While not being a fan of cliches I will begin this post with one: “What a difference a year (or season) makes”. Why do I say that? Simple, how did you feel the last regular game of the `09-`10 season, as Duke basically did what they wanted at Cameron Indoor Stadium, winning the game by 32! Now, last night’s game at the Dean Dome didn’t have the same margin of victory, but in ways it was the same concept, #13 North Carolina did what it wanted against #4 Duke, and came out with a 14 point victory 81 to 67. Trust me on this, like many other times, the final score does not always indicate what happened in the 40 minutes of play. So, how good was it then? Well, for this old Heel it might not erase last year, but it surely puts an end to the vivid memories of it! For the rest of the nation it was something that they wanted to watch, as the tweet below will show.
But before we go into the game let me just say that I tip my hat to head coach Roy Williams for keeping the “seniors start on senior day”, and along with Justin Knox (who is a senior himself) and Kendall Marshall the trio of Van Hatchell, D.J. Johnston and Daniel Bolick got the nod and when they came out after about 90 seconds had the Heels in front 3 nothing. When the usual starters got into the game it was a back and forth affair for the next 10 minutes, mainly due to the fact that UNC wasn’t boxing out as well as they should and the Blue Devils had five offensive boards (Duke would end up with just five more for the rest of the game). Then the Heels began to take more control of the game, slowly but surely going from 25 to 23 lead with about nine to go to 36 to 27 with just over five to go, to a 12 point lead at halftime. The 51 points that UNC scored in the first 20 minutes is the most the Duke gave up this season!
NCAA Basketball StatsYes, it was a bit like the first match up, and for that a lot of the fan base could have been worried that this could just be another set up for disappointment in the second half. But for those that watch the games a bit closer they could notice that this first half was not exactly like the one that had been played in Durham a couple of weeks before. The Heels did dominate inside (22 of 38 to 15 of 35) but they also hit on 75% of their three pointers (3 for 4) while, with the exception of Seth Curry, Duke was cold from beyond the arc (4 for 15).. For the pessimists this was just a way of thinking “the Blue Devils can’t shoot this bad in both halves”, for the optimists it was “this should be a crushing victory” and for me it was simply “this felt differently”, and even when the guests went on a 7 nothing run to begin the second half the Heels didn’t look like they were as shaken as they did in the first meeting.
NCAA Basketball StatsWhat happened next was a 7 to 2 run (5 points by Harrison Barnes) that put the Heels back to a double digit lead, a place where UNC would stay for about the rest of the game. Inside the Heels worked hard, getting several Duke players in foul trouble, outside the D tighten up and with the exception of Nolan Smith, no Blue Devil looked like they could do much against this Carolina squad. Kendall Marshall showed the college basketball world that there is more than just one freshman phenom in Chapel Hill, registering a double double of 15 points and 11 assists (only 2 TOs). John Henson also had a double double, with 10 points and 12 rebounds, while Harrison Barnes (18) and Tyler Zeller (14) were the other two Heels in double figures, while both ended up with five rebounds.
Maybe it’s a bit of a stretch, but it felt like Carolina played team ball while Duke relied of trying to get the ball first to Curry and then to Nolan Smith. And while that might have worked for a while as the Heels wore them down, the legs didn’t have the same spring to them, and the shots from the outside would just not fall for them, hitting on 2 out of 12 from 3 point land in the second part of the game. If you think that is bad, it is even more stunning if you take out Curry’s shots Duke was 0 for 16 from three. On the other hand for coach Williams’ squad their bread and butter, going inside, kept working well, especially with Marshall always looking for the open man at all times. Almost half (39 to the 81) points came from the three big men, showing that once again if UNC sticks to inside-out game plan they can definitely win against one.
If you watched the game last night how many great moments were there? From the Marshall spin move that left Curry frozen as the freshman point guard went right around him for two points, to the Dexter Strickland jam that left Plumlee (and the rest of the Duke team) stunned, to the missed shot by Barnes, who then followed it up with a great dunk, to Singler scoring one of the few baskets he had, but then not hustling back and Marshall finding Leslie McDonald for yet another fast break basket. I could go on and on, but the fact is that last night two teams met and one was a lot more ready for the game than the other, and it showed, for all fourty minutes.
As I said in my preview we can not go back to how the Heels would have done against the top competition they faced early in the season, but having played one of the top teams in the nation last night it sure does say that maybe, just maybe, these Heels are no illusion, but are in fact improved immensely and hopefully will continue on that path for the rest of the season! Now, before I finish this post, let me talk about the rushing the court, and how people are harping on it. Well, how many ways you want it? Last year’s team gave you nothing to cheer about and you bitched about it, even wanting them to stay home from the NIT, which as we all know now would have been a mistake. The season began and there was more bitching on how the squad started, now they win the ACC regular season, beating an arc rival and you keep bitching cause they rushed the court? To all these people I got one thing to say: “Be happy with our school and program cause there are plenty of fan bases that wished they just had the season we are having!”
Oh yes, just one more thing, writing the title “ACC Champs” one thought entered my mind “Gosh that feels good!” Rush the court everyone, cause I know it feels good to you as well!
Original Story:
http://www.the5thcorner.com/acc-champs
