ACC Basketball

With the end of the national championship on Thursday night, it's now time to turn our full attention to college hoops, a move that coincidentally corresponds with the Heels' ACC opener this Sunday night against Virginia Tech. In that vein, thought I'd offer my top 5 thoughts on both Carolina and then a thought on the ACC in general.



5 Thoughts on Carolina basketball:



1) One of my early pet peeves with this season is desire of many to compare this team to the '06 team. Literally the only similarity between the 2 is the fact that they lost a lot of players from a national championship team the year before. If you look at that team in '06, one of the main reasons they were able to be so successful is that, for the most part, that team was made up of a lot of role players- Danny Green, Bobby Frasor, Marcus Ginyard, Wes Miller, David Noel, etc all had well-defined roles and didn't really ever try to get too far outside those roles- plus one very special freshman who was the consistent go-to guy in times of crisis (Tyler Hansbrough). This team, on the other hand, is made up of a lot high school studs who are struggling with finding their roles, most of the time in reduced minutes from what they're used to. Also, this team really lacks a go-to scorer in the vein of Hansbrough. If anything, I think this team is more similar to the '07 squad, which had a lot of young studs who struggled to find a consistent rotation where everyone knew what they should do. Of course, that '07 team still had Hansbrough, and if this season needs to be another time for Carolina fans to reflect on how special he was and just how many games he won for us by himself, then so be it, because he was and he did.



2) As frustrating as it was to watch the Heels blow it against Charleston, I don't think in the long run that game matters too much. The great thing about college basketball is that the identity of a team is really formed in conference play. At the end of this season, no matter how Carolina finishes up, I significantly doubt that the thing you will remember is that game. If you don't believe me, look back at past teams. When thinking about the '03 team, I doubt many of you remember that they won the Preseason NIT including a win over a Roy Williams-coached top-10 Kansas team (that would ultimately play for the NCAA championship). When thinking of '05, you probably don't spend too much time thinking about the Santa Clara loss. Nobody remembers too well the blowout loss by the '06 team on the road against a mediocre USC team. And the frustrations we all have when thinking about the '07 team probably have more to do with losing the lead against Georgetown than they do getting owned by Gonzaga in the Preseason NIT. My point is, for better and worse, our memories of this team will be shaped during conference play and then the postseason. So focus on that more than on the past loss.



3) With that said, this team has a lot of issues that need to be fixed soon. Virginia Tech as a team always plays us tough, and then after that we travel to Littlejohn, which has been the site of some nailbiting games for Tar Heel fans. With a young but dangerous Georgia Tech team after that, I think it's easily possible that UNC stands at 0-3 or 3-0 following the start to ACC play. But I think the road will get a lot easier if we can pick up the W tomorrow night against the Hokies.



4) Along those lines, the key for the Virginia Tech game I think is going to be getting off to a good start. With a young team, you don't know how they'll respond to such a bad loss. They might take it too easily or too harshly. Either way, I think an early run against the Hokies that gets that home crowd into the game early is just what we need. So watch for the first 5-10 minutes in that one as a key to how it might turn out.



5) Prediction for tomorrow night's game- I think Larry Drew plays more minutes at the 1, and I think Dexter Strickland plays more minutes at the 2, especially with Ginyard still out with the ankle injury. Strickland is a much different player in the Dean Dome than away from it, and he'll remind us of that. I think Ed Davis builds on one of his best games as a Heel in defeat on Monday and has a monster game against an average Virginia Tech frontcourt. And as long as the defense can focus for at least most of the game (or maybe most of a half?) I think the Heels will be fine at home against the Hokies.



1 Thought for the ACC:



1) Before the season, I felt very strongly that this was going to be an interesting year in the ACC. For the first time in 4 years, there is some uncertainty at the top of the conference. Duke has been solid so far (in all honesty, they've been much better than I thought), and they're clearly the favorite to win as of today. But there are a host of teams that have a unique opportunity this year to grab the limelight. NC State has been looking for traction under Sidney Lowe, and they've looked good at times this year. Virginia has a new coach, and although they haven't been playing well so far, I'm a huge Tony Bennett fan and I wouldn't be surprised if they surprise some teams in conference play. Wake Forest has some very talented players but I'm not sure Dino Gaudio is the answer as a coach. Clemson has been steadily building a winner. Florida State and Miami have had flashes over the past 2 years. The point is, with North Carolina in a bit of a rebuilding year, many of these teams could have a unique opportunity this season to take that next step within the conference. It will be interesting to see if any of those teams can step up and do so.