Carolina Basketball Discussion Thread

• ironman02

  Not much talk on here about the Heels lately, and rightfully so, but I thought I'd get a thread going for the Carolina fans.
  
  The Heels had begun ACC play 2-0 with tough wins at UVa and at home against Va Tech, but they laid an egg tonight against an awful Georgia Tech team in Atlanta, getting blown out. Carolina now stands at 12-5 overall, 2-1 in the ACC, and once again, it seems as though they may be in danger of not making the NCAAT. The ACC is as weak as I can ever remember it, but I'm still not confident that this Carolina team will find enough wins during conference play to claim a spot in the field of 68.
  
  For some reason, Larry Drew II is still starting at PG, even though Kendall Marshall is clearly the better player. Obviously KM is going to make mistakes, but he gives the team the best chance to win, and it's not even close. The perimeter shooting is still atrocious, as Barnes and Bullock can't get anything going at all, McDonald is very streaky, and Strickland doesn't have enough confidence to ever pull the trigger. The inside game was pretty decent until recently, when Zeller has grown increasingly soft against anyone who gets the least bit physical with him. Henson has been fairly solid, but he still doesn't have the offensive skill set to dominate down low.
  
  Anyway, what do all the Carolina fans, or anyone else for that matter, think about this team? What's the answer to success for them? Are they gonna get it together after this terrible loss or will they fold like last season?
  
  And finally, the most immediate concern...will Clemson break their losing streak in Chapel Hill on Tuesday? They're 0-54 all-time at Carolina, which is just ridiculous, and will have to end sometime. I have a very bad feeling that they're going to get their first win in The Hill this week.
• wildcats20

  

  Tonight was ugly. Nothing was going well for the Heels and Tech was playing out of their minds.
  
  Really looking forward to Tuesday.
• ironman02

  wildcats20;640986 wrote:Tech was playing out of their minds.
  

  Iman Shumpert scored 30 points for the second straight game against Carolina. Seriously, how the hell does that happen? If he played Carolina 30 times a year, he'd be the NPOY. Against everyone else, he's pretty average.
• wildcats20

  

  Yeah Shumpert was insane tonight. But he had help, Glen Rice, Jr. had 24.
  
  If they could have somehow contained either one of those guys, it would have been a different game. Carolina shot 27%. That is sooooooo bad, I don't even have words for it.
• ironman02

  Yeah, shooting 27% from the field is pathetic. I thought that Barnes and Bullock would provide the perimeter shooting that this team was sorely lacking last year, but that hasn't happened. They're both thinking too much instead of just playing basketball. Would be nice to have a guy like Will Graves right now, but obviously he screwed that up.
  
  Henson went down hard on his elbow near the end of the game tonight. Hopefully he'll be good to go on Tuesday, because if he's not, Carolina will basically have two guys on the roster that are capable of playing in the post. They're too thin inside as it is, so losing Henson would be devastating.
• wildcats20

  

  @UNC_Basketball UNC Hoops
  Henson landed hard on his left elbow. Sore but not seriously hurt.

  That is the "official" twitter of Carolina Basketball.
• ironman02

  Good deal. Thanks for the info, wildcats.
• thedynasty1998

  

  How long until Roy Williams is on the hot seat?
• wildcats20

  

  Never.
• thedynasty1998

  

  wildcats20;641296 wrote:Never.

  
  I probably agree, but I wouldn't think mediocre seasons go over real well at UNC. Roy Williams has had great success, but at some places, you are only as good as your most recent season.
• wildcats20

  

  I get that, but Roy will leave Chapel Hill when, and ONLY, when he retires.
• thedynasty1998

  

  wildcats20;641309 wrote:I get that, but Roy will leave Chapel Hill when, and ONLY, when he retires.

  
  How soon is that? He's 60 now. Does he coach for another 5 years?
• wildcats20

  

  I'm not sure. I don't think he will be there as long as some of us would like; but if he gets his health issues(vertigo) controlled, I think he could be there another 10 years.
• reclegend22

  

  I probably agree, but I wouldn't think mediocre seasons go over real well at UNC. Roy Williams has had great success, but at some places, you are only as good as your most recent season.

  Bobby Bowden could probably attest to this. Granted, near the end, he was 103 years old and stuck in 1993 believing he was coaching against Steve Spurrier every game. But the premise remains the same. At big time, tradition rich schools, that are supported by fervent and enormous -- and thus powerful -- fan-bases, you're greatness as a coach is judged in inverse proportion to the success of your most successful neighbors. In Bowden's case, not only was he and his program falling rapidly behind Urban Meyer and Florida, but they were also about as existent on the national stage as lingerie football.
  
  I'm not saying UNC and Roy are falling rapidly behind Duke. Just two years ago, people were saying the exact same thing of Krzyzewski. What I am saying, however, is that Duke's rise back to the top of the basketball world and opportunity for back-to-back national championships is not a very good thing for Roy when his team is on the cusp of consecutive National Invitation Tournaments. I'm not sure this will happen, as I think Carolina has enough personnel and talent to reach the Dance this season, but it'd be awful for Roy if it did. You better believe the catcalls would be coming. And at Carolina, probably deservedly so.
• thedynasty1998

  

  Williams should be counting his blessings that the ACC is so bad this year, because I don't think UNC is that good. Outside of that Kentucky win, their wins are VERY underwhelming. They have 13 games remaining (2 against Duke) and I think they HAVE to win at least 8 of those to get to 20 wins to get in the tournament, as they won't have many quality wins.
  
  So, assuming they don't beat Duke (I know it's a stupid assumption as it's a rivalry), they need to go 8-3 to get a shot at the tourney, IMO.
  
  So, if they fail to make the tournament two consecutive years, I think Williams will feel his seat to be a little hot.
• swamisez

  

  Carolina looks disjointed. They have great skill players but lack leadership and court control. Tyler Zeller is a player I would have expected to emerge, but you need some consistency in the back court in order for him to emerge as their go to player.
  
  It is hard to fathom Carolina not having a floor general out there, and it doesn't appear there is one immediately in wait. Maybe we took Ed Cota, Shammond Wiliams, and Ty Lawson for granted.
  
  What GaTech did to them last night was hard to believe. UNC went 8+ minutes without a field goal in the second half. How does that happen?
• centralbucksfan

  thedynasty1998;641489 wrote: So, if they fail to make the tournament two consecutive years, I think Williams will feel his seat to be a little hot.

  
  Come on, the guy has 2 national titles in what, 7yrs? He is a UNC guy. He isn't going anywhere anytime soon. He is on his own terms. He will retire when HE wants to.
  I agree, they aren't very good right now, nor were they last year obviously. But I don't see that continueing for some extended time period. That program recruits itself and he'll have them back up and running soon. I happen to think the guy is a great coach.
• ohiotiger33

  

  We will lose. I really like Brad Brownell, and he is getting really good play from a bunch of moderately talented players, but I can't believe we will break the streak. If we play like we did against GT, we will win, but I don't see it happening (10-13 from 3 pt range, including 9-9 in the 2nd half- almost 70% shooting on the game).
• wildcats20

  

  So, if they fail to make the tournament two consecutive years, I think Williams will feel his seat to be a little hot.

  
  
  Come on, the guy has 2 national titles in what, 7yrs? He is a UNC guy. He isn't going anywhere anytime soon. He is on his own terms. He will retire when HE wants to.
  
  I agree, they aren't very good right now, nor were they last year obviously. But I don't see that continueing for some extended time period. That program recruits itself and he'll have them back up and running soon. I happen to think the guy is a great coach.

  Come on cbf you know you can't use common sense here.
• Prescott

  I've watched UNC a couple of times. I don't understand why Drew sees the floor. He is a turnover waiting to happen. As for Williams, I think CBF got it right and to be fair he was blindsided by the transfer of the Wear twins.
• wildcats20

  

  I've watched UNC a couple of times. I don't understand why Drew sees the floor. He is a turnover waiting to happen. As for Williams, I think CBF got it right and to be fair he was blindsided by the transfer of the Wear twins.

  You're not the only one, concerning Drew. Kendall Marshall IS the point guard of this team.
• swamisez

  

  I don't think Roy Williams has a get out of jail free card, but given candidates surrounding, unless Michael Jordan himself says he wants to coach the heels, Roy will be there as long as he wants (of course he may want out if things continue for a period of 5 years or more).
• thedynasty1998

  

  I'm not saying he gets fired, and when I say hot seat, I just mean a few boosters will start questioning things. If they fail to make the NCAA tournament in back to back seasons, there will be skeptics, and rightfully so.
  
  I've always thought Roy Williams was slightly overrated as a coach. I think he's good, but he has been blessed to have great talent (I know that's probably more than half of coaching).
• hoops23

  

  Oh my god. I see Dynasty spreads the seeds of ignorance in the college forum as well.
  
  Roy slightly overrated as a coach? Riiiiiiiigggghhhhhtttt...
  
  He's been blessed with great talent? You mean, Coach K, Dean Smith, Rupp, Wooden, Knight, etc, weren't? SMDH.
• wildcats20

  

  I'm not saying he gets fired, and when I say hot seat, I just mean a few boosters will start questioning things. If they fail to make the NCAA tournament in back to back seasons, there will be skeptics, and rightfully so.
  
  I've always thought Roy Williams was slightly overrated as a coach. I think he's good, but he has been blessed to have great talent (I know that's probably more than half of coaching).

  Every great coach has had great talent.
  
  Like I said before, Roy will be in Chapel Hill for as long as he wants to be in Chapel Hill.