3-1, with 1 being a tough fought game against Duke, since they went to this lineup.
Tag: college basketball
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Carolina Beats State
Imagine if Hariston had been starting all year.
T.H. responding to the arguments for Hairston over Strickland:
>
UNC’s defense is considerably worse when P.J. Hairston is on the floor.
>
The first point has been internalized by everyone, and there’s no shortage of people suggesting how the starting lineup should change to solve that problem. But the second point is going overlooked; I don’t think people grasp the defensive differences. In ACC play before the Miami game, UNC’s defensive efficiency was 89.4 with Hairston on the bench, and 117.8 when he’s on the floor. Now that might be overstating things, as +/- type statistics can be pretty noisy, but the coaches see the team much more in practice. If Hairston had the defensive chops, he’d be playing more than 19.2 minutes a game.
I disagree with the point T.H. is trying to make, though I give him credit for acknowledging that his use of +/- statistics to bolster his argument is particularly flimsy. Since Carolina has been getting run out of the gym with their alleged “best” defensive team starting, I think it is worth giving Hairston a chance to prove himself as a competent defenders. We have seen the ceiling for Carolina this year with Strickland starting, now it is time to see if they can raise that ceiling with Hairston in the starting rotation.
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Carolina on the NCAA Tournament Bubble
Andrew Jones is not particularly optimistic about Carolina’s NCAA Tournament changes:
> This season, however, UNC is neither on probation nor banged up, and it may not make the NCAA Tournament. At 16-7 overall (6-4 in the ACC), UNC appears on course for a lower seed to The Big Dance. But the schedule ahead has enough rough spots, and since Carolina’s resume is very un-Carolina-like, it could lead to some teeth-gnashing by Tar Heels fans come Selection Sunday.
He does, however, make a recommendation on how to change things:
> Williams is a legend because he almost always makes the right decisions for his team, it stands to reason now is the time to make another gutsy call. Playing Hairston ahead of Strickland would increase UNC’s chances of making the NCAA Tournament and strengthen the program for next season.
As a long-time member of the Hairston over Strickland camp, I agree with Mr. Jones.
It is nice to look at some history, but I think we can all agree that Michael made the right decision turning him down.
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North Carolina, Kentucky renew series
Good[^fn1].
[^fn1]: And honestly, does it really matter that they did not play this year when both teams are scuffling?
Just awful[^fn1]. I hope it does not end up costing him too many spots in the NBA draft.
[^fn1]: It is also an example people will point to when they say they are going to enter the draft early.
The NCAA is a disgrace. The one positive out of the development of 4-5 “super conferences” is that they might have enough power to just toss the NCAA aside.
> So this is why Indiana garnered the #1 preseason ranking for the 2012-13 season. Despite coming into Tuesday night’s game with a 6-0 record and 32-point average margin of victory, the AP poll’s top-ranked Hoosiers had yet to produce a statement performance to legitimize their candidacy as the best squad in all of college hoops. It took overtime to dispose of previously unranked Georgetown last week, and Tom Crean’s team faced another tough test with the Tar Heels coming to town for the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. Indiana did not fool around this time, easily disposing of North Carolina, 83-59, in a game that showcased a tantalizing display of offensive basketball by the Hoosiers from start to finish. All doubts about IU’s true “top-seed upside” are quelled for the time being after it ran a young-but-explosive UNC team off the floor in Bloomington by out-executing and out-smarting the Tar Heels; even in an imperfect shooting night.
The Hoosiers domination of the second half was breathtaking. As I have been saying to people all day: Indiana is *really* good.
On the plus side, they’re definitely better than Maryland in both basketball and football.
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Louisville to Join the ACC
This-at a minimum-delays the destruction of the ACC. Hopefully, the ACC takes this opportunity to re-align the conferences to allow FSU and Clemson to meet in the ACC title game going forward.
Brad Stevens knows how to get his kids ready to play tournament games.
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Carolina Gets Crushed by Butler
Butler dominated from beginning to end. If you’re a Carolina fan, you hope this was just a stumble by a young team that is learning to play together.
I am especially looking forward to Nov. 13, Nov. 27, and Dec. 22.
No surprises with Indiana and Kentucky at the top. Carolina is down at 14.
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NCAA Still Monitoring UNC’s Investigations
> When North Carolina announced in late August that the NCAA had told school officials that no NCAA rules had apparently been broken in the scandal surrounding its Afro and African-American Studies Department, it was also pretty clear it wasn’t the end of the case.
Hopefully this wraps up soon. It feels like a black cloud hanging over the Carolina basketball program, even though it seems any “scandal” was much more football related.
> That could mean [Duke Player] Lance Thomas was ineligible by receiving that “extra benefit.” If he was ineligible, then every game Duke played from Dec. 21 on could be vacated. That would include the 2010 Final Four, which Duke won, delivering Coach K his fourth national title. And thus Duke would vacate the championship. (It would not be awarded to runner-up Butler, either. There would just be no champion.)
I am going to follow this closely. From the evidence available, it appears that Coach K did nothing wrong. The NCAA, however, has a history of punishing the whole program for the sins of a single player. It will definitely be interesting to see how this plays out.