Duke vs UNC

[knvb]

Sensei, my sacrilegious baby blue wearing friend did you happen to see the #7 Blue Devils punch up the #2 Tar Heels tonight? 18.9 second for the highest scoring team in America to get off a shot... think they could? Ah, no. Not it Durham, not tonight. Fantastic game.

I'd give Sensei's left nut to see a Duke/UNC game live.

Sandman, point of interest: Duke is back on TV, on theScore (54), this Saturday vs Maryland. (9:00pm eastern.)

Redick is a gamer.

[Sandman]

What an awesome atmosphere in Durham last night. Both teams didn't shoot well, but the Dookies 1-point win can definitely be attributed to the Cameron Crazies Factor.

Carlolina's got a great team, but Felton and Mcaants (they're so called big time players) did the preverbial choke.......the aforementioned dying seconds of the game were a great example.

I think this was the first time since '94 that Duke was the lower seat.....errr I mean seed.

It's actaully refreshing to see the development of players like Reddick, Sheldon Williams, Felton and McCants from their freshmen years.

Only at Duke will you see the towel floor-wiping guys wearing matching suits. Add 9000 fans going nuts for 40 minutes, Dick Vitale to the commentating mix, and of course a Duke win and you've got great TV.

Saying that, I haven' seen Illinois this year, but NC looks really good. If it wasn't for their over-rated coach, I may even have had them as an early pick to win it all.

Sandman


PS: The Score is televising the ACC quarters and Semis as well.

[BJB]

Great game... I watched it with a buddy who is a referee and a major duke fan. He was wearing his you can't take the K out of Duke shirt last nite.... We did notice a few things. First huge win for Duke. I couldnt' imagine the adrenaline giong thru all the players... fcku i was gettin pumped up watching it. Great atmosphere... as will the return leg in Chapel Hill will be. Lot of missed calls but that's not unusual. We did also notice that the NC players were much bigger that Dukes.... That one NC player had 12 rebounds at the half. That's huge. I felt redick played well but took a lot of unnecessary 3's. but then again he's the type of player where out of 10 shots he'll hit 4/5 for sure. Very scary there in the end. but all in all exciting game. nice result. Vegas lines still have Duke at 12/1 to win the tourny.

[sensei_hanson]

You guys know I watched it.

We were flipping to the Portland-New Orleans game during commercials...amazing how different the atmosphere and emotional levels are between college kids, and a bunch of professionals going through the motions. Cameron literally bounces, and the floor temperature gets high enough to cook an egg on. I've seen a plethora of games on TV at the Coach K dome before, but nothing beats the intensity when Carolina comes to town. Big kudos to The Score for really stepping up their sports coverage with hockey going to hell. Awesome stuff. So, here my random notes:

- Somebody needs to kill Dick Vitale.

- Felton still plays way too out of control. Roy Williams hasn't figured out how to put the reigns on the kid, without stifling his creativity in the open court (and the ball in his hands). McCants didn't show up, and the team managed to find other scoring options without him. That's a pretty good sign.

- Sean May is a fcuking stud. His weight may be an issue (me and my buddy Paul made several comparisons between he and Rodney Rogers, who was chugging downcourt for the Hornets last night) but he is just a man amongst boys in the paint. Great hands, strong as hell.

- I like Daniel Ewing. He reminds me a lot of Dahntay Jones, who is playing great for Memphis this season. And man, does Shelden Williams just keep getting better. I know May had a huge night statistically, but Williams was just as effective in the paint, especially when Carolina's guards drove past their defenders. He really protects the hoop.

- The zoot suit towel boys....classic. Also nice to see Coach K keep upright for the full 40 minutes last night. That's always nice to see.

Anyways Sandman, I have seen Illinois twice this season, and they're a neat collection of guys. Best guards in the country, hands down. Their big men will be tested come tournament time, but they rotate through about 4 of them who are all solid contributors. They're kind of like those late-90s/early 2000 Arizona teams which were heavy on perimeter players (Bibby, Simon, Dickerson, Terry, Arenas, Jefferson, Gardner). Should be fun to watch down the stretch.

[lean]

First,

That was painful to watch last night (being a huge Carolina Fan) but nothing beats the best rivalry in North America!!!

Second,

I have seen about 14 Tar Heel games this year and that is the worst they have played all year and only lost by 1 point to the number 7 team in the nation away from home.

Carolina on a neutral court wins that game going away and there is no team in the nation that matchs up with them. When they play the rematch in the Dean Dome it won't be close.

Looking forward to the Tourny

Lean

[sensei_hanson]

Lean,

There is only thing I worry about with Carolina come tournament time. While I haven't seen as many games as you have this year (14? Impressive...) what I have noticed about Felton - and the whole team for that matter - is that they kind of get stifled in half-court sets. I don't know if this is a byproduct of having so many great athletes or Williams not really stressing it enough, but I think too often they just rely on dump-downs to May when they can't get out and run. They don't seem to have any routine or sets, just a lot of drive and dish, drive and kick. They were guilty of "overpassing" about five times last night against Dook, which is usually a product of not having an offensive plan, just creating on the fly.

Then again...when you have a guy like May down low, you can really let the offense flow through him. He's a good low-post passer on top of everthing else he does in the paint.

[lean]

Sensei,

Traveling in the states allows me to see a lot of games. They pretty much show any NCAA game down there.

As far as sets go, they have been running the curl flex in the half court set to try and free McCants on the wing. The by product is that teams are overplaying the three point line and opening lanes to May. Felton will dump to the weakside and the ball will get thrown down to May on more than half of the possesions. This has been pretty effective because he can score on anyone in college but it is pretty stagnant when it breaks down.

I would like to see more of a high pick and roll with Jawad or Marvin because both can knock down the long shot and have McCants swing out to the weakside. If Felton gets loose on the pick he can get to the basket or kick out the the wing. It is more of a pro set but Carolina has the players to make it work.

Leanlovescollegehoops

[girth]

Originally Posted by lean

Sensei,

As far as sets go, they have been running the curl flex in the half court set to try and free McCants on the wing. The by product is that teams are overplaying the three point line and opening lanes to May. Felton will dump to the weakside and the ball will get thrown down to May on more than half of the possesions. This has been pretty effective because he can score on anyone in college but it is pretty stagnant when it breaks down.

Leanlovescollegehoops

Fcuk you add a triple sow cow , sweep a little harder and make sure McCants doesn't stray from his hooker position and we've got some free flowing B-Ball???? I can't even begin to look at this thread what the hell are you guys on about?

[knvb]

Figure skating. Keep up will you.

[Yoda]

Oh, the flex.
What a great offense. We ran that years ago.
Defensively, even when you know what should be the next move on the flex, there's so many variations, you can't stop it. I remember after we won the BC's many teams starting running the flex after realizing how good it was.

Ahhh, those were the days.

[lean]

Yoda,

It should probably have read something like:

Bounce Ball
Throw Ball
Shoot Ball

I did have a good laugh though with your "Winning the BC's" comment

LeanVitale - The kids a real PTP'er

[Yoda]

I just threw that in for old times sake. I knew you'd all like that.


Valley teams love the flex.

[knvb]

Originally Posted by Yoda

Valley teams love the flex.

That's because we were all white, short and not overly athletic. Still even. Flex being a motion offence gives even lanky little twats, such as yourself, a shot at a free lay up. Don't forget to slap the backboard on the way up.

Duke moves up to #5 from 7 and UNC plummet(sp) straight to hell stopping at #3 for a soda.


Team Rating v. Top 25 v. 26-50 v. 51-100

1. Illinois (24-0) 103.28 5-0 5-0 2-0
2. Kansas (19-1) 96.040 3-1 4-0 7-0
3. North Carolina (19-3) 95.942 2-2 3-0 7-0
4. Wake Forest (20-3) 95.138 4-1 3-1 8-1
5. Duke (18-2) 94.618 3-1 1-1 8-0
6. Kentucky (18-2) 94.306 1-2 2-0 5-0
7. Boston College (20-1) 93.594 2-0 4-1 6-0
8. Washington (19-3) 92.860 3-2 3-1 7-0
9. Oklahoma St (17-3) 92.779 3-2 0-1 5-0
10. Michigan St (16-4) 91.157 0-3 5-1 0-0

Team Rating v. Top 25 v. 26-50 v. 51-100

11. Arizona (20-4) 90.322 2-1 4-1 6-2
12. Utah (18-3) 89.764 0-2 0-0 5-1
13. Syracuse (21-3) 89.710 0-2 5-1 2-0
14. Gonzaga (18-4) 89.672 2-1 2-1 2-1
15. Alabama (17-4) 89.149 0-2 4-1 2-1
16. Louisville (18-4) 89.143 2-1 2-1 3-2
17. Cincinnati (18-5) 89.107 0-4 3-1 3-0
18. Villanova (14-5) 89.003 1-2 2-2 3-1
19. Connecticut (15-5) 88.930 2-2 2-2 2-0
20. Oklahoma (17-5) 88.827 2-4 2-0 4-1


http://teamrankings.com/ncb/

[Yoda]

Originally Posted by knvb

Flex being a motion offence gives even lanky little twats, such as yourself, a shot at a free lay up. Don't forget to slap the backboard on the way up.

That's the first time i've ever been called Lanky. But not a twat.
I never slapped the backboard. Did you ever see Larry Bird do that? NO!
It was all white man dunks for me. Two handers especially.
Check out the shorts. I still have mine, and wear them too!

[sensei_hanson]

Lean,

thanks for that. Like I said, I haven't seen enough of NC this year to get many intricate details about what they're running. You really seem to know what's what. Impressive, and much appreciated.

May is a monster. I was big on his game before Wednesday night, but the performance he had against Dook may have upped him another notch. I would love to see him go up against Bogut, but only in a 1-on-1 scenario, as UNC would probably clamp down on Bogut whereas Utah would be hard pressed to contain any one of the five Tarheel starters.

Have you seen much of Illinois? Think they'll run the table?

-sensei.

[knvb]

What's the matter UNC fan? The same week I jump on and gloat about Duke pimp slapping you and your and there is not a word about the OT loss to unranked Maryland two days later? Disappointing follow up to such and intense game.

I also had a chance to take in part of an Illinois and UConn game, I think it was Saturday morning? They looked very strong. I caught UNC again as well as Rocky III.

This no hockey has done wonders for my college hoops fix and of course my short Italian boxer dependencies

[sensei_hanson]

Whaddup, Dook fan.

The only reason I didn't bother posting about the Maryland loss is because the Terps have owned your bitchmade program all year anyways. That made it an ACC SWEEP of the Blue Devils, although the game was somewhat controversial - Williams, Randolph, Ewing, Dockery and Lee "Durham's response to Dante Calabria" Melchionni all fouled out. My guess is Redick would have gotten his five fouls as well, if he ever bothered to play any defense.

Although I did not see the game, my understanding is that Krzyzewski was forced to play J.J, DeMarcus Nelson, the two Ermenegildo Zenga-rocking towel boys and Coach Wojo during the final few minutes of overtime due to his depleted bench. You know Wojo wears his old Dook jersey and shorts under his suit to every game, just in case situations like these arise.

I did watch the first half of the UNC-UConn game, before heading out to Hillcrest to watch my girlfriend's match, which in retrospect wasn't a very good trade-off, in terms of entertainment value. War I hope she doesn't read this. Anyways, Felton wasn't doing much of anything when I watched....and when I left, he went on to score almost all of his 16 points and dish out almost all of his 10 assists. He also had five steals, which is a pretty nice day at the office against the defending National Champions.

Sounds like we both caught some of the Illinois-Wisconsin game this week-end...the one where Dee Brown was nailing three-pointers from about seven feet behind the arc to ice the win. As much as I think UNC is the most talented team in the country, I can't argue that Illinois is the best right now. They've beaten the following ranked teams en route to their perfect record: Gonzaga, Wake, Michigan State, Wisconsin (twice), and Cincinnati. Not a cupcake sked like the one St. Joes played a year ago, carving up the A-10.

[bertrum]

This guy plays for Eastern Washington from Taber Alberta, serious hops, and thats about it according to the UEW athletics page

www.hooplife.ca/videoclips.asp - scroll down to Henry Bekkering

[lean]

K-nob,

No need to worry about the dark blues of Durham, they lack depth and can't win on the road. They are not destined to go far in the ACC or the NCAA tourny.

UNC v UConn was a good game. The heels were held down well by the Huskys in the first half but seemed to score on 2/3rds of the possessions in the second half. Half of the UNC team was sick and Manual even puked during one of the timeouts. This was a good test for Carolina after the Duke loss and will make them even more difficult to play on a neutral court.

Illinois is good. They have played a tough conference and non-conference sched and are still without a loss. Their three headed backcourt is the best in the nation and will be difficult to handle in March. A team that bangs them down low will have a shot but there isn't many teams right now that do that. I would say that OK State or UConn would be a good match for them.

Lean - Going to Vegas before the Tourny and put some $$ on UNC to win it all