I'm back from a one-week break and am fairly astounded, like everyone else, that both Butler and VCU made the Final Four.
Kentucky beating UNC? Now that wasn't astounding. If they played 10 times, I figure each team would win five. Very evenly matched. In my mind, the difference on Sunday was:
1) John Henson's foul trouble. Why was Henson reaching down for the volleyball-spike block on some of them, instead of simply keeping his hands up and going for the tip block? It's so much safer. Henson deserves credit for staying out of foul trouble nearly all year, but this was a bad day to have a bad day, as John Fox would say.
2) 3-point issues. Kentucky made 12 of 22 from three-point range, which is not that easy to do even if you're shooting alone in an empty gym. Kudos to the Wildcats for that -- like Arizona against Duke, Kentucky got a 3 whenever it needed one. But as for North Carolina... Leslie McDonald sure slumped late in the year, which meant that Harrison Barnes was about the only guy who could make a 3 for the last couple of weeks. And when Barnes' outside shot was off -- he was 2-for-9 from 3-point range Sunday -- there just wasn't enough help.
3) The knife edge. This Carolina team had a very good season -- a great one, really, given that it made it to the final 8 after not making the NCAA tournament at all in 2010 and was also the final ACC team to go out.
But it also had a disturbing tendency to play on a knife edge. Other than the Marquette game in the Sweet 16, it's hard to remember a game against a quality opponent in which UNC simply put the other guys away early and then kept that team down. It made valiant comeback attempts many times, but you can't live like that forever.
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9 years ago
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Not hard at all to remember the last game they trounced a quality team. Remember that little school in Durham? The Heels kicked that butt all the way back to Durham and won the ACC regular season title. Ring a bell??
Remember that little school in Durham routing Carolina one week later in the ACC tournament for a 17 point win. Ring a bell??
2011 record: Duke 2 UNC-CHeats 1.
Congrats, you won another weekend cocktail tournament Dook. We at THE University of NC, aim higher.
10/13 for the ACCs
Congrats, you won another weekend cocktail tournament Dook. We at THE University of NC, aim higher.
Like hiring an incompetent crook and cheat to run your football program? UNC-CHeat. To seem rather than to be.
remember that Arizona game?? Ring a bell?? out-coached, out played...dominated...too bad Dook didnt have to play someone in last years tournament otherwise they wouldnt have had a championship... the team who was suppose to be the best in the country lost in the round of 16...the team who was said to be overrated and not deserved its pre-season ranking of 8, finished in Elite 8...
Congrats on an extra 48 hours in the tournament, tarholes. Spin it any way you want but you lost on the road, won at home and then lost in a blowout on a neutral court. No matter how you cut it, those are the facts. Deal with it.
Hoe about mentioning how the BE and B10 got way more at-larges then they should have!?
Man, the dookies are really reaching for insults today. Didn't your daddy give you enough trust fund money to ease the pain of that loss to Arizona? LOL!
Duke beat UNC 3 times this year. In Cameron, in Greensboro, and home from the NCAA tournament.
After being rather inconsistent this year, UNC went much further in the tourney than I thought they could or would. If everyone stays for next season, they should be a pretty tough team to beat.
The ugliness between the Duke fans and the UNC fans is sad. As a Carolina grad, I say why can't fans of both schools acknowledge the quality programs at each school and give credit where it is due. And, this UNC-CHeat thing is extremely tired. The reality is that Carolina's football program had what can only be considered minor transgressions in the absurdly regulated world of the NCAA. Not to be excused but also not a big deal. And surely no reflection on the basketball team.
The ACC does not acknowledge a regular season champion in basketball (it is only a myth) for champion want-a-be's.
The ACC Champion is determined by the ACC Conference Tournament.
I find it interesting that Carolina chokes anytime they see "UK", whether they are from Lexington or Durham (as in D(UK)E!
Coach K & Roy will both tell you that the regular season is more important.... 3 days of basketball isn't more important than 3 months! And before you say it, I know the tournament lasts 4 days... but not for us!
All time head to head... UNC 131-101
National Championships... UNC 5, DOOK 4
Greatest Basketball Player Ever... Michael Jordan, UNC
Dean Smith 879-254 (.796) in 36 years
Roy Williams 225-62 while at UNC, 643-163 overall.
Coack K: 900-284 (.760) in 36 years
K does have more wins... but they also play more games now than they used to but his winning % is 36% behind Dean.
Don't have the numbers right now either... but Dean beat K head to head more often than he lost & I believe Roy has too or its even.
This is a posting from Lexington Kentucky, UK grad and supporter. Aside from the UNC-Duke record this year...what do you think of the UK win over UNC? That is the point of the article that this blog is suppose to be responding to. You did notice that UK beat UNC and moved on to the Final Four. In doing this, UK kept UNC from matching the UCLA Final Four appearance record. Also, UK extended its lead over UNC for total number of wins in the history of NCAA basketball. Any comments about that?
Tim,
All I can say is: why has it been 13 years since UK made the final four?
As a Tar Heel fan, I would like to personally thank COACH K for starting that trip home a little earlier than planned by screwing up the chemistry on his team by bringing Kyrie Irving back.
Tom "redneck" Soreheadsen has wised up after sucking so bad and now jumps on the bandwagon after the game ends but must love that UK Calipari coach Elvis hillbilly hairstyle who he tries to immitate.
To Kentucky Fan Tim,
UNC alum and life long fan here. I have to give UK credit for its win last weekend. It was a great game to watch and that day, Kentucky was simply the better team. I was proud of the way my guys fought back, both in the game and all season. All in all, minus 5 guys who were expected to be contributors (Graves, the Wear twins, Drew II, and Reggie Bullock), it was not a bad season at all. I don't feel any shame in losing to Kentucky as I'm sure that might be the case for the majority of UK fans. We have more in common than not; mutual respect, great history, great coaches, national championships, oh, and a rather healthy disdain for Duke (). Prior to Dean Smith's and Bill Guthridge's respective retirements, the total wins between programs were a heck of a lot closer than now, and even now, they are not all that far behind. Kansas has supplanted UNC for second place for the moment, thanks in large part to none other than Roy Williams great run there, that has been continued by Bill Self. Hey, no hate here for the Wildcats. Good luck against UConn this Saturday. See ya in December!
Kentucky banged home 12 shots from 3 point range mostly by Knight. Thats 36 pts and won it although UNC had no outside shooting.
Nobody is going to the NBA before his time for blue at least this yr.
K 4
Dean 2
Hope the Holes enjoyed their 8 days of bragging rights between 2 Duke beatdowns this year!
Choke on that till Feb. 2012!
Storm the court!
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