Featured stories, N.C. State, The skinny, UNC

We may never know exactly what fired up the Heels

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North Carolina started out aggressively in this 74-55 win over N.C. State. We may never know exactly what precipitated that but UNC coach Roy Williams said something, challenged the players, as the Heels played their first game without Dexter Strickland, who has been lost for the season.

In a post-game interview, Tyler Zeller, who scored a game-high 21 points and a career-high 17 rebounds, alluded to something that Coach Williams did or said but it sounded like a challenge of some sort. I know there has been a lot of excitement at State over the Wolfpack’s start under new coach Mark Gottfried and I wonder if it has something to do with that.

“They are just 30 minutes down the road so we’d have to hear about it if we lose this one,” Zeller said.

State’s shooting was cold but it looked like the Tar Heels were ready to play. A lot of times teams play well just after losing a key player but eventually it will show.

Reggie Bullock’s defense was more than acceptable in Strickland’s place, as were his 11 points. Freshman Stilman White did fine spelling Kendall Marshall but he only played two more minutes than he normally does. He did get more important minutes I suppose.

Conventional wisdom is that the Tar Heels will miss Strickland’s defense but I think it’s the speed on the fast break that’s going to hurt more. Marshall’s passing is tremendous on the fast break but Strickland’s run outs on the fast break will be missed.

For more on the game, please click here.

Featured stories, N.C. State, The skinny

State’s Lutz to speak at Raleigh Sports Club Wednesday

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Bobby Lutz will be the guest speaker at the Raleigh Sports Club this Wednesday, Jan. 25. Lutz is an assistant basketball coach for the men’s basketball team. A former head coach at Charlotte and Pfeiffer, and a native North Carolinian, he has great ties in the state and is a huge help to the Wolfpack in recruiting.

Caroline Margolis, a lacrosse player at Ravenscroft High School, will be honored as the Student Athlete of the Week.

Buffet lines open at 11:30 a.m. The Forks Cafeteria will continue to cater a Southern Buffet. The meeting location will again be at Highland UMC at 1901 Ridge Road at the intersection of Lake Boone Trail, just inside the Beltline. Annual dues for the 2011-12 season will remain $60. Weekly attendance fee will remain $14 and applies whether the member plans to eat lunch or not. All guests fees will be $20 per guest. Pick sheets and door prizes will be held.

Featured stories, The skinny

Newton added to NFC Pro Bowl roster

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Carolina Panthers’ quarterback Cam Newton has been added to the NFC Pro Bowl roster and will play in the NFL’s all-star game on Sunday at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii (NBC, 7 p.m. ET).

Newton replaces quarterback Eli Manning, who will play in Super Bowl XLVI for the New York Giants against the New England Patriots on Feb. 5.

Newton joins Panthers center Ryan Kalil and wide receiver Steve Smith on the NFC squad, both of whom were voted to the Pro Bowl in December. Smith is the only other rookie in team history to play in the Pro Bowl, accomplishing that feat in 2001.

The No. 1 overall selection in the 2011 NFL Draft, Newton set an NFL rookie record with 4,051 passing yards, and his 21 touchdown passes are the third-most among rookies all time. He rushed for 706 yards and broke Steve Grogan’s 35-year-old NFL record for rushing touchdowns in a season by a quarterback with 14. Newton became the first quarterback in NFL history – rookie or otherwise – to pass for 4,000 yards and rush for 500 yards in a season.

Duke, Featured stories, The skinny

Duke’s Rivers wins ACC rookie of the week

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Florida State’s Michael Snaer has been named ACC Player of the Week and Duke’s Austin Rivers was selected ACC Rookie of the Week.

In becoming the second-straight Seminole to earn Player of the Week honors, Snaer scored 14 points in Saturday’s 76-73 win over fourth-ranked Duke, including the game-winning 3-point basket at the buzzer snapping the Blue Devils’ 45-game homecourt win streak. Earlier in the week, the Moreno Valley, Calif., junior had 19 points with two assists, two blocks and two steals in an 84-70 win over Maryland in Tallahassee Tuesday. In the two games, Snaer averaged 16.5 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists while shooting an even 50 percent (12-of-24) from the floor.

In earning the rookie award for the fourth time this season, Rivers averaged 19.5 points and 3. 5 rebounds per game as Duke split a pair of contests against Wake Forest and Florida State. The Winter Park, Fla., native came off the bench to score 20 points in Thursday’s 91-73 win over the Demon Deacons. Rivers posted a game-high 19 points and added four rebounds in Saturday’s loss to Florida State. For the week, Rivers was 13-of-27 (.481) from the field, 5-of-9 (.556) and 8-of-10 (.800) from the foul line.

Featured stories, The skinny, UNC

UNC can thrive, not just survive, without Dexter Strickland says Sporting News

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While the injury to Dexter Strickland’s knee, which will keep him out the rest of the season, is a huge blow to a North Carolina team expected to content for the national championship, at least one sports analyst thinks the Tar Heels can thrive without Strickland.

Strickland, a starting guard, has been perhaps the Heels best defender but Mike DeCourcy of Sporting News thinks Carolina will need more offensive punch than they’ve gotten to win it all – and they might get that punch by playing Reggie Bullock and/or P.J. Hairston more.

DeCourcy writes that the “absence of Strickland removes a capable finisher from Carolina’s fast break but provides the opportunity to devote his minutes to someone more capable of striking from the perimeter and stretching opposing defenses. During the periods when Marshall and Strickland played in tandem and 6-10 John Henson was in at power forward, the Heels were operating with only one truly dangerous 3-point shooter, (Harrison) Barnes.”

He says that while Bullock and Hairston have struggled, “it figures to help that each one’s playing time will increase.” He said that the Tar Heels must develop an overwhelming offense to be serious title contenders. “Whether it’s Bullock or Hairston or a combination of each player’s best, Carolina will be empowered by the forced transition,” he wrote.

For more, please click here.

Featured stories, N.C. State, The skinny, UNC

Former ACC receivers making mark in NFL playoffs

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The Atlantic Coast Conference has had a significant impact on this year’s National Football League Playoffs.

Through the NFL’s first eight playoff games, receivers who have played collegiately at current ACC schools have accounted for 51.5% of all of the passing touchdowns thrown, 35% of the passing yardage and 27.6% percent of the pass completions.

In all 15 former ACC players—including 14 who played Atlantic Coast Conference Football—have totaled 93 catches for 1,586 yards and 17 touchdowns in the eight NFL Playoff Games to date. ACC pass receivers have averaged an eye-opening 17.1 yards a catch average. By comparison, the non-ACC receivers in those games averaged just 11.2 yards per catch.

All told, the teams in those eight NFL games have a combined total of 355 pass completions for 4,527 yards (12.8 average) and 33 scores.

Of the top seven pass receivers in terms of yardage in the NFL Playoffs, six are from current ACC schools including the top two. Demaryius Thomas (Georgia Tech) of Denver leads with 297 yards and a 29.7 per-catch average, followed by Hakeem Nicks (North Carolina) of the New York Giants with 280 yards and a 21.5 per-catch average. Marques Colston, who played collegiately at Hofstra, of New Orleans is 3rd (256), but the next four are ACC products in Calvin Johnson (Georgia Tech) of Detroit (211); Andre Johnson (Miami) of Houston (201); Vernon Davis (Maryland) of San Francisco (180) and Jimmy Graham (Miami) of New Orleans (158).

Nicks and Davis are still alive in the playoffs and their teams will collide in this Sunday’s NFC Championship Game.

Receivers from ACC schools have topped the 100-yard mark in receiving seven times in this year’s playoffs, twice topping the 200-yard mark for a single game. Georgia Tech’s Calvin Johnson had 12 catches for 211 yards for Detroit against New Orleans and Georgia Tech’s Demaryius Thomas had 204 yards on only four catches versus Pittsburgh.

Here is a listing of NFL players who played at ACC schools in the playoffs who topped the 100-yard mark for a game:

Name Team School Rcp. Yards TD Opponent

Calvin Johnson Detroit Georgia Tech 12 211 2 New Orleans

Demaryius Thomas Denver Georgia Tech 4 204 1 Pittsburgh

Vernon Davis San Francisco Maryland 7 180 2 New Orleans

Hakeem Nicks New York Giants North Carolina 7 163 2 Green Bay

Hakeem Nicks New York Giants North Carolina 6 115 2 Atlanta

Andre Johnson Houston Miami 8 111 0 Baltimore

Jimmy Graham New Orleans Miami 5 103 2 San Francisco

Other ACC pass receiving performances in the NFL Playoffs:

Name Team School Rcp. Yards TD Opponent

Demaryius Thomas Denver Georgia Tech 6 93 1 New England

Anquan Boldin Baltimore Florida State 4 73 1 Houston

Heath Miller Pittsburgh Virginia 5 60 0 Denver

Jimmy Graham New Orleans Miami 7 55 1 Detroit

Andre Johnson Houston Miami 5 50 1 Cincinnati

Eddie Royal Denver Virginia Tech 3 49 1 Pittsburgh

Frank Gore San Francisco Miami 7 38 0 New Orleans

Jericho Cotchery Pittsburgh NC State 1 31 1 Denver

Eddie Royal Denver Virginia Tech 2 25 0 New England

Will Heller Detroit Georgia Tech 1 10 1 New Orleans

Jason Snelling Atlanta Virginia 2 9 0 NY Giants

Lance Ball Denver Maryland 1 6 0 Pittsburgh

Featured stories, The skinny

Hurricanes trade young players with Florida

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The Carolina Hurricanes today announced that the team has acquired forwards Evgenii Dadonov (ehv-GEH-nee do-DON-nauv) and A.J. Jenks from the Florida Panthers in exchange for forwards Jon Matsumoto and Mattias Lindstrom.

Dadonov, 22, is in his fifth season of professional hockey in North America, and has played 15 games on the NHL level with the Florida Panthers this season, totaling two goals and one assist (3 points). The Chelyabinsk, Russia, native has earned nine points (5g, 4a) in 20 games with the Panthers’ American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the San Antonio Rampage. Drafted by the Panthers in the third round, 71st overall, in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft, Dadonov (5’11”, 185 lbs.) has skated in 55 career NHL games for Florida, totaling 10 goals, 10 assists (20 points) and 16 penalty minutes. He established career highs in NHL games played (36), goals (8), assists (9) and points (17) in 2010-11, and represented Florida at the 2011 NHL All-Star Game in Raleigh as one of 12 rookies selected to participate.

Jenks, 21, is in his second professional season, splitting the year between San Antonio (AHL) and Cincinnati (ECHL). A native of Detroit, Jenks has skated in 28 games for the Rampage, without registering a point, and has totaled three goals and three assists (6 points) in 13 ECHL games with the Cyclones. Originally selected in the fourth round, 100th overall, in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft, Jenks (6’2”, 206 lbs.) played four seasons for the Plymouth Whalers of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) before turning pro, tallying 79 goals and 114 assists (193 points) in 249 career junior hockey games. Jenks helped the United States capture gold at the 2010 World Junior Championship in Canada, totaling three goals and two assists (5 points) during the tournament.

The Carolina Hurricanes host the Washington Capitals at the RBC Center on Friday (7 p.m., FOX Sports Carolinas HD, Hurricanes Radio Network) in the first game of a back-to-back set that wraps up on Saturday against the New York Islanders on Long Island. For information on 2011-12 Carolina Hurricanes ticket packages, please visit www.CarolinaHurricanes.com, or call 1-866-NHL-CANES.

Featured stories, The skinny, UNC

Williams didn’t realize he’d left his subs at game’s end

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UNC Coach Roy Williams apologized to his, mostly, walk-on players for leaving them on the court when he and rest of the team (including assistants and managers) left with 14 seconds remaining against Florida State Saturday. He said he didn’t even realized that they played out the end of the game until he saw it on the game tape.

At first I found that hard to believe. He really thought they would just forget the last 14 seconds? No, the Tar Heels weren’t going to come back in 14 seconds but they weren’t going to come back the last eight minutes either the way that game was going. I’m surprised he didn’t know they were out there but I believe him. Why would he lie about it?

The Tar Heels got a scare in Las Vegas when the UNLV fans stormed the court and knocked down a female manager, injuring her. So, it’s understandable that Williams would want to get as many off members of the team and staff as possible. But somebody had to finish the game – you just don’t stop games.

Frankly, if I were one of the walk-ons, I would have wanted to be out there. Any chance to play for my school, I would take. I wouldn’t be overly afraid of being assaulted – I mean, it’s not like I was a starter or anything. Yes, I would have wanted to get off the court before being stampeded but the opportunity to get in the scorebook would be more important.

Featured stories, The skinny

Panthers announcer Mick Mixon to speak at Raleigh Sports Club Wednesday

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Mick Mixon, the award-winning play-by-play voice of the Carolina Panthers and former color commentator for UNC sports, will be the guest speaker Wednesday at the Raleigh Sports Club meeting. Always a RSC favorite as he shares colorful quips and stories that only he can tell about the Panthers and the Tar Heels.

Student Athlete of the Week is Knightdale basketball player Brian Okoye.

Buffet lines open at 11:30 a.m. The Forks Cafeteria will continue to cater a Southern Buffet. The meeting location will again be at Highland UMC at 1901 Ridge Road at the intersection of Lake Boone Trail, just inside the Beltline. Annual dues for the 2011-12 season will remain $60. Weekly attendance fee will remain $14 and applies whether the member plans to eat lunch or not. All guests fees will be $20 per guest. Pick sheets and door prizes will be held.