Heels sleepwalking through season is a disgrace!

At the very least, give the team a chance to respond after the loss before you go into panic mode and create this Debby Downer thread.  

I for one knew they would lose to FSU.  They had lost five straight at FSU going into the game.  Even with the teams we've had in the past, it's tough to win at FSU.  Yes they have never lost that bad, but none the less, a loss is a loss.   Not to mention, they have been camped out in Carolina for over a month only to hear the chants of GO HEELS!  They were chilln.

The 2009 team lost there first 2 of 3 in ACC play, including the ACC opener, at home.  No Worries.

Go Heels! 

At the very least, give the team a chance to respond after the loss before you go into panic mode and create this Debby Downer thread.  

I for one knew they would lose to FSU.  They had lost five straight at FSU going into the game.  Even with the teams we've had in the past, it's tough to win at FSU.  Yes they have never lost that bad, but none the less, a loss is a loss.   Not to mention, they have been camped out in Carolina for over a month only to hear the chants of GO HEELS!  They were chilln.

The 2009 team lost there first 2 of 3 in ACC play, including the ACC opener, at home.  No Worries.

Go Heels! 

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Hey tyson how come cook doesn't get much playing time? I think would rotate curry/rivers at shooting guard. And yeah UVA has my full attention they play strong and smart defense good think they can't shoot threes very well. I still think it will be a duke or UNC splitting regular season nconferencne titles. And yeah I use to peek at the duke board y'all fan base seems dead over there. How far do you think duke will go this year?

I've never like SG playing PG unless they can set people up with their drives or fear factor. But for teams like duke n UNC you don't need hybrids which is why I'm shocked cook hasn't gotten more playing time. Coach k could stretch his bench or go 3 guards and have plummees. It's okay y'all still got time to mess around with the rotations and acc isn't that strong as recent years. I wish we could get alittle more scoring out of our guards it would help our post game

At the beginning you were just a pest tyson, but I will admit you definitely got away from that especially towards the end of last season. I have no problem with Duke fans coming on the board if what you're posting is useful/insightful/not trolling - one of my best friends in university was a Duke fan and we had some epic college bball discussions.

I was interested to see if you would bring up Cook, as to me he seems like the best true PG Duke has. He's been shaky at times this year, but also hasn't seen the court enough IMO. I also think Coach K made a good move tonight in having Rivers come off the bench to hopefully send a message. I've seen a bit of a couple Duke games and at times Rivers just seems hell-bent on getting his points and not playing within the flow of the game like Duke's best scorers are known for. At this point I feel like Rivers could single handedly shoot Duke into the Final Four or out in the Sweet Sixteen (perhaps earlier) this year... he's that random. Great talent, but just doesn't quite seem to fully get it yet.

Anyway - going back to UNC, are some people ready to step back from the ledge now?   

are some people ready to step back from the ledge now?

Nope. Color me UNIMPRESSED with that win tonight. The only reason we won was because VT went ice cold in the 2nd half.

But....I won't be all negative. There were a couple good things that I will point out:

-Barnes was unusally assertive down the stretch. And not just as a glorified over-hyped jump shooter. He actually took it strong to the hoop a few times and showed a willingness to take a foul. This might be the first game I've seen where I didn't consider him "soft". Good for him. Now, can he do it again?

-Marshall looked for opportunities to get his own shot more than usual and had a few layups against slower defenders. He should utilize his quickness more often. Sometimes his propensity to always pass the ball makes him too predictable. Tonight he showed off a more complete offensive arsenal.

HOWEVER.

Prior to the Strickland injury Roys boys looked about as interested and motivated and focused and energized as a daydreamer taking a stroll through a park. Where was the urgeny? Where was the passion or heart or determination? Coming off one of the worst losses in UNC history you would think their pride might have taken a hit.

It's a shame that it took a nasty injury to wake them up.

Did we get the win tonight? Sure. The 2nd half was solid. It's amazing what our team is capable of when they actually care enough to try.

But what worries me was the first 20 minutes. I wanted to see fire, and it just wasn't there. This team is soft. There is absolutely no possible way a team THIS soft can win 6 straight games in the NCAA tournament. And anything short of a championship is a failure this year based on the unprecendented expectations.

You know what would impress me? Forty minutes of effort. That's all I want.

Given that you guaranteed a Va Tech win earlier this week, you'd think the fact that they blew them out in Blacksburg would be enough.  Say what you want about not playing a full game, but a 19 point win on the road in the ACC is impressive no matter what...

Yes I realize the actual margin was 14, but I'm ignoring those 5 garbage points the Hokies scored in the last 40 seconds when White went all stupid on the floor.  That last minute of the game is enough to scare the hell out of me with the thought that White may have to log consistent minutes if Strickland's injury is serious - that was just awful...

The only reason we won was because VT went ice cold in the 2nd half.

Wrong again Dude. VT did not go "ice cold" in the second half. They shot like they normally do, not like the blazing hot lucky BS that was dropping in from all over the court in the first. Same thing in the FSU game. Yes, our guys gave up toward the end, but come on. You can't tell me that for 3 halves of ball, 2 with FSU and 1 with VT, you cannot tell me that their super human shooting had nothing to do with it and it was ALL the Heels lack of effort.

I GUARANTEE that the Heels will lose to the Hokies.

And you know I couldn't let this statement go without bringing it up.
Just read that a few times....

Canuck I don't think white would start in place for Strickland I think he would give rest for Marshall and bullock would start. Bring in mcadoo for z or henson and pj for either harrison or bullocks. The question is if Strickland is out will McDonald come back?. I will admit shoktart has a point we played bad the first half and looked soft and sleepy. But like I said you lose credibility when you GUARNTEE a loss. this team has every ability to finish on top but rotations and defense needs to be better. Will see if the dex injury helps or hurts the team I think bullock is a underrated defender pj is big but needs to play better on defense. I also would like to see marshall score more and esp layups it would catch defense of guard and free up the outside and stop the double teams in the post

Shoktart........


You are predictable as a Dook flop and your act is beyond old...... We all expected this post by you after the FSU loss....and we know you get off on it......get a life.

BlkFlag - Wasn't trying to say that White goes in to replace Strickland, as I would think Bullock steps into the starting role. I just figure that White is going to be the one expected to spell Marshall for 5-8 minutes a game, and his couple minutes on the floor last night were ugly at best, so it scares me a bit. That being said, when Marshall sits, you can bet Coach Williams makes sure to surround White with a couple starters to help lighten the load. Hopefully White can stay a little more relaxed when he plays and assume a niche role similar to Quentin Thomas when Felton was still around.

You can tell who the alumns are with threads like this. 

I wouldn't care if we were 2-20...I would still find optimism and the team would still have my support.  I notice most of you here don't post on the Football board either.  Bandwagon fans are always welcome, but don't come on the team message board page and post garbage like some fans are TOO supportive of the team.  The bus stops frequently...you are free to get off.

some fans are TOO supportive of the team

True. I agree with you completely. We aren't demanding enough as fans. 

The injuries to McDonald & Strickland are unfortunate. It certainly cripples our backcourt depth. There is no way we are a championship contender. But I figured that out pretty early in the season. We were WAY overhyped from the beginning. 

But that's not what bothers me. I think it sucks that Kentucky is going to win another championship this year. But what really bothers me is our lack of effort. I can accept not being as talented as we had hoped. But what I refuse to accept is that our players don't play with any urgency or passion. 

I hate Duke!! But I respect them because they always play hard. They gave Florida State all they could handle today and barely lost on a buzzer beater. We just flat gave up and got blown out when we played Florida State. That's all you need to know about the difference between these 2 teams. We have players that will just quit. 

Any shred of respect that I still had for this team was completely lost when we quit against Florida State. We are a bunch of quitters. And now that we just had another major injury watch this team fold. Henson, Zeller, Barnes & Marshall all have one foot in the NBA already. They are just going through the motions. That will be especially true now.

I watch a lot of college basketball. Syracuse, Kentucky, Kansas, Missouri, Baylor, Duke & Ohio State are just playing at a different level than the rest of the country. These teams came to play this year. These are the contenders. Our guys don't seem to care.

Let's take a look at yesterday's games for Syracuse, Kentucky, Kansas, Missouri, Baylor, Duke & Ohio State

Syracuse - Lost by 9 to unranked Notre Dame (12-8)
  
Kentucky - Won at HOME by 6 against unranked Alabama, and the game was closer than the final margin down the stretch

Missouri - Beat Baylor by 1 at Baylor.  Good win.

Baylor - Lost at HOME to Missouri by 1 pt after getting manhandled at Kansas earlier in the week.

Duke - Lost at HOME to unranked Florida State by 3.

Ohio State - Blew out Nebraska, but has 3 losses just like UNC.

I guess I don't really see that these teams are playing at a different level.  Besides, how a team is playing in January is not an indication of how they will be playing at the end of March.  So far, the only response we've seen by the Heels to Strickland's injury was them pulling together and blowing out VT after the injury.  Funny, but I didn't see them quit, or play tentatively for fear of injury.  Barnes was more aggressive than he has been all season.  I expect that is going to continue.

I really hate to validate a Shoktart post by responding, but it is too aggravating to let it go without comment.  The post even starts by taking part of a line out of the previous post completely out of context.  The post was critical of posters like shoktart claiming fans can be too supportive, he wasn't saying they ARE too suppportive.       

 I think it sucks that Kentucky is going to win another championship this year.

ANOTHER!!!!!!!!!!!!! They haven't won a championship since 1998 and you are saying ANOTHER !!!!!!!!!!!!!!  WHAT?????????????

I hate Duke!! But I respect them because they always play hard. They gave Florida State all they could handle today and barely lost on a buzzer beater. We just flat gave up and got blown out when we played Florida State. That's all you need to know about the difference between these 2 teams. We have players that will just quit.

Did I miss something here or wasn't Duke playing at HOME!!!!!!!!!!!! A place they haven't lost at in 40 something games and you were impressed with them losing! You might just want to admit that you are a Duke fan because you pretty much told us with that staement.   

I watch a lot of college basketball. Syracuse, Kentucky, Kansas, Missouri, Baylor, Duke & Ohio State are just playing at a different level than the rest of the country. These teams came to play this year. These are the contenders. Our guys don't seem to care.      

Yeah your right Kentucky is on a different level then us they beat us by a huge 1 point at their place. Man we shouldn't even be put on the same court as them. Now lets talk about your favorite team of all Duke who has got beat by Temple, crushed by Ohio State, and now lost to FSU at HOME!!!!! 
Yeah they are on a different level then us too I guess. You do realize that no games now matter now as long as you make the NCAA Tournament just ask Uconn. They had to win the Big East just to get in the NCAA Tournament they were so bad then won the whole thing.

So I have come to realize that 1 you are not a UNC fan and 2 if some how you are you are the biggest QUITTER I have ever seen. GO HEELS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   

Shoktart just stop please just stop your not making solid point people are picking though your post just stop. No championships are won in January or february this isnt football its basketball. It's ok when UNC goes on another win streak you will disappear to the next loss. We will be fine every top team has an issue or weakness and a lot of team don't know but will fine out soon or in march. Relax or go to the duke board where thrashing UNC is welcomed

We all need to ignore this moron and stop giving shoktart what he wants, which is people to flip on him and his ridiculous posts.  The fact that he took Super Gnat's comment of "Bandwagon fans are always welcome, but don't come on the team message board page and post garbage like some fans are TOO supportive of the team." and turned it into "some fans are TOO supportive of the team" just proves he's operating on a level below where tyson was in his worst of times. Then to say that Duke is having a better, more consistent year than North Carolina... wow.

Let's just leave this prima dona alone to cry about the sad state of North Carolina's basketball program, and focus on those people who are rationale. I have no problem with people raising concerns about North Carolina, but this is ridiculous.

Im feeling good about our team. 3 losses so far, but thats ok.. Lots of top teams lost this week.. Losses happen. Even by 33 wink wink

Still lots of basketball to be played. Still ranked top 10. Still have 5 or 6 NBA players. Still havent even played close to potential. And I got a feeling Mr. Barnes is going into beast mode soon.

Dex will be missed, hope he recovers well. I love his defense and transition offense skills, BUT I just dont think this injury is a HUGE deal. (No disrespect at all to Dex). We have guys who can finish on the run, and PJ and Reggie are better shooters from outside. Dex plays d, yes, but our perimeter 3 defense has been bad, so he's part of the blame there. Atleast PJ and Reggie are tall, maybe that will help on defense. Have to wait and see how this team looks, but like I said, losing Dex doesnt kill our title hopes. We have guys who can step up in the 2 spot. Losing a big or Marshall would have been a lot more devastating to this team. When you think about it, he's the one guy who we actually could afford to lose in my opinion. I know everyone is concerned with who handles the rock when Marshall needs a breather or is in foul trouble.. But we will be fine.