Dexter Strickland

Torn ACL, will not return this season.........What does that do to our hopes of the Championship??

First McDonald, who would have been an awesome 6th man, now Dex, our best defender and backup point guard.  I would say you can stick the Heels with a fork, they are done as far as a National Championship this year in my opinion.

If Marshall ever gets in foul trouble, and you can bet every team will attack him, the Heels will have no answer.  Maybe Barnes as point forward?

Too bad, there was so much promise heading into this year.  I won't give up, but it will be a huge miracle if this team can get to the Final Four at this point.

Wonder if this gives Barnes and Henson any pause about going pro after this year.  Next year will be a strong team and would certainly be a favorite for a title.  However, on the flip side it shows the injury risk.

GO HEELS!! 

     

We are in big trouble boys.  This season isnt ending up the way i wanted it.  Well Next man in.

Terrible news for Dex and the Heels. Not only is he done for the rest of this year but with a torn ACL...he may not be ready until this time next year-his senior season. I disagree that the National Title hopes are completely dashed. Bulluck and Hairston will get alot more run and will simply have to step up. Roy may also need to think about remolding this team into a more run-and gun offensive style with more scorers on the court now. 

We will miss Dex's perimeter defense but Reggie Bullock's defense is under-rated if you ask me. He has good lateral movement and he's long. 

I see a silver lining in what has happened in the last 7 days. Everyone now has a rallying cry and can even play with a chip on their shoulder as the nation leaves them for dead.....just my opinion...


GO HEELS!!!!!!! 

As devestating as an injury this is (hope you get better soon Dex) we will see how we deal with adversity.  I am by no means throwing in the towel on our championship chances.  Bullock will have to step up on D like he has as of late.  White will have to give Marshall at least 5 minutes every game for a breather like Q did with Felton back in 05.  And PJ will have to really step up because he will be our only offensive spark coming off the bench now.  I see Watts getting more minutes too on the perimeter.  I am confident everyone will step up their game especially defensively and bring home a championship.  Any more injuries from this point forward and I will change my confidence will plummet.

I feared all season long that something like this might happen, but I think we will be fine.  This will allow our shooters to get more of a feel being in the game longer, so it will not allow Roy to sub in and out constantly.  As bad as I feel for Strickland, I really think we will be okay.  His defense as tremendous, but Bullock is a solid defender as well and brings a little more shooting to the floor.  The '05 team went through this.  Lawson got injured with is toe for a few games in '09.  UNC WILL be fine.  We got to get some more positive outlooks on this team.  As much as we have played poorly, our fan base as been equally as negative.  NOT you Crystal, I am talking about others in general.

Will definitely miss the defense ... but moreso we'll miss the attitude. Strickland has always been aggressive and looking to push ... on offense and defense.  He has consistently had "swagger" when others seemed to wilt a bit.  Bullock can replace the offense, and I think we can cover the defensive loss, but we still need a floor leader to set and maintain a dominating tone.  
 

So sorry to hear this about Dexter tough break for us fans but imagine what this young man is dealing with. True blue Go Tar Heels!

Damn - guess my thoughts last night were completely wrong.  I hate this for Dexter, as he was really coming into his own this year and had carved out a great niche within the line-up.  The worst part is that I have to assume he's played too many games this year to potentially red-shirt, and with an ACL injury, I wonder if he'll be ready in time for the beginning of next season.

I wish him a speedy recovery, and can't wait to see him back on the court for the Tar Heels next year. 

Just to add one thing - I remember thinking as I saw Strickland driving in on that play last night that he should pull up and wait for (I think it was) Zeller who was streaking down the floor behind him for an easy assist and lay-up.  The kid is fearless though and you could see he made up his mind to take it to the rim.

Man I really hate this for Dex, the team, and us as fans. It's just bad news all around but hopefully we will still have a shot to win it all. I don't think we will lose anything on offense or that much on defense as others have said Bullock has stepped up on the defensive end. The big problem is back up point guard and will White be able to give us anything. If White can't then I think we will see Barnes play some point forward as Crystal said just to give Marshall a break from time to time.

The injury bug has definitely bit us this year, I just hope the is the last we see of it. Guys are going to have to step up because even with the injuries no one is going to give us a break. I know this also has to play in the back of Barnes and Henson's mind as they think about leaving or staying another year with UNC.  I hope the guys can rally together and still make this a special season. Go Heels !!!!!!!!!!

I'm shocked by some of the post do we really not have any faith in bullocks? I understand not having some in stillman but bullocks is all around better athlete that dex. Honestly this will kill the dumb rotations that Roy does and let our shooters take over and let Barnes led this team. Bullock has been a good defender has the size to shoot over small guards and has shown the ability to light the scoreboard up. I think this could be a blessing in disguise because as much of a good defense dex is and a great leader he doesn't bring pts to the table and teams no he's a slasher do they sit in the driving lanes. I will miss dex lockdown defense but I think we get a better mix of offense n defense with bullocks. This season is far from over and we have plenty of games to figure this out. If this happen before the big dance or in late feb I would panic alittle. But we have a good month to figure this out.marshall bullocks Barnes zeller henson bench pj mcadoo white watts and maybe Leslie McDonald. I think we're fine less rotation shooters get into rhythm Barnes gets to go off also makes the team stronger. This team needs a wake up call and a since of urgency this might be it. Also if we get McDonald back that another guard/shooter. We're gonna be fine if anything we will be thin but better as we get an actually shooter at the guard position instead of lockdown defender playing the two spot. I'm not under estimating dex but now are shooters get more minutes we will be fine

One last point i want to mention is many of the top teams this year dont have a deep rotation or bench. That includes uk duke Syracuse Baylor osu starting 5 almost play the whole game. A lot of these teams are 7 deep rotations so of we get out top 7 and keep them healthy and not get into foul trouble we will be fine

LONG TIME HEELS FAN... First Time Poster on CBSSports about our beloved HEELS.

Bad News... NO DOUBT.  

Carolina consistently recruits good basketball players.  Now is the time one of those great recruits steps up and earns that scholarship.  Strickland a good #2 Guard and a solid Backup PG.  I don't have any doubt that someone steps up.

Carolina has roughly two months to get that individual up to speed.  Carolina is still the cream of the crop in the ACC.

Go Tarheels

I'm quite confident that Roy Williams will find creative ways to spell Marshall.  A minute or two before a TO bring in White.  Reggie and PJ will be an upgrade on the offensive end, but we'll take a hit defensively, especially against teams with 2 quick guards.  It'll be interesting to see if Coach changes things up a little defensively to take pressure off Marshall.  Teams will be coming at Marshall now and he'll have to focus on staying out of foul trouble.

All in all I believe we'll see a little more Watts at the 2.  UNC will use a more defined 8 man rotation with McAdoo, Watts, and Hairston off the bench.  UNC will have a week of prepping secondary ballhandlers.  This doesn't end any dreams of a National Championship.  A lot of us posters have stated that UNC needed more offensive firepower in the backcourt and now we got it.  The points we lose defensively we'll gain with more offense.  Reggie and PJ have the ability to step up and will big time.  

Now all selfish feelings aside as a rabid fan, I feel absolutely terrible for Dex.  He's a consumate team guy and to go out at this point in his junior year is such a stroke of bad luck.  Chances are he isn't 100% until at least November so he may lose a little of his senior year too.  Get well soon Dex!  

Don't get me wrong, I really like Bullock and Hairston at the 2.  However, neither one has Dexter's quickness and while Bullock is a good defender, he is not at Dexter's level in my opinion.  Additionally, neither Bullock nor Hairston can handle the ball like Dexter.  Someone made refence to Q spelling Lawson in 05.  Stillman White is nowhere near that level.

I agree that Roy will find spots to use him, and he will use timeouts more to give Marshall a rest.  Also, Marshall already has experience logging big minutes and staying out of foul trouble based on last year.

My comment was not meant to slight the remaining players, but face it, there are not many teams that can lose their starting 2 guard and their 6th man and still be a title contender.

This Heels team is still very good and has a shot to go all the way, I'm ust saying with the losses of Dex and McDonald, they are probably at best an elite 8 team.  I hope they prove me wrong.        

This SUCKS!!! Dex was my favorite player and to hear this just makes me sad. I have no faith in White (hes a turnover waiting to happen) but as all have stated, Bullock and Hairston MUST step up BIGTIME!!! We lose speed but hopefully they can defend. ARRRRGH, I hate this news.

Also, its nice to see Dex getting love from posters of fans from other teams, shows rerspect and class.

Sorry, RESPECT not rerspect

Actually BlkFlag, Syracuse has been running essentially 10 deep for most of the year, with only one player over 23 minutes a game and 10 averaging more than 10 minutes a game - but I get what you're saying about small rotations for the most part across the rest of the top college teams this year.