I knew it was coming.
When Bobby Frasor missed the layup at the six minute mark a feeling caught me in the pit of my stomach and when it was all said and one UNC blew a 12 point lead over the final six minutes and surrendered that precious one game lead in the ACC standings. And I do not know what to make of this team. They have a penchant for inconsistency and even with the foul situation alongside the rebounding problems UNC was in control of the game before the Terps took over. It is painfully clear they should have finished the job but did not. The four fouls on Lawson were huge and as I pointed out before this team can have real issues with the offense if Lawson is on the bench. It is not always the case but in matchups with teams like Maryland, his presence is crucial. When he was out, the Terps made their run and by the time he got back in it was too late.
Now UNC needs help from UVa to hand VT a fifth loss in order to maintain the line on the #1 seed in the ACC. In my opinion the NCAA Tournament seeding is extremely muddled because Wisconsin last twice this week, Florida lost to an LSU team far worse than Maryland, and UNC's loss is actually not that bad all things considered except it is their 5th loss and right now they probably need to win the next two and the ACC title game to be #1 in the East.
On a side note, let me take a moment to call out those in Tar Heel nation who seem hell bent on selling Roy out for the loss today. The last I checked he was winning 80% of his games and last season took a group of young players who no one thought would make the tournament and put them second in the ACC. Now, this season just because a more talented team has five losses against what everyone has called a more competitive conference some of these folks are ready to throw him under the bus or so it seems. So in respect to these people let me make the following suggestions.
Let's fire Roy and rehire Matt Doherty. Obviously Roy is not getting it done and his winning percentage plus the national title he won in 2005 are not enough to stave off a rabid ban of morons on keyboard from selling their coach out over a tough loss. So let's return to the great and wonderful days of 8-20 basketball and forget this guy since he apparently has no idea what he is doing on the bench.
I do not know why UNC is having these lapses but I do know it has less to do with the coaching and more to do with the youth of the team, the parity of ACC basketball, and the simple fact that sometimes you lose these kinds of games. So back off the coach and enjoy the fact that this team is still 24-5 and not worse.