How does this happen?

As hot as Duke got at the end, why not foul and put them at the line.  Still scratching my head over how this game was lost.  Z was huge in 1st half.  Barnes in the 2nd, but both missed crucial FT's the last 2 minutes.  What kind of garbage was the Zeller tip in for Duke then the missed FT.  I say take your chances with Duke at the line.  Anyways we all saw K work the officials midway through the second half and of course got his way down the stretch.  Lots of tick tack fouls.  UNC was highly exposed guarding the perimeter.  Harrison on Rivers did not work at all in the first.  Reggie did a little better in the second, but in the end it was Zeller on Rivers somehow.

The kids just got outclassed and worked the last 2.5 minutes.  9 point lead with under 3 to go?  Unacceptable!  I think it's clear this is not going to be the year.  Marshall had to play the entire second half and that's not going to cut it.  Barnes can't put together an entire game and Henson has settled on shooting 18 footers.  PJ has lost complete confidence shooting the ball and Roy seems to get outcoached in close games.

This is an absolute head scratcher.  No moral victories here because we lost to a team with less talent. 

"You ought to be ticked off," Williams said. "You ought to be flat out ticked off. You're going to become more determined. If you start wallowing in sorrow for yourself or feeling sorry for yourself, you should just go home...We lost a game we could've won. If we don't learn something from that and come back more determined, I've got the wrong group. And I don't think I have the wrong group. We're going to come back and go to work."

Amen, Roy.  Time to move on.  The season is far from over.  Time to get our heads straight and take it to Virginia on Saturday.


GO HEEELS!!   

Lost to a team w/less talent!!! Amen to that!!! Total and complete meltdown. They got straight up shown up in their own house. What a laugh. How do you blow a sizable lead w/just minutes to spare. What a joke this team is. This team is a disgrace to wear the powder blue. They will get destroyed by Virginia on Saturday!!! This is comical.

Just like they lost at Virginia Tech as you guaranteed right realbluefan?

I also notice we have no points of the bench anymore.... Pj is in a slump and mcadoo looks lost. We are solely at starter production based team now and we need our shooters to go off. Also why can't we shoot threes??

Easy royzboyz you're starting to sound like shoktart it was a tough loss and I'm pissed and disappointed just like everyone else but I still believe until we lose in march I still believe look what unconn did last year and duke the year before you always have a chance in march that's what makes it the greatest time of he year that's why it's called march madness so I will not join in the "this team has no shot talk". GO HEELS!!!!!!!!!

Realblue fan should change your name cause you're certainly not acting like it.

Terrible loss for Tar Heels fans but that is what happens when you don't close out games. Yes, the refereeing was tight the entire game and garbage but UNC was in double bonus the last like 3 minutes of the game as well. UNC had its chances at the line to bury Duke's (A Rivers) comeback and they didn't.  Zeller and Barnes had amazing games but also did not finish it for the Tar Heels and that is why we lost. We have no bench and the starters have to be the big playmakers the analysts constantly talk about.  UNC had the game won and they allowed Austin Rivers to take it away and cement himself in rivalry history forever. 

It always sucks losing to Duke but look at it this way. We are tied for first still in the ACC. FSU, Duke, and UNC all have 2 losses even though we are 3rd on tiebreakers at the moment. We need to run the table in the ACC (not easy but possible) and make sure we win at Duke. Become ACC Regular Season champs again like last season. We better come out with insane intensity against Viriginia or that will be a long day because they too are a great team. Pick your team up Roy and let them know that the season isn't even close to over and Duke will see them again March 3.

GO HEELS!!! 

The season is definitely not over but right now we are talking about UNC and Duke and they have beat us what 5 out of 6. That is unacceptable and needs to change right now. I can't get the fact out of my mind that Duke has beat us like 21 out of the last 31 or something and a lot of them have been straight up bull crap just like last nights game. It is getting old real fast and I'm sick of it. I'm so tired of seeing less talented teams jack threes all game long and get hot and win. I wish the NCAA would get some balls and move the line back so we could actually watch basketball again and not a three point shootout.

I pray we play Duke two or three more times this year and absolutely beat the holy crap out of them to make me feel better. I wanted to see us beat them three times this year in three games but that's over now. I know we are killing them in the overal series and most of their wins here lately came when we didn't have coach Smith or Roy but I'm tired of losing to a team that plays like VCU. I still can't believe we lost to them last night by missing free throws, turning the ball over, and allowing the refs to do what they always do for Duke. We better start playing some ball from here on out and start whipping teams the way we should have whipped Duke last night. Go Heels !!!!!!

How does this happen?  Here is how, in no particular order:


1.  Roy Williams got outcoached again.  It's no coincidence that he NEVER won at Kansas.  If it weren't for 2 supremely talented teams at UNC, he still wouldn't have a title.


2.  Our players are soft.


3.  Our players have low basketball IQ's.


4.  Roy does not believe in guarding the 3.


5.  Our players do not WANT to play defense and it shows.


6.  Barnes isn't man enough to demand the ball at the end and lead us to victory.


7.  We have NO bench.  Hairston and McAdoo are worthless.  Hyped up to be potential one and dones.  I don't think so!


8.  Our players are easily intimidated and look lost out there most of the time.


9.  Our players don't play with any fire or enthusiasm and I don't think they really care all that much.


We will be out of the tourney by the 2nd weekend if not sooner.  All it will take is a tough, good shooting team to punch us in the mouth.  Our players will fold, take their beating, and go home.  This will go down as one of the most underachieving teams EVER.  Any sport.  Any team. 

"You ought to be ticked off," Williams said. "You ought to be flat out ticked off. You're going to become more determined. If you start wallowing in sorrow for yourself or feeling sorry for yourself, you should just go home...We lost a game we could've won. If we don't learn something from that and come back more determined, I've got the wrong group. And I don't think I have the wrong group. We're going to come back and go to work."

Amen, Roy.  Time to move on.  The season is far from over.  Time to get our heads straight and take it to Virginia on Saturday.


GO HEEELS!!   

How many times can Roy say the same crap?  Obviously this team DOESN'T get mad and they don't work on ANYTHING.  We get killed by the 3 all the time and it NEVER gets better.


This season was over when UNLV worked us and the final nail was losing by 33 to FSU.  Championship teams don't lose like that.


This season is over and this team will be forever remembered as a serious underachiever. 

Balboa the last 2 years have been frustrating losing 4 of 5 so far but you have to remember since 2005 to last night we are 8-7 against Duke. We won 5 out of 6 from Duke in 2007 through 2009. So it's not like Duke has murdered us the last 7 years. In the last 11 years we both have 2 national titles. Pretty even matchup if you ask me.

Yeah that's what I was saying about Duke gained on us a lot when coach Smith retired and before we got Roy. The thing is now that we have Roy we should be dominating Duke again just like coach Smith did but the three point line has kept them close to us. I just hate a team that completely relies on the three the eintire game and then flops and gets calls they shouldn't. We should have beat Duke by 20 last night regardless of the refs because they are not in our league this year even when we are missing two of our best players. I just want to pound them two times this year and get this bad bull crap taste out of my mouth. Go Heels !!!!!!!!!!! 

Yeah I have to agree that I have never liked the 3 point line. True Basketball to me is played in the paint and jump shots within 18 feet of the basket. Duke has not had a very good scoring big man since Carlos Boozer. Sheldon Williams was a great defender but overrated IMO. Last nights offensive production by Duke was pretty pathetic. just over 50% of thier points come from 3's. Garbage offense but Coach K has been running that offense since 2003. I hate it too that a lesser talented team can beat us with just 3's but that is the way it is.

Since there is a 3 point line and teams beat or challenge UNC with it Roy better learn how to defend it.  

The thing thats kills me is that we had no match defensively for Rivers which made me think they had no match for Barnes.  Barnes was guarded by the 6'3 Thornton most of the second.  He got hot for about a 6 minute stretch, but during crunch time disappeared.  This team has no one guy that they can count on during crunch time.  Zeller is about as close as possible, but his FT's killed us last night.  Our bench is non existent except a few baskets by McAdoo.  What in the world has happened to Hairston?  He was hitting mid 40% from 3 through December and now has hard time drawing iron.  

I'm as die hard as anyone else here and don't think questioning the team at this stage makes me less of fan.  The fact of the matter is this team still has not put together a full game.  Now with a serious lack of depth, 2nd half meltdowns could become a serious problem.  I'm not going to sugarcoat anything and say it was a good learning experience because we've had several now and should know how to finish a team off.  This team sports probably more McDonald AA's and future NBA draft picks than anyone in the country minus UK.  The same problems loom.  Lack of perimeter defense which has been a constant during the Roy Williams era and lack of efficiency in the halfcourt.  Roy recently stated that they don't specifically game plan for opponents, but teach defensive principles.  Well it surely looks like good x and o coaches can easily find ways to exploit these principles.   

These guys simply don't care and it shows.  No fire.  No excitement.  No emotion out there.  They don't have the desire and drive to be great.  Barnes should have taken over instead of disappearing.


We have 2 McDonald's AA' on our bench in McAdoo and Hairston that couldn't score against an NAIA opponent.  They are garbage and provide nothing to the team.  I hope they transfer or go to the NBA and get embarrassed.


We basically have 5 starters that do anything for us and that's it.  Henson is a liability on offense, so we are down to 4 guys on the offensive end.  Marshall is a liability on defense, so we are playing with 4 on that end.  At any given time during the game, we are basically playing with 4 guys out there and it shows.  4 guys that don't want to play defense or have the desire to do it. 

How does this happen??..Here's my opinion.

UNC started to play pussy**** ball.

They got that lead by playing UNC BALL, running and gunning, up tempo. Then, with a few minutes left, they started to do the old football 'run out the clock' approach. They slowed down the pace, half court offense, and basically played Duke's style of ball.

Yes, we missed free throws. But so did they. Please, someone agree with me and acknowledge that we changed our game the last few minutes, got away from UNC BASKETBALL. We were pushing the tempo, Duke was down 13. Then we started playing defensive, not playing to win, but playing NOT TO LOSE. I was disgusted watching them wind that clock down in half court sets.

We knew they would shoot 3s, and we couldnt defend them. Sad. And Zeller played some pussy**** defense, please people agree with that, on the last play. He gave Rivers space. Everyone in the country knew he would shoot that 3...Zeller should have been body to body, right in his damn face..Let the kid drive if he wanted. But he gave Rivers space, and he got the shot up. You're 7 feet tall...get in his face!!..Zero inches of space. But he didnt. We blew this game. Congrats to Duke. We changed who we are in the last few minutes, and it cost us.

I agree Medinahccpro we did get away from what we do and it cost us big time. We should have won this game because we are a lot better then Duke when we play our game but for some reason we let off the gas. We completely collapsed at the end of the game turning the ball over and missing our free throws. It shouldn't have mattered what Duke did or what the refs did but we let it matter because of our play. Hopefully we prove at Cameron that we are the much better team and hopefully Duke doesn't hit 14 threes again. Go Heels !!!!

I don't really agree that we changed our style.  I think the two TO's down the stretch were huge.  The 40 foot Marshall to Barnes pass which resulted in a charge was huge.  UNC can't run and gun all the time.  They have to be able to operate in the halfcourt as well.

One thing I've noticed in the halfcourt is we don't utilize screens as much as other teams.  We rely on our post players so much that we don't keep them out high as much as other teams.  A perimeter oriented team like Duke does nothing with their bigs, but screen on offense.  Anyone notice how hard Rivers worked for the ball last night?  He constantly was running his man through two and three screens.  Our halfcourt consists of force feeding the post and three guys stationary waiting for the kick out.  That makes it fairly easy for defenders to stay with their man.  UNC's best halfcourt offense comes from designed plays off out of bounds plays.  Barnes has to realize that he's not going to beat many 3's off the dribble, so he needs to post up more or move more on offense.  Barnes is most effective when he limits him basketball moves with the ball in his hands.  Reggie is the same way.  Reggie at 6'7 should have a field day posting up much smaller 2's.  I've noticed his release is not quite as quick as it should be so screens and designed plays would benefit him.  The one guy that has a huge lift off the ground and lightning quick release is Hairston.  If he could ever find his stroke again he could be huge.  Right now I think Roy has gotten in his head.  Roy's tightened up the reigns on him and asked him to focus on defense more.  This team is a much better perimeter shooting team than they have displayed.  We've got two guys in our starting 5 that are very capable 3 ball shooters.  Why we can't get them open looks is beyond me.  We've got 2 7 footers with range out to 17 so you see where I'm going.  Perimeter shooting should not be the issue it has become.  

I love Roys plays off out of bounds balls.  Why he can't design anything better in the halfourt to free up shooters is troubling to me.  UNC at this point is too one dimensional. 

So let's just get it over with let's fire coach Williams since the season is over lets get a jump on the candidates. He's clearly not cutting it we need someone in here who can win games, championships and bring in players who wont embarrass us on and off the court. Let's just start getting ready for baseball and spring football.