MBB: (3) North Carolina 89, NC State 80

[Highlander]

I think this sort of confidence was evident very early on in the first half when State was up... I think... 16-9. I think. In any case, UNC got a hoop, a TO on the next posession which turned into a Green dunk, and then a run out off of a miss that Lawson dropped back to Ellington for a three. As El Sid called timeout, Raycom showed Ellington mugging for the camera all the way back down court. So if UNC had ocntinued at that pace, they'd have been up 20 at half. Instead, they shut it down and were up 3. They're like a sports car where the driver revs the engine every once in a while.

I watched a bit of the second half. From about 7 min to go until 2 minutes to go, UNC got points on every single offensive possession. Most of the time they got a good shot within the first 7-10s of the shot clock. Basically what I saw went like this - State comes down, plays 20-30s of offense to try and get a good shot, hits 50% of the time, Carolina sprints down the court and gets a layup or good shot 100% of the time. It is tough to catch up to a team if you can't get defensive stops, and State couldn't stop UNC in the second half.

I didn't think UNC's defense looked that bad. State's defense OTOH was just horrible, or UNC made it look horrible in the 2nd half. They pretty much got whatever they wanted on offense. I also noticed that UNC never took their foot of the gas and quit running until about 2 min to go in the game, even when his team had a 15 point lead. Duke typically goes into a delay in that situation and tries to burn clock. Not saying one strategy is better/worse than the other, but it certainly was different from what I'm used to seeing.

[davekay1971]

For the record, while I openly deride Beaker and have, possibly, called him a gimp, I don't think he's a remotely average player. He's an extremely productive offensive player, no matter what you (or I) may think of the fairness in the way his play is refereed. My venom toward Beaker derives from a few points: (1) the color blue he wears; (2) the "Hey, I'm a star, I should get that call" attitude he's developed over the last two years; and (3) the vast disparity between his hype and his actual game. For point 3, that's more a media problem than a Beaker problem - he can't help that commentators and analysts have hyped him up to be the 2nd coming, when he's probably not the best player on his own team (I give that to Lawson, who has finally, to my great dismay, raised his play to match his ability). He's a very good player with a very high motor, and that combination accounts for a lot of his production...and his ppg and rpg, as well as his career numbers indicate that he is a very, very productive low post player. But he is also a mediocre post defender, a lousy passer out of the post, and his offensive skill set is limited - his shot from mid range and beyond is highly suspect.

[jdc75]

For the record, while I openly deride Beaker and have, possibly, called him a gimp, I don't think he's a remotely average player. He's an extremely productive offensive player, no matter what you (or I) may think of the fairness in the way his play is refereed. My venom toward Beaker derives from a few points: (1) the color blue he wears; (2) the "Hey, I'm a star, I should get that call" attitude he's developed over the last two years; and (3) the vast disparity between his hype and his actual game. For point 3, that's more a media problem than a Beaker problem - he can't help that commentators and analysts have hyped him up to be the 2nd coming, when he's probably not the best player on his own team (I give that to Lawson, who has finally, to my great dismay, raised his play to match his ability). He's a very good player with a very high motor, and that combination accounts for a lot of his production...and his ppg and rpg, as well as his career numbers indicate that he is a very, very productive low post player. But he is also a mediocre post defender, a lousy passer out of the post, and his offensive skill set is limited - his shot from mid range and beyond is highly suspect.

I totally agree with your post here DK71 and always enjoy your posts relating to our favorite drama queen, beaker. I don't know the kid so I can't say I dislike him personally, but I can't think of any other player in 40 years of watching college hoops I have ever despised more as a player. I'm just so tired of his whole act...

[Indoor66]

I totally agree with your post here DK71 and always enjoy your posts relating to our favorite drama queen, beaker. I don't know the kid so I can't say I dislike him personally, but I can't think of any other player in 40 years of watching college hoops I have ever despised more as a player. I'm just so tired of his whole act...

I don't really disagree with your beaker view, but THE greatest and most disgusting drama queen on a basketball court had to be Ivory Latta, the light blue queen of feigned injury and insult.

[pfrduke]

For the record, while I openly deride Beaker and have, possibly, called him a gimp, I don't think he's a remotely average player. He's an extremely productive offensive player, no matter what you (or I) may think of the fairness in the way his play is refereed. My venom toward Beaker derives from a few points: (1) the color blue he wears; (2) the "Hey, I'm a star, I should get that call" attitude he's developed over the last two years; and (3) the vast disparity between his hype and his actual game. For point 3, that's more a media problem than a Beaker problem - he can't help that commentators and analysts have hyped him up to be the 2nd coming, when he's probably not the best player on his own team (I give that to Lawson, who has finally, to my great dismay, raised his play to match his ability). He's a very good player with a very high motor, and that combination accounts for a lot of his production...and his ppg and rpg, as well as his career numbers indicate that he is a very, very productive low post player. But he is also a mediocre post defender, a lousy passer out of the post, and his offensive skill set is limited - his shot from mid range and beyond is highly suspect.

It will be interesting to see what the post-season accolades look like for him this year. A good argument could be made that he's only the third-best player on his team, behind Lawson (who's been superb since UNC started 0-2 and is clearly the key to their success) and Ellington (who has been ridiculously good lately). I assume that he'll still be 1st-team all-ACC, and possibly 1st-team all-American, because he was "supposed" to be, but when all is said and done, he may not actually have put together the kind of campaign that is really deserving of those awards.

None of which is to say he can't go out and average 30-15 for the last few games, but to this date he's been less impressive than he was last year.

[Johnboy]

I can't think of any other player in 40 years of watching college hoops I have ever despised more as a player. I'm just so tired of his whole act...

Off the top of my head (and this list only goes back about 30 years):

Makhtar Ndiaye
Rasheed Wallace
Matt Doherty
Vince Carter
Joe Forte
King Rice
JR Reid
Ed Cota
Warren Martin

. . . and there are so many others.

There have been a lot of Carolina players to despise through the years, but despite his "act" I wouldn't put TH on my list.

On the flip side, I have to thank Steve Hale and Ademola Okulaja for being the subject of two of the best taunts we've ever issued in Cameron.

[sandinmyshoes]

It will be interesting to see what the post-season accolades look like for him this year. A good argument could be made that he's only the third-best player on his team, behind Lawson (who's been superb since UNC started 0-2 and is clearly the key to their success) and Ellington (who has been ridiculously good lately). I assume that he'll still be 1st-team all-ACC, and possibly 1st-team all-American, because he was "supposed" to be, but when all is said and done, he may not actually have put together the kind of campaign that is really deserving of those awards.

None of which is to say he can't go out and average 30-15 for the last few games, but to this date he's been less impressive than he was last year.

It has seemed to me that his game is off this season. But when I checked the stats, he's still the leagues leading scorer, and in the top ten in a number of other categories. So the "supposed" to be would seem statistically sound.

[Wheat/"/"/"]

It will be interesting to see what the post-season accolades look like for him this year. A good argument could be made that he's only the third-best player on his team, behind Lawson (who's been superb since UNC started 0-2 and is clearly the key to their success) and Ellington (who has been ridiculously good lately). I assume that he'll still be 1st-team all-ACC, and possibly 1st-team all-American, because he was "supposed" to be, but when all is said and done, he may not actually have put together the kind of campaign that is really deserving of those awards.

I think its a no brainer he's 1st team all ACC. 1st team All America is probable, but I could see him sliding to 2nd team, according to how the tourney goes.

I think you could argue he's the 4th most talented player on the team, but you can't argue he's not the best player on the team with anybody but Lawson.

Every coach that prepares to play UNC begins with, "How do I defend TH".
After they make the decision to double him, which they always seem to do, they are telling the defenders to not give up the 3 point play. Foul him hard if you have to foul at all, but don't let him get the shot off. Make him work for it...he still gets 20.

Then coaches turn their attention to how do we stop TL's penetration and speed up the floor in transition?
Next it's what do we do if DG and WE are making outside shots? Finally it's let's take our chances with DT.

It all starts with TH. His numbers are a little down for several reasons, the main one is the team is much more balanced and is pretty unselfish. The other relates to injuries. And finally, officials are allowing the hard/rough play on him that they did not allow in the past.