was no Tyler Hansbrough to inject new blood into the roster. There were no David Noels or Reyshawn Terrys to show the guys the ropes. Marcus Ginyard, the player expected to be that guy, spent nearly the entire year hurt. That left Deon Thompson, a role player on the national title team, and Will Graves, a player who spent his entire career in and out of Roy's doghouse, as the senior most members of the team. And Graves did such a great job as a leader that Roy Williams dismissed him from the team this year, when he would have been a fifth-year season.
The rest of the team was composed of incredibly young players not quite ready to take on such a heavy role. The season was a disaster. UNC finished 20-17 overall. They went just 5-11 in ACC play. And things were so bad that the Wear twins, David and Travis, transferred after the season.
Things were supposed to be different this year. North Carolina had the top-ranked high school player in the country coming in, a player so highly regarded that he was named to the preseason All-America team, coming in along with highly touted recruits Reggie Bullock and Kendall Marshall. Tyler Zeller was now a healthy junior looking to lead, and John Henson expected to take the next step.
But when the season kicked off, the Tar Heels stumbled out of the gates, and expectations were tempered again. Harrison Barnes struggled mightily to adjust to the college game to the point that he couldn't even hit a shot. The rotation looked stodgy and unimpressive. Carolina lost back-to-back games to Minnesota and Vanderbilt. They lost by double digits at Illinois.
But then something happened. They beat a talented Kentucky team that was ranked 10th in the nation and a few games later lost by only two to a Texas team that is now ranked third in the country. After that loss, they rattled off five straight wins, albeit against weak opponents. But that gave a young team confidence.
Still, it looked like it meant nothing after they got embarrassed by a bad Georgia Tech team, losing on the road by 20. However, as embarrassing as that loss was, it looks like it could be the turning point in North Carolina's season.
The very next game, Harrison Barnes hit the go-ahead 3-pointer late, and including that game he's averaged 18.8 points per game while shooting 51.5 percent from the field since. That includes 25 and 26 points in back-to-back games, and a game-high 17 in a 20-point win over Florida St. Sunday. It took him a little while, but lately he looks every bit like the player he was expected to be.
Complementing Barnes has been fellow freshman Kendall Marshall. Seeing that Larry Drew simply wasn't the answer, Williams turned the reigns over to Marshall. All he's done since is turn into Jason Kidd 2.0. He's provided such a steady hand while taking Drew's starting job that Drew has decided to leave the team. Marshall responded by handing out 16 assists Sunday and now leads the ACC at 6.3 assists per game.
All the sudden, North Carolina has won five straight and 10 of their last 11. They are very quietly sitting at 17-5 on the season, and just a half game behind Duke for the ACC lead at 7-1 in conference play. A win tonight at Cameron Indoor Stadium, and the Tar Heels will be in sole possession of first in the ACC.
Suddenly this game doesn't look like it will be as lopsided as we once thought. Duke, who many were talking about going undefeated this season, lost their freshman phenom point guard Kyrie Irving and have since lost to Florida St. and St. John's. Meanwhile the Tar Heels are in the midst of a hot streak, and just came off a demolition of the same Seminoles that were the first team to knock off the Blue Devils.
North Carolina is the No. 1 rebounding team in the ACC. That's largely due to the interior presence of Tyler Zeller, who has been UNC's best player all year, and John Henson's length. They also have the highest field goal percentage in the conference, with Henson leading the entire ACC shooting 58.4 percent. Henson also leads the conference in blocks at 3.1 a game.
Dexter Strickland has continued to improve in his sophomore season, and Justin Knox and Reggie Bullock have given UNC some quality bench minutes. This young team is finally coming into form. And if they can somehow manage to steal a victory tonight in one of the toughest places in the country to play, you better take notice.
No matter what the outcome tonight — victory or blowout defeat — it's safe to say the Tar Heels are coming. March is right around the corner, and this young team is playing its best basketball of the year. With a little more seasoning and a little more experience, they're only going to get better.
In 2008, it was Tywon Lawson, Wayne Ellington, Danny Green and Tyler Hansbrough who won their title and pursued the riches of the NBA.
North Carolina was able to weather the storm from losing a quartet of NBA players in 2005-06 thanks to talent that was still in place and a trio of freshmen that came in and contributed right away. David Noel provided senior leadership, juniors Wes Miller and Reyshawn Terry steadied the hand, and freshmen Tyler Hansbrough, Marcus Ginyard and Danny Green proved the Tar Heels were in good hands. They finished 23-8, 2nd in the ACC and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament before getting upset by Final Four-bound George Mason.
Last year they couldn't handle things the same way. For the first time under Roy Williams, the Tar Heels really struggled, so much so that they didn't even make the NCAA Tournament. There was no Tyler Hansbrough to inject new blood into the roster. There were no David Noels or Reyshawn Terrys to show the guys the ropes. Marcus Ginyard, the player expected to be that guy, spent nearly the entire year hurt. That left Deon Thompson, a role player on the national title team, and Will Graves, a player who spent his entire career in and out of Roy's doghouse, as the senior most members of the team. And Graves did such a great job as a leader that Roy Williams dismissed him from the team this year, when he would have been a fifth-year season.
The rest of the team was composed of incredibly young players not quite ready to take on such a heavy role. The season was a disaster. UNC finished 20-17 overall. They went just 5-11 in ACC play. And things were so bad that the Wear twins, David and Travis, transferred after the season.
Things were supposed to be different this year. North Carolina had the top-ranked high school player in the country coming in, a player so highly regarded that he was named to the preseason All-America team, coming in along with highly touted recruits Reggie Bullock and Kendall Marshall. Tyler Zeller was now a healthy junior looking to lead, and John Henson expected to take the next step.
But when the season kicked off, the Tar Heels stumbled out of the gates, and expectations were tempered again. Harrison Barnes struggled mightily to adjust to the college game to the point that he couldn't even hit a shot. The rotation looked stodgy and unimpressive. Carolina lost back-to-back games to Minnesota and Vanderbilt. They lost by double digits at Illinois.
But then something happened. They beat a talented Kentucky team that was ranked 10th in the nation and a few games later lost by only two to a Texas team that is now ranked third in the country. After that loss, they rattled off five straight wins, albeit against weak opponents. But that gave a young team confidence.
Still, it looked like it meant nothing after they got embarrassed by a bad Georgia Tech team, losing on the road by 20. However, as embarrassing as that loss was, it looks like it could be the turning point in North Carolina's season.
The very next game, Harrison Barnes hit the go-ahead 3-pointer late, and including that game he's averaged 18.8 points per game while shooting 51.5 percent from the field since. That includes 25 and 26 points in back-to-back games, and a game-high 17 in a 20-point win over Florida St. Sunday. It took him a little while, but lately he looks every bit like the player he was expected to be.
Complementing Barnes has been fellow freshman Kendall Marshall. Seeing that Larry Drew simply wasn't the answer, Williams turned the reigns over to Marshall. All he's done since is turn into Jason Kidd 2.0. He's provided such a steady hand while taking Drew's starting job that Drew has decided to leave the team. Marshall responded by handing out 16 assists Sunday and now leads the ACC at 6.3 assists per game.
All the sudden, North Carolina has won five straight and 10 of their last 11. They are very quietly sitting at 17-5 on the season, and just a half game behind Duke for the ACC lead at 7-1 in conference play. A win tonight at Cameron Indoor Stadium, and the Tar Heels will be in sole possession of first in the ACC.
Suddenly this game doesn't look like it will be as lopsided as we once thought. Duke, who many were talking about going undefeated this season, lost their freshman phenom point guard Kyrie Irving and have since lost to Florida St. and St. John's. Meanwhile the Tar Heels are in the midst of a hot streak, and just came off a demolition of the same Seminoles that were the first team to knock off the Blue Devils.
North Carolina is the No. 1 rebounding team in the ACC. That's largely due to the interior presence of Tyler Zeller, who has been UNC's best player all year, and John Henson's length. They also have the highest field goal percentage in the conference, with Henson leading the entire ACC shooting 58.4 percent. Henson also leads the conference in blocks at 3.1 a game.
Dexter Strickland has continued to improve in his sophomore season, and Justin Knox and Reggie Bullock have given UNC some quality bench minutes. This young team is finally coming into form. And if they can somehow manage to steal a victory tonight in one of the toughest places in the country to play, you better take notice.
No matter what the outcome tonight — victory or blowout defeat — it's safe to say the Tar Heels are coming. March is right around the corner, and this young team is playing its best basketball of the year. With a little more seasoning and a little more experience, they're only going to get better.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Why I'm Rooting for the Cavs
Let's face it, the Sixers aren't going to contend for a title anytime soon, especially this year, so there has to be some team to root for once the Sixers' season comes to a merciful end.
Earlier, I discussed my belief that the Cavs will win it all after acquiring Antawn Jamison via trade. Whether or not they do, I'll be rooting for them. Not so much because I want to see LeBron get his, but more because Cleveland employs four of my favorite college basketball players ever. I'd really love to see these guys hoist the Larry O'Brien Trophy with King James.
Antawn Jamison
Antawn wasn't just on one of my favorite college basketball teams of all time, he was its best player … and the best player in the country, winning the Naismith as the National Player of the Year. The 1997-98 Tar Heels were the single most visually appealing college basketball team I can remember watching. Vince Carter throwing down insane dunks. Ed Cota running the show. Brendan Haywood banging inside. Shammond Williams creating offense. Ademola Oklaja D-ing it up. Makhtar Ndiaye hitting the glass. And Jamison was the one who made it all go.
He had, without question, the quickest release I've ever witnessed in college basketball. When he got the ball down low, there wasn't anything anyone could do about it. Before the pass was even in his hands for a full second, it was up on the rim and most of the time in. It was impossible to block, because there wasn't a defender alive who could jump quick enough to get to it. The ball was out of his hands before the defender even knew he had it in the first place.
As Arkansas Fred told me today, "I still love Antawn the most."
I'd love to see him do what he couldn't do in college, win the whole damn thing. Now he has his best chance.
Delonte West
No matter what crazy things Delonte does, he will always hold a place in my heart as part of one of the greatest backcourts in college basketball history. And it happened at St. Joe's of all places, a small Philadelphia school not exactly known as a national power. That is, until Delonte traveled up 95 from Baltimore to team up with Chester product Jameer Nelson.
We all know about that team, what it accomplished with an undefeated regular season, No. 1 ranking, No. 1 seed with the National Player of the Year (Jameer), and ultimately the early demise. It was tough to take. But watching West's calm demeanor on the court and supreme confidence radiating from him and Nelson made the rise to prominence seem almost unsurprising. The guy was a quiet assassin, not playing Robin to Nelson's Batman, but playing Superman to Jameer's Batman or vice versa:
About the only thing that makes Jameer Nelson and Delonte West squirm, at this moment, is which moniker to use to refer to their magical on-court pairing. Dynamic Duo? Mantle and Maris? Batman and Robin is a bit ... problematic. "Me and Jameer have a joke about it," West laughs. "OK, if we're going to be Batman and Robin, then who is going to sit in the little cart beside the motorcycle? And I said, 'I ain't!' When the media says it's the Jameer Nelson and Delonte West show at Saint Joseph's, they have it all wrong: It takes five to make two. You can say it's Batman and Robin. Tango and Cash." West takes a long, theatrical pause, "How about ... Jordan and Pippen?" And cracks himself up.
"I think we both have to get a big car," Nelson laughs. "It's a Batman and Superman thing. We're both equals here," adds Nelson.
I ask Martelli what he thinks, and I get an answer that sounds like a Rick Majerus metaphor: "They're like a soft pretzel with mustard. But people wouldn't understand what a Philly soft pretzel is. So they're a Philly Cheesesteak with onions. That's what they are. And the bun has got to be toasted."
Now Delonte has a chance to do what he and Jameer, and Jamison for that matter, couldn't in college. Get to the summit and be the last one standing. With LeBron leading the way and Delonte still playing a quiet assassin role, the outlook is bright.
Jawad Williams
Unlike Jamison and West, Jawad knows what it feels like to be on top. He reached the promised land in 2005 as the senior leader on the North Carolina team that gave Roy Williams his first national championship.
Jawad Williams wasn't the best player on that team. Or the second best. Or even third best. But he was the glue that held the whole thing together. With a talented trio of juniors getting all the (deserved) attention — Sean May, Rashad McCants and Raymond Felton — and a supremely gifted freshman (Marvin Williams) getting a lot of shine, it was Jawad who was the leader. When the Tar Heels needed a big bucket, Williams would be there for them. When they needed a key rebound, Jawad would grab it. When they needed a momentum-changing or exclamation-point capping dunk, Williams was there to provide it. He hustled. He dove on the floor. He led by example, showing the immature guys how to handle themselves. Taking a cue from Jawad, McCants became less moody, May became more determined and Felton, well, he just kept on doing what he had been doing all along.
Certainly, the change from the terrifyingly awful coaching of Matt Doherty to Roy Williams was no doubt the catalyst to the title, but it would have never happened without Jawad. Take him off that squad, and they may not have even made it to the Final Four, let alone been able to handle an Illinois team led by Deron Williams, Dee Brown, Luther Head and James Augustine. He may not get a ton of run for the Cavs, but he's certainly a guy that can help you when called upon.
Danny Green
As I've stated multiple times before, Danny Green was my favorite player the past four years at North Carolina. He was another one of those do-it-all guys, with his signature plays being the three, the dunk and the block. He was the ultimate momentum-swinging moment guy, doing it with a deep three, a big dunk or an awesome block.
With UNC's struggles this season, many announcers reference the fact that the Tar Heels lost so much talent, namely Tyler Hansbrough, Ty Lawson and Wayne Ellington. Rarely do they mention Danny Green. Every time they do this, forgetting about Green, it drives me nuts, because without Danny Green, the Tar Heels don't win that national championship last season. No, they wouldn't have won it if they lost any of those other guys either, and all three were definitely better than Green — Lawson was the best, Hansbrough next, Ellington third and then Green — but he was the guy that always seemed to do whatever Roy Williams needed him to do. Sacrifice shots and defend? Check. Score? Check. Attack the glass? Check. He was the ultimate team guy, and he was definitely my favorite player on that squad.
In Cleveland, he's buried on the bench. But he's definitely a guy that will contribute in the NBA down the line.
And just for the hell of it, here's a video about Vince, Stack, Sheed and Antawn at UNC:
Earlier, I discussed my belief that the Cavs will win it all after acquiring Antawn Jamison via trade. Whether or not they do, I'll be rooting for them. Not so much because I want to see LeBron get his, but more because Cleveland employs four of my favorite college basketball players ever. I'd really love to see these guys hoist the Larry O'Brien Trophy with King James.
Antawn Jamison
Antawn wasn't just on one of my favorite college basketball teams of all time, he was its best player … and the best player in the country, winning the Naismith as the National Player of the Year. The 1997-98 Tar Heels were the single most visually appealing college basketball team I can remember watching. Vince Carter throwing down insane dunks. Ed Cota running the show. Brendan Haywood banging inside. Shammond Williams creating offense. Ademola Oklaja D-ing it up. Makhtar Ndiaye hitting the glass. And Jamison was the one who made it all go.
He had, without question, the quickest release I've ever witnessed in college basketball. When he got the ball down low, there wasn't anything anyone could do about it. Before the pass was even in his hands for a full second, it was up on the rim and most of the time in. It was impossible to block, because there wasn't a defender alive who could jump quick enough to get to it. The ball was out of his hands before the defender even knew he had it in the first place.
As Arkansas Fred told me today, "I still love Antawn the most."
I'd love to see him do what he couldn't do in college, win the whole damn thing. Now he has his best chance.
Delonte West
No matter what crazy things Delonte does, he will always hold a place in my heart as part of one of the greatest backcourts in college basketball history. And it happened at St. Joe's of all places, a small Philadelphia school not exactly known as a national power. That is, until Delonte traveled up 95 from Baltimore to team up with Chester product Jameer Nelson.
We all know about that team, what it accomplished with an undefeated regular season, No. 1 ranking, No. 1 seed with the National Player of the Year (Jameer), and ultimately the early demise. It was tough to take. But watching West's calm demeanor on the court and supreme confidence radiating from him and Nelson made the rise to prominence seem almost unsurprising. The guy was a quiet assassin, not playing Robin to Nelson's Batman, but playing Superman to Jameer's Batman or vice versa:
About the only thing that makes Jameer Nelson and Delonte West squirm, at this moment, is which moniker to use to refer to their magical on-court pairing. Dynamic Duo? Mantle and Maris? Batman and Robin is a bit ... problematic. "Me and Jameer have a joke about it," West laughs. "OK, if we're going to be Batman and Robin, then who is going to sit in the little cart beside the motorcycle? And I said, 'I ain't!' When the media says it's the Jameer Nelson and Delonte West show at Saint Joseph's, they have it all wrong: It takes five to make two. You can say it's Batman and Robin. Tango and Cash." West takes a long, theatrical pause, "How about ... Jordan and Pippen?" And cracks himself up.
"I think we both have to get a big car," Nelson laughs. "It's a Batman and Superman thing. We're both equals here," adds Nelson.
I ask Martelli what he thinks, and I get an answer that sounds like a Rick Majerus metaphor: "They're like a soft pretzel with mustard. But people wouldn't understand what a Philly soft pretzel is. So they're a Philly Cheesesteak with onions. That's what they are. And the bun has got to be toasted."
Now Delonte has a chance to do what he and Jameer, and Jamison for that matter, couldn't in college. Get to the summit and be the last one standing. With LeBron leading the way and Delonte still playing a quiet assassin role, the outlook is bright.
Jawad Williams
Unlike Jamison and West, Jawad knows what it feels like to be on top. He reached the promised land in 2005 as the senior leader on the North Carolina team that gave Roy Williams his first national championship.
Jawad Williams wasn't the best player on that team. Or the second best. Or even third best. But he was the glue that held the whole thing together. With a talented trio of juniors getting all the (deserved) attention — Sean May, Rashad McCants and Raymond Felton — and a supremely gifted freshman (Marvin Williams) getting a lot of shine, it was Jawad who was the leader. When the Tar Heels needed a big bucket, Williams would be there for them. When they needed a key rebound, Jawad would grab it. When they needed a momentum-changing or exclamation-point capping dunk, Williams was there to provide it. He hustled. He dove on the floor. He led by example, showing the immature guys how to handle themselves. Taking a cue from Jawad, McCants became less moody, May became more determined and Felton, well, he just kept on doing what he had been doing all along.
Certainly, the change from the terrifyingly awful coaching of Matt Doherty to Roy Williams was no doubt the catalyst to the title, but it would have never happened without Jawad. Take him off that squad, and they may not have even made it to the Final Four, let alone been able to handle an Illinois team led by Deron Williams, Dee Brown, Luther Head and James Augustine. He may not get a ton of run for the Cavs, but he's certainly a guy that can help you when called upon.
Danny Green
As I've stated multiple times before, Danny Green was my favorite player the past four years at North Carolina. He was another one of those do-it-all guys, with his signature plays being the three, the dunk and the block. He was the ultimate momentum-swinging moment guy, doing it with a deep three, a big dunk or an awesome block.
With UNC's struggles this season, many announcers reference the fact that the Tar Heels lost so much talent, namely Tyler Hansbrough, Ty Lawson and Wayne Ellington. Rarely do they mention Danny Green. Every time they do this, forgetting about Green, it drives me nuts, because without Danny Green, the Tar Heels don't win that national championship last season. No, they wouldn't have won it if they lost any of those other guys either, and all three were definitely better than Green — Lawson was the best, Hansbrough next, Ellington third and then Green — but he was the guy that always seemed to do whatever Roy Williams needed him to do. Sacrifice shots and defend? Check. Score? Check. Attack the glass? Check. He was the ultimate team guy, and he was definitely my favorite player on that squad.
In Cleveland, he's buried on the bench. But he's definitely a guy that will contribute in the NBA down the line.
And just for the hell of it, here's a video about Vince, Stack, Sheed and Antawn at UNC:
Thursday, February 11, 2010
How Do You Shoot the Devil(s) in the Back?
Well, one way is to come back from a 2-0 deficit and to win 3-2 not once, but twice. For the second time in as many games, the Flyers fell behind the Devils 2-0 only to rally by scoring the next three goals to win. This time, things started out even worse than the game on Monday, when just 45 seconds in Michael Leighton gave up one of the weakest goals I've ever seen.
Travis Zajac fired a seemingly harmless shot from above the circle, yet somehow the puck trickled through Leighton's legs and slowly crept in over the goal line. The most maddening part — besides the fact it was an incredibly shitty goal and should have been a more than routine save — was that Leighton never looked behind him, sure that he had it gobbled up. Michael Leighton never knows where the puck is, he's never sure that he has it, and he always, ALWAYS looks behind him on those types of saves. Yet this time he didn't, and it resulted in a goal. The puck was moving so slowly when it got through him that had he looked back, which he seemingly does all the damn time, he would have had plenty of time to cover it up and pull it back. But he didn't and the Flyers fell behind for the second straight game, this time just 44 seconds in. It sucked.
A garbage goal off of Leighton, then Timonen and then in put the Flyers in a 2-0 hole yet again. But they responded strongly with a goal by Arron Asham just 32 seconds later, and the Flyers had visions of another comeback. Though the game was pretty ugly the rest of the way, with penalties, unsustained pressure and limited opportunities for the Orange and Black. Though it did look like the Flyers tied things up:
When it happened live, I was simply amazed and stunned that Brodeur was able to get across and completely rob Scott Hartnell. I didn't even question whether or not it has crossed the line or not. In my mind, it was simply a great save. But Hartnell immediately pointed and asked the ref if it was in. Upon further review, it certainly looked as though the puck had crossed the line, but Brodeur's glove made it difficult to see conclusively. After watching it numerous times, however, I'm sure the puck was in. Positive. But I also was pretty sure they wouldn't overturn it and allow it, because the video evidence wasn't 100 percent clear. Unlucky break for sure, and after that, the Flyers looked slightly deflated, though not altogether inferior.
The Devils were getting the better of the play for sure. But knowing he owed it to his team after that softy he surrendered, Leighton blanked the Devils the rest of the way.
Jeff Carter, who has been the best skater for the Flyers in the new year, and arguably all season long, tied the game on a great shot to beat Marty.
The third period saw some chances by both teams, but not a whole lot happened. Then in overtime, while Simon Gagne was in the midst of by far the single most dominant shift of any player last night, Adam EatShit, who has been on Gagne's case for a while now, was letting him have it, especially after he fired a shot wide off a great give and go with a wide open net. "If he can't bury those chances, then he's worthless," he decreed. I disagreed, saying he was snakebitten for sure, but not playing altogether awfully like he claimed, plus it seemed like an inopportune time to call him out, seeing as we was completely killing it on that shift. Literally seconds later, Gagne threw it right back in Adam's face, ripping a patented Simon Gagne shot by Brodeur to end the game and give the Flyers the 3-2 victory and the two points they desperately needed (fast-forward to the 6:05 mark for the awesome shift):
That's how you shoot the Devil(s) in the back. Spot them two goals, then rip their hearts out. If you can get a historically potent goal-scorer out of his scoring slump in the process, all the better.
But what happens if you miss? Well, then you drop to an embarrassing 13-11 on the season and an even more embarrassing 2-7 in conference play just one year after being National Champs and winning the conference with ease. That's what happened to North Carolina last night, who stayed with Duke all night long … until crunch time. That's when the Blue Devils stepped up, specifically that rotten Jon Scheyer (who scored a game-high 24 points despite shooting just 7-20).
When it mattered, Scheyer snapped out of his funk and nailed some lethal shots, putting away an inexperienced, immature and flat out bad North Carolina team. Despite holding Duke to just 31.4 percent shooting, and keeping them under 30 percent shooting for most of the game, Carolina still couldn't pull out the victory. Despite Nolan Smith not scoring a single bucket in the first half and finishing with just 10 on 4-14 shooting, UNC still couldn't find a way to win. Despite playing at home and keeping pace with a far better Duke team for 37 minutes, UNC still couldn't even keep the score within single digits.
The reason? This team sucks. And Roy Williams is doing a horrible job coaching them, which he's admitted. First thing's first: Larry Drew II sucks. The Carolina backcourt sucks as a whole, but Drew really stands out because as the point guard, he has the ball in his hands all the time.
Saying he is a dropoff from Ty Lawson is the understatement of the century. It's like falling off the Grand Canyon. Sure, he's quick and fast, but he also can't shoot, can't dribble and can't pass. That last part is the most enraging part.
Ed Davis is UNC's best player. There is no disputing this. None. Yet last night he attempted just four shots (yes, an injury to the left-hander's left wrist certainly played a factor in the second half to that) and is averaging just 8.3 shot attempts a game. 8.3. For the team's best, most talented player. On a team that lacks any other reliable scorer, any real shooter and anyone else who converts at such a high rate (57.8 field goal percentage). I'm sorry, but that's just terrible. It's a terrible job coaching, a terrible job by his teammates and a terrible job by Davis. The sophomore should unquestionably demand the ball more, even if that goes against the Carolina unselfish way. There's no question about that.
But I lay more of the blame on Williams and the guards, Williams especially. Don't get me wrong, Roy Williams is a truly great, great coach. Hell, he's won two national championships and been to a ton of final fours. And I'm thrilled he's UNC's coach. But he should be running this team around its strengths, and this team's strength is unquestionably its front line. Davis is the best player. Deon Thompson is the team's second best player and also shoots over 50 percent from the field. Yet Davis is averaging just 8 shots a game and Thompson just 10. This makes no sense. None at all.
Routinely last night, Thompson and especially Davis were fighting for position down low, often getting it early. Yet time and time again, Drew and company failed to see them or failed to make the pass, instead passing around the perimeter or making foolish drives. It happened all night long. Davis and Thompson had position, wanted the ball, but it never came. The guards couldn't get the proper passing angles, didn't look for the bigs enough and basically played keep-away from their best teammates. Sure, that's on Drew and Dexter Strickland and Will Graves. They seem to lack the ability and/or basketball IQ to get those guys the ball in prime scoring positions. But it's more on Williams, and it's not the first time he's gone away from his most effective big man/men.
Everyone, especially here in Philadelphia, remembers the Allen Ray "Walk" game against UNC in the NCAA tournament in 2005. What they remember most is that Villanova pushed the No. 1 seed Tar Heels to the brink but ultimately came up short, thanks in large part to the phantom walk call on Ray. What seemingly no one recalls is that Sean May was absolutely murdering an undersized Nova team down low, scoring literally every time he touched the ball. Yet May only ended up with 14 points on nine shots because the Tar Heels went away from him. The game would have never even been that close, rendering the "walk" call either moot or nonexistent, had Roy Williams simply used his head and demanded his players to keep running the offense through May.
Of course, Roy and company learned their lesson from that game and went on to win the whole damn thing. But this season, he has yet to make that adjustment, and as a result Davis and Thompson are getting freezed out by their own teammates and the young Tar Heels, who were 11-3 just a few short weeks ago, now sit at 13-11, losing 8 of their last 10 games, and sit tied for dead last in the ACC, with the only chance of making the big dance now residing in an ACC Tournament victory that most assuredly won't come.
When your best two players combined to take just 11 field goals against the Blue Devils, you end up dead. And that's where UNC is now, left on the side of the road completely and utterly dead. Harrison Barnes and 2010-11 can't get here soon enough.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
'He's Been Getting His Hands on a Lot of Balls'
I knew Jeff Van Gundy wouldn't let me down in ESPN's switch, assigning the NBA crew of Van Gundy, Mark Jackson and Mike Breen to the North Carolina-Wake Forest game and the college crew of Dan Shulman and Dick Vitale to the Jazz-Spurs game, even though I had a feeling this young, struggling Tar Heels team would.
And Van Gundy did not disappoint. He began by blasting the college rule for a charge when a Carolina player slid under a Wake player as said Wake player was in the air attempting a shot, calling it a charge. That was a just a warm-up for his line of the night, regarding Wake Forest's senior center Chas McFarland, who finished the game with 10 rebounds and tipped many, many more: "What I like about McFarland is he's been getting his hands on a lot of balls …" Classic.
And he wasn't done. Later in the game, long after it became a boring, terrible contest as Wake began to pull away, Van Gundy went into a diatribe about how a player who spelled his name Chas can not go by Chase, which is how Chas McFarland pronounces his name, Chase, even though it's spelled Chas. Van Gundy shared with the world that his English teacher in elementary school taught him that the e makes the vowel a long vowel, so his name should be spelled Chase, not Chas, because Chas should be pronounced as Chaz. It was great. It really was. Van Gundy and Jackson have such a great rapport, as Jackson asked the name of Van Gundy's teacher again, he named her again (I can't remember her name, but it was something crazy) and then Van Gundy named the school and its address. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Jeff Van Gundy is great.
North Carolina, on the other hand, is not. With no Ed Davis, the Tar Heels stood little chance of containing a tough, physical Wake team. But it wasn't even the matchup inside that made the difference. It was the guard play. I've watched UNC enough this season to know that guard play is the problem, but I thought these guys would start to get better — after all, Larry Drew II is only a sophomore and Dexter Strickland just a freshman. But I can unequivocally say now that Larry Drew can't possibly be expected to run Roy Williams' fast-paced offense. The guy stinks. Sure, he's fast, but he's not a particularly good ball-handler, and his decision-making is beyond atrocious. I mean, the guy is averaging 3.3 turnovers a game, and of late, has been hovering around the 5 a game mark. Add to the fact that he's only a so-so outside shooter, and it's no wonder this team is struggling.
Roy went from two incredible, smart point guards in Raymond Felton and Tywon Lawson, two players who proved they were ready to handle the rigors of big-time college basketball and national media attention and all the pressure that goes along with being the point guard at North Carolina right from the start. Now I'm not saying Larry Drew can't get there, but he's miles behind where both Felton and Lawson were by their second year. Admittedly, they both got to start as freshmen and mature, whereas Drew played sparingly last season. And I'm not saying Drew isn't capable of getting there — he's already improved his shooting a great deal this season and in just his first year running the show — but he certainly doesn't look as poised, as confident, as good as the previous two point guards who owned the ACC and the nation.
Meanwhile, Wake's backcourt was having a field day. Ish Smith was a blur, reversing the role on UNC, pushing the ball nonstop and generating transition buckets all night long. He finished the game with 20 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists, and he basically did anything he wanted on the floor. Plus, his name is Ish. That's tits. Though Van Gundy did poke fun at him, because the guy is a point guard who shoots 44 percent from the free throw line. 44 percent. As a guard. That's not even worthy of making fun of. It's just sad. And embarrassing. And terrible. He should be ashamed of himself. But he's still awesome, and Jackson and Van Gundy were raving about him all night. He combined with C.J. Harris for 40 points on the night, as the freshman sharp shooter gave Wake the outside threat UNC lacks, nailing four of seven threes and making the Demon Deacons a nightmare to guard.
Guards have been Carolina's nightmare all season long — opposing ones and their own.
Now to a more serious note.
Samuel Dalembert has long been a whipping boy for basketball fans around these parts. Through no fault of his own, Billy King paid him an insane amount of money, and fans always like to point out his faults: too inconsistent, moody, undisciplined, foul prone, goaltending habits, spacing out, etc. Watching him go on stretches where he tears up the league and posts double-doubles on the regular makes it even more maddening, because that shows he's capable of doing it but incapable to sustaining it over the course of a season.
But if ever there was a player worth overpaying on a human level, it's Samuel Dalembert. By all accounts, Dalembert is one of the nicest, most congenial gentlemen roaming the face of the earth. Not a single person who has met him has ever uttered an unkind word about him as a person, as far as I can tell. And he's showing just how big his heart is right now, both on and off the court. If you were anywhere near a television last night when the Sixers were taking on the Trail Blazers, you know Dalembert arrived in Philadelphia just before game time because after the team's loss on Monday, he flew to Haiti to do anything he could and didn't get back until just before game time. There's an excellent read by Henry Abbott on it.
Dalembert is using his enormous amount of money to help in any way he can in his homeland, after Haiti was hit with a catastrophic earthquake. Last Friday, he matched all proceeds fans donated at the game against the Kings. Since, he's been getting the word out, making visits, doing all he can. He's proving he's truly one of the good guys in the game.
And the remarkable part about all of this is how he's been able to handle all of this and continue to do his job. And to do it well. Yes, he started his fine play before tragedy struck in Haiti, but he's continued to played at the high level that you'd expect from a $50 million man. Last night, despite running on no sleep and arriving mere minutes before tipoff, Dalembert recorded another double-double in the loss to Portland, posting 10 points and 15 rebounds. It was his 10th double-double of the season, and his fourth straight. He's in the top 20 in the NBA in rebounding with 9.3 a game, and if he can come anywhere close to keeping up his recent pace, he'll finish in double digits in rebounds at year's end. He looks like a new man.
On the court, that is. Because off it, he's still the same gentle giant, destined to make the world a better place. He's doing his best right now, fighting through personal turmoil and disheartening destruction in his homeland to lend a helping hand, all while continuing to give it his all in his day (night?) job.
He may be a frustrating player, but Samuel Dalembert is good people. Maybe right now would be a good time to at least acknowledge that.
Shifting gears again here, I'd like to talk about the toast of the town in college basketball — Temple and Villanova. As it turns out, the leading candidates for A-10 and Big East Player of the Year honors reside in the 215 and 610 area codes. For all the grief I've given Scottie Reynolds over the years for his up-and-down play and sometimes questionable decision-making, the guy is having a flat-out phenomenal senior season for Villanova.
He's been every bit the leader he's expected to be, and he's been so much more. Over the past three seasons, I've chastised Reynolds for not getting one ounce better since the day he stepped foot on the Villanova campus as a freshman. He came in as a very fine player, winning Big East rookie of the year, and continued to be a fine player. But he never seemed to get better. Well, this season he has. He's taken that next step, becoming a truly awesome college player.
The transformation probably began with his shot against Pitt that sent the Wildcats to the Final Four. Maybe it didn't but it doesn't matter. Scottie Reynolds has finally elevated his game to a level that has everyone taking notice. Perhaps it was just Scottie needing to grow up, needing to become a man, which he certainly has. Dana O'Neil, former Daily News sportswriter and current ESPN college basketball writer, wrote a great article on just that, which I first was made aware of by Dom at Big Five Post. I suggest you go read it. Every word of it. It's really good.
Just like Temple and Ryan Brooks have been really good. Like, really, really good. Last night, Temple took on Xavier with nothing but the top overall seed in the A-10 on the line. Both the Owls and Musketeers headed into the game undefeated in conference play. I was pretty excited to watch at least some of it. After all, Temple headed into the game at 15-3, had already knocked off Villanova, damn near knocked off Georgetown and was now ready to stake its claim as the class of the A-10. One problem: The fucking game wasn't on. Someone please explain this to me. How is the best team in Philadelphia (yeah, I said best — they beat Nova) nowhere to be found on Comcast when the Owls are taking on the other top dog in their conference, and both are undefeated in conference play? OK, I get that it wasn't on ESPN or ESPN2, there are other games and other big-time conferences, and the Sixers were on Comcast SportsNet. I get that. But, uh, what exactly is the Comcast Network for if not to air games like this? Instead of putting on Temple in a huge game, the Comcast Network aired freakin James Madison-Drexel. Guess how many people watched that game in Philadelphia? Drexel students and alums. That's it. Guess how many people would have opted to watch Temple take on Xavier over just about anything, especially the Sixers? A ton. What a dumb cable company. I hate you Comcast. You really dropped the ball on that one.
Because the evil cable company hates us, we didn't get to watch as Temple got its biggest win since beating Villanova and definitely best victory in the conference this season, topping Xavier 77-72. LaVoy Allen had a monster game with 16 points, 7 boards, 4 assists and 2 blocks. Juan Fernandez continued to add firepower, putting up 15 points, and did his best Pep Sanchez impression with 7 assists and 2 steals. And Luis Guzman even chipped in with 10 points and just one turnover. But again, the Owls were led by senior Ryan Brooks, who scored 22 points on 7-12 from the field and 8-9 from the line while also hauling in 7 boards.
The past three years, Temple has been Dionte Christmas' team. He was the man, he was the go-to guy, he was the leading scorer who terrorized the Atlantic-10. When he left following his senior season, no one knew just where Temple would turn to to replace those points and that leadership. Turns out, they just had to look toward the other starting guard, who has been playing the role of sidekick before this year. With Christmas gone, Brooks has taken his game to new heights. He is Temple's leading scorer at 16.4 points per game, combining with Fernandez to make up for those buckets Dionte took with him. Beyond that, he's also averaging 5.4 rebounds, 2.6 assists and nearly a steal a game, contributing with his scoring, playmaking and tremendous defense. Essentially, he's doing it all for an Owls team no one thought would be sitting at 16-3 and undefeated in the conference through 19 games. Yet here we are, with Ryan Brooks leading the way for the best team in the Atlantic-10. Read about his rise here, as Mike Kern brilliantly lays out how Brooks has gone from afterthought to Fran Dunphy's prized recruit.
I guess you can say, between all his scoring, passing, rebounding and deflections/steals on defense, he gets his hands on a lot of balls.
And Van Gundy did not disappoint. He began by blasting the college rule for a charge when a Carolina player slid under a Wake player as said Wake player was in the air attempting a shot, calling it a charge. That was a just a warm-up for his line of the night, regarding Wake Forest's senior center Chas McFarland, who finished the game with 10 rebounds and tipped many, many more: "What I like about McFarland is he's been getting his hands on a lot of balls …" Classic.
And he wasn't done. Later in the game, long after it became a boring, terrible contest as Wake began to pull away, Van Gundy went into a diatribe about how a player who spelled his name Chas can not go by Chase, which is how Chas McFarland pronounces his name, Chase, even though it's spelled Chas. Van Gundy shared with the world that his English teacher in elementary school taught him that the e makes the vowel a long vowel, so his name should be spelled Chase, not Chas, because Chas should be pronounced as Chaz. It was great. It really was. Van Gundy and Jackson have such a great rapport, as Jackson asked the name of Van Gundy's teacher again, he named her again (I can't remember her name, but it was something crazy) and then Van Gundy named the school and its address. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Jeff Van Gundy is great.
North Carolina, on the other hand, is not. With no Ed Davis, the Tar Heels stood little chance of containing a tough, physical Wake team. But it wasn't even the matchup inside that made the difference. It was the guard play. I've watched UNC enough this season to know that guard play is the problem, but I thought these guys would start to get better — after all, Larry Drew II is only a sophomore and Dexter Strickland just a freshman. But I can unequivocally say now that Larry Drew can't possibly be expected to run Roy Williams' fast-paced offense. The guy stinks. Sure, he's fast, but he's not a particularly good ball-handler, and his decision-making is beyond atrocious. I mean, the guy is averaging 3.3 turnovers a game, and of late, has been hovering around the 5 a game mark. Add to the fact that he's only a so-so outside shooter, and it's no wonder this team is struggling.
Roy went from two incredible, smart point guards in Raymond Felton and Tywon Lawson, two players who proved they were ready to handle the rigors of big-time college basketball and national media attention and all the pressure that goes along with being the point guard at North Carolina right from the start. Now I'm not saying Larry Drew can't get there, but he's miles behind where both Felton and Lawson were by their second year. Admittedly, they both got to start as freshmen and mature, whereas Drew played sparingly last season. And I'm not saying Drew isn't capable of getting there — he's already improved his shooting a great deal this season and in just his first year running the show — but he certainly doesn't look as poised, as confident, as good as the previous two point guards who owned the ACC and the nation.
Meanwhile, Wake's backcourt was having a field day. Ish Smith was a blur, reversing the role on UNC, pushing the ball nonstop and generating transition buckets all night long. He finished the game with 20 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists, and he basically did anything he wanted on the floor. Plus, his name is Ish. That's tits. Though Van Gundy did poke fun at him, because the guy is a point guard who shoots 44 percent from the free throw line. 44 percent. As a guard. That's not even worthy of making fun of. It's just sad. And embarrassing. And terrible. He should be ashamed of himself. But he's still awesome, and Jackson and Van Gundy were raving about him all night. He combined with C.J. Harris for 40 points on the night, as the freshman sharp shooter gave Wake the outside threat UNC lacks, nailing four of seven threes and making the Demon Deacons a nightmare to guard.
Guards have been Carolina's nightmare all season long — opposing ones and their own.
Now to a more serious note.
Samuel Dalembert has long been a whipping boy for basketball fans around these parts. Through no fault of his own, Billy King paid him an insane amount of money, and fans always like to point out his faults: too inconsistent, moody, undisciplined, foul prone, goaltending habits, spacing out, etc. Watching him go on stretches where he tears up the league and posts double-doubles on the regular makes it even more maddening, because that shows he's capable of doing it but incapable to sustaining it over the course of a season.
But if ever there was a player worth overpaying on a human level, it's Samuel Dalembert. By all accounts, Dalembert is one of the nicest, most congenial gentlemen roaming the face of the earth. Not a single person who has met him has ever uttered an unkind word about him as a person, as far as I can tell. And he's showing just how big his heart is right now, both on and off the court. If you were anywhere near a television last night when the Sixers were taking on the Trail Blazers, you know Dalembert arrived in Philadelphia just before game time because after the team's loss on Monday, he flew to Haiti to do anything he could and didn't get back until just before game time. There's an excellent read by Henry Abbott on it.
Dalembert is using his enormous amount of money to help in any way he can in his homeland, after Haiti was hit with a catastrophic earthquake. Last Friday, he matched all proceeds fans donated at the game against the Kings. Since, he's been getting the word out, making visits, doing all he can. He's proving he's truly one of the good guys in the game.
And the remarkable part about all of this is how he's been able to handle all of this and continue to do his job. And to do it well. Yes, he started his fine play before tragedy struck in Haiti, but he's continued to played at the high level that you'd expect from a $50 million man. Last night, despite running on no sleep and arriving mere minutes before tipoff, Dalembert recorded another double-double in the loss to Portland, posting 10 points and 15 rebounds. It was his 10th double-double of the season, and his fourth straight. He's in the top 20 in the NBA in rebounding with 9.3 a game, and if he can come anywhere close to keeping up his recent pace, he'll finish in double digits in rebounds at year's end. He looks like a new man.
On the court, that is. Because off it, he's still the same gentle giant, destined to make the world a better place. He's doing his best right now, fighting through personal turmoil and disheartening destruction in his homeland to lend a helping hand, all while continuing to give it his all in his day (night?) job.
He may be a frustrating player, but Samuel Dalembert is good people. Maybe right now would be a good time to at least acknowledge that.
Shifting gears again here, I'd like to talk about the toast of the town in college basketball — Temple and Villanova. As it turns out, the leading candidates for A-10 and Big East Player of the Year honors reside in the 215 and 610 area codes. For all the grief I've given Scottie Reynolds over the years for his up-and-down play and sometimes questionable decision-making, the guy is having a flat-out phenomenal senior season for Villanova.
He's been every bit the leader he's expected to be, and he's been so much more. Over the past three seasons, I've chastised Reynolds for not getting one ounce better since the day he stepped foot on the Villanova campus as a freshman. He came in as a very fine player, winning Big East rookie of the year, and continued to be a fine player. But he never seemed to get better. Well, this season he has. He's taken that next step, becoming a truly awesome college player.
The transformation probably began with his shot against Pitt that sent the Wildcats to the Final Four. Maybe it didn't but it doesn't matter. Scottie Reynolds has finally elevated his game to a level that has everyone taking notice. Perhaps it was just Scottie needing to grow up, needing to become a man, which he certainly has. Dana O'Neil, former Daily News sportswriter and current ESPN college basketball writer, wrote a great article on just that, which I first was made aware of by Dom at Big Five Post. I suggest you go read it. Every word of it. It's really good.
Just like Temple and Ryan Brooks have been really good. Like, really, really good. Last night, Temple took on Xavier with nothing but the top overall seed in the A-10 on the line. Both the Owls and Musketeers headed into the game undefeated in conference play. I was pretty excited to watch at least some of it. After all, Temple headed into the game at 15-3, had already knocked off Villanova, damn near knocked off Georgetown and was now ready to stake its claim as the class of the A-10. One problem: The fucking game wasn't on. Someone please explain this to me. How is the best team in Philadelphia (yeah, I said best — they beat Nova) nowhere to be found on Comcast when the Owls are taking on the other top dog in their conference, and both are undefeated in conference play? OK, I get that it wasn't on ESPN or ESPN2, there are other games and other big-time conferences, and the Sixers were on Comcast SportsNet. I get that. But, uh, what exactly is the Comcast Network for if not to air games like this? Instead of putting on Temple in a huge game, the Comcast Network aired freakin James Madison-Drexel. Guess how many people watched that game in Philadelphia? Drexel students and alums. That's it. Guess how many people would have opted to watch Temple take on Xavier over just about anything, especially the Sixers? A ton. What a dumb cable company. I hate you Comcast. You really dropped the ball on that one.
Because the evil cable company hates us, we didn't get to watch as Temple got its biggest win since beating Villanova and definitely best victory in the conference this season, topping Xavier 77-72. LaVoy Allen had a monster game with 16 points, 7 boards, 4 assists and 2 blocks. Juan Fernandez continued to add firepower, putting up 15 points, and did his best Pep Sanchez impression with 7 assists and 2 steals. And Luis Guzman even chipped in with 10 points and just one turnover. But again, the Owls were led by senior Ryan Brooks, who scored 22 points on 7-12 from the field and 8-9 from the line while also hauling in 7 boards.
The past three years, Temple has been Dionte Christmas' team. He was the man, he was the go-to guy, he was the leading scorer who terrorized the Atlantic-10. When he left following his senior season, no one knew just where Temple would turn to to replace those points and that leadership. Turns out, they just had to look toward the other starting guard, who has been playing the role of sidekick before this year. With Christmas gone, Brooks has taken his game to new heights. He is Temple's leading scorer at 16.4 points per game, combining with Fernandez to make up for those buckets Dionte took with him. Beyond that, he's also averaging 5.4 rebounds, 2.6 assists and nearly a steal a game, contributing with his scoring, playmaking and tremendous defense. Essentially, he's doing it all for an Owls team no one thought would be sitting at 16-3 and undefeated in the conference through 19 games. Yet here we are, with Ryan Brooks leading the way for the best team in the Atlantic-10. Read about his rise here, as Mike Kern brilliantly lays out how Brooks has gone from afterthought to Fran Dunphy's prized recruit.
I guess you can say, between all his scoring, passing, rebounding and deflections/steals on defense, he gets his hands on a lot of balls.
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Dexter and the Answer
So last night I got a basketball double-header to go along with some Monday Night Football. In the early tilt, I watched the No. 9 North Carolina Tar Heels outlast Rutgers, and then witnessed the Philadelphia 76ers somehow manage to pull away from the Portland Trail Blazers in the second half to win 104-93 in the Rose Garden. Neither game went quite as I expected.
It all began with Rutgers-UNC, which was tight in the first half, with UNC's young backcourt continuing to make freshmen/sophomore mistakes with turnovers and questionable decisions. As frustrating as it is watching the Tar Heels' guard play this season after being treated to three seasons of Ty Lawson and Wayne Ellington, the thing that was bothering me the most was trying to figure out if Rutgers center Hamady Ndiaye is related to former UNC forward Makhtar Ndiaye.
From left to right: Vince Carter, Antawn Jamison, Makhtar Ndiaye and George Lynch
Carter, Julius Peppers, Ndiaye, Jamison
Now, there is no known relation between Makhtar and Hamady as far as I can tell, but they're both from Dakar, Senegal, both play/played Division I basketball and both went to prep schools. I have to believe they are related somehow. I refuse to believe otherwise.
Anyway, the game itself looked like it was getting out of reach for Rutgers, as UNC used its size and strength to build a 16-point lead. But that lead shrunk to four, as Mike Rosario went off. If you haven't seen the 6'3" sophomore from Jersey City play, trust me when I say this kid can ball. He has a stupid-ass semi-mohawk haircut, but the guy can fill it up. He was giving Carolina fits in the second half, along with Jonathan Mitchell.
During that stretch where a 16-point lead became 4, the Tar Heels looked plain awful. Ed Davis, who has been projected as a top 10 pick, looked tentative and uncharacteristically missed several easy bunnies, finishing just 3-9 from the field. The sophomore is nowhere near ready for the NBA. He hasn't even established himself enough on the college level as far as I'm concerned. He did nab 15 rebounds though, so that's a pretty damn good start, and down the stretch, he and Tyler Zeller pretty much gobbled up every board, which allowed UNC to take control at the end.
But the player who stood out for the Tar Heels was true freshman Dexter Strickland. Make no mistake, this team is run by Larry Drew II, who made some key plays, but Dexter Strickland is this team's wildcard in the backcourt. Last night, he took over the game down the stretch, hitting a back-breaking three that Rutgers was daring him to take after the Scarlet Knights had just cut UNC's lead to four. That trey pushed it back to 7, and Carolina never looked back.
The thing that was so impressive about Strickland last night was his speed and confidence. Now, very few human beings who pick up a basketball can match the speed and quickness that Ty Lawson displayed in his three seasons in Chapel Hill, but Strickland isn't all that far behind. Touted mainly as a shooter, that part of his game wasn't mentioned or perhaps wasn't there when he was in high school. Hell, it wasn't there early in the year, but since beating Michigan State, Strickland has shown the explosiveness that this backcourt desperately needs, especially in Roy Williams' run, run, run system. Strickland gave Carolina that last night, and he demanded the ball down the stretch, showing no fear as a freshman. You could see his confidence grow with each bucket. He finished with a team-high 18 points on 6-8 shooting and 5-6 from the line. And he was the best player on the floor wearing baby blue.
Of course, the Heels had the superior athletes and more depth, evident by the six players who scored in double digits (Drew 10, Davis 11, Deon Thompson 14, Will Graves 10, Strickland 18, Zeller 10). But that game continued to prove that this will be a trying year watching North Carolina. Even with Strickland improving and looking confident, and Larry Drew playing steadier ball, the guards simply aren't as good as people have grown accustomed to at North Carolina. But they're still a big team with a ton of depth and ranked in the top 10, so it's not exactly a down year either. We'll have to wait and see just what we can expect from this squad in 2010.
For the Sixers, however, it has been a down year. A way down year. My main reason for wanting to stay up and watch the game last night was to see Brandon Roy do his thing and see a talented Blazers team that had won four in a row. I don't get to watch nearly as many Portland games as I'd like.
But once the game started, I could tell the Sixers had come to play, not just concede a victory to the Blazers. Allen Iverson came out and scored six points in the first quarter of his first game back from knee arthritis, and the Sixers were hanging tough. Sure, Roy was getting his and the Blazers took a lead into halftime, but the Sixers were making Roy and the Blazers work for everything and sticking with them, heading into halftime a very confident team.
And that confidence carried right on over to the second half. The Sixers came out on fire, putting up 34 points in the 3rd while getting contributions from everyone: Brand led everyone with 10 in quarter, Iggy added 7, Dalembert and Lou Will each had four, Al and Speights each had 2 and Royal Ivey even had a cameo, scoring 5 points on a three and a buzzer-beating two to close out the quarter. The Sixers looked enthused, excited and good. As a result, a six-point deficit turned into a 4-point lead heading into the final 12 minutes. And this time, the team that couldn't close out games finally did. And they did so because of Allen Iverson.
All season long, this team has been in games, but they haven't been able to finish them. For all the good Andre Iguodala does, and he does plenty of good, he hasn't been able to carry a team on his shoulders down the stretch. Neither has Brand. Or Speights. Or Thad. Or anyone. Allen Iverson has been doing that his entire career, and he did it again last night, scoring a team-high 9 points in the final quarter. And the Sixers followed suit, closing out a talented Blazers team on the road.
Say what you will about Allen Iverson's age, his past, his deficiencies. Last night proved that with a full complement of players, the Sixers are better with Allen Iverson than without him. He knows how to close, and he showed his younger teammates how to do just that last night.
Uncoincidentally, the Sixers played perhaps their best game of the season last night. Everyone contributed, everyone chipped in. And Allen Iverson was a big part of that. A.I. scored 19 points on a very efficient, very unselfish 7-11 from the floor. He got to the line a game-high seven times (tied with Brandon Roy), nabbed three rebounds and dished out five assists in 31 minutes of action. He looked a lot like the Iverson of old, swishing home jumpers, attacking the rim … and looked a lot like a newer, older, wiser Iverson at the same time, dishing out 5 assists, not taking any wild, contested shots, playing selfless basketball, not selfish basketball. And the whole team benefitted.
Elton Brand was aggressive, assertive and dominant. He scored a game-high 25 points on 11-16 shooting, nabbing 9 boards in the process. Andre Iguodala had an insane floor game, putting up 14 points, 7 boards, 9 assists, a steal, two threes, and shooting 6-13 from the field, all while playing 43 minutes and hounding Brandon Roy on the defensive end. Samuel Dalembert continued to show he absolutely loves playing with Iverson, putting up 14 points and 8 boards himself on 7-9 shooting, and not committing a slew of boneheaded fouls. He just seems to be more interested, to play harder, better when Iverson is in the lineup. Lou Will didn't have a great game stats-wise, but he did play 35 minutes, wasn't forcing the issue, and added five boards, five dimes and 3 steals to his 9 points. And Speights and Ivey were fantastic. Marreese rebounded from his awful game in Utah by hitting 7-8 from the field for 14 points, and Ivey came in, hit those two buckets in the third, nabbed three boards and dished out two assists in 16 and a half minutes of play, putting up a +15 for the night.
Iverson's presence helped everyone out last night. If you watched the game, that was abundantly clear. Yes, it did take away playing time from Jrue Holiday, who only saw 11 minutes of action, and yes, Willie Green and Jason Kapono got DNPs, and yes, in the end, this may hinder the draft position and slow up the progress of Holiday. But dammit, it was fun to watch the Sixers play such a great game. To beat a good team on the road. To show signs of the team that for two seasons running has made the playoffs and given far superior teams a scare in the first round. Even in the midst of a terrible season, even with the hopes of scoring a high draft pick, even while dreaming of John Wall or Derrick Favors, losing is never fun to watch, never fun to expect, never fun to accept. Last night was fun. And if it wasn't fun for you, maybe you aren't as big of a Sixers or basketball fan as you thought.
No, Allen Iverson isn't the answer to a championship. He may not even be the answer to turning the season around, to making a playoff push. But he is the answer to more entertaining basketball, and he makes the 76ers better. Last night was proof of that.
It all began with Rutgers-UNC, which was tight in the first half, with UNC's young backcourt continuing to make freshmen/sophomore mistakes with turnovers and questionable decisions. As frustrating as it is watching the Tar Heels' guard play this season after being treated to three seasons of Ty Lawson and Wayne Ellington, the thing that was bothering me the most was trying to figure out if Rutgers center Hamady Ndiaye is related to former UNC forward Makhtar Ndiaye.
From left to right: Vince Carter, Antawn Jamison, Makhtar Ndiaye and George Lynch
Carter, Julius Peppers, Ndiaye, Jamison
Now, there is no known relation between Makhtar and Hamady as far as I can tell, but they're both from Dakar, Senegal, both play/played Division I basketball and both went to prep schools. I have to believe they are related somehow. I refuse to believe otherwise.
Anyway, the game itself looked like it was getting out of reach for Rutgers, as UNC used its size and strength to build a 16-point lead. But that lead shrunk to four, as Mike Rosario went off. If you haven't seen the 6'3" sophomore from Jersey City play, trust me when I say this kid can ball. He has a stupid-ass semi-mohawk haircut, but the guy can fill it up. He was giving Carolina fits in the second half, along with Jonathan Mitchell.
During that stretch where a 16-point lead became 4, the Tar Heels looked plain awful. Ed Davis, who has been projected as a top 10 pick, looked tentative and uncharacteristically missed several easy bunnies, finishing just 3-9 from the field. The sophomore is nowhere near ready for the NBA. He hasn't even established himself enough on the college level as far as I'm concerned. He did nab 15 rebounds though, so that's a pretty damn good start, and down the stretch, he and Tyler Zeller pretty much gobbled up every board, which allowed UNC to take control at the end.
But the player who stood out for the Tar Heels was true freshman Dexter Strickland. Make no mistake, this team is run by Larry Drew II, who made some key plays, but Dexter Strickland is this team's wildcard in the backcourt. Last night, he took over the game down the stretch, hitting a back-breaking three that Rutgers was daring him to take after the Scarlet Knights had just cut UNC's lead to four. That trey pushed it back to 7, and Carolina never looked back.
The thing that was so impressive about Strickland last night was his speed and confidence. Now, very few human beings who pick up a basketball can match the speed and quickness that Ty Lawson displayed in his three seasons in Chapel Hill, but Strickland isn't all that far behind. Touted mainly as a shooter, that part of his game wasn't mentioned or perhaps wasn't there when he was in high school. Hell, it wasn't there early in the year, but since beating Michigan State, Strickland has shown the explosiveness that this backcourt desperately needs, especially in Roy Williams' run, run, run system. Strickland gave Carolina that last night, and he demanded the ball down the stretch, showing no fear as a freshman. You could see his confidence grow with each bucket. He finished with a team-high 18 points on 6-8 shooting and 5-6 from the line. And he was the best player on the floor wearing baby blue.
Of course, the Heels had the superior athletes and more depth, evident by the six players who scored in double digits (Drew 10, Davis 11, Deon Thompson 14, Will Graves 10, Strickland 18, Zeller 10). But that game continued to prove that this will be a trying year watching North Carolina. Even with Strickland improving and looking confident, and Larry Drew playing steadier ball, the guards simply aren't as good as people have grown accustomed to at North Carolina. But they're still a big team with a ton of depth and ranked in the top 10, so it's not exactly a down year either. We'll have to wait and see just what we can expect from this squad in 2010.
For the Sixers, however, it has been a down year. A way down year. My main reason for wanting to stay up and watch the game last night was to see Brandon Roy do his thing and see a talented Blazers team that had won four in a row. I don't get to watch nearly as many Portland games as I'd like.
But once the game started, I could tell the Sixers had come to play, not just concede a victory to the Blazers. Allen Iverson came out and scored six points in the first quarter of his first game back from knee arthritis, and the Sixers were hanging tough. Sure, Roy was getting his and the Blazers took a lead into halftime, but the Sixers were making Roy and the Blazers work for everything and sticking with them, heading into halftime a very confident team.
And that confidence carried right on over to the second half. The Sixers came out on fire, putting up 34 points in the 3rd while getting contributions from everyone: Brand led everyone with 10 in quarter, Iggy added 7, Dalembert and Lou Will each had four, Al and Speights each had 2 and Royal Ivey even had a cameo, scoring 5 points on a three and a buzzer-beating two to close out the quarter. The Sixers looked enthused, excited and good. As a result, a six-point deficit turned into a 4-point lead heading into the final 12 minutes. And this time, the team that couldn't close out games finally did. And they did so because of Allen Iverson.
All season long, this team has been in games, but they haven't been able to finish them. For all the good Andre Iguodala does, and he does plenty of good, he hasn't been able to carry a team on his shoulders down the stretch. Neither has Brand. Or Speights. Or Thad. Or anyone. Allen Iverson has been doing that his entire career, and he did it again last night, scoring a team-high 9 points in the final quarter. And the Sixers followed suit, closing out a talented Blazers team on the road.
Say what you will about Allen Iverson's age, his past, his deficiencies. Last night proved that with a full complement of players, the Sixers are better with Allen Iverson than without him. He knows how to close, and he showed his younger teammates how to do just that last night.
Uncoincidentally, the Sixers played perhaps their best game of the season last night. Everyone contributed, everyone chipped in. And Allen Iverson was a big part of that. A.I. scored 19 points on a very efficient, very unselfish 7-11 from the floor. He got to the line a game-high seven times (tied with Brandon Roy), nabbed three rebounds and dished out five assists in 31 minutes of action. He looked a lot like the Iverson of old, swishing home jumpers, attacking the rim … and looked a lot like a newer, older, wiser Iverson at the same time, dishing out 5 assists, not taking any wild, contested shots, playing selfless basketball, not selfish basketball. And the whole team benefitted.
Elton Brand was aggressive, assertive and dominant. He scored a game-high 25 points on 11-16 shooting, nabbing 9 boards in the process. Andre Iguodala had an insane floor game, putting up 14 points, 7 boards, 9 assists, a steal, two threes, and shooting 6-13 from the field, all while playing 43 minutes and hounding Brandon Roy on the defensive end. Samuel Dalembert continued to show he absolutely loves playing with Iverson, putting up 14 points and 8 boards himself on 7-9 shooting, and not committing a slew of boneheaded fouls. He just seems to be more interested, to play harder, better when Iverson is in the lineup. Lou Will didn't have a great game stats-wise, but he did play 35 minutes, wasn't forcing the issue, and added five boards, five dimes and 3 steals to his 9 points. And Speights and Ivey were fantastic. Marreese rebounded from his awful game in Utah by hitting 7-8 from the field for 14 points, and Ivey came in, hit those two buckets in the third, nabbed three boards and dished out two assists in 16 and a half minutes of play, putting up a +15 for the night.
Iverson's presence helped everyone out last night. If you watched the game, that was abundantly clear. Yes, it did take away playing time from Jrue Holiday, who only saw 11 minutes of action, and yes, Willie Green and Jason Kapono got DNPs, and yes, in the end, this may hinder the draft position and slow up the progress of Holiday. But dammit, it was fun to watch the Sixers play such a great game. To beat a good team on the road. To show signs of the team that for two seasons running has made the playoffs and given far superior teams a scare in the first round. Even in the midst of a terrible season, even with the hopes of scoring a high draft pick, even while dreaming of John Wall or Derrick Favors, losing is never fun to watch, never fun to expect, never fun to accept. Last night was fun. And if it wasn't fun for you, maybe you aren't as big of a Sixers or basketball fan as you thought.
No, Allen Iverson isn't the answer to a championship. He may not even be the answer to turning the season around, to making a playoff push. But he is the answer to more entertaining basketball, and he makes the 76ers better. Last night was proof of that.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
