So I was in Greensboro to witness what was basically the end of the season in fairly gruesome terms up close and personal. While I am resolved at this point to "let it go" there are a few things I wanted to toss out there for posterity's sake. You will note comments for this post are closed because the horse is dead, beaten and in nice Elmer's bottles on the shelf at your local Target. No need to repeat what we have been discussing for weeks now just needed to get these off my chest since they bugged me the whole ride back home.
1. I think Larry Drew should be examined by UNC doctors to determine if the part of his brain that controls his "sense of urgency" or whatever sense that says "I need to hurry the crap up here because time is slipping away!" actually works. With 24 seconds left and UNC down five, Drew thought it was okay to jog the ball up. It was freaking unbelievable. How bad was it? You could actually hear the UNC fans in the building collectively screaming some variation of "hurry up" or "go" or "come on!" At this point I think Drew is wholly incapable of playing with urgency. That needs to be resolved.
2. Why the heck do you foul with 13 seconds left on the shot clock down three knowing that if you can force a bad shot or shot clock violation you will have at least 10 seconds to tie the game up? Did that come from the coaches? Did Deon Thompson invent that out of thin air. I mean against College of Charleston when they should have fouled no one did. In this case they should keep playing tough defense since the Jackets were completely out of sync offensively and hope you come away with a stop but instead they foul. If the plan is to foul after 22 seconds then just foul from the outset and extend the game.
3. Speaking of the shot clock. I counted seven Georgia Tech points scored with under five seconds left in the possession. I am not sure the defense was entirely to blame but it simply sucked to see them hold it together for 32 seconds then give up a basket.
4. This is the "gang that could not shoot straight." Literally. My angle was such that I could see Will Graves' last three as it sailed wide left and missed the rim entirely. There were other shots like that too from various Heels. If these guys do nothing else this summer they should shoot 500 shots a day or whatever it was Tyler Hansbrough did to develop his jumpshot.
5. I am really hoping the NIT shows mercy and decides to take 32 other teams besides UNC. This is clearly a DNR situation. The body is clinically dead, just turn off the machines and let the patient die. It is better for the patient. It is better for us.
Next up: Talk of next season and the hope that the Tyler Zeller seen in this game shows up healthy for the full slate of games next year.