Highlight of the game:
https://gfycat.com/admirablebrightbubblefish
Highlight of the game:
https://gfycat.com/admirablebrightbubblefish
MAN, that was a satisfying one. OSU just absolutely carved the Heels up in the second half. Tough for them to lose Bacot in the first half. That looked PAINFUL. Best wishes to him; an ankle twist that bad is pretty brutal. That said, I don't think he would have had all that much impact on the outcome. People will bring up the rebounding margin, but that seemed primarily due to the fact that UNC missed 8 zillion more shots rather than to OSU dominating the glass. The bigger problem for UNC was the static offense, which really did devolve for long stretches into "Cole Anthony please do something to rescue this possession" mode. (On the note of Anthony, he's definitely a terrifically talented player, but, if I'm an NBA scout, his poor finishing inside is a bit worrying. Whatever is wrong with his ankle at this point could be a huge factor there, of course.)
Regardless, I think we match up well with the Heels this year. Their big-man depth could be an issue for us if Carey/Javin get into foul trouble (of course, if all their bigs are hurt, as they are now, this problem isn't relevant). Otherwise, though, I think that a lot of the MSU gameplan (blitzing the talented PG to force others make plays, in particular) will apply pretty well to this year's UNC offense.
Coach K on Kyle Singler - "What position does he play? ... He plays winner."
"Duke is never the underdog" - Quinn Cook
What a terrible night for Chapel Hill — and, thus, what a great night for America.
I know it's super early and doesn't mean anything at this point, and that there's a good chance that Penn St is actually legit good this year, but I'm still loving this ranking sequence on KenPom after tonight:
UNC+PSU.jpg
Miami wins by 2 (ACC 1-0)
Clemson loses by 18 (1-1)
Boston College loses by 18 (Big Ten 2-1)
Syracuse loses by 14 (Big Ten 3-1)
Louisville wins by 18 (Big Ten 3-2)
Florida State loses by 16 (Big Ten 4-2)
Pittsburgh wins by 11 (Big Ten 4-3)
Duke wins by 12 (4-4)
Virginia loses by 29 (Big Ten 5-4)
Georgia Tech wins by 17 (5-5)
Notre Dame loses by 21 (Big Ten 6-5)
Wake Forest loses by 22 (Big Ten 7-5)
NC State wins by 15 (Big Ten 7-6)
North Carolina loses by 25 (Big Ten 8-6)
It is equally insane how evenly matched this looked at the beginning of the week and how lopsided almost every game turned out to be.
Heels looked good.
State looked good.
Good night for basketball.
Omg. Just watching Sports Center and apparently Roy complained about a 9:30 tipoff being unreasonable!? This is based on subtitles at the bar for dinner, so maybe (hopefully) I missed something.
Couple thoughts: First, OSU also tipped off at the same time as uNC a few hundred miles away from home. Second , Duke tipped off at MSU at the same time, daggumit, and still played basketball. Third GTHCGTH.
Couple things...first, a 9:30 tip is unreasonable....and I think K would agree with that. Second, while I didn't hear the clip, I doubt he was using it as a reason why they lost. More of a general complaint. I think you're over reading this. Third, Roy was likely not comparing results with Duke's result. Totally irrelevant.
I mean enjoy the smackdown for what it was. And it was epic. Won me 500 on the Degenerate Gambling contest.
Agreed, Anthony actually has a sub-100 offensive rating so far this season, in large part because he's only shooting 38% on two-pointers. It's early but so far I would count this as Roy disappointing with a stud recruit again, although I suppose it's unlikely he'll keep Anthony past this season (knock on wood). I've said it before, but just because he had success with Coby White, who was only ranked around 25 and not regarded as OAD, doesn't mean Roy can duplicate that when the player is considered to be a top-10 OAD stud. I don't exactly know why the ranking would matter -- maybe Roy is a beta who gets nervous and stares at his shoes around high-end talent instead of coaching them -- but maybe it does. Again, let's just hope Anthony doesn't end up staying 3-4 years.
All that said, I expect Anthony to improve, and Roy gets his teams to peak in March. The Bacot injury might help Anthony finish better around the rim as it unclogs the paint. Brooks is probably better as a center than a PF anyway.
It does make you wonder how good the ACC will be this year. It is early and the teams are young but the highest ranking teams UNC and UVa looked really bad in their losses. You need your best teams to look good. If Duke had lost- that could have been a huge knock on the ACC moving forward.
Really looking forward to a barn burner. T-Rank gives UVA a 71% chance of winning, score 58-53. Personally, I can't see either team breaking 50.
I am looking forward to that game, too. Regardless of the outcome, either way, after the game, UVa will have 2 Ls overall and 1 L in the ACC or UNC will have 3 Ls overall and 1 L in the ACC in early December. If Duke can take care of business tomorrow night in Blacksburg, it will be a great weekend!
Bacot for UNC rolled his ankle badly last night. He may be out or at least limited at UVa Sunday based on how the injury looked. He landed on another player’s foot coming down for a rebound and severely rolled it. Braxton Key is also out indefinitely for UVa. Both teams potentially won’t be at full strength.