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It goes without saying that the past few days have been solemn for all Tar Heel fans. I was one failed last second heave away from naming my first born child Butler. And those light blue Butler Championship tee shirts would have fit in so well next year at the Dean Dome. If there is any silver lining from all of this, it’s that all of America hates Duke even more. Many thanks to Jon Stewart for articulating this point so well.
UNC entered the recruitment of the class of 2011’s top shooting guard this week. Not surprising for Carolina to be pursuing a top recruit. What is surprising is that this recruit had already committed to Florida!
It’s none other than the son of Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers, Austin. The younger Rivers had committed to Billy Donovan, but recently opened his recruitment back up to none other than Dook. Well, two can play at that game, and apparently Doc and tha fam spoke with Roy and said they welcomed UNC getting into the mix. I guess Doc does know his stuff.
UNC’s ‘11 class is already solid, but the addition of Rivers would put it among the best in the nation. And honestly, who wouldn’t want to come play with Harrison Barnes? It’s true that Barnes might be gone after his freshman year, but that’s just more PT for any potential recruit to take. Some have raised questions about whether Carolina will have enough scholarships, as Roy has already offered Rivers one that potentially won’t exist. I don’t think that’s going to be an issue. Ed Davis will surely be gone by then, and the way John Henson progressed at the end of the season, he’ll be popping up on mock drafts at the end of next year as well. Might as well over-recruit so we don’t end up in a situation like this year — with weak ball handling that causes all those dang turnovers.
Plus it’d just be icing on the cake to steal another top recruit from the goonies in Durham.
Wanna know what’s awesome? The possibility of the men’s team playing games in Carmichael again.
Running Tar Heel is saying that because of preplanned renovations to the Smith Center, Carolina athletic officials are scheduling any games UNC hosts in the NIT at the stadium that Rosenbluth, Ford, Jordan and Worthy built.
Nothing has been announced. But how cool would this be?
I believe every student who has come through Carolina since the move to the Dean Dome has wished the Heels would play a couple games a year in the old building. My own personal thought was to host games over winter break. The students would still show, but enough would be gone and unable to attend that alumni could still grab their seats too and neither side would be too upset.
But man, I hope this happens. This is the most exciting news I’ve heard all week, and my spring break started today.
I’m sure you already all know that UNC is sitting at 1,999 all-time men’s basketball wins. Tonight they have the chance to break the 2,000 threshold against Miami and become only the second team to reach the mark behind Kentucky, who did so earlier this season.
Not only do I desperately want the Heels get the win tonight because it would be awesome – and I’ll be in attendance – but it is necessary now as Kansas is biting at our “heels” with 1,997 wins. The way that team is mowing down the Big 12 they should reach 2K in their conference tournament.
This season has been rocky enough, but after coming into this season 2nd all-time in wins with Kentucky marginally ahead and Kansas comfortably behind, Carolina has reeled off 14 loses and the gap has obviously closed with Kansas only two behind and opened with Kentucky sitting around 2,016 now.
Think of what the haters will say if Roy’s former school comes from behind in an already disappointing season to get to that 2,000 mark first. I can’t imagine. At least Dook isn’t threatening yet.
On a higher note, the N&O put together a nice list of UNC’s most important wins, which I am recounting here:
1. 1957 NCAA championship
UNC 54, Kansas 53 (3 OT)
Kansas City, March 23, 1957
The game that officially made Carolina a national basketball brand. It came one night after a triple-overtime escape against Michigan State in what many experts still rate as the best Final Four ever. Kansas was led by Wilt Chamberlain and had routed powerful two-time national champion San Francisco in the semifinals.
With All-American Lennie Rosenbluth having fouled out, the Tar Heels rallied behind fellow forward Pete Brennan, center Joe Quigg and guards Tommy Kearns and Bob Cunningham to finish their season 32-0. Chamberlain, in his final college game, had 23 points and 14 rebounds.
2. 1982 NCAA championship
UNC 63, Georgetown 62
New Orleans, March 29, 1982
Having reached the Final Four six previous times, including a stinging championship game loss to Indiana in 1981, Dean Smith and the Tar Heels were under immense pressure to win a title.
It all came together in a matter of seconds when freshman Michael Jordan hit a winning jump shot and forward James Worthy got a surprise pass from Hoyas guard Fred Brown on the ensuing possession. Jimmy Black, Sam Perkins and Matt Doherty were the other key players on a 32-2 team.
3. 2005 NCAA championship
UNC 75, Illinois 70
St. Louis, April 4, 2005
By the time Roy Williams coached a team to his first national championship, the Tar Heels had sunk lower than anyone could have imagined. The 8-20 record in the 2001-02 season even led to some belief that the program could never recover its national clout of old.
That changed when often-injured center Sean May joined guards Raymond Felton and Rashad McCants to provide the team with a three-pronged offensive attack that Big Ten defensive majors Michigan State and Illinois could not contain.
4. 1993 NCAA championship
UNC 77, Michigan 71
New Orleans, April 5, 1993
Dean Smith’s triumphant return to the Superdome came under much less pressure than the 1982 championship. The Final Four field, which included Williams’ Kansas team and Kentucky, was such that there wasn’t a clear-cut favorite.
The Tar Heels rode the shooting of guard Donald Williams and a deep roster to the championship but got an assist when Michigan star Chris Webber called a late timeout that the Wolverines didn’t have left.
5. 2009 NCAA championship
UNC 89, Michigan St. 72
Detroit, April 6, 2009
Maybe the most offensively prolific team in NCAA Tournament history breezed to the championship once playmaker Ty Lawson gutted out a second-round win over LSU in Greensboro.
Faced with the impossible challenge of stopping Lawson, Tyler Hansbrough, Wayne Ellington and Danny Green, Michigan State yet again had to watch the Heels leave a Final Four with a title.
6. 1967 ACC championship
UNC 82, Duke 73
Greensboro, March 11, 1967
This was the game in which Dean Smith finally won the complete respect and commitment of Carolina’s once reluctant – even hostile – fans.
After Smith went 66-47 during his first five seasons, his 1966-67 team won the ACC title and a NCAA trip with successive wins over N.C. State, Wake Forest and the Blue Devils en route to a 26-6 record and the first of three straight Final Four trips. Star wing Larry Miller had 32 points, and teammate Bob Lewis added 26 to help Carolina overcome a Duke team led by All-American guard Bob Verga.
7. 1975 ACC championship
UNC 70, N.C. State 66
Greensboro, March 8, 1975
In David Thompson’s final college game, Phil Ford brought the Tar Heels out of a long period of Wolfpack domination that some thought had signaled the decline of Dean Smith’s program. In 1973 and ‘74, very good Carolina teams were forced to settle for the NIT while State and Maryland played for the league title and the NCAA bid.
With Thompson injured and limited to 16 points, Ford dominated with 24 points and won the tournament MVP award as a freshman.
8. 1997 NCAA second round
UNC 73, Colorado 56
Winston-Salem, March 15, 1997
Technically, the game was much like hundreds of other Carolina wins during the Dean Smith era. But this was the one that moved him past Kentucky’s Adolph Rupp on the all-time victory list.
Smith’s 877th Carolina win would be followed by California and Louisville en route to one last Final Four. He shocked everyone by retiring shortly before the outset of the 1997-98 season, turning the job over to longtime assistant Bill Guthridge.
9. 2004-05 regular season
UNC 75, Duke 73
Chapel Hill, March 6, 2005
After going 0-3 against Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski after taking the Carolina job, Roy Williams broke through in the series with a dramatic win. Carolina was ranked No. 2 nationally and Duke No. 6.
Sean May, with 26 points, 24 rebounds and three assists, made what turned out to be his final home game memorable.
10. 1982 Final Four
Carolina 68, Houston 63
New Orleans, March 27, 1982
Much like the 1957 triple-overtime national semifinal escape against Michigan State, the ‘82 win over Houston often gets overlooked.
But against a Cougars team that included Clyde Drexler, Akeem Olajuwon, Lynden Rose and Larry Micheaux, North Carolina needed one of Sam Perkins’ best games ever- 25 points and 10 rebounds – to reach the Monday final against Georgetown.
I’m sure everybody has watched this now in much better quality and from a much better angle. But here’s how most fans, like The Rafters, got to witness Tyler Hansbrough take his place among the greats. As you can see, we lived up to our name and watched the game from, you guessed it, the rafters.
There are plenty of reasons to hate Duke and their basketball team. The flopping, floor slapping and weasel-like coach are just a few. Ironically, my distaste for Duke and their basketball team stretches back to a time when I lacked the vaguest concept of college basketball.
I have only a select group of vivid memories from my early childhood. Included in this group is a vacation to Cape Cod in September 1991. On a bright and pleasant Saturday morning, my family and I journeyed down the street to watch the annual Cranberry Festival Parade in Harwichport, Mass. Like most five year olds, I thought nothing could be better than a parade. Until, that is, the Duke Blue Devil showed up.
As I sat on the curb of Lower County Road, a wave of fear and panic washed over me as I saw the demonic mascot roll by on a float. Almost immediately tears began rolling down my face. I had never witnessed something like that in my five years of life. Looking back on it, I can’t say what exactly it was that made me react so strongly. Maybe it was his demonic gyrations and finger pointing. Or maybe, and more likely, at that age I knew pure evil when I saw it.
When my junior year of high school rolled around, the memory of that day had faded and my college search turned southward. Duke University seemed like an ideal place. The weather was warm, Duke had a reputation as a “great school” and a 13 hour road trip separating me from home sounded great. I figured it couldn’t hurt to take a look.
So, during spring break, I flew to North Carolina to look at Duke and a few other schools in the South. I find this difficult to admit, but at first I really enjoyed Duke. The weather certainly was better. Temperatures in the mid-60’s simply do not occur in New England in February. And aside from the intrusive/voyeuristic gargoyles, the campus was picturesque.
At the end of my tour, I hoped on the bus between east and west campus to catch a ride back to a friend’s apartment. While admiring my new Duke sweatshirt, I couldn’t help but overhear the conversation between two students in front of me. For the 10 minute bus ride, they went back and forth discussing the merits of the Communist Manifesto. I knew college was a place of higher learning, but it seemed these kids were just too smart for their own good. After hearing these two babble about topics they likely knew nothing about, I decided Duke was not the place for me. And I had a $40 dollar sweat shirt to remind me of that.
Luckily, later that afternoon I visited Chapel Hill. From the minute I stepped on campus, I easily knew this was where I wanted to go to school. For those of you who are alums or Tar Heel fans, I don’t have to list the numerous reasons I found the place so appealing- you have plenty of your own. But it didn’t hurt that Ramses never made me cry as a child.
So scanning over twitter this afternoon it appeared some of the team was in pretty good spirits before the matchup against Wake Forest tonight. John Henson, Larry Drew II, Dexter Strickland and Terrence Petree had some friendly banter flying at each other and another friend of theirs. Let’s hope that translates to the court. Some highlights:
@johnhenson31 OOOOOO!!!!! Lol RT @drewskywoosky: @LDrew2 oh you got jokes… wit yo @tpetree hair line
@drewskywoosky @mynameisjwatts@mynameisgq @johnhenson31 here go a pic a pic of @eddavis32 and @LDrew2http://tinyurl.com/ezandlarry
@tpetree (Made me take a break 4rm eatin w/dat tweet. Who wanna get fried?) — RT @drewskywoosky: @LDrew2 oh you got jokes…wit yo @tpetree hairline
@LDrew2: here go @drewskywoosky in his bday suit http://farm1.static.flickr.com/32/63958709_c09b77ea30.jpg
@johnhenson31 Hahah dayumm he just sonned youRT @LDrew2: here go @drewskywoosky in his bday suit http://bit.ly/8SBnG0
@dstrick01 lol yo this is @drewskywoosky after he works out hahaha http://www.odditycentral.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/fattest_man4.jpg
@tpetree Its over 4 @drewskywoosky early LOL throw in the towel son son…………..
@johnhenson31 RT @drewskywoosky @LDrew2 @DStrick01 and @tpetree http://bossip.files.wordpress.com/immature.jpg
@johnhenson31 no candies for youu, no cookies for you….fat man.lmao
@tpetreeLMAO @ the fact I was bout 2 use that same pic @DStrick01 and I found it when I searched “fat black man” on google 4 pics of @drewskywoosky
@johnhenson31 this what dexter be lookin like in practice when coach be yellin at him…..http://beastmanyuki.files..com/2009/09/crying20man.jpg
(photo by N&O’s Robert Willet)
I could sit here and rant about hustle and turnovers and defense. I could complain that UNC didn’t have two of its starters — and upperclassman starters at that. I could even blame it on Roy, saying he should have had them better prepared for the game.
But that would be silly because he basically did that for me.
Maybe it’s because it’s already the next day and I’ve had time to calm down, but I think this loss will help the Heels down the road. My advice to the Heels:
Kill, baby, kill!
How did I arrive at this conclusion?
First an aside: Larry Drew’s comments after the game:
“Yeah, we talked. We always talk. There’s something with this team – we’ve got to stop talking at a point, and start playing. We’ve got to start walking the talk. … I feel like I’ve heard everything — from the players, from the coaches. It’s getting to a point where we’ve just got to start doing what we say we’re going to do.”
Coach Williams said this team was about as low as it could get right now. Do you agree with that?
“Wouldn’t you? Yeah. I don’t think right now… We’ve just got to play better.”
Is there something different going on during these road games?
“We’ve just got to play better. That’s all it comes down to. I mean, I missed a ton of shots out there. We’ve just got to make shots and make stops. [We’ve] got to manage the game better – that’s on me.”
It sounds to me like the team is feeling what the Tar Heel faithful have been feeling throughout these last few games. And frankly it’s just what LD said — they’ve got to play better.
More than that, the team needs to mature into a full-blown killing machine.
Young teams always have this problem. They manage to build a lead, then watch it slip away as they try to hold on until time expires. What Easy Ed, LD, Deon, Dex, Big Z, Will, JWatts, T. Wear, D. Wear, Marcus, Henson and Leslie McDonald need to do is go for the freaking throat. Don’t let up intensity just because you’ve got a lead. Hell, even the Dukies are beating people by 40.
Rutgers closed it down to four near the end. In the team’s best wins this season (Ohio State and Michigan State) UNC has squandered double digit leads, even being up 17 in the second half to MSU before they brought it to single digits. We’re not going to talk about that OSU game, though Larry Drew that’s when I started to love you.
So back to this loss being a good thing. All of those wins-that-could-have-easily-turned-to-losses have had us Heels fans on edge over the past several weeks. Before College of Charleston, it was easy to chalk up the “L”s to playing Top 5 talent. Now there’s no excuses. UNC needs to amp up for the conference schedule, and this loss might just be the kick in the ass they need. The potential that many saw at the beginning of the season is still there.
They’ve just simply got to play meaner.
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Thanks,
Rafters Editors – Sam, Matt, Benn and Ryan
In case you hadn’t noticed, since Friday The Rafters has been located at Raftersblog.com. So tell all your friends! The old URL is forwarding visitors to the new one, so you shouldn’t have to change your RSS reader’s settings. We’re also in the midst of coming up with a logo/banner, so send your ideas to sam@raftersblog.com with something like logo idea in the subject. We’ll take a look.
