Which Carolina player has the best style?
When you’re wearing the same uniform as your 15 other teammates, the only way to distinguish yourself is through your shoes. So that poses the question, who has the best style on the team?
Tagged: leslie mcdonald RSS
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shwineka
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shwineka
Postgame: UNC – College of Charleston
(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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gonzologist
It’s Got To Be The Shoes – UNC Men’s Basketball Team Shoes Pt. II
About a month and a half ago I ran a post on the shoes UNC basketball players had worn up to that point in the season. That was only through the first two games of the season, plus the exhibition game. In the time since, the Heels have rolled out a bevy of new styles and changed up their footwear choices.
First off, a quick guide to the shoes that have been worn this season by at least one Tar Heel:Larry Drew II: Larry has kept it simple and worn the Jordan 2.5 all season. The 2.5 was a big shoe last season and has carried over for Larry this season.
Marcus Ginyard: I was surprised when Marcus broke the mold and went outside the Jordan or Jumpman brands and decided to wear the Nike Hyperize. The Hyperize is being worn by about every college team outfitted by Nike as it comes in a wide selection of colors, but the Carolina blue colorway has only been seen one other place to my knowledge.
David Wear: I was not able to find photographic evidence of David’s shoes from the beginning of the season, but I am 95 percent sure it was the Jumpman Pro. David was one of the first, however, the wear the Jordan 16.5 during the Heels MSG outing. David continued wearing the 16.5 for several games, but during the last four has worn the Jordan Ol’ School III, including his first collegiate start against Marshall and last night’s game against Rutgers.
Deon Thompson: So far, Deon has been rotating three shoes. He began the season in the Jumpman Pro, which was a holdover from last season although he did not wear it during the National Championship game[he wore the Jordan 2.5]. He then switched over to the Jumpman Hallowed Ground for games against Gardner-Webb, Nevada and Kentucky before wearing the Jumpman Ol’ School III at Cowboys Stadium against Texas. Deon reverted to the Jumpman Hallowed Ground for the Marshall game but then broke out the Jordan 16.5 last night.
Ed Davis: Ed has swtiched his flavor up a couple times throughout the short season. In the exhibition and opener he was seen in the Jumpman Pro but brought out the Jordan 2009 for the bright lights at MSG. This seems to be a trend as for games against Kentucky and Texas, Easy Ed also wore the more flashy Jordan 2009s. I may be looking too far into the importance of the game and correlation of the shoe because the 2009 does have more blue in it which would go better with the away uniforms that the team has also worn for each of those games. For games with Presbyterian, Marshall and Rutgers, Ed was back in the Jumpman Pro. I thought Ed had worn the Jordan 16.5 before but I have no evidence of that.
Dexter Strickland: Even though he is only a freshman, Dexter has not been shy to take advantage of the shoe situation. Early in the season Dexter was wearing the Jumpman Hallowed Ground but by Gardner-Webb was onto the Jordan 16.5. Following Marcus’ footsteps, Dexter bucked the trend hard and wore the Nike Hyperdunk in games against Nevada and Michigan State, further confusing at least me when the colorway was navy and white, not a bit of Carolina blue in it. At Kentucky he was back to the Jordan 16.5 before switching to the Jordan 12 “Rising Sun” colorway for games with Texas, Marshall and Rutgers. I think I remember someone calling that earlier this season.
John Henson: Sticking with freshman, John Henson hasn’t had quite as much variety as his counterpart but did offer a surprise as of late. This whole season John has been sporting the Jumpman Hallowed Ground, which we have photos from NCCU and Texas, though I can promise he was wearing them throughout. For Marshall and last night’s Rutgers game he brought out the Nike Hyperize in the same colorway that Marcus wears.
Will Graves: Mr. Graves stumped me with his shoe choice for the beginning of the season. Against FIU through Valpo, Will was wearing some member of the Jumpman or Jordan brand that I can’t figure out. Will and Ed must talk about their shoes because in the games that Ed has worn the 2009s – MSG, Kentucky, Texas - Will has also worn them. Again it may have something to do with the uniforms though. Otherwise, Will has somewhat settled on the Jumpman Hallowed Grounds as his go-to as he has worn them against Gardner-Webb, Marshall and Rutgers.
Tyler Zeller: Tyler, who wore the Jumpman Pro for most of last year, has switched between the Jumpman Ol’ School III and Jordan 16.5 this season. Early in the season Z was sporting the Jumpman Ol’ School III, like he did here against FIU and NCCU. Otherwise from about Gardner-Webb onward he has been wearing the Jordan 16.5, including against Kentucky, Marshall and last night.
Travis Wear: Travis was spotted sporting the Jumpman Ol’ School III in the exhibition against Belmont Abbey but has since switched to the Jumpman Pro which he’s worn in most game this season, including, NCCU, Gardner-Webb and Rutgers.
Justin Watts: For most of this season Justin had been rocking the Jumpman Hallowed Ground. Last night against Rutgers, however, Justin was the first Tar Heel to wear the Jordan 12.5 out on the court. Nice change up.
Leslie McDonald: All season Leslie has worn the Jumpman Ol’ School. Here he is against NCCU, Presbyterian, Texas, Marshall and Rutgers. Here he is doing the Danny Green in pregame.
Marc Campbell: When Campbell has been in the game he’s been seen in the Jordan 2.5.
Terrence Petree: Last but not least, Mr. Petree who was spotted in the Jumpman Pro.
Check out the whole gallery here.
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hiphopobserver
UNC Men's Basketball Team Shoes
Besides Chuck Taylor, there is no name more synonymous with footwear than Michael Jordan.
Lucky for UNC, Jordan is an alum and the men’s basketball team is outfitted with the best Nike and Jordan Brand gear there is. The team has their pick at which shoes they want to wear each season, but there’s always two that most of the team rocks through the season. This year there’s three: the Jordan Jumpman Pro, Jordan Hallowed Ground and Jordan Ol’ School III.
We’ll start with the Ol’ School III. As you can see, there are several colorways for these shoes, but you’ll notice the Carolina blue one is extra special with an argyle trim along the sole. So far this year Tyler Zeller, T. Wear and Leslie McDonald have been spotted wearing these.
[T.Wear to right of screen]
[McDonald to left of screen]
As you can see though in the above picture, T. Wear has switched to wearing the Jumpman Pro, like his brother David, since the exhibition. Interestingly, Zeller wore the Jumpman Pros last season also but switched this season.
So, onto the Jumpman Pro.
These are a holdover from last year, but some of the team members are still wearing them. Deon Thompson, T. Wear, D. Wear and Ed Davis are holding strong in the kicks. Deon and Ed did not wear these shoes last season.
The UNC Player Editions of the Jordan Hallowed Ground have caught favor with a couple of the underclassmen.
Among the Tar Heels, John Henson, Dexter Strickland and Justin Watts have been wearing the shoes.
Now for the outliers.Larry Drew II has gone with some of the Jordan “remixes,” an update on the orignal Jordan IIs. Drew II wears the Jordan 2.5
The one that has stumped me so far is Marcus Ginyard. A definite benefit of going to Carolina is the exclusive Jordans. Ginyard, however, has opted to go outside of the Jordan Brand to Nike and wear the Hyperize. While I’ve never seen this colorway anywhere else, the Hyperize is favored by many professionals and is a very team oriented shoe that will probably be seen a lot this season, much like the Hyperdunk was last season.
The one I can’t seem to put a finger on is the renegade Will Graves. I know he is wearing a pair that is within the Jordan Brand, I just don’t know what it is.
Any ideas?Now while most players will stick with the same shoe throughout the season some will experiment, as shown by T. Wear. Come tournament time, it’s a different story. Last year UNC came out with everything from the Lebron James line on Ty Lawson to Deron Williams’ signature shoes on Wayne Ellington, making it very strange to see Wayne with a number 8 on his shoe.
Deon and Danny Green are seen in both those pictures in the Jordan 2.5In case you’re wondering, Tyler Hansbrough also wore the Jordan 2.5 last year.
I’ll keep you updated on shoes developments throughout the season.
lulu is discussing. 
shwineka
If Harrison Barnes Goes to UNC….
Now — while there’s still hours before we know where he’s headed — it’s still reasonable to think about what it would be like if Harrison Barnes comes to UNC.
Oh, how glorious.
Starting Line-up assuming Ed Davis leaves for the NBA
PG – Larry Drew II
SG – Dexter Strickland
SF – Harrison Barnes
PF – John Henson
C – Tyler Zeller
Now, realizing that Henson could be gone as well. That would likely put one of the Wear twins in the power forward position. Regardless, Carolina would play big, and play fast. Add to that the fact that UNC would have blue chippers Kendall Marshall as a backup point guard, and Reggie Bullock at small forward shooting guard coming in as freshmen, and you’ve got a lot of talent. Marshall is high-profile enough that he might challenge for a starting spot. Plus Will Graves, Leslie McDonald and Justin Watts would be getting minutes and that’s a 12-man rotation. Talk about deep. This team would no doubt challenge for a national championship.
And after Tyler Hansbrough stayed for four years, it can’t be helped to ask: What if Ed Davis stays?
Think about that, Harrison. Think about it.
hiphopobserver
UNC routs Belmont Abbey 107-59 in exhibition win
A lot of good things to take from UNC’s win over Belmont Abbey. Unfortunately I did not make it out because I was out doing hoodrat stuff with my friends, but I’m well-read, so, that counts.
Deon Thompson goes 11-12 from the field and finishes with 23 points in only 17 minutes. It’s great to see Deon putting up numbers like that to pick up some of that huge scoring void that was left by last year’s departures. Just hoping that Deon doesn’t put up big offensives numbers at the beginning of the season that start trailing off by the end of the season like what happened this year.
Even after a year, save three games, off the court, Marcus Ginyard was back in the starting lineup and was a box score filler: 9 points, 6 assists and 4 steals in 18 minutes. The 6 assists is what stands out to me. Obviously the back court has been a topic of discussion about this year’s team, but knowing we’ll have Ginyard as an if-needed backup at the point calms me a bit. I know Ginyard has played at the point some in the past and he played last night against a much over-matched opponent, but I still really like that 6 assist line.
Also back in form, Mr. Ed Davis. Ed continued his offensive blossoming and threw in 13 points. Add that to his 6 rebounds and 4 big blocks and there you have a reason why Ed is considered one of the best big men in the nation. Also, Ed dished out 5 assists. That’s not something Carolina fans are used to seeing from their post players, example Tyler Hansbrough.
Speaking of Ed, the nation’s best (in this blog’s opinion) 6th man last year got the start last night. He was joined by Larry Drew and Ginyard at guard and Deon and Will Graves at forward. Ed was also listed as a forward.
The last of the starters, Drew II has a decent showing. In 18 minutes Drew II had 8 assists but also had 3 turnovers. He only shot the ball 4 times, hitting once and never made it to the stripe, leaving him with 2 points on the night. That’s really unacceptable. We need more point production from the sophomore. Graves surprised me a bit with the start, but then it made sense that Roy wouldn’t be starting Henson yet. Graves finished with 6 points and 7 rebounds in 16 minutes but missed both his 3-point attempts.
Ah, the 3-pointer. Something that has also been mentioned in flaws of this year’s team. By far one of the dark spots in last night’s exhibition. The team shot 25% from behind the arc, hitting on only 2 of 8 shots, one coming from Ginyard the other from David Wear. At least they weren’t out there jacking them all night.
The other downside from last night, the free throw shooting was atrocious. 13-24 for 54% as a team. Seeing right now that we can’t hit 3s or FTs consistently worries me about games that will be decided in crunch time. Don’t know if we have that right now.
Quick round-up and the rest of the bunch:
- Tyler Zeller scored 17 points off the bench and had 6 rebounds and only 2 fouls, pretty good for Tyler. Need him to keep up the scoring, because if he continues coming off the bench that would be a huge lift. Don’t like his 4 TOs.
- Freshman David Wear had 9 points and 3 rebounds while twin Travis had 7 points and 4 rebounds.
- John Henson only had 5 points, which I’m sure underwhelms a lot of people because his expectations are so high, but also pulled down 8 rebounds and had 4 blocks. Not the columns in the box score I thought he’d be filling, but I’ll take it.
- Freshman Dexter Strickland was 4-5 from the field and finished with 8 points and 3 steals. Have to cut back on the 4 TOs.
- Last Freshman Leslie McDonald took an 0-fer in the points column but grabbed a couple rebounds, an assist, steal and block letting me know he was at least out there hustling.
- Sophomore Justin Watts contributed 4 rebounds and 4 points in 13 minutes
Read the whole article and see the box score
hiphopobserver
Daily Tar Heel: UNC Basketball Preview 2009-2010 "Out of the Shadows"
(Left to Right) Dexter Strickland, David Wear, John Henson, Travis Wear, Leslie McDonald
Another Daily Tar Heel project that deserves a lot more attention than just this post, the annual basketball preview was released today. Below is a link to a nice browse-able version of the print edition. Good features on Tyler Zeller, Will Graves and the five freshmen.
lulu 3:56 pm on December 30, 2009 Permalink
unbelievable info. thanks– I’ll be watching for any changes in their footwear.