Tar Heel Blog - All Posts

DIAMOND HEELS WIN ACC REGULAR SEASON

2013-05-18T02:46:56Z

North Carolina, amid a bit of a funk as the regular season came to a close, mounted a six run rally in the bottom of the eighth inning Friday night to clinch the #1 seed in the ACC Tournament for the first time since 1990.

The past couple of weeks have been tough for the Tar Heels with a series loss at Georgia Tech and dropping a 10-4 decision on Thursday in the first game against Virginia. The second game looked to be heading in the same direction with the Cavaliers methodically taking control to stake a 5-2 lead into the bottom of the eighth. After a Michael Russell triple plated Brian Holberton to cut the lead to two, Mike Zolk's two RBI triple would tie the game. Chaz Frank and Landon Lassiter both singled to bring in two more and Colin Moran beat out a double play throw at first to secure the 8-5 lead. Trent Thornton came in to strike out the side and secure UNC's first ACC regular season title in 23 years. UNC's win marked the first time in 37 games that Virginia failed to win with the lead after the 7th inning.

UNC and Virginia face off in the rubber match of the series in a game that technically has little value for the Tar Heels in terms of the ACC standings. That being said, UNC still has NCAA Tournament seeding concerns not to mention the need to build off the momentum the comeback win on Friday has garnered.

UNC Looks to Clinch #1 Seed in ACC This Weekend

2013-05-16T16:31:28Z

North Carolina will look to close out the ACC regular season schedule on a high note this weekend starting tonight with the first of three versus top ten ranked Virginia. The Cavaliers are just a single game behind UNC in the Coastal Division, however UNC would only need one win to clinch both the Coastal Division and the #1 seed in next week's ACC Tournament. Tar Heel Monthly has a full rundown of the seeding scenarios for the ACC Tournament.

Beyond the league tourney considerations, UNC really needs to have a big series against a quality opponent. Couple the UVa series with a recently added match-up with Florida State on Monday, the Tar Heels have a chance to tune-up for the NCAA Tournament with some quality wins. UNC is a mortal lock at this point for a national seed, the only question will be whether it is the #1 overall or not. The most recent RPI from the NCAA has North Carolina #2 behind Vanderbilt.

One moderate boost for UNC as it prepares for the postseason was the return this week of freshman OF Skye Bolt who had missed 17 games after breaking a bone in his right foot. Bolt returned to the lineup during the midweek game on Tuesday versus Appalachian State. He showed little sign of rust with a couple of stellar defensive plays and registering a stolen base.

The Tar Heel rotation for the series vs Virginia remains the same with Kent Emanuel in the first game followed by Benton Moss and Hobbs Johnson. Here are the probable starters via GoHeels.com

Day	Carolina Starter	Virginia Starter
Thursday	LHP Kent Emanuel	LHP Brandon Waddell
	(Jr., 9-2, 2.03 ERA, 97.2 IP, 73/18 K/BB)	(Fr., 4-1, 3.88 ERA, 67.1 IP, 69/18 K/BB)
Friday	RHP Benton Moss	LHP Scott Silverstein
	(So., 8-1, 2.96 ERA, 70.0 IP, 74/28 K/BB)	(Sr., 8-1, 3.21 ERA, 67.1 IP, 53/20 K/BB)
Saturday	LHP Hobbs Johnson	RHP Whit Mayberry
	(Jr., 4-0, 1.99 ERA, 58.2 IP, 54/35 K/BB)	(Jr., 4-0, 1.66 ERA, 38.0 IP, 33/7 K/BB)

Oh Why Not, Here's an Andrew Wiggins Post

2013-05-14T15:00:09Z

UPDATE: Wiggins picks Kansas. Which means UNC won't face him...oh wait...of course they will, the NCAA will make sure of that. ;)

Let me just state upfront I have no inside information, don't know who Andrew Wiggins is choosing and quite frankly don't even have the information required to make an educated guess. If you have been living under a rock, the #1 high school recruit in the class of 2013 is making his decision known today. The finalists are FSU, Kansas, Kentucky and North Carolina.

The general feeling is Wiggins is going to pick Florida State because of this parents' ties to the school and a longstanding relationship with Seminoles had coach Leonard Hamilton. Kansas is getting some dark horse love and no one is willing to count Kentucky out. North Carolina is considered to have almost no chance at all and isn't even mentioned except when folks reel off schools Wiggins has on his list.

Speaking of lists, I did find it interesting that at least two college basketball writers, evaluating the four possible landing spots for Wiggins, still think UNC will use a small lineup next season if Wiggins comes.

Jeff Borzello at CBS Sports

North Carolina: The Tar Heels seemed to have a lot of momentum in Wiggins' recruitment as of a few weeks ago, although that's a vastly overrated aspect of covering a decision-making progress. Wiggins would be a perfect four-man in Roy Williams' small-ball lineup, and he would get a chance to play in a fast-paced system. He's been attracted to the Tar Heels for a long time.

Rob Dauster NBC's College Basketball Talk

North Carolina: Few believe Wiggins will end up at North Carolina, but if he does, he would be the perfect piece to slide into Roy Williams’ system. Think about it like this: the guy is basically the same position as Reggie Bullock, only worlds better than Reggie Bullock. And when North Carolina made their late-season run in 2012-2013, it was when Bullock played in the front court alongside PJ Hairston and James Michael-McAdoo. In that system, I’m not sure there is a player better-suited to being an undersized-four than Wiggins.

First of all, Roy Williams has said(more than once) the small lineup is not making a return appearance in 2013-14. UNC has four centers on the roster next season and one or more of those guys is going to need to step up. Secondly, James Michael McAdoo didn't return for his junior season to play the five again. I imagine that conversation was had during the course of the decision making process. No, it wasn't a "I play the four only or I am going to the NBA" kind of conversation. I do think there were assurances given that McAdoo would spend most of his time at the four where he will be most effective and improve his draft stock. Finally, the Tar Heels have limited wing depth which means Wiggins would play opposite P.J. Hairston if UNC gets the longshot commitment. That would give Williams the option of bringing Leslie McDonald off the bench, which is better for everyone anyway.

Not that it matters. Wiggins is probably going somewhere else so all we have left is to be entertained by the reaction.

Monday Baseball Report(5/13)

2013-05-14T00:59:53Z

Last week's results: def. JMU 9-5, 6-1(6), lost series to GT 4-5, 3-1, 8-9
Record Last Week: 3-2
Record This Season: 45-6, 20-5 ACC
Upcoming Schedule: 5/15 vs App. St, 5/17-5/19 vs UVa, 5/20 vs FSU

It was a mixed week for UNC baseball with some good news on the injury front but a typical weekend in Atlanta(for UNC anyway) that resulted in the Heels dropping a series for the first time and subsequent to that, the #1 ranking.

The midweek two game set with James Madison went well enough with a 9-5 win on Tuesday followed by a 6-1 rain shortened victory on Wednesday.

Then UNC went to Atlanta to face a Georgia Tech team they had not won a series against in four years. The combination of some strange futility versus the Yellow Jackets and being in the Bermuda Triangle of UNC Athletics meant the weekend was not going to end well. And it didn't with the Heels dropping two of three, both wins coming on walk-off hits by Georgia Tech.

On Friday, Kent Emanuel gave up five earned runs, including the game winning solo home run to drop only his second decision of the season. Colin Moran hit his 13th home run of the season in the loss.

UNC would go on to even the series up on Saturday with 8 innings of two hit, shut out pitching from Benton Moss. Trent Thornton gave up a solo home run in the 9th but ultimately closed the game out.

Unfortunately the same result did not come for Thornton on Sunday. UNC opened up a 7-1 lead and was up 8-5 in the 9th when Thornton gave up three runs sending the game to extra innings. Mason McCullough walked two Yellow Jackets to start the 11th inning and Reilly Hovis gave up the game winning hit to send UNC back to Chapel Hill with the first series loss of the season.

In some respects, water is finding its level a bit with the Tar Heel baseball season. UNC had been absurd through most of the season and even now only has six losses in 51 games. As a result of the series loss, UNC dropped from 1st to 3rd in the Baseball America Top 25 falling behind Vanderbilt and LSU. Despite the slight downturn, North Carolina has a series with Virginia and a late addition to the schedule with FSU next Monday to get back on track. UNC also got great news with freshman Skye Bolt being cleared to return to action.

With a fully healthy lineup, the Diamond Heels can position itself for a strong postseason run.

Bullock Gets NBA Combine Invite

2013-05-11T03:21:09Z

The NBA Draft Combine will be held next week in Chicago and Reggie Bullock has received an invitation to attend. Bullock, who is a teetering between the first and second rounds, this is a opportunity to impress the right team. And if he really performs well, it is possible he could climb a few spots.

The full list can be found here at CBS Sports. Bullock will be joined by Duke's Seth Curry, Ryan Kelly and Mason Plumlee though only the latter one of the trio is actually healthy enough to fully participate. NC State's Richard Howell, Lorenzo Brown and C.J. Leslie also received invites as did Maryland's Alex Len and Miami's Shane Larkin.

The combine list comes on the Heels of an interesting Roy Williams quote from Inside Carolina expressing "concern" over Bullock's draft prospects.

“We’ve had 12 guys leave early and all of them have been with my blessing, but I was more concerned and am more concerned about Reggie,” Williams told a Tar Heel Tour crowd at the Blumenthal Performing Arts Center on Thursday. “I deal with them straight forward. I don’t mess around. I tell them exactly what I think. I didn’t think that was the best thing for Reggie to do, but that’s what he wanted to do.”

--

“I’m hoping that one team will pick him in the first round,” Williams said. “I’m more worried about Reggie than I have been any of those other guys, but gosh, what a great, great kid. I hope it does really work out for him. But he is the one that I said, ‘Reggie, I don’t think this is the smartest thing to do.’ But, again, that’s what the youngster wanted to do.”

Williams tends to operate on the assumption that if you are not a bona fide first rounder then you should come back to school. Bullock did not even show up in the first round of various mock drafts until the time it was announced he would leave Chapel Hill. I imagine whatever intelligence Williams gathered from the NBA on Bullock reflected that borderline first round thinking. In that respect concern is warranted and to some extent Williams is looking out for Bullock's best interest in advising him to stay.

That being said, the counter to all of that is the question of whether Bullock can even improve his stock from this season to the next. Is there something Bullock will add to his game that will impress NBA scouts more? There is also a question of Bullock's role next season. With P.J. Hairston ready to explode as a full season starter and James Michael McAdoo needing a productive year, Bullock would probably see fewer touches. That is not to say Hairston or McAdoo are going to be selfish but simply more assertive. Bullock, by the nature of his personality. would be content to let those two take the lead but in doing so, his draft stock wouldn't improve that much. The bottom line is Bullock would probably be in the same place next year as he is right now in terms of draft stock. Given his family situation, going to the NBA is decision he felt he needed to make.

It is still a risky move and to echo Williams, I really hope it works out well for a quality young man like Bullock.

Link: Digging Deep with Brennan Williams

2013-05-09T12:43:35Z

You know you must have been having a pretty good season when you are injured for the final month and still make 2nd-team All-ACC and are drafted in the 3rd round of the NFL Draft.

Despite being overshadowed for recognition by Outland Trophy finalist and top-10 pick Jonathan Cooper, UNC's Brennan Williams anchored the right side of a Tar Heel offensive line that finally met expectations and blocked for a 3,000-yard passer in Bryn Renner and a 1,000-yard rusher in Giovani Bernard. Williams tore his labrum and missed the final month of Carolina's season. Fellow offensive tackle James Hurst changed his number from 68 to Williams' 73 to honor his injured teammate. Still, Williams was selected in the 3rd round and will have a real chance to compete for snaps along Houston's line this upcoming season.

Friend of the blog Patrick Starr at the excellent Houston Texans site State of the Texans has some great coverage of Williams and the other Texans draft choices. He and I did a little Q&A about Williams that you can find here.

UNC Will Play at Michigan State in ACC/B1G Challenge

2013-05-08T18:25:21Z

If you are keeping score at home this will be the seventh time in the Roy Williams era North Carolina has played Michigan St. UNC is undefeated in the previous six meetings with three of those happening in the NCAA Tournament. This will be the first time the Tar Heels have traveled to East Lansing to face the Spartans. Could the seventh time be the charm for Tom Izzo against Roy Williams?

The full schedule.

Tuesday, December 3rd

Indiana at Syracuse

Michigan at Duke

Notre Dame at Iowa

FSU at Minnesota

Penn St. at Pittsburgh

Illinois at Georgia Tech

Wednesday, December 4th

North Carolina at Michigan St.

Maryland at Ohio St.

Miami at Nebraska

Wisconsin at Virginia

Boston College at Purdue

Northwestern at NC State

This is UNC's fifth road game in the ACC/B1G Challenge in the past seven years. Instead of delving into some long rant about how the Heels are getting screwed and how Duke "always" plays at home, I am going to assume that other elements of UNC's schedule dictates this. For example, UNC has Kentucky and Texas both playing in Chapel Hill next season so a third major non-conference opponent probably wouldn't make much sense.

Some random notes on the other match-ups.

-Maryland will play in the Challenge despite the fact the ACC had to sit three teams. Clemson, Wake Forest and Virginia Tech all miss out on the event while the traitorous Terps get to play against their future conference.

-Northwestern will play at NC State which mark the return to North Carolin for former Duke assistant coach Chris Collins who now helms the Wildcat program.

-Wisconsin and Virginia are paired together which is as it should be. No one else needs to be exposed to that and hopefully the game will be shown at 3 AM on ESPN8.

'Tis the Season for Rule Changes

2013-05-08T15:08:35Z

With the offseason in full swing the NCAA is neck deep into the annual ritual of adjusting the rules which govern college basketball.

The first notable change concerns moving the start of practice for college basketball teams back two weeks.

Via the NCAA

Men’s basketball teams will be allowed to begin their first practice – celebrated at many schools with Midnight Madness events – up to two weeks earlier than in the past, starting this fall. The proposal was finalized at the close of the Division I Board of Directors meeting Thursday.

Last month, the Legislative Council amended and approved the long-tabled measure that will allow men’s basketball teams to conduct 30 days of practice in the six weeks before their first regular-season game. In the past, practice began roughly four weeks before the regular season.

A separate proposal that eliminated the requirement that the first practice begin no earlier than 5 p.m. on the first allowable day was also adopted.

The rule change brings the men’s basketball practice start date closer to that of the women’s teams. Women’s basketball teams begin no earlier than 40 days before the first regular-season game, with a limit of 30 days of practice.

This change was inevitable given the schedule creep that has occurred in college basketball. For example, during UNC's 1993 season, the first game happened on December 1st or roughly six weeks after the start of practice. In fact throughout the 1980s and 1990s UNC routinely started playing official games in the third or even fourth week of November allotting at least a month or more of actual practice. The only exception was playing in the preseason NIT which, at that time, truly was "preseason." Even up until a few years ago, North Carolina's first game would come around November 19th or slightly later. However in 2007 the schedule moved back and a few years after that it moved back again. Over the past four seasons UNC's first game has come on November 9th, 12th, 11th and 9th. It just so happened the two seasons with the November 9th start were also major rebuilding years when more preseason practice would have been really beneficial.

The decision to move the start of practice back is in a clear response to the schedule creeping backwards on the calendar. This resets the practice clock to where it used to be when coaches had 5-6 weeks before the first game rather than a little over three which was the case for North Carolina in 2010 and last year. Couple an earlier practice date with the eight summer workout days, the result should be improved basketball early in the season.

But that's not all! According to Jeff Goodman at CBS Sports, the NCAA Men's Basketball Rules Committee has a whole docket of rule changes and new interpretations to unload on the world. None of them apparently pertain to changing the shot clock.

- The automatic flagrant fouls for the swinging of elbows will almost certainly be amended. The new rule will give referees a measure of discretion rather than it automatically being deemed a Flagrant 1 or Flagrant 2 foul depending on the nature of the elbow and whether excessive contact is made. Coaches could also be able to ask referees to go to the monitor to review flagrant foul calls.

- As is the case with the NBA, officials will be able to check replays at timeouts to determine whether a made shot is inside the arc or a 3-pointer. This would help the flow of the game. This would only apply in the first 36 minutes of the game.

- Referees will likely be able to go the monitor in the last two minutes of the game for more than just flagrant calls, whether it's a 3-pointer or whether the clock had expired. They would also be able to go in the final minutes to determine possession after a difficult call determine which player was the last to touch the ball.

- The block/charge call could be slightly altered in an effort to help the offensive player. Now the secondary defender needs to be in legal guarding position before the player leaves the ground. The new interpretation would be that the defender needs to be set before the offensive player begins the upward motion of his shot. "We feel this would help referees, and also reduce the number of charge calls," the source said.

- Instead of a full 35-second shot clock following a foul in the frontcourt, it will likely be reduced to somewhere between 20 and 25 seconds in an effort to create a few more possessions each game.

- In an effort to improve the game and make it more free-flowing, there will be emphasis placed on the current rules (on pages 109 and 110 of the rule book) regarding hand-checking and cutting. This was the case a couple years ago when the NCAA emphasized cutting down rough play in the post. The issue here is consistency since refs work different leagues and there is no one governing body that has any legitimate power over all the officials. NCAA director of officiating John Adams truly only controls who works the NCAA tournament, but has little to no juice over individual league

The concern with these rule changes is it creates more judgment calls for the officials and seems to empower them to use replay more which will only slow the game down. In fact there is at least a 75% chance Karl Hess read this article without any pants on. I can just see Hess going to the monitor ten times a game and still find a way to blow a block/charge call.

Speaking of that rule in particular, it is a move in the right direction to ensure defenders are not simply stepping in under a player who is already in the air or shooting the basketball. A defender who does that is not playing defense but rather taking advantage of a loophole in the rule. Putting an emphasis on handchecking and bumping cutters is also a good idea. However, as Goodman points out, such adjustments are meaningless given the lack of consistency across the various conferences. The NCAA has no direct control of the officials during the regular season. That lack of control means no one is really being held to a standard. The accountability lies with the individual conferences who will only go so far in terms of ensuring their officials maintain certain standards.

While the shot clock is not being addressed directly, the notion that a foul in the frontcourt will not result in the full reset of the clock is a great idea. It is a reward to the defense to some extent, especially for fouls committed with 10 seconds or less. Most front court possessions don't truly start until the 25 second mark given the time it takes to get across halfcourt and get into the offensive set. Not affording the full 35 in the case of a foul makes perfect sense.

With the exception of the early practice rule, none of these are official yet but could be after the committee meets Wednesday and Thursday.