Off the cuff: That was an amazing offensive performance by the Tar Heels against Duke. I thought they might win by eight or 10 points but I would have never thought they'd put up 100 points on that very good Duke defense. I was thinking something like 83-75. But it was appropriate that a Lawson dunk on a fastbreak gave the Heels 100 points. Coach K said, "Lawson was a pro tonight." Well, pro caliber anyway although Duke's coach had to prefer that he was playing for the Golden State Warriors. "That was as well as any point guard has played against us in a while," Coach K added. He rightly said that Lawson played strong, smart, aggressive and put a lot of pressure on the Devils. Looking back, the technical on Singler in the first few seconds of the second half for elbowing Hansbrough after the whistle had blown seemed to give Carolina a lift. Still, it took the Heels another five minutes to erase the eight-point lead. Frasor's three three-pointers in the first half were big buckets. Tar Heel fans have to be happy that he got his shot back. Thompson looked like a world beater in the first few minutes of the game but then he only scored four points over the last 33 minutes of the game. Another basket that might be forgotten but was a big one came when Green sank a three from the right corner late in the first half. Without it, Carolina would have been down 11 at the break. Ellington had an off night shooting but his three that gave Carolina 67-65 lead midway through the second half was huge. It was the first time the Heels had led by more than a point since it was 34-31 plus the Heels never trailed again after that basket. Hansbrough got two ticky tack fouls over an 11-second period in the first half that could have ruined the Tar Heels. It's strange that he can bang and initiate contact inside and not get called for that but then gets weird calls against him like those. Luckily for Carolina, he didn't pick up a third foul until late in the game, just a couple of minutes after draining an off-balanced three as the shot clock ran down. Cameron Indoor Stadium was hot. That probably hurt Duke more than Carolina even though the Heels aren't as deep as they once were. The first thing to go in heat is spring in the legs and that's what is needed for an accurate jump shooter. Duke shot lights out in the first half at 62 percent but shot only 36 percent in the second half. The condensation made the floor slippery. Maybe Cameron Indoor is on its last legs. The students, who apparently get sick camping out in anticipation of the big game, certainly don't intimidate Carolina players and have become nonfactors. They have actually become a caricature of themselves. While it's exasperating to watch Carolina students try to emulate the orchestrated and rehearsed Dukies, I must say that the Crazies do stay and cheer until the final buzzer. I have said it a million times, in thousands of different ways, but you don't have to be classless to vehemently and loudly support your team. You don't have to paint your body and look for cameras to be a good fan. Also, Dean Smith once told me that he had done a study about free throw percentages when fans waved their hands behind the basket and when they didn't... and there was no difference. So, save your energy to cheer for the Tar Heels and only even acknowledge the other team when they deserve it - either in a positive way for a tremendous performance against the Heels or in a negative way for bad behavior against the Heels (such as the Gerald Henderson foul against Hansbrough last year). It makes the other team's fans madder if you don't stoop to Dukie antics but simply act as if you are better than that. The word "obnoxious" doesn't have to follow the word "loud." If you'd like to sponsor this award-winning site, or agree or disagree with something written, please let me know by emailing me. |
|