Tagged: The Rafters RSS

  • shwineka 4:19 pm on June 3, 2010 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , Alabama, , Bob McAdoo, , , , , , , Gordon Hayward, , James McAdoo, , Justin Knox, , , , , , , , , , , The Rafters, , , , ,   

    Catching up 

    Is it finally over? By that I mean the sick feeling in your stomach re: the most recent NCAA championship. Mine has finally subsided. So might as well cure the subsequent blogging hangover by getting back at it eh?

    What better way to get over a case of the “I-can’t-believe-Gordon-Hayward-missed-that-shot”s than by looking forward to next year. Now that the NBA draft deadline has passed, we know that Easy Ed will be leaving us for bigger and better things. Can’t really blame him. He’s a projected lottery pick depending on how the draft day moves go, and he stands to lose a lot of money by staying in college for another year with all that lockout business.

    So then there’s Harrison Barnes. The No. 1 recruit in the country is coming in with some highly touted classmates to add some more youth to what is already going to be a young team. But wait! Why not make it even younger?

    Over the past few days it’s come to light that James McAdoo, nephew of former Tar Heel and NBA Hall of Famer Bob McAdoo, and a Top 5 recruit in the class of 2011, might just pull an Andre Dawkins and come to UNC next year with Barnes and Co. Read this piece on SI.com and it will make you feel all warm and giddy inside. Here’s a throwback of ol’ Bob, sorry about the watermark. Only image I could find in a Heels uni.

    Well if you read that article, it’s made clear by James McAdoo’s father that James came up with the idea once the Wear twins transferred. That gave me some piece of mind. I was afraid that Roy might have been pulling a Coach K. As in last year when Dawkins came to Duke as a 17-year-old. I never read any stories on him – why woud I? – but after Elliot Williams transferred I was sure it was K figuring out some way to bolster his roster. Unfortunately whoever initiated the Dawkins early graduation talks, it worked out for them, but that’s beside the point.

    The other move I’m not sure we’ve covered here on the Rafters is the transfer of Justin Knox from Alabama. This should be a valuable pick-up. If he can put up his numbers from the SEC a year ago (6.3 pts., 3.7 rebs) that will be gravy. It’d be about equal to what two Wears were giving us, so even trade.

    I don’t think the McAdoo Move would alter the potential starting lineup for next season, nor will the Knox pickup.  At the beginning, I’m guessing Drew, Strickland, Graves, Henson, Zeller, with the expectation that Barnes will be starting by the ACC season.

    The transfers and early graduations would give us a very solid bench, however, with McAdoo and Knox spelling Henson and Zeller. Graves and Barnes wouldn’t be forced to play much post, and Reggie Bullock and Kendall Marshall will provide the guards with respite.

    Come to think of it, that would give the Heels exactly 10 players who would likely see minutes — one sub for each starter.

    And if they start playing anything like last year, that would come in handy when Roy needs to make one of his full line-up substitutions.

     

  • shwineka 12:49 pm on March 6, 2010 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , Alumni of the Year, Bobby Knight, Cameron Crazies, , College Game Day, Dookies, , Hubert Davis, , , The Rafters, , University of North Carolina   

    Hubert Davis: Alumnus of the Year 

    On College Game Day this morning, let it be known that Hubert Davis, UNC Class of 1992, picked the Tar Heels to beat Duke while seated at half court of Hansbrough Cameron Indoor Stadium. While all the other commentators chose favored Duke, Mr. Davis exemplified the true spirit of the greatest rivalry in sports, and picked his alma mater. His colleague, Bobby Knight, then proposed that he receive the “alumni of the year award,” and so we are justly giving it to Mr. Davis. This is not the first time Mr. Davis has upheld his loyalty to the University of North Carolina, as evidenced in the hidden-camera video below. It is not a commercial like some might think.

    Although, Jay, you are normally a voice of reason and valuable insight, today is different. Eat it, Bilas. And so for Mr. Davis’ body of work as a full-bore Carolina supporter, even in the face of the Cameron Crazies, he shall be presented with this most prestigious award. The dozens, nay, hundreds of people who will see this will surely understand the humongous honor.

    Congratulate yourself, Hubert Davis. You are The Rafters’ Alumnus of the Year.

     

    • lulu 10:58 pm on March 6, 2010 Permalink

      I’ve always loved Hubert…that’s all I have to say about that.,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,and the game.

  • shwineka 12:08 pm on January 20, 2010 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , , Benn Wineka, , , , , , , , , grant hill, Hokies, , , , , , , , , The Rafters, throwback, , UVa, , ,   

    ACC Power Rankings – Uni-edition – Jan. 20, 2010 

    We polled all the Rafters bloggers to see who is looking good in the ACC this week. If you check this poll throughout the season, you’ll notice a certain consistency at the No. 1 position. It’s not our job to tout other teams who might have had a better week than Carolina, it’s our job to tell you why, week after week, UNC is the best team in the conference. If you know a reason why the Heels are No. 1, send it to us at editors@raftersblog.com.

    Our little disclaimer above takes a very literal turn this week, as yet again, the Heels are No. 1!

    You might have been worried that we wouldn’t be able to justify it this time. Wrong. Have a little faith. You can still talk junk to Clemson, even after that 19-point drubbing. They wear purple and orange. Child, please. Here’s a web album of all the inferior unis that attempt to challenge Carolina in the conference.

    1. North Carolina (1-2) – No one can touch the blue set on the road. This is easily the best uniform in the ACC, if not the country. The argyle up the side adds class, and somehow allows UNC to wear a color that could easily be used wrong with style. The white ones ain’t bad either, and then there’s the sick retros — all Jordan brand by the way. We could go on.

    2. Florida State (2-2) – At first glance, you might thing FSU is rockin’ a boring, maroon set with white and gold stripes down the side. But look again, that’s a feather going the length of the jersey and onto the shorts. Nice touch.

    3. Virginia (3-0) - UVa gets a little bump because of their record, but their unis ain’t hurtin. Pretty good meld of classic and contemporary design. For the amount of crap some teams put on uniforms now, this isn’t half bad.

    4. Virginia Tech (1-2) - We love the “Hokies” on the front, even if it is just a castrated turkey, but really hate the not-as-nice-as-Texas’ orange.

    5. Georgia Tech (3-2) - GT is here at No. 5 because they, too, are wearing throwbacks this year. Problem is, they don’t look that much different than their current jerseys. Not to mention these aren’t throwbacks to a championship team, they’re throwbacks to an Elite 8 team.

    6. Wake Forest (2-2) – Lumped in here with Ga. Tech because, well, they wear the same colors, and they’re colors that remind us of an old lady in church.

    7. Boston College (2-3) - BC climbs out of the basement of the rankings this week, not because they have sweet jerseys or a good record, but because there’s nothing to like or dislike about those unis.

    8. N.C. State (1-3) - Now we get to the bottom feeders of the league. State lands at No. 8 because even their own fans dislike their court wear. As Rafters blogger Benn Wineka put it, they’re  ”too bland to even be ‘classic.’”

    9. Miami (1-4) - The ‘Canes have been losing and looking bad while doing it. They rock the epitome of useless stripes down the side of their uniforms. They should take note from their fellow Floridians FSU and accent those jerseys with something less cliche.

    10. Clemson (3-2) - There’s so much potential to use a sweet paw print logo on Clemson’s sets, but instead they decide to waste it by wearing purple and orange. Let it sink in……………..purple…………..and orange.

    11. Maryland (2-1) - Maryland is another with squandered potential. The yellow/black checker from the Maryland state flag could be so cool. It’s almost used well on the home whites, but Benn reminded us that their yellows are unforgivable.

    12. Duke (3-1) - We’ve been waiting to put the Durhamites down here for a while, and this week’s theme provided the perfect opportunity. You remember when Duke had some pretty classic-looking jerseys and the rivalry match-ups with UNC just reeked of tradition?

    Per usual, the Dukies decide to ruin everything. In homage to their “famed” Gothic architecture, they are wearing what looks like a circuit board on their backs this year. And for a while now, they’ve switched the white out of their away blues (like Grant Hill is wearing above) to black, and “accented” that with black shoes. Black shoes, guys, really? Guess they’ve come to embrace their role, which is of course,  pure evil.

     

  • shwineka 12:04 pm on January 6, 2010 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , , Arizona, Auburn, , , , Cleveland State, , , , , Georgia, , , Harvard, , Maine, , Marquette, , , , , , Northern Iowa, , , Power Rankings, , , , Seton Hall, South Florida, St. Joseph's, Stanford, , , The Rafters, , , , , , , , , Wisconsin,   

    ACC Power Rankings – Jan. 6, 2010 

    We polled all the Rafters bloggers to see who is looking good in the ACC this week. If you check this poll throughout the season, you’ll notice a certain consistency at the No. 1 position. It’s not our job to tout other teams who might have had a better week than Carolina, it’s our job to tell you why, week after week, UNC is the best team in the conference.

    In the inaugural edition of the ACC Power Rankings,  we have a couple of teams with a sizable advantage, being that they’ve already played a conference game. Or is that disadvantage? Feel free to discuss.

    1. North Carolina (0-0) – The Heels might have dropped a game to College of Charleston, but their other losses are to the best of the best in the NCAA, with all three being to teams in the Top 5. The CoC loss also came without two starters (Marcus Ginyard and Will Graves), on the road, in overtime and after the Cougars had to hit a 3-pointer with two seconds left just to get to OT. Not too bad for a rebuilding year.

    2. Florida State (1-0) – Already beat a conference foe, and to top it off, it was a ranked conference foe (Ga. Tech).

    3. Duke (1-0) – You could say the same thing about the Dukies as you can about FSU, but as we’ve said before, a victory over Clemson is overrated. Plus they lost their only true road game of the season at Wisconsin, which we all know is the sole reason the ACC lost the Big 10/ACC challenge for the first time EVER. Way to go, Duke.

    4. Wake Forest (1-0) – A pretty decisive win over N.C. State by this young team is a good sign.

    5. Georgia Tech (0-1) – Gritted out their loss to a good FSU team. They are another really young squad who will only get better over the course of the season. We’re overlooking the rivalry loss to Georgia. 

    6. Clemson (0-1) – Only this high because they’ve played an ACC game already. Still not sold on Clemson without their outside shooters from last year. As despicable as Terrence Oglesby was, he was still a pretty good, yet awkward shot. Trevor Booker is good, but he can’t carry them.

    7. Virginia (0-0) – Nice wins over Cleveland State and UAB coupled with three losses by a combined nine points says this team is going to be frustrating for its fans. Those three losses (Penn State, Auburn and Stanford) are all to teams who are more or less evenly matched with Virginia. They also have a more lopsided loss to South Florida.  UVA might slide from this spot, but right now we’re going to give them a nod as a team whose “almost clicking.”

    8. Virginia Tech (0-0) – Wins over Penn State and Seton Hall look OK, but are they good enough for a NCAA berth? Not so sure. 

    9. Miami (0-1) – Losing to Boston College was miserable, but it was a one-point game on the road in conference. They can come back.

    10. North Carolina State (0-1) – The Wolfpack has had some tough losses already this season, including a heartbreaker Sunday night against Florida and a two-point loss to Arizona. They do have a win over Marquette, but the losses to the dismal SEC and Pac – 10 tells us that things might not be looking up in Raleigh just yet.

    11. Maryland (0-0) - That was a nice game against William & Mary, eh? I’m just elated the bar I was in would only play your pathetic excuse for a game while the Heels were destroying Albany. Have to admit though, seeing Greivis Vasquez go down is almost as much fun as imitating Jon Scheyer, which I did during many times during that night of drinking. UMD has also lost all the games they needed to win to make a statement pre-conference with their best win coming against a down-year Indiana squad.

    12. Boston College (1-0) – Why rank a team who has actually won a conference game this low? Five reasons: St. Joseph’s, Northern Iowa, Harvard (AGAIN!), Rhode Island and Maine. And as one Rafters blogger put it, “they are just the maroon-headed step child of the ACC.”


     

  • shwineka 8:00 am on December 11, 2009 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: Charlotte Bobcats, , , , , , Sportscenter, The Rafters, , Verizon Center,   

    Where the Heel did you go, Raymond Felton? 

    Those of you that watch Sportscenter (one word or two?) probably know very well where Raymond Felton is because he’s taking names in the NBA. As point guard for the Charlotte Bobcats, Ray has been getting some great compliments from his coach, Larry Brown. Not an easy task, considering Brown is known to be one of the toughest coaches on points guards in the game.

    Felton has the squad playing pretty well. Charlotte just beat a very good Denver Nuggets team, against another former UNC PG Ty Lawson no less. The Bobcats have won six of their last eight games. Needless to say, one of those came when they visited the Wizards Nov. 28. Rafters blogger Matt and I made our way to the Verizon Center to catch the game and took some super sweet video of our boy Felton from our “upgraded” seats in the lower level.  So please, do check it out below:

    [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHeSYd9E5Ro&hl=en_US&fs=1&]

    [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4FrnpqXV6A&hl=en&fs=1]

    Look closely and you’ll see another former Tar Heel, Brendan Haywood, in that second video. And now, the highlight of the Wizards’ night!……

    [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1j9qieUK0fY&hl=en_US&fs=1&]

     

  • shwineka 11:54 pm on December 2, 2009 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , , , Buffalo Billiards, , , , , Dean Smith Center, , , , , , , , , , , The Rafters, , , , ,   

    Deja Vu: UNC Handles Michigan State 

    UNC 89, MSU 82

    Box Score

    It’s becoming a common thing. UNC plays Michigan State. UNC wins.

    The Heels have taken their last five meetings with the Spartans, and these aren’t just in the Big 10-ACC Challenge games. I recall an April day in 2005. A hot Spartan team was in the Final Four making some noise and ready to take down the No. 1-seeded Tar Heels. Or wait was that 2009?

    Anyway, for all the things that Tom Izzo does well, he can’t seem to figure out his Carolina conundrum. And honestly, who didn’t think Tuesday was going to be his night?

    A completely different UNC team showed up in the Smith Center than I’ve seen this year. The froshs and sophs played like upperclassmen right from the tip-off, with UNC jumping out to an early lead. It had to feel sickening for MSU fans, a horrible case of deja vu. Us DC-based Rafters bloggers sat with a decent contingent of UNC fans at Buffalo Billiards. A great idea emerged. Anyone not privileged enough to live in Chapel Hill, like our esteemed colleague Benn, should tweet us to meet up in the DC area for game viewings. We like to go out. If we go out anyway, we’ll make sure to say where we’re going.

    Hey, we might even put your picture on the internets.

    Before I get all hot and bothered thinking about tweet ups:

    Takeaways:

    • The recruiting class of 2008 came out of its shell. LD and Easy Ed both notched career highs in points (18 and 22 respectively). LD hit some clutch shots and had a 2-to-1 assist to turnover ratio in 27 minutes. Davis was his normal smooth self. You must watch this guy on Ustream sometime. Just follow him on twitter and he’ll notify when he’s getting on. If you want to know why we love him so much that will tell you everything.
    • If there’s only 5 seconds left in a half, who gets the rock? Answer: Dexter Strickland. Strickland hit his second buzzer beater of the year at the end of the first half, sinking a trey.
    • Will Graves is a starter, but he logs bench minutes. He’s getting about the same run time as Strickland, John Henson and Tyler Zeller. Gut tells me that once Roy is more comfortable with Henson or Strickland they’ll get the start. (And after last night I gotta be leaning towards Strickland)
    • Back to Dex. Strickland had zero turnovers while logging some significant minutes at point. And as Luke Winn reminds us, he is a converted shooting guard. Got to be happy with that.
    • Are the Wears twins? …………or clones? Travis – 2 pts, 3 rebs in 6 minutes; David – 2 pts, 2 rebs in 7 minutes

    Superlatives

    • Players of the Game: Larry Drew and Ed Davis -  see above
    • Lookin’ Fierce Award: Roy Williams
    • John Henson, if there was an award for throwing the ball between your legs to save it from going out, we’d give it to you. I don’t think even the Rafters has an award for that.
     

    • Zach Evans 12:46 pm on December 3, 2009 Permalink

      With all due respect to Henson, maybe the award should be the “Don’t Save the Ball Underneath the Other Basket” Award. As impressive as it looked, it did lead to an easy MSU basket.

      I guess I’m just never satisfied.

  • shwineka 7:48 pm on November 21, 2009 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: Salisbury, The Rafters, The Salisbury Post   

    The Rafters Gettin' Some Pub 

    So The Rafters got a mention in the Salisbury Post about a week ago. It’s the hometown paper of three out of the four Rafters bloggers, who all happen to have gone to the same high school in said hometown.

     

     

  • hiphopobserver 11:05 pm on November 15, 2009 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: alexander julian, , Chapl Hill, , Inside Carolina, Jim Hawkins, , , , , , , The Rafters, , ,   

    Roy Williams Tie Tracker: Valparaiso 

    One thing all UNC fans have come to know, love and expect of Roy Williams is his fashionable selection of ties, most often courtesy of Chapel Hill outfitter Alexander Julian. The same man who put the argyle on the side of the basketball uniform is still turning heads with  what he’s putting around Ol’ Roy’s neck. So, here at The Rafters we decided to pay homage to the best accesory in college hoops, if not the entire sporting world, and document every tie Roy Williams wears this season.

    For game three against the Valpo Crusaders Roy busted out a dark brown, gold and darker-hued blue with a touch of Carolina large-paisleyish patterned gem.

    roytiegame3_3

    Roy was definitely working this one off the tan suit and again brought the heat with a pocket square matching his tie. As for the stripes on the shirt, we’ve definitely seen a lot of mixed patterns thus far this season.

    roytiegame3_2

    Really apologize for the lack of real good shots I’ll be updating this as soon as possible.

    roytiegame3

    Here’s this years stats:

    Game 1: Florida International, W 88-72 – Small paisley in aqua and dark blue with pocket square

    Game 2: North Carolina Central, W 89-42 – Large paisley in Carolina and navy blue and gold with pocket square

    Game 3: Valparaiso, W 88-77 – Large paisley-ish in gold, navy, brown and Carolina with pocket square

    [Photos by Inside Carolina's Jim Hawkins and N&O's Robert Willett]

     

  • shwineka 4:23 pm on November 13, 2009 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , Austin Peay, , Cal State Northridge, , , Cole Aldrich, Connecticut, , Fairleigh Dickinson, Florida Gulf Coast, , Greg Monroe, Hofstra, Jay Wright, , , , Kemba Walker, , master of your domain, , , Morehead State, , Pennsylvania, , Purdue, Rider, Storrs, , Tennessee, The Rafters, Top 10, , Tulane, UConn, , , UNC Greensboro, Villanova,   

    Official College Basketball Opening Night 

    2009-ncaa-bracket

    Unless you’re one of the lucky fans whose team is playing in the 2K Sports Classic Benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer — as per us at The Rafters — then tonight begins the best four and a half months of the year.

    And unless you are a Master of your Domain (DVR), you’re going to have to miss some of the action as many teams are playing at the same time.

    SCHEDULE SNAFU:

    Six Top 10 teams are playing overlapping games tonight. Kentucky (5)– perhaps one of the most anticipated debuts — plays at 6:30 p.m., while Michigan State (2), Villanova (6), Purdue (7) and Duke (8) play at 7 p.m. To top it off, the preseason No. 1 Kansas plays at 8 p.m., further complicating things  for the second half of the 7 o’clockers.

    As an ACC junkie, and Tar Heel alumnus, naturally I’ll be glued to the Duke game “just to see if they lose.” It’s amazing how many Duke games I watch under that pretense. I’ll also watch the first half of the first half of Kentucky, because I desperately want the Calipari experiment to fail.

    But what about during breaks in the despised Durhamites’ matchup?

    Of course, when there are multiple games on, it’s inconceivable that one would watch commercials. Here’s my hierarchy of channel flippage for tonight. (We ordered the college hoops package, so yes, be jealous. Or order it, too!) If No. 1 is at commerical, I proceed down the list until I find a game.

    6:30 p.m.

    1. Kentucky vs. Morehead St.

    7:00 p.m.

    1. Duke vs. UNC Greensboro – For Obvious Reasons
    2. Kentucky vs. Morehead St. – I told you I want him to fail!
    3. Michigan State vs. Florida Gulf Coast – Love Kalin Lucas
    4. Purdue vs. Cal State Northridge – Is it me, or is the Big 10 scary this year?
    5. Villanova vs. Fairleigh Dickinson – Will Jay Wright continue to wear pinstripes for an entire season!?

    7:30 p.m.

    Otherwise same as above:

    5. UConn vs. William and Mary – Down year in Storrs?
    6. Penn State vs. Pennsylvania – Hopefully I won’t make it down this far
    7. Villanova vs. Fairleigh Dickinson – Just not that interested for some reason

    8:00 p.m.

    1. Duke vs. UNC Greensboro – Still anticipating failure!
    2. Kentucky vs. Morehead St. – See above
    3. Kansas vs. Hofstra – Are they really THAT good?
    4. Clemson vs. Presbyterian – ACC with a capital A!
    5. Michican State vs. Florida Gulf Coast – Remember when UNC beat them twice last year?
    6. Purdue vs. Cal State Northridge – Again, I hope I don’t make it down this far.
    7. UConn vs. William and Mary – Kemba Walker is fast

    9:00 p.m. and on

    1. Kansas vs. Hofstra – I will never forgive you, Cole Aldrich
    2. Clemson vs. Presbyterian – Can Trevor Booker carry you guys?
    3. UConn vs. William and Mary – W&M has a nice campus
    4. Georgetown vs. Tulane – Greg Monroe should be beastmode
    5. Tenneessee vs. Austin Peay – It rhymes!
    6. Mississippi State vs. Rider – Blocks, blocks and more blocks
     

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