Turnover prone Heels rally from 19 down to win at the buzzer
Talk about dodging a bullet. It took a 27-6 run over the last 10 minutes for North Carolina, champions of the ACC regular season, to win and advance in the league tournament.
A barrage of threes by Miami put North Carolina down by 19. But the Tar Heels used four threes of their own in less than two minutes to get back in it and then they won it on a Tyler Zeller lay-in with less than a second left to defeat the Hurricanes 61-59 and advance to the semi-finals of the Atlantic Coach Conference tournament in Greensboro. (3/11)
Carolina turned the ball over 20 times as Miami stole the ball 12 times. It was looking bleak after an 11-0 Miami run near the end of the first half. Up 31-22 at the half, Miami extended the lead to 16 in the first four minutes of the second half at 41-25.
Midway through the second half, Miami got the lead up to 53-34 soon after Thomas’ fourth three of the half.
Still down 55-39 with 7:41 to go, the Tar Heels went on a game-changing run. Leslie McDonald started the run with a long three. Then 30 seconds later Marshall drilled a three and followed it 36 seconds later for another three to draw the Heels to 55-48.
Harrison Barnes, who led the Tar Heels with 18 points, completed the wild 12-0 run with a three of his own with just over five minutes left.
A Zeller hook in the lane drew the Heels to within one at 56-55 with 3:55. A deliberate Miami kept the lead until Zeller hit a hook swish with 47 seconds left to tie it at 59-all.
After a Miami timeout, the Hurricanes passed it around outside before throwing it away with 18 seconds left.
Carolina called timeout for a last-second shot. After a pair of non-shooting fouls by Miami, the Heels had less than six seconds to get up a shot. Marshall drove right across the key and dished underneath to an open Zeller who lifted it in with his left hand with less than a second left on the clock for the victory.
The Tar Heels, 25-6, advance to play the winner of the Boston College-Clemson game Saturday afternoon.
Wiederer piece captures the mood of Lowe’s impending departure
One of the most gifted writers in the Triangle market is Dan Wiederer of The Fayetteville Observer, who covers the ACC for that newspaper. Wiederer had an excellent piece Wednesday morning that captured the sadness, and inevitability, of Sidney Lowe leaving N.C. State
Lowe is widely respected and appreciated by the media and fans, but the harsh fact is State just has not found a way to win. A loss in the first round of the ACC Tournament would put this Wolfpack below .500 for the season, and it is hard to see Lowe returning in those circumstances.
Smith has the face and words of a winner, Coach K says
Duke’s Nolan Smith has grown steadily over the years and now as a senior he’s ready to play in the NBA as a winner, Coach Mike Krzyzewski said today.
“He has the face of a winner, then he has the words that a winner should speak,” Coach K said adding that he is more of a vocal leader than teammate Kyle Singler. “He’s a guy that every day imparts some guidance to his teammates. Not just how he talks, but how he looks – he’s been pretty poised the entire year.”
Coach K says that Smith has been like a big brother to the younger players and he believes that’s one reason he has had such an outstanding senior year. Now he’s the only unanimous selection for the All-ACC First Team and is a sure-fire NBA player.
“From his freshman year to now, Nolan’s probably progressed more than any player we’ve had here,” Coach K said. “He’s a Player of the Year candidate, and rightfully so. When he came in, he was really good. He didn’t start. Then he started a little bit. Then he didn’t start. It’s not like he was this instant star. He’s done it because he continually looks for ways to improve. Nolan has become a pro player this year.”
Duke’s Smith dominates All-ACC; No Heels selected for 1st team
Duke’s Nolan Smith, possibly on his way to national player of the year honors, has been unanimously selected to the All-ACC team by the members of the Atlantic Coast Sports Media Association. Even though the North Carolina Tar Heels finished atop the conference, no players made first team.
Three Tar Heels – Tyler Zeller, John Henson and Harrison Barnes – made the second team.
The first team consists of Smith, Jordan Williams of Maryland, Malcolm Delaney of Virginia Tech, Kyle Singler of Duke and Reggie Jackson of Boston College.
Zeller was next in line and should have beat out Jackson for the fifth slot. My first team consists of Smith, Williams, Delaney, Singler and Zeller.
The official second team consists of Zeller, Henson, Barnes, Iman Shumpert of Georgia Tech and Jeff Allen of Virginia. My second team is the same except Jackson would take Zeller’s place since he’s on the first team.
Owning up to my preseason picks, I had Singler, Smith and Delaney, who all made it, but I also had NC State’s Tracy Smith and UNC’s Harrison Barnes as the other two first teamers. I did not foresee Tracy Smith’s injury of course but I also thought State would be one of the league’s best teams. As for Barnes, had he not started so slow, he would have been a first teamer.
My preseason second team consisted of two players who were lost for the season to injury in December (VT’s Dorenzo Hudson and Duke’s Kyrie Irving) and one who was injured for much of the ACC season (FSU’s Chris Singleton). The other two were Henson, who did make the second team, and Maryland’s Williams, who made the first team.
First team
Nolan Smith, Duke (225 points)
Jordan Williams, Maryland (210)
Malcolm Delaney, Virginia Tech (202)
Kyle Singler, Duke (199)
Reggie Jackson, Boston College (190)
Second team
Tyler Zeller, North Carolina (161)
John Henson, North Carolina (148)
Harrison Barnes, North Carolina (145)
Iman Shumpert, Georgia Tech (132)
Jeff Allen, Virginia Tech (131)
Third team
Chris Singleton, Florida State (126)
Demontez Stitt, Clemson (81)
Joe Trapani, Boston College (63)
Malcolm Grant, Miami (62)
Kendall Marshall, North Carolina (45)
All-Freshman team
Harrison Barnes, North Carolina (75)
Travis McKie, Wake Forest (74)
Kendall Marshall, North Carolina (71)
Terrell Stoglin, Maryland (62)
C.J. Leslie, N.C. State (46)
All-Defensive team
John Henson, North Carolina (75)
Chris Singleton, Florida State (64)
Iman Shumpert, Georgia Tech (60)
Nolan Smith, Duke (26)
Jerai Grant, Clemson (20)
Barnes, Marshall share rookie of week honors
GREENSBORO, N.C. – North Carolina’s Harrison Barnes and Kendall Marshall share ACC Rookie of the Week honors following their outstanding performances this past week.
Barnes averaged 18.0 points and 4.5 rebounds as North Carolina captured the league’s regular-season championship with wins over Florida State and Duke. The Ames, Iowa, native hit the game-winning 3-pointer with 3.1 seconds to play in the Tar Heels’ 72-70 win at Florida State. In Saturday’s 81-67 win over the fourth-ranked Blue Devils, he had a team-high 18 points and five rebounds.
Marshall averaged 11.0 points, 9.5 assists and 3.0 rebounds in wins over Florida State and Duke. Against the fourth-ranked Blue Devils, the Dumfries, Va., freshman had 15 points and 11 assists while committing just two turnovers in 36 minutes. Earlier in the week, he had seven points and eight assists in a two-point win at Florida State.
Why not Auriemma for N.C. State?
N.C. State coach Sidney Lowe was on the ACC teleconference Monday, and the only questions came from a writer for the league’s website. And that’s just the problem with Wolfpack basketball – it’s not relevant. Even the fans who go to the games – and you have to be impressed by their loyalty – aren’t engaged.
It is a given that State needs new energy in the program. Lowe’s biggest weakness as a coach is that, despite his love for the game and the program, he could never coax the best out of his players. It’s hard to see how he could be 30 games into this season and still wondering why his team didn’t play hard on defense.
That’s why State needs to make a bold move to resurrect its program, and why it should take a long look at Connecticut women’s coach Geno Auriemma. Auriemma flirted with going to the men’s game in 2006, when he had discussions with Oklahoma. He has remained at UConn as the Huskies have produced the dominant women’s program in the country.
Auriemma has the talent, and temperament, to succeed at State. Wolfpack fans love it when their coaches stand up to the rivals at North Carolina and Duke, and you know Auriemma wouldn’t be intimated by the coaches there. He has a no-nonsense swagger to him that would play well in red.
Wolfpack athletics director Debbie Yow obviously knows him, and the nature of that relationship would be important. But the Wolfpack program is just listless and needs energy. It does not need a publicity stunt. What it needs is a seasoned coach who can come in, develop talent and lead players to wins.
Auriemma knows how to do that as well as anyone. He signed a five-year, $8 million contract with the school in 2008, but NCSU could easily match or exceed those dollars. One complicating factor would be that Auriemma will coach the U.S. women’s team in London in the 2012 Olympics.
But heck, what’s wrong with that? Mike Krzyzewski certainly hasn’t slowed down despite his Olympic responsibilities.
N.C. State needs some fresh air. And Auriemma, who turns 57 March 23, may feel the time is right for a new challenge. If so, the Wolfpack should give him a full hearing. It’s a risk, but so would any hire. We do know this – Auriemma knows the game, and he knows how to win.
Key turning points led to UNC’s regular-season title
North Carolina coach Roy Williams doesn’t buy that this season has been a “wild ride” or that there were any moments of panic for the Heels, but there were significant turning points that led to Carolina’s stunning regular-season title.
“I don’t think it’s been that wild of a ride with the exception of Larry Drew and the Georgia Tech game,” he said. “Those were things that were very emotional for our entire game. …
“Those were the two landmarks. And if I were to add another one I’d say the first game at Virginia. Things were about as ugly there as they could be.”
That win in Charlottesville was significant. Carolina used a 20-7 second-half run to win, 62-56, over a Cavaliers team that is stingy when it comes to surrendering points.
That win showed Williams that his team had an impressive level of toughness. But two games later, at Georgia Tech, the Tar Heels fell 78-58 in one of the most puzzling outcomes of Williams’ tenure in Chapel Hill.
Kendall Marshall moved into the starting lineup after that.
“For those first four games I was really pleased with our point guard play,” Williams said. “Kendall was doing some nice things, Larry [Drew] was doing some nice things.”
Then suddenly, Drew’s father called Williams to say the son was leaving school immediately.
“Larry’s deal really shocked us,” Williams said. “We realized we have to pull together even more.”
One real challenge for Carolina now is depth. Since last season, the Heels have had the Wear twins transfer, Will Graves drop off the team, Drew transfer in midseason and then Reggie Bullock go down for the year with an injury.
“It is a question mark for us. So we want to get some effective things done in practice this week,” Williams said. “We may have to use more timeouts than I have ever used.
“But our whole focus is going to be on that first game. If you don’t play well the first game, all that planning doesn’t do you any good.”
By the way, Williams has no plans to use his walk-ons more, even though they inspired the team with a strong start in Saturday’s Duke win. He said the “six walk-ons are wonderful kids” but are not in position to assume the roles of the eight scholarship players.
“We’ve got eight players that are going to play the minutes and that is what it is going to have to be,” he said.
Fascinating ACC Tournament could feature tough game for UNC in semis
A surprising final week of the ACC season sets up a fascinating tournament with fascinating subplots that include a tougher road for North Carolina than UNC fans might expect.
The Tar Heels won the regular-season title and open Friday at 9 p.m. against the Virginia-Miami winner. Carolina should prevail there but would likely face Clemson, which snatched the No. 4 seed, in the semifinal on Saturday. The Tigers played a tough game at UNC this season, falling by 10 when they could not hit a shot late, and lost to Carolina by only two at home.
The Tigers, under rookie coach Brad Brownell, are afraid of no one, as they showed at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Brownell would endear himself to Tiger fans forever if he pulls off an upset Saturday, and it certainly is possible.
Virginia Tech is the biggest loser of the week after upsetting Duke last Saturday. The Hokies followed that with a 15-point loss to Boston College at home and a nine-point loss at Clemson. Those two defeats pushed Tech to sixth in the league, which is a really nasty draw. They do not get a bye and play two straight 9 p.m. games – which really usually start at 9:30 – before the semifinal. The Hokies would likely draw Duke in the semifinals, and that is a tough assignment after two straight late games.
N.C. State, meanwhile, appears ready to limp off the stage with a losing record. The loss to Florida State dropped State to 15-15 overall and a disappointing 5-11 in ACC play. Lowe has a 25-55 record in five ACC seasons, and that will not be enough to get him a return ticket for next year.
2011 ACC Tournament Schedule
First Round – Thursday, March 10
Noon: #8 Virginia vs. #9 Miami
2:00: #5 Boston College vs. #12 Wake Forest
7:00: #7 Maryland vs. #10 NC State
9:00: #6 Virginia Tech vs. #11 Georgia Tech
Quarterfinals – Friday, March 11
Noon: #1 North Carolina vs. 8/9 winner
2:00: #4 Clemson vs. 5/12 winner
7:00: #2 Duke vs. 7/10 winner
9:00: #3 Florida State vs. 6/11 winner
Semifinals – Saturday, March 12
1:00: Game 9 (game 5 & 6 winners)
3:00: Game 10 (game 7 & 8 winners)
Finals – Sunday, March 13
1:00: Game 11 (championship game)
