Your Basketball Team's Update Thread

[PrivateO]

UNLV up on #1 UNC 72-62 with 7 to go.

[Birds of B'more]

UNLV pulls off the upset. 90-80 over UNC.

[Spy Fox]

Wow, Carolina loses to UNLV.

I expected some bumps in the road despite all the high expectations but this game surprised me. The game realized my fears about a key weakness in our style--if our frontcourt is out of sync, we can't always keep pace with teams that can rain 3s. Saw this a lot last year with games against Duke, Kentucky, and others. UNLV played great and teams won't always hit as high a % of 3s as they did tonight, but we have a habit of leaving too many open shots.

Definitely some encouraging signs though. Very quiet offensive game from Barnes and Zeller, and our defense was poorly organized and executed all night, yet the game was still close. Dexter Strickland seems to have improved a lot, PJ Hairston looks great thus far and J. McAdoo clearly has great talent although he is not as well composed yet as Hairston.

I'm optimistic the team will refocus and handle Wisconsin next week. Then Kentucky will be a huge test-- execution will have to be WAY better next weekend in Kentucky than it was tonight in Vegas to have a chance of beating the Wildcats.

[Birds of B'more]

Don't underestimate UNLV. Dave Rice is looking like a great hire for them...he's already doing well in recruiting.

[Spy Fox]

Don't underestimate UNLV. Dave Rice is looking like a great hire for them...he's already doing well in recruiting.

Yes, I was very impressed with them. Quick and athletic. This won't be their last big/upset win of the season I think.

[Dr. FLK]

Don't underestimate UNLV. Dave Rice is looking like a great hire for them...he's already doing well in recruiting.

UNLV was pretty darn fun to watch. I doubt they are always that good, but that team has some swagger. It helps that they also seemed to hit every shot that they took.

[beaner]

All credit to UNLV, they played out of their minds, made every big play, and won the game. Stanback's Dad went to Carolina too, had to be awesome for that kid to play that well against them.

[Sports Guy]

All credit to UNLV, they played out of their minds, made every big play, and won the game. Stanback's Dad went to Carolina too, had to be awesome for that kid to play that well against them.

Do you(or even epic) think its a fair criticism to say that Williams doesn't have his guys play hard enough(especially defensively) on a consistent basis?

BTW, I read where Barnes was on crutches after the game.

[The Epic]

Do you(or even epic) think its a fair criticism to say that Williams doesn't have his guys play hard enough(especially defensively) on a consistent basis?

BTW, I read where Barnes was on crutches after the game.

Nah, not really. They just kept making that extra pass and nailing every shot they could...up until the end, then Carolina just couldn't capitalize at that point.

Did UNC play perfect ball? No, but I don't think it LOOKED like a lack of effort.

[Sports Guy]

Nah, not really. They just kept making that extra pass and nailing every shot they could...up until the end, then Carolina just couldn't capitalize at that point.

Did UNC play perfect ball? No, but I don't think it LOOKED like a lack of effort.

Reading several of the bball guys on twitter, they talked about how UNC was playing poorly defensively.

Fran Fraschilla singled out Marshall..saying he really struggles to stay in front of the ball.

Maybe its a simple thing that these guys aren't that good defensively...But they struggled last year defensively and then turned it on later in the season.

So, it seems to me that they just don't have that committment game in and game out...is that on Roy or is a bunch of lottery picks looking towards the NBA and wanting to get on sportscenter?

[The Epic]

Reading several of the bball guys on twitter, they talked about how UNC was playing poorly defensively.

Fran Fraschilla singled out Marshall..saying he really struggles to stay in front of the ball.

Maybe its a simple thing that these guys aren't that good defensively...But they struggled last year defensively and then turned it on later in the season.

So, it seems to me that they just don't have that committment game in and game out...is that on Roy or is a bunch of lottery picks looking towards the NBA and wanting to get on sportscenter?

IIRC, Kendall's always been below-average defensively. He's just so good on offense that people don't notice it too much.

There's three definite lottery picks on the team; Barnes, Henson and McAdoo. McAdoo doesn't start, and Barnes and Henson both chose to come back. If they were so worried about looking toward the NBA, they'd have left. Barnes' stock isn't going to get too much higher.

[beaner]

IIRC, Kendall's always been below-average defensively. He's just so good on offense that people don't notice it too much.

There's three definite lottery picks on the team; Barnes, Henson and McAdoo. McAdoo doesn't start, and Barnes and Henson both chose to come back. If they were so worried about looking toward the NBA, they'd have left. Barnes' stock isn't going to get too much higher.

What he said.

Marshall isn't a great defensive player, and we'll probably never been an elite defensive team under Roy.

That being said, "Epic" and I aren't going to overreact after one loss. I feel I can speak for him because we roll like that...

[PrivateO]

If you were watching Monday Night Football on ESPN, you missed a great game between 11. Xavier and 19. Vanderbilt on ESPN2. Xavier won 82-70 in OT.

Very emotional, big road win in the oddly-designed Memorial Gym (benches on the endlines). Xavier played sloppy defense in the 1st half, but Lyons and Holloway took over in the 2nd half and overtime. Holloway had some dagger three's. I'll say it again: I think those two are the best backcourt in the naiton. Frease had a poor game (out most of it with 4 fouls). If he stops fouling and they HIT OUR FREE THROWS (337th of 345 DI teams...horrible), watch out for the Muskies.

[CT203]

Xavier-Vandy was a great game.

As for Tu/Lyons give me Bazz/Lamb as the best backcourt, especially with Boatright backing them up. Lamb might be the best 2 guard in the country.

UConn finally has their full team after their inexcusable loss to UCF. They were really lacking a backup point guard but now Boatright is eligible. He adds a player that can penetrate at will and cause defenses to collapse. Drummond is still getting comfortable to the college game but you can tell he is a dominating force and can take over games for stretches on both ends of the court. Oriahki needs to shut up and start playing up to his talent level and stop being soft. He is the biggest let down so far for UConn and they need him to get his head straight so he can control the boards, with Drummond, and be a contributor down low.

Overall the UConn team this year is more talented and a better team than last years team. They have more weapons and more depth but are young and need to have everyone understand their roles. They will have their ups and downs but as the season progresses and March rolls around they have the ability to challenge for a repeat.

[square634]

This year's Harvard team may be better than the Sweet 16 Cornell team of two years ago. They didn't graduate anyone important last year, and Amaker has done a great job recruiting. They are certainly a team to think about when filling out your brackets in March. I think whether they can progress as far as Cornell will depend on the consistency of their outside shooting.