Deon Thompson

Former North Carolina power forward and national champion Deon Thompson is headed overseas to start his professional career, to be exact in Greece, where the 21 year old will play for POK Ikarus Esperos. (Here is the Wikipedia page for the club, cause the home page for the team is in Greek and I could not get anywhere with it). Thompson, a four year starter at UNC, should do well in that league I believe, and without a doubt I will keep an eye on his progress as he begins the next chapter of his life. From the small blog post of The Hoops Market it said that the forward was also being looked at by Hapoel Jerusalem, which is not surprising since I believe the young man has the talent to play at the next level overseas.

As I do with all the Tar Heels let me wish all the best to Deon Thompson as he plays his first season as a professional basketball player.

UNC Basketball

Last night at the Carolina Club the Men’s Basketball team held its awards ceremony. The two senior starters of the team came home with the biggest awards as Deon Thompson (led the team in scoring and 2nd in rebounding) got most valuable player of the season while fifth year senior Marcus Ginyard took home defensive player of the year. Thompson also has the NCAA record for most games played with 152. And while both of these two players were blamed by some of the fan base I am truly happy for both of them. To me Thompson and Ginyard both worked hard for this team, with the only thing that they might not have been able to do is going from role players to true leaders, but that is not something that everyone can do and should not be judged by it. The reality is once someone else, John Henson, began to come into his own, they were able to play within themselves and did better.

Other award winners: Tyler Zeller (Athletic Director’s Burgess McSwain Scholar-Athlete Award), Ed Davis (highest field goal % & best rebounder), Larry Drew (most assists), Will Graves (highest free throw %), Justin Watts (most inspirational player), Travis Wear (freshman who best exemplifies determination, sportsmanship and sacrifice) and John Henson (most improved).

2010 Season Concludes

And so last night the bumpy journey that was UNC Men’s Basketball came to an end at Madison Square Garden. North Carolina (20-17) was not able to find one last win this year and fell to Dayton (25-12) by the final of 79 to 68. In the end you could say that what did in the Heels in the NIT Final is what did them in many other games this year, the turnovers. We can also blame it on the poor free throw shooting and the fact that UNC got outrebounded in this one by a team that was not supposed to do that to them. The first half was not half over and head coach Roy Williams’ team had given up the ball seven times, and that was just a no-no against a team that seemed to have the speed to out run the Tar Heels. It was sad, at least for me, to see the two starting seniors, Marcus Ginyard and Deon Thompson (who has the most starts of any Heel ever with 152), go out like this. On the other hand, even if it ended in a loss, even if they could not get history made by winning first the NCAA title and then the NIT one, these two young men accomplished something. They were part of a team that had its struggles but finally was about to put them aside and gel for the post season run.

Some fans will choose to put blame on these two seniors, I choose to remember them as players that don the Carolina Blue. Some will think of Ginyard as the one that should have been benched this season to let other players grow. I choose to see him as a player that was a great defender before he got hurt, that unselfeshly decided to red shirt last year so he could be back this season to help, and that played for many games not being 100%. Some will talk about Thompson saying he was not strong enough and that he needed to slam it down and not go for lay ups. I choose to remember him as the front court partner of Tyler Hansbrough in a magical run in 2009. A guy that when PsychoT was out definitely picked up the slack and when he was in knew his role as the “other guy” down low.

I have read the web boards, gotten the emails, read the text, seen the tweets, most of the Carolina faithfuls are already awaiting the entrance of the trio coming in. Maybe it’s cause I am old, maybe because I would not want to be kicked to the curb, I choose to still pay homage to these two seniors, who like it or not, are and always will be part of the Carolina Family. So, from this humble blogger, thank you for your jersey at Chapel Hill, and the best of luck in the next chapter of your life, whatever that will be.

As far as the game went, it was fun watching Will Graves hitting from the outside, but just as much it was a reminder of what could have been. Once again echoing that phrase of mine when it comes to this year: “it is what it is” and last night it was that the Flyers just were better than the Tar Heels, end of story. Carolina went to the locker rooms at half time trailing by double digits, , and when they came out in the second half, between not turning the ball over and playing a smarter type of basketball they crawled back into the game. What they could not do, even though they had chance after chance of doing so, was to tie or take the lead. Each time the Tar Heels got within 2-3 points of the Flyers it seemed they would take a shot that could have gone in but didn’t and the opponents would come back down the court and score 1-2 baskets (mostly three pointers) and put the lead back up to six, seven or even eight points in a matter of 30 seconds or less. That happened over and over in this game, until time ran out on coach Williams’ squad.

In what could be the last ever NIT Tournament there was no history made, there was no magical end, there was just a lot of thinking on how this season went and how the next ones should go. They say that you don’t know what you had until it is gone, well Tar Heels fans, we didn’t have the NCAA Tournament this year and I sure hope we have it back next year!

UNC vs Dayton

Living where I live I been hearing many Syracuse fans divided on whether it was a great season that their team had or if it was a disappointment because of the way it ended. I keep telling them that it can be both, can’t it? The same can be said for this Carolina team, just in reverse, as it might not have been a great season but it is ending well. Tonight, in the most famous arena in basketball, North Carolina (20-16) can make history if they defeat Dayton (24-12) in the National Invitation Tournament. While it won’t erase the problems this year brought it might just make them go into the background somewhat, and that too is another victory in itself. But there is something even more important to all of this, while the games have been far from perfect for the Tar Heels anyone that knows just a bit about basketball can not argue that there has been improvement with this squad, which means the future is bright for these young men and the incoming ones.

If you are lucky enough to be @CoachGusFraley or @jonithom you will be in attendance at the game, as for the rest of us, ESPN will televise the game beginning at 7:00 p.m. EST. And I hope that if you are a Tar Heel fan you do tune in and support your team without all of the negativity and just be glad that they have began to turn the corner and are heading in the right direction. But now, after all of my banter about making history, playing well, and so on and so forth, UNC’s opponent tonight is no cake walk and head coach Roy Williams and his squad need to play at their best in order to win this game. They are going to have to work hard on defense, meaning that fifth year senior Marcus Ginyard needs to play great in his farewell game. But c’mon, for both Ginyard and Thompson, after a really rocky road in their senior year what a way to go out it would be taking home a championship, even if it is the NIT.

Speaking of Thompson and his front court team mates, John Henson and Tyler Zeller, they have to be once again the bread and butter for this squad. Dayton might be a lot of things, but what they aren’t is big or deep in the the front court. Say what you want, but if UNC can once again dominate the paint as they did in the semis, the Heels will come home with the title tonight. These three bigs need to combine for 45-47 points and 23-27 rebounds tonight if they want to give their team a chance to come home victorious. Even more importantly, the Heels need to keep the Flyers off the offensive boards, something that has been an issue over the season. But having watched Dayton in the last couple of games, and even a couple of games before that, I have no problem that the war inside is going to go to Carolina, where UNC has to work harder is in other areas.

Larry Drew and Dexter Strickland have to play within themselves. Thread the needle passes make for great ESPN Top 10 material, momentum going/changers, but if they are messed up they only make for giving up easy two points to the other team. I am all for transition points, if they are there without a major chance of losing the ball to a turnover. If the fast break points are not there, set it up, look inside and let the big three work their size advantage to get the points. By all means I am not saying that Drew or Strickland have to stop running, we seen good things when the two of them have gotten in transition, what I am saying is that if it’s not there, don’t push it. Double digit scoring by both with a combined 10 assists while getting 5 or less turnovers would be a great night for these two young men in this game.

Now to the giant elephant in the room, Will Graves and Leslie McDonald. I have to say that I loved watching Graves going to the basket, he looked good and most of all he looked confident. On the other hand, his three point shooting is just off and has been that way for most of this season. He needs to hit a couple in this game, especially early on, so that the bigs do not get doubled/tripled everytime they touch the ball. As far as McDonald goes, well, I think he needs to give up the ball and maybe get it back again, because everyone knows that if he gets it he is shooting it and he has an opponent flying at him everytime he touches the ball. A fake, dribble and then shot might just be what the doctor ordered, or maybe he too could drive and see what happens. One thing is for sure, he needs to try and mix it up a bit.

Lastly, the one thing that I really want to focus on is the following: if North Carolina wants to win this game they can not miss the easy lay ups, or even worst, the dunks they have in the past games. Against Dayton leaving points on the floor that way or giving up points with bad turnovers is going to mean that UNC will not win this game. As far as Vegas is concerned North Carolina is a 2.5 points underdog, which is no big deal really, as UNC has never been a favorite in this tournament and they have done ok in it. Unlike all the other four games in this one the Tar Heels have a lot to win/lose depending on the outcome and I have to believe that it could make a difference for the team. If that was a month or so ago I would be scared of what the outcome of that pressure would be, now not so much. I think the old guard (Thompson and Ginyard) know how they want to end their career while the new guard (Henson, Zeller, Drew, Strickland) know how they want the fans to think about the future. I think it’s going to be North Carolina winning this one by 5, with the final score being 72 to 67. Over at scACCHoops they once again did their game simulation (27 times in all), with UNC winning 19 times and the average score being Carolina 66.2 Dayton 58.3, once the game went into overtime.

UNC 100 Celebration

Last night’s game between North Carolina (20-16) and Rhode Island (26-10) was anything but perfect, each team committed 17 turnovers, sloppy play dominated wide stretches of the game, and so on and so forth. But when it was all said and done, including five minutes of overtime, UNC was still perfect in the NIT, winning the game by the score of 68 to 67 and moving on to Thursday’s match up against Dayton. So, before I go on with this post let me say this to the masses: cut this team a break will ya! No, they are not the 2005 or 2009 title teams, but they are out there bring to a nice conclusion what could have been a season that ended with blow out in Durham and a one and done in the ACC Tournament. This team has gone from 2 and 9 in their first eleven away games to winning three in a row outside the friendly confine of Chapel Hill.

We have gone from a team that some wondered if they get to 2,000 wins this season, end the year at .500 or above, to a squad that is one game away from bringing home the National Invitation Tournament title, and making history in doing so. Yesterday I was watching Outside the Lines with @bonami_jones on it and they said that for a lot of the Tar Heels the season ended when the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament was done for UNC. For all of those “fans” out there: shame on you! Had the Athletic Department listened to you all we would be hearing now (until Late Night with Roy) is how this team ended .500 and even that record was a miracle. Now we are finishing the `09-`10 season with 20 wins, having a chance of winning the NIT Tournament and being the first team to ever win the NCAA one year and the NIT the following. It might not be much, it is not going to erase the season (and the 16 losses), but it is sure a whole heck of a lot better than how it could have ended up.

Again, was it a perfect execution? No! Was it poetry in motion as far as the game is concerned? No! But on the other side of the coin if I told you that UNC would end up with 17 turnovers, go 2 for 16 from beyond the arc and miss half of their 16 free throws what would you say the outcome of the game would have been? Most likely a slaughter by the other team. Guess what, it wasn’t, and while some might be because URI didn’t play well either, some is also because our guys gave it what they had on the court. I read the tweets and seen the web boards, this team is not getting a fair shake in my opinion, and yet they are still in this tournament and fourty minutes away from winning it.

It was once again Larry Drew that made the plays down the stretch, and while his 4 assists to 4 turnovers is all a lot of the ABC’ers/haters/rivals and even some of our own are talking about, if you watched the game and were unbias, Drew could have had twice as many assists if some of those three’s would have gone in, or even some of the lay ups/dunks would have gone through the basket as well. Reality being is that you can get the ball to your team mates, they need to score in order for them to get the points and you the assist. Still talking about the sophomore point guard, who brought the team back from five points down with less than two minutes to go, can we just all agree that the play head coach Roy Williams set up for the final seconds was not him shooting a three. It was a clear out, putting the big way outside so that Rhode Island’s bigs could not block the lay up, as Drew drove to the basket (like he has done many times in this tournament). I think he saw that who was marking him was not going to give him the lane, he pulled up, shot, and like most every other three in this game, it didn’t go in.

But, as I have said for quite sometimes on this web page of mine, the bread and butter of North Carolina is the inside game. In my preview of the game I said that the three bigs (Deon Thompson, John Henson and Tyler Zeller) all needed to score in double figures, and with the exception of Henson (6 points) the others did, Thompson getting his second double double in a row with 16 points and 13 rebounds and Zeller scoring 12 and grabbing 5. Henson did get 11 rebounds on the night, and both he, Thompson and Zeller finished with two block shots a piece. Of the 68 points scored by the Tar Heels last night over 50 were in the paint, if that is not telling this team something I am not sure anything is. One last comment about a big man who didn’t play, it was quite nice to see Ed Davis getting up with the rest of the team to cheer when his team mates made shots.

I liked how Will Graves went to the basket in this game, but cringed everytime he went for a three shot (1 for 7), and even if his only made one was a key one in the overtime session it’s always that “no, no, no, yessssss” feeling you get when he loads up to shoot. Along with the redshirt junior we have freshman Leslie McDonald, who just do not seem to get that you can pass the ball when it is passed to you, and his 1 for 6 performance (1 for 3 from three point range) showed his greater need to take shots as opposed to passing the ball more. I will definitely give props to both Graves and Marcus Ginyard for playing with early foul problems and being able to still stay in the game and not put the coaching staff in more pressure than they were in to move the rotation. Ginyard didn’t score but his 10 boards were much needed while his three turnovers weren’t.

In all coach Williams showed he has no problem going deep with his bench, playing nine players, eight of them getting 19 or more minutes and all getting double digit minutes. Some tweets were done on why Henson was not playing more minutes in this one, the freshman got 22 in all. I think the fact that he missed a couple of easy shots and then became hesitant shooting, giving up the ball twice right next to the basket that instead of an assist turned into TOs, might have had something to do with it.

With all of this having been said, for both the UNC faithfuls and the ABC’ers/haters this game came down to the last play of the game. Where, after a shot by Drew a long rebound was made by a URI player. Said player began to dribble down the court with about five seconds left in the game. Behind him Graves was falling to the floor and might (or might not) have hit him, making him fall and losing the ball and URI losing the game. We can be all lawyers and take which side we would like of this story. For URI the case would be that the rule is “if a player is tripped it’s a foul” while for UNC it would argue “no call, no foul”. But, if we are going to be objective, there was more than that to this last second mayhem. Graves was not the only player on the floor and it seemed a lot more evident that he was hit by a URI player than he hit the URI player with the ball. Now, the fact that Graves said “no comment” with a smile when asked by the media about the play would make you think that he did touch the player, but that, after the game is neither here or there. In life they say that two wrongs (if there were 2) do not make a right, however on the basketball court they did, and that might just be the reason why the refs decided to hold their whistles and let the game go as it did.

Like it or not for the Heels fan base the win is a win, for the others it will always be the “play” more than the fact that Carolina won. But as I have said all year long, “it is what it is” and what it was last night was the Tar Heels winning ugly and heading to the NIT Finals, where once and for all the season will end, hopefully with another win away from home, another title and a piece of history being brought back to Chapel Hill. The game will be played once again in Madison Square Garden, with tip off being set for 7:00 p.m. EST, with ESPN televising it.

MSG

At the beginning of the season, when Carolina stepped foot on the hardwoods in the mecca of the basketball world no one thought it would be the first of two trips the Heels would make to Madison Square Garden. But that is how the season turned out for head coach Roy Williams and his squad, and tonight, when North Carolina (19-16) takes on Rhode Island (26-9), with the winner will get a chance to play for the NIT Title, this game is going to mean different things to each team (but for that later). Again, this is definitely not what the coaching staff, the team or the fans thought would happen or wanted at the beginning of this season. On the other hand, after a shaky second half of the season, what the Tar Heels have shown in the first three games of this tournament is they know how to play “as one”, and are doing it, for better or worst, on both sides of the ball. As I have said too many times this season, the key phrase is “it is what it is”, and what it is right now is a chance for Carolina to make an unexpected run in a tournament a lot of its own fans didn’t want them in. Coach knows that while knowing this three game run in the NIT hasn’t erased the rest of the season, it has given both the coaching staff and the players a new outlook on the season and the off-season:

“We’re pleased to still be playing,” Williams said. “Our team has played awfully hard. I’m so proud of them the last couple of games. It’s something we have to build habits on.”

Tuesday night, at about 9:15 p.m. EST, these two teams will tip off and for me at least, for a lot of people probably, the 19 wins or the 16 losses won’t matter, just the 40 minutes in front of us. As you can check out on Tar Heel Fan‘s blog, 28 years ago yesterday Dean Smith won his first title. Tonight, while the stage is definitely not the same one, the magnitude either, the game goes along the same path in this: “perseverance pays off”. For coach Smith all the years it took to get that first title, for coach Williams all the time it took to right this season.

The Rams love running up and down the court, while they are stingy in giving up the ball while doing it. On the other hand too many times over the season we have seen unforced turnovers by the Heels when trying the run n gun tempo of previous seasons. If making the tempo of the game isn’t the biggest storyline for both of these teams I am not sure what can be. Meaning that Larry Drew, who has been playing rather well in the last couple of games, and Dexter Strickland, who has also picked up his game, need to have yet again another great game. Besides playing well on offense, something that they are getting better and better at both of these young men have to play well on the defensive side of the ball. And when you talk about defense, you have to talk about Marcus Ginyard, as the fifth year senior needs to step it up and play well when Rhode Island has the ball. While so much as been made about what this and that big man does not do right for UNC I for one have always looked at the fact that if Larry Drew has a good night it usually means that they will come home with a W, if he does not well, let’s just say we have talked about that way too much this season.

How many times have you heard fans, commentators, analysts, people “in the know” use the phrase “you can’t team height”? If I had a penny for each time I have heard it is all I can say. What all of these tv and radio talking heads forgot to add is that while you can’t teach height you have to teach the smaller guys to bring up the ball and get it to those tall guys in the paint. And while this paragraph might have been a bit over the top what I am just trying to say is that guard on a good night can help out the big man a lot more than a big man on a good night can help out his point guard. Deon Thompson, John Henson, Tyler Zeller can all be ready to have the game of their lives, it is up to Drew and Strickland to get them the ball and let them loose. I am pretty sure that during the Rams’ season they have found some gritty, hard working guards in their paths, I am not so sure that they have had to handle what UNC is going to give them down low in the post. It’s always been my theory that in the paint is the bread and butter of Carolina, and I think tonight it will once again be that way.

How is that going to happen? By having Thompson, Henson and Zeller all scoring in double figures (I would like to see 45 combined) and having them get 25-28 rebounds, keeping URI off the offensive glass and getting Rhode Island’s seven foot center in foul trouble quickly. But the Heels need to worry about a couple of other Rams as well, 6’4″ senior guard Keith Cothran, who leads his team with 14 PPG, and 6’8″ junior forward Delroy James (13 PPG ~ 5 RPG). While the guard hasn’t had his best times during the tournament, the junior is scoring over 21 points in the NIT and is playing has hard as he can. James has hit 1/2 of his three point attempts (7 for 14) and is 76% from the charity stripe. If there is one thing that can help UNC out is that the junior forward finds a way to get fouls almost as much as a way to get open for a shot. Cothran seems to be the heart and soul of the Rams, his scoring dips by over three points anytime URI has lost this year, while his shooting goes down by close to 10% (46% to 36.4%). While I forsee a lot of Heels taking on James to get him into foul trouble I have to believe that Cothran is going to be hounded by Ginyard in this game.

This is by no means an easy game, especially if Will Graves and Leslie McDonald struggle from beyond the arc once again. Can it be won by UNC? Sure, as long as the guards do not give the ball up for easy baskets and the bigs can control the boards on both ends of the floor. But as we know all of this is pretty easy to write, enjoyable to read, but to put into affect and played out is a bit more of a challenge. As well as it should when you think about it, this is the semi finals of the National Invitation Tournament, and while it’s not the same of spotlight as the NCAA might have, it is still in front of a very large crowd, who wants to see two good teams battle it out, and that is exactly what I see happening tomorrow night in New York City.

Who is going to win this one? After having checked with the Vegas odds makers, who have the game even right now, I am going to go with North Carolina, who is 27-9 at MSG, for one reason and one reason only: this is all gravy to them. Yes, I said it, this is all extra, playing with the bank’s money, add your own quote in here. The coaching staff didn’t know if they would be going, a heck of a lot of fans didn’t want them going, and now they have won 3 in a row, two in a row on the road after having won two of the first 11 games outside of the Smith Center. To Rhode Island, especially for their freshman Akeem Richmond (who was a UNC ball boy growing up in Sanford), the big deal is getting the the NIT Final Four. To North Carolina the big deal is having gelled into a team that has proven many doubters wrong. Two very different things for two very different programs.So, look for the Heels to win by 8, with the final score being 73 to 65, and from one of my favorite sites, scACCHoops comes word that: after 20 sims of the UNC/RI matchup, we get an avg score of UNC 73.2 RI 64.7. Heels won 14 out of 20.

In the end, in a season where a lot of the people that bleed Carolina Blue put in doubt whether this team would finish above .500, with a win tomorrow the Tar Heels will have reached 20 wins on the season, and I am sure I would not be far off when I say that is a goal very few believed could be possible for this squad.

Madison Square Garden (GoogleSearch)

I like to know how many of the fans that didn’t want this team to go to the National Invitation Tournament are still thinking the same way now that the Tar Heels are headed to the Big Apple, more precisely Madison Square Garden, to play in the semi finals of the tourney. And they are headed to NYC because 4th seed North Carolina (19-16) defeated 2nd seed Alabama-Birmingham (25-10) by the final score of 60 to 55. Once again, just like the game against Mississippi State, the Heels won this game as a team, working together, making clutch shots and free throws when needed. If people thought it was a mistake to go to any post season besides the NCAA’s I think the only mistake would have been not going to this one. What a difference it is for the fans, and for the team itself, to say how this season is finishing compared to how it would have if they didn’t go to the NIT (with a blow out loss to arch rival Duke and then losing to Ga Tech in the ACC Tournament). But I am not sure if people can truly see what this young and talented team did on the road.

They beat a team that hadn’t lost in 33 non conference games in a row by keeping the scores low. The Blazers kept the opposition at about 60 points per game this season, the same amount of points that the Heels had in this game. Difference being that while the preview of this game was that UAB wears the opponents down with their hard core defense it was UNC that held them scoreless for almost 10 minutes (from 10:21 in the second half to 0:35). This is once again brings me to my phrase of the season for this team “it is what it is”, and what it was tonight was a team that had to play through a bit too many turnovers, some runs by the Blazers and most of all by sticking it out when the game was on the line and not folding. I am not going to try make you believe that these are the 2005 or 2009 NCAA title run teams, but what I am going to try to convince you is that the team you are watching is for real. Two road games in a row played tight and coming out with a win is no fluke, it’s what this team has turned into.

And once again, when the game was on the line, sophomore point guard Larry Drew II came through with a nice drive into the lane and a beautiful finger roll for the needed basket. It wasn’t the game winner this time, that was left up to another part of UNC’s game that has greatly improved, the free throw line, but it showed that when the D can’t sag as much as it was in during ACC play Drew can create in the paint. In my preview of the game I said that Deon Thompson, John Henson and Tyler Zeller (who played after being said he would be 50-50 for this one) would need to score 35 points and 20 rebounds. They went for 28 points and 22 rebounds. This is the team’s bread and butter, with Thompson having 14 points and 12 boards (season high), and Henson chipping in with 14 (tieing his career high) and 3 this was definitely a pair that UAB could not keep up with.

I also said that Drew and Strickland needed to stay below 5 turnovers, they had 5, while having 10 assists, they combined for nine. The pair also chipped in for 19 points, with Drew having 11 of them. Again, it’s amazing (at least to me) to see the transformation of this squad, even at the floor general position in this tournament. And while not everything was perfect tonight, case in point the drive by Strickland with the chuck up high off the back board (in hopes to draw the foul) or the drive by Drew threw the ball out of bounds cause he was caught in the air and with no one to pass it to, overall this team has definitely improved in this part of its game as well. Of course there were two players that could have done more (or better) for the Heels, Will Graves and Leslie McDonald went 0 for 9 overall and 0 for 7 from beyond the arc, and even worst is that it seems McDonald can not wait to shoot the ball once he has it in his hand. Maybe it’s me, and maybe I am wrong, but trying to get a good pass inside or a fake shot and drive might help his game a bit.

On defense UNC played pretty well, and while some of was because UAB almost seemed as it wasn’t allowed to shoot in the first 25 seconds of the shot clock, none of the Heels looked out of place when they were guarding the Blazers. Sure, the sequence with Carolina up by 3 points, where the defended for 30+ seconds just to give up an offensive rebound, to then guard once again for over 30 second to again let UAB get the rebound to finally fouling the shooter after another 25+ seconds had gone by was almost too much to watch as the game was coming down to the stretch run. Reality being had this sequence had been a month ago it would have been the prelude to a loss, this time it was just a bump in the road in a hard fought win. Like the saying goes “what a difference (include your time table here) makes”. Again, is this the perfect team? No, but they are better than they were before this tournament started as well as being a perfect 3-0 and that is why they are headed to New York City.

The skeptics will say that winning 3 games in the NIT doesn’t make up for not going to the NCAA. That can be true, but then again there are the critics that complain everytime a top recruit does not come to Chapel Hill. Does the chance of winning the NIT make up for this season or for not being able to defend the national title? Probably not, but it does show the team is improving and more importantly it is giving the young players on this team more playing time that they would have missed out had the Heels not gone to the National Invitation Tournament.

Who is going to be UNC’s next opponent? Well, for that we must wait for tomorrow night, with Virginia Tech and Rhode Island fighting it out to see who will play in MSG. Interesting point was made by Tar Heel Fan: if North Carolina was to make it to the final of this tournament they could face Illinois in what could be a rematch of the 2005 NCAA title game. Conspiracy theories can begin now. I have to wonder would would Bruce Weber want a chance to get back at Carolina or would he prefer to avoid the possibility of having lost both the NCAA and NIT to the same team in less than a decade. Let the speculations begin!

Bartow Arena

When you do well in life it seems fitting/proper that you should be rewarded. For the Tar Heels doing well in the National Invitation Tournament means that they had a couple of days of practice and travel before playing round three of the tournament. Tonight, at 9:00 p.m. EST (televised on ESPN), 4th seed North Carolina (18-16) will face off against the 2nd seed University of Alabama at Birmingham (25-8) for what is just the second meeting between these teams ever, with the Heels having won it back in 1986 77 to 59. For the winner it means advancing and heading to NYC and the Mecca of Basketball, Madison Square Garden, to take on either Virginia Tech or Rhode Island. For the loser it means the end their season just one step short of the New York city spotlights. In other words both of these teams have plenty to fight play for tonight.

This is certainly no easy task for head coach Roy Williams’ squad as UAB is 14-3 this year at home and has won 33 straight out of conference games at Bartow Arena. The Blazers are keeping up with those numbers in the post season as they have not trailed a second in the 80 minutes they have played of this torunament. Add to all of this that Tyler Zeller is 50-50 on whether he plays or not and you can see how massive of a climb the Heels have in this one.

However this isn’t the same team that we have been used to, so I am definitely not going to give up hope of a good, hard fought, game by Carolina. And the fact that I can sit here and write a post about this team, that plenty of fans had given up on, is one game away from heading to the semis is awesom from where I am standing. If I can talk about the fact that they are going to go to New York city after the game is over would be over the top for me!

One thing is for sure, if the Heels want to win this game they will have to have a good game as far as not turning the ball over, as the Blazers are very good on the defensive side of the ball. Case in point, they held N.C. State to 35.8% shooting (24% in the first half). For a team like North Carolina, that with the exception of the game against William & Mary, hasn’t scored 80 points since December 2009, shooting like this with added turnovers on top will mean a defeat if lucky, an ugly one if not. But UAB is not just about defense, they have two players that UNC must keep from having stellar performances if they want to have a chance to win. Junior guard Elijah Millsap, a 6’6″ guard (which is the type of player that seems to always give trouble to UNC), who leads C-USA in rebounding at 9.4 and is fifth in scoring 15.7. In his last game he scored 27 points, so whomever is guarding him needs to blanket the Blazer from start to finish. Along with Millsap the Heels have to contain senior forward Howard Crawford, 6’8″, who shoots 48.3% from the field, best in the conference and is second in scoring on the team, with 12.0 per game. To recap: pressuring defense and two good offensive players, not an easy task.

On the offensive side of the ball the Heels have to go to their bread and butter, the inside game, because there is no way that Carolina can win this one relying on the outside shooting. This is why Zeller being hurt is very troubling to me, another huge body to throw at the Blazers inside would be great. Nevertheless UNC does have big bodies to play with. Deon Thompson, John Henson and Travis Wear can all chip in and do damage inside for coach Williams. Together they have to combine for 35 points and 20 boards if the Heels want to have a chance to win this game, and that is saying a lot when you think that UAB only gives up 60.4 points per game. But now let’s get to the two players that on offense might just make the difference, Larry Drew II (you can check out his game winning drive against MSU on Tar Heel Fan‘s site) and Dexter Strickland. They must make the correct decisions at all time if they want to come home with a W. That means crisp passing, no easy turnovers that can lead to fast break points for the opposition, look inside first and foremost just to meantion some of the things (I am sure coach Williams has a lot more for them). As far as the scheme of things related to numbers, these two young men need to score about 15-18 points combined and have 10 assists while turning over the ball less than 5 times. That brings us to about 53 points in all, where is the rest going to come from?

Will Graves and Leslie McDonald. They have to take their shots compared to just taking shots. If these two outside shooters can set and shoot properly they can give the Tar Heels what they truly need, some room inside for the big man to operate. Meaning that both of them have to hit early so that the Blazers have to come out and guard them, that is why I said “have to take their shots no just taking shots”. A couple of three’s early on will make the difference whether Thompson, Henson and Company will be double teamed all game long or not. I know that if the UNC’s bigs can have the room to play they can make the difference, but they need help from the back court. And now we come to one of the most talked about Heel this year (and not always in a good way), Marcus Ginyard, and what he needs to do in this one in order to help his team head to the Big Apple for the second time this year. One thing and one thing only, play as hard as he has ever done on D. If he can lead by example on that side of the ball it is going to go a long way in helping the rest of the team do the same and making UAB have to fight a lot harder than they have to in this tournament.

All of this was simple to write, but I know that it’s not as easy to execute. By no means is this game a gimme for UNC, but fortunately, because of this squad maturing and gelling it’s not a gimme for UAB either. I truly think that who wins this game will have to earn it for the major course of the game, and that is going to make for good basketball. The Las Vegas insiders have UAB as a 5 points favorite, which isn’t that big considering the dominance the Blazers have had at home and that Miss State was a 6.5 points favorite to UNC in the second round. Does that mean I think UNC is going to win it? I do, and this is why, I am not going to pretend I know a lot about the University of Alabama at Birmingham because I do not, but I doubt that in their season they have encountered as many bigs that can all score as UNC has. That leads me to believe that their front line might get fouls quickly and open up even more play for the Heels inside.

The final score? I say North Carolina 74 to 68 in a game where Henson dominates inside and shows the rest of the college basketball world what to expect in season from him in season two.

Henson & Thompson (TarHeelBlue.com)

This team faced adversity in the final minutes of the game, overcame them, and was able to take home a win from a very hostile enviroment, something they were able to do only three times during the season. Watching them play today people might complain that they are still not as good as they could be, but you can not argue that they seemed to have gelled. Smiles on faces, players pointing to one another when a good pass turns into a score, working hard on defense and I can go on and on and on, but I think you get the picture. I have to stress this, some of the fans didn’t want the team to play in this tournament, look at what we would be missing? And by that I just don’t mean the wins, I mean a team that is gelling and playing as a team and not five individuals. It might have taken longer than it could/should have, but it’s here and now, and for whomever plays the Heels next (which should be UAB) it’s not going to be a gimme.

The way this team fought they took that 16-4 deficit and went into halftime up by 3, with the score being 36 to 33. The big man, no pun intended, of the first twenty minutes was John Henson, who scored 10 points, had six rebounds and a pair of blocks. He is becoming what everyone thought he was going to be coming out of high school, and that does not fare well for the next opponents of Carolina, be it in this tournament or next season. But as we all know there are two halves to each game and MSU came out with fresh legs and a willingness to shoot the three’s anytime they could. That got them the lead, which would extend to nine points, but as I said before this team (unlike the one that we saw play for most of the ACC part of the schedule) did not fold, did not give up, it united and played as a team. With about 10 minutes to go UNC lost Tyler Zeller to a concussion, and yet again I am sure more and more people thought “here we go again”, but not this squad, who down by seven didn’t fold, it played on. The fought on and with about a minute to go Will Graves (6 for 10 ~ 4 for 6 from 3) hit a high arching, very contested shot for three to put the Heels up by 2. Deon Thompson got called for a foul and with 12 seconds to go the Heels inbounded the ball which Drew, at 6’2″ took into the lane and beat MSU’s 6’9″ center known for his shot blocking ability. Mississippi State tried a desperation shot that didn’t go in and that was the ball game, with UNC winning it by a duece.

C’mon now, you don’t have to tell me, but tell yourself if you believed you would be saying “UNC beat MSU by a duece in Starkville” before this game started. It’s a great run that will continue for at least one more game, and if by any chance head coach Roy Williams’ team were to win that game they would be going back to Madison Square Garden, and I am sure this team would love to be able to get another shot at the Big Apple. However, as coach’s speak says “one game at a time”, and so we will wait to see what UNC vs UAB has in stored for this squad.

For all of you that didn’t want this team to play in the NIT last night’s game, atmosphere in Carmichael (not calling it Arena), the chemistry between players, should have proved you wrong. It was exciting and it brought memories to this old Heel (who was there when they closed it down) and saw many great players don the Carolina Blue on that floor. For the first time in 24 years a game was played in this old venue, while for the first time since December 30, 2009 the team scored 80 points in a game. It was all about history, something that as fans we forget quite often, last night this group of players reminded us about it on their way to a 80 to 72 victory against William & Mary. It might not have been a perfect game by any means, but it was a perfect way to end this season on the UNC campus!

As I wrote in my preview of this game I thought that the big men (Deon Thompson, John Henson and Tyler Zeller) all needed to score in double figures and with the exception of Henson (9 pts) all did, with Thompson leading the way with 20 points and Zeller adding 13. I also said these three bigs need between 22 to 25 rebounds, the got 23 in all, 10 being offensive ones. I then talked about Larry Drew and Dexter Strickland and their need to hold on to the ball, something they did as they only turned it over 3 times between them. My thoughts on Marcus Ginyard was that he needed to concentrate on defense, again that happened last night, as the fifth year senior had five steals (to go with 12 points and four assists). Lastly my focus went on Will Graves, who needed to hit some threes so that the Tribe’s zone didn’t always collapse on the bigs. That was the only thing that I might have missed on my theories, as Graves hit just one, however Drew and Ginyard both hit a pair and McDonald added one more, which was enough to keep W&M honest.

In all William & Mary took 62 shots, 43 were from beyond the arc. In my preview I did talk about playing against a team that might take more shots from 3 than they would from 2, but I never thought the numbers would be like that! The Tribe was pretty cold in the first half from the “trifecta”, allowing the Heels to take a 41 to 30 lead into the half. But as soon as the second 20 minutes started it was evident that something was different as William & Mary nailed any and all that they shot. It was less than three minutes into the half that head coach Roy Williams had to call time out. A 180 turnaround as it was W&M’s coach calling time out right away in the first half when Carolina rattled off nine in a row to begin the game.

All in all this was one of those games that reminded you of the Heels that once played in Carmichael, one of those teams that you didn’t imagine could have lost the number of games it did. In all it was fun to watch, to be part of something that you might not see again for a long time. Next up it will be Mississippi State, who defeated Jackson State 81-67, on Saturday in Starkville.