Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain. You are free to panic now.
At this point I am out of reasons, excuses or nice ways to look at this. This team is most likely NIT bound barring a huge turnaround. Winning the home games was supposed to be the buffer to keep them above water with hopes they could steal one or two on the road. Now that is out the window and you are looking at a team that even when they do not turn the ball over, cannot execute the offense well enough to score consistently. Even if they do get shots they don’t fall. It is bad mojo all the way around and I am not sure there are any answers for it in this season. Would Ed Davis had made a difference? I would like to think so but the rebounding was not that out of whack, UNC simply missed too many shots and on the defensive end allowed Wake to go 9-16 from three.
Now, I am not ready to cash in this season because there is still a ton of basketball left to be played and heck UNC could still win the ACC Tournament on some miracle run once everyone is healthy. That being said I also think it might time to shift most of the minutes to the players who will be on the team next season. And that is not as much about looking toward next season as you might think. For one, Marcus Ginyard and to lesser extent(tonight anyway) Deon Thompson just are not getting it done so giving more minutes to the freshmen might get you a higher level of play. I am also at a point of believing if UNC is going to lose like this I would rather them lose while getting guys experience.
Bottom line is at some point they are bound to get better. The problem is it will probably be too late though the SOS and two wins over MSU and OSU are Aces in the hole should they find themselves on the NCAA bubble.
So no need to stress out and get pissed. It is what it is people.
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“Bottom line is at some point they are bound to get better.”
Indeed. That would be November.
1997 team started 0-3 in the ACC, all by double digits.
Yeah but that team had Antawn Jamison, Vince Carter, Shammond Williams and Ed Cota.
I’ll reiterate that I think the best thing to happen next year isn’t the arrival Harrison Barnes, but the graduation of Ginyard and Thompson.
I’m with THF – lets get the guys who’ll be instrumental to next year’s team more playing time. I think that will ultimately help us out this year as well as next.
“Yeah but that team had Antawn Jamison, Vince Carter, Shammond Williams and Ed Cota.”
True, but to that point, only Jamison was a stud. Williams was unproven as a started, Carter was still, at that point, a highly rated recruit who had not completely found his stride, and Cota was a freshman. Obviously, all four turned out to be the real deal, but at the time, there was some doubt, and certainly no one was thinking Final 4.
Well it was an ugly affair and I think we could certainly do more, the defense in the first half was helpful in stopping Wake. We just can’t hold more than half a game. As to the players not getting time, I would have to agree with that sentiment. Take a bit further, it would be nice to see them in their proper positions, see Henson. Just painful watching him outside instead of in the lane. It’s just a challenge to this team play presently.
I still don’t understand what happened to the team I saw play MSU in earlier this year. Much less the team that came back in the second half against KU in their house. It’s just crazy. I do think that Davis would have been a big help in keeping the offense more than one dimensional, not that the stats bear that out. It was just painful to watch in person. It felt “Buntingesque” in the form and shape of the loss. Looking forward to football season presently.
On the good side, I liked what Travis Wear had to say in the interview session following the game and that was at least helpful. I’m excited about their potential over the next few years. I do feel bad for these kids, it has to just be crushing.
All I can say is GO HEELS, still love ya.
I want all of these players to get crushed. Not in a malicious way, but I want them to feel down, to feel what it feels like to lose. Just like Roy talks about in his book, that it takes an 8-20 season for us to appreciate all the highs we enjoy… I think that a lot of what is wrong with this team is that they simply expected to win because they have Carolina written on their uniforms.
A bad season should leave these guys hungry and focused for the next season. That’s why I think this season is still salvageable. At some point, these guys are going to get sick of losing — get sick of us second guessing them and their coach and criticizing every little thing they do.
I hope that this is the case, and that they collectively realize that there’s one quick, surefire method of shutting us all up:
winning.
THF –
They say that misery loves company, and if that is so, your blog is about to start getting 10,000 hits a day.
“Marcus Ginyard and to lesser extent(tonight anyway) Deon Thompson just are not getting it done”
Deon Thompson had only three rebounds. Three rebounds. Will Graves had eight and Larry Drew and Travis Wear had six apiece. If you’re supposed to be a senior and a starting power forward in the ACC, you need to be getting more than three rebounds in a conference game. It’s nice that he has a decent jumper, but he can’t finish at the rim if a defender is there and he as practically zero defensive presence.
At this point, put Travis Wear in Deon’s spot, and put Strickland in Ginyard’s. It’s time for the freshmen and Will Graves to take ownership of the team, since the starting seniors seem like they don’t want to.
Hopefully they’ll get sick of losing to the point they can at least be competitive. I just think teams are starting to lose respect for us at this point.
These kids will get it together, they just need a little more time. Maybe they will win all the rest of their road games. Win the ACC tournament.
Also, State is taking it to Duke. Maybe this will begin Duke’s downfall. Down with Duke tonight, hopefully.
Really C. Michael, did you just compare this team with Carter, Jamison, Cota, Haywood and Williams? Good grief!!
I’m suddenly dreading the State game.
We just aren’t very good. We have Ed davis, role players, and normal freshman. We probably can’t do much better than we are doing now.
I really hope the players don’t follow this blog.
I should be happier seeing Dook lose so far. But, all I can see is another potential L for us, in Raleigh.
I’ve been reading this site for a while, but felt compelled to sign up. The shots just didn’t fall tonight. Didn’t see too much wrong except for that and Wake shot the lights out from 3 at one stretch. Well, and we weren’t strong/aggressive inside, getting position. Seems like players have some trouble getting separation for better looks, but that’s a small point. It truly was one of those nights. If someone can just give these boys some confidence, things will turn around. First, they need to hit a bottom though. Not meaning to be doom and gloom, I think all of this is for the best in the long run.
I got more pissed at seeing Scheyerface get away with — for the umpteenth time — the nouveau-Dook tactic of “shoot a three, then fall down like you’ve been shot with a .44 Magnum, then shoot three free throws” than anything in our game tonight.
Not sure what that means, except that, damn, I’m tired of seeing that punkass move from dookies.
What’s annoying is the league/officials still falling for it after 20 years.
Just shows you the Ratface factor.
I don’t think anyone realistically considered this UNC team to be National Champions, but NIT bound? If that comes to pass, it is the big shocker in all of this. There doesn’t seem to be one single impact player. The freshmen (with maybe the exception of Strickland) play like supporting cast members waiting for the star to come out to play. Maybe I’m wrong, (and I hope I am), but at what point do you question if the class was overrated? Perhaps they will take longer to develop than anticipated. I guess Hansbrough’s impact as a freshman spoiled me. Regardless, its extremely disappointing the younger guys haven’t had much help from Thompson and Ginyard. The nuclear bomb photo might be appropriate for this season, but history tells us UNC won’t be down for long.
Duke is going down! Happy for State, tonight only.
Go Heels next week @State.
I think it is nice for Matt Doherty that UNC fans see Roy Williams have the kind of season he had in 2003, mostly without Sean May.
Roy Williams is a decent game coach but his real strengths are recruiting and training. He has had great luck in recruiting the past few years and this year, for once, either the guys didn’t turn out, or they are all late bloomers.
It happens. Look at Southern Cal in football. Look at some of the teams that have dominated college basketball recently, Duke, UCLA, Florida, UConn, Syracuse(up this year some) all had some problems after winning titles, or coming close in the case of UCLA.
Anyway, I mean I understand loving your team and all, but 88-71 without Davis was not likely to happen, especially with a really sub-par home crowd. Add in Zeller being out, and UNC was without its two best players, the way that I see it.
Duke is getting crushed too so misery has company.
Jeff, some of us could tell that this recruiting class was not performing up to its press clippings after the first couple of real games in New York. Others felt it was way too early to make that call but by now the best case scenario is to hope for a class of “late bloomers.”
Oh my, State won against Duke. It’s gonne be rough for us in Raleigh.
The night is not a total loss. Dook got crunched about as bad as we did, and to a worse team.
I would love to think we’ll improve this sesson, but the actual evidence is to the contrary.
Hmmmmmmmm………….maybe THF should start covering the swim team, or something, anything.
I am glad we now measure how good are nights are by Duke’s results….
welcome aboard BuonRotto: if that was your first post, it was a good one.
Let me say this, Duke vs NC State did have Bernard Clinton and Ray Natili officiating. There are a handful of officials I love officiating our games and they are 2 of them. Karl Hess/Luckie/Eades did not officiate that game, otherwise some of that roughneck defense State was playing would have resulted in more fouls resulting in either a closer game or a Duke win.
Second, State came out with a whole lot of energy, nearly forcing Duke to put a body on them. As a result, Duke committed turnovers, and State players resembled a wolfpack by sniffing out the ball and leading the break. Folks, how NC State played tonight is how you get it done. Simple.
We just don’t have the horses to play like we did the previous 3 years. I hate watching us try to play like we do. We have different personele and I think they can play good ball, but need to play a different brand of ball. You wouldn’t slow Lawson down, so why try to speed up Drew? You get my point?
I’m with BBLB about really liking Travis’s PG interview. I also liked how he and David competed tonight. If they could have Ed over to their room over the next few days for some head banging sessions then he might be able to reappear against State with some fire. We need a strong win against them to remember what it feels like and take it from there. The way I see it, we need to go 9-7 in conference to stay off the bubble – I think (hope) that gets us in the tournament, especially if one of those wins is against you know who. That means 4-1 at home and 4-3 on the road. Do I think we can do that? Yes. Do I think we will do it? I do.
It did seem like Dean changed his gameplan from year to year somewhat based upon his personnel. Roy does not seem to do so as much.
It would be a real kick if Roy took some time off for recuperating his arm and they had Dean come back and coach the rest of the year. Just think what Dean could do with these guys.
By the way, you guys are disrespecting Serge Zwikker by not mentioning him. He was a key member of the 1997 team.
Larry, I share in your optimism. Right now, that seems optimistic, even though 2 months ago I would have said you’re crazy! Each game win or lose has brought us teachable moments, and there exist a coach capable of enabling his team to learn from mistakes, and advances & progress made.
I seem like I am lost watching them play. So many lineup changes, so little opportunity for continuity. One thing is for sure, I have heard others say we need to hit rock bottom. I am at a loss for words because a former number 4 team in the nation faces 7 losses, and an 0-3 start in conference. To me, that’s rock bottom. I hope I don’t find out that it is not.
I lay some of this on the coach. Yes indeed, he is a great one and I wouldn’t ask for another. Seasons and personele like this year’s may be the type he is just not good with. It also may be that next year’s squad is his strength.
If this season comes to be a waste towards the end, I hope we can toy around with the idea of trying different methods of play just to see what happens. Maybe move some positions around. I’d love to see what Henson could do at the 4, what Strickland can do running combo guard with Graves. Wait, I know that sounds scary, but I’d like to see it just for the sake of it.
Lastly, I hope our season is a success, and we don’t have time for childsplay like I proposed.
it would be great if the Old Coach was in good enough shape to do something like that.
Thanks William. I like your proposal as well. Heck, it wouldn’t even have to be Dean, just another approach to coaching our guys. Like I said, different squad all-together this year. In spite of lacking the blu-chippers, you wouldn’t slow Lawson down, he didn’t make Quentin run, so just be consistent and evaluate this squad for what it can do best. Last year’s recipe for success is likely not this year’s recipe for success.
After watching Lawson & the Nuggetts play ball a few nights, you really can tell what he brought to the table.
If you at ever thought he was a stud on our team because we played a brand of ball suited for him, you’re mistaken. He can do anything on that floor, probably could outdance Michael Jackson & Fred Astair if he wanted to.
We did beat VPI so it is 1-3 as a start. The Wears both looked good tonight. Strickland looked terrible; Henson looked terrible and McDonald looked not too great either.
UNC was 26-71 from the floor overall, 6-26 from three point range, and one of those came unguarded with .03 seconds, so really we were 20% from three point range. That isn’t going to beat anybody.
Ginyard played 25 minutes and was 2-9 from the floor with four rebounds and four assists, 7 points overall, and 1 block and 1 steal. I think people were looking for him to average 13-15 points a game this year. That kind of performance might have worked when UNC had Wright, Hansbrough, Green, Lawson and Ellington but it just isn’t nearly enough on an offensive-deprived team.
I’m starting to have a hard time envisioning ANY more wins. This team looks absolutely shell-shocked. Making the NCAA Tourney would be miraculous at this point.
Yes William. That wouldn’t beat nearly all ACC teams. I have tried to employ a good thought process with what we are dealing with here. Many ways to go about it.
1. Given our weakness on the defensive end, we could put our best scoring personele out there. Heck, the defense can’t suffer too much can it?
2. Put personele out there that has the chance to commit the least amount of turnovers. Our offense/defense is not that great, so lets try to limit the number of possessions the other team has, right?
3. Is it just me, or is anyone else eager to tinker with things?
Old School, while I feel that way, I still think we have enough of a thoroughbred lineup to make the dance. We’ve played horrible, but have been close at moments in each game, to the point you feel like all you need is a few more shots to break your way, and it would have been a W.
So yes, at this point, I’d be happy with an NCAA bid, even as a play-in game. But, I do expect for us to play at some point, successful basketball.
This really is like 2003 in terms of the age of the guys on the floor, significant injuries and an ACC with no real easy touches and UNC suffering blow-out losses and some surprising big wins. I guess the main difference is that at least UNC won the pre-season NIT tournament that year, absolutely spanking Kansas. I don’t know if we will get any hardware this year.
William, that is sound in its similarities. At least in 2003, you knew you had something good brewing, and in a couple more years you’d be toasting.
Please folks, some if not most of you may think my posts aren’t worth the read, but I am eager to discuss some of the alterations/changes that I proposed. If they are off base, so be it. I dislike losing, but I hate losing in the same fashion each time. I’d rather lose doing things another way.
I guess the one advantage is you keep losing in the same fashion, maybe you can more easily find consistencies that you can work on. I don’t know, that’s why I am eager to discuss.
Another thing, I hate to say it, but I am jealous. After seeing Gonzalez being so savvy with the basketball against Duke, I almost wish we had him. No offense Drew.
Also, while it may seem this way, I am not trying to pad my posting tallies.
Well, the positive thing is that UNC should basically only lose Graves, Ginyard and Thompson this year and have another two strong recruiting classes coming in. Probably last year, most people would have figured that either Zeller, Davis or Henson, singly or together would be going professional. I doubt we will be seeing that. If we make the NIT this year, it is hard for me not to see us back in the tourney next year.
Anybody who wouldn’t trade what UNC or Florida is going through for a title is crazy. Since the 1950′s, titles on average come about once a decade for UNC and obviously are even more rare for virtually every other team in college basketball.
Gonzalez did throw up some bad shots. Lucky for him he hit that 3 point throw that basically clinched the game. Duke is nothing special. They are just the type of offense that when they get rolling they win big, but if you take them out of their offense, they are very vulnerable.
It seems like they are not able to win ugly this year.
I didn’t mind this loss as much as some of the recent ones because most of the players on the floor were trying to do the right thing. Yes it is tough to see the veterans playing poorly.
But I liked the way the Wears competed. Especially against Wake’s bigger guys. They were doing all they could every possession.
The guard play was way out there.
Wake was giving up short range jump shots. Too bad Thompson couldn’t seem to find a way to shoot.
Graves has one more season.
Adam Lucas does say that UNC is going to more zone than Roy Williams ever had. He also mentions that we were supposed to have one of the most formidable front courts ever this year.
What the heck happened? Even before Zeller went down, UNC was so disappointing down low. They have little strength, no bangers, no good inside shooters and few shot blockers. Zeller, Davis and Thompson seem to have not improved at all and Henson’s freshman year has been trying, to be kind. Travis Wear is the only sort of bright spot on the inside, which means he is playing about as well as we expected.
Graves has another season? Well, I guess I don’t know how I feel about that. He is just so inconsistent from season to season and game to game.
I don’t know if we have any “best” scoring personnel, JB. The guys who I think have the best strokes from the perimeter were all missing tonight, with many real good looks. I would say if you let all those guys take that many decent-look shots in the next game , they’re going to hit 4 or 5 more collectively. TO’s were a step in the right direction tonight, and we got 25 pts. off of 19 OR’s, which is much better. More consistent perimeter shooting (our known weakness all along) is key as is perimeter D. There’s also no doubt in my mind we missed Ed tonight. I guess what I’m saying is Roy has pretty much tried every combo of players and, except for the idea of Marcus getting less time (I hate it but I tend to agree), I’m not sure there is any more obvious option. Just so much inconsistency. When you think someone is ready to take off, they have a digression (like Dex tonight). Loved the way the Wears (esp. Travis) played tonight, but they may disappear next game. Starting at State, though, they all better bring it together, and from there on out.
I think Graves has improved as the season has progressed. I also think there is some maturity there. He could be an important piece next season if he can find some consistency in his shot.
No doubt about that Larry. My thing is I just hate losing in the same type fashion each time. Even though it was to no consequence, I was happy to see Roy employ a little zone.
Right now, there seems to be one spot on the floor where he can hit the three. Teams haven’t figured it out yet but they will.
Graves also seems to be willing to bang down low, even though that’s not his position. Man, if he just had dribbling skills!
It is unusual but I have seen guys in the ACC lose their starting positions as seniors. Ginyard’s talents simply are not a good fit for this team. Offense is more important than defense. The reason that the Celtics could have Bill Russell be mediocre on offense was because they were so amazing on offense with the rest of their team, from Cousy to Havlichek to the Jones’s, and Sharman.
It sort of made sense for Ginyard to start, like Manuel, when we were the offensive ratings giants we were in 2007-09. Those days are gone and he simply has not stepped up his scoring, not to mention that his defense does not seem to be as good as it once was.
Imagine the nightmare this must be for Marcus and Deon, knowing that this is how their careers are ending. They both looked defeated tonight even before the game started. No confidence. None. I’m not sure what’s going on. Very bizarre.
Well said Larry. There isn’t one player that consistently shows up game after game. I agree with JBowling in that its frustrating to watch them lose in the same fashion each game, but what can you do? As has been mentioned before, Ginyard (as much as I like him) should be sitting on the bench. I’d like to see more of Strickland running the point and more playing time for the Wear twins. If the younger players have to take their lumps, so be it. At least they’re getting experience.
I think we should not be surprised. Guys like George Lynch and Danny Green got better, noticeably, every season. I don’t think anyone really could say that about Thompson and Ginyard. We just sort of assumed that with the extra space, they would step up. Some guys are role players and that is all they are. It is unfair to expect them to be something they are not.
Defensive specialist, Dudley Bradley made some great gamewinning plays for UNC back in the 70′s and possibly, along with Bobby Jones, was the greatest Tar Heel defender ever, but it would have been ludicrous to expect him to somehow carry the Heels on offense. By making Ginyard focus on offense, most likely that impacts his defense and lessens his impact on that side of the floor. Thompson is sort of a Dave Popson kind of player. He is a nice decent guy but he was all he was by his second year and that is that.
Matt Doherty was a starter for several years and that kind of player. John Kuester also. They could make big plays from time to time and they did, but there was no way, Kuester could take over for Ford on a regular basis or Doherty for Worthy or Jordan.
It shouldn’t kill Ginyard and Thompson to come off the bench. Danny Green did it for three years. Part of being an adult is learning about our limitations. Hopefully it will only give them a greater appreciation for how great the run was the last three years and how excellent their teammates were.
Really, the interesting question is why did anyone expect Deon or Marcus to all of a sudden become an All ACC type player? The only thing I can figure is that people are fooled because those two consistently started in the past and that somehow that made them as good as Danny Green.
It didn’t.
so, its pregame and you know Ed is out, and Z has been out, and youre the 6’9″ uh, “power” forward. surely, SOMEone has said, mentioned, tossed out in passing, how everyone needs to pick it up on the boards, ESPECIALLY against a team that can hit the boards like Wake….
and you RIP down THREE boards. in 31 minutes. one every ten minutes.
Will — 8
Travis — 6
Larry (!)– 5
Marcus — 4
David — 4
You…3.
3?
dude.
““It’s almost, almost completely new territory for me. Almost,” he said. “People say, ‘Ol Roy Williams always had that silver spoon.’ My first year at Kansas we lost eight straight… The people here expect me to do a job and work really hard and make sure they get it. But the players have to come along.”
That brings up another problem few have discussed: Carolina isn’t that talented.
According to Scout.com, Marcus Ginyard was rated the 52nd best player in his recruiting class while Deon Thompson was No. 36, Will Graves No. 79, Larry Drew No. 68, Dexter Strickland No. 33, Leslie McDonald No. 53, and the Wears were Nos. 55 and 56.
Davis was No. 10, Zeller No. 21, John Henson No. 4, and they combined for nine minutes against Wake. Even still, this performance wasn’t about not having Davis and Zeller, as they have also underachieved, especially in recent weeks.
This is why a turnaround must be a collective deal. The 1997 team started out 0-3 in the ACC and last year’s squad was 0-2, but there are no Antawn Jamisons, Vince Carters, Tyler Hansbroughs or Ty Lawsons on this year’s roster.
And that is Carolina’s reality. ”
http://northcarolina.scout.com/2/939678.html
Well maybe not All ACC players William, but on a continuing progressive track. Problem is, like we know now, and should have known, not every championship team player is created equal. Deon is still a role player, and hasn’t really progressed, and Marcus has digressed…has lost a step, and is still not 100%. I think missing last year hurt him just like it hurt Bobby, although his injury wasn’t as severe as Bobby’s , but Bobby played smarter within his limitations when he came back. Marcus still has things to offer this team, but within a more realistic and diminished scope.
this couldve been chalked up as one of those games…if we hadnt already lost to Clemson, playing poorly, and GT, playing worse.
GT for sure is a game we shouldve won.
but we cant afford many of these “one of those” games.
statistically, as a team, nothing was horrible but the shooting. both our offense shooting, and our defense stopping their shots.
i say again that this team misses more layups than any team i can ever recall seeing.
State got badly out-rebounded but the shooting percentage was significantly in their favor and they won.
the 3 pt numbers i put up before got worse. if your name isnt Will Graves, you are part of the 24-25% club. thats 3 out of 4 missing and having to be rebounded, often long and unpredictable rebounds, sometimes leading to a break.
I remember when Tar Heel Fan was spending so much time on the recruitment of John Wall and thinking to myself, “Well, how many guys do we need?”
I am really kind of flabbergasted by the lack of athleticism on our current team, compared to what we have seen in the past with guys that all of you remember so I won’t list any. Have we had a single “ooh, aah” dunk this year?
^have we had a dunk?
Scheyerface, Smith and Singler played 39, 40 and 40 minutes.
keep it up, K!
Deon did dunk once tonight. It was decent but nothing eye-popping.
This is what every team in the ACC has gone through since 2005 and now it is our turn. We went 7-11 in ACC play in 2003 and then went 8-9 in 2004 under Roy. Wake has finished in last place since then. Duke has finished under .500 one year. State and Virginia have been in the basement and Maryland has missed some NCAA’s.
Somehow the recruiting just didn’t get smoothed out right and Zeller’s brittleness obviously has not helped.(Although, there really aren’t that many guys over 7 feet who seem to stay injury free consistently. That is one thing that separates your Jabbar’s and Artis Gilmore’s from your Yao’s and Oden’s.)
We really need three things. We need a George Lynch type player. We need a wingman who can shoot and we need a fast consistent point guard. We might find the last two things, although I doubt it, but we simply don’t have a Lynch type guy on the squad. Even Copeland would probably start on this team.
“We really need three things…….”
You just described next years’ recruiting class.
Strickland and Henson are our best athletes. (And Davis.)
Our big talents are too inexperienced; our veterans aren’t talented enough.
Given our personnel, I think we have to slow it down. Davis and Zeller are our best offensive players. We just don’t have enough ball handlers or guys who finish well on the break to play Roy’s preferred high-tempo. Slow it down, run the offense, get the ball to Davis and Zeller in the post, and hope that Graves, Drew etc can knock down open 3s.
(Of course, before tonight, only TWO TEAMS IN THE NC-DOUBLE-FREAKIN-A took fewer 3s than we did–and tonight’s results weren’t exactly reassuring….)
On the bright side, think of how excited we all will be when Carolina wins its 2,000th game NEXT SEASON.
So, where was the building off of the second half of the GA Tech game and getting our “mojo” back that many people were projecting prior to last night’s debacle?
william hits a very good point, this team is just not very talented or athletic, and when you take the 2 most talented players out of the lineup (Zeller and Davis) it becomes even more evident. This team has zero shooters, zero athletic leapers or wing players, and zero strong/tough low post players. If you are missing one of those you can survive in a UNC or Roy Williams System, but without all 3 your team better have great team chemistry, tenacity, and play outstanding team defense. Which as we’ve seen is definitely not the case because I’ve seen pick up games at the Y that have more team continuity than this bunch.
Also, you know your seniors are disappointments when the giraffe on roller skates (Zoubek) in Durham has developed and improved from his freshman to senior year more than Marcus Ginyard and Deon Thompson. Thompson and Ginyard are the same players they were when they arrived on campus, and it is very discouraging that Carolina coached personnel can develop over their 4/5 years as little as these two have been allowed to do (that is what happens in Durham not Chapel Hill).
I’m so tired of watching Thompson stand idly by as an opponent grabs offensive rebound after offensive rebound while he shies away from contact then runs down the court and shoots a fade away jump shot while falling out of bounds. Then having to watch Ginyard shoot air ball after air ball and miss layup after layup, then run down the court and stick his hand in the air and shake his head as his man hits jump shot after jump shot over someone who was supposed to be a “great perimeter defender”.
Play the young guys not because they are drastically better (Strickland can’t shoot, Henson is lost and might be the least impressive top 5 talent to enter college basketball since Greg Newton), but at least they have the opportunity to develop; unlike Thompson and Ginyard who are two of the most disappointing seniors in the history of Carolina basketball.
Ish Smith had a Ty Lawson type of game against us last night. How many times did he run it right back down our throat after a made basket? Our guard play is our biggest problem (just the worst of many). I’m not sure we can run a half-court set if we slow down the game. Strickland is capable of getting a shot but he’s out of control too often. Our guys are feeling the pressure. No one looks like they enjoy playing the game and that only feeds the downward spiral. I don’t have stats but we may be seeing one of the worst shooting teams in our modern history. We are asking some of our players to do things that they are not equipped to do; namely Ginyard and Thompson. We are at that point where our experience is not that talented and our talent is not experienced.
” We are asking some of our players to do things that they are not equipped to do; namely Ginyard and Thompson. ”
Then “We” should stop asking them and tell their incapable butts to have a seat………..
I still believe in our TAR HEELS
Do you believe in Santa Claus, too?
william,
Isn’t that the sort of personal shot at another commenter you are always decrying on here as being “against the rules.” She has an opinion and chooses to still believe this team can be something. So what? It might ultimately be proved wrong but who cares?
I do decry personal shots against the rules. To me, these generally involve calling someone a name or epithet or deliberately mischaracterizing the content of their posts.
That was meant as a light attempt at humor and was phrased in the form of a question, not a statement, such as “only an idiot could believe that.” If it failed, then mea culpa, but this site is full of such playful jabs, probably quite a few by Tar Heel Fan himself.
I still choose to believe as well and I think I posted a couple of days ago the verse from St. Paul about what faith (i.e. belief is). There is no reason people can’t laugh at themselves to keep from crying, however.
william,
It came off as less humorous…perhaps a smiley would have mitigated that.