Has Roy's Statements/antics denigrated the ACC Tourney?

[moonpie23]

i don't know about y'all, but, i am irked at the posturing from the holes after losing today to FSU.

a few of my unc "friends" sent me text to the effect of "it's no biggie", "best to rest for the big dance" and "roy let them lose on purpose"...

i saw a few hole fans at the mall tonight and even they made mention that "roy just let them lose cause it was best for the title run"...


i mean, is it really possible that the statements, actions and posturing by one coach and their arrogant fans reduce the importance of arguably the greatest basketball tournament in basktball history to a mere warm-up for their monumental chokes?


sorry...i just needed to get that OUT...

[Carlos]

In one sense they're right - today's loss wasn't a big deal for the Heels.

The idea that "Roy let them lose" is of course total crap. Every quality team wants to win every time it steps on the floor. And the idea that one more day of rest is a desirable trade for a loss is just as craptastic.

But other than the sting of not winning the ACC Tournament the loss is pretty benign. The Heels are still most likely a #1 seed and the loss doesn't really scream out that they are a team in trouble unless Lawson is unable to play.

[FireOgilvie]

I think the fans are just trying to rationalize the fact that their team lost. It was pretty obvious to everyone watching that UNC really wanted the win.

[RelativeWays]

UNC fans make excuses for everything, and blame conspiracy theories for everything else, this is why I detest their fanbase. Did Roy rest Ty Lawson for the NCAA tourney when he might could have played, sure, thats not unreasonable, but to say "Roy just let 'em lose for the NCAA" is a real disservice to how they played. UNC played a really dangerous team hungry for a bid, and a physical top 25 team thats better than people realize, and they played those teams hard. From what I saw, they didn't phone it in, they really tried to win. If I was on that team and one of my supposed fans said we blew it on purpose, I'd punch them in the face.

[rthomas]

"best to rest for the big dance" is a typical line for losers in the tournament. I've heard fans from every team including Duke say the same thing. bottom line it's BS.
But Dukies have said the exact same thing in the past.

[camion]

I'm irked when somebody belittles any one of a) the regular season, b) the ACC tournament, c) the NCAA tournament. All are important and all are worth striving for. Learning to give your all in the quest is a part of learning to win.

Above all, NOTHING is guaranteed. Teams that throttle back on one thing in the quest for a bigger prize are likely to end with nothing more than a participation banner.

[Bob Green]

UNC fans make excuses for everything, and blame conspiracy theories for everything else, this is why I detest their fanbase.

Carolina has a bunch of great fans who know basketball and do not make excuses. Unfortunately, Carolina has so many fans that the vocal idiots with their excuses and conspiracy theories standout as the typical Carolina fan. Too bad the idiots make the whole fan base look bad.

[CameronBornAndBred]

In his post game interview, he addresses this question directly. (Will the extra day help the team). He flat out says he would rather have had the win.
http://www.wralsportsfan.com/acc_tou...video/4739250/

[spifi]

Carolina has a bunch of great fans who know basketball and do not make excuses. Unfortunately, Carolina has so many fans that the vocal idiots with their excuses and conspiracy theories standout as the typical Carolina fan. Too bad the idiots make the whole fan base look bad.

Sounds like every team that's achieved a high level of success and associated popularity. Every single one.

[killerleft]

We're playing for a championship tomorrow. No time to worry about losers or their rationalizations.

All I know is Roy has shrugged off and belittled a tournament that everyone else wants to win. Opinions will differ, but I basically see this as classless.

His players played very hard. Hansbrough was beating his chest after the great win over VT. Maybe Roy forgot to tell his players not to care. Anyway, it's great to see him have to play that card, isn't it?

Drive home safely, indeed!

[jv001]

roy may have felt that way(don't think he does), but his players cared. They played hard and wanted to win. It's some of their lousy fans making the usual excuses. Go Duke!

[elvis14]

A friend of mine came over to watch the FSU game with me today. His wife is a UNC fan, he's an NCSU alum and fan. He's also an ACC fan who will support Duke, UNC, whoever against other conferences. He asked me today if Duke fans are overly critical of their team. I said, that I didn't think so that if anything we tend to be too fond of them and think they can do more than they really can. He told me that he was really happy to have an excuse to come watch the game with me (I had knee surgery Thursday and I appreciated his visit and the Firehouse sub he brought me) instead of with his wife and her Carowina friends. When asked what was up, he said that the group of Carolina fans spend the entire game yelling at the TV berating their own team. He said it's awful how they act like the Holes are making horrible mistakes the whole time. I thought it was an interesting observation. My response was that UNC fans have no respect for any other team, zero. To them if a team is doing something good against the Holes then the Holes must be screwing up...so they b!tch. Since they believe UNC is so far superior to everyone else, if they are not winning and running away with the game the Roy needs to fix something because someone isn't playing right. My friend just repeated that he just doesn't get it. I think it's UNC fans who don't get it.

[RelativeWays]

Carolina has a bunch of great fans who know basketball and do not make excuses. Unfortunately, Carolina has so many fans that the vocal idiots with their excuses and conspiracy theories standout as the typical Carolina fan. Too bad the idiots make the whole fan base look bad.

Thats true, I should have changed that to typical IC poster. For the most part, the ones I work with, or interact with live are fine, I just think I've come to dislike internet message boards and entitled fanbases. We have our issues as well.

My other point still stands though, UNC didn't quit, they didn't job, they tried to win, and to insinuate or state otherwise to save face or pride is smarmy.

[Bob Green]

My other point still stands though, UNC didn't quit, they didn't job, they tried to win, and to insinuate or state otherwise to save face or pride is smarmy.

I agree 100 percent. Carolina rested Ty Lawson due to his injured toe but beyond that they tried with all their might to win the game. Anyone who says Ol' Roy had them lose on purpose is an idiot or fooling themselves.

[Truth]

All I know is Roy has shrugged off and belittled a tournament that everyone else wants to win.

Does anyone know whether Roy expressed similar feelings about the Big 12 tourney during his days at Kansas or is his dislike of conference tournaments a recent development?

[spifi]

My friend just repeated that he just doesn't get it. I think it's UNC fans who don't get it.

Sure. Just because your friend's friends are all morons then all UNC fans must be. I get it. NOT.

Teams that get successful enough over enough time to generate rabid fan bases ALL have this problem. It's not isolated. Not at Duke, UNC, the NY Yankees, LA Lakers, Boston Celtics, etc.

And Roy has always blown off the value of the ACC tournament for any team that's already a lock to be in the NCAA tournament. He didn't "denigrate" this particular tournament any more today than he's denigrated it since he came to the ACC. But like others have said, I don't see how that matters since how he feels about it in general doesn't affect how hard he prepares for it or wants to win. They gave it their all, and any UNC fans who think otherwise are just fooling themselves. But they are also right that the bigger fish is still out there to be caught.

[spifi]

Does anyone know whether Roy expressed similar feelings about the Big 12 tourney during his days at Kansas or is his dislike of conference tournaments a recent development?

He hated that tourney even worse, because he was usually a bigger favorite to win it than he's ever been at UNC and was always a lock to get in the NCAA anyway. But they won plenty of them, so they sure didn't blow it off as far as effort was concerned.

[davekay1971]

I don't think Roy's actions have damaged the tournament. The trend for several years, as the NCAA tournament has become more popular and more of a focus, is for both the regular season and the major conference tournaments to mean less, except as they relate to seeding. I find it personally distasteful for Roy to dismiss the ACC tournament as he does, because I love the regional traditions of ACC basketball as much as I love the NCAA tournament. The ACC tournament is a good, old-fashioned, regional bragging rights contest. It would be nice to see people who should care about the tradition of the conference support the tournament, like Coach K does. Roy played at Kerlina, coached next to Deano...he should know better.

As for the Carolina fans, they have taken Roy's attitude to use as an excuse if they don't win the tournament. Last year, especially after Kansas beat their butts down, winning the ACC tournament was the greatest accomplishment that ever happened and the mark of a successful season. This year, before the ACC tournament, they were preparing their excuses, "The tournament means nothing, we're resting Lawson, we're getting ready to win the one that matters, we're already the ACC champions" etc. And that's what they'll keep saying until this year's collapse.

[dukegirlinsc]

Excuses are like buttholes...


It seems like this was discussed the last time UNC made an early exit. The whole resting thing is nice, but jeez, you're going to get 4-5 days without a game anyways. And we've all seen what too long of a "rest" can do to teams at times. Of course they wanted to win, some of their delusional fans just need a reason to make themselves feel better.

The last time UNC lost in the quarter-finals, they went on to win the National Championship. BARF.

[Wheat/"/"/"]

UNC fans make excuses for everything, and blame conspiracy theories for everything else, this is why I detest their fanbase.

After all the conspiracy theories about Lawson faking the toe injury coming from Duke fans, I find this comment pretty funny.

As a UNC fan, I do not like many of the comments coming from some UNC players, and coach.
This was the last ACC tournament for many of the players, and I thought they played hard, but just came up short against a very good FSU team. Too many mistakes by the freshmen and a poor game by Green. FSU was better.

You know TH wanted to win bad, and break JJ's record against Duke in the final. They tried hard to win that game, no matter what is being said.

It would have been much better to just give FSU their due, comment on how we have to get better play from Green and the bench, and move on to focus on the NCAA's.

To downplay the loss as no big deal is a disservice to the league.