Where's Duke???

Carolina is making a trail this year and I cannot help but gloat in the face of Duke fans. This will be a short post due to the short run that Duke made at the tournament. Basically the t-shirt that has been circulating the internet and will soon be on the back of many heels fans explains it all. I just can't explain through text and typing the emotion of Duke and North Carolina fans. Cameron Crazies watch every second of every North Carolina game and cheer for the opposing team as if it were their own, even if its a smaller rival of the school. For example, when Maryland got lucky with a win over Carolina earlier in the season, Duke fans were ecstatic. Even though Maryland is an ACC team that Duke would normally despise, nothing compares to the Tobacco Road rivalry. I am going to sleep well tonight knowing that our players are in San Antonio competing for it all, when Duke players are sitting in "Dirty Durham" crying over the heart wrenching loss to J. Alexander and the Mountaineers. Good luck watching us win Dookies. I loathe you!!!!

Final Four matchup

With all of the teams in the final four being number one seeds, the competition is bound to be fierce. Our match up with the Kansas Jayhawks will be all but easy. They have four players that average over ten points a game in Brandon Rush, Mario Chalmers, Darrell Arther, and Darnell Jackson. These four will provide an inside and outside threat to the North Carolina defense. The only problem I foresee is the potential complacent attitude in some of our players. I have faith that Roy Williams will stop any thoughts of a power trip or a predicted win in practice and in all that he says to the team, but everyone knows that the final four is a big deal and some players might still get cocky. On a side note, the second match up in the final four is Memphis and UCLA. UCLA fans may say that their Kevin Love is the equivalent of our Tyler Hansbrough. Anyone other that UCLA fans and Carolina haters know better but the threat still remains in the Championship if UCLA beats Memphis. If Memphis goes to the big dance, we have much to worry about. They made Texas, whom many thought could win it all, look like chickens with their heads cut off in their game. 85-67 was the number which is unheard of for an elite eight game but the Tigers made it happen. Chris Douglas-Roberts and Derrick Rose along with many other players are part of the all star team that is the Memphis Tigers. I feel confident in our Heels, but I am also very aware of the possibility of a loss. Honestly, It would be better for our team to play UCLA in the final simply because their best player, Love, would be matched up with Tyler Hansbrough, and although many make it out to be an even match...I trust Hansbrough against any player in the NCAA hence why he is the best player in the NCAA. The game against Kansas is April 5th. Get ready Tarheel nation. This is our time.....

Predictable

The road to the Final Four was a long one for many teams. Memphis, UCLA, Kansas, and our Tarheels are the last four left. We get the privilege to play Kansas and their famous Brandon Rush. Kansas had a very tough match against Stephen Curry and the Davidson Wildcats. The game came down to the last second in which Curry was obviously handed the ball and had nowhere to go with it. He ended up passing it Jason Richards for a last second prayer of a shot that had Kansas holding their breath. But to no avail. Davidson's run to the championship was cut short. The match ups go as follows: North Carolina and Kansas. UCLA and Memphis. There was no challenge for Tyler Hansbrough in Louisville. The heels ran away with an 83-73 victory over the Cardinals. He had 28 points and now averages 22.8 points and 10.3 rebounds a game. With the player of the year on our side.....I truly believe that this is our year!

Some new Tarheels

I know this seasons National Championship isn't won yet, but its time that I talk about our future Tarheels. Travis McKie is another solid recruit from Richmond, Virginia placing Richmond on the map as a place that produces quality ball players. McKie is a 6'7 sophomore that has recently led his AAA John Marshall to the state semi-finals. Reggie Bullock is another huge recruit for Carolina. He got the chance to play at the Dean Dome, his future home, for the North Carolina State Championship where he led his school, Kingston, to the championship. Dean Smith always has a great recruiting class. Fans know that the Tarheels are stacked with the top 5 scorers all sophomores and juniors but one cannot forget planning ahead for a case like the Frasor injury this season.

Easy ridin'

So the tournament is underway and upsets have run rampant, but not for Carolina. They have scored over 100 points in their first two tournament games. They smacked Mount Saint Mary's 113-74 and murdered Arkansas 108-77 both in front of home crowds in Raleigh. The next game that we play is against Washington State. This team is not to be underrated. They beat Winthrop and a very talented Notre Dame by at least 20 points a piece. They have four players that average over ten points a game in Derrick Low, Kyle Weaver, Taylor Rochestie, and Aron Baynes. This is nothing to worry the deeply stacked Tarheels but I am not getting to comfortable with the predicted sweep of the tournament due to recent upsets like Davidson beating Georgetown, Villanova beating Clemson, and Siena beating Vanderbilt. These were all huge upsets that obviously not many people predicted so I'm not getting to used to winning easily. If the brackets go as planned, which is highly unlikely or the games wouldn't be played, we will be playing Tennessee in the Elite Eight. We'll see how things play out.

LET'S GO HEELS

What we have all been waiting for is finally here. The brackets came out on the 16th and Carolina is looking good. The top five are Carolina, UCLA, Memphis, Kansas, and Wisconsin. We have the advantage of playing the first three games on home turf in North Carolina. Both Raleigh and Charlotte will be buzzing with Tarheel mania soon enough. If the brackets follow through without upsets we will play an play in team, Indiana, Notre Dame, then Tennessee. This is a far from easy road to the final four for our Heels. I can fully explain how this road to the Championship can take place....simple. I thoroughly believe since Carolina seemed to get even better without Lawson and Frasor, now that Lawson is back it will be a breeze. Lawson doesn't have a high points per game rate but after watching the way he handled the Clemson full court press with east I, along with others would fully place him as the best guard in the country. So that means we have the best player in the country(Hansbrough), the best guard in the country(Lawson), a leading three point scorer(Ellington), and the best team player available other that Hansbrough(Green). With these four averaging a double double a game along with a very deep bench should have no problems handling the tough road ahead.

ACC CHAMPS!!!

No surprise. Carolina won the ACC tournament in Charlotte, NC. While we are on the subject of the ACC tournament, let's talk about our infamous Dookies. What happened to them? Wasn't it a given that Carolina and Duke would play in the final? Well, it would be if Duke didn't suck. They lost in the semifinals to Clemson whom we murdered in the final. The competition in the most competitive conference in the NCAA seems to not be all it cracked up to be....or at least not for Carolina. The 86-81 finish against Clemson is one of many as the NCAA tournament is rapidly approaching. For a quick recap on the game I will give you the games leading scorers. The first leading scorer surprisingly isn't Hansbrough! Wayne Ellington "made it Wayne" with 24 points followed by Hansbrough with only 11 and Lawson at 8. This championship placed us at the inevitable one seed in the BIG DANCE! Tarheel Nation is in full swing. Get your game face on!

Rice is not enough

Tyrese Rice scored 34 points in the first half of the game between North Carolina and Boston College. Unfortunately he is a Boston College player. He also scored the first two baskets of the first half to set us down by 18 points. This is almost unheard of for the Tarheels. Little did Rice know he was playing the best team and the nation and they were done playing with him after they realized that they had to win this game. Rice ended the game with 46 but Hansbrough and crew finished the Eagles off 90-80. The highlight reel is chalk full of three put down by Rice at the beginning but by the end of the clip it looks like your average UNC game. Boston College was hoping to be another upset since this week seems to be the week for upsets within the top ranked schools. Not Carolina though. In next weeks poll Carolina should be ranked number 2 or 3 and well on the road to Cameron. March 8th. If that doesn't ring a bell it should. The second match up of the season between Carolina and those Blue Devils happens at 9pm. Hopefully this game will be a good start to spring break.