The US gets the Bronze at the World University Games

Team USA

In the end, for Deon Thompson and his team mates, the World University Games brought a medal, even if it’s probably not the one they wanted. Team USA defeated Israel in the Bronze Medal game by the final tally 90-81. The power forward from Torrance, CA. ended up with seven points and six rebounds in the game, and for all the games Thompson averaged over 9.5 points and just under 6 boards, something that I think the Carolina staff would not mind for the senior in the `09-`10 season. A blogger who follows Carolina as well as anyone, Tar Heel Fan, makes a great point in saying that taking the numbers from this summer international play “has little to no bearing on how he will perform in the ACC”. Going on to talk about the fact of the different rules and how head coach Bo Ryan likes to play it in the 70’s while head coach Roy Williams likes to play in the 90’s (if not higher).

On the other hand, my hopes is that what does translate from this summer experience to the UNC schedule is senior leadership. If Thompson can react to the fact there is no more Hansbrough to go to, and there will be a need for somehow to gel plenty of talented but young players, his contribution for coach Williams might be much more than mere points and boards. As with most things only time will tell, and for now all I can/will say is congratulations to the US Team that did get a medal (even if I am pretty sure they are a bit disappointed they did not bring home the gold). Stay tune to hear more about Deon Thompson (and the rest of the `09-`10 team) when I begin my “Get to know the Heels” pieces about all the basketball (and football) players in the next few days.