It Really, Really, Really Hurts ... But Congrats To Villanova

SORRY.  NO PHOTO TODAY

I was stunned.  I actually knew it was going to happen, but I was still stunned.  Kris Jenkins hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to win the National Championship against my Heels.

Ugh.

Ugh.

It certainly stings.  It was the first buzzer beater to win an NCAA Tournament since NC State did in against Houston in 1983.  So, yeah, as a North Carolina fan, three of the most famous buzzer beaters in my life were NC State and Duke hitting them, and UNC getting one hit on them.

Ugh.

I've mentioned this in the past, but I have been pretty lucky when it comes to this.  My favorite teams (UNC football/basketball, Redskins, Lakers, Reds) have rarely lost like this.  Not just a buzzer beater, but in a title with a winner take all deal.  The Tar Heels hoops team had won their last four trips to the title game (1982, 1993, 2005, 2009).  The last title loss was in 1981 to Indiana, and I would turn six years old just a few months after that game.

My Redskins would lose Super Bowl XVIII in January 1984 (I was eight and it was rather devastating).  They'd win the next two Super Bowls (1988, 1992) and haven't sniffed that success since.

The Lakers have done it.  They lost Finals in 1983, 1989, 1991, 2004 and 2008, which sucked, but none of those went to a winner-take-all.  Two of those were sweeps and two others went just 5 games.  But the Lakers did have 1984 when they lost Game 7 of the Finals to the hated Celtics.  They also won Game 7 of the 1988 and 2010 Finals.

So I have been lucky.  I haven't seen my team lose in a winner-take-all championship game since 1984 when I was about to be 9 years old.  Since that game, I have watched North Carolina, Redskins and Lakers win 7 of these games and those teams win 14 championships.

So it is hard to go out like this.  However, I am glad it did happen this way.  There has been debates about losing on a buzzer beater and losing in a blowout.  Buzzer beater any day.  At least my team competed and had a shot to win it.

Ten Years Ago: UNC Beats Illinois For National Championship

The NCAA tournament is known for being wild sometimes.  The best team doesn't always win it and the best teams rarely play in the title game.

In 2005, those two teams did.

That Illinois team lost one game all season long, a one-point loss to Ohio State to end the season.  They had the three headed guard monster of Deron Williams, Dee Brown and Luther Head.  North Carolina lost just three games all year long, including a surprising loss to Georgia Tech in the ACC tournament.  They returned the trio of Raymond Felton, Sean May and Rashad McCants, brought in super freshman Marvin Williams (all four would become lottery picks in the same NBA Draft) and several upperclassmen who saw the tough times in Chapel Hill.  The Illini finished No. 1 in the final poll with UNC finishing No. 2.

What To Look Forward To: 2015-16 Tar Heels

The entire starting unit should be back for another crack at a Final
Four run in 2015-16.

Mighty Wisconsin ends the North Carolina Tar Heels season in the Sweet 16.  Better than the past two seasons, but not as good as I felt this team was prior to the start of the year.  Of any Carolina team I've seen in a while, this team certainly was in its place.  Essentially, the Heels beat all the teams it was supposed to beat and all 12 of their losses (with the exception to a loss at Pitt) was to a tournament team.

Carolina was the 2nd best rebounding team and the 2nd best assist team in the nation (and 17th in scoring).

So now we look to next year.  Provided no one leaves (I don't see that happening, but you never cough*Bullock McAdoo*cough know.  Brice Johnson would be the leading candidate to leave, but I don't see that happening, especially with his rather pedestrian tournament showing.

STARTERS

MARCUS PAIGE (Sr):  Paige had a down year to his standards.  Still, he is the heart and soul of this team.  He needs to work on being aggressive.  Now, this isn't all his fault.  He needs to have other guys able to create their own shots and hit perimeter shots to help space the floor and keep defenses from solely focusing on him.  If he can have a healthy season, we could see Paige back in the ACC Player Of The Year race.

JUSTIN JACKSON (So):  Jackson had an up-and-down freshman season.  Still, it says a lot that Ol' Roy stuck with him the entire season.  It paid off.  Over the final few weeks of the season, Jackson found his three-point shot and showed a lot more aggressive play.  He still gets lost out there at times, but his little floater should be one of the Heels' go to moves next season.

J.P. TOKOTO (Sr):  Tokoto is one of the most frustrating players.  His defense is really good and he is one of the best passers on the team.  His ability to play point forwards allows Paige to move without the ball.  That's a big deal.  But Tokoto is known for some bone-headed plays.  He'll throw balls away, take bad shots and take dumb fouls.  If he can shore that up, he'll be one of the most important cogs in a possible Final Four run next year.

BRICE JOHNSON (Sr):  Johnson also frustrates, but in a different manner.  He's so talented but sometimes we just don't know he's on the floor.  Some games he looks unstoppable.  He's got an array of ways to get off his shot and he can receive the ball and get it into shooting position faster than anyone in Chapel Hill since Antawn Jamison.  One thing he really needs to work on is his fouling.  He reaches in way to much and doesn't move his feet well on defense.  Essentially, he cheats defensively and it puts him in foul trouble.  He fouled out against Arkansas in the 3rd round and was in foul trouble all game against Wisconsin.  When he gets into a rhythm, he's tough.  But he can't do so when he's not on the floor.  Also, like Paige, he needs to be more aggressive offensively all game long.

KENNEDY MEEKS (Jr):  Meeks had health issues in the postseason (flu, knee sprain) which limited his effectiveness.  He, like Johnson, also has a tendency to foul a lot.  Meeks was a beast at times during the season and then looked ... meek ... at others.  He's an under the rim kind of player, and I'd love to see him be able to get more like Sean May or Tyler Hansbrough where they became decent mid-range shooters.  Also, it seems as if Meeks has a good game, Johnson doesn't.  They need to figure a way to make that work better and if Meeks had a more consistent jumper like Johnson does, it would do a world of good.

Goodbye Tar Heel Seniors

Jackson Simmons, Desmond Hubert, Roy Williams and Luke Davis.

As the final home game of the year, it is senior night in Chapel Hill.  Due to some injuries, we won't get to see the senior class all start ... but here is my memories of each guy:

JACKSON SIMMONS:  Coach Williams' blowtorch.  Whenever he felt the effort was lacking on the floor, he'd put Simmons out there.  Simmons wasn't fast, wasn't big and wasn't a big time athlete.  But he is a coach's dream by doing exactly what his coaches taught him to do.

DESMOND HUBERT:  Hubert was like that guy you knew was going to play hard even though he really didn't have a ton of skill.  He was a defensive guy who blocked shots and stayed with his man.  He may have had the worst hands in the history of the program.  I rarely saw him catch a pass cleanly.  Still, he started as a Heel and he may play just a few minutes but he always active when he was out there.  Hubert is out for the season with a knee injury.

LUKE DAVIS:  Luke, we hardly knew ya.  Davis transferred to UNC from Gardner-Webb after his freshman season.  Coach Williams, after the disaster of losing Kendall Marshall during the 2012 NCAA tournament, was willing to take on as many point guards as he could.  Davis, this year, missed a lot of time with a foot injury.  Really, Davis didn't have Wes Miller-esque career I thought he could have but he did get to live a dream.

SASHA SEYMORE:  One of those walk-ons ... except he is the senior class president.  Amazing career at UNC.  He tore his ACL during garbage time against UAB and missed the remainder of the year.  Still, Sasha will have a bright career ahead of him as he's been awarded a Mitchell scholarship and will study in Northern Ireland next year.

Simmons will start since he's healthy, and Davis could be out there (he's still banged up).  I'd love to be able to see Hubert and Seymore able to limp out there for the tip and then come off the floor just so they can get that last moment of Tar Heel basketball.

Should Dick Vitale Do The UNC-Duke Game?

The second UNC-Duke game of the season will be upon us tomorrow and, just like the first one, Dick Vitale won't be in attendance.

It is a shame.

Look, there's no one that rolls his eyes at Vitale's shtick more than me.  As a lifelong Tar Heels fan, I've heard the same things over and over and over and over again from Vitale that you could essentially put a soundboard up to the telecast and just hit the corresponding soundbites when needed.

Still, this is Duke-UNC and this game along with Vitale (along with the rise of the Big East in the 1980s) have built up college basketball on this network. Vitale called every big college hoops game on the network, and every UNC-Duke game is seemingly a big one.  Tomorrow's game is as well.  Vitale should be there.

My Favorite Tar Heels ... By The Numbers

With UNC-Duke coming up, I'm feeling a bit nostalgic.  So here are my favorite UNC players by uniform number.  No, not the best player with each number ... but my favorite.  Names listed in italics were also considered.

0:  NATE BRITT.  I have a soft spot for Britt.

00:  ERIC MONTROSS.  The big man not only helped lead the Heels to the 1993 NCAA title, but is the current radio analyst for Carolina.  Brandan Haywood

1:  DEXTER STRICKLAND.  For three years, I was nervous anytime Strickland had the ball in his hands.  His senior year, I trusted him.  Melvin Scott, Marcus Ginyard.

2:  RAYMOND FELTON.  I loved Felton's game at Carolina and he quarterbacked the 2005 NCAA title team.  Wayne Ellington

3:  SHAMMOND WILLIAMS.  A combo guard who came up with some huge shots in his career.  Kennedy Meeks.

4:  BOBBY FRASOR.  A forgotten man in UNC lore.  Think about the point guard hierarchy and Frasor gets lost (in between Felton and Ty Lawson).  Still, he was a smart, heady player who made the smart play.  

5:  TY LAWSON.  There may not be a more difficult number to pick.  Lawson was the lynchpin to the 2009 title team and could not be guarded that season.  Nearly the perfect point guard for Roy Williams.  Fast, smart, tough and didn't turn the ball over.  Kendall Marshall, Ed Cota, Marcus Paige, Jeff McInnis.

Tar Heels Fan's Guide To Hating Your ACC Brethren

Everyone has their own hatred for other teams for whatever reason.  Even among fans of the same team, there are some teams you may hate more than I.  Maybe because of age (as a 40 yr old, I remember the rabid UNC-State rivalry), of proximity (I now live in Kentucky so the UNC-Kentucky games have a bit more smack talk involved) or just general taste in opponents.

But, as a Tar Heel fan, here is the order of the ACC teams in terms of hoops hate.

14-VIRGINIA TECH:  Honestly, does any UNC fan hate the Hokies yet?  To Heels hoops fans, we tend to forget the Hokies are even in the conference (UNC leads series 65-13).

13-BOSTON COLLEGE:  The Eagles used to be a lot higher on this list.  When they first came into the league, they (more than Va Tech or Miami) brought the bruising Big East style with them.  Jared Dudley and crew came into the league wanting to push around the status quo of UNC and Duke.  Since those mid-2000s, the Eagles haven't really been much to deal with and their far away location doesn't lend itself to much fan interaction (UNC leads series 12-5).  

12-NOTRE DAME:  The most hateful thing I can say about the Irish right now is that they didn't try harder to keep Matt Doherty back in the early 2000s (UNC leads series 18-5).

11-MIAMI:  The Hurricanes have been annoying, winning four straight against the Heels.  Not only is the atmosphere down in Coral Gables tough on UNC, they seem to play Carolina well no matter where the game is played (UNC leads series 19-6)

10-LOUISVILLE:  They are the new guy, so I haven't developed too much of a hatred for them yet.  Yet.  However, their two meetings in the Cards first ACC season have been epic and hopefully leads to a nice future to come (UNC leads series 10-4).

9-PITTSBURGH:  A new ACC team, but they've climbed up the ladder a bit.  They beat the Heels in the ACC tournament last year and during the season this year (UNC leads series 8-3).

8-CLEMSON:  Clemson is a longtime nemesis, but UNC has kind of owned them.  Clemson has never won in Chapel Hill (amazing stat).  There was the tense years during Rick Barnes tenure in Clemson which leaps them up the ladder (UNC leads series 129-20)

7-SYRACUSE:  It's easy to hate Jim Boeheim.  He's whiny and he has openly complained about the Orange's move from the Big East to the ACC, even dissing Greensboro as a host to the ACC Tournament.  They are also an excellent program who will battle UNC for conference crowns for a long time (UNC leads series 5-4).  

6-WAKE FOREST:  It is usually tough to "hate" Wake, but anyone who remembers the 1990s knows that it was quite a huge rivalry.  From Rodney Rodgers to Randolph Childress to Tim Duncan to Chris Paul (UNC leads series 157-66).  

5-GEORGIA TECH:  Tech has always been a thorn in Heels sides (UNC leads series 65-23).  

4-VIRGINIA:  On the surface, the Cavs-Heels rivalry doesn't seem that big.  But these are two old schools who are closer in proximity than you'd think that have played for a long, long time (UNC leads series 128-52).  

3-FLORIDA STATE:  For whatever reason, FSU scares me each season.  When they come up on the schedule, I get nervous.  Even the game last week was quite a nailbiter even though the Noles are a bit down this year.  They area always tough, yet athletic.  Well coached.  They also introduced the term "wine and cheese crowd" to the world (UNC leads series 45-12).  

2-NC STATE:  As a 40-yr old, I remember when UNC-State was a more rabid rivalry than the one with Duke.  State hates UNC.  Hates the Heels.  While we Heels fans hate State, the glamour of the Duke rivalry has made the one with the Pack less known.  But it is a big one (UNC leads series 151-77).  

1-DUKE:  Duh.  The biggest rivalry in college basketball and one of the best in all of sports (UNC leads series 133-106).

Tyler Hansbrough's Senior Night

I would never say that Tyler Hansbrough is the best player in North Carolina's illustrious history. Guys like Phil Ford, Michael Jordan, James Worthy, Antawn Jamison and others are right there with him in the argument. There hasn't been a player more decorated than Psycho T, however. An All-American for, likely, four seasons. ACC and National player of the year awards. Conference scoring and rebounding titles. He is the Tar Heels' all-time leading scorer and could topple J.J. Redick as the ACC's scoring leader. He already owns the NCAA record for made free throws.

I know it seems as if Hansbrough has been at Carolina for 10 years but remember the time right as he got to Chapel Hill. The Tar Heels has just won the 2005 NCAA Tournament and was watching stars Sean May, Raymond Felton, Rashad McCants and Marvin Williams leave early for the NBA. Add that to the graduations of Jackie Manuel, Jawad Williams and Melvin Scott and the Heels lost their top seven scorers from that title team.

Hansbrough wasn't even the highest regarded prospect in the ACC (Duke's Josh McRoberts was). That Carolina team was picked by many to be a bubble team that needed its youngster to grow up in a hurry for them to have any chance to defend their title.

He, along with fellow freshmen Danny Green, Bobby Frasor and Marcus Ginyard joined holdovers David Noel and Reyshawn Terry to become a No. 3 seed in the East Regional and a buzzworthy darkhorse to win the title. The signature moment of the season was in the final regular season game. Hansbrough's Heels went into Duke on J.J. Redick and Sheldon Williams' senior night and beat the highly ranked Blue Devils. They would go on to lose to George Mason in the second round of the tournament.

Since that time, Hansbrough has led this team to a couple of No. 1 seeds in the dance, one Final Four, two Elite Eights. He never lost in his four trips to Cameron Indoor Stadium, is 5-2 against the hated rivals in his career and has two ACC regular season and tournament titles (a win over Duke on Sunday gives UNC another season title and the top seed in the conference tournament). Due to his National Player of the Year award, his No. 50 will be retired in the already crowded rafters at the Dean Dome.

Sunday is senior night in Chapel Hill and it should be an emotional and proud day for Heels fans. Hard to believe that this will be the last time that Hansbrough will play in that building again. That was the floor in which he poured 40 points on Georgia Tech as a freshman. That is where he dunked on 7'9 Kenny George. That's where his nose was broken by a Gerald Henderson elbow in the last time that these two closed out the season at the Dean Smith Center.

The weird thing is how many people are sleeping on Hansbrough this year. Due to Psycho T overkill, people are tired of hearing about how great he is and concentrate on what he will be at the next level. The time for that is in June when the NBA Draft comes; I'd like to look back to what he has meant to the Carolina program. It is very rare to see a guy come in and dominate as a freshman and have it last four years. Guys like Jordan, Jamison and Joseph Forte have come in as freshmen and taken the league by storm but none of them got to have a senior night.

I'm not underestimating what Frasor and Green's impact has been on this program too. Both have been key members who have given a lot to fill certain team roles. Remember that if not for an injury to Ginyard, Green would have probably spent his entire Carolina career as a sixth man. Remember that Frasor was the team's starting point guard until Ty Lawson rolled into town. Both will be important parts of what Carolina will become in March and April.

But this will forever be known as the Hansbrough Era in Chapel Hill. As a Heels fan, I'd just like to say 'thank you' to Psycho T for what he has done for the program. It's rare to find a guy who gives as much as he has to a college program. Hopefully he can give them the ultimate team prize of a 2009 NCAA Championship.

Even if he doesn't, it has been one heck of ride!

A Look Ahead to the 2009-2010 Tar Heels

I know that March just arrived and that the most important part of the North Carolina Tar Heels season is approaching. Senior night against Duke, ACC Tournament and NCAA Tournament all loom. This team was assembled for one purpose: Win the whole thing!

Still, I wanna step back and look at what this team could look like next year. This year has that same feel of 2005 when the Heels had a team who had a great shot at winning the title.

GOODBYE! In college sports, there is always turnover due to graduation and early entrants into the pro draft. This Heels team will be no different. Tyler Hansbrough will take his wares to the NBA after one of the most decorated careers in college basketball. Fellow seniors Danny Green and Bobby Frasor will also graduate and move on in their careers.

Ty Lawson will most likely bolt for the NBA Draft. He would have been a first round pick last year and may have moved up a little in this year's class. The interesting case is Wayne Ellington. Ellington, like Lawson and Green, put his name in the '08 draft pool only to come back to school. While Lawson and Green seemed to have improved their draft statuses, Ellington has not. Several draftniks think that he will go undrafted if he enters the '09 draft. So maybe he stays on for another season at Carolina.

So what will this 2009-2010 team look like?

POINT GUARD: Dexter Strickland. This is an interesting battle. Strickland is wowing people and could have the inside track to a starting spot. However, Larry Drew II has run Roy Williams' system and will be the experienced guy going in. Still, I think Strickland will get the nod.

SHOOTING GUARD: Wayne Ellington. Again, this goes with the assumption that Ellington comes back for his senior season. If he does, I think that's a huge boost for this team. If he isn't back, then fifth-year senior Marcus Ginyard will most likely get the nod. Freshman Leslie McDonald should get into the rotation pretty quickly.

SMALL FORWARD: John Henson. This is very interesting. While Henson has the size to play the power positions, his true calling may be at small forward. He is in the mold of a Kevin Durant with his athleticism and range. Henson is so talented that it will be tough for Ol' Roy to keep him out of the lineup. Still, he could do so (ala Marvin Williams), start Ginyard and make Henson the sixth man. Starting Henson would give the Heels an unbelievably big front line (you'll see in a sec). The status of Will Graves is unknown (he is currently suspended) but if he returns, he gives the Heels another experienced player.

POWER FORWARD: Deon Thompson. It will be very interesting to see how Thompson responds to not being around Hansbrough. I tend to think Thompson will take the Scott Williams route of finally becoming "da man" in his senior season. He is the fifth guy on this year's team but may be the first option next year. Backing him up are the twins: David and Travis Wear. Both are bangers in the paint and smart players. They may not get a lot of minutes next year as this front line is so talented.

CENTER: Ed Davis. Many people feel that Davis is the best NBA prospect on the current Carolina team. Davis is a heady shotblocker and rebounder and is showing some scoring touch at times. I think he takes the reigns of a strong recent lineage of Tar Heel centers (Brandon Haywood to Sean May to Tyler Hansbrough). Backing Davis up will be those Wear twins, Thompson and Tyler Zeller. Zeller isn't a center by nature but is the tallest guy on the team and will get some minutes there.

As you can see, there is a lot of talent on next year's team and Roy Williams will have a slew of options to choose. He can go with that big front line of Henson-Thompson-Davis. Or go with the quick front line of Ginyard-Henson-Zeller.

The two biggest problems go hand-in-hand. Point guard play and experience. Only Ellington (again, that's assuming he's back) has been a big time performer at this level before. Thompson has a lot of experience but this will be the first time he will be the focus in the paint. Ginyard is a glue guy but he hasn't been healthy in a long time. Zeller, Davis and Drew are getting spot duty right now and not asked to do too much. That top-rated class of Henson, Strickland, Wear, Wear and McDonald are as talented as you can get ... but they are still freshman.

So can Roy feel comfortable about his point guards being so young? Drew and Strickland are talented but neither are ready to fully run Williams' offense.

All I know is that the 2009-2010 won't have the kinds of pressure the past three Heels teams have had. It has been win-it-all or fail in the last couple of years. Next year will have its own share of expectations but it will have that feel of 2005-2006 when a stripped down Heels team shocked everyone by being really good.

Tar Heels Choke Away Shot at No. 1 Ranking

I am angry that my beloved Tar Heels decided it was time to choke away a 16-point lead, ending their 10-game winning streak and forking over a shot at the No. 1 ranking.

But, whatever. It happens. Am I bent? Sure. But we lost to a rabid Maryland team that was led by the brilliant Greivis Vasquez.

This does take a lot of the shine off the Heels this season, but it doesn't make me think that this team cannot win the NCAA Tournament. I remember the 2005 team lost to Santa Clara and a loss to Georgia Tech team in the ACC Tournament. They also choked away a game at Duke, midseason. That team, like this team, lost at Wake Forest. That team also won a championship.

Same sort of thing in 1993. The Heels again lost to the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets during the ACC Tournament (that was in the title game, which was in Charlotte). That Heels team lost at Wake Forest (they were destroyed, 88-62) and at Duke (by 14) in back-to-back games. That Heels team would go on to win a championship.

In 1982, the Heels only lost twice. Once at powerful Virginia. The other was ... you guessed it ... to Wake Forest. They won a title.

The 1957 team didn't lose a game all season long.

Am I rationalizing? You betcha! But sometimes you have to get a little perspective of what you've seen.

Sportz 'This Week In the ACC'

Alright, it is time for the nitty gritty. The ACC is reaching its second half and there is a lot on the line. North Carolina fights to get back atop the polls; Duke and Wake are trying to stop their reeling; Florida State and Virginia Tech are coming up; and Clemson is starting to look scary.

So let's take our weekly look at the ACC.

TEAM OF THE WEEK: NORTH CAROLINA. The Tar Heels have now won eight in a row after losing their first two conference games. Right now, they are in first place in the standings and are coming off a huge win at Duke.

DISAPPOINTING TEAM OF THE WEEK: WAKE FOREST. The Deacons are sliding a bit after their huge win over North Carolina. Losses to Georgia Tech and NC State are ridiculous for a team that was once No. 1.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: TY LAWSON, UNC. It was Lawson's effort that brought a win over Duke back to Chapel Hill. He could not be stopped by the ACC's best defensive team.

UPCOMING GAMES THIS WEEKEND: NC State at Georgia Tech, Florida State at Wake Forest, Virginia Tech at Maryland, Clemson at Virginia, Duke at Boston College, North Carolina at Miami.

Some huge games coming up. Florida State can really make a statement if they can go into Winston-Salem and beat a reeling Wake Forest team. Same idea can go to Wake, as a win over the Noles would bring back some of their swagger.

Duke has lost 3 of 5 and now heads up to Boston College to face a rabid Eagles squad (that has already beaten UNC). This is the kind of game that should show Duke's mental state. If they come out flat, then this will probably be just another season that fades away.

The game of the weekend is in Coral Gables as the Heels and Canes renew acquaintances. Miami gave Carolina all it could handle in Chapel Hill before Wayne Ellington started nailing threes.

Clemson and Virginia Tech are facing trap games on the road.

NEXT WEEK: Maryland at Clemson, Miami at Florida State, Georgia Tech at Wake Forest, NC State at North Carolina, Virginia Tech at Virginia, Duke at St John's.

Three in-state matchups, Duke heading to their home away from home, and Wake Forest trying to avenge a bad loss.

UNC-Duke: I Hate to Say 'I Told You So' ... But I Did

Last night, I wrote this about the UNC-Duke game:

They rank No. 3 and No. 4 (or No. 5 in the coaches poll) which means you have two elite teams with National Championships dancing in their heads. However, these two couldn't be any different. Duke can't guard Tyler Hansbrough or Ty Lawson. UNC can't guard Kyle Singler or Gerald Henderson. The Heels should dominate on the glass while Duke will hit more than its fair share of threes.

What games like this come down to is poise. Over time, the loser of this game tends to lose poise during a stretch in the game. Last year in Chapel Hill, Carolina lost poise when Duke was hitting everything they threw up. In Durham, Duke lost poise at the end of the game when the outcome was on the line. It happens when the bright lights are shining on 18 to 23 year olds.

Amazing that it did come out that way. Duke couldn't guard Tyler Hansbrough or Ty Lawson and Carolina couldn't guard Singler or Henderson. Lawson, Singler and Henderson were able to go where they want and get the shots they wanted. Well, for at least a half.

Singler and especially Henderson were on fire in the first half but non-factors in the second. Lawson was no where in the first half but dumped 21 points in the second half.

As for poise ... it was very evident. North Carolina went on a 43-19 run in the second half. During that run, Duke panicked. They took bad shots (Henderson's baseline fade away comes to mind), failed to run their offense and turned the ball over. They also allowed Lawson to keep getting to the rack. This will be my lasting memory of this game. The fact that UNC punched Duke in the mouth (29-18 opening run), Duke responded (32-12 run) and then the Heels dominated (46-21). Duke just couldn't respond; they couldn't punch back.

That's basketball ... or sports, really.

So congrats to the Heels and their amazing senior class. Danny Green and Tyler Hansbrough have both won in all four visits to Cameron Indoor Stadium (fellow senior Bobby Frasor didn't play in last year's game).

Oh Yeah, UNC-Duke Is Tonight

As a diehard Carolina fan, today is like a National holiday to me. I even have the day off of work. When people say "circle this date on your calendar" -- I do!

What is funny is that I live in Kentucky now and know only one Duke fan. Far from the thousands of Dookies I knew or ran into when I lived in Charlotte. So I love it when people ask me about how the game will turn out.

You can't answer that.

Part of a great rivalry is that whole "throw the records out the window" stuff. I think that is a bunch of crap because when UNC stunk and Duke was elite, the Blue Devils dominated the Heels. The same thing happened in the early 1980s when Coach K was building back up Duke's program and guys like James Worthy and Michael Jordan were dominating the Devils.

Aside from those moments, however, it is amazing how many of these games are so evenly matched ... even if they really aren't.

They rank No. 3 and No. 4 (or No. 5 in the coaches poll) which means you have two elite teams with National Championships dancing in their heads. However, these two couldn't be any different. Duke can't guard Tyler Hansbrough or Ty Lawson. UNC can't guard Kyle Singler or Gerald Henderson. The Heels should dominate on the glass while Duke will hit more than its fair share of threes.

What games like this come down to is poise. Over time, the loser of this game tends to lose poise during a stretch in the game. Last year in Chapel Hill, Carolina lost poise when Duke was hitting everything they threw up. In Durham, Duke lost poise at the end of the game when the outcome was on the line. It happens when the bright lights are shining on 18 to 23 year olds.

Regardless, it should be a great game. Two Hall of Fame coaches bringing their elite programs into one of the greatest venues to watch a sporting event with a lot riding on the outcome.

That makes a great rivalry.

State Of the ACC Address (Midseason Edition)

The greatest rivalry in college basketball ... and maybe all of sports ... resumes tomorrow. The UNC-Duke game ceremoniously marks the midseason for the ACC season. Everyone has played at least eight games and the standings seem to be settling.

TEAM TO BEAT: NORTH CAROLINA. The Tar Heels have won 7 straight after spotting the rest of the league their 0-2 start. Their offense has been clicking again while their defense has gotten just a little bit better. Still, there is some gleam gone from their pre-conference swagger as injuries have left the team a bit exposed.

IF NOT THEM, THEN: DUKE. Believe it or not, but the Blue Devils are actually deeper than the Tar Heels. Their defense is still dominating ... at times. The key will be their ability to defend and score in the paint. They can get away with this against some ACC teams, but Clemson and Wake Forest exposed this, just as UNC may do tomorrow.

TEAM WHO COULD RISE: Virginia Tech. Va Tech is laying in the weeds at 5-3. They have Georgia Tech, at Maryland, at Virginia and Florida State coming up. Very winnable games. They will need to win most if not all of those to get to 9-3 or 8-4. Their closing schedule? At Clemson, UNC, Duke and at Florida State. Yikes!

TEAM WHO COULD FALL: FLORIDA STATE. The Noles have finally appeared in the rankings, but will it last? They did win at Clemson but don't really have any other impressive conference wins. Coming up, they will have a stretch at Wake Forest, Miami, at Virginia Tech, at Boston College, Clemson, at Duke and Virginia Tech.

PLAYER OF THE YEAR: TYLER HANSBROUGH. This is a tough one. Hansbrough is just doing what he always does. He has a sizeable lead in the scoring race and will be chasing down J.J. Redick's ACC scoring mark in a month. Wake's Jeff Teague has a good shot at taking the award away from Psycho T, but it may come down to whose team wins the regular season title.

COACH OF THE YEAR: AL SKINNER. There are a lot of great candidates for this. Roy Williams has had to deal with injuries and expectations at North Carolina; Dino Guadio has taken a young Deacons team to a No. 1 ranking; Leonard Hamilton has his Noles ranked; Oliver Purnell lost some key guys off of last year's team but has Clemson still in the thick of things. But Al Skinner has taken a Boston College team that was picked to finish dead last in the ACC and turned them into a possible NCAA Tournament team. I think that he may need to get them in to secure this award, but what he has done already is amazing. They won at North Carolina and have beaten Va Tech. They will get some publicized run soon as they will face Clemson, Duke and Miami in the next 11 days.

UNC Suspends Will Graves

Here is something interesting that I just heard about: North Carolina head coach Roy Williams suspended Will Graves for the season.

No one really knows why, though Ol' Roy did say this:

He will remain a part of our program and participate in practice and all other team activities. His status for 2009-2010 will be determined prior to next season.

So wha' happened? The reason given is that Graves didn't "maintain the standards [coaches] expect of a Carolina basketball player." Does that mean he had a run-in with the law? Probably not since we would have heard something by now. Does it mean he is acting up about losing some of his playing time? Maybe, but that usually doesn't work out very well. I'm also ruling out that he is in some sort of academic jam.

That story may unfold at a later time, but this is a blow to the Tar Heels. What was once a talented and deep team has now turned into just a talented team. One of Carolina's perceived strengths was that their six through ten guys were better than anyone else's. Now that isn't the case. Graves is suspended for the season; Marcus Ginyard has now been ruled out for the remainder of the season and will redshirt onto next year's team; and Tyler Zeller suffered that broken wrist at the beginning of the season and is done.

Losing Graves doesn't register as big as Ginyard or Zeller. Ginyard was a defensive leader for this team and a guy that was so versitile and filled the hustle stat sheet. Zeller, though only playing a few games, was turning into one of the top team scorers and rebounders and added height off the bench. Graves' importance was raised with the losses of the other two. He was another body out there but brought nothing more than a three-point gunner. And even then, he wasn't doing too well (10-of-36).

Unlike the pros where you can make a trade or two to recoup some of the losses, Carolina has to keep trucking on with what they have.

North Carolina's Mount Rushmore Of Sports

ESPN is doing this thing called the "Mount Rushmore of Sports". Each state will select four people to annoint as the best in that state's sporting history.

I'm going to do a few of these since I've lived in several states during my days. I was raised in North Carolina and still consider Charlotte as my hometown so let my crack North Kakalaka.

MICHAEL JORDAN: Believe it or not, you do pause a bit when deciding MJ. I mean, his biggest successes came while he was in Chicago and you know he'll be on the Illinois' list. Still, there has never been another athlete in the history of that state that is more beloved and respected than Jordan. None. That man is a god in the Old North State.

DALE EARNHARDT, RICHARD PETTY: You would think that one NASCAR guy is enough but you have to put both on the Rush. Petty was the O.G. of the circuit before it went beyond the southern borders. He won 200 races and seven championships. In 1967, he won a record 27 races ... including 10 in a row.

Earnhardt is, of course, his own legend. From his "Intimidator" mystique to his seven championships (a record that he and the King share) to his untimely death, No. 3 was one of the reasons the sport reached out to new areas and a spot with the big boys at the sports' table.

DEAN SMITH: This one was the hardest for me because I didn't want to make it a "UNC" thing by having both Coach Smith and Jordan up there. But I have to. Coach K may pass Coach Smith on the all-time wins list, but some of the wins he put doesn't count in the records. Coach Smith was a key figure in intergrating UNC basketball and the ACC. He played for Phog Allen, coached under Frank McGuire, and coached against John Wooden, Bobby Knight, Krzyzewski, Everett Case and many others.

I wanted to put guys like David Thompson, Enos Slaughter, Arnold Palmer, Mia Hamm or Charlie Justice (the last two are Tar Heels too) up there but I feel these four men are what North Carolina has been made up of.

TENNESSEE (Where I was born): Pat Summitt, Peyton Manning, Jeff Fisher and Johnny Majors.

KENTUCKY (Where I currently live): Muhammad Ali, Adolph Rupp (imagine those two side-by-side), Secretariat and Dan Issel.

Soft Tar Heels Need to Learn Defense

To shoot 35% from the field and still score 89 points in a college game is quite amazing. North Carolina got to the free throw line and hit the offensive glass to help offset their bad shooting night.

You'd think that scoring 89 points would be enough. It isn't when you allow 92.

That's what angers me. The Heels have shown the world that (again) they are soft. This team is made up of the same players that wet their pants when Georgetown made their comeback on UNC in the 2007 Elite Eight. They are the same team that fed into a Kansas beatdown in the 2008 Final Four. When the going gets rough, the Heels wilt.

That isn't entirely fair to say. The 2007 Heels couldn't win a close game all year. The 2008 Heels did an outstanding job changing that up. They held their own in close games against Clemson, Duke, Louisville, Virginia, Boston College and against Virginia Tech in the ACC tournament. The 2009 Heels spent the first seven weeks going untested. Now they are 0-2 in ACC play ... or 0-2 against the teams that aren't afraid of them.

In both games, the Heels allowed the opponent to get wide open threes. They also got into the paint, got to the line and were allowed to do anything they wanted on the offensive end. When the Heels tried to mount comebacks, they used poor shot selection (why is Ty Lawson shooting fade-away jumpers?) and keep turning the ball over.

Against both BC and Wake Forest, the Heels have been pushed out of the paint. Tyler Hansbrough has so much faith in his perimeter game that he doesn't fight for the inside position he used to. Deon Thompson doesn't do enough to keep his position. So now Carolina is forced to take tougher shots than they have been used to getting.

I said it after the BC game: the Heels have the best team in the nation. The problem is that sometimes they thing that is enough to win.