MBB: Miami-Florida 63, North Carolina-Chapel Hill 57

[throatybeard]

Roy Williams is not in the spirit of Kim Jong-Un's birthday.

[Dukehky]

I have always been cautious about gloating too much with UNC losses. This is a team that has nearly everyone coming back next year. There are few teams will have that many talented players as juniors and seniors. You cannot keep UNC down for long.

You nor I can keep them down for long... Roy can.

Totally just poking fun, because you're right. Roy get's himself a game changing point guard and this collection of players get a hell of a lot better (I don't think Berry is that guy, but maybe)

[roywhite]

I have always been cautious about gloating too much with UNC losses. This is a team that has nearly everyone coming back next year. There are few teams will have that many talented players as juniors and seniors. You cannot keep UNC down for long.

To each his own. I prefer to kick them when they are down.

They apparently have a good recruiting class coming in, but their returning players next year include only one proven shooter -- Paige, who prior to tonight's game accounted for fully two-thirds of the team's 3-pt shots made, 32 for Paige of a team total 48. For comparison, Duke has made 136 3-pt shots so far. So shooting will likely still be an issue for the 2014-15 Tarheels.

[richardjackson199]

I have always been cautious about gloating too much with UNC losses. This is a team that has nearly everyone coming back next year. There are few teams will have that many talented players as juniors and seniors. You cannot keep UNC down for long.

Nearly everyone coming back next year? Maybe, maybe not.

Well they do lose Senior extra-benefits leader Ol' McDonald. They might also lose Ol' Roy the way things are goin' with this sensationalist national media sayin' and thinkin' things about good Ol' UNC that they never said and thought before. The Ol' Boy sounded like he'd had 'bout enough to hear sonny-boy Scott interviewed by Bleacher Report. Ol' Roy said it's got to get better. It's got to. But 2014 is sayin that it ain't.

Ol Roy might just up and quit

[snowdenscold]

I rarely watch UNC games, but I caught a bunch of the first half while doing some chores - man that place is quiet. You could very clearly hear Roy, and it seemed like the crowd gave a golf applause when UNC got a contested rebound. Kind of eerie to listen to after being so used to Cameron.

Anyway, it also sounded like (and I could have misheard) one of the announcers trying to blame everything on the loss of Hairston. I believe he said they UNC was a "final four team" if he had been there as expected, and also that the only reason they didn't land Wiggins was because Roy didn't think he really needed him w/ PJ returning. Seemed way overly apologetic...

[dukelifer]

That's *why* you have to enjoy UNC losses.

I enjoy the losses - but quietly. And I enjoy watching their fans self destruct. As some have pointed out- Roy may decide to pack it in- but I doubt it. This is a strange team. Shooting is an issue for sure. But like vampires- they are hard to keep down.

[wsb3]

Time to drink the rest of my ale and mosey on over to insidecarolina for the meltdown.

They never disappoint do they?

[oldnavy]

I rarely watch UNC games, but I caught a bunch of the first half while doing some chores - man that place is quiet. You could very clearly hear Roy, and it seemed like the crowd gave a golf applause when UNC got a contested rebound. Kind of eerie to listen to after being so used to Cameron.

Anyway, it also sounded like (and I could have misheard) one of the announcers trying to blame everything on the loss of Hairston. I believe he said they UNC was a "final four team" if he had been there as expected, and also that the only reason they didn't land Wiggins was because Roy didn't think he really needed him w/ PJ returning. Seemed way overly apologetic...

I heard that as well. So Roy didn't sign Wiggins because he didn't think he would need him? I have to throw the BS flag on that.

Let me get this straight, you cold shoulder the number one recruit in HS based on your hope that you don't lose anyone to the draft?

Yeah, right. Has Roy not seen McAdoo play? I'd take Wiggins over him right now...

If he did do that, then he needs to resign immediately because he has lost all of his remaining sense.

I suspect this is just more delusional thinking from Roy and UNC, thinking that all they have to do is ask and ANY kid would fall over themselves to come to UNC... so when one decides to not come to UNC it is because they really didn't want them... heard all this before.

[JasonEvans]

Paige and McDonald combined to go 5-27 (18.5%) from the field including 4-18 (22%) from 3-point land. That's their two best perimeter players. Seeing as PJ was especially strong at putting the ball in the basket from the perimeter, I can see how having PJ would be a really big deal to this team. But he ain't playing for Carolina ever again.

Ready for a crazy stat? Carolina had 16 assists on 20 made FGs. That's an 80% assist rate. HUGE! I have lately become a major devotee of A-to-FGM rate as a key indicator. If you doubt its importance, look at the assist rate for Duke's opponents in the games we lose. If we give up mid-teens in assists and allow more than a 55% assist rate, we are going down (or almost going down, in the case of the Vermont game).

So, how to explain Carolina's crazy, absurd 80% assist rate with 16 total assists in a game where UNC lost? Of course, the answer is the fact that they only had 20 made FGs, a very small number (especially for a team that does not hit many 3-pointers). The simple truth for this Carolina team is that they cannot score on their own. They must have a pass that sets them up for an easy hoop or the ball ain't going into the basket. They are woefully offensively challenged.

-Jason "Roy ain't retiring, but I bet he is getting quite frustrated. He really needs wings who can score!" Evans

[Dev11]

I watched a good bit of the game, and my favorite moment was when one of the Miami player (Brown, I think), picked up his third foul early in the second half. One of the announcers pointed out that Brown may not have realized that he was called for the foul, and then the camera moved to Larranaga, whom I hear shout clear as day, "That's your third foul!"

When's the last time you could hear an opposing coach shout a whole sentence at a player in Cameron?

Quotes I saw this morning from Roy during his presser were not fun. He sounds like he's going to spend today staring glumly out the window and dreaming about golf.

[Matches]

Given UNC's performance against middling competition this year, their first round NIT game is going to be a tough one.

[weezie]

I enjoy the losses - but quietly. And I enjoy watching their fans self destruct. As some have pointed out- Roy may decide to pack it in- but I doubt it. This is a strange team. Shooting is an issue for sure. But like vampires- they are hard to keep down.

dukelifer nails it. It's an 'uneasy feeling' season all around. That so-called team over there has the attention span of a flea but still...
we'll need our Duke Blue wooden stakes.

[OldPhiKap]

Quotes I saw this morning from Roy during his presser were not fun. He sounds like he's going to spend today staring glumly out the window and dreaming about golf.

He's not in the daggum winter spirit.

[TruBlu]

I watched a good bit of the game, and my favorite moment was when one of the Miami player (Brown, I think), picked up his third foul early in the second half. One of the announcers pointed out that Brown may not have realized that he was called for the foul, and then the camera moved to Larranaga, whom I hear shout clear as day, "That's your third foul!"

When's the last time you could hear an opposing coach shout a whole sentence at a player in Cameron?

Quotes I saw this morning from Roy during his presser were not fun. He sounds like he's going to spend today staring glumly out the window and dreaming about golf.

Or practice target shooting with his BB gun. Do not wear any red clothing around Chapel Hill today.

[roywhite]

What is the stress-meter reading on Ole Roy these days? Near the top I'd guess, maybe even pegged at the highest reading?

Just on the short list of his woes:
The whole Hairston saga and Roy's disappointment in his own school's administration for not trying harder to keep the kid eligible
A former player staying at his house getting busted
The long playing story of academic abuses at UNC that involved many basketball players as well as football players
His school the subject of lengthy (if not harsh) NCAA scrutiny
Neighboring rival Coach K still going strong with Olympic glory and Duke currently having the upper hand in the rivalry
A more difficult recruiting environment for the Heels -- losing prospects to various schools including Duke and Kentucky
A current bunch of players that simply can't shoot straight
His issues with vertigo
Etc., Etc.

I enjoy seeing the Tarheels lose, but I don't really wish a total meltdown or health emergency for Ole Roy.
Does he bail out at some point? And I'd guess he won't go quietly. I'm thinking tears and drama.

[weezie]

I enjoy seeing the Tarheels lose, but I don't really wish a total meltdown or health emergency for Ole Roy.
Does he bail out at some point? And I'd guess he won't go quietly. I'm thinking tears and drama.

Geez roywhite, you're making me feel bad for the guy. I'm not kidding!
Let's save that for after the season, please?
Ol'roy will then have all those unused timeouts with which to contemplate his future.

[OldPhiKap]

What is the stress-meter reading on Ole Roy these days? Near the top I'd guess, maybe even pegged at the highest reading?

Just on the short list of his woes:
The whole Hairston saga and Roy's disappointment in his own school's administration for not trying harder to keep the kid eligible
A former player staying at his house getting busted
The long playing story of academic abuses at UNC that involved many basketball players as well as football players
His school the subject of lengthy (if not harsh) NCAA scrutiny
Neighboring rival Coach K still going strong with Olympic glory and Duke currently having the upper hand in the rivalry
A more difficult recruiting environment for the Heels -- losing prospects to various schools including Duke and Kentucky
A current bunch of players that simply can't shoot straight
His issues with vertigo
Etc., Etc.

I enjoy seeing the Tarheels lose, but I don't really wish a total meltdown or health emergency for Ole Roy.
Does he bail out at some point? And I'd guess he won't go quietly. I'm thinking tears and drama.

I'm not sure this is what he envisioned by returning to Carolina.

He won two NC's for them, and the fans are absolutely ripping him. At least, a sizable portion of the fan base.

Good thing he gets paid millions of dollars a year, otherwise it would hardly be worth it.

It would be really easy to just go to the beach, play golf, and look back on a HOF career.

[oldnavy]

What is the stress-meter reading on Ole Roy these days? Near the top I'd guess, maybe even pegged at the highest reading?

Just on the short list of his woes:
The whole Hairston saga and Roy's disappointment in his own school's administration for not trying harder to keep the kid eligible
A former player staying at his house getting busted
The long playing story of academic abuses at UNC that involved many basketball players as well as football players
His school the subject of lengthy (if not harsh) NCAA scrutiny
Neighboring rival Coach K still going strong with Olympic glory and Duke currently having the upper hand in the rivalry
A more difficult recruiting environment for the Heels -- losing prospects to various schools including Duke and Kentucky
A current bunch of players that simply can't shoot straight
His issues with vertigo
Etc., Etc.

I enjoy seeing the Tarheels lose, but I don't really wish a total meltdown or health emergency for Ole Roy.
Does he bail out at some point? And I'd guess he won't go quietly. I'm thinking tears and drama.

Melt down would be kinda of fun to watch honestly, but I'm with you and hope the best for Roy on a personal level, I only wish bad things on him professionally!

[rsvman]

It seems that they really DID need Hairston, at least in games against inferior opponents.



When they play against good teams, they're fine without him.

[nocilla]

It seems that they really DID need Hairston, at least in games against inferior opponents.



When they play against good teams, they're fine without him.

Which is a concern for when we play them. (Assuming we are good, which I do) The way to beat UNC seems to be to zone them and force them to score from the perimeter. They are much more comfortable scoring in the paint through post play and dribble penetration. Duke's defense is the opposite of that. Now I certainly expect our defense to continue improving but looking at the style of play, UNC matches up with us very well.