electricrelish Posted March 3, 2011 Share Posted March 3, 2011 (edited) The Duke (27-3) vs. N. Carolina (23-6) game will occur this Saturday, March 5th. At stake, is the ACC regular-season championship. Duke won the first match-up last month. Duke is ranked number four in the country. Duke is the defending National Champion. It's true that Carolina is a lot younger compared to Duke's seasoned seniors. Carolina lacks serious guard depth after losing Larry Drew II last month and Richard Bullock this week. It's true that Carolina struggles to hit the three and defend the three. At the start of the season, no one thought Carolina would have a shot at the championship. Yet, here we are, one game away from a regular season championship, with only our cross-town rival in our way. Bring it Dookies! Bring it! Edited March 3, 2011 by electricrelish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billay Posted March 3, 2011 Share Posted March 3, 2011 The Duke (27-3) vs. N. Carolina (23-6) game will occur this Saturday, March 5th. At stake, is the ACC regular-season championship. Duke won the first match-up last month. Duke is ranked number four in the country. Duke is the defending National Champion. It's true that Carolina is a lot younger compared to Duke's seasoned seniors. Carolina lacks serious guard depth after losing Larry Drew II last month and Richard Bullock this week. It's true that Carolina struggles to hit the three and defend the three. At the start of the season, no one thought Carolina would have a shot at the championship. Yet, here we are, one game away from a regular season championship, with only our cross-town rival in our way. Bring it Dookies! Bring it! I like the Heels chances at home. We had the Dookies on the ropes in Durham and the Heels are still kicking themselves for letting that one slip away. Despite more attrition since the Dook game (lost Bullock for the year) UNC still has continues its hot streak. Carolina had FSU beaten before Harrison Barnes' heroics yesterday, but made several stupid plays in the last 4 minutes and let FSU back in the game. I think Smith and Singler are gassed after playing almost 40 minutes per game all year (Smith has played the full 40 in Dook's last 2 games) and I don't think Curry can light it up away from Cameron the way he does at home (see his goose egg at VT). Still, all the pressure is on Dook, as nobody thought they would have competition for the ACC regular season title. These Heels have already surpassed expectations. I think senior day gets the heels over the hump. As usual, I'm offering the standard UNC-Dook avy bet. Loser wears the winners avy as long as the winner's team is still alive in the Big Dance. Go Heels Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timmypg Posted March 3, 2011 Share Posted March 3, 2011 I like the Heels chances at home. We had the Dookies on the ropes in Durham and the Heels are still kicking themselves for letting that one slip away. Despite more attrition since the Dook game (lost Bullock for the year) UNC still has continues its hot streak. Carolina had FSU beaten before Harrison Barnes' heroics yesterday, but made several stupid plays in the last 4 minutes and let FSU back in the game. I think Smith and Singler are gassed after playing almost 40 minutes per game all year (Smith has played the full 40 in Dook's last 2 games) and I don't think Curry can light it up away from Cameron the way he does at home (see his goose egg at VT). Still, all the pressure is on Dook, as nobody thought they would have competition for the ACC regular season title. These Heels have already surpassed expectations. I think senior day gets the heels over the hump. As usual, I'm offering the standard UNC-Dook avy bet. Loser wears the winners avy as long as the winner's team is still alive in the Big Dance. Go Heels In Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
detlef Posted March 4, 2011 Share Posted March 4, 2011 Odd, I actually felt better about our chances the last time around than I do this time. And UNC spent 20 minutes showing exactly why. Because they were just running teams out of the gym, UNC-style in all the games leading up to the first match-up. Now they're really not doing that at all. On the other hand, they're also winning tough games. Case in point; once Duke came back in that game at Cameron, I knew we'd lose. That the guys would just sort of fold. Now, however, they've let a few games they had won get back to even (or worse) and managed to sack up and pull it out. Mind you, that was against teams that aren't as good as Duke. But still, it's good to know that you've let a lead slip away and sacked up and taken care of business and that, should it happen again, you can do it. I also agree that K has leaned on Singler and Smith a lot and they could be gassed. It's really his worst habit and, I think, has cost him in many seasons. He just happened to get bailed out last year by an unbelievable draw in the tourney and the fact that every other top team tripped up making that easy draw even easier. And that perspective is not sour grapes. I've got a good friend who works for Duke sports radio (my source for all the tix I get for Duke games) who was downright giddy with their draw. To quote him, "You'd think we were the number 1 over-all seed or something!" Sorry, I digress. This is about Saturday. Go Heels! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
electricrelish Posted March 4, 2011 Author Share Posted March 4, 2011 (edited) Odd, I actually felt better about our chances the last time around than I do this time. And UNC spent 20 minutes showing exactly why. Because they were just running teams out of the gym, UNC-style in all the games leading up to the first match-up. Now they're really not doing that at all. On the other hand, they're also winning tough games. Case in point; once Duke came back in that game at Cameron, I knew we'd lose. That the guys would just sort of fold. Now, however, they've let a few games they had won get back to even (or worse) and managed to sack up and pull it out. Mind you, that was against teams that aren't as good as Duke. But still, it's good to know that you've let a lead slip away and sacked up and taken care of business and that, should it happen again, you can do it. I also agree that K has leaned on Singler and Smith a lot and they could be gassed. It's really his worst habit and, I think, has cost him in many seasons. He just happened to get bailed out last year by an unbelievable draw in the tourney and the fact that every other top team tripped up making that easy draw even easier. And that perspective is not sour grapes. I've got a good friend who works for Duke sports radio (my source for all the tix I get for Duke games) who was downright giddy with their draw. To quote him, "You'd think we were the number 1 over-all seed or something!" Sorry, I digress. This is about Saturday. Go Heels! Last year's draw for Dook was ridookulous. The fact of the matter is that when Dook is on the tele, it makes for good ratings, so the longer they are in the tourney, the better for CBS. Last year, Carolina wasn't in the tourney to help offset that, but the NIT benefited. Edited March 4, 2011 by electricrelish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
detlef Posted March 4, 2011 Share Posted March 4, 2011 Last year's draw for Dook was ridookulous. The fact of the matter is that when Dook is on the tele, it makes for good ratings, so the longer they are in the tourney, the better for CBS. Last year, Carolina wasn't in the tourney to help offset that, but the NIT benefited. I'm certainly going to stop short of calling it a conspiracy to keep Duke on TV. I thought the draw was absurd, but I'd like to think it wasn't because CBS was in the room telling them what to do. And, FWIW, Carolina didn't deserve a home game against Bill and Mary in the NIT anymore than Duke deserved their draw. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
electricrelish Posted March 6, 2011 Author Share Posted March 6, 2011 YES!!! It's hard to be humble when you're a Tarheel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timmypg Posted March 6, 2011 Share Posted March 6, 2011 Congrats on a great comeback season. Barnes outplayed Singler & Marshall is nasty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billay Posted March 6, 2011 Share Posted March 6, 2011 Well that was fun. Timmay, I have tried to update my avatar, but it doesn't seem to be taking. When I get it up, you can use it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big John Posted March 6, 2011 Share Posted March 6, 2011 Well that was fun. Timmay, I have tried to update my avatar, but it doesn't seem to be taking. When I get it up, you can use it. Hit ctrl-refresh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billay Posted March 6, 2011 Share Posted March 6, 2011 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
electricrelish Posted March 6, 2011 Author Share Posted March 6, 2011 YES!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timmypg Posted March 6, 2011 Share Posted March 6, 2011 Updated Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billay Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 Rubber match! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timmypg Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 Since 1991 the winner of this game (5 times) made the final four. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
electricrelish Posted March 13, 2011 Author Share Posted March 13, 2011 Rubber match! Let's do this. Go Heels! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billay Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 UNC getting completely owned at the moment Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
detlef Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 UNC getting completely owned at the moment Uh yeah. I missed most of the 1st half and turned it on thinking, "Guys, this is not Miami or Clemson, we can't get away with this again." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
electricrelish Posted March 13, 2011 Author Share Posted March 13, 2011 Props to the Blue Devils. They were consistent throughout the ACC Tourney and played better than UNC. Carolina seemed tired. When you have a lack of depth like Carolina does at the guard position, it will eventually catch up to you. It seemed like Kendall Marshall would beat his man at times when driving to the basket, but lots of times he didn't have any open men to dish off to, and he didn't finish strong. We really needed Marshall to pick up the scoring in this game. Hate to say it, but we really could have used Larry Drew as a backup. Too bad, he wasn't willing to accept that role. Still, Carolina got it down to 9 pts, and instead of picking it up, they relaxed and Duke seized the moment. It was a let down. Considering how young Carolina is and their lack of guard depth, I think Carolina may have overachieved a bit, but of course winning is what's expected of any Tarheel team. I'm hoping they can regroup and put a run together next week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timmypg Posted March 14, 2011 Share Posted March 14, 2011 This game gave me hope as a Duke fan that we can make a run. If our roll players play that well we can go deep. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billay Posted March 14, 2011 Share Posted March 14, 2011 This game gave me hope as a Duke fan that we can make a run. If our roll players play that well we can go deep. Funny, it made me think the same thing as well, that Duke is still a serious contender. Duke addressed every issue they had in the game in Chapel Hill. Nolan absolutely locked Marshall down and the guys in the middle rose to the challenge. UNC showed its youth and inexperience. You simply can't come out soft against a high quality team and expect to be able to come behind from any deficit. Some teams will close the door on you, like Duke did yesterday. The silver lining is that, based on UNC's #2 seed, the loss didn't hurt them from that standpoint, and hopefully they will learn to respect their opponent from the first tip. UNC has been the media darling for the past 2 weeks, and I'm sure some of all that talk went to their heads (which might explain some of their tournament performance). Honestly, I think if they had won the tournament, they might be primed for an early out. I still feel that way now, but time will tell. I also like the fact that they are in Ohio State's bracket, as I hope that will keep them humble and hungry. This team has little to no NCAA experience. Congrats to the Duke, it was a well-earned victory. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billay Posted April 6, 2011 Share Posted April 6, 2011 (edited) Henson and Zeller are staying, Kyrie Irving is leaving. No word yet from Harrison Barnes. Edited April 6, 2011 by billay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
detlef Posted April 6, 2011 Share Posted April 6, 2011 Henson and Zeller are staying, Kyrie Irving is leaving. No word yet from Harrison Barnes. Nothing terribly surprising on any of those three. Unfortunately, I would be surprised to see Barnes back next year. We can always hope, because that team would be stacked. Nice to get a pure shooter and a wide body inside in the incoming class. Even without Barnes, that will be a very, very good team. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gopher Posted April 7, 2011 Share Posted April 7, 2011 Everything I've heard indicates that UNC will be next year's consensus pre-season #1 team... and that is even with the assumption that Barnes leaves. Both teams should be very good next year, but UNC not only loses less than Duke, they have a better class of recruits coming in, as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billay Posted April 7, 2011 Share Posted April 7, 2011 Nothing terribly surprising on any of those three. Unfortunately, I would be surprised to see Barnes back next year. We can always hope, because that team would be stacked. Nice to get a pure shooter and a wide body inside in the incoming class. Even without Barnes, that will be a very, very good team. The word on the street is that Barnes is staying as well, announcement to come early next week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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