UNC 79, Duke 71
by T.H. on Mar 10, 2009 1:30 AM EDT
in Basketball
3 comments
What everyone witnessed today was the present UNC team defeat the future Duke team. And as one would expect in such a game, it was surprisingly dull.
This became especially clear in the second half, where Larry Drew and Ed Davis made only fleeting appearances on the court while senior Bobby Frasor was everywhere defensively for the Heels. The Blue Devils, meanwhile, benched Greg Paulus in favor of more playing time for Eliot Williams and turned the game over to the players that, barring an early exit to the NBA, while be on everyone's preseason all-ACC lists: Gerald Henderson and Kyle Singler. The end result was a wormanlike Duke team that UNC consistently led but could not put away, due in part to their poor passing and multiple turnovers. Duke on the other hand could never close the gap with their one-and-done offensive possessions and susceptibility to a Danny Green or Wayne Ellington three.
What sunk in for me in this game was that despite watching a team beat their biggest rival and only challenger for the top seed of the ACC tournament, and in fact beating this team for the sixth time in four years, they never really looked all that impressive. There was little fire, few sustained runs, and a lack of excitement that has characterized much of the season. They, in short, didn't look like a team that could win the national championship. It doesn't feel lie the 2005 season, or even last season. It just... is. Maybe it's a misreading on my part, or an overdose of Big East hype, but I don't see much enthusiasm for March. I can't point to many actual deficiencies in the play - the defense gives up a few too many points, I suppose - but there just isn't much to get excited about. It all seems routine.
Perhaps something will change. Perhaps the pace was just off to protect Ty Lawson's toe. Perhaps I'm just full of it. I hope so, but until I see a spark somewhere in play...
0 recs |
3 comments
|
Email
Print
Comments
I thought there was a lot to be happy with...
1. Duke was unable to make a run of their own, largely because we got solid defensive efforts across the board. Hansbrough took drew a few charges, Frasor made some key plays and Duke just couldn’t put up points in the second half with any consistency.
2. Despite Duke’s attempts to slow the game down, we still scored practically at will. Duke simply doesn’t have an answer for Ty Lawson running the point and Davis, Hansbrough, Thompson and company gobbling up the boards.
3. Lawson’s injury clearly isn’t too bad.
Overall, I think you hit on something that I thought after the game – it wasn’t the kind of Duke-UNC thriller we’ve come accustomed to. Neither team made big runs, the pace was pretty slow, and in all honesty Duke just isn’t the Duke we saw in the 90s and first few years of this decade.
UNC will be fine. We went 27-3 while winning the best conference in the nation. We’ve got a stranglehold on the #1 seed for the NCAA. There’s no need for nervous hand-wringing now.
by BraveBronco0121 on Mar 10, 2009 8:54 AM EDT reply actions
All good points, and as I said, I have nothing statistically to back my feelings up. In fact, numbers-wise the team is playing better than last season. Maybe my expectations are too high, or it’s just a post-Duke malaise. I still feel slightly down on this team.
I can understand some of that...
this team isn’t nearly the defensive squad that we saw in 04-05 or even 06-07. They’re still pretty good on that end – Pomeroy has them ~20th in the nation – but far from dominant. The offense is, most of the Williams coached teams have been, the best in the country. The depth isn’t what it used to be, either. Essentially, we’ve got the starting five plus Davis and some of Frasor. It’s a far cry from 07, a team that had Green, Thompson, Ginyard, and Wes Miller getting significant time off the bench. So, this team is quite a bit different in some ways than the team that won the title and even the one from the last few years.
But there are some significant improvements as well. The starting five is easily the best UNC has seen since 97-98 when we had Jamison, Carter, and Cota leading the way. It’s a starting five with a dominant post player, an excellent shooter, the best point guard in the nation, a small forward that plays good D and knocks down the three, and a second post player who would start on almost any team in the nation. It may lack a lot of high end NBA talent, but this starting five is beastly.
Do they make it all the way? Well, the odds are against them – they’re against every team in the tournament. In a single elimination format, one slip against a top team leads to dreams dashed in an instant, a sudden and inglorious end to any promise the season once held. In many ways, it’s a less than ideal format for doing what it purports to do – give us the best team in college basketball in any given year – but it’s a hell of a lot of fun.
As odd as it may sound, I’m already looking forward to next year. Yeah, I’m looking forward to the tournaments this year, but the roster for 09-10 will not only be sans Hansbrough, Green, and Frasor but also likely missing Lawson and perhaps Ellington. The core of the last three years have been a great group of guys and they could well have it in them to put another banner in the rafters, but the inner tinkerer in me wants to see what Roy has in store for the next batch of green talents we’ve got coming in.
by BraveBronco0121 on Mar 11, 2009 10:03 AM EDT up reply actions
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Certain photos copyright © 2010 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
