We're talking about basketball?
UNC's 2012-13 schedule is taking shape and it will definitely be a challenge for a team that could be starting a freshman at point guard. It was announced on Monday, UNC would play at Indiana as part of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. That is one of a few tough road outings UNC has on the schedule. The Heels will also play at Texas in a return game for the one in Chapel Hill this past season. UNC will also play at Long Beach State en route to Hawaii for the Maui Invitational. The field is Maui includes Butler, Illinois, Marquette, Texas, USC(the real one), Mississippi State and Division II host Chaminade. The home non-conference docket includes UAB, ECU, UNLV and a November 10th opener versus Gardner-Webb.
In ACC play, the Heels have, what could be, a very tough slate. The ACC season will be 18 games and UNC will play Duke, NC State, Virginia, Maryland, Florida State, Georgia Tech and Miami twice. The one time opponents will be Virginia Tech and Wake Forest at home with Clemson and Boston College on the road. The ACC kept the UNC-NCSU home and home on the schedule for this season but ultimately that will go away during certain seasons. The four teams UNC will only see once are also four teams that will likely finish towards the bottom of the ACC which means most of league games for the Heels will be against teams finishing in the upper half. In short, there will be no respite for a team that is recovering from the loss of four starters.
For more on the schedule check out Robbi Pickeral's rundown.
The NCAA has announced a couple of potential changes for next season.
The first addresses the use of court decals which have long raised Roy Williams' ire. The basketball rules committee is suggesting that the player surface be "consistent" which doesn't mean the decals won't be used but must be the same as the rest of the court as not to cause players to slip. I have always thought putting anything on the court(or field in football for that matter) which alters the normal playing surface is an inherently bad idea. Of course I am also opposed to elaborate halftime shows in football which require the placement of stages, equipment, etc on a field where a title game is being contested. Of course that is part of my master plan to rid us of stupid halftime shows but I digress.
Also on the NCAA's mind is sportsmanship, particularly bench decorum.
Committee members believe the following behaviors hurt the image of the game and should result in a technical foul against the coach or other bench personnel:
-Comments directed at or referring to any game official that question the integrity of an official (repeated references to the number of fouls called against each team; suggesting an official is cheating” a team, etc.).
-Profane, vulgar, threatening, or derogatory remarks or personal comments relating to race, ethnicity, religion, gender or sexual orientation directed at or referring to any game official or opposing player/bench personnel.
-Prolonged, negative responses to a call/no-call that are disrespectful or unprofessional and include waving or thrashing the arms in disgust, dramatizing contact by re-enacting the play, or running or jumping “in disbelief” over a call/non-call.
-A negative response to a call/no-call that includes approaching/charging an official in a hostile, aggressive or otherwise threatening manner; emphatically removing one’s coat in response to a call/no-call; or throwing equipment or clothing on to the floor.
-Continual criticism during a game regarding the same incident after being warned by an official.
Committee members understand that there will be spontaneous reactions to calls, but they don’t want coaches to cross the line with officials.
You will likely hear this mentioned as a "point of emphasis" once the season starts which will result in an increase of technical fouls on coaches through December then it will disappear altogether once conference play hits. Well, unless Karl Hess is involved then I expect we might see him throw an ACC coach or two out of a game.
My question is whether this will actually result in referees penalizing coaches like say, Mike Krzyzewski, who has been known to take timeouts for the express purpose of talking to an official or Mark Gottfried who seemingly complains about every call made against NC State. Roy Williams does his share of barking at the refs(not egregiously but I am biased) and got a technical this past season in a game versus Georgia Tech in the Dean Dome after officials missed a Yellow Jacket player stepping out of bounds. Of course the area of concern with Roy is some of the demonstrative reactions he might have to mistakes his team makes. He has been known to pick up a chair and slam it back down in place, throw his jacket or slap the scorer's table. In most cases he is not directing his ire at the officials but rather something a UNC player did or didn't do on a particular play.
I actually don't expect this emphasis will change much and ironically coaches will still be permitted to stand on the court during game action on their end as though the coach's box does not exist. If they start enforcing that one to the letter of the law, coaches will be in real trouble.