There was no questioning Carolina’s intensity tonight.
UNC came out fired up and played Duke even for 35 minutes but faded down the stretch in dropping a 64-54 slugfest with the 8th-ranked Blue Devils. Â It was a bizarre game in that Duke shot 50% from three but only 25% inside the arc, while UNC racked up 12 blocked shots but ended up getting out-rebounded by a thick and physical Duke front line.
It was an ugly game offensively as both teams really showed effort on the defensive end. Â Duke’s “big three” guards Jon Scheyer, Kyle Singler, and Nolan Smith scored 53 of the team’s 64 points but only went 18-52 from the field. Â The Tar Heels placed three in double figures, as Will Graves had 13, Larry Drew had 11, and Deon Thompson added 10 points.
Throughout the game, Duke’s bigs consistently out-rebounded and out-hustled UNC’s post players, and while the Heels were blocking shots, the Devils were getting second chance points. Â Duke ended up with an amazing 19 offensive rebounds and out-paced the Heels 44-40 on the boards. Â Carolina’s post players Thompson, Ed Davis, and John Henson, combined for only 20 points and 16 rebounds on 7-19 shooting inside. Â Davis and Henson in particular seemed far more interested in blocking shots than rebounding.
As for guard play, Larry Drew II was hot and cold. Â He had 11 points but took 15 shots and had 4 assists to two turnovers. Â He made some heady plays (like at the end of the first half) and some great passes in transition, but he had his share of head-scratchers, too. Dan Bonner, in a rare case of lucid analysis, pointed out that Drew rarely attacks the rim and so defenses play the pass; I would add that sometimes when he does pass he throws bullets from 3 feet away that cannot be handled. Â Marcus Ginyard played his heart out and dove after loose balls and hit a couple of key shots. Â His detractors will point to this missed assignment or that point at which he was scored on, but he guarded Scheyer most of the game and held one of the leading ACC player-of-the-year candidates to 7-20 shooting, and to Ginyard’s credit, the last two threes Scheyer made were with Ginyard dead in his face. Â Dexter Strickland completely stunk up the gym, sadly, playing out of control, getting cooked on defense, and contributing little to the team effort.
On the plus side, Carolina got back much more effectively on defense, not allowing Duke to get out and run. Â And despite the scoring numbers, UNC’s perimeter defense was much improved, as evidenced by the shooting percentages.
For the third straight game, Carolina suffered a game-ending run that cost them a chance to win the game. Â After giving up an 18-8 ending to Virginia Tech and 38-20 to Maryland, UNC went nearly five minutes without a field goal late in the game as part of a 25-11 Duke run to close out this one.
In the end, this game will do little to change your opinion of this team. Â If you think the season is done for, you can point to the poor decisions, terrible inside play, and lack of offense to back you up. Â If you think there is still hope, you can point to the defensive effort, transition game, and knowing that for 37 minutes the team was in a position to win against a top-10 team.
Still, moral victories mean absolutely nothing and the Heels will have to get it together to host NC State this weekend. Â Both teams will be in desperate need of a win and the game could be just as intense as tonight’s game.
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“Somebody else is going to have to defend Strickland. I think he looks terrible out there and has been fairly consistent. I am beginning to think that he might be another Quentin Thomas type guy, who would have a much better career at VCU or George Mason than here. ”
Yes since the start @ VPI Strickland had been awful and it appears that his confidence is shaken and he is unsure of himself along with when and how to be aggressive vs. out of control on the court. Still the comparison to Thomas might be accurate if you were comparing Strickland as a point guard, but that is not where Strickland can add value and where his future lies in Chapel Hill. First he is a much better athlete than Thomas, and once Strickland can play at his natural wing position I think he can be dynamite performer with his speed, quickness, and ability to finish at the rim. Yes his outside shot has struggled, but the majority of that comes from spending the majority of his time thinking too much and trying to not make mistakes versus using his natural instincts and getting in a flow with his jump shot.
I agree that Strickland’s recent performances have been extremely disappointing considering that he currently is unable to out perform a player that has average Southern Conference talent, but once his skills get harnessed and enhanced at his natural position, I think Strickland will flourish in a Roy William’s system as a wing with point guard skills along with the quickness and athleticism to finish at the rim.
Last night most of the Heels competed for 30 minutes. Unfortunately the game is played for 40 minutes.
Seth Davis was actually very complimentary to our 2005 team during the Final Four. He blew one pick trying to be daring during 2009 and paid dearly for it.
The strangest thing to me is that Roy seems more surprised by all this than anybody. How could he be the last to know? Didn’t he watch the Syracuse and CoC games?
At least when we lost to Texas and Kentucky, the games were sort of interesting to watch. Now we struggle to reach 50 points.
“Last night most of the Heels competed for 30 minutes. Unfortunately the game is played for 40 minutes.”
But they competed, which is more than can be said for the current losing streak.
“Now we struggle to reach 50 points.”
It’s painful to watch not just one player struggle getting the ball to go in, but all of them… at the same time…
I agree that Strickland (he needs to play better before I will call him “Strick”) is more athletic than Thomas. The problem is, how can you be effective at the wing if you can’t shoot a lick? He also doesn’t seem to play as tall as several of the other guys we have had at the wing either, including Brian Reese.
Right now, I am pretty convinced that Ed Davis wants out. That means we better all hope to really see some game from Zeller when he comes back because he is going to be key for us next year. If Zeller is a non-factor next year, things are going to be very difficult, unless Henson does a Vince Carter type of sophomore season….
I remember when….
UNC scored 54 points in a half…
Duke struggled for their 1st 50 too.
^^like vs Presbyterian!
“Duke struggled for their 1st 50 too.”
I kept looking for Pete Carril and Dick Bennett on the benches last night.
Losing is one thing, but losing and playing some of the ugliest basketball I’ve ever seen in my lifetime is another.
Carolina played some really ugly basketball during the 2000 run to the FF, but at least after wiping the blood from my eyes I could at least revel in a victory.
larry looked pretty good last night…he still has a big learning curve such as looking for his shot in the lane and not kicking it to MARCUS GINYARD for 3 on a 2v1 fast break…but last night he was the only guy who was confident enough to want the ball and try to penetrate. whoever saiad graves should shoot more b/c he was 50% from three must not have seen the game, as everytime we passed it to him and he wasn’t wide open, he couldn’t even beat kyle singler off the dribble while singler bodied him chest to chest from well outside the 3 pt arc. he can’t get open, he’s too slow and needs to be moved way down the depth chart next year.
deon and ed did NOT want the ball, this wasn’t larry’s fault, i rarely recall either of them commanding position on the block and thinking someone should throw it to them. when larry has ginyard and graves on the perimeter, he can’t throw it to either b/c they’re not able to beat a guy or create enough space to get the room needed to make an entry pass…thus larry has to get it back and try to enter it inside himself….but he couldn’t b/c ed davis, seriously, looked like he never tried posting up. one time in the 2nd half he did and he got ripped by nolan smith. come on man!
i hope ed comes back and that he’s hampered currently by some bumps and bruises. sc11 summed up many of my thoughts…ed could be better, larry plus some improvement plus some actualy ACC players will be plenty solid. kendall isn’t the answer at PG but he should be an upgrade from nobody at backup PG.
dexter has a raw deal this year. the kid wasn’t a PG his entire life until this year, and maybe a bit last year as he realized he was going into a system that had no backup PG. from a guy who has played at the major high school level (kidding, i’m not good), i know that you have a different mentality as a lifelong 1 than you do as a lifelong 2. would we have put wayne as a backup PG this year? or made him run the point? he and dex both look better catching the ball and scoring versus dribbling up the court and scoring. thus i believe he will be a LOT better next year.
add in zeller who HOPEfully comes back for enough games to get a bit more development in game under his belt…henson is showing signs of life, and we have a good team.
for this year, hell yes i’m hoping for a good run in the ACCT to immediately snatch victory from the jaws of defeat(ed season)!
ed gets his mojo back, zeller comes to play, strick gets minutes at the two, and henson plays at the 3 and 4 and larry plays like he did tonight plus a few better decisions plus making a few 3s and we can beat anybody in the ACC. duke sucks!
ed returns, we’re good inside
2012 zeller/harrison barnes/henson all return, we’re really good….
if HB and Henson are early “outs” we’re in trouble for a long time, especially if mcadoo is a one and done…uh oh…
Read the Davis piece, what a homer hatchet job that was, but hey Carolina’s lousy play and disappointing season provided the ammunition.
“kendall isn’t the answer at PG but he should be an upgrade from nobody at backup PG.”
I’m not sure why this is becoming such a common belief. Obviously, there is a big difference between a PG who is a Top-5 guy, like Ray and Ty were, and somebody who is Top-25ish, but there is an even bigger difference between a 4-star PG (QT, Frasor, Drew) and a 5-star PG like Marshall.
Here is a list of the 5-star PGs who where outside the top 5 from 2002-2008:
Daniel Horton (17)
Anthony Roberson (20)
Chris Rodgers (21)
Dee Brown (23)
Chris Paul (9)
Mustafa Shakur (10)
Sebastien Telfair (9)
Rajon Rando (15)
Daniel Gibson (17)
Darius Washington (23)
Jordan Farmar (25)
Greg Paulus (18)
Mario Chalmers (19)
Byron Eaton (23)
Sherron Collins (12)
Jon Scheyer (20)
Mike Conley (28)
Nick Calathes (10)
Johnny Flynn (21)
Kemba Walker (12)
Of the 20, only two (Rodgers and Paulus) were out-and-out busts. However, the rest all had careers that ranged from good to great, and there are several 1st Round picks in there. That, taken with the success Roy has had in the past with 5-Star recruits, gives me a lot of hope for Marshall’s future.
I was just thinking wonder what Matt D. is saying right now.
Leslie and Graves should not be forgotten for everyone talking about next year’s team. With or without Davis a nucleus of Zeller, LDII, Henson, Wears, Strickland along with HBJB, Bullock, Marshall is very good. I think Graves and Leslie should not start next year but come in quickly to keep things spread. Graves will always be able to catch and shoot and Leslie has shown glimpses of fearlessness and is an above average perimeter defender (Only HBJB is noted for his defense, Bullock and Marshall are not)
CM – I agree, 100% with you.
5 star:
Marvin Williams
Tyler Hansbrough
Ty Lawson
Wayne Ellington
Brandon Wright
Ed Davis
Tyler Zeller
John Henson
4 star:
Quentin Thomas
Danny Green
Bobby Frasor
Marcus Ginyard
Deon Thompson
Will Graves
Larry Drew II
Dexter Strickland
Leslie McDonald
David Wear
Travis Wear
It’s not so much the number they’re ranked in the class, #5 PG or the #13 PG (because classes differ from year to year) but the star ranking (which should be consistent throughout). Some of the 5 stars left early, and a few of the 4 stars blossomed nicely, but I think Marshall will be good for the Heels as a 5 star PG.
Scheyerface was a 5 star PG?
PG?
HTTE,
He was a combo. Most had him at SG and a few at PG. Since that was where he ended up playing I included him, but if I hadn’t it wouldn’t have materially changed the findings.
ah. did not kno dat.
L8N,
Exactly right about the positional ranks. For instance, in 2004 there were 6 5-star PGs and this year there are 8(!), yet in 2008, there were only 2.
^^^^He’s playing like one… unfortunately…
Is Marshall still rated a 5 star? How often do they update those ratings?
Generally there are three rankings: after the summer season, fall, and then the final rankings after the ASGs. Here is what Scout’s Inc. had to say in their January 2010 write-up:
“The tag as “the best passer/playmaker” in the 2010 class has long been the consensus of most evaluators when describing Marshall’s game; even the casual fan can recognize this kid’s talent for delivering the ball with amazing creativity and accuracy. There is no doubt that he will have a major impact on North Carolina’s fast-breaking offense as his vision and skill set will have teammates salivating over the prospects of being rewarded for running the floor in transition. An area of concern that I am sure will be addressed and worked on will be his consistency from the perimeter. Until he can prove that he can consistently knock down open jumpers, teams will be able to game plan to take away his strengths. Opponents will sag on ball defenders to contain the dribble and there will be less help defense which will force Marshall to have to make a play. If he does improve his consistency look out, he becomes an almost un-guardable Jason Kidd-like weapon.
I remember people feeling that Felton couldn’t hit jump shots either… and after some work, he turned out ok…
Let’s see if I can answer a few questions:
1. Matt D is presently thinking, how can I win my next game – 4-5 conference record, 11-12 complete record.
2. We showed some serious intensity and effort and that made me happy. The energy was there and they can play. There’s no doubt about it, they can stay in a game and they have the ability to win, OSU and MSU weren’t flukes. Roy can still draw up a good game plan and keep these kids in the game.
3. We have some issues on offense moving the ball around the court and when we get cold it gets bad quick. I would want to place some of the blame on Drew but when he was moving around the court and through the lane it seemed as though nobody wanted the ball. That’s an issue. I know he made some bad decisions but you have to have other people on the team make it happen as well.
4. I don’t see this as an end of world scenario, which is what we were facing with Matt Doh when he was shown the door. That was a serious crisis that was affecting the internal mechanisms of the program. Bad, bad mojo that we avoided. I do give him credit for beating Clemson at home however.
5. NIT, if we get a bid then we should go and I’ll buy seats. Any additional practice and work for these kids is a win, I don’t care what tournament.
6. We look to have a good recruiting class next year and I think we will have less conflict over personnel and roles on the floor next year.
7. Roy is still Roy and he will pull it together. You may not have the personnel to run your system but you have to run it. You don’t flip flop and expect long term success at this level.
8. All Wall wants is to go pro, that’s not what we want, he doesn’t care about KY or if they get penalties and suspensions. He just doesn’t and I haven’t been impressed with him whatsoever when he makes comments to the media. I’m not here to tear him down, I just don’t think he’s right for our program and I agree with Roy.
The sun still shines and we will be back. Also I have some extra Tyler posters that were distributed last night at the game if you can be good. I did save one for THF since he was out of country. Welcome home!
5.
Agreed, L8N. Although I do think the Jason Kidd tag is unfair. You can be a fantastic college bball player and never even sniff JKidd status.
CM,
And when he isn’t Jason Kidd from day one, the critics will lash out, as to be expected. I think he’ll develop into a very versatile, trustworthy PG.
I don’t think schools have a choice anymore about competing in the NIT. It is pretty much mandatory. Florida was in the NIT after winning their title. That isn’t so bad. What is bad is that UNC needs a turnaround just to be able to qualify for the NIT.
Obviously, looking at C. Michael’s list, only one four star player has ever been a star for UNC. Thompson was decent until this year. Most of those other guys like Frasor and Ginyard, we always have people on these sites trying to give them props. When you are good, people realize it and you don’t have to have people trying to convince people you are good.
I guess we will see Marshall when he gets here. Half the people seem to think he is a modern Bob Cousy; the other half say he is a Bobby Frasor type player who is not particularly athletic, which certainly does not seem to be what we need, another unathletic guy….
I thought the effort last night was good, for the most part. The defense for most of the game was good.
Drew could be an adaquate PG if he had some reliable scorers to pass to. But on this squad, where are those to be found?
The rebounding by Deon and Davis was just pathetic. Those dookie offensive rebounds were where the game was lost.
It certainly would be nice if somone would hit some free throws consistently.
This team is just a perfect storm of negatively reinforcing weaknesses. Average PG play, with soft big men and no wing scorers is not a recipe for success. Lets hope that Zeller comes back strong next year, and the recruits all work out as hoped. Then we can get back to above .500 in the ACC, make the NCAAs and be back on track with 2 good recruiting classes in a row.
Zeller points versus Kentucky= 10 points in 14 minutes
versus Texas= 16 points in 15 minutes
In my humble opinion this shows, that Zeller is the closest thing to scorer UNC had.
It’s too early to judge a player who hasn’t even landed on campus. Having said that, we are not going to get another Felton or Lawson in KM. So our coach has to come up with a new game-plan different from the run and gun that he has favored this year (seriously how in god’s name he thought we could play at that speed without adequate ball-handlers is a mystery), which means more set plays, more half-court plays, more screens, more pick-and-rolls, maybe even view some tapes of old UNC games with PGs not named Phil Ford.
Here is an issue I have.
According to ESPN rating system, Larry Drew II was 96 coming out of high school. Kendall Marshall is a 95. According to Rivals.com, Marshall is a four star point guard. I think Drew is fine. My only issue is that he needs a cast to play off. Reggie Bullock is a top ten recruit, and we know about Barnes. That means some of the pressure will be off Drew.
The two or three years that its going to take for us to rebuild could be very painful considering what Duke is adding. They are setting up for a championship run next year. I really wish this recruiting class had been as good as advertised….
In no way Duke makes a championship run next year. They will be losing Scheyer, possibly Singler. They don’t have enough bigs although I have been impressed by the tenacity of Plumlees, but I guess every big man anywhere in the country looks intimidating when compared to Deon Thompson (and Ed Davis; well I have seen Ed play better, I think he has just given up on this season).
^I don’t think Singler is going anywhere. Scheyer will be replaced by Kylie Irving. Seth Curry will be eligible to play. That would give them four scoring options. Thats going to be a tough team to stop.
I feel like people are bailing Drew out here. Saying that a point guard would be better if he had better scorers around him is not the case. The role of the point guard is to lead and set his/ her teammates up in good positions to score. That has nothing to do with how “good” the cast around the point guard is. IMO Drew is very offensive minded and that sometimes takes away from the flow of the team. Ty did this very well where he didn’t jack up 15 shots in one game. Ty’s points came when he drove down the lane or when the defense backed off and he was open for a 3. Drew appears to force shots instead of looking to set up Davis, Deon, or Graves…I guess you can include Marcus in that. Don’t get me wrong I like Drew’s aggressiveness, but a point guard also has to recognize his role. As Hubert said last night…when UNC is trying to score the ball should’ve been in Davis or Graves’ hand.
badbadleroybrown, you have to know it make him feel better, is what I meant
RSCI Hoops, which is a site that gives composite, or average, ratings of 7 of the most well-regarded scouting and rating services, has Kendall’s numbers for the 7 different services at 11,19,20,20,21,22, and 32, with Rivals representing the lowest number. All the others indicate he is a 5 star recruit, and even Rivals only has him missing it by 7 spots, probably within a resaonable margin of error. FWIW, Bob Gibbons has him at #11, likely a bit too high.
http://rscihoops.com/
Spot on, Larry. And as for Gibbon’s rank, that was in the summer; he has since moved Marshall up to 9 overall (ahead of Irving). FTR, LDII’s RSCI rank was 44 (Range: 22-71).
For those who aren’t watching, it was just announced that Barnes, Bullock and Marshall have all been named McD’s All Americans. No surprise.
I have kind of said all I had to say about Drew’s game in the final 10 minutes last night. While I agree to a point with tarhell924, where I disagree is that he thinks Drew was aggressive. An aggressive PG recognizes the opposing teams weakness and capitalizes on it. When all the defenders are in foul trouble, jacking up 15 ill-advised shots is the last thing a smart and aggressive PG does.
Realistic thought…We finish the regular season 16-15, lose in the first round of the ACCT, and, mercifully, it is over. I can’t bear to watch Ed Davis play another minute in a Carolina uniform.
there were more than a few folks on here last year who thought Scheyer was a middling pg (at best) for Duke too.
If only we played with that passion against Georgia Tech, Wake Forest, Virginia, Virginia Tech, and Maryland last night. Not every one of those games might have been a W, but we wouldn’t only have NC State nipping at our heels in the conference.
For all of those critical of Drew, keep this in mind. Outside of Graves, he’s the best three point shooter we have, shooting 40% from beyond the arc. As Vitale said, the only way Drew can become more effective is by taking shots from the perimeter because teams are ready to play the pass or clog the lane when he has the ball.
Hopefully we get more of Henson and he gets more comfortable and stop trying to rush things on offense. I think McDonald can be a preimeter threat, but Roy seems to forget about him at game time. And until Strickland calms down and gets his head in the game, we’re going to see the eratic play on a more consistent basis.
I am curious as to how many people who post here have ever seen a player named Peter Maravich, who apparently used to play in Louisiana.
If anyone has ever seen him play, not in clips, but in real games, it would be interesting to hear anything about him.
^not in a game, but I did attend an exhibition at Campbell basketball school one summer. Pete did a marvelous dribbling/shooting demo, then finished with a flourish with a full-length of the court behind the back pass.
George Lehman (then the second leading ABA 3 point shooter behind Louie Dampier)not to be outdone, put on the most incredible shooting display I have ever seen.
Do you think roy has just run this team to death in practices where they have no gas left in the tank? I think roy should watch game film for two or three days before a game so maybe they wont be so slow……They played ok for 30 minutes then couldn’t hang on the rest of the game…..
@william…if you were trying to make a point regarding the “pistol,” I missed it.
Nah, I got a book about him for Christmas that I am just starting. When I was growing up, they mostly showed the Carolina Cougars and whoever was in the NBA play-offs, which wasn’t any of his teams. I don’t think I ever saw him play live, unlike his contemporaries, Kareem, Dave Cowens and Artis Gilmore, whose teams were in the play-offs all the time.
He probably wouldn’t have fit in on a Roy Williams team though….
On a lighter side, my two favorite basketball books: “Heaven is a Playground” and “Foul: The Connie Hawkins Story.” Great reads.
@william…just cant leave that one alone can you….I appreciate your sense of humor.
Mind if I ask which book? I have the bio written by Mark Kriegel, and it is excellent. Great details on Press as well.
I feel cheated; old enough to recall the news announcing his death, too young to ever see Pete play.
^tar heel girl – sorry I missed what you were trying to communicate. I just didn’t have a great experience with him as a coach for our team, the amount of issues he created in the program with people that had been there for years and years and a few other interactions.
I get upset with Roy and he has his moments but it was a different animal under Doh. We were close to the edge with our program at that point. I don’t want to go back there.
I was at ASU ’74-’75 when Press was coaching. Those teams would slaughter this year’s Heels. Hell, I coached a couple of Y teams that would have given these guys a run.
well those Celtics teams were kind of a weird fit for Pete (and somewhat for Charlie Scott too). Both had much more of an ABA suited game, whereas the Celts were by the book.
Mark Kriegel. Yes, that is the one.
william,
did you know that none of Pistol Pete’s teams at LSU made it to the NCAA tourney. only one team made the NIT.
Other disappointing teams this season: based on the Blue Yearbook preseason rankings these are the other teams which I believe were disappointments outside of UCONN:
Oklahoma picked 17th
Michigan 22nd
Minnesota 14th
California 8th
Washington 22nd
What saves Cal is the fact their conference is terrible.
It was very hard to go to the NCAA tourney or the NIT back then. The ACC only started letting teams go to the NIT in 1967, I believe, and of course, only one team per conference got to go to the NCAA….
William-
I attended basketball camp at Campbell College back in the mid 60′s (as mentioned by 52bgJ) and Pistol Pete was there…along with John Wooden of UCLA fame, Randy Mahaffey (Clemson), Mike Malloy (Davidson) to name a few. I was in awe of Pete’s ability to do anything he wanted to do with the basketball. Example: He was leading a 3-on-1 fast break during a scrimmage game, as he approached the foul line and dribbling with his right hand, he looked like he was going to bounce pass to the wing on his left and at the last second, he lifted his left knee up and the ball hit his knee and bounced to the wing on the right for an uncontested layup. Wow. He taught my group some of the ball handling drills he use to do for hours and hours.
I saw Pistol Pete play in the NC High School East-West All Star game in Greensboro back in the 60′s, when his Dad Press was the NC State coach. He played high school ball at Raleigh Broughton. I also saw him play while he was at LSU on TV. He was a one man show…averaging 40+ points a game. He was as smooth as I have ever seen. Great passer and shooter. He and Earl Monroe from Winston Salem State were neck and neck for the leading scorer in the NCAA one year, both averaging 40+ points. Great memories.
william,
I realize how how hard it was to make the NCAA. Still, only one team of his would have made the tourney based on today’s standards. Still, he was amazing.
It is at this point we should insist our budding nostalgia be nipped so as to focus on the points of emphasis. 1. Defensive and offensive post play 2. Stunningly inconsistent outside shooting 3. Consistently weak free throw percentage. Once this TEAM corrects these deficiencies its efforts will be much more productive. Agreed it is sooo painful to sit through the efforts made to date, yet sit we will emoting our exasperation at this play and our exileration at the next, confident in our anxiety that success for this team is immenent. And woe ye foe, both friend and fiend when successful the effort be tasted from this brew of sweat and blood thus invested.
“What saves Cal is the fact their conference is terrible.”
ACC is terrible too.
It is pretty amazing though that LSU was 3-23 the year before he got there and they won 20 games and made it to the third round of the NIT his senior year.
He was supposed to play for the Cougars and then at the last moment, ended up with Atlanta and had a bit of a learning process in the NBA, but he was actually considered to be the top guard in the NBA when he blew out his knee in 1978, I believe and then that was it. Unfortunately, his best NBA days came when that league went into its deep depression from about 1974 until 1979 and there wasn’t much non-local broadcasting of the NBA back then.
I guess you’re right–I had forgotten the nice run he had with the Hawks & Jazz–led the NBA in scoring one year @ 31pg.
“Maravich’s longstanding collegiate scoring record is particularly impressive when two other factors are taken into account. First, Maravich’s played before the advent of three-point line. His long-distance shooting skill thus produced far fewer points than would have been the case in a later era. Years later former LSU head basketball coach Dale Brown charted every college game Maravich played, taking into consideration all shots he took. Brown calculated that at the NCAA rule of a three-point line at 19-foot (5.8 m), 9-inches from the rim, Maravich would have averaged thirteen 3-point scores per game, lifting the player’s career average to 57 points per game”