Sad season, headed for a sad end after a sad, sad Duke game. I think everyone recognizes that this season has been over for some time but as a fan you have to nurture hope. That only builds expectations when you see some progress but it’s just not going to happen this year for so many reasons.

I do think it’s impossible or even rational to make statements about how good we will be next year or that we can’t turn this ship around with just a few new players. We have a tremendous amount of data on this season and player performance and we still don’t have answers, guessing, hoping or writing off next season is just silly.

Commenting & blogging can be fun and there is a tremendous amount of good information on this site and many others. Tough for those of us that don’t fall into the genius camp but we try hard every day. Behavior is different online and that’s okay, we aren’t at a bar having this discussion or in the Sunday school annex either. You can attempt to enforce some standard of discourse but it’s a slippery slope and the community has to care. The individual has to care. That said, it’s like playing a game online, people taunt and act tough, childish and ridiculous because they can. So they do it, period.

This season is almost done, we should take the NIT bid if we get, any additional practice time is good and you have to be in a position to do your best. The only people not wanting to accept an NIT bid are fans, not the staff, not the players and not the coaches.

Finally, I mentioned Football as it is a major sport, I see some images at the top of this blog concerning football. I don’t blog on this site, I comment so this is my only venue to get people to think a little about football. If we had just beaten Duke and were number one in the country I would do the same.

As to baseball, it’s pure relaxation and the venue is great, the parking is pretty easy for UNC and everyone here needs some calming down time.

Get what you can out of the remainder of the season and prepare yourself for the next one. I think we have a lot to look forward to next year. See below for one game you might enjoy in a great location with a player we should see in the blue next year, keep the faith.

NCHSAA STATE BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE
SATURDAY, MARCH 13, 2010

96th ANNUAL MEN’S NCHSAA BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS

Class 2-A Men — 2:30 P.M.
Kinston High School Vikings (27-4)
Vs.
West Caldwell High School Warriors (27-2)

http://www.nchsaa.org/newsletter.php?mode=display&archiveID=1166

I can’t even say I’m mad at the talking heads at ESPN for laughing at UNC. I mean look at that game. The effort we put forth WAS laughable. The Lady Tarheel basketball team could have played as well as that(well maybe not this year’s team). The blue team could have played and wouldn’t have looked any worse then we did against Duke. That kind of performance invites people outside of the program to turn us into a laughingstock.

I generally don’t care for negativity on these blogs, and I certainly think it’s wrong to kick somebody when they are down. But I honestly don’t know what I can say that’s positive at this point. HMMMMMMMM, at least we don’t have a losing record yet? Or maybe, at least we are still better then NC State? Henson looks like he might be star (but then so did Ed Davis last year). Seriously, that’s all I come up with right now.

How did this team beat Ohio State and MSU and come within a hair’s breath of beating KY in Rupp Arena? Where did THAT team go? And when I can I expect them to come back?

They were laughing at all the players, I lost a lot of respect for ESPN and the time and effort they put forth to bury the heels, but hey we deserve it.

If the head coach can get an opposing fan kicked out of the arena, imagine what he could do to a young aspiring journalism major…….

Worked for Ginyard, Thompson, and Frasor, so probably looks like a good gig if you can get it.

I dunno though. I just look at each guy and like each one, their talent, their demeanor, etc. I won’t jump to conclusions about things like Deon’s lack of outward “fire”, Ed’s poker face (in the classical sense of that term), Drew’s body language, or Marcus’s lack of production. I think some guys are low-key and that’s fine. Some guys are down and show it, and I can understand. Some guys try really hard but don’t have much to show for it. They each seem like good guys with good skills and are trying to get some perspective and dealing with a tough season. I didn’t see any one individual quitting*** per se. They each seemed to try, but I think they just don’t believe in each other, and either think they have to try to do everything themselves or are waiting for someone else to join them on the same page. I won’t assume anything worse about them or their skills as individuals, but they simply do not cohere either in execution or attitude.

*** OK, sitting here thinking about it, I think what I saw was a player or two “quitting” like when I got really exasperated with the rental wet saw I tried to use yesterday. You could see how frustrated and dejected Drew was, and it was more obvious for him since he’s on camera so much. I can be angry at this team, but I can completely relate to his individual state of mind then. I just can’t bring myself to point a finger at him or any other individual.

This does, however, come back to my one criticism of Roy which is to use the timeout a bit more often to just get guys’ heads straight again on occasion. I think the sub-out and expecting them to collect themselves while the game passes in front of them is asking too much of most folks. That one conceit of Roy’s, however, is not enough of a reason to scapegoat him either.

Everyone is responsible, and while the individual may be in it, the team clearly isn’t. I don’t know what else to say about that, or how to fix that, so I’ll shut up now.

Roy takes his mentorship role differently, however being human he also plays favorites to certain players over others. I don’t know the dynamics of his relationship with his players, but I bet this season will make him take a long, hard look at his role as the steward of this program. I don’t think any player will be able to coast through year in and year out without showing effort, not just in practice, but on the court as well.