Tar Heel Hangover: The Christmas Edition

Welcome to the Tar Heel Hangover. This is our Monday morning opportunity to review last week’s game, second guess all of the key moments, and set the game plan for the week ahead.

The Elevator Speech: The State of the Team.

Since it is Christmas, let’s just focus on the positives. The team is getting healthy and the freshmen are getting valuable experience. Plus, Saturday's game against Ohio State was great. Finally, as this article is being written, we are only a few hours away from the traditional family singing of the Twelve Days of Christmas (get the video camera out!).

Words of Wisdom? A Thought from MGD.

“ At least I could finally relax for few minutes during a game."

This has certainly been a stressful run of games. My Grumpy Dad exhaled for a few minutes in the second half on Saturday before a brief Buckeye run in the closing moments made things interesting. This team may have a more limited margin of error than some in recent memory and nail-biters could be the new norm.

The real MGD quotes however come at the close of Christmas Eve when we all gather around his chair for the reading of Twas the Night Before Christmas. As important as Tar Heel Basketball is to us all, times like these help add positive perspective.

Lying In Bed, I Am Worried About. . .

The level of motivation. Teams with upperclassmen leadership should not come out flat and lethargic as occurred against Wofford. There is certainly limited long term harm that comes from the loss, but an effort like that in the NCAA Tournament will lead to a quick exit.

The other point of concern is the number of turnovers. This is a team that is loaded with ball handlers and yet the turnovers continue to mount. Taking care of the rock will be a key as the team moves into the conference season.

I am also worried about what Santa will be bringing tonight. I am certainly hoping for the Ohio State game type of gifts instead of the Wofford coal.

When I Talk to Haters, I Brag About . . .

Not much this week. Fortunately, most of the haters were on vacation the second half of the week. For the few that I ran in to, I decided to run a misdirection play:

Hater: What happened against Wofford? Where is Wofford located? Are they even a real school?

Me: Yeah, that stunk. So what are you getting the kids for Christmas? Are you guys staying in town?

Hater: Since UNC is the defending National Champion, we have decided not to celebrate Christmas this year.

The lesson here is don’t be a hater, celebrate Christmas!

Final Thoughts

Enjoy your family and friends. Be thankful for what you have. Merry Christmas and Go Heels!