The 5th Corner

Getting caught up with the Diamond Heels

AEM — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 02:34:34 +0000

Patrick Johnson (TarHeelBlue.com

Due to way too many things going on I been a bit lazy following the Diamond Heels, for that I apologize and promise to keep a much tighter reign on this part of UNC sports. The last time I had talked about head coach Mike Fox’ squad they were 7 and 1, having beaten Gardner-Webb. Now, as I pick up the pieces of this, the Diamond Heels are 12 and 3. How did they get here, meaning winning 5 more and losing twice in the last seven games? Well, Carolina hosted Michigan, beating them all three games by the final of 4 to 2, 7 to 6 and a third game rout of 9 to 1. That brought North Carolina to a 10-1 record, having having outscored the opposition 78-34. Then came the one game against William & Mary at Boshamer Stadium where something that hadn’t happen all year did, the Heels were shut out and lost a game where the other team scored just three runs against them. This is pretty telling since the team had averaged up to that game about seven runs scored while giving up, you guessed it, three. Meaning that the bats didn’t show up in a game where with just a couple of key hits would have won the game.

After that game came another one game series where North Carolina took on St. John’s. Here things came back to normal as the Heels outscored its opponent 8-2. This brings coach Fox’ club to a record of 11-2, with a three game series against Duke waiting for them. This is the first time the Tar Heels would play outside the friendly confine of Boshamer Stadium, but it did not see to bother them as the first game was a 21-9 shellacking. The Diamond Heels, ranked 11th in the country, were led by freshman outfielder Brian Goodwin, who had four hits (4 for 4 on the night to go with two walks) and five RBIs in this game. In this game the team had season high in runs (21) and hits (21), as junior righty Matt Harvey stayed perfect on the season with a 3 and 0 record. From what I read on the official site for UNC Athletics this was definitely a team effort with eleven players getting at least a hit (six with multiple hits) and eight bringing in runs (six with multiple RBIs). The 1-5 slots went 13 for 23, scoring 13 runs, driving in 15 to go with six walks and only striking out 3 times. With this performance the Heels go to 12 and 2 on the year (1-0 in the conference).

Today the scoring was once again pretty high, with the final score being 15 to 11, unfortunately it is the Blue Devils that had the high score. Once again it was a team effort with 10 different Heels having at least one hit (four having multiple hits), while seven at least one RBI (three with multiple RBIs) for Carolina. In all the team scored the eleven runs on a total of 16 hits and five walks, while striking out eight times. Infielders Tommy Coyle (freshman) and Levi Michael (sophomore) each posted three hits and two RBI to lead the Tar Heels. Once again the 1-5 slot did well going 11 for 23 with seven runs scored, seven RBIs, three walks and four K’s. What killed UNC in this one, as I have been saying could happen, was the number of players left on bases. The Heels left 13, while the Blue Devils only left 7. The 5th through 8th batter left nine players on the bases, and that’s just too many to win games in the long run. Freshman outfielder has now hit in 10 consecutive games, while senior infielder Ryan Graepel is one behind with a hit in nine straight game. Junior right hander Patrick Johnson took the loss and is now 2 and 2, giving up 6 runs (all earned) in 3.2 IP with six hits and two walks while striking out three.

Tomorrow is the rubber game between these two squads with the first pitch set for 1:00 p.m. EST at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park. Expect a recap of the game by tomorrow night.

Before the Games (NBA) 03/13/10

AEM — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 23:13:21 +0000

(NBA) 03/13/10

The National Basketball Association has seven games on its schedule tonight, five of them have a touch of Carolina Blue, none are head to head match ups. The first one is the one that has the Hawks playing host to the Pistons. Here I see a win by Atlanta, but not sure if they are going to cover the 12 points spread. The second game of the night is the one with the Magic taking on the Wizs in Washington D.C. In this one I see the team from the sunshine state not only winning, but covering the 11.5 points spread. As we move on we find our thing match up, which is the Nuggets vs the Grizzlies, where I see Denver struggling and losing this one even if favorite by two points. The second to last game has the Mavs hosting the Knicks, where I see Dallas winning big and covering the 10.5 points spread. And finally, the last game has the Warriors hosting the Raptors, in the only game where a team with a Tar Heel is underdog, by 2 points, and I think will lose by a lot more than that.

There it is, the new (and improved?) “Before the Game” (NBA) with a link to the preview and a pick by yours truly. When I do the recap I will tell you if I made the right or wrong picks or not. But for now I hope you enjoy this.

Marion Jones is now in the WNBA

AEM — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 18:56:31 +0000

Marion Jones (GoogleSearch)

a decade ago Tar Heel Marion Jones was enjoying her glory at the Sydney Olympics. Now, after being stripped of all of her medals in 2007 and doing six months for lying to federal prosecutors, she is once again in sports, trying to make a comeback in a sport that won her a national title at UNC, basketball. Jones is the newest member of the WNBA franchise Tulsa Shocker, and she is ready to start over and isn’t here to look back at her past. The Heel was the starting point guard was a freshman when the Lady Heels won the 1994 national championship, she was also drafter by Phoenix, but never played in the league, until now that is.

WNBA’s president believes that Marion Jones is going to be someone that will get people to come see what is the team in the second smallest market of the league. I think that the reality is that Jones might just be a draw for the Tulsa squad, but on the other hand it is also a fit that might work for both. The athlete needs a team and the team needs someone to bring in people into the arena. His coach, from this article in the Herald Sun, doesn’t think that Jones is anything but a player that he will need:

“Watching her go through drills, I saw a player who’s perfect for our system,” Richardson said. “The one thing I do know is she can run, and any player on my team who wants to be successful needs be able to run.”

I truly do hope that Marion Jones will be part of the Shock for the right reasons and that she can do something good with this oppurtunity. As I do with all the Heels let me wish Marion Jones all the best as she goes into this next chapter of her life.

Jordan’s deal should be approved by next week

AEM — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 18:15:30 +0000

Michael Jordan

From what I have gathered by reading this small online article by the Gaston Gazzette reports are that the National Basketball Association should be approving the purchase of the Charlotte Bobcats by Michael Jordan by the end of next week. David Stern, who told the AP about the timeline of the approval, has never made a secret that he hoped that MJ would become the first former player to be a majority owner of a franchise. A week from today all of that should be a reality. Several people close to all of this say that Jordan is going to have a news conference once the approval goes through, and that plans are being made for this presser to be done on Thursday. Commissioner Stern told the media this of Jordan and the purchase of the Bobcats:

“He considers himself a North Carolina native and he’s quite anxious to make this team into an important part of the community,” Stern told AP. “I think he has the capacity and the will to do that. I think he’s the right majority owner at the right time.”

Jordan, whos has been a minority owner of the franchise as well as the managing member of basketball operation, has declined interviews since February 27 (when the deal went down), explaining that he would answer questions about the sale after his approval by the league. Hopefully the article is correct and we will learn a lot more by the end of next week. As I do with all the Heels let me wish Michael Jordan all the best as he heads into this new chapter of his life.

He said this and that, oh whatever people…

AEM — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 17:39:28 +0000

UNC Basketball

Larry Drew said that “some people are just so spoiled”, talking about the North Carolina fans. If you took this small tid bit out of the full sentence that the sophomore said and without reading the question why this phrase was uttered you might think that Larry Drew should shut up for right now, or better yet, he should shut up until this squad gets back on track. But the fact is that the question that was asked of this year’s starting point guard was whether he thought the team should go to the NIT’s even when some of the fan base believes it shouldn’t. Now, from ACC Now, here is what Robbi Pickeral asked and the whole answer by the sophomore guard:

Point guard Larry Drew II said the team wanted to continue to play to prepare for the future – and maybe find a way to make a brighter end for this disappointing season. He knows there are fans out there who think the Tar Heels – who won the NCAA title last season – should turn down the NIT and end the season at .500. Asked how he would respond to that mindset, he said:

“To those people, 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.”

By all means, could Drew have avoided the tradition part of his answer? Sure, that is what North Carolina is all about. Could he have owned up to his miscues more than brushing it off with the “we’re human too”? Yes, a bit more of humility when you aren’t going to the Big Dance could have been used. But again, as fans or bloggers or whatever else, we take this tid bit of information and run wildly with it. I have read on web boards someone say that “these spoiled fans are the ones that pay for your tution”. C’mon, we going to go that route now? Let’s be honest, these young men have probably been asked how many different ways questions about the future of this team? What Larry Drew did was to say that some of the fan base has been spoiled with great runs by great teams that don the Carolina Blue. How anyone can argue that I am not sure.

The tradition part I would have left alone, but I am not him. He said that they didn’t perform up to the standards of the teams I was talking about before. Sure, as I said before, I would have loved a bit more of “mea culpa”, but once again, that is me and not him. In the end I think that what LD said is what I have thought about some of our fans as well, they are spoiled. From not watching cause UNC is losing, to not watching cause something else is on, but man oh man when the squad is on top they are all over it with the “Tar Heel baby”, “yeah, we are the best” etc. etc.

I will say this, and believe it 1,000%: if the fans were as committed in this team as the players are (and I am not just saying the 40 minutes of playing time) we might be just be a better fan base when it’s all said and done.

Heels in the League (NBA) 03/12/10

AEM — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 15:04:57 +0000

(NBA) 03/12/10

Trying to get an early start on yesterday’s recap of the ex UNC players in the National Basketball Association, here is this edition of “Heels in the League” (NBA) for Friday, March 12, 2010. In all the slate had twelve games, seven of them had a touch of Carolina Blue, one being a head to head match up between two teams from the Eastern Conference. For a complete run down of the games from 03/12/10 you can always check out ESPN or Inside Hoops recaps for the night. I also want to put the link to this Wall Street Journal’s article that talks about the fact that half of the NBA teams have “stat heads”. I found it very interesting, figured you would as well. But for now, sit back and relax as we go through the games from 03/12/10…

The first game of the night is the one that has the Cleveland Cavaliers (EC 1st Central), the first team that has qualified for the playoffs, going to the city of brotherly love to take on the Philadelphia 76′ers (EC 3rd Atlantic). This is the third game (of three) between these two teams, with Cleveland having won the first two of this series. The game was played at the Wachovia Center in front of a crowd of 20,433. For the visiting squad from C-Town we have a trio of Heels, Jawad Williams (40 Games: 13.0 MinsPG ~ 4.1 PPG ~ 1.4 RPG ~ 0.7 APG), who comes off the bench, Danny Green, who dresses but does not play (DNP – Coach’s Decision) and Antawn Jamison, who does not even make the trip to Philly. In this one Williams plays for 17 minutes, scoring six points (2 for 6 ~ 0 for 3 ~ 2 for 3) to go with a rebound, an assist and a turnover while having a -12 pts differential. As far as the game is concerned it was Cleveland winning this one by five points, defeating Philadelphia by the final of 100 to 95. With the W the Cavs are now 51-15 on the season (. winning percentage), 23-11 on the road (.676 winning percentage) and are first in the East, 5.0 games ahead of the second place squad.

Main Stream Media:
ESPN ~ NBA.com ~ The Sporting News ~ CBS Sports

Blogs:

CAVS: the blog (TrueHoop Network) by John Krolik
Fear the Sword (SB Nation) by Jeff at the BBC
King James Gospel (FanSided) by Cody Norman
Slam Dunk Central by Jeff Sack

The 5th Corner

Getting caught up with the Diamond Heels

Before the Games (NBA) 03/13/10

Marion Jones is now in the WNBA

Jordan’s deal should be approved by next week

He said this and that, oh whatever people…

Heels in the League (NBA) 03/12/10

Jamison fighting knee stiffness

UNC loses to Ga Tech

Heels in the League (NBA) 03/11/10

Heels in the League (NBA) 03/10/10