I think UNC is listed as the home team for this one but this is essentially a road game. Syracuse will have plenty of backing in the crowd seeing they are from New York plus they play fairly well at Madison Square Garden, especially in 6OT games or when they sucked all regular season long and need an automatic bid for the NCAA Tournament. It should be noted the last time UNC lost to a non-conference foe was over forty games and three years ago on this very floor. Then it was Gonzaga whom UNC exacted revenge against in the Sweet Sixteen last March by running over them in that 18 wheeler meets grape sort of way.  If it’s all the same I would prefer to have this one end with no need to seek out future revenge opportunities.
Then again, seeing the UNC’s schedule a win would be a huge bonus and in many ways a loss really would not matter. This is the learning stage of the season, as long as the Heels get better by March a loss would only be an annoyance, like the ACC Semifinals in a championship season.
Comments if you have ‘em.
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I would have been fine with 1-1 coming into this tourney, but I REALLY dislike Syracuse…
I just got late word that Evan Turner has put out a restraining order against Marcus Ginyard. Something about emotional distress and anguish. This could of course cause problems during the interchange of games.
Per Marcus’ twitter: “first championship game of the year tonight….”
I like how he thinks, now let’s beat Sickause!
This should be a good one, I’d love to see another awesome shutdown game by Ginyard!
I don’t like how this is starting. Emergency Coke already deployed.
that is about as bad a start as could happen…heels completely lost against that zone so far
Found a lucky position on the couch. It’s awkward, but it’s working.
Good lord, is that Kobe Bryant commercial the only one that they have?
Apparently, I really hate that commercial!
now this is how you answer that crappy start.
Zone should allow us to really clean up on the offensive boards.
We spotted them the first eight points. The rest will not be so easy.
why is Will wearing the arm warmer on his nonshooting arm?
Wonderful passing on that play.
henson is a much better passer at this point than shooter.
You, got me HTTE. I don’t know why they wear them on their shooting arms.
This position is starting to hurt, but I’m not moving until the tide turns away from us.
Deon, you can’t just sit in the lane with the ball indefinitely.
The ball movement is looking very good so far.
Zeller! DENIED!
Look at Henson leading a 5 on 1 break.
One guy.
Well the pace of this game is at our normally preferred tempo.
^always is
If they start heating up from three, I don’t know what I’m going to do.
I don’t know if they’ve missed a three yet. That will change.
heels d has been 1 step slow so far
I’d like to see a few lobs over the backside of that zone
Drew played good D on Jardine the last couple of possessions.
Are these the same refs from last night? If they are we have a problem.
i’ve seen better passes from Jake Delhomme.
Can Vitale please stop asking for Ed to be a ball hog. I’m alright with how he’s playing.
Awful, awful, awful reffing!
Delhomme still probably has more turnovers on the season than the Heels.
10 offensive boards is very impressive.
That is a very un-David like play there.
the sloppy ball handling doesn’t look to be getting any better.
at least the FT shooting does…I imagine that the cuse will begin to cool off shooting the ball and that we’ll get back in in to start the 2nd half.
I think Ginyard will end up being the de facto point guard, as he doesn’t seem to panic more proportionate to the pressure of the situation as Drew does; Marcus is the default best ball handler out there. This is not a cause for celebration. Graves handles the rock like he’s not yet put down the reefer.
The big men and rebounding will bail us out many nights; not against opponents with legitimate guard play, though.
I would play a drinking game with the Kobe commercial, but I fear I wouldn’t see tomorrow if I did.
Living in upstate NY I am sure hoping that UNC wins this one or else it’s going to be a long, long year!
I’d say that Syracuse and OSU have legitimate guard play. they haven’t been killed by either of them yet.
can LD dribble without looking at the ball?
Drew2 looks like a younger Rajon Rondo. A good defensive play followed by shaky offense. Hopefully he’ll have the same results of Rondo going forward.
That was a man’s rebound by Ginyard.
Given the helter skelter, butter fingers way UNC has handled the ball in this game I am ecstatic they are ahead at halftime.
Ed is definitely looking like a lottery pick tonight.
I agree, THF…the problem is that EVERY game so far has had the Heels handling the ball in a “helter skelter, butter fingers way”.
Does Derrick Phelps have any eligibility left?
Since the 8-0 start, UNC has played pretty darn well. It pains me to say it, but Syracuse is good.
I think these guys need to sleep with a basketball, walk around campus with a basketball, go to class with a basketball. Do nothing for the next few weeks but walk around holding onto a basketball.
Taylor King went to the same HS as the Wears.
So far this season we are what we thought we were. Really good defense, good rebounding, strong interior game, and shaky ball handling. I felt like before the season that our problems were turnovers, outside shooting and free throws, and if we performed well at two of them we would be okay. So far we are taking care of the shooting from both lines. I don’t like the turnovers, but if we do everything else well that we are supposed to, we can survive it (IMO).
Can anyone explain why when faced with a zone do we not slash to the middle of it???????
Because UNC does not really have a player who can do it effectively or can do it without losing the basketball in traffic. It is part ball handling, part quickness. Dexter Strickland will be there eventually but not yet.
Watching this zone is killing me.
Mater Dei is a factory…
Jimmy whines, Jimmy gets a call to start the half.
Apparently there’s a window open on our end of the floor.
some reason we keep trying to take it to the basket with no alley and little athleticism?
I think we have to play slower–do we have even one above-average ball hander? When we try to push it we end up with guys taking out-of-control shots or throwing low-percentage passes….
How does Ginyard not get a foul call there? That is the thing that I hate the most. In a block/charge situation when players collide it’s a foul on someone. blow your whistle ref.
well just … expletive
They came out settling for long jumpers instead of getting the ball inside and letting the offense flow from there. I was waiting for Roy to go Blue Team on the starters’ butts.
How is that not a foul?
I think maybe this would be a good time for a roy williams explosion…no concentration on the court right now for the heels.
He did go Blue Team but this crew has no idea how to run the offense.
you just can’t force the ball inside against the zone without a penetrating guard–those passes are just too low-percentage.
we look big, slow, and soft. what a meltdown!
This is some Bullshi* officiating.
how can the football and basketball offenses be this bad…
we’re looking pretty ragged and unsure – hang on boys!!
the heels have 1 point this half. we haven’t made a basket in an hour.
Well, we certainly letting the ugly out to start the second half. We haven’t looked this bad since Kansas, and that’s all that I’ll say about that.
ze-frickin-ro confidence on the flooe for the heels right now.
more made FTs than FGs.
really 1 point in the half.
Pathetic. Period.
unless Drew develops very fast over the next month, this is a sweet 16 team max, I think. But I thought that a month ago, so why am I so frustrated now?
It’s over kids. You can’t go 10 mins and only score one point.
Uh, nick the tournament isn’t in December. We have a long season for the ball handlers to improve, and improve a lot hopefully.
Big guys who can’t dribble, can’t get their own shot, and no distributing point guard to get them the ball in locations where they can succeed: not the ideal recipe. It just seems like we have a terrible talent mix. Can we trade the Wear twins for a point guard?
UNC left their brains in the locker room.
I really hope Roy uses the Tv timeout to bench these lazy slobs and put in the Blue team. The effort shown here is unworthy of scholarship athletes. At least walk-ons might play with some heart. The starters simply aren’t trying…
Like I said earlier…guard play on both sides is indicative of a yawning gap, and it doesn’t get better in the ACC.
Weak stuff, Heels…weak.
agreed nick, I knew this was gonna be rough, but…
even more telling is that our assist:turnover ratio is currently under 0.5.
Ginyard, the only putative leader out there, has 5 of them.
This is poor work all around. Missing shots is no sin; playing like you don’t give a damn is a different story.
The Heels have made 13 shots and have 16 turnovers. Nicely done.
On the plus side, there should be a lot more room on the bandwagon tomorrow!
JBB who specifically is playing like they don’t give a damn? Playing badly, obviously everyone is. but I vehemently disagree that there is anyone who is not trying.
Don’t freak out, people. This is a de facto road game against a quality opponent BEFORE THANKSGIVING. Lots of work to be done, but time to get it done.
C’mon guys n gals. I’ve sat here and not said a word. Have we forgotten that we sorta expected some of these games? Better to get them over with now than in March. Other than losing to a hated Syracuse team……..
And is that a little life I see in that Heel team?
all right, there’s a little intensity, at least…
Don’t mark them off just yet.
And can somebody kill this fricken Kobe commercial…..please????????????????????
Damn, we’ve got people questioning this teams effort, and they haven’t lost this game and they ARE trying their balls off right now.
Well, win or lose we’ve just seen that these Heels have some quick strike ability in them.
comeback, anybody?
Ummm… 10 points with 7:26 to go is a game.
The last run by the Heels after getting absolutely curb-stomped out of the half is the best thing I’ve seen this season.
Marcus, pretty much the entire backcourt + His Highness, King of the Marshmallows Mr Thompson.
Ginyard and Davis are the only ones playing hard, consistently.
fire in the belly = nil.
Roy will have an uphill climb fixing that one. The sports media’s overrating of the team didn’t help that…
Wear Twins might play their way into the starting lineup
And JBB, I will say again that playing bad doesn’t equal no effort. They wouldn’t be back in striking distance if they didn’t care, and that’s a big damn accusation to say that about an athlete, and especially your team.
Anybody that can’t get a positive from this game isn’t paying attention. Yeah the turnovers suck. But watch some of these freshmen. The Wears especially make really good decisions with the ball.
Davis needs to be aggressive and try to score. He tries to pass too much.
davis is getting abused
ed davis, rally killer.
We are gonna get better, yes, but we it really looks to me that we lack the personnel to play uptempo basketball….