Tar Heel Hangover: Christmas cheer 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: What happened last week.

The Tar Heels and Redskins have played twice this season at the same time. They both lost both games. The holidays have not been kind to either. Kentucky simply overpowered the Heels both in the paint and on the perimeter. As the Scooby Doo song states, “we’ve got some work to do now.”

A Christmas Eve Poem.

Every Christmas Eve, the family gathers around just before bedtime for a reading of “A Visit from Saint Nicholas” by Clement Moore. Inspired by the poem, here is a verse for Tar Heel fans:

‘Twas the night before Christmas when all through the land, Carolina fans hummed the fight song with the band

The banners were hung from the rafters with care, and we all hope this team can put another one there

The players are resting all snug in their beds, while too many turnovers dance through our heads

And Roy in his jacket, not quite torn in two, hasn’t settled on a rotation with lineups anew

The team could go big, with Manley and Brooks, or play small ball to get Maye some good looks

Up the court Coby White can fly like a flash, and take a sweet jumper so the three just goes splash

The perimeter offense has been quite good you know, giving a lustre of victories while putting on a show

The defense, however, has not been in top gear, giving up backdoor passes and driving lanes too clear

Cameron Johnson has been strong and his scoring is hot, Kenny Williams is still struggling to find his jump shot

Little has been inconsistent and looks to be streaky, off the bench there is interest in the skill set of Leaky

To the top of the key, to the front of the rim, now dash up the court running foes out of the gym

So what will the upcoming months hold for this team, will the non-conference inconsistencies frustrate the dream

Will we see more of the Woods and White combo at guard, will Little start at the four and on both sides play hard

Will the games against Wildcats, Longhorns, and Wolverines, just be developmental blips on the season’s full scene

Will the bench put in effort as the minutes decline, with Robinson and Platek making plays that are fine

And who will be the leader with a voice on the floor, who will have the emotion of which we need more

Limit turnovers, play defense, score points in great bunches, have fun on the court, and follow all of Roy’s hunches

The conference schedule is quite favorable you see, and I predict a record of fifteen and three

A two or three seed for the big dance is there, if momentum is built to great from fair

And fans will exclaim with a season that’s out of sight, Happy Christmas to all, go Heels and good-night!

Final Thoughts.

A noon game on Saturday against Davidson will close out the calendar year for the Heels. Despite a difficult non-conference schedule and inconsistent effort, this is still a very good team with a great deal of potential. Closing out the year with a good victory to get ready for the start of conference play is precisely what we need from Santa.

Happy Holidays to all!