#14 Posted: 3/5/2012 12:17:21 AM
Well, if I knew it was that easy to win a POY play, then I would have to start being like some people that post on here, and give out several "POY" plays 
But seriously, what an incredible and dominant performance by the Tar Heels. I knew that they would play well, and I knew they would want to come out strong and show everybody that what happened last game was a fluke; but the way they actually showed it... unbelievable!!!
Part of what has impressed me this year about this young Duke team, is that they are pretty versatile when it comes to carrying the team on any particular night. The one problem with that, is that the guys that are put into position to carry the team in a game, for the most part, are all guards... they can shoot, but that's it. JJ Reddick had always been a great shooter, there's no denying that. But what put him over the top by the end of his career was his ability to drive and force the defense to not solely rely on his jump shot. But even Coach K after the game admitted that his team bases a lot of their offense on 3-point shooting. So when you do that, if the shots aren't falling one game, uh oh. And that was the case last night.
Game Notes:
Duke: Made their first 2 FG, then did not make another shot again until the 11:19 mark in the 1H. -Plumlee brothers went 14-22 from the field for 33 points. -Rest of the team went 12-41 from the field for 37 points. -Missed 15 consecutive shots (0-7 on their first 7, 3-pt attempts). -Had two 7 minutes FG droughts in the 1H. -12-21 FT (57.1%) -6-21 3-Pt (28.6%).
UNC: Out rebounded Duke 42-22. -Shot 54.5% from the floor. -12-15 FT (80%). -Marshall: Was the second time in 2 weeks that he has recorded at least 20 points and 10 assists in a game. He is the first Tar Heel in the last decade to accomplish that in one season. On top of that, no Tar Heel has done that to Duke in the last 15 years.
-As I stated at the beginning of my write-up on the game, Harrison Barnes and the rest of the Tar Heel players were prepared and determined to make sure that what happened the first go around never happened again. They were focused. Not to mention the fact that at the game last night, they showed the highlights of the last-second win over UNC on the video scoreboard there at Cameron Indoor, and apparently Marshall didn't like that, and so he gathered the rest of his UNC teammates around, and told them that he thought it was disrespectful, and that they needed to go out and play well. I am honestly not sure why Duke did that... That had to have known that they didn't need to give UNC any more motivation than they already had. Then to disrespect one of the best teams in the nation like that, sorta shows that Duke got exactly what they deserved... a good ol'fashioned behind woopin.
I think last night was the culmination of the definition of the "Perfect Storm." You have Marshall feeling disrespected, so he goes out and drops 20 and hands out 10, accomplishing something no Tar Heel has done to Duke in 15 years...You have Tyler Zeller, who had been waiting since the last game to take out his revenge, hit 9 of his 11 shots before fouling out, posting a double double... You have one of the best players in college basketball in Harrison Barnes, not to mention an improving individual in Reggie Bullock, providing 12 points and 6 rebounds.
In last night's game, 3 UNC players recorded double doubles (Marshall 20 pts, 10 ast; Zeller 19 pts, 10 rebs; and Henson 13 pts, 10 rebs)... the first time they've done that since 2003.
Last night's game can be summed up by recapping the following. Duke made a run through the middle of the second half, cutting the deficit to 11 points, and their last chance at a run came when Thorton stole the ball with 2:09 left in the game. Thorton proceeds to miss the UNCONTESTED layup and UNC counters with a 3-pointer from Barnes, which essentially put the game to rest at that point.
Another impressive stat about the game, is that UNC built a 48-24 HT lead... the largest HT deficit Duke has had ANYWHERE, to ANYBODY, since 1990.
As I said in my write-up, Duke has had the tendency lately to grow a deficit, whether at home or on the road, but eventually come back to win the game. But if they were to do that against UNC in this game, I did not see it working out so conveniently for them. UNC is just too good of a team to try and come back on, even if you are playing at home.
Here is a quote from Roy Williams after the game... "My team's had some bounce-back to them all year long. We go down to FSU and lose by 3 million and everybody's jumping off the bandwagon... but our team kept playing. We lose to Duke and everybody's got a great opinion of how stupid we are... and my team kept playing."
Again, I am biased towards UNC, but Roy Williams is right about what he said. It is so easy to jump off of a team's "bandwagon" after a bad performance. But that's the reality of sports... no team is going to play to their best potential every single game, especially playing the amount of games they do... I mean, it'd be nice for that to happen. Hell, I would love it if UNC went 35-0; but reality tells me that most likely will not happen. But it's how the team responds after a hiccup, that will determine the outcome of that teams overall season. While UNC has plenty to work on and prepare for and get better at before the ACC and NCAA Tournaments, I strongly believe that they are one of the best, if not the best, team in the nation. They have the experience, poise, talent, and composure that has the potential to take them all the way. I am encouraged by the improvement and contribution from Bullock, and McAdoo and Hairston have shown signs of improvement as well.
I really hope that yall took UNC, and I also hope that my write-up helped some people out. I am going to use this thread from now until the end of the season for any comments, opinions, or plays/write-ups I have for any of the UNC games in the future. It was just a great game all around, GO HEELS  |