That is what a Final Four team looks like.
I hesitate to pump this win up too much because it is well know Roy Williams has his teams ready to play NC State. That being said, this was an all around great effort by the Heels against a team that is by no means pushover. This is the sort of game you would like to see UNC play as a #1 seed against the #8 seed. I won’t say it erases the manner in which UNC lost to FSU but it would appear the Heels are heading in the right direction.
There were a lot of good things in this game but it all starts with Tyler Zeller. I tweeted during the game that Zeller is starting to put up Sean May numbers. Against FSU when the rest of the team fell apart it was 14 points and 14 rebounds. Last Thursday in Blacksburg it was 14 point, 11 rebound performance. In this one? 21 points and 17 rebounds. Zeller has had four straight double-doubles and seven in his last ten games. Zeller, like a senior should, has stepped up his game. It’s not just the numbers either, Zeller is playing with emotion and showing toughness despite attempts by ACC teams to jostle him with physical play.
UNC’s other frontline players also played extremely well. Harrison Barnes had his share of surgical strikes on his way to 15 points. Barnes showed off his versatility scoring in a variety of ways. John Henson did not have a great offensive game with nine points but brought his defensive game with 11 rebounds and five blocks. In fact, Henson’s rattling around in C.J. Leslie’s head totally threw the Wolfpack forward off. This was the third time Leslie has faced Henson and every time the result has been the same. Once again, Henson effectively shut Leslie down to the point even when Leslie got good looks, he was so rattled by Henson’s presence he missed shots badly.
In the back court both Kendall Marshall and Reggie Bullock hit on all cylinders. There was chatter on Twitter heading into this game that NC State’s Lorenzo Brown was a better point guard than Marshall. Clearly, Marshall was paying attention and begs to differ. Much like he did in the home game vs Duke last seaosn Marshall outplayed Brown across the board. Marshall was good on defense and even better on offense racking up 11 assists and scoring seven points. On the flp side Brown only had nine points and committed five turnovers.
Then there was Reggie Bullock making his first start following the injury to Dexter Strickland. Bullock did not disappoint hitting 3-5 from three, scoring 11 points. However it was his defense on Scott Wood that stole the show. Wood came in as NCSU’s leading scorer and shooting 45% from three. After the first half, Wood was 0-3 and scoreless before scoring 11 in the second stanza with only three of those scored with Bullock guarding him. In fact one of Wood’s threes was banked in and NCSU had four such banked threes including a three quarter court shot from Brown at the end of the first half.
In the “played well in spot duty” department you have Desmond Hubert five rebounds, three of them offensive after James Michael McAdoo ran into first half foul trouble. Stilman White did exactly what he was asked to do in five minutes of play. White came in prior to the second and fourth TV timeouts of the first half and also filled in for Marshall in the second. White recorded an assist and hit a three. Most importantly White had zero turnovers.
As far as concerns go, the three point shooting is still suspect and has been since ACC play started. Bullock did his part going 3-5 but P.J. Hairston continues to struggle. In fact Hairston seems to be struggling all over the place having the ball stripped away going to the rim twice and missing all of this three point attempts. Hairston is 4-24 from three in ACC play which I am hoping is just a slump he will ultimately break out of and begin producing consistently.
This was a complete performance that saw UNC take a 31 point lead midway through the second half at which point the Heels turned the engine off and coasted home. It is definitely something to build off. It is one thing for Roy Williams or anyone else to push this group to play at a higher level. Actually doing it and getting a taste of what the team is capable of when everyone brings it serves as a much better motivator going forward.
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Except for the loss to Kentucky, UNC really hasn’t had any close games. Both of our losses were by handy margins, as were our wins against Texas and MSU.
One factor often overlooked in a one and done format is inconsistency. A team that is on, average, the best in the country during the regular season, may not win the tournament because said team is more likely to have a bad outing. The 2007UNC team was probably a good example.
Someone on here mentioned the Lakers getting thumped by Boston back in the mid-80s, by 30-plus points, but that was a best of 7 series. The Kentucky game was a great game to watch, which basically makes one interesting game this year so far (in terms of good basketball).
The FSU game was not great in terms of play, but that loss is about the only thing making ACC play interesting so far. This is one of the weakest years that I can remember.
^^^^^ what is this guy talking about? what point is he trying to make?
Either way, he isn’t even right. We beat Wisconsin by three, and Long Beach State was by six, bot of which I’d consider close games.
If you didn’t find last night’s game interesting William, you should look for something different to satisfy yourself.
^^that was me william and you make a fair point–I would add that even though it was bo7, the turnaround from game one was so stark as to be relevant. point taken though, and my fears for this season, besides the too frequent flat play, is that the supporting cast, namely Bullock, Hairston and McAdoo aren’t quite ready for prime time, and with this being Zeller’s Senior season, it needs to happen now. One of the big things FSU did which no one else has so far, is put good ball pressure on KM for the entirety of the game. Will that pay dividends in the experience dept for us–we’ll have to wait and see. it helps me to temper the expectations for this season, with the excitement of the prospect of seeing Bullock, Hairston and McDonald all in the starting lineup next season with another year under their belt. I still am holding out hope for a good run this year however.
good to see you back-take your hat off & stay a while.
“with the excitement of the prospect of seeing Bullock, Hairston and McDonald all in the starting lineup next season with another year under their belt.”
A lot of this season still left, but am I the only one who thinks that it is at least slightly possible that Barnes returns if UNC doesn’t win a title? Yes, he will be a top-5 pick this year, but he would have been a top-5 pick last year, and he will be next year, as well. Very few players have been as outspoken out their desire to win a title as Barnes has been, and to date, he hasn’t really done anything to make me think that is just lip-service.
What will be interesting is if Barnes does come back, and Zeller and Henson (most likely) do leave, will we see Barnes start at the 4 alongside JMM, with Bullock and Hairston on the wings? That would be an almost impossible lineup to defend.
Random thoughts:
Great win based on defense and intensity. It will be interesting to watch our intensity over the next three games against less than stellar competition (on paper at least).
I like Desmond Hubert. He seems like a RW diamond in the rough. In games, you can argue he has been better than JMM. I think as a junior/senior his name will be well-known in the ACC.
How about Z…he is playing like this is his last year as a Tarheel. He is reminding me a little of Kevin Love with the rebounding, jumpers and great consistency. Hope he can keep it up.
The Wisconsin game was close. I think I blocked that one out because the play was so dreary. Last night’s game was okay, but was probably an example of a contest that was much more compelling for those watching in person.
I understand that the ultimate goal is winning. On the other hand, UNC already went 32-0 one year and won both of their Final Four games in triple overtime, winning the final against Wilt the Stilt and Kansas. We all know about the equally famous 1982 squad.
When a team represents the epitome of its sport, like Brazil or Spain in soccer, style points are a big deal, as are good rivalries. The 1987 team had a great season but had no real conference rivals. The 1982 team had to confront a team that outscored us in three games and which had the top player in college basketball.
I agree with 52bgj that a great team can, indeed, get crushed one day and be excellent the next. We’ve seen it before, but we also want to see more consistent play before we get our hopes too high.
^problem with that lineup will be post defense. Obviously, scoring in post may be an issue as well. I was happy with what I saw out of Hubert. I realize he is very very raw offensively but I like his energy in the post. I can easily see him averaging 8 rebounds a game in a season before he leaves Chapel Hill.
The one positive that came from the FSU game, is Tyler grew up and became the leader of the Tar Heels. Hes been a monster the last 3 games.
see what happens when you BALANCE the lineup. You make it very hard for an opponent private every aspect of your offense. We are long and multifaceted and virtually unstoppable. ………..ps how bout that Reggie lock down defense to boot
I can’t even really fathom what a starting lineup would look like next year if Barnes were to actually return, and given the freshman class coming in.
One of the great things about UNC is that Roy always seems to recruit great players who have that “finish the job” mentality. Whether that means sticking around for all four years or making sure that there is a banner hanging in the rafters before they make an exit to a draft. The more I think about it, the more I could picture Barnes potentially sticking around (even after a national title) because he just seems to be that type of high character guy.
I live in Kentucky Wildcat country and often times my UK-loving friends mention to me that they are often jealous of the fact that they can’t really form attachments to their players because of so many constant early exits of their stars, while we Tar Heel fans literally get to watch our guys grow up before our eyes over a few years and get to experience some of that with them. By the time many of our players are juniors and seniors, they’ve become members of our extended families and we take pride in cheering and supporting them on and off the court, not just numbers and names on jerseys that we cheer for.
^^Don’t you mean “…sit a spell, take your shoes off.” Bonus points for this reference on a NCSU thread.
Great game, thought Bullock was great haven’t looked at the line to see what he did on rebounding but I’m going to guess he average less per minute given that he was getting back on D. We have all the right pieces at the right time, it’s just a matter of having them work together. It was nice to see some strong Hubert action, my son really enjoys his t-shirt ala Henson. I do hope that one day I will get to see JMM hit some shots, watching him play in high school you would never know this is the same guy.
^I’ve been thinking the same thing about Barnes. And, as crazy as this sounds, I don’t think it’s out of the realm of possibility that he returns even if they do win a championship.
Barnes seems very reserved, even guarded, as far as letting people know what he may really think about things. He also seems like a person who doesn’t really take the next step until maybe has reached his own level of expectations.
That may include his overall game. Even last night, when he made some highlight-type plays, he was still inconsistent with his play, and his ball-handling, beyond 3 or 4 dribbles, is still unnerving.
Maybe he’ll come on stronger and more consistently in the latter half of this season, like he did last year, but I just see him as someone who would want to have his game at a level to which he feels comfortable before he enters the draft. Who really knows though.
no way Barnes comes back…. not happening..
Henson maybe, but Barnes is gone
^^^Next year:
PG KMarsh / MPaige(Fr.)
SG LMac / DSrick
SF RegBull / PJ
PF JMac / BJ(Fr.)
C JJames(Fr.)/ DesHub
I can’t see us getting many front-court points next year. …Live & die by the 3 & D-generated points
“I’ve been thinking the same thing about Barnes. And, as crazy as this sounds, I don’t think it’s out of the realm of possibility that he returns even if they do win a championship.”
Just guesstimating but I would say his chances of returning if they come up short this year are around 50%. Chances of him returning if they DO win the championship maybe closer to 10-15%.
“Barnes seems very reserved, even guarded, as far as letting people know what he may really think about things. He also seems like a person who doesn’t really take the next step until maybe has reached his own level of expectations.”
And maybe I am seeing too much of what I -want- to see in him, but he just strikes me as the type of kid who genuinely enjoys the college atmosphere on and off the court.
And as far as Harrison’s draft stock, it’s not like it can really climb or drop in any significant way even if he were to be a three (or God forbid a four) year player. No matter what happens he’s going to be a top 5 pick, and it might actually be better for him to continue to return another year and become that type of cold blooded assassin on an every-game basis.
He demonstrated that ability in the 2nd half of the season last year and he very well could go into terminator mode at any point from now…but imagine a season where both Zeller and Henson are gone and Barnes has absolutely no real choice but to be your every single game #1 scoring option. While there would obviously be some production from Bullock, Hairston, Strickland, McDonald, etc…it is not outside the realm of expectation to see Barnes as a 20-25ppg player as a junior.
and now that Barnes has watched 2 of his team mates lose a year with knee injuries, that bumps hes chances of leaving to about 90%.
“PG KMarsh / MPaige(Fr.)
SG LMac / DSrick
SF RegBull / PJ
PF JMac / BJ(Fr.)
C JJames(Fr.)/ DesHub”
PG: Marshall – Strickland – Paige – MacDonald
SG: Strickland – MacDonald – Bullock – Hairston – Tokoto
SF: Barnes(???) – Bullock – Hairston – Tokoto
PF: Henson(???) – JMM – Johnson – Hubert
C: JMM – James – Hubert
Obviously Barnes and Henson would be somewhat fantastical inclusions on the depth chart, but on the slim chance it might it already makes me giddy.
Shame there isn’t a fourth prodigal Zeller son that could be lured away the state of Indiana.
Remember the old adage of how a team can play great the first game after losing a key player, because everyone plays a little better, but then things settle down. This game is unusual because Marshall guarded the one-dimensional Wood, who never dribbles, and White played against Johnson which is a matchup that won’t happen often.
Having said that, someone watched the Duke-NC State game from Cameron last year. Coach Lowe used the same high-post offense at the start of that game, running the offense through the four man (Howell at the time) at the free-throw line. State got run out of the building. UNC did practically the same thing to beat State.
I’m not complaining about the outcome, but this is not a statistical sample yet of how the team will play.
^the Ewing Effect
wasnt there a Barnes quote that had Henson left early (last summer), he mightve also?
Remember when john played the 3 his freshman year? From that skinny kid that looked out of place, to one of the best defensive post players in UNC history
Well if that’s true, then that would change my take on him.
“This game is unusual because Marshall guarded the one-dimensional Wood, who never dribbles, and White played against Johnson which is a matchup that won’t happen often.”
Bullock guarded Wood. Marshall was never on Wood, he guarded Brown and Barnes guarded C.J. Williams. All three did an outstanding job.
Bullock came to this team as a 5 star, top 20 recruit. His first year was marred by injury, this year when he did play, Luke Winn did a defensive chart of his game and concluded that he is a very good defender.
This is then what a final-four team should look like. The shortest person in the starting line-up is 6’4″, we have a PG who can create play, a SF and a SG who can both defend the perimeter and stretch the opponents’ defense with their shooting, and two incredibly long post players with a good face-up games. This change was a long time coming. Bullock isn’t just a scorer, but he now showed that he is as much a “lock down” perimeter defender.
REGGGGGIEEEEEEEEE
i watched Bullock specifically for a lot of the first half. he stuck like glue, and being a big body, made it that much more difficult for a pass to clear him and get to Wood.
saw a few switches, too. one in the 2nd where Wood went back and forth on the baseline twice to shake Barnes. Zeller switched to him temporarily, then handed him off to Bullock, i think.
i didnt see any switch hurt us. the D was really good til the lead was 30. i’m good with that.
“A lot of this season still left, but am I the only one who thinks that it is at least slightly possible that Barnes returns if UNC doesn’t win a title? ”
sure, I think it’s more than possible CM, and I sure hope so (excepting a Title of course, lol).
I think one thing we tend to overlook regarding this team, is that they really don’t have that “junk-yard dog” aspect that some other teams do..a K-State or some recent BE teams as a reference. Roy recruits talent, but he also recruits high character–ie–”functionally raised kids”. As such, the “street-hunger” isn’t there, so the competitiveness has to be developed to a degree. That has certainly seemed the case with these guys, and it can be frustrating at times, but it’s a trade-off I am more than willing to live with. I saw what an extremely talented but selfish player John Wall was this past summer. Lot of folks on here were upset with Roy for not going harder for that kid at the time. In retrospect, JW would have been better served under Roy imo, but in fact, Cal was the right guy for a poorly, or no-guidance kid off on his own agenda.
Just read a great article about the 72 UNC team that was loaded with tough Penn kids, yet were still high character. What this team lacks is the tough leader like that team had in spades, and we’ve seen on previous Champions–ie-Worthy, Lynch, & Hansbrough. I “think” Barnes could be that guy at some point, but I do think it is an essential element of any team with Championship aspirations.
Its hard to say that dont have that “junk yard dog mentality” when you watch Henson completely dominate the paint on the defensive end. UNC just doesnt have dirty players, like the BE teams or Dook, but dont discredit John’s mean streak.
John completely owns Calvin to the point where Calvin takes hes whole team out of their flow to try to prove a point to John……
“I’m not complaining about the outcome, but this is not a statistical sample yet of how the team will play.”
I hope to see them play even better, offensively.
I was concerned as well about an emotional bump that may occur in this game that may not be able to be sustained. But I didn’t really see anything last night that I felt they won’t be able to continue with, Stillman White aside. (But even White has got to feel much more comfortble now.)
What will be the true barometer, beyond what their fundamental capabilities are now, is a better level of competition like Virginia, Duke, and FSU the second time around.
In the meantime, gradual improvement, confidence, and momentum.
it might be time to get Simmons some more burn. he actually looks very competent and comfortable out there. with JMM still learning and hubert trying to get his composure, Simmons(aka Joe Wolf) might give us some good minutes
Oops, I forgot they’re done with FSU for reg. season. Maybe in the ACCT.
i’ll be surprised and disappointed if we arent 20-3/7-1 going into the first dook game, just 12 days from now. also a game we should win.
Tyler gets putting up number like this hes the ACC POY, first team ALL ACC.
^Mike Scott is top 6 in both scoring and rebounding, #1 in FG%.
but i agree. continue, big man.
maybe theacc.com isnt a reliable stat guide, tho…
where is Scott Wood on the FT% chart?
http://www.theacc.com/sports/m-baskbl/stats/2011-2012/confldrs.html
Its funny coming into this game how the pundits were saying that State has turned things around and to expect this to be a very competetive matchup.
I have to give it to Ray Natili and Karl Hess, they were doing their best to make sure it was one. Not giving us ” and 1′s” when we earned them, putting NC State in the bonus on collective fouls that another ACC team can routinely do without any call, and allowing Zeller to get bumped in the paint, and even pushed out of bounds on off the ball rebounds.
Our defense was tough. It needs to remain that way. We are not going to get that degree of separation in games if we do not get transition points through tough D. We are a team that has peremiter weapons, but I don’t see us making a high percentage of them. Lets play D, get the transition going, and stay out of the half-court. I know Marshall is still good at maneuvering the ball in the half-court, but we are going to see games that Zeller will be allowed to get pushed around, hacked, thus leading our opposing teams to get steals and layups.
Any time you hear the name Jamie Luckey, Mike Eades, Roger Ayers, Karl Hess, we are in for one of those nights where our guys will get roughed up in the paint, and yeah, don’t expect free-throws from it either.
^Must be a minimum FTA for the overall stat leaders. No one on the list has fewer than 60 FTA.
He is listed in the conference only stats.
Ray Natili was nothing short of wretched last night. he made me forget Karl Hess was even on the court. THATS bad.
easily the worst officiated game of the year by a wide margin. they should all be suspended.
So here we are, just beyond one third of the way into the ACC reg. season. Now I know there are a bunch of tales yet to be told, but with all the pre-conference talk focused on how down the conference is, and would be for the year, my question is how do all of you view it now.
About as expected, better, not as good? Seminoles looking maybe like another Sweet 16 team? Can Virginia sustain ?
^^then they need to change the header at the top of Individual Stats. “players must play in 75% of a team’s games”
on another note…i have no idea how to use this new edit. why is it a blank box?
Hmmm…problem with the comment editing plugin. Let me check on that.
“maybe theacc.com isnt a reliable stat guide, tho…”
HTTE,
Definitely recommend using statsheet.com. I’ll cover this a touch more in BTB, but if you go be “conference only” stats, the argument for Zeller as ACC POY is really good:
PPG: 5th
ORtg: 6th
Floor%: 4th
eFG%: 4th
TS%: 3rd
FT%: 7th
RPG: 1st
oRPG: 1st
dRPG: 2nd
BPG: 4th
One thing I have issue with is Henson continually using his jump shot, I am fine with Zeller taking that shot because he has decent range. I guess Zeller is in the paint because he is the stronger of the two.
We’re in the middle of the ACC race, it’s a very interesting situation, the lineup just changed, the team is going through all sorts of amazing developments, and a solid percentage of the posts are about….next year? I guess we’re never satisfied.
Anyway, Bullock did exactly what he was supposed to. The two times he came down and set up on the wing, took the feed from Marshall and drained the three were huge in this game, I thought. Totally took the wind out of State’s sails (if that’s an appropriate analogy for a game played totally on land, except once, when it was played on a very large boat.) And as many have observed, his defense was excellent. Now maybe Hairston can relax and hit some threes, and we’ll have legitimate scoring threats from the first 6 players. (Did anyone else notice that when Vitale said something about Marshall needed to hit more shots, ONE SECOND LATER Marshall drained a 3? HAHAHAHAHA I loved that.) Not too many teams can say that.
CM, yeah i look at that also.
and even ESPN. sometimes one is more conveniently laid out
for whatever it is i’m looking for. and tarheelblue.com, too.
That jumper is a pretty good look for Henson most of the time, but I agree, it’s effectiveness seems to be dwindling.
Zeller averaging 17 points and 12 boards on over 64% shooting. Pretty stout numbers to me.
http://www.bbstate.com/teamstats/UNC/indiv/PPG/Conf
^thanks for that site…..
Hairston needs to look for his jump shot more in the flow of the offense. It also wouldn’t hurt if he moved in closer to the college 3-point line and not take his shots from NBA range.
He’s in a funk and pressing badly.
^ last night PJ started playing like a basketball player, not a just a 3 point shooter. Roy got on him after his 2 missed 3s.
He just needs to get back to playing ball, he had a sick dunk opportunity, but state striped him.
Great performance.
Three observations:
White is more than capable of giving us 5-6 solid minutes a game as the back-up point guard.
Hubert deserves more minutes off the bench over JMM. Hubert offers more rebounds and blocks, and, where JMM shoots too much (and misses), Hubert does not force offense.
Bullock played 33 minutes and Barnes only 22. Hmmmmm…..
^ barnes picked up early 2 fouls and sat most of the first
i think the schedule really works out nicely, so that some more tweaking can happen, and the guys will be comfortable 4 games from now.
“That is what a Final Four team looks like…”
I said the same thing to my buddies last night and they agreed. I live for beating the snot out of NCSU.
In my book, Bullock was the hero last night, even though Zeller had an all-star performance. Reggie’s defense on Wood was suffocating…I think he can defend as well as Strickland. He plays with confidence and agressiveness every minute he’s on the floor. As much as I hate losing Dex, Bullock fills the spot more than adequately.
Can’t argue with Hubert’s defensive play and rebounding, but I still want to see JMM get his time. He has hit a baseline jumper in 2 straight games (ok, I know that’s a fairly dubious accomplishment, but it’s something), which is the shot he likes, so I’d like to see him continue that progress. The team is in as much need of effective offense as it is defense.
JMM would thrive if he was given the same type of role John had hes freshmen year.
sadly most of the fan base has given up on James already
Every time I made eye-contact with one of my Wolfpack co-workers this morning, they just turned away and remained silent. I love it when I don’t even have to say anything about the ******-kicking.
When this UNC teams starts with tough defense and continues for the first 5 minutes of a half, they crush the opposition.
Clearly in the second half of the NCSU game, the NCSU players had given up after the starting second half beat down.
So as Barnes said after the game, it is their mission to keep this up in order to be consistent going forward. Defensive focus seems to lead them to offensive focus.
the bloodlines are divine…
like the lineage of a good vine.
a fine wine takes time
so let’s not whine…
about JMM’s decline.
when it’s his time…
to be sure he’ll shine.
^Uh oh… do I smell a “52bgj vs. BoyWilliams” rap battle coming on???
In the name of Robert Frost, what has Boy Williams started around here?
there once was a guard from Wilmington…
I was watching the first half with kids and other home things going on, so I guess I missed the early two fouls on Barnes. Thanks.
heh-heh–don’t worry, my first…and last.
^^^
…who put off his mission until be done
the task of cutting down the nets
of which he chose with no regrets…
(That’s it for me too.)
^^^I missed the first foul too. Somehow the refs thought that Barnes’ intimidating defense causing a state player to fall to the floor warranted a foul.
^I missed a lot of the fouls that were called last night, and it wasn’t because I wasn’t watching…
the fall down foul on Barnes was out right terrible….
The foul was probably called on Barnes for a push, which he delivered about 5 seconds before the immaculate drop to the floor.