UNC 28, Duke 20 (football)

Carolina didn't play a good game, but we were good enough to beat an upstart program like Duke. I really believe that our team lost some of its swagger after the Virginia loss. Yes, we did beat BC and GT, but both of these games had some signs of trouble. In the BC game, we fell behind to the Eagles in the first half before stepping on the throttle. The GT game was still fairly close going into the 4th quarter (we were only ahead 7-0).

Bottom line--we deserve to go to a 2nd or 3rd tier bowl, but we better regain our intensity if we want a victory.

Deon Thompson, MVP, November 2008

I don't know if there is a player this season that has improved as much as Deon Thompson. His game has improved immensely, shooting over 50% from the field EVERY GAME, and playing incredible D.

Right now, Deon may be a candidate for 1st Team All-ACC. Mind you, we haven't played a very strong schedule, but Deon's numbers would be solid against any opponent.

Victory over Notre Dame, and a massacre of UNC-Asheville

I've watched some basketball over the last few days, and I'm more impressed than ever with our team. I was worried about the Notre Dame game, but I had no idea that Psycho T would score 34 points (his own coach said he was at 75% healthy). Notre Dame played well, but UNC simply controlled the game on offense and defense.

The UNC-Asheville game was unbelievable, beating a Division I team by 68 points without Hansbrough, Ginyard, and Zeller. I was especially impressed with our D, both inside the paint and on the perimeter.

Bobby Frasor watch: Bobby is now shooting 25% from the field for the season. We really need Bobby to provide quality minutes off the bench this year, spelling for both Ellington and Lawson. A healthy, confident Frasor can only help UNC (my main hope is that Frasor can play 12-15 minutes/game in ACC action, with the majority of the time spelling for Ellington).

Ho Hum...another blowout

UNC dominated Oregon last night. Since UNC led at halftime 51-22, I decided to catch up on some needed sleep. Although the final score was 98-69 (UNC and Oregon each scored 47 points in the 2nd half), I feel great about our team.

Bobby Frasor shot 1-3 in 15 minutes of play. He's improved his field goal %, now sporting at 18%. His knee has healed, but his confidence has left him. Bobby needs to turn the corner...sooner rather than later.

I expect a close game tonight against Notre Dame. UNC may lose their first game tonight--I dunno.

What's the latest on Bobby Frasor?

I remember the 2005-06 season, watching a skinny kid named Tyler Hansbrough dominate games like no other freshman had in years. Does everyone remember the starting point guard for that team? Yes, it was Bobby Frasor. Bobby played point, although his natural position was the 2 spot. He played good D, he could shoot from the outside, and he was able to pass the ball to the open man.

2006-07 season saw Ty Lawson assume the role of starting point guard. Frasor started off the season hurt, and he never could beat out Ty for the starting job.

2007-08 season was a disaster for Frasor, tearing up his knee in the 10th game of the season. Season over.

Now look at Bobby. He's slower, he's tentative, and he's missing his shots, shooting 15.8% from the field for the season. I hope Bobby will have a breakout game and prove that he can play at a high level again. So far this season he's been a liability on both ends of the court.

Maui Madness

Heels defeated Chaminade last night by a score of 115-70. A positive note is that the Heels played Will Graves 21 minutes, Bobby Frasor and Larry Drew 17 minutes, and Justin Watts 11 minutes last night. With the loss of Zeller, plus Psycho T's stress reaction problems, and Ginyard's injuries, the Heels bench became a major concern. I knew that Green can replace Ginyard, and Davis could replace Psycho T, but who can replace Green and Davis from the bench?

It appears that Watts and Graves have something to prove to the Tar Heel Nation. Let's see how we respond tonight against Oregon.

Hit me with your best shot

My fellow Heels, Saturday night reminded me of Pat Benatar's song "Hit me with your best shot". State hit us with their best shot, and then hit us again, and again....

No need to dwell on the obvious. My prediction of Carolina beating State by 25 proves that I'm not a good prognosticator.

UNC 84, UC Santa Barbara 67

Sorry everyone, I didn't watch the game last night. I was happy to hear that Hansbrough played 25 minutes, and I'm glad that he was hot at the free throw line.

I received an e-mail from a friend asking why UNC has not destroyed any of the opposition so far this year. The margin of victory for the 3 games played are 13, 19, and 17. I agree with the e-mail that we haven't dominated any of these games. Why?

1. 3 Freshmen playing key roles.
2. Injuries to Psycho T, Ginyard, and now Zeller.
3. Our opponents either played well (Santa Barbara, Penn) or had a reasonable amount of talent (Kentucky) to keep us from blowing them away.
4. We have a bullseye on our backs.

My advice for my audience? Be prepared for an exciting season of close victories. We will not dominate all of our opponents. In fact, be prepared for this current team to disappoint you every so often. But mainly, do not panic. UNC will have a very successful season.

UC Santa Barbara---WHO?

Let me clarify--I am a North Carolinian, so I don't know much about smaller programs on the West Coast. Not to knock the "Gauchos", but unless the stars and the moon are aligned just right, Carolina will win in a rout.

Anyway, what the heck is a Gaucho?

Ty Zeller--gone for the season

OK, looks like our biggest obstacle will be our health. Going into the season I was more worried about chemistry, but injuries sometimes will mitigate the threat of bad chemistry. I hate that Zeller broke his wrist for the obvious reasons: you don't want someone to be knocked out early in the season, and you want your players to be available for each game. I know Psycho T will be fine, but I don't want him to play more than 30 minutes a game. With Zeller out, he may have to play 32-36 minutes a game. After stating the obvious, we still have 3 very capable big men in Davis, Psycho T, and Thompson. I expect that Davis will develop faster now because of this injury. Going into the season, I thought that Zeller would play about 20 minutes a game, and Davis would play around 12. Now I think Davis will play at least 20 minutes/game, and Thompson and Psycho T's minutes will increase.

My other concern is at the point. Lawson is awesome, but he can't play 40 minutes/game at his pace. We need Drew to develop to relieve Lawson for about 12 minutes each game. Not to knock Frasor, who is quite capable, but I rather have Frasor back up Ellington at the 2 spot.

Carolina vs. State

Is anyone ready for a blowout? I am. Will it happen? Yes it will..and no, State will not be the team whipping up on their opponent.

State just won a huge game over Wake Forest, while Carolina lost a heartbreaker against Maryland. As a result, State should have a letdown, while Carolina is mad and angry. Shouldn't be a close game at all. Besides this emotional advantage, Carolina holds the upper hand in other aspects:

1. Carolina's secondary will have a field day against State. Don't be surprised if Goodard and Co. pick off 3 or more interceptions.
2. Carolina's run defense has been embarrassed the last 2 games. Expect Carolina to shut down State's running backs early, causing Wilson to pass more often.
3. TJ Yates is available. I expect to see TJ and Cameron share duties at QB. Both should put up impressive numbers against State's defense.
4. Shawn Draughn will have many gaps to run through this Saturday.
5. Carolina is due to block either a punt or a kick.

Carolina will win, and I expect the score to be UNC 38, State 13.

Wildcats or Mildcats?

I don't believe Kentucky will give UNC much of a scare tonight. Kentucky is definitely a "name school", but their program has lost its edge over the last few seasons. UNC should pull away at the end of the first half. Psycho-T and Marcus will not play, but even with them on the bench, UNC has too much talent to allow Kentucky to win.

My prediction: UNC 92, Kentucky 73.

Duke 82, Rhode Island 79

Rhode Island shot 55% from the field yesterday, which is about 15% higher than the Blue Devils should have allowed. What's up with the Blue Devils?

1. Nolan Smith played 31 minutes at the point, but had only 2 assists. The Blue Devils had only 9 assists from the game.
2. The Blue Devils were outrebounded. Although the Blue Devils do not have any solid post men (Zoubek is okay, but limited, and Thomas has potential, but doesn't have a polished game), they usually have better instincts on retrieving the ball.
3. A weak bench. Paulus, Thomas, and McClure were the only players off the bench that had meaningful minutes. Only Thomas performed.

On the plus side, Duke won a game where they didn't play well. There is plenty of work needed to improve their team, and this game should be considered a "wake-up call".

UNC 86, Penn 73

I know a lot of people were worried about missing Psycho T (myself included). The focus should have been on Marcus Ginyard. Ginyard's defense was missed last night. A 13 point victory doesn't look too impressive, but I thought Penn probably overachieved.

I usually discount opening games...too many nervous jitters, lack of chemistry, etc. I believe our chemistry is fine on offense, but our defense has some room to improve. We played Zeller for 23 minutes, Davis for 21, and Drew for 12. That's a lot of minutes for Freshmen.

Maryland 17, UNC 15

The game is always played on the field and not on paper. UNC played one of their 2 worst games last night (the other bad game was against VA). Oh well. The game was somewhat symbolic that basketball season has started.

Okay, Miami beat VT...so what's next?

I caution everyone not to get their hopes up that UNC will win the Coastal division. We still have 3 ACC games to play, and in my opinion, we need to win them all. So what are our threats?

1. Turnovers. UNC has shown that they can take care of the ball..most of the time. We have to protect the rock, and at the same time use our defense to create turnovers. Teams that take chances on offense have played in our biggest strength..the interception.
2. Protect the Quarterback. Our offensive line must give Cameron or TJ enough time to hit the open receiver. Our line has been OK, but has not been outstanding.
3. Concentrate on Maryland. Maryland has the potential to beat UNC, no doubt about it. On paper, we look like the favorite, but the game is not played on paper, but instead at College Park. We haven't beaten the Terps at College Park since 1997.
4. Avoid the letdown. NC State and Duke would absolutely love to ruin our plans to participate in the ACC championship. Both teams have the potential to play competively against us, but our depth should prevail.

My final conclusion is that we have not yet won the Coastal divison. If we lose just 1 game, we will fall behind Miami (only 2 losses), VT and Virginia (tiebreaker). On a plus side, VT and Virgina must play each other, so one of these teams will fall to the wayside.

Will the real Maryland team please stand up?

Okay, I've got to admit that I'm nervous about Saturday's game against Maryland. Maryland sometimes look like they are the best team in the ACC, and at other times look like pathetic. The Virginia debacle absolutely floored me.

I predict that Carolina will be Maryland by 10 points. Carolina's opportunistic defense will cause Maryland a lot of grief on Saturday.

What's your prediction?

Please provide me some feedback!

I've recently asked a college roommate (I protect the names of the innocent) to check out my blog. He gave me one word--NERD. My college roommate knows me very well. Unfortunately for me, my former roommate's "coolness" never permiated my body.

So what do you want to discuss? I'd like to stick within the realms of UNC athletics, but I'm open to suggestions.

Back to Basketball--ACC predictions

I was able to take the afternoon off after 4 exhausting days of intense meetings. Great to take a chill, relax, play some Wii with my daughter, and post on the blog.

I thought I'd give everyone my predictions for 2008-09. Please feel to debate because I'm in no way an ACC expert.

Starting from bottom to top:

(12) Virginia. Where are you, Sean Singletary? Could Dave Leitao be on the hot seat?

(11) Georgia Tech. I've never been impressed with their defense, and their offense is even more suspect. Is Paul Hewitt on the hot seat? I keep on thinking of the phrase "What have you done for me lately?"

(10) NC State. I really like Sidney Lowe, and I think he's a great guy that really loves his alma mater. Great Coach? No, not yet. Sidney has 6 Freshmen on the roster to supplement Costner, Fells, McCauley, Horner, Ferguson, Degand, and Gonzales. Hopefully for the Pack they will settle on a solid point guard.

(9) Boston College. Probably the youngest team in the ACC with 3 Freshmen and 6 Sophomores on the roster. I expect the team to struggle for 1 more year.

(8) Florida State. Another young team that will struggle this season. Hopefully Reid won't cause any major injuries to his opposition this year.

(7) Maryland. Ever since Williams won the NCAA championship, there appears to be a funk over the program. Sure, they won the ACC tournament in 2004, but this program should be making the NCAA tournament every year.

(6) Virginia Tech. Ever since the Hokies have joined the ACC, Seth Greenberg's teams have overperformed. Seth's talent level may be the best since VT has joined the ACC.

(5) Clemson. Besides Carolina, I enjoy watching a Clemson game the best. Oliver Purnell incorporates a great team attitude with solid defense.

(4) Miami. A lot of talent coming back from their 2007-08 team. Expect another solid year from the Hurricanes.

(3) Wake Forest. A lot of James Johnson back. Expect a lot from this program with Dino fully in charge.

(2) Duke. Who did they lose from last year? Nelson? They have better players coming in the program this year. Great team, albeit a bit weak in the paint. Zoubek has yet to earn the respect of opposing Centers.

(1) UNC. Besides Q, the entire team will be back from last year, plus a healthy Bobby Frasor and 3 incredible Freshmen. I fully expect this team, barring injuries, chemistry problems, and a complete meltdown in the tournament, to make it back to the Final Four.

Please, feel free to give me your picks for the ACC!

Wait a minute! Do you mean that football season is not over?

UNC football is still here! Last year, Carolina truly competed in 10 of the 12 games. Butch laid the foundation in 2007 for the program, and this year we have seen achievement. Who would have thought...

1. We would lose TJ Yates for 6 games,
2. We would lose Brandon Tate at mid-season,
3. We would have Cameron Sexton, our third string quarterback leading the Heels,
and
4. Our record after 9 games would be 7-2?

Our matchup against Maryland could make the difference for the Heels between the Gator/Chick Fil A/Music City Bowl vs. a BCS Bowl. If we lose, I don't see how we can compete in the ACC Championship. If we win, we still have a chance to win the Coastal division.

Let's beat the Terps on Saturday. We've played much more consistent than Maryland this year, and I believe that we have more talent. What bothers me is that we haven't won in College Park since 1997. We need to break these losing streaks and stop piling them on to the lost years between Brown and Davis.

Tar Heel Nation--are we ready for a National Championship?

Hello everyone!

I am a proud 1993 graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. To say the least, I'm very excited about our hoops prospects this year. We've got depth, size, speed, shooting touch, and rebounding. What could possibly go wrong? Well, let's say plenty of things. Let's look at how the Heels did the first five years after I graduated (1994-1998).

1994--It's possible to have too much depth. When you have McInnis, Wallace and Stackhouse coming off the bench, you may have too much depth. We did get an ACC Tournament Championship, along with 2 victories against Duke. However, we lost to BC in the 2nd round in the NCAA's.

1995--Final Four, a share of the regular season ACC title, along with two more victories against Duke.

1996--Another 2nd round flameout. Lost in the first round to Clemson. Major accomplishment--beat Duke twice.

1997--Final Four, ACC Tournament Champions, and beat Duke once.

1998--Final Four, ACC Tournament Champions, and we beat Duke twice (once in the Regular Seaon, once in the ACC Tournament Championship).


In all fairness, UNC was in the Final Four 3 of these 5 years. In 1994, UNC probably had the most talent in the Nation, and we had much more talent than our 1993 team (the 1993 team graduated Rodl and Lynch, while the 1994 team added Wallace, McInnis, and Stackhouse). We should have been a major threat for the Championship, but our season went down the tubes. The 1995 team was just happy to be at the Final Four. Probably the same for the 1997 team, except for the fact that Dean Smith had just taken the all time lead in victories. The 1998 team, however, was the most talented team in the nation that year.

My conclusion is that not every year the team with the most talent wins. There are many threats to this Tar Heel team: injuries, chemistry problems, and freshmen with important roles. Without rocking the boat, I predict that the Tar Heels will lose 6 games this year.

What do you think?