Zion Williamson Knee Vigil

[HereBeforeCoachK]

Just a reminder for those who still buy into the myth that UNC players are more respectful of the Duke program than their fans:

Attachment 9107

The gentlemen gleefully exhibiting their "Carolina Class" at the 2009 Final Four are, from left to right, former UNC players Vince Carter, Julius Peppers, Makhtar N'diaye & Antawn Jamison.

yeah that one picture proves the point....../s

And if I'm not mistaken, everybody who said this admitted that there were exceptions....

[dukelifer]

I still strongly disagree with this.

Well- I am sure you have a good reason- but UNC is 11-2 in the ACC. They do not have an easy schedule but their three most difficult games are at home. So they have an advantage and could win out. That puts them in strong position for the regular season title (a tie or win)- and an excellent resume- particularly if they beat Duke at full strength. So I think they are in a good position- either as a 1 seed or a strong 2 seed at this point. As for a FF- they do have a coach with considerable tourney experience and success - so it is not outrageous to think they are capable of making that run. Time will tell.

[Troublemaker]

Well- I am sure you have a good reason- but UNC is 11-2 in the ACC. They do not have an easy schedule but their three most difficult games are at home. So they have an advantage and could win out. That puts them in strong position for the regular season title (a tie or win)- and an excellent resume- particularly if they beat Duke at full strength. So I think they are in a good position- either as a 1 seed or a strong 2 seed at this point. As for a FF- they do have a coach with considerable tourney experience and success - so it is not outrageous to think they are capable of making that run. Time will tell.

UNC was the lowest-ranking #2 seed (Bracket Matrix) as of yesterday. They have to do much more.

When Zion got hurt, that actually damaged UNC's chances at a #1 seed (or at least was neutral). The win at Duke can't be looked at the same.

[HereBeforeCoachK]

Well- I am sure you have a good reason- but UNC is 11-2 in the ACC. They do not have an easy schedule but their three most difficult games are at home. So they have an advantage and could win out. That puts them in strong position for the regular season title (a tie or win)- and an excellent resume- particularly if they beat Duke at full strength. So I think they are in a good position- either as a 1 seed or a strong 2 seed at this point. As for a FF- they do have a coach with considerable tourney experience and success - so it is not outrageous to think they are capable of making that run. Time will tell.

I think Kedsy was disagreeing with the idea that "all that matters" is the impact of what you said...not what you said per se. I took Kedsy to mean that the lack of pub UNCheats were getting - the fact that Zion and Duke were still the story nationally - was in fact very important in the grand scheme.

Perhaps he'll drop by and clarify.

[oldnavy]

Boy I hope so...



Very

They would have to double back to get to crazy...

[Kedsy]

I think Kedsy was disagreeing with the idea that "all that matters" is the impact of what you said...not what you said per se. I took Kedsy to mean that the lack of pub UNCheats were getting - the fact that Zion and Duke were still the story nationally - was in fact very important in the grand scheme.

Perhaps he'll drop by and clarify.

Actually, I was being more literal in this case. What I meant was that I don't think this win "puts them in a position for a number 1 seed and getting to the FF is well within their reach." Those things are not significantly more likely than they were before the game. Could UNC be a #1 and get to the Final Four? Sure, almost anything's possible. But both those things were long shots before the game and are still long shots.

If UNC wins out the regular season and the ACC tournament, then maybe I'll change my tune. For now, I don't see it.

[plimnko]

Just a reminder for those who still buy into the myth that UNC players are more respectful of the Duke program than their fans:

Attachment 9107

The gentlemen gleefully exhibiting their "Carolina Class" at the 2009 Final Four are, from left to right, former UNC players Vince Carter, Julius Peppers, Makhtar N'diaye & Antawn Jamison.

i used to think the turdheels spelled DUKE, I'm a real wanker for saying this.I'm a real wanker for saying this.I'm a real wanker for saying this.I'm a real wanker for saying this. because they saw it as being derogatory. i didn't realize it was because they couldn't spell.

[devildeac]

Just a reminder for those who still buy into the myth that UNC players are more respectful of the Duke program than their fans:

Attachment 9107

The gentlemen gleefully exhibiting their "Carolina Class" at the 2009 Final Four are, from left to right, former UNC players Vince Carter, Julius Peppers, Makhtar N'diaye & Antawn Jamison.

Swahili spelling of Duke in their cheap cardboard sign?

Peppers probably helped with that one with his falsely elevated 1.84 GPA.

[scottdude8]

I don't believe this was ever explicitly linked to yet, so here's the source on Zion not playing tomorrow. Jeff Goodman is reliable so I'd take any hopes of him playing tomorrow off the board.

Again, though, with the news being as good as we could've hoped with regards to the injury it makes perfect sense not to rush Zion back. As I mentioned before, I don't think him missing this game will share that many parallels with Tre/Cam missing the first round with the Orange (as many are jumping too), as we need a distributor and a shooter to beat the 2-3 zone. OBVIOUSLY we will miss Zion, but if there's one matchup where his immense skillset might be slightly negated, it's against a good, long 2-3 zone.

All of that is a long way of saying that I'm still feeling confident about tomorrow with K having three days to make a Zion-less gameplan.

[JayZee]

I don't believe this was ever explicitly linked to yet, so here's the source on Zion not playing tomorrow. Jeff Goodman is reliable so I'd take any hopes of him playing tomorrow off the board.

Again, though, with the news being as good as we could've hoped with regards to the injury it makes perfect sense not to rush Zion back. As I mentioned before, I don't think him missing this game will share that many parallels with Tre/Cam missing the first round with the Orange (as many are jumping too), as we need a distributor and a shooter to beat the 2-3 zone. OBVIOUSLY we will miss Zion, but if there's one matchup where his immense skillset might be slightly negated, it's against a good, long 2-3 zone.

All of that is a long way of saying that I'm still feeling confident about tomorrow with K having three days to make a Zion-less gameplan.

Agree with almost everything you said, except for Zion versus the 2-3. He's almost built to negate the 2-3 by being the go to guy at the FT line. I'd imagine that now falls to RJ, not a bad backup choice...

[scottdude8]

Agree with almost everything you said, except for Zion versus the 2-3. He's almost built to negate the 2-3 by being the go to guy at the FT line. I'd imagine that now falls to RJ, not a bad backup choice...

If the beginning of the first Syracuse game was any indication, while Zion was going to play some at the high post, that was primarily going to be RJs job. I think the biggest side effect of Tre's injury was that it forced RJ to run the offense from the top of the key and not from the high post. Zion's role on a full strength team against a 2-3 would probably be more along the lines of running the baseline and finding holes in the low post when the middle man is drawn up by getting the ball to the high post (probably with RJ). Obviously Zion is the best option to do that (he's the best option to do almost anything on the basketball court!), but that's a role that can be filled by Marques reasonably well (heck, Marshall used to do it to perfection, and we know as much as we loved him he was limited).

All that said, Zion is maybe the one player in America who could slice through a 2-3 zone and finish in all that traffic on his own. So in NO WAY am I saying he won't be missed. I'm just saying we'll miss him more against teams that play man-to-man and score more from the paint than against a guard-oriented zone team.

[JayZee]

If the beginning of the first Syracuse game was any indication, while Zion was going to play some at the high post, that was primarily going to be RJs job. I think the biggest side effect of Tre's injury was that it forced RJ to run the offense from the top of the key and not from the high post. Zion's role on a full strength team against a 2-3 would probably be more along the lines of running the baseline and finding holes in the low post when the middle man is drawn up by getting the ball to the high post (probably with RJ). Obviously Zion is the best option to do that (he's the best option to do almost anything on the basketball court!), but that's a role that can be filled by Marques reasonably well (heck, Marshall used to do it to perfection, and we know as much as we loved him he was limited).

All that said, Zion is maybe the one player in America who could slice through a 2-3 zone and finish in all that traffic on his own. So in NO WAY am I saying he won't be missed. I'm just saying we'll miss him more against teams that play man-to-man and score more from the paint than against a guard-oriented zone team.

I retract my opinion and agree with everything you said. And thanks for being gentle...

[scottdude8]

I retract my opinion and agree with everything you said. And thanks for being gentle...

No thanks necessary, that's how we do things around here And your opinion was in no way invalid! Unfortunately now we'll never really know how a full-strength version of this Duke team would attack the 2-3. I would imagine that Zion would find himself operating at the high post at some points in that scenario, to be sure... I just think that all indications are that role was primarily intended for R.J.

The other factor: I would imagine (again, in a full-strength scenario) that K would run Jack (if he wasn't in such a horrific slump) or Alex out slightly more than Marques to spread out the zone, and thus open things up for some more dump-downs and lobs to Zion on the baseline. Yes, Cuse has some height, but that height doesn't contain a true "post-up" scorer of which I'm aware, meaning Zion could be the 5 on defense.

[JayZee]

No thanks necessary, that's how we do things around here And your opinion was in no way invalid! Unfortunately now we'll never really know how a full-strength version of this Duke team would attack the 2-3. I would imagine that Zion would find himself operating at the high post at some points in that scenario, to be sure... I just think that all indications are that role was primarily intended for R.J.

The other factor: I would imagine (again, in a full-strength scenario) that K would run Jack (if he wasn't in such a horrific slump) or Alex out slightly more than Marques to spread out the zone, and thus open things up for some more dump-downs and lobs to Zion on the baseline. Yes, Cuse has some height, but that height doesn't contain a true "post-up" scorer of which I'm aware, meaning Zion could be the 5 on defense.

There would surely be some behind the zone lobs available for Zion. We will clearly miss his gravitational effect on the D (whether 2-3 or man-man if he misses more games)

If somehow we can just get Jack out of his slump, it would have such a great effect long term for this team. We clearly don't need him like we need Zion (Captain Obvious here) but we will need some outside shooting besides Cam and RJ.

One quibble, that not how everyone does things around here...

[ACCfaninVirginia]

I think it is funny that they are highlighting the fact that they won because of a shoe failure/injury.

Perhaps there is a version with the 1 page 6 sentence thesis printed on the back.

[DrChainsaw]

Just a reminder for those who still buy into the myth that UNC players are more respectful of the Duke program than their fans:

Attachment 9107

The gentlemen gleefully exhibiting their "Carolina Class" at the 2009 Final Four are, from left to right, former UNC players Vince Carter, Julius Peppers, Makhtar N'diaye & Antawn Jamison.e

Can't speak to the other three, but I never needed reminding that Makhtar N'diaye is a classless individual.

[HereBeforeCoachK]

Can't speak to the other three, but I never needed reminding that Makhtar N'diaye is a classless individual.

He was the worst I can remember, worse in some ways that Hansborough, who I also could not stand.

[wavedukefan70s]

Makhtar N'diaye may be the only unc player that can actually speak swahili. Tanzania is a long ways from Senegal though.

[hudlow]

I have a vision of a T-Shirt that includes a Ram, a busted shoe and a place where the sun don't shine.

hud

[BandAlum83]

Unreadable.

As per usual, lol.

I really do try, however. If it's more than 4 sentences long, however...