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NCAA Tournament Thursday Game Thread
by T.H. on Mar 18, 2010 11:30 AM EDT
in Basketball
3 comments
Just because UNC isn't in this thing, doesn't mean I won't be slipping away and trying to see as much as possible. (I've even got a nice little pop-up viewer here because I'm all fancy and stuff.) Tonight I'll talk about how my bracket – Syracuse to win it all! – has already been blown to hell.
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I've been fairly tough on this youngster (pointing at Thompson) -- I've been tough on a lot of people, but I've been fairly tough to this youngster -- and he played his tail off tonight. He went brain dead for the first play of the second half and came running over and said "Don't kill me" and I said "I'm going to think about it."
Roy Williams, after last night's William & Mary game.
1 day ago
T.H.
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UNC 80, William & Mary 72
by T.H. on Mar 17, 2010 12:41 AM EDT
in Basketball
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It's safe to say Carmichael Auditorium hasn't seen a lot of three-pointers. The NCAA didn't adopt it until after the Heels had moved to the Smith Center, and although the ACC had adopted it for conference games a few years earlier, it wasn't as if Dean Smith teams were going to start shooting wildly. So it's safe to say Carmichael had never seen anything like William & Mary.
The Tribe's first seven shots were all threes. 21 of the 28 shots they took in the first half were from behind the arc. In the end, 43 of William & Mary's 62 shot were threes, and all but two of the rest were dunks or layups. They only made 16 of those threes, but that was enough to hold a lead as late as 2:34 remaining, and almost good enough to end Carolina's season.
Happily, UNC rediscovered their shot in the shooter-friendly gym as well, making the most shots since the first N.C. State game, led by seniors Thompson and Ginyard, who finished with 20 and 12 points. But what really made the difference was the way Carolina preyed on the Tribe's passing lanes. Six Tar Heel players combined for eleven steals, and although they only resulted in twelve points, that was more than enough to disrupt William & Mary's offense. (It was also good for the spectacle of seeing big men Tyler Zeller and Thompson swipe the ball from the top of the key and lumber down the court for baskets.)
Carolina also baited William & Mary into pushing the tempo along side the Heels, which not only saved UNC on a couple of rushed Tribe shots, but left them pretty beat and missing shots by the end of the game. Fouling out their leading rebounder Marcus Kitts helped there as well. UNC also made their free throws down the stretch – 11 of the last 15 points the Heels scored came from the charity stripe – and took care of the ball. In doing so, they upheld the Carmichael tradition (UNC only has 4 nonconference losses there) and kept their season alive. They travel to Starksville to meet Mississippi State on Saturday for a noon game.
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NIT Thread: William & Mary
by T.H. on Mar 16, 2010 9:30 PM EDT
in Basketball
10 comments
To quote a friend, "I think we got William's number, I just hope Mary does not light us up from downtown. She got game." Time to reinvigorate Carmichael.
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5 Questions for the ACC as spring football gets underway
Who will emerge as the Tar Heels' #2 receiver. Erik Highsmith sits in the catbird's seat but Dwight Jones, Joshua Adams and Jheranie Boyd are talented competition.
2 days ago
InTheBleachers
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The 2007 UNC Team Had the Toughest Draw of Any One Seed of the Last Four Years
That still doesn't excuse the last five minutes of the Georgetown game.
3 days ago
T.H.
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My Thoughts on the NIT
by T.H. on Mar 15, 2010 10:20 PM EDT
in Basketball
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So Larry Drew made news over the weekend, expressing his annoyance with fans like me:
"To those people, [arguing for UNC to turn down an NIT bid] honestly, to those people, I would say that they can't have their way all the time. Some people are just so spoiled, man. Especially Carolina fans, just because, you know, the whole tradition. It's not necessarily a bad thing, it's just the way it is. But to those fans: Yes, we haven't been performing up to the standards of the usual North Carolina basketball team, but we can't be perfect all the time, and we're human, too."
The comments, since retracted, didn't bother me. I'm actually intrigued by the argument that Carolina fans are spoiled –although I disagree with it – and plan to revisit it in the offseason. But as one of those people who wasn't looking forward to the NIT, I'd thought I'd explain why.
It's not because the NIT is beneath North Carolina, or that the team will be embarrassed in the NIT, or that these players don't deserve a postseason after this year's trip through the ACC. Those are all arguments I've seen made, and they're all complete bunk. I wrote what I wrote about the NIT for one simple reason. I'm tired of watching this team lose.
And that's this team, in particular. I've suffered through the 8-20 2003 team, and more than a few struggling football teams. I've seen my share of losses. But those teams were playing to their talent level, and improving as the season went on. This team proved early on that they had the talent to do well – not as well as the preseason expectations, but pretty well – and they just never improved. They'd show signs of it, for a game or so, and then regress back with a horrible. It was painful to watch, and I couldn't not watch. I'm a fan; even without this blog, this is what I do. And it's incredibly depressing to see. I desperately want this behind me.
A few days removed from the Georgia Tech game, I'm a little more sanguine about the postseason. Some of it's an eternal optimism I've never been able to shake. But mostly it's this:
That's Carmichael Auditorium, site of the first NIT game, and my own personal basketball church. UNC will be playing there as they've already begun maintenance work on the Smith Center. And this excites me more than anything else. I always loved stumbling from Woolen over to Carmichael, seeing it quiet as a cathedral with the lights off. I caught a couple of games there as a kid and the place rocked in a way I've seen few other places match. I would love to be back there for this game. If there's anything that has motivated this team this season, it's been the weight of history. The State game during the reunion weekend and the 2000th win in the last home game were two of the only ACC games where the Heels outperformed expectations. And now, there's a new home court and one last chance to redeem the season. I'm getting optimistic again, much to my dismay.
I don't think I'm the only either. I've had this conversation with multiple season ticket-holding friends:
"You going to the NIT game?"
"No way."
"They're playing in Carmichael."
"Really? I have to make a couple of calls."
I think the fans will show. I think they'll make it the Carmichael of old. I just hope the team can respond to it.
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William & Mary: UNC Built, and Ready to Win
by T.H. on Mar 15, 2010 6:00 AM EDT
in Basketball
5 comments
Never say the NIT doesn't have a sense of drama. Not only does UNC's first round opponent already have two wins against ACC teams, they also have two UNC alumni on the coaching staff. Johnthan Holmes, an assistant, was on the Heels' bench from 1999 to 2003, but it's the head coach you really want to be concerned about. Tony Shaver was a walk-on from 1972 to 1976 at UNC, where he just missed overlapping with Roy Williams, who graduated in '72 and returned as an assistant coach in '78. Shaver coached high school for ten years after graduation before taken the reins at Hampton-Sydney. There he became a force in D-III ball, winning eight conference tournaments and making 11 NCAA appearances in 17 seasons.
In 2003, he took the job at William & Mary, a school whose basketball history can best be described as hapless. The Tribe are one of five original D-1 teams to never make the NCAA tournament; they've made the NIT once, in 1983. Since Shaver took the job, William & Mary has twice made the Colonial Athletic Association championship game and had their first winning seasons since 1998. So how have they done it?
By slowing the tempo way down. The Tribe averaged 69.7 possessions per 40 minutes in Shaver's first season; in the last three that number has been 62.3, 62.2, and 61.2, respectively. This season there are only 13 teams playing slower. Shaver's tenure has been based around improving the defense, but this is the first season he's been able to pair it with a decent offense. They're a small team, but they shoot very well, especially from behind the arc, where almost 40% of their points come from. And the guys doing the bulk of the shooting are David Schneider and Quinn McDowell.
Schneider, a 6'3" senior guard, is the team's primary shooter, most of the time from three-point range. He takes twice as many threes as twos and makes a respectable 33.6% of them. He's also a strong rebounder on an undersized team. McDowell, a 6'5" small forward, is an even better shooter both from outside and driving in the lane. And neither of these players or senior forward Danny Sumner rattle easy. They're all among the Top 100 in fewest turnovers per possession. The Tribe is incredibly careful with the ball, and Carolina can't expect much in the way of fast break points.
UNC's best weapon is their size. The Heels will need to dominate the boards, which shouldn't be too difficult, as the Tribe only play two players 6'9" or taller. Their zone defense will tempt the Heels to try shoot over it, but they'll probably have more luck pounding it inside to the bigs. UNC has been burned by hot-shooting teams a lot this season, but they've all done it a fast clip, early on to crush Carolina's spirit. I don't think the the Tribe will move nearly that fast, but Carolina will have to get out on their perimeter shooters, while still leaving their frontcourt at home to defend against the backdoor cuts. If UNC can do this, they can continue to play in the postseason. If they don't, well, it will look something like this.
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