Tudor: Root for State and Carolina
If you give a flip about the underlying spirit of the ACC basketball tournament, you better pull for N.C. State and North Carolina to win their games Thursday. Certainly, you should root for at least one of the two league cornerstones to advance. Otherwise, Friday around Greensboro Coliseum is going to be the basketball equivalent of Passover. Most of the sports world will just drive by without stopping for a second glance.
(Raleigh News & Observer)
|
One Chance Left
Roy Williams has grudgingly considered the ACC Tournament a necessary evil since returning to North Carolina seven years ago, but this season, he's one of its staunchest supporters. Winning the tournament, and an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, is the only way that struggling UNC can have a shot at defending the national championship. "I'm approaching the tournament like it's our only chance left," Williams said.
(Winston-Salem Journal)
|
ACC Tournament at a Glance
UNC will win if it can find a way to contain Yellow Jackets' big men, Derrick Favors and Gani Lawal, as well as making sure guard Iman Shumpert does not light them up for 30 points the way he did in their first meeting. The Tar Heels also will need to shoot better, as they were below 40 percent from the field in both meetings this season.
(Durham Herald-Sun)
|
Tar Heels begin uphill climb vs Jackets
For the first time in the past five seasons, UNC enters the ACC Tournament as neither a No. 1 or No. 2 seed. In fact, when the 10th-seeded Tar Heels take on No. 7 seed Georgia Tech today (7 p.m., ESPN2) at the Greensboro Coliseum, it will be their lowest seed in program history. That also means the Tar Heels will be trying to become the first team to win four games in four days, which would earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
(Durham Herald-Sun)
|
Marion Jones isn't out for 'redemption'
Marion Jones hasn't lost much of her swagger. The disgraced sprinter once called the world's fastest woman was introduced Wednesday as the newest member of the WNBA's Tulsa Shock and she offered no apologies for her steroids use or her time in federal prison. She was poised and ready for questions about her troubled past. "The word redemption is not in my vocabulary," Jones, a former UNC basketball star, said at a news conference.
(Durham Herald-Sun)
|
ACC basketball superlatives
Biggest Bust: Remember when UNC was picked as a preseason co-favorite alongside Duke? How'd that work out? Maybe UNC's next wave of McDonald's All-Americans will get the Tar Heels back to the first tier of the ACC. But 2009-10 was a colossal failure for Roy Williams and company.
(The State)
|
Kuiper: ACC Tournament Observations
The regular season is over and the ACC tournament is ready to begin. There is opportunity for everyone in the tournament. The big prize is winning the tournament and cementing an automatic bid to the “Big Dance”. For many of the teams at the bottom of the ACC regular season that is the only hope of a NCAA bid. But there is much more at stake than just who wins the tournament.
(ACC Sports Journal)
|
Wood & Bitter Combine For Nine Goals As Tar Heels Sprint Past Duke
Sophomore attackman Thomas Wood scored a career-high five goals while adding an assist and junior attackman Billy Bitter had four goals and two assists to lead fourth-ranked North Carolina to a 13-7 win over 10th-ranked Duke in men's lacrosse action Wednesday before a crowd of 1,912 at Koskinen Stadium. The Tar Heel defense limited the Blue Devils to seven goals, the fewest the Blue Devils have scored against Carolina since March 20, 2002.
(Tar Heel Blue)
|
As Cavaliers wait on Ilgauskas' return, Danny Green, Darnell Jackson don't stress over their status
Darnell Jackson and Danny Green are looking forward to the expected return of Zydrunas Ilgauskas, but one might not be here when he gets back. If the Cavs bring back Ilgauskas on or shortly after March 22, they are going to have to make a roster move. Jackson, a 6-foot-9, 253-pound power forward from Kansas, or Green, a 6-6 210-pound rookie point guard from North Carolina, are the likely candidates to go.
(Cleveland Plain Dealer)
|
Video: Dean Smith Halftime Recognition and Video at 'Celebration of a Century'
Footage taken by a fan at Carolina's recent basketball alumni event.
(YouTube)
|
Tech’s gearing up for ACC tournament
Since Tech last faced the Tar Heels on Feb. 16, 7-footer Tyler Zeller has returned to action. Zeller missed 10 games with a stress fracture in his foot. He’s averaged 7.2 points and 3.8 rebounds in five games since his return. Travis Wear, one of the 6-10 freshman twins for the Tar Heels, has also returned from an ankle injury since Tech last played North Carolina.
(Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
|
Jackets look to overhaul psyche, save season
The Yellow Jackets need to beat North Carolina once more on Thursday to get serious about the postseason. Losers of six of its final nine games, while finishing the regular season 19-11 and seventh in the ACC, Tech is on the NCAA Tournament bubble. The Jackets lately have played as if dressed in straitjackets, their trademark defense barely recognizable.
(Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
|
Another Shot
An average person would ride to Greensboro as the coach of this year’s North Carolina basketball team eager to see the season come to an end. “Please make the misery end.” This is especially true after losing 82-50 to Duke in the final regular-season game. But do not count Roy Williams among those wishing for a quick end, at least not in the fashion someone else might.
(Yahoo!)
|
Around the Bases with Dillon Hazlett
Dillon Hazlett is only 12 games into his Tar Heel career, yet he leads the team in batting average (.395) and runs batted in (14), and sports a perfect fielding percentage. How has the adjustment been to playing first base? "It has been an adjustment for sure. I had never played first base until I came here. It is a lot harder than it looks; I thought it was pretty easy but it has turned out to be something you really have to work at."
(Inside Carolina)
|
Jacobs: ACC Tournament A Chance For Redemption
At this point, with a 16-15 record, UNC must run the table in Greensboro this coming weekend if it's to earn the automatic NCAA bid that goes with winning the ACC's official championship. "It gives us a chance to still play for the big, big prize," Williams said on Monday. "That's the way we're looking at it." Welcome to how the other half lives.
(Tar Heel Blue)
|
An end, and a beginning
The most interesting thing to contemplate at this point about North Carolina basketball is not what will happen at the ACC Tournament, but what is going to occur between this team's final game and the start of next season. How quickly Roy Williams can breathe life back into this program is impossible to say. The best guess is that it will be somewhat quickly. The nature of basketball is such that a few players can make a difference.
(Chapel Hill News)
|
Will Graves wanders back into town
Will Graves is a mama’s boy, and he readily admits it. Well, his mama readily admits it, and that’s fine with Will. She calls him William, and not just when he’s in trouble. A lot of people around here still call him William, from his high school basketball coach to the school teachers who brought him through the Greensboro system and produced a fine young man. He’s a pretty good basketball player, too.
(Greensboro News-Record)
|
Lucas: UNC Basketball Mailbag
By now, you know though that Carolina was blanked on the All-ACC teams for the first time in league history, and that the Tar Heels were the only team in the league to have zero selections on the All-ACC teams, Rookie team, or All-Defensive team. If you've been reading this column for a long time, you already know why we do this. In my opinion, some questionable All-ACC picks are made every year.
(Tar Heel Blue)
|
Wednesday Basketball Talking Points
Since the ACC went to at least an 11-team tournament in 2005, the only year the 10 seed won a game was 2007, when 10th seeded NC State advanced to the finals before being defeated by Carolina. In all years except '07, the 10 seed is 0-4. In conference games only, the only Tar Heel in the top 20 in rebounding is Will Graves at 5.6 rebounds per game.
(Tar Heel Blue)
|
For UNC's Roy Williams, season is 'biggest disappointment'
Less than a year after earning his second national championship and publishing his autobiography "Hard Work," North Carolina coach Roy Williams is stunned, angry and saddened that he's still trying to figure out how to make this season's team work hard. "The most significant thing to me is that I haven't been able to find the right answers to a lot of things as a coach," Williams said last week.
(Charlotte Observer)
|
Embattled Marion Jones to join WNBA's Shock
The WNBA's Tulsa Shock will hold a news conference Wednesday at 11 a.m. ET to announce the signing of former track star Marion Jones. Jones worked out for Shock coach Nolan Richardson last Saturday. Jones was stripped of five medals she won in the 2000 Summer Olympics after she admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs prior to the Summer Games.
(ABC11)
|
Daniels: Hidden ACC Tournament Gems
In 1982, Virginia and UNC took the floor in the most anticipated ACC title game since the Pack and Terps eight years earlier. The game featured four players who would be acclaimed on the ACC’s 50th anniversary list of the top 50 in 2003: Michael Jordan, James Worthy, Sam Perkins and Ralph Sampson. And Dean Smith took the air out of the ball, winning the ACC title but forcing the hand of the sport’s powers. Television was aghast. Purists were livid. Fans were deprived.
(ACC Sports Journal)
|
Tribe Tops No.11 Tar Heels 3-0
William & Mary starter Cole Shain out-dueled Carolina's Garrett Davis as the Tribe upset the No.11 Tar Heels 3-0 Tuesday at Boshamer Stadium. Three Tribe pitchers combined to throw a four-hit shutout in the win. Carolina's Greg Holt shined in two innings of masterful relief work. The Tar Heels, who only had four hits and five base runners all day, fall to 10-2 overall. William & Mary improves to 6-4 on the season.
(Tar Heel Blue)
|
Roy Williams Radio Show Quotes
On winning four straight games at the ACC Tournament: “It’s never been done, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be done. We’re going to focus on playing Georgia Tech. If we play well, perhaps they’ll let us stay around and play somebody else. For us, that’s the only hope we have to get in the big tournament. That’s the way we’ve got to look at it, but we’ve got to focus just on Georgia Tech."
(Inside Carolina)
|
ACC position superlatives: North Carolina
Strongest position: Defensive backs; Key returnees: Deunta Williams, Da’Norris Searcy, Kendrick Burney and Charles Brown; Key departures: Melvin Williams; The skinny: This might be the deepest position/unit in the conference, as North Carolina returns 14 players who were defensive backs a year ago, including all four starters. UNC was 14th in the country last year in both pass efficiency defense and pass defense.
(ESPN.com)
|
|
|