UNC vs Terps 2/25

[Dr. FLK]

Hayes had a bad 1st half - probably due to jitters - with no assists and 4 to's, but he was the glue guy in the last 10 minutes of the game. He didn't score, but he controlled the tempo, had 5 assists, 5 rebounds, and the one turnover he had was when he rebounded the ball, dribbled, and I thought it hit Gist's foot - not his. Bottom line - when he's in the lineup, the team plays better.

So your ideal lineup is Hayes, Grevis, DJ, Ibekwe, Gist with Jones off the bench?

I think tons of the credit for that win needs to go to Gist. He is becoming the big man they thought he would be. He was an absolute monster on both ends of the court.

[mskrulz]

Carolina is a great team,all the young freshman can play. The guy who missed the free throws at the end #34 is going to be a great player, maybe better than Hansbrough. Ellington can light it up.

Hayes and Grevis have Lawson's number and it showed today.

Carolina is a deep team, well coached and could go deep in the NCAA's. It was Marylands day today, but dont sleep on the Terps,they might just win wed too. Guards win in the NCAA's and Grevis, Hayes and Strawberry are playing well now. If Jones keeps it up like today, watch out.

The worst thing about this game was my inability to make it to Rockville in time to get FREE tickets! But anyway...

I don't think that Carolina is underachieving in the normal sense of the word but they are not living up to the expectations that were placed on them from their own success. Losing two to Va Tech and one each to Maryland and NC ST. isn't what a championship contender from Chapel Hill is supposed to do...

With that being said I agree that this game was played at a very high level between two teams that were very hot. To criticize UNC for this loss rather than applaud Maryland for the win would be non-sensical. Maryland took every punch and came back for the knockout at the end. Give MD and Gary the respect that they deserve. Great game DJ and company!

Branden Wright could be a great player as stated above. The only problem with him is that he will be in the NBA when he becomes one. Hopefully he doesn't make the same mistake as Marvin Williams. Hopefully for Carolina fans that is!

Great win for the Terps!

[rolliefingers]

I don't think that Carolina is underachieving in the normal sense of the word but they are not living up to the expectations that were placed on them from their own success. Losing two to Va Tech and one each to Maryland and NC ST. isn't what a championship contender from Chapel Hill is supposed to do...

NCSt is the only bad loss of those four. Tech is a solid team, and we all know how well MD is playing right now. And UNC almost beat us at home.

Is anyone writing off Florida because they've lost three games to unranked opponents? Please.

[Sports Guy]

NCSt is the only bad loss of those four. Tech is a solid team, and we all know how well MD is playing right now. And UNC almost beat us at home.

Is anyone writing off Florida because they've lost three games to unranked opponents? Please.

NO ONE IS WRITING OFF UNC!!!!

There is a difference between writing someone off and questioning how good they may be.

UNC is a team that SHOULD be a final 4 team and their fans should be upset with anything less than that.

So, you have to judge them based on that and based on that, this team, as of today, is underachieving.

[Mashed Potatoes]

There hasn't been enough talk about Mike Jones on this thread. He's the difference between us being a good team, and a final four contender. With 14 points in the second half he is clearly our most talented offensive player. Draining threes and hitting quick jumpers in the lane off short curls reminded me of Juan Dixon. Except he's stronger, taller, and more athletic than Juan. Obviously comparing the two is silly, but it's worth noting how potentially succesful Jones can be given his physical gifts.

DJ gets most of his points off fast breaks and unsettled situations, in the half court he's an inconsistent finisher. We need to make a concerted effort to get MJ involved early and often in the offense because the second he gets a little confidence he blows up.

[BmoreBoy]

There hasn't been enough talk about Mike Jones on this thread. He's the difference between us being a good team, and a final four contender. With 14 points in the second half he is clearly our most talented offensive player. Draining threes and hitting quick jumpers in the lane off short curls reminded me of Juan Dixon. Except he's stronger, taller, and more athletic than Juan. Obviously comparing the two is silly, but it's worth noting how potentially succesful Jones can be given his physical gifts.

DJ gets most of his points off fast breaks and unsettled situations, in the half court he's an inconsistent finisher. We need to make a concerted effort to get MJ involved early and often in the offense because the second he gets a little confidence he blows up.

It may have been on this board, but I saw somewhere that Gary said that he noticed something in the UNC defense that he could exploit to make plays to MJ in the second half. So that might be why his second half was better. Can't do that for every team necessarily, but certainly Gary needs to keep an eye out for things like that and also maybe make a few plays to work in an open shot for MJ.

[rolliefingers]

NO ONE IS WRITING OFF UNC!!!!

There is a difference between writing someone off and questioning how good they may be.

UNC is a team that SHOULD be a final 4 team and their fans should be upset with anything less than that.

So, you have to judge them based on that and based on that, this team, as of today, is underachieving.

I wasn't specifically addressing you. I know YOU aren't writing them off.

What I'm saying is that I think a lot of people here are being overly critical of Carolina, for whatever reason. I would say it's just because we're all partisans of teams other than UNC (except Beaner and ND) and we just don't like them, but I know that can't be it.

Is there any team this year with a spotless resume? Absolutely not. OSU and Wisconsin play in a much weaker conference than UNC. Florida, as I mentioned, has a few losses that look worse, to my eyes, than any of UNC's, with the exception of NCSt. As I mentioned, that's the only poor loss of the year for UNC. MAYBE VT at home was bad, but I'm sorry, VT is a solid team.

So...where's all this teeth-gnashing over UNC coming from? If UNC fans have high expectations, then that's their prerogative. They have as much pure talent as anyone in the nation, but they've hardly underachieved, IMO.

Maybe I just have a crush on the ACC in general; as many of us have said all year, there is a ton of talent in this conference, and I think only two or three teams can legitimately be called subpar.

[mskrulz]

NO ONE IS WRITING OFF UNC!!!!

There is a difference between writing someone off and questioning how good they may be.

UNC is a team that SHOULD be a final 4 team and their fans should be upset with anything less than that.

So, you have to judge them based on that and based on that, this team, as of today, is underachieving.

I agree 100% with this statement. I am definitely not writing off Carolina. I actually watched the game yesterday thinking about how talented they are. What I am saying is that you don't measure whether or not they are underachieving based on realism. Nobody cares that they have a team full of freshmen. There expectations are based on what they did early in the year and the hype that that created.

I 100% believe that Carolina is among a handul of teams that should realistically be looked at as favorites to win a title. The fact thay they have lost 4 games within the conference would be disconcerting to most UNC fans. I would argue that the NC State loss was a bad one but also a rivalry game. The Va Tech and MD road losses aren't bad but are not expected from this team. The Va Tech home loss was bad.

To argue whether or not calling UNC underachieving is fair or not is beside the point. UNC is not the average program. The same reason that UNC is unfairly being labeled as a dissapontment or not deals with the same reason that you are probably a big fan. They have a winning tradition. It is expected of them from the media and there fan base.

To see them lose 3-games in which the road teams fans rushed the court would tend to feed into the fact that they could be construed as a underachieving team. By the way stop telling me how many freshman that they have when they are all among the top-10 recruits in the country. Carolina has 5 guys on the bench who were all-americans. In this age of college basketball you NEED to win with freshmen. If you don't win with McDonald's All-American's than they will be gone next year. Look at Ohio State.

Carolina is a product of it's own success and that leads to dissapointment. If they didn't win all of the time then they wouldn't be considered dissapointing. Stop whining and deal with it.

[rolliefingers]

I agree 100% with this statement. I am definitely not writing off Carolina. I actually watched the game yesterday thinking about how talented they are. What I am saying is that you don't measure whether or not they are underachieving based on realism. Nobody cares that they have a team full of freshmen. There expectations are based on what they did early in the year and the hype that that created.

I 100% believe that Carolina is among a handul of teams that should realistically be looked at as favorites to win a title. The fact thay they have lost 4 games within the conference would be disconcerting to most UNC fans. I would argue that the NC State loss was a bad one but also a rivalry game. The Va Tech and MD road losses aren't bad but are not expected from this team. The Va Tech home loss was bad.

To argue whether or not calling UNC underachieving is fair or not is beside the point. UNC is not the average program. The same reason that UNC is unfairly being labeled as a dissapontment or not deals with the same reason that you are probably a big fan. They have a winning tradition. It is expected of them from the media and there fan base.

To see them lose 3-games in which the road teams fans rushed the court would tend to feed into the fact that they could be construed as a underachieving team. By the way stop telling me how many freshman that they have when they are all among the top-10 recruits in the country. Carolina has 5 guys on the bench who were all-americans. In this age of college basketball you NEED to win with freshmen. If you don't win with McDonald's All-American's than they will be gone next year. Look at Ohio State.

Carolina is a product of it's own success and that leads to dissapointment. If they didn't win all of the time then they wouldn't be considered dissapointing. Stop whining and deal with it.

I think we posted at the same time, but I'll say it again: Who truly has a better resume than UNC? Maybe UCLA. This notion that UNC should be disappointed with anything less than an undefeated season is just insane to me. VT were bad losses? THEY'RE 20-8 AND TIED FOR 1ST IN THE BEST CONFERENCE IN THE COUNTRY!!!

I seriously do not get it at all. UNC is absolutely a Final Four contender, and to say they're underachieving is being incredibly unfair.

[Mashed Potatoes]

It may have been on this board, but I saw somewhere that Gary said that he noticed something in the UNC defense that he could exploit to make plays to MJ in the second half. So that might be why his second half was better. Can't do that for every team necessarily, but certainly Gary needs to keep an eye out for things like that and also maybe make a few plays to work in an open shot for MJ.

Yea but I think it's more then exploiting the opposing teams defensive weaknesses, it's about proactively creating opportunities. Juan Dixon got much more attention then Mike Jones yet he found his shots every game regardless of who we played. We need to tell Mike that we want him to shoot and if he works hard off screens we will find him.

[Sports Guy]

I think we posted at the same time, but I'll say it again: Who truly has a better resume than UNC? Maybe UCLA. This notion that UNC should be disappointed with anything less than an undefeated season is just insane to me. VT were bad losses? THEY'RE 20-8 AND TIED FOR 1ST IN THE BEST CONFERENCE IN THE COUNTRY!!!

I seriously do not get it at all. UNC is absolutely a Final Four contender, and to say they're underachieving is being incredibly unfair.

UNC has lost almost 30% of their ACC games with 2 tough games left.

Beaner has said all year that he felt they definitely would win the ACC regular season and he recently said that no other team had a chance to win the regular season crown and that UNC would win out(this was a few weeks ago).

So, if you want to say they are not performing to expectations, that is fine BUT to me, that means they are underachieving.

[rolliefingers]

UNC has lost almost 30% of their ACC games with 2 tough games left.

Beaner has said all year that he felt they definitely would win the ACC regular season and he recently said that no other team had a chance to win the regular season crown and that UNC would win out(this was a few weeks ago).

So, if you want to say they are not performing to expectations, that is fine BUT to me, that means they are underachieving.

Just because Beaner is disappointed doesn't mean he really should be. It's interesting, though - look at the game recap from last night's game. The Heels seem more down on themselves than I am. That can't be a good sign.

But really, who cares who wins the regular season title? The only thing that matters is who's holding the trophy in April, and UNC has as good a shot as anyone.

[Sports Guy]

Just because Beaner is disappointed doesn't mean he really should be. It's interesting, though - look at the game recap from last night's game. The Heels seem more down on themselves than I am. That can't be a good sign.

But really, who cares who wins the regular season title? The only thing that matters is who's holding the trophy in April, and UNC has as good a shot as anyone.

It isn't a big deal..Hell, the ACC doesn't even recognize it(the ACC tourney winner is declared the conference champ) but what it shows is that they have lost games they shouldn't and that they are showing alot of weaknesses.

That problem is defense.

[rolliefingers]

It isn't a big deal..Hell, the ACC doesn't even recognize it(the ACC tourney winner is declared the conference champ) but what it shows is that they have lost games they shouldn't and that they are showing alot of weaknesses.

That problem is defense.

Wait, they're showing a lot of weaknesses, but their (one) problem is defense? You were right the second time. They're damn near flawless offensively, and they have the skill to play well defensively, but they have occasional mental lapses. They got hurt by MD because MD is one of the few teams that can run as well as UNC can.

Bottom line - they do have to improve defensively, but when you are as good as they are on offense, you don't have to improve all that much.

[beaner]

Just because Beaner is disappointed doesn't mean he really should be. It's interesting, though - look at the game recap from last night's game. The Heels seem more down on themselves than I am. That can't be a good sign.

But really, who cares who wins the regular season title? The only thing that matters is who's holding the trophy in April, and UNC has as good a shot as anyone.

Beaner isn't dissapointed!!! He is concerned about some defensive lapses. He also doesn't feel that the team is underacheiving. He is confident that his beloved Tar Heels can make a Final four run. He will now stop talking like this.