ACC Roundup 11/19

[gw67]

I agree with DBR in their assessment of the UNC – Kentucky. I haven’t seen a Kentucky team look that bad for a long time. The Heels just looked OK to me although Thompson and Davis had good games. Lawson didn’t shoot well but he got others involved and had 9 assists.

BC had a tough time with St. John’s before pulling away. Rice is the best point guard in the ACC if Lawson isn’t but he tends to dribble too much for my taste. Trapani is a good all around player but, IMO, he is playing out of position because of the lack of big men on the BC roster. Like Singler, I think his best position would be on the wing.

Florida State beat LaSalle in an away game (How novel!). Many of the ACC teams use 3-4 guards and one big man. Florida State is a little different. They start Douglas, three forwards and a center (7-1 Alabi). As might be expected, the Noles had a little trouble handling the ball last night (13 assists to 18 turnovers). I note that the game was played at Tom Gola Arena. Gola was the top player in college ball when I was growing up in the mid-50’s and later was a solid player for the great Sixers teams.

The ACC is now 22-0. Both the PAC-10 (15-4) and Southeastern (16-4) Conferences have stubbed their toes coming out of the gate.

gw67

[davekay1971]

Echoing the sentiments above about KY-UNC. KY was so bad that it was tough to guage if UNC was really that good. I can think of 20 teams that would have come out the gate 24-6 against KY with the Deadcats playing that way...including us. If anything, I'd be a little concerned if I was UNC that they let KY play them evenly the rest of the way.

BC didn't look ready to make much noise in the ACC. Rice is good enough to keep them in games, but they shouldn't win many games against the top half of the ACC.

Has anyone seen anything of NCSU? I saw the box score from their win at New Orleans. It looks like rumors of Costner being alive and well are true. If he and McCauley can return to form this year, I think State will be a better team than last year.

[davekay1971]

A thorough ACC roundup also needs to deal with Hansbrough's wardrobe last night. What was with the black (or was it dark brown?) suit over a black t-shirt? My wife had speculation that would get me banned from this board to repeat, but it made me love her Carolina-hatin' sweetness even more.

[sandinmyshoes]

I think some of you are sell UNC short in the first ten minutes of that game. That was some of the most intense defensive pressure I've seen from a UNC team since the Dean Smith era ended. Yes, UK made some unforced errors, but a lot of that originated in them being rattled by the UNC pressure.

If I were a UNC fan, I'd be more worried that the team didn't keep that kind of pressure going. If Kentucky had been hitting a few more open shots that game could have become interesting. Though I suppose that if UNC had been hitting freethrows it might have been even more of a yawner.

[pfrduke]

I agree with DBR in their assessment of the UNC – Kentucky. I haven’t seen a Kentucky team look that bad for a long time. The Heels just looked OK to me although Thompson and Davis had good games. Lawson didn’t shoot well but he got others involved and had 9 assists.

BC had a tough time with St. John’s before pulling away. Rice is the best point guard in the ACC if Lawson isn’t but he tends to dribble too much for my taste. Trapani is a good all around player but, IMO, he is playing out of position because of the lack of big men on the BC roster. Like Singler, I think his best position would be on the wing.

Florida State beat LaSalle in an away game (How novel!). Many of the ACC teams use 3-4 guards and one big man. Florida State is a little different. They start Douglas, three forwards and a center (7-1 Alabi). As might be expected, the Noles had a little trouble handling the ball last night (13 assists to 18 turnovers). I note that the game was played at Tom Gola Arena. Gola was the top player in college ball when I was growing up in the mid-50’s and later was a solid player for the great Sixers teams.

The ACC is now 22-0. Both the PAC-10 (15-4) and Southeastern (16-4) Conferences have stubbed their toes coming out of the gate.

gw67

FSU is going to have a lot of trouble in conference. They're short on depth and talent, and Toney Douglas is essentially an island in the backcourt. The two early wins (over Jacksonville by 2, over La Salle by 4) don't really bode well.

Maryland also looked impressive last night, particularly on the defensive side of the ball (they held Youngstown to 7-30 from the field, including 0-11 from three, in the first half), but I still worry that the offense is too over-reliant on Vazquez.


A thorough ACC roundup also needs to deal with Hansbrough's wardrobe last night. What was with the black (or was it dark brown?) suit over a black t-shirt? My wife had speculation that would get me banned from this board to repeat, but it made me love her Carolina-hatin' sweetness even more.

It was a disaster. A wonderful, hideous disaster.

[gw67]

I forgot to address the Terps victory over Youngstown State. I listened to the game while watching parts of the BC/UNC games. Based on the color commentator and a review of the stats, they shot poorly, were out rebounded and did not handle the ball well against an inferior opponent. Apparently, they played good defense and Vasquez had an outstanding game. Perhaps letting Hayes handle the ball more has helped reduce the pressure on Vasquez and he has more energy on offense. Their big man problems appear to be very real and Milbourne is playing out of position at PF. Vasquez, Hayes and Milbourne are solid ACC quality players. Based on the preseason and first game, Tucker and Bowie have improved significantly over their freshmen years, and based on initial observations, Kim will be a star and Mosley a solid player while at Maryland. Unless a miracle happens and one of the big men step up, the Terps' season will depend on the offensive and defensive contributions of their seven perimeter players.

gw67

[just_wondering]

I forgot to address the Terps victory over Youngstown State. I listened to the game while watching parts of the BC/UNC games. Based on the color commentator and a review of the stats, they shot poorly, were out rebounded and did not handle the ball well against an inferior opponent. Apparently, they played good defense and Vasquez had an outstanding game. Perhaps letting Hayes handle the ball more has helped reduce the pressure on Vasquez and he has more energy on offense. Their big man problems appear to be very real and Milbourne is playing out of position at PF. Vasquez, Hayes and Milbourne are solid ACC quality players. Based on the preseason and first game, Tucker and Bowie have improved significantly over their freshmen years, and based on initial observations, Kim will be a star and Mosley a solid player while at Maryland. Unless a miracle happens and one of the big men step up, the Terps' season will depend on the offensive and defensive contributions of their seven perimeter players.

gw67

GW67,

I agree with a lot of what you say although I will quibble about whether or not Maryland handled the ball well last night. I thought that the ball handling was good enough. I think that Dino Gregory and Steve Goins will be the big men that will step up by the year's end.
What is interesting is that Gary has been criticizing the fan support pretty consistently this year. I don't think he'd do that if he really thought Maryland was headed for a bad year.
Tucker had a really off shooting night last night but he has the potential to be as good this year as Vasquez was last year. Hayes is much better this year and it was his steal and dunk that woke up the team. Kim is further along than expected but it will be Hayes-Tucker-Vasquez and Mosley that will carry the team.

[gw67]

j w - Thanks for your first hand observations. The radio color man (Knoche ?) was not real complementary about the offensive play last night except for Vasquez and Hayes. I am looking forward to seeing them play.

gw67

[DoubleDuke Dad]

The ACC is still undefeated after big wins by Wake Forest and Clemson and a squeaker by Virginia. Hopefully after tomorrow night the ACC will still not have lost a game.