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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Seattle, WA

    This Week in the ACC: 1/31-2/6

    In an ACC that has been pretty tightly packed so far this season (4 teams at 4-3, 7 teams with 3-5 wins), this week could give some teams a chance to rise above the pack. UNC and Maryland, in particular, have a chance for quality wins that would go a long way toward setting them apart from the other contenders.

    Monday is dark.

    Tuesday sends two Tobacco Road teams to opposite corners of the conference, as UNC heads north to visit Boston College and Wake goes south to tussle with Florida State. UNC has road wins at Miami and Virginia (and a blowout road loss to Georgia Tech); this trip to BC will be a good test for their defense. As for Wake, if they can merely keep it respectable, that will be an accomplishment. FSU can't get caught looking ahead to their own matchup against UNC this weekend.

    [67]Boston College hosts [21]North Carolina
    [44]Wake Forest hosts [256]Wake Forest

    Wednesday gives us the second installment of Duke-Maryland just 8 games into the conference season. The Terps are looking to carry some momentum from three consecutive conference wins into an upset (although Pomeroy calls this as a 51/49 game, with Duke the ever-so-slight favorite) of the top team in the ACC. For Duke, it will be good just to see a basketball court again, even if one in a decidedly hostile environment. For what it's worth (and probably not much), last year's Devils followed an embarrassing loss to NC State by going into Clemson and avenging a loss from the season before; let's hope we can do the same to Maryland this year. Two other ACC contests on Wednesday, as the Hokies travel to Raleigh and the Tigers travel to Charlottesville. I'll repeat what I said about the VT at GT game last week, as it applies to both road teams: these are the games that bubble teams need to win to keep their tournament stock high.

    [13]Maryland hosts [4]Duke
    [100]NC State hosts [31]Virginia Tech
    [135]Virginia hosts [29]Clemson

    Thursday sends Georgia Tech, a bit of a surprise at 3-4 in the conference, on the road at Miami, a big disappointment at 1-6, although many of their losses have been of the close, heart-breaker variety.

    [68]Miami hosts [76]Georgia Tech

    Friday is dark.

    Saturday has almost a full slate, with 10 of the 12 teams matching up. The Devils get their second look at NC State (9 games into the season, and already two rematches before the Devils have seen 4 other teams even once - I miss the round robin), this time in Cameron (and if the young Pack were that rattled by the Dean Dome crowd this weekend...). Virginia Tech travels to Boston College in a game that will likely be critical for both teams (particularly if either are coming off of a loss). Clemson hopes to follow Maryland's lead in being able to pick up a win in Atlanta - at the very least, they must be licking their chops at getting to face a Tech team against whom they had an .833 efg% earlier this season. Maryland gets a home game against Wake, and Virginia and Miami square off in a game that has essentially no meaningful ramifications - both are out of the conference race, neither is making it into the dance.

    [4]Duke hosts [100]NC State
    [76]Georgia Tech hosts [29]Clemson
    [67]Boston College hosts [31]Virginia Tech
    [13]Maryland hosts [256]Wake Forest
    [68]Miami hosts [135]Virginia

    Sunday has a pre-Super Bowl matchup that is the marquee game of the weekend. There are a lot of ifs in the following scenario, but if Maryland beats Duke and if UNC beats BC (and if FSU beats Wake, but that almost seems like a foregone conclusion), then the winner of the UNC-FSU matchup would stand in first place, either alone (UNC) or tied, but with the tie-breaking win (FSU). At the very least, this is likely going to be a battle for second place, as the winner would be joining Duke as the only teams with fewer than 3 conference losses. This game pits two of the conference's top defenses against each other, so we should see a tight, low-scoring affair.

    [21]North Carolina hosts [44]Florida State
    Just be you. You is enough. - K, 4/5/10, 0:13.8 to play, 60-59 Duke.

    You're all jealous hypocrites. - Titus on Laettner

    You see those guys? Animals. They're animals. - SIU Coach Chris Lowery, on Duke

  2. #2
    Nice write-up. BC has two tough home games and will be lucky to win one. IMO. The UNC - FSU game should be fun to watch but I don't see the Noles winning on the road. Duke - Maryland is, well, Duke - Maryland. I expect Coach K to have Duke ready and Maryland always gets up for the Devils. In order to stay close, the Terps perimeter players have to play like they did against Virginia.

    gw67

  3. #3

    schedules

    If I may take a slightly longer view of what's coming up for a couple of teams:

    -- UNC: The schedule has been very much in their favor so far, but they are starting a very challenging four-game stretch: at Boston College; FSU at home; at Duke; at Clemson.

    If the Heels expect to contend for the regular season title, they probably need to win 3 of the 4 ... if they split, they're still in shape to finish as the ACC's No. 2 team (especially if one of the two is a home win over FSU).

    -- Miami: The last four Miami games (1 win and 3 losses) have been decided by a total of 11 points. But except for a game at State, the 'Canes have basically played against the ACC's best. The schedule gives them a chance to get healthy with upcoming home games against Georgia Tech (which has been horrible on the road), Virginia and at Wake Forest.

    They should be riding a three-game winning streak when Duke visits Miami on Feb. 13 -- they should be 15-9, 4-6 at that point ... they would almost certainly see the Duke game as a way to get back in the at-large debate ... and they have almost always played Duke tough at home.

    -- Maryland has won three straight to get to 14-7, 4-3 ... they follow the Duke game with home games against Wake Forest and Longwood -- two sure wins.

    Obviously, the Duke game means everything to the Terps. It's the kind of win that either puts them in the NCAA field or leaves them on the outside looking in. With a win, they get to 17-7, 6-3 -- although they finish with a tough stretch run (games at BC, at VPI, at UNC and at Miami). If they are just 16-8, 5-4, I don't see them surviving that.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Steamboat Springs, CO

    Talking FSU Missing but Winning

    Against Wake at home, FSU is shooting a mere 33% but has an 11-point lead near the end of 1H on 9 Wake TOs and equally poor Wake shooting.

    sagegrouse

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Seattle, WA
    Quote Originally Posted by sagegrouse View Post
    Against Wake at home, FSU is shooting a mere 33% but has an 11-point lead near the end of 1H on 9 Wake TOs and equally poor Wake shooting.

    sagegrouse
    Not surprisingly, Wake's very bad offense is struggling against FSU's very good defense, scoring barely a point per minute. If they reach 50, they should consider it a moral victory.
    Just be you. You is enough. - K, 4/5/10, 0:13.8 to play, 60-59 Duke.

    You're all jealous hypocrites. - Titus on Laettner

    You see those guys? Animals. They're animals. - SIU Coach Chris Lowery, on Duke

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Raleigh, NC
    Watching UNC-BC. It seems clear that UNC is the best team in the ACC right now. It may not even be all that close.
    "Just be you. You is Enough."

  7. #7
    Amazing how you look when you hit shots, no?

    We'll see how good they look when they play FSU, @Duke, @Clemson in the next week.

  8. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by jipops View Post
    Watching UNC-BC. It seems clear that UNC is the best team in the ACC right now. It may not even be all that close.
    Well I will give you they are better than many have said- but not heads and shoulders above everyone. They are definitely a top 20 team.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Jun 2009
    i tell you, as a UNC fan, it feels unbelievable to watch this team shoot it well. it has been such a struggle at times, and they are certainly not the best, most consistent team in the ACC right now, but they are showing signs of being the team everyone thought they could be. Like someone said up above, it always looks better when the ball goes in to the basket.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Quote Originally Posted by jipops View Post
    Watching UNC-BC. It seems clear that UNC is the best team in the ACC right now. It may not even be all that close.
    Totally agree. If we lose tomorrow, which is 50/50 in my opinion, they will be in the driver's seat for the regular season title. We will get destroyed by them on the interior on both sides of the court when we play them next week.

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Raleigh, NC
    Quote Originally Posted by kong123 View Post
    i tell you, as a UNC fan, it feels unbelievable to watch this team shoot it well. it has been such a struggle at times, and they are certainly not the best, most consistent team in the ACC right now, but they are showing signs of being the team everyone thought they could be. Like someone said up above, it always looks better when the ball goes in to the basket.
    Even more impressive than the shooting has been the defense. Guys are shutting down passing lanes and rotating over. The UNC defense is almost as impressive as Maryland's.
    "Just be you. You is Enough."

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Location
    Fayetteville, NC
    Quote Originally Posted by Vincetaylor View Post
    Totally agree. If we lose tomorrow, which is 50/50 in my opinion, they will be in the driver's seat for the regular season title. We will get destroyed by them on the interior on both sides of the court when we play them next week.
    OMG, man the life boats, women and children first.
    Can we at least wait until the game is over before annoiting them ACC champs.

  13. #13
    Quote Originally Posted by jipops View Post
    Watching UNC-BC. It seems clear that UNC is the best team in the ACC right now. It may not even be all that close.
    Ummm no? Prior to this game they were the fifth most efficient team in conference, and not even close to #1. This game may put them at #2, but no more.

    Do remember, they've looked best against a terrible NC State team and a BC Team without any defense (UNC has 6 turnovers so far. Ridiculous for anyone).

    Barnes looks good, sure, but really what's happened is they've had great D and run into a bunch of weak teams lately.

    This game is impressive since it's on the road. But that's all. Nothing more.
    <devildeac> anyone playing drinking games by now?
    7:49:36<Wander> drink every qb run?
    7:49:38<loran16> umm, drink every time asack rushes?
    7:49:38<wolfybeard> @devildeac: drink when Asack runs a keeper
    7:49:39 PM<CB&B> any time zack runs, drink

    Carolina Delenda Est

  14. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by kong123 View Post
    i tell you, as a UNC fan, it feels unbelievable to watch this team shoot it well. it has been such a struggle at times, and they are certainly not the best, most consistent team in the ACC right now, but they are showing signs of being the team everyone thought they could be. Like someone said up above, it always looks better when the ball goes in to the basket.
    A few more games like this and Barnes is one and done again - and even more likely if he leads them deep in the tourney

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Jun 2009
    i think with the talent we currently have, Reggie Bullock, and the talent we have coming in, PJ Hairston, we will be fine if we lose HB. We cannot afford to lose Zeller or Henson.

  16. #16
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Raleigh, NC
    Quote Originally Posted by kong123 View Post
    i think with the talent we currently have, Reggie Bullock, and the talent we have coming in, PJ Hairston, we will be fine if we lose HB. We cannot afford to lose Zeller or Henson.
    The amount of talent the heels can put on the floor THIS year is pretty ridiculous. Knox would start on most if not all other ACC teams. Everyone is offensively skilled. Now that roles have been more clearly defined the heels are just clicking and imposing the talent advantage they have already had. The one thing BC has done very little of is pressure the guards and expose some of the weakness that UNC still has. But with Marshall now assuming most of the duties in running the offense, this seems like less of a problem than it has been for the heels.
    "Just be you. You is Enough."

  17. #17
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Quote Originally Posted by ncexnyc View Post
    OMG, man the life boats, women and children first.
    Can we at least wait until the game is over before annoiting them ACC champs.
    Not sure why you're freaking out. I stated the obvious. If we lose to Md, UNC will be in first and get to play us next week without Kyrie. I stand by what I said.

  18. #18
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Location
    Fayetteville, NC
    Quote Originally Posted by Vincetaylor View Post
    Not sure why you're freaking out. I stated the obvious. If we lose to Md, UNC will be in first and get to play us next week without Kyrie. I stand by what I said.
    Freaking out? Hardly not. It's called sarcasm. I've been very supportive of UNC and Mr. Barnes especially, but there is still a lot of ball to be played before we say they've surpassed us. Tonight's win is indeed very impressive, but as others have pointed out something is wrong with BC. Reggie was the 2nd leading scorer in the ACC just a few short games ago and suddenly he's lucky if he can hit the backboard. I too want to see what they can do against FSU and Clemson before I make any declarations that they've surpassed us.

  19. #19
    I've considered BC to be a pretender for a while. The got an early season win over Maryland when the Terps stopped making foul shots toward the end of the game as well as early season wins over GT, UVA and NCSU. This led some to think that they were a very good team. Since then,Jackson seems to have hit a wall and even Trapani and a bunch of three-point goals could not get them within 30 points of the Heels last night. As a result, BC continues to drift toward the middle of the league standings. They still have three difficult road games and two tough home games. They are thin, don't rebound well and rely on a three-point game to offset their lack of inside play. At best I see a 9-7 record and a slight chance at making the NCAAT.

    gw67

  20. #20
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Seattle, WA
    NCSU misses Ryan Harrow, but even he wouldn't be able to help them box out - Virginia Tech has rebounded 14 of their 20 misses so far - yikes.
    Just be you. You is enough. - K, 4/5/10, 0:13.8 to play, 60-59 Duke.

    You're all jealous hypocrites. - Titus on Laettner

    You see those guys? Animals. They're animals. - SIU Coach Chris Lowery, on Duke

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