Wednesday, February 10, 2010

My Thoughts About UNC

Bad Things:

1. Turnovers - seriously dudes, you're killing me! I can take better care of the ball than you can and I'm a girl.

2. Lack of fast breaks - I guess I was spoiled last year, but that was one thing that always sparked the team and set them apart from so many other teams. And if we do get fast breaks, they are just out of control, which leads me to my next point...

3. Chickens with their heads cut off - The guards are fast, but completely out of control and can't manage the ball (see #1) or the game.

4. Defense - You don't have to be very smart to realize that there's more to winning a game than just offense. Not to toot my own horn, but I was a pretty good defensive player in HS, so to see the lack of effort in running down the court or getting out to defend the perimeter shots (especially with a team like Duke) kills me. And boxing out - isn't that one of the fundamentals of basketball?!? Way too many offensive rebounds for the opposing teams.

5. Free throws - These are gimmes!! It's a free (hence the name), wide open shot. You should be hitting AT LEAST 70%. I don't care if you're a big man or not. Point in case: Tyler Hansbrough broke the NCAA free throw record in '09.

6. Losing at home - This isn't due to a lack of support from the crowd. The Dean Dome will always deliver. No one should have as terrible a record at home as the 'heels do. There's no excuse for it.

7. Poor shooting - I don't know what to say about this. Not one single person on the team is reliable. For being a 'seasoned' vet, Ginyard has really let me down. I don't buy the injury excuse. And Davis is like 12 feet tall and is still hit or miss, literally. Graves has hit some big 3's, but I don't have a lot of confidence in him, yet.

Ok, time for some good things:

1. Speed - Yeah, this is a good thing and a bad thing (see #3). But this bodes well for the future. Once they get more experienced, this will hopefully help with the fast breaks and get us more points in transition.

2. Height - Davis (soph), Zeller (soph), Henson (fresh), the Wear brothers (fresh). All this height and a lot of diaper dandies. Again, looking ahead here.

3. Recruits - The #1 small forward, the #2 shooting guard, and the #6 point guard in the nation have all committed to UNC.

4. Roy Williams - Dean Smith was the man, but good ol' Roy is a damn fine coach. You can only do so much as a coach to motivate the players. He has more class than most coaches in the NCAA. He's an excellent leader and his win percentage is undeniable. Any team would be lucky to have him as a coach and would benefit from his skill and experience.

5. Well, peeps, I'm grasping at straws here. I can't think of many more positives about this team. But, it's North Carolina. We may have an off year, but we'll rebound. We'll always have talent, good recruits, and a great name. There's no team that's going to have a good showing the year after losing so much talent.

So, I will always have faith in my team. I will always be a supporter. And I will always hate Duke! It's tough to be a UNC fan this year, but it'll get better. There's always next year!
Go 'heels!!