Season Over?

In the aftermath of the Duke loss, which may be the most stunning UNC loss EVER in this series, a lot of doomsday predictions have been made.  I think a little perspective is in order.

The 2004-2005 title team lost 4 games on the way to the title:  Santa Clara (77-66), at Wake Forest (95-82), at Duke (71-70), and to Georgia Tech in the ACC tournament (78-75).  The 2008-2009 title team also lost four:  to BC in Chapel hill (85-78), to WF in Chapel Hill (92-89), at Maryland (88-85), and to FSU in the ACC tournament (73-70).  Roy's UNC teams have NEVER dominated the early season, the regular season, or even the ACC tournament.  This year's team looks a lot like those title teams in the way it has performed so far.  Only the blowout loss at FSU seems especially damaging, but that was clearly just a bad day at the office for the Heels.  Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory against Duke was a stunner, but it was literally just 2-1/2 "bad" minutes of basketball for the Heels.  Duke is less talented than Carolina, but only slightly so.  They also have the EXACT sort of team to give UNC the most trouble, a hall of fame coach who doesn't suck, and a special player who had a great game.  Carolina was on it's way to a double-digit win IN SPITE OF LIGHTS-OUT SHOOTING from the 3-pt. line by Duke -- until those last two minutes.  I like our chances in Cameron, assuming Roy can use the loss to correct the relatively tiny errors that led to the disaster.

Likewise, I like this team's chances in the NCAA tourney.  The 1-pt. loss to Kentucky will be a good thing if that is the team we eventually have to face.  To call on the past once more, it's very much like the 1993 team losing to Michigan in Hawaii, and then facing them again in the NCAA final.  This 2012 UNC team has warts, just like the previous title teams did.  It has also had some valuable learning opportunities.  I would hope February 8 was not the peak for this squad.  I'm willing to bet, confidently, that the best basketball performances for this team are yet to occur.

Season Over?

Never! Go Heels!

Yes, it's over.


It was over when UNLV kicked our asses and confirmed when FSU kicked our asses, punched us in the face, and our team of soft players and underachievers (overhyped maybe?) did nothing about it.


You're not a championship contender losing games like that.  You're not a contender when you can't/won't/refuse to defend the perimeter.  You're not a contender when you lose to a one dimensional team like Duke at home after having a sizeable lead. 

Anybody that thinks Roy will correct any "errors" or anything else is just lying to themselves.


They haven't corrected ANYTHING ALL YEAR.  We haven't guarded the perimeter well all year and they haven't fixed that.  We also have nothing on our bench as our recruits were highly overrated again.

 

Despite some flaws, this team can definitely win the title. I actually believe we are still one of the 3 favorites, despite where our ranking will be come Monday. Eevry team has flaws, every team loses games. We still have so much talent... The Duke game was a heart breaker, but for spurts of that game we looked really good. We just have to work on that perimter defense, end of story. Free throws need work, yes. But that perimeter defense is what cost us in the losses to UNLV, FL ST, and Duke. When u have 3 guys going in the top 20 of June's draft (Barnes, Henson, Zeller), to go along with future NBA players Marshall, McAdoo and possibly Bullock, the talent is obviously there. They still havent played up to their potential..Still havent played close to their best ball... I still have enormous faith that this team can and will win it all. If they get hot, nobody is gonna beat 'em. Eevryone here is freaking out for nothing. Nobody wants to play UNC, trust me. If they just gets some mojo going, we can absolutely win it all. I believe in this team 100%, havent lost any faith. Go Heels!! Lots of basketball still to be played

I'm not going to call this season over, but I think a National Championship is a reach.  This version of UNC has talent, but not the talent Roy needs for the big prize.  In the past we've always struggled with defending the 3 pt line, but we've had the offensive firepower to outscore teams.  We've had a spark off the bench in the past, but not this year.  We've had depth to limit players from playing much over 30 min. a night, but not this year. We've had a couple 3 pt threats on the floor at a time, but not this year.

Im not calling Roy out, but he's so set in his "principles" that he's unwilling to make necessary changes to hide deficiencies with this team.  There's absolutely no depth at the PG spot.  Kendall already struggles keeping quicker guards in front of him, but come crunch his legs aren't there making things even worse.  I know Roy refuses to go zone, but I think this saves some legs and gives Kendall "mini breaks" throughout the game.  I'm not talking zone all the time, but at least a few times each half.  It's no secret anymore that Harrison struggles creating.  Run some set plays for him to create open looks.  Harrison is a streak shooter and needs to get open looks to be successful.  The same goes for Reggie and PJ.  We have good shooters on this team, but we don't run a lick of offense through them.  Our bread and butter is our post players, but by gosh it gets so predictable every time down the floor with a feed into to Zeller.

Not to beat a dead horse, but back to resting Marshall.  I've liked Roy's strategy in bringing White in before media timeouts, but why do you bring Stilman in and continue running your offense at break neck speeds?  Don't speed the game up.  Slow it down and give Marshall an extra minute of rest.  Work the ball around the horn some and work the shot clock down instead of getting a shot off with 20 + seconds left on the clock.  Stilman hasn't hurt us with TO's.  As a matter of fact, he's exceeded my expectations.  

So far this year the kids have responded well after tough losses, so let's see how they respond against UVA. 

Likewise, I like this team's chances in the NCAA tourney.  The 1-pt. loss to Kentucky will be a good thing if that is the team we eventually have to face. 

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I hope you get your wish. I honestly would like to see UNC face Kentucky again. The UK team that beat UNC two months ago was a young team in search of itself. These young men were just barely out of high school. Since that time UK has grown and has lost just one game; a buzzer beater.  And, UK’s Jones played the worse game of his life.

Meanwhile UNC has lost three more times: once by 33 points to an unranked team. And, recently they blew a 10 point lead (at home) in the final 2 minutes. This is not what winners do. UK would have been on Duke’s -ss. Duke would have never done this to the present UK team.

You people have a poor conception of Calipari. This should be the third year in a row for him to win the national COY. And, if people were not biased he would do just that. Here’s why.

He took over a program that had just been to the NIT. And, he won 35 games; won both the SEC & regular season titles; sent 5 players to the NBA (first round); and, went to the elite 8.

The following season he won 29 games; the SEC tournament title; and, went to the final 4. He did all this despite losing 5 players to the NBA, and having the NCAA cheat him out of the services of Kanter—and, he was cheated.

This year he regrouped after sending another four players to the NBA. This team is the best defensive team in the nation. They can shoot the three; they can shoot FT’s; and, they have upperclassmen that have been to a final 4. They improve weekly.

Look back to when Cal first came to UK. He plainly said that it would take about three years for him to have UK challenging for the NT every year. This is the third year. Only a fool would want his team to face UK in the title. If UNC does this, I look for Williams to drop to 1 & 4 against Cal instead of the present 1 & 3.

Hey, topcatfan, I didn't say anything to disparage Calipari as a coach, or UK as a team.  All I said was that IF Kentucky is the team UNC would have to beat, the 1-point loss would be a good thing.  At least UNC would know what it might do differently.  I have no doubt that Kentucky is a better team now than they were then, but I know UNC is better.  They lose some games along the way, like they always have.  I for one have never believed the team with the fewest wins is in the best poisition to run the table in the tournament.  The last two national champions have made that an easy argument to defend.

I still believe UNC can play better than they have at any point this year.  Hopefully, it will be in New Orleans.  I don't necessarily want to face Kentucky -- who would?  But if the two teams are lucky enough to get there, I believe UNC has the best chance of anyone to knock Kentucky off.

U do know we lost to all rank teams and u do know Duke lost to Temple and Miami.   We lost by 1pt to Duke and Kentucky.  I dont see a bad loss.

Topcat it's hard to win coach of the year when every year you have the most NBA talent on your team. I also have no idea why Cal would have said it's gonna take him three years to build a team to win a National Championship. Cal doesn't build teams he recruits teams for one year then sends them to the NBA before problems come up. This year I know some guys came back but I think that had more to do with the NBA's problems then those guys wanting to play another year in college. Kentucky is in my opinion the most talented team in the country this year but I have thought that several times with coach Cal's teams and so far it has got him nothing. Go Heels !!!!

Cal doesn't build teams he recruits teams


BALBOA3RS,

You my friend have "HIT THE NAIL ON THE HEAD".

Great job.

My question?

With CAROLINA being one of the TOP basketball powers in the nation

WHY?
WHY????   can't the HEELS recruit better at the guard position?

When was the last time that CAROLINA had a guard that could score at will?

Really people??  Giving up on the season??  


Makes one wonder......... 

Jim, Roy has some talent at the guard spot now.  Marshall is certainly one of the top 3 PG's in the country.  Ty Lawson was the best PG his junior year and could score at will, but played within the system.  Look for next year to be the opposite.  We'll have a guard heavy roster with two very capable PG's.  3 if you want to count Strick.  Paige is a much better scorer than Marshall and Strickland so we may see him on the floor as a 2 from time to time.  I would expect Bullock and Hairston to find their stroke next year as well and McDonald will be back.

Bullock and Hairston were recruited as great shooter.  Eventually the balls will drop for them. 

dont forget Felton.  He was one of the better PG in the draft.  We have had guards before.  Dont act like we dont get good guards.  Now I will say Im a liitle shocked that we dont get a top PG every year with the offense that we play.  Fast pace and alot of chances to score. 

Felton was Doherty's recruit.

I would love to see the Heels play uk,ku,su,osu on a neutral court. 

Topcat it's hard to win coach of the year when every year you have the most NBA talent on your team.

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Recruiting is one of the most difficult challenges of coaching. And, it might very well be the most important. Why would we not consider this aspect when evaluating a coach’s performance? A coach’s achievement is/should be based on what talent he inherited/ended the season with and what he did from that point to better next year’s production.

What Cal meant by “three years” was having a mix of sophomores, juniors, and seniors; as well as loads of freshmen.

Cal does an excellent job of getting the most out of his young talent. He is excellent at getting these egotistical young men to buy into the team concept. And, more difficult still, he gets them to play defense.

You want an example of this. Then look at the Heels. UNC is made up of 5star players of seniors, juniors, sophomores, and freshmen. UNC is loaded with 5star players, but Williams is having a difficult time defining roles, and in getting his team to play defense. Simply having talent (even upperclassmen) isn't in itself enough to guarantee a win.

Cal is able to do this with freshmen. I mean, h-ll, this blows my mind. I’ve never seen anything like it. He does this with team after team.

I would rather face any team in the tournament other than the Heels. One of these two teams will win the NT—in my opinion. But, if Cal wasn’t able to get his young talent to buy into the team concept (year after year) UK would be a non-factor. Because he is able to do what he does Cal should be winning his third straight COY award.

Really people??  Giving up on the season??  


Makes one wonder......... 

Go ahead and wonder.  And keep lying to yourself.


This team doesn't have the heart, toughness, depth, or talent to win it all.


We don't have what it takes to beat a mixture of Kansas, Kentucky, Ohio State, Syracuse, Missouri, Baylor in the big dance.   

Jigga I think we have trouble with kentucky, osu, and the cuse obviously but i live in kansas and watch the big 12 weekly and we beat all 3 of those teams 7 out of 10 teams this year.  Baylor is tremendously overrated, missouri relies on outrunning teams and would struggle with our ability to run also especially with the fact we can do it with 2 bigs on the floor and kansas is thomas robinson, withey is not great on the offensive end despite what recent numbers suggest and defensively he blocks his shots against weak side driving guards, when you do that against marshall he dishes to the guy you just left for a dunk.  Not to mention the train wreck that is tyshawn taylor his turnovers = free fast break points.  I agree we are behind the other three teams though.

7 out of 10 is not 100% of the time.  All it will take is one of those teams to have a good shooting night against us.  They are all tougher players (that is easy to see).  If they bring their shot with their toughness they will beat us in March.


We don't take punches to the face very well.  Our guys curl up like little girls and take it.  They don't fight back and don't know what to do in tough times.  Part of that is being soft, the other part of that is coaching.