Duke Vs UNC

[District303aPastPlayer]

Game of the Day... who ya got?

[District303aPastPlayer]

Duke big... you will not beat Duke in Cameron on Senior Day after losing to FSU...

JJ Redick goes BIG!

[lostaussie]

whether you love these teams or you hate them, college basketball gets no better than this one.

[Gobbla2001]

I'll go with my Heels...

Fact is, if you're FSU, you don't beat Duke period, but they did... So senior day or not, loss or not, Heels in OT!!!

[District303aPastPlayer]

Originally posted by Gobbla2001
I'll go with my Heels...

Fact is, if you're FSU, you don't beat Duke period, but they did... So senior day or not, loss or not, Heels in OT!!!

Duke hasnt lost a game to UNC after losing the previous one ever... i believe...

[sinton66]

I hate pumkinball, but I love underdogs!;)

[Gobbla2001]

Originally posted by District303aPastPlayer
Duke hasnt lost a game to UNC after losing the previous one ever... i believe...

That happens when you win a lot of games like Duke has, you don't lose many back to back, no matter who they are to...

Duke worries me today because of just that... the senior day deal doesn't really mean too much to me... but yah, having lost the previous game, no matter who it was to worries me...

Roy Dub's gunna have them Heels ready... The Hill will hopefully have something to celebrate tonight...

[eagles_victory]

North Carolina has the best freshman and most underrated player in the country in Tyler Hansboro. He will lead them but I think the game of the day are the three small conference championships they have no tommorow unlike Duke and UNC.

[Gobbla2001]

Huh? The game of the day today should not be the game of the day today, but the THREE games tomorrow should be game of the day today???

Am I getting this right?

[District303aPastPlayer]

Originally posted by Gobbla2001
Huh? The game of the day today should not be the game of the day today, but the THREE games tomorrow should be game of the day today???

Am I getting this right?

no, the OVC and the other two championship games today should be games of the day

[Emerson1]

http://img124.imageshack.us/img124/825/200502241326099900197he.gif

[Eagle6Man]

Thanks to the Sportz Assassin
http://journals.aol.com/sportzassassin/SPORTZASSASSINSSPORTSJOURNAL/




http://media.scout.com/Media/Image/29/291517.jpg

So, a month later and we are back with Carolina-Duke. The first meeting is rabid because, well, it marks the end of the first half of ACC play and restores a rivalry that has had 11 months off.

The second meeting, usually just a month later, always has a different feel. By now, the two teams are jockeying for (a) NCAA tournament seeding and (b) ACC tournament seeding. And, as of now, if they met again in a week it would be in the ACC Final.

The freshmen aren't freshmen anymore. We know about the matchups. We've seen the two face off. And, now, everyone has played in a Carolina-Duke game.

This edition is in Cameron Indoor Stadium....and any Carolina-Duke fan knows that this game in Cameron is what college sports is about. Nothing against the Dean Dome.....but the 22,000+ screaming fans in the big arena still pales in comparison to the 8,000 in that cigar box down the street in Durham. I love the game there because, as a Carolina fan, nothing feels better than shutting them up [enter Stackhouse underneath dunk highlight].

We haven't done much "shutting up" of Duke lately....at least not head to head. Even our title team of last year tossed the ball out of bounds in one loss....and needed a frantic last minute comeback in the win at the end of the season. We can still flash the ring for another month....maybe another year if Duke doesn't get to the Final Four....and then we go back to the grind again.

Of course, in the first meeting.....Duke was rolling along the season and Carolina had been just re-entered the Top 25. Duke, despite starting two freshmen, was by far the more experienced team. Carolina took the punch, played well, and had a shot to win the game. That's the last time the Tar Heels have lost. Since then, they killed NC State by 24 in Raleigh...beat Maryland by 24....and just came off a beatdown of Virginia by 45 points. Oh, and against Georgia Tech, Tyler Hansbrough dropped in 40 pts. In the last three games, Duke has beaten GaTech by 7, Temple by 8 and lost to Florida State on Wednesday.

The one common thread in those last three games has been JJ Redick's shooting. In those three, he has shot 18-for-59 [31%]....and 5-for-26 [20%] from behind the arc. This is a combination of good defense and what has plagued Redick the last two seasons....getting tired. I said to a Duke fan before the FSU game that Coach K would be smart to rest JJ....since, and I honestly felt and said this to him, that FSU was gonna win anyways. Not bench JJ or nothing....but get him off the floor a bit more. He has this history of burning out, which isn't all his fault. In ACC play, Redick has sat just a total of 35 minutes.....out of a possible 605. Throw in the G'town game and Temple game [which were both played during the ACC season] and he's played 605 of 685 possible minutes of basketball. And the only games he's had a least 5 minutes of rest?? A 23-pt blowout, 19-pt blowout and, oddly, that V-Tech game where Dockery hit that half court shot to beat the Hokies.

And there is the key to this game, in a nutshell. Obviously Redick beat the Heels himself in Game 1....and, despite my disdain for he and Duke....I was pretty much in awe of it. The Tyler Hansbrough-Shelden Williams matchup will be niiiiiice as well, just cuz the level Psycho T is playing right now, and how Williams has been percieved as underperforming in Chapel Hill. And, of course, those perimeter guys will be big too. Who could forget that little run Josh McRoberts had in the 2nd half of that game?? Or Reyshawn Terry's hot streak that netted the Heels a brief lead? And, of course, two of the best coaches in the history of the game on each sideline. Coach K vs Ol' Roy.

And, the old demons will be present. Carolina completely DOMINATED the glass....and are the best rebounding team [as far as differential] in the ACC. Duke is the worst. But Duke does a much better job at hanging onto the ball...where the young, inexperienced, fast paced Tar Heels are the worst in the league.

So, I will have at least two of the ESPNs on in my Sportz Room....and my ESPNMobile and ESPN.com on standby for all the stats and haps. I will get to see Dookie V pretty much hump Redick's leg....talk about how great Coach K will be as the Olympic Coach...talk about the two schools "doing it the right way"....say that Roy Williams will be a Hall of Famer....scream about the Cameron Crazies...talk about how hot it is there and how "high up" in the stands they are....and even give a shout out to "Michaelangelo" aka Dean Smith.

It's Duke-Carolina.

I mean, Carolina-Duke!http://media.scout.com/Media/Image/29/291818.jpg

[lostaussie]

Duke leads at the half over NC 38-37

[Keith7]

i like how espn has it on all of their networks

[Eagle6Man]

Originally posted by lostaussie
Duke leads at the half over NC 38-37

Thanks Aussie...

How about now?

[3afan]

UNC up 67-59, 7:09 to go

[3afan]

UNC 76-66 2:40ish

[big daddy russ]

What a crazy minute. In 60 seconds Duke scored nine unanswered points to pull within three.

77-74 UNC with about a minute and a half to go.

[3afan]

79-76 17.4 left, UNC ball

[big daddy russ]

UNC hit two free throws, then Shelden Williams answered with a dunk. 79-76 game with 17.4 to play. UNC inbounds after the timeout.

[big daddy russ]

Is Reggie Miller in the house?

UNC completes the inbounds, runs seven seconds off the clock before Hansborough is fouled. Hits both FT's, UNC up five with 10 to play.

[big daddy russ]

Game, set, match.

[3afan]

UNC WINS 83-76

or, better yet .....

DUKE LOSES 83-76

[DaHop72]

Originally posted by 3afan
UNC WINS 83-76

or, better yet .....

DUKE LOSES 83-76
And 303's boy JJ scores 18.:D :D

[NateDawg39]

Man this is great!!!!!

[TexasHSFootball]

DOWN GOES DOOK! DOWN GOES DOOK!

http://texashsfootball.com/board/style_emoticons/default/marsa37.gif

[DaHop72]

Originally posted by TexasHSFootball
DOWN GOES DOOK! DOWN GOES DOOK!

http://texashsfootball.com/board/style_emoticons/default/marsa37.gif :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:

[District303aPastPlayer]

Originally posted by DaHop72
And 303's boy JJ scores 18.:D :D

:( :(

[District303aPastPlayer]

Do i smell an instant classic?

[District303aPastPlayer]

UNCs fish outscored the Duke Seniors 55-51... wow...

[sinton66]

I can't believe I actually picked the winner in a pumkinball game.:D

[LH Panther Mom]

Originally posted by District303aPastPlayer
Duke big... you will not beat Duke in Cameron on Senior Day after losing to FSU...
:thinking: :thinking:

[Eagle6Man]

Again, from my bud the Sportz Assassin, who is the biggest Tar Hill fan that I know of:



http://media.scout.com/Media/Image/29/298042.jpg

Now, as a Tar Heel fan....I always expect to beat Duke. But, to be honest, the 83-76 win on Saturday night felt better than any win over the Devils in a looooong time.

It was #1 Duke. At Cameron. On Senior Night. JJ Redick's and Sheldon Williams' senior night. On national TV. Three channels on national TV. And it felt good.

The God, JJ Redick, struggled mightily...missing 15 of his final 16 shots. And not all of them were contested. In fact, he had one really good look at the top of the key....and missed. Everything but the backboard. Wide right.

Like I said on Sports Bloggers Live around the beginning of the season....Redick struggles in the tournament [of course, SI.com's Seth Davis went on air after me, essentially calling me an idiot for thinking that way]. Well, Mr Davis.....Redick is 23-for-80 in his last four games. Two were won in single digits against teams that won't be in the tournament.....and the other two were losses. That's Duke. And that's why I didn't think they can win the whole thing. In his last 5 NCAA tournament games...Redick is 18-for-64. Both are 29% averages. Not good. Maybe you shoulda got this guy some rest, K???

And the fact that the games was on all the ESPNs [I think even "The Ocho" had it] was icing on the cake. The most hyped college hoops game in ESPN history was won by Carolina blue. And thank you ESPNU for having the Cameron Craxies Cam which allows us Heels fans to see those Dookies shocked faces up close! Oh, but did you have to keep showing that "robust" chick with the blue paint plastered all over her doughy body?? I mean, and I swear to this, her arms moving without her moving them. Yeah, the place was rocking so hard that her flab got caught up in the excitement.

Again, in stride...it is just a game. Another game in the Duke-Carolina rivalry. But, above the surface....it was a much bigger win than that.

THE MAGICAL SEASON

Even before Saturday night, the 2005-2006 North Carolina men's basketball season was a huge success. Despite losing the top seven scorers, all five starters and four NBA lottery picks....the Heels ended the year in 2nd place in the expanded ACC, just two games back of the dominant Dookies.

And they've done it with freshmen. Not just freshmen, but upperclassmen that might as well be freshmen. Of the returning team.....only David Noel and Reyshawn Terry had any kind of run on last year's team. Both were used as backups to Rashad McCants and Jackie Manuel on last year's title team. But they averaged about 5 ppg....combined!

It is a contrast of seasons. Last year, the regular season was just the staging area for March Madness.....the time Carolina fans only cared about. This year, the season was watched much more closely and there are no real expectations heading into the NCAA tournament. Well, until now.

The team starts freshmen Tyler Hansbrough and Bobby Frasor....with freshmen Marcus Ginyard and Danny Green as major bench guys. Over the year, these guys have improved greatly. Hansbrough will most likely win the National Freshman of the Year award. Frasor [who may not start next year] has done a much, much, much better job at controlling the ball. He's one of those guys that can have a big game without scoring much. Ginyard's defense has been superb. Just ask JJ. And Green is Mr Intangible. The guy defends, rebounds, goes inside, hits jumpers, gets steals, dives for loose balls....just whatever.

But what impresses me most are those returning players. I touched on Noel and Terry. But Quentin Thomas....who played too fast for his britches last year has contained himself and looks like a legit player now. Last year, I cringed as he handled the rock. This year, he looks like a cagey vet. Wes Miller was a walkon....and looks like a walkon. Dude has transformed himself into a one-trick pony into a starter. Yeah...a starter at the same position Michael Jordan once held. And a guy like Byron Sanders....who barely got any run last year. This year, he sees minutes backing up Hansbrough...and did a great job sparking the big run against Duke today.

So....in March, this team is the exact opposite of what the experts said they were in November. Due to them being thrown into battles AT Kentucky, AT NC State and AT Duke.....they are now experienced. And they are deep....something people didn't think they were. And to most Carolina fans....this win over Duke feels good because....well duh.....but it also is the springboard into next year when all we lose is David Noel and we gain three of the best incoming freshmen in the nation. If everyone comes back....this team will be scary next year!

REALISTIC TOURNY CHANCES

Well, the ACC tournament is next week....and that tourny should be live. Carolina, by clinching the #2 seed, will likely get Boston College in the 2nd round....and Duke, maybe, in the finals. They can win that tournament. As for the NCAAs??? Well, let's just say it will be fun just to watch these guys perform. Just as it always is.

COACH KOMMERCIAL

Watch a cartoon lampooning Coach K and his pitchman image......here.....newsobserver.com: Coach Kommercial

[District303aPastPlayer]

Originally posted by LH Panther Mom
:thinking: :thinking:

:mad: :rolleyes: :mad:

[LH Panther Mom]

Originally posted by District303aPastPlayer
:mad: :rolleyes: :mad:
:p :kiss: