alex stephenson leaving UNC...

[threelobed]

http://newsandrecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080516/NRSTAFF/694250006

surprised no one has posted this yet. not too shocked to see some size finally starting to migrate out of CH...

[BlueDevilBaby]

I don't think he would have left were it not for family health concerns. Good luck, Alex. I hope all works out for him and his family.

[TwoDukeTattoos]

Suddenly, Duke is looking like the stronger team heading into 08-09.

[heath_harshman4]

Suddenly, Duke is looking like the stronger team heading into 08-09.

my sentiments exactly.

[sandinmyshoes]

This helps our depth versus theirs in the post. But I wouldn't get too excited. Some of my fellow fans who will trumpet this as serious blow to UNC will be the same ones who discounted Stepheson as a player. Or they'll be the ones who were predicting chemistry problems because of all the depth. Now, all of a sudden, what actually addresses one of their negative suppositions will suddenly become a negative itself!

For me, I like the fact that this should hurt their interior defense and muscle. Aside from Hansbrough, they won't have much in the way of physically strong players in the paint. Davis is a great shot blocker, but very thin.

[TheDuke11]

this just means more time for ed davis which is a bad thing for everyone else.

[Duvall]

this just means more time for ed davis which is a bad thing for everyone else.

But he'll be playing out of position, as he's a college 4 and an NBA 3! Surely this means UNC is DOOMED.

[Devilsfan]

Rub a dub dub, one less heel in the tub.

[mgtr]

Rub-a-dub-dive, another scholarship to give! Maybe they will bring in a better player.

[Duvall]

Rub a dub dub, one less heel in the tub.

We don't need this. Leave that for Terp fans and other losers.

[Ignatius07]

This helps our depth versus theirs in the post. But I wouldn't get too excited. Some of my fellow fans who will trumpet this as serious blow to UNC will be the same ones who discounted Stepheson as a player. Or they'll be the ones who were predicting chemistry problems because of all the depth. Now, all of a sudden, what actually addresses one of their negative suppositions will suddenly become a negative itself!

For me, I like the fact that this should hurt their interior defense and muscle. Aside from Hansbrough, they won't have much in the way of physically strong players in the paint. Davis is a great shot blocker, but very thin.

Great post, Sand. I actually don't think this will make a big difference given how many post players they have currently and in the next year. Stepheson is good enough to start at a lot of places, so it's not too surprising to see him leave.

Stepheson's departure certainly does not sway the balance one way or the other in the Duke-Carolina axis; the only way it could really significantly hurt UNC is if Thompson or Davis were to get injured (I exempt Hansbrough here because losing him would be dramatic and likely create insurmountable obstacles for a team without Lawson and maybe Green and Ellington as well).

[SMO]

All of UNC's transfers are big men! It's a crisis! :eek:

[JasonEvans]

Put me in the camp that thinks this is net-net a positive for Carolina in the long run as it will allow them to more easily give minutes to the freshmen big men coming in. It will keep those freshmen happier and not leave UNC with a grumbling upperclassman on the bench.

Sure, they lose some toughness inside in Stephenson and I think he would have been a more effective player for at least the first 2/3rds of the season, particularly as a rebounder and defender, than the freshmen will be but this is not something that dramatically affects Carolina's fortunes next season.

--Jason "FWIW, I am hearing that Ellington and Lawson will likely both stay in the draft" Evans

[sandinmyshoes]

--Jason "FWIW, I am hearing that Ellington and Lawson will likely both stay in the draft" Evans

Not to change the subject of the thread, but my UNC friends report hearing the same thing. From what they say it would be especially unlikely that Lawson returned.

[MarkD83]

I know that on this board we prefer to analyze Duke's depth more than other reams but it is the off season. So here is UNC next year. I will assume that Jason is correct and Ellington and Lawson stay in the draft.

I will also place players in three groups; Guard, Wing (SG or SF), Bigs

Bigs:
Hansbrough
Thompson
Davis (fr)
Zeller (fr)

Wings:
Ginyard
Graves
Green

Guards:
Frasor
Drew (fr)

Of the freshman you can probably count on Davis to be ready to go right away but the other freshman will have to make the adjustment to the college game.

So, that means a team that is 7 deep reliably with only one point guard.

Their strength is still in the front court but UNC will not be as intimidating on paper as this year's team.

Am I missing someone.

Mark

[moonpie23]

Am I missing someone.

Mark

uhhhh....yeah.....that coach who can't win the big one with his own team.....

[roywhite]

I had barely worked up a dislike for Stepheson and he leaves already. Oh well, this Zeller, who resembles Dean Smith facially, sounds promising. :)

[RelativeWays]

I knew this was going to happen. Once Beaker decided to stay and you have two more bigs Zeller and Davis (or is it Drew, I can't keep them straight) coming in next year, and you still have Deon Thompson, Stepheson was going to bolt because he is waaaaay undervalued at UNC. Get 'im JD !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[ugadevil]

Maybe Stephenson can look up Jamal Boykin. Jamal seems like a person that would be willing to help someone who's having family troubles when you're far away from home, seeing as how he went through a very similar situation.

[dukelion]

I don't want to make light of the kids family concerns but this really is the best thing for him in terms of his basketball career.

I posted a while back that a transfer or two was inevitable with all the bigs they've recruited. Davis, Zeller, Wear 1, Wear 2, and John Henson are all on the way.....not to mention Hansbrough and Thompson are still ahead of him.

UNC's frontcourt depth is now a bit of a concern. Zeller is more of a finesse 4 who plays more like a 3. Davis is pretty raw from the recent scouting reports I've read about him and in general with any freshman you are just not sure of what you are getting.

If Lawson and Ellington leave (as speculated) then UNC will have big concerns as they'll be thin everywhere. They'll also lack quality scorers......Green moves up to the second option but after that they are woefully thin.

Looks like Hansbrough's career is mimicing Redick's........4 great years.....some good runs......loads of records......but in the end probably not a championship.

[freshmanjs]

Stepheson not Stephenson

[Olympic Fan]

Their strength is still in the front court but UNC will not be as intimidating on paper as this year's team.

Am I missing someone.

Mark

Just a small miss, but you left out rising senior Mike Copeland, a 6-7, 235-pound post player who has seen almost no significant action over the last three years.

He's also coming off ACL surgery and won't even be ready to practice until November. In fact, if he were a real player, he'd almost certainly redshirt next season -- but since he's so marginal, I think they go ahead and move him out to open up his scholarship.

Easy to forget Copeland -- he was like of like their version of Andre Buckner. Remember, Coach K signed Buckner as a practice player after Avery's unexpected defection to the NCAA left Duke without a guard other than incoming freshman Jason Williams. Roy signed Copeland -- a very marginal recruit -- after unexpectedly losing May AND Williams after the 2005 title run.

Anyway, I don't think Copeland changes anything -- he was behind Stepheson on the depth chart and even without the injury, he would have been behind the two freshmen.

I think Stepheson's defection is a minor blow -- he was good depth in the post in case of an injury to Thompson or Davis -- but I think Davis, as raw as he might be, is a better talent. A three-man post rotation of Hansbrough, Thompson and Davis will be fine -- and being the third big off the bench will be a perfect way to break in the talented Davis.

No, any problems UNC might have next season will come on the perimeter, if Lawson and/or Ellington don't return.

Interesting the change in UNC's big man recruiting direction. After bringing in a string of traditional post players (Hansbrough, Thompson, Stepheson, Davis), Roy has suddenly gone nuts for K-style inside/outside big men (Zeller, Henson and the Wear twins).

[Ignatius07]

Looks like Hansbrough's career is mimicing Redick's........4 great years.....some good runs......loads of records......but in the end probably not a championship.

I've thought of that comparison as well. They both have routinely great regular seasons and then the postseason has been disappointing. And I don't mean just not winning a title, because that is very hard to do. But going out in spectacular fashion. For Redick, he just rarely played well in the NCAA Tournament past the first weekend, and was almost historically bad in some of our losses. Hansbrough has been better in the NCAA Tournament, but UNC has had 3 truly awful (no matter how you dice it) losses in a row in the NCAAT:

2006: Mid-major George Mason (I know they beat UConn and I think MSU as well, but they're still a mid-major with less talent).
2007: Epic collapse against Georgetown.
2008: 40-12.

[kramerbr]

It will be interesting to see where UNC uses this scholarship...2008? (not sure if there is any truth to Derozan) 2009? 2010?

[jimbonelson]

classy thing to say about alex by dbr on main page:confused:

[speedevil]

Stepheson not Stephenson

i dont care how you wanna spell his name, he's a weak player compared to dion thompson, but he is transfering because tyler hansbrough stayed in college reducing is chance for playing time and now that davis and zeller are on their way in, they are gonna need and now get more playing time.

[ugadevil]

classy thing to say about alex by dbr on main page:confused:

Yeah, I thought their response was rather bizarre. Hope Alex is able to find himself in a better situation that works with his family circumstances.

[sandinmyshoes]

Unfortunately, it has always been possible to tell just how well UNC was doing in basketball by just how juvenile DBR seems at any given time when discussing the program. Still, it is a "fan's joint," and it only becomes annoying because they keep slipping in and out of their voice as fans and a quasi-journalistic approach.

[RelativeWays]

classy thing to say about alex by dbr on main page:confused:


Sometimes poking fun at Huckleberry Hound is easy and natural, this time it was pretty forced and immature. What was he supposed to say "He wants to leave, so screw him. I'm glad he's gone." Stepheson contributed a lot to this year's UNC team, especially on the defensive end and he seemed to improve a bit offensively, especially when Thompson was out with the knee energy. Anyway, I know we're arch enemies and everything that goes with that, but to we really need to force ridicule into everything UNC? It looks petty and obsessed. Do you think Batman would blog this nonsense about the Joker.......if Batman was real and kept a blog that is?

[sandinmyshoes]

Not to mention that with just a bit of patience, something more natural is bound to come along. :D

[captmojo]

I don't want a mental visual of Ol Roy blanking anyone.:D

[Highlander]

During the whole 'Taylor King is leaving; our program is in turmoil' thread a while back, it was repeatedly stated that Roy Williams wouldn't have any transfers soon, (despite having 3 upperclassmen and 2 Freshman PF/C players on next year's roster, with a net increase of +2 the following year) because he's better at player relations than K.

Jumbo, I believe, made the statement that he wouldn't be at all surprised if one of Carolina's big men 'projects' decided to transfer within the next two years for one reason or another, due to the glut of talent at that position. At the time, most everyone was wallowing in self pity and figured Roy could do no wrong, so whoever he was debating with didn't buy it as likely. I had my doubts too.

Lo and behold, Jumbo was right on the money. Again.

[-jk]

Lo and behold, Jumbo was right on the money. Again.

Scary, ain't it?

[RelativeWays]

Did I post that Deon Thompson was out with a knee energy? Must be some dangerous electro-static discharge thats a threat to other players on the court. Sheesh, its scary what you'll post when you're trying to do other things at the same time.

[Stray Gator]

Did I post that Deon Thompson was out with a knee energy? Must be some dangerous electro-static discharge thats a threat to other players on the court. Sheesh, its scary what you'll post when you're trying to do other things at the same time.

Oh, I just assumed from your post that he was suffering a severe case of "restless leg syndrome." I really do need to cut back on watching so much TV... :D

[Classof06]

Suddenly, Duke is looking like the stronger team heading into 08-09.

I think this statement is a little premature. That being said, even if I do feel UNC looks stronger, that doesn't change the fact that they did last year and we still probably should have swept them.

We'll need to wait and see what Lawson and Ellington do. Even though they've kept their names in the draft longer than I expected, I'd be utterly shocked if neither returned to Chapel Hill for next season. I'm not even going to discuss Danny Green because he had no business putting his name in the draft to begin with.

And with Zeller and Davis coming in with Thompson and Hansbrough still on campus, I don't think they have any deficiencies in the frontcourt at all. I'd be willing to bet Zeller and Davis can combine to replace Stepheson's output and the bottom line is that most teams (including Duke) still have no answer for Hansbrough.