Three conclusions to be drawn from Wednesday’s first Duke vs. Carolina game of the season, a frantic 79-73 Blue Devil win.
1. Barring abrupt directional changes, the Tar Heels will be favored in the March 5 return game in Chapel Hill. The Devils were favored by 10 points in Cameron. The Heels will likely be picked by 4-8 in the Smith Center.
This is one season when the ACC obviously needs that bonus Duke-Carolina game in March. Based on the uninspiring play of the other 10 league teams, the tournament could be a long Greensboro yawn unless there’s a third meeting of the rivals.
2. Duke’s Seth Curry has a chance to track along the same career path as senior teammate Nolan Smith.
Smith may be the best college player in the nation now. But as a leaner, less confident sophomore, he averaged a modest 8.4 points and shot 42 percent while starting 21 of the team’s 34 games.
After the 22-point explosion against UNC, Curry, a third-year sophomore, is averaging 8.8 points, shooting almost 42 percent and has started six times.
Apart from similar shooting styles on the perimeter, both have near unlimited intensity. Plus, Curry will get more effective at creating offense off the dribble.
3. No one is benefiting more from Kendall Marshall’s floor direction for UNC than junior center Tyler Zeller.
In the past four games, Zeller has averaged 18 points and converted 27 of 37 field-goal attempts.
At this rate, the 7-foot junior will be a first-team all-ACC pick, probably at the expense of Boston College hopeful Reggie Jackson, who has cooled some of late.
Columnist
Comments
Tudor you're a whimp.
Fri, 02/11/2011 - 21:09 — HeelsupporterTudor they just spotted us 16 and beat us. I know you need to kiss up to your limited reader base but GET REAL! Go heels. Be competitive at least.
What a thread !!
Fri, 02/11/2011 - 01:37 — gvillegatrOnly at ACCNow can you get a Carolina poster railing at length on Xoaxh and have a Clemson player/state season ticket holder back Coach Williams !! Love it !!
UNC favored?
Thu, 02/10/2011 - 23:04 — kdm98I don't follow the logic. If you are going to go by the most recent data, then you would go by Duke winning the 2nd half by 50-30 and say that Duke figured them out and UNC has no chance. This is kind of weak journalism.
Duke gave up about 12 layups in the first half and I think Marshall's quickness surprised them. But they adjusted and shut him down in the 2nd half. So, is Marshall's quickness going to surprise them in the Dean Dome in 3 weeks? Really?
UNC has improved a lot this season as compared to last season where they never seemed to get better. It should be a good game, but saying Carolina will be favored is silly.
UNC va Duke round 2
Thu, 02/10/2011 - 22:44 — belwoodGuess why pre-season ratings are so bad? Because they're done by sportswriters who are like lemmings, just following each other into the sea of error. Guess why there are so many "upsets"? Because sportswriters can't possibly know how good or bad teams are except by following others' opinions and not thinking, not being thorough and not admitting that they really don't know enough about college basketball teams (e.g. St Johns vs Duke and now UConn!). And guess why games are played on the court and not in the newspapers? And why do sportswriters continue to predict games, league standings and national ratings? Last year the writers couldn't even spell Butler let alone know where Butler is or even their mascot. Just an example, there are many others. Upset simply means that the sportswriters didn't do their homework and ignored lots of good teams and players because they weren't in the right conference. An upset is simply a term sportswriters use instead of admitting they were wrong. Obviously this applies to almost all sports media, not just writers. If scientists did as mich research as sportswriters we'd still be in the dark ages.
There. Got that off my chest.
Nothing against this column,
Thu, 02/10/2011 - 22:32 — restonpackNothing against this column, I had the same thought. Caulton is a good guy who knows his ACC basketball. But LOL at The N&O's online editors for their laughably open bias toward UNC on the Web sports page. The day after Duke beats UNC, they lead with a column speculating that UNC might beat Duke some other time! The grownups in charge of the print edition need to pay attention to what the kid who lays out the Web page is doing. This reflects on The N&O's reputation just as much these days as the print edition does.
ACC IS Low
Thu, 02/10/2011 - 22:29 — tarheel73This is another rant about the demise of basketball in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Once the nation's premier league, the ACC has now become largely a two-team league and, in most years, the league is dominated by either UNC or Duke. The other teams pull the occasional upset but there is nothing like the great teams we used to see at State, Wake, Georgia Tech, and Virginia.
The Big East has displaced the ACC at the top. That will be shown when NCAA bids in March go to 11, 12, or 13 Big East Schools while the ACC will be lucky if it has more than three teams selected. The ACC Tournament, once the most exciting venue in the entire world for basketball, has now become just a pointless, boring interlude before the real tournament begins.
Part of the reason for this is the expansion to schools that put football first. Florida State and Virginia Tech dominate football. The other schools, especially the North Carolina schools, are not particularly competitive in football. As a fan it has gotten boring. I suggest we look at starting over. I'd like to turn the clock back and if that can't be done, I'd like to see either a merger with the Big East or some schools like UNC and Duke just leave the ACC.
defense
Thu, 02/10/2011 - 15:35 — saltydawg1Barnes could only get 8 shots. Singler had 17, many wide open, and after Curry got hot, he passed up more wide open shots. It should be obvious to any one who knows basketball, that one guy got stopped, and one simply had an off night!!
Potty Mouth Roy got pwned
Thu, 02/10/2011 - 14:53 — hdog007Potty Mouth Roy got pwned last night (again). Duke was slow getting started last night. I don't think that'll happen again. I see Duke hanging 20 on them in CH.
Tudor, quit drinking the
Fri, 02/11/2011 - 21:04 — HeelsupporterTudor, quit drinking the cool aid. Your a small time writer that needs to support the large public scool UNCCH. to keekp you limited number of readers we all know that. But Duke an 8-10 point under dog even if it's only "his" second game back, GET REAL. They just spot us 16 and still won.
I respectfully disagree
Thu, 02/10/2011 - 23:53 — Heelsforeverd00k will score more than 20 points. They won't play anywhere near that bad.
Your $ where....
Thu, 02/10/2011 - 15:08 — hat_in_handhdog......where is your betting station ? I may have to take the 20.
Roy. Here is an aspirin
Thu, 02/10/2011 - 14:36 — hat_in_handJust in case that brake pedal does hit in you in the face. But, if it does, do not reach for it because the ball you play is what attracts the 5-star kids to come play for you. Sportsfans, Roy should be the COY. Remarkable is the word for the position this group is in after losing 13 kids since winning the 2009 NC. Not many coaches in America could suvive that. I think even Smith,Knight,and Kwould agree on that one.
UNC has a better team than Duke if you grade out the 5 positions. Duke has a better set of players that could take matters into their own hands. Duke's interior is so weak offensively. If they had Zeller or Henson, they run the tables through April.
Cannot wait to see these 2 teams go at it again, hopefully as Tudor suggests, twice.
The rest of the league has to be thinking that they may get their seccession letter from the ACC office. All any of the fans want to do is whine about their coaches, the refs, or the building they have to play in. I can promise you this, K would put a team on the floor that would fill up a 20,000 seat arena. Roy already does.
You're joking right? UNC
Thu, 02/10/2011 - 15:31 — hdog007You're joking right? UNC brings in top 5 talent year in/year out in BBall. Roy is one of the best recruiters out there. Actually, I'd argue he's THE best. However, he's not so good when it comes to developing young talent and he's at best an "average" game day coach. Perfect example, when Duke was taking it to them last night, he didn't even bother to call a timeout during a 10 point swing. There's no excuse for that. Coaching 101. Result: Duke took the lead and never looked back.
UNC should be undefeated (or very close to it) with the talent they have. Hell, Sid BLowe could have the record Roy has with that talent.
Most UNC fans seem to be okay with the face that he brings in the best, but he ain't a great x's and o's guy.
Good ol' Roy
Thu, 02/10/2011 - 22:56 — belwoodYep, you're right about Williams. His lifetime 626 wins, 161 losses, .795 winning percentage, his national championships and coaching 2 of the best basketball programs in the country for 23 years PROVES you're right. He sure don't know squat about game coaching.
ROY IS NOT A GOOD GAME COACH
Thu, 02/10/2011 - 16:05 — Kamano1955I've said that for years. Sometimes I feel like I'm in the Twilight Zone watching Roy stand there with that Deputy Dog stare on his face while we blow lead after lead.........or get blown out in a 5 minute span! The 2 NTs he has won, it was teams that were so focused and talented they rarely got out of their routine. I am tired of hearing ole Roy take partial blame when this team loses. I would rather see him work on his game management skills and show us some improvement........like he expects from his players. His rotation plan needs work for sure. There are times when he takes guys out just when they are getting comfortable on offense and other times when his whole squad on the floor struggles to score. Absolutely no scorers in the game for some stretches. Duke took us completely out of our offensive sets in the second half.........no changes. Smith drove into the lane the entire second half. Nobody took it away from him, make him go the other way. Take away his passing lanes! We got beat on the boards in the second half, no changes. During games, I see things that need to be corrected right now......but it never is. That tells me that Roy is not aware or doesn't know how to motivate his players!
You are in the TZ
Thu, 02/10/2011 - 16:23 — hat_in_handwhat does NTs stand for ? When did Roy not have a scorer on the floor last nite?
Smith drives to the lane every nite on everybody.
What things did you see last nite that you would correct?
Roy and his assistants not aware of something happening 15 feet from them?
Last nite is simple. Curry popped 22. Smith was Smith+. UNC got Cameroned a little and the guards forgot there was an inside game in the first 7 minutes of the 2nd half. Barnes and Singler Xed each other out. Barnes did an outstanding job. Probably should have switched him off to Curry. Wait, maybe you are right....maybe Coach W did not see that....
You are reaching K1955.
JERK
Thu, 02/10/2011 - 17:37 — Kamano1955You seem to be a little slow so I'll try to go your speed.
NT=National Tournament or Big Dance
Smith likes to drive into the paint so you overplay him and force him to go another direction. Takes him out of his comfort zone and disrupts the offense.
Where do I start? At half time you fire up your team to come out and INCREASE your lead to 30! ON OFFENSE: After the 2nd walk by Henson you take him out for a little chat. His first shot was a 22 footer from the wing! Marshall is only a freshman and he was getting pushed way out to start the offense. He wasn't getting in the paint as often and when he did he forced a bad shot instead of kicking it out to a shooter. He is key! Get him back to the game plan! At one point they were struggling just to get a shot. They were completely out of their offensive sets and nobody was in rebound position more times than I'd like to remember in the second half. It was one and done the entire second half. ON DEFENSE: We quit boxing out on shooters and underneath! Our guards quit going after long rebounds or were out of position and looking for easy fast breaks. Got to get the ball first! We foolishly ran by shooters even after they were hot instead of holding a position in front of them and making shots difficult. We didn't take away their passing lanes. They did exactly what they wanted all night while taking away our offense. We quit talking to each other in the second half and instead put on our 32 point beat-down faces from last year! No talking, no smiling and no fun! These guys were shaken and there was no leadership forthcoming from the floor or the bench. I can forgive the lack of it coming from the floor but not the bench!
Oh and BTW- Nobody gets lit up by perimeter shooters more than ole Roy. He's still living in the early 80's when the 3 point line was 3 feet shorter and the rule of thumb was that any shot outside of 15 feet was a bad shot and a low percentage shot. He is such a knucklehead that he believes we can't get beat by the 3! Dadgumit!!! Get out there and guard somebody! Duke does.
agree with the last paragraph
Thu, 02/10/2011 - 18:45 — unc098agree with the last paragraph
NT ??
Thu, 02/10/2011 - 18:05 — hat_in_handhmmmm.. you had me on the other post for a minute with your nice basketball terms, but I am sure that when I played at Clemson and actually played in the event called The NCAA(one game), and have watched that event every year religiously since then, I have never heard it called the National Tournament. Could you refer me to an article on the internet that references this grand event as the NT ??
Lastly, nice coaching expertise you laid out there.....*Dadgumit, get out there and guard somebody*.....
come on now, do you need me to call another timeout for you ??
So Hat
Thu, 02/10/2011 - 20:02 — chaboard.......just out of curiosity did you play for Foster, Ellis, Barnes or Purnell?
Bench man
Thu, 02/10/2011 - 20:32 — hat_in_handCoach Foster.
Ah....Billy Williams and Larry Nance teammate?
Thu, 02/10/2011 - 21:05 — chaboardThat was a pretty good team ya'll had. I coached you guys to an ACC Title in the tabletop ACCtion Basketball game back in a mid-80's league! I got more out of Mitchell Wiggins than Coach Foster did. ;)
These numbers bring back any memories?
http://www.sportsstats.com/bball/boxlines/CLEM/1980
YES.
Fri, 02/11/2011 - 09:31 — hat_in_hand79 and 80...BWilliams was soooo good. Very few as smooth as him. I played behind BConrad. Only 2 years. I was a jr college transfer and then a hold over sub from a year when CTigers were still serving a recruiting probabtion because of TRollins. They finally were able to bring in some talent. It was alot of fun and Coach Foster is a class guy. He encouraged me strongly to get into coaching but the money then was nothing like it is today. Nowhere close.
We played in the NCAA in 80. Lost to UCLA in 4th game.
If you got Mitchell Wiggins to do anything, that is a coaching phenom accomplishment.
Well The Mitchell Wiggins *I* Coached Was
Fri, 02/11/2011 - 16:23 — chaboardjust a piece of cardboard with numbers on it! I suppose I must have your card too, come to think of it.
On the money in coaching thing....I just last week got around to watching that special ESPN did last spring on the Duke-UNC rivalry (DVR's are wonderful things). My jaw dropped to the floor when they said what Coach K's initial salary was at Duke. I think they said $40k or $38k? It just shocked me because only 3-4 years later I came straight out of school to the same salary he was getting as a head coach in the #1 basketball conference in the land taking over a program only a few years removed from a Final Four. It boggles the mind. I used to wonder why Carl Tacy walked away from Wake to run a yogurt store....never occurred to me that he might not have been making big money.
You must have been up to get a beer
Thu, 02/10/2011 - 15:56 — hat_in_handhdog... The lead at half was 14. Roy called timeouts when Duke cut the lead to 7 and again when they cut to 4. Go get another Pabst Blue Ribbon.
You do not win 2 National Championships without being an X and Oer. He has coaches fly in from all points to understand his secondary break. How about if you tell us what his very first mindset is behind it ?? uhmmm,,,,uhmmmm,,,,, exactly hdog.
SO!!!
Thu, 02/10/2011 - 16:19 — Kamano1955Yeah, Roy called those time outs and got zero improvement out of them. We don't know what he said or how he said it so all we can do is go by results and they are very poor.
BTW- My teams in HS and College ran the break and there is no secret to it! You either have the people to make it work or you don't. So if you want to convince me that ole Roy is some kind of guru in basketball you'll have to come up with something else.
Ole Roy gets the top talent in the Country every year and still manages to lose to teams with ZERO top recruits. I'd say those opposing coaches are the gurus by out coaching a millionaire with all the toys.
You must have been getting a beer with hdog
Thu, 02/10/2011 - 16:40 — hat_in_handFirst timeout....you are correct. They came out and turned the ball over.
2nd timeout, UNC ran a backdoor to Zeller who scored on a wideopen layup.
Do you two go to the bathroom together as well?
TIME-OUTS
Thu, 02/10/2011 - 17:02 — Kamano1955You must not have played the game. When you call a time out, more than likely you are in trouble. The purpose of the time out is to counter whatever it is that is causing you trouble.........NOT so that you can run a silly back door play! The play is designed to give you an easy score and hopefully whatever changes your brilliant coach made in the TO works. Except whatever Deputy Dog called fell flat like a sack of rocks.
K...let me call a TO for you....
Thu, 02/10/2011 - 17:24 — hat_in_handbecause what you are doing is not working. The TO is to cover strategy and mindset reminders and run a set play, so that the players get their minds off the wrong things and only focus on a good quality result. So, go ahead and take your timeout and come back with a little better mindset and much more game than you have brought to this street.
Coach K had much different thoughts on the game than you in his press conference last nite. go to CBSsports.com and see if you can identify the differences.
K-head
Thu, 02/10/2011 - 16:27 — hat_in_handOkay K1955.... you want to step in and take the test for hdog ??
1st question.... what is the 1st option on the secondary break ?
go......uhmmmmm, uhmmmmm, i used to know it in HS and college cause my teams ran it........while I ran back to the fridge and got another Pabst.
okay K.....end of lesson.
JERK
Thu, 02/10/2011 - 16:46 — Kamano1955OK.......I'll play along. The first option is to Zeller in the paint. The second is to the trailer at the top of the key who would then swing it around to the opposite wing. From there the wing has the option of hitting Zeller on the block or the trailer breaking down into the paint from the upscreen. There are many options available but they rarely get to them. By then, one of these so-called offensive threats makes a stupid ball fake and throws up an air ball. They're all pros now........no need to run your offense!
Just let me know if there are other basics about the game you are clueless about.
You didn't really come with that answer did you?
Thu, 02/10/2011 - 17:16 — hat_in_handWent to find one on the internet, Khead. ?
Plus the question was....what is the First Option of the secondary break? Not what is the sequence. Sounds like you enjoy listening to yourself talk.
You got it wrong. Go back and do your research. Not as easy as you make it sound there huh Mr. Basic. Research this time without the Pabst. Now, when you yell UNCLE, I will be happy to give you the correct answer.......but hurry before all of UNC's players turn pro.
JERK
Thu, 02/10/2011 - 17:52 — Kamano1955Now I'm positive you've never played ball! The break is designed to get easy baskets. If you are running the break you are looking for the center who may or may not be open in the paint! Long pass, dummy. What are you smoking? Now, say Zeller is flat on his a$$ or just not hustling, anybody will do. If Coach Robinson is open down there you get him the ball.
The break is designed to get all 5 men in motion, so the only other possible answer to your lame question is the first thing you do is get the rebound! The second is you look for a mate down floor wide open and if that is not there you get the ball to the point guard. Oh and BTW.....if the point has a clear lane he takes it.
Your superior knowledge of the game must have come in handy down at the church league.
There is a difference
Thu, 02/10/2011 - 18:16 — hat_in_handDo you actually know the difference between the initial break and the SECONDARY break ?
Those are other basketball terms.
Everything you have laid out here is part of the initial break....including the rebound that you so eloquently remembered to include in there.......
go ahead.... UNCLE ?? will not take you much..just a little swallowing of the pride,,, and then I will give you the education. It will help you to look at the games much differently and will give you a floor level look at what really happens out there. Do not keep yourself even in the lower level seats. I sit there during the NCSU games and hear the confusion that exists in most people's brains as they open their mouth and let us know. Many of them do not know the difference between initail break and secondary break either.
did I hear it ?
Thu, 02/10/2011 - 17:56 — hat_in_handdid you say UNCLE?
not even close, except that you are using the some good basketball terms.. point, floor, layup, etc....
hat_in_hand: you demonstrate
Thu, 02/10/2011 - 18:45 — hdog007hat_in_hand: you demonstrate my point that UNC fans accept that he is not a great x's and o's coach by defending his poor performance and adjustments (or lack thereof) in the second half yesterday.
That game came down to coaching. Duke made adjustments at halftime and came out swinging. Ole Roy and crew not so much.
You guys can argue breaks all night. It obviously didn't work for CH last night.
Adjustments !?
Fri, 02/11/2011 - 01:18 — gvillegatrK said and showed he told the guys to calm down bc they were "nuts" and he took Thorton (who?) out of the lineup and added Curry. Curry got smoking hot from the intermediary and Nolan still dis his thing. UNC simply didn't rebound and make FT's in the 2nd half. Kudo's to Dook on the win.
I never did that
Thu, 02/10/2011 - 20:21 — hat_in_handhdog. The only thing I took up for Roy on was that he has to have some XandO expertise. I promise I am not a UNC fan. I appreciate what Roy has accomplished just like I appreciate what K, Smith, Knight, and even JimmyV and to some degree Sloan(i was a puppy then).
I simply said that how can it be that coaches fly in from all points to attend his seminars if he was less than adequate ? You cannot tell me that all of these coaches spend money to fly in, meet with him and they cannot figure out what a bunch of NandO readers/posters seem to have figured out? Roy is a bad coach ? C'mon now, that does not even make sense. I have not said that he is as good as K or Smith or Knight on the bench. But he sure is better than what people on these boards give him credit for. You do not become a HOF coach on recruiting alone. If that were the case, there would have been tons of hardware lined up on CoachCalip's mantle, but there is not.
Yep
Thu, 02/10/2011 - 14:49 — SurferAnd I better get this in while I can. What to Coach Smith, Coach Williams and Coach K have in common? They all have a winning record in HIS.
loser line
Thu, 02/10/2011 - 14:25 — saltydawg1you loses always proclaim that you're gonna win next time. anybody that thinks Singler is gonna go 3-17 again, does not know basketball!
Uh !!! There was a reason
Thu, 02/10/2011 - 14:57 — unc098Uh !!! There was a reason Singler went 3-17. Its call Barnes. Conversely true as well
SALTY ??
Thu, 02/10/2011 - 14:40 — hat_in_handDo you really think that Curry is going to light up 22 next time ? Do you think Strickland is going to spend over 20 minutes on the bench with foul trouble ?
CURRY
Thu, 02/10/2011 - 16:27 — Kamano1955Tudor would have us believe that he will be another Nolan Smith. No way.......first of all Curry is not and will not be the athlete that Smith is. He is slow and will have trouble getting his shot off when a team decides to guard him. He will have to come off screens but he doesn't have the speed or the body to drive and score. He is a streak shooter and from what I have seen it is rare that he has nights like last night. Irving will be gone next year so Duke will be hurting at the point.
Wishful thinking
Thu, 02/10/2011 - 13:43 — statefanLooked to me like Duke got better during halftime; what makes you think they won't get better during the next 5 weeks? What UNC may get is tired, since they now have no depth in the back court, and Roy Williams wouldn't know a brake pedal if it hit him in the face.
coaching
Thu, 02/10/2011 - 14:25 — JPDOhioNo doubt that K outcoached Roy yesterday and will do so in the future. So nothing will change there.
I don't think Marshall getting tired will be an issue, because he is just now getting more than 30 minutes. This may be the only good thing about Roy's choice to start Drew the first half of the year. Since Marshall's minutes were limited early, he should not hit the freshman wall that usually happens around now.
I just don't see anyone on Duke's roster improving significantly between now and the end of the year. They are playing at a high level, obviously, but I think they have reached the plateau. For UNC, Marshall should get better, and I think that Henson and Barnes still have room to grow.
We'll see.
Hell yea
Fri, 02/11/2011 - 01:04 — gvillegatrI go to the mountains for the weekend and I miss a prime blog like this !?
I'm biased, of course, but you make a good point about Dook being as good as they can get. UNC, hopefully, can only get better ...
so caulton, if duke wins the
Thu, 02/10/2011 - 12:34 — dar456so caulton, if duke wins the rematch how long till you write the "unc will beat duke if they face each other in the acc tournament" article? or do you have a rough draft already prepared?
agreed
Thu, 02/10/2011 - 12:32 — JPDOhioI would say that if Marshall stays heatlhy and Irving does not return, UNC will be the best team in the ACC by season's end. UNC has upside. Duke is as good now as they are going to get, unless Irving returns and is close to 100%, which seems kind of iffy to me.
I would be surprised to see
Thu, 02/10/2011 - 12:49 — unc098I would be surprised to see Irving back and Duke is probably as good as they are going to get. Buts pretty good.
I say Heels take it in CH.