Basketball

I honestly do not understand the controversy over UNC cutting down the nets after winning the ACC regular season. I wonder if Duke thinks the ACC regular season title is “pathetic?” ;) While it might be excessive under the old Carolina Tradition, this is the same team that hadn’t finished in the top three at any point during their careers. The seniors had suffered through the infamous 8-20 season and came back to win the ACC. That was a long journey for them, and one unlikely to happen again. (Heck, I thought they should have put the NIT banner up after that 8-20 season. How often do you get to see playoff basketball at the Dean Dome involving UNC?) ...

Raymond Felton and Sean May are on the first team, Rashad McCants and Jawad Williams are on the third. Marvin Williams made honorable mention as a freshman. Now, if only Jackie makes it to the All-Defensive team. You can see the rest here. Update: Jackie did make it on the All-Defensive team. He’s a better defensive player than Chris Paul — Felton’s a better defensive player than Paul, as Paul can attest — and he probably should have been competing with Shelden Williams as Defensive Player of the Year for his shutdown performances. Unfortunately, they don’t have a points scored against vs. average points per game stat, and I suspect the Defensive team is picked on stats first, then impression. ...

Chris Paul vs. some Cameron-Crazy-wanna-be NC State fans. Just screams “classy,” doesn’t it? However, I had to link to this story for this quote: “I got punched in my groin by Chris Paul.” Update: Looks like Chris got suspended for a game. (Oddly enough, it could be the next game against NC State.) In further news, NC State fans might be suspended from watching their school in the NCAA Tournament, if the Pack doesn’t pick it up in the ACC Tournament. ...

UNC seniors Melvin Scott, Jackie Manuel, Jawad Williams Source: CollegeSports.com UNC 75, Duke 73 on Senior Day at Carolina. Good article by Adam Lucas. “I’d like to thank the coaching staff for helping me find myself,” Jackie Manuel said. That’s when those tears came for the head coach. (sniff) You’d have to know the history behind the seniors’ time at UNC to understand why winning the ACC title in their last year was so great. For a perennially good basketball program, it was a chaotic four years for guys who are growing up at the same time. ...

Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks and a very rich man, talks about taking advantage of the broadcast flag in a way its proponents probably don’t like to think about. :) BTW, that is a blog he’s writing.

Ouch. :( I’ll give Duke credit. They played their game, and forced Carolina to play it as well. Roy’s comments are available at Scout.com, as well as audio of the press conference. And let’s not forget another good night for Jackie Manuel. 3 out of 4 on both field goals and free throws. Not bad. Anyway, hope Duke enjoys it. I just have a feeling they won’t as much in three weeks. :) ...

Hmm? Are we talking about the same Lee Melchionni who was a top 100 recruit and honorable mention McDonald’s All-American, according to Duke’s site? Seems to have followed the career path of a lot of role players at Duke. (“You’ll come off that bench when I really need you, and not before.”)

Great game, particularly seeing it from the sixth row. Duke was #1, and UNC had lost twelve straight games to them. Women’s basketball tickets at UNC are a very good buy.

Only an UNC fan could know how much these words truly mean after the last few seasons: “[We’ve gone] from being the most selfish team I’ve ever been a part of to the most selfless team I’ve seen.” - Melvin Scott, Senior Guard sniff… Courtesy of Dan Wetzel, Yahoo! Sports

Watching a display of good fundamentals and team play like the Pistons’ dismantling of the Lakers just makes me want college basketball season to get here more quickly. It was basketball played the Carolina Way. Go Heels!