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I'd like to make a quick apology to all UNC fans, and especially to any of you that are following this blog. I don't think that it's caught on quite yet, but I plan to continue this as long as the Carolina Tar Heels continue to have a basketball team. However, the last couple of months, I've been preoccupied by the Carolina Panthers and their phenomenal NFL season... winning 11 of their last 12 regular season games, the NFC South division title, and going to the playoffs for the first time in five years. Unfortunately, that's as far as it goes, as the Panthers lost in their divisional playoff game at home to the San Francisco 49ers, 27-10.
But now that the Panthers season is out of the way, now I can devote myself more to covering the Tar Heels basketball season. I also want to say that admittedly, my sports coverage is limited in covering the Panthers (NFL) and the Tar Heels (college basketball), but these are my favorite teams, and as of now, I'm not getting paid to do this, so maybe someday I will expand to cover more sports teams and events. For now, you get these two. Hopefully I will learn to cover these teams well. I know that I enjoy doing it.
The Mystery of the Tar Heels
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NOW.. about those Tar Heels.. this season is a real conundrum.. I remain a bit confused as to who the Tar Heels actually are.. are they a good team, or a great team.. or just a mediocre team that had a couple of good nights along the way? I've yet to really come to a hard and fast conclusion yet. I saw a couple of their good games, against Michigan State and Kentucky; they also beat Louisville. Any team doing this has got to be great, right? These were three teams in the Preseason Top Five. Michigan State has still only lost one game, and that game was with the Tar Heels.
However, the mystery lies, not in the victories so much as in the
losses. They have lost to Belmont, UAB, and Wake Forest, plus three
other teams. Texas was the only really strong team that beat them.
The others were just average teams, having average seasons, with the
possible exception of beating UNC. Now, the Tar Heels are only 11-6
(maybe 11-7 after tonight). Compare to the championship teams of the
past. The 1982 team went 32-2. The 2009 team went 34-4. That's just
six losses in two years. And now, the 2013-14 Tar Heels have lost six
out of their first sixteen games. I believe there were two other
similarly mediocre years, one was when Matt Doherty was coach, and the
Heels went 8-20. But let's face it, Tar Heel coaches, fans, and even
the players have not been used to this kind of mediocrity. Their
calling card is excellence. Their expectation is wins and titles. But this year, it seems that everything is turned upside down. {see picture}The Magical Mystery Tour
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And so, the reality is : that's just not where we're at this season. We're in the middle of a Magical Mystery Tour. A psychological and physical exam. None of this will be readily understandable until we get to tournament time, and we see whether or not the Tar Heels make the cut, and not just that, but whether or not they have what it takes to make any kind of a run toward the Final Four, or any kind of a tournament title.
Free throw shooting was an issue. Rebounding has been an issue. The Tar Heels only have two or three (at most) three-point shooters. They have lost their best player, P.J. Hairston, now playing in the NBA "D" league. So it's not just one thing. Probably the biggest problem is just the players being able to play together, and have any kind of a consistency to their game. They seem to be "on" one game, and "off" the next.
This cannot be any better documented than tonight. They lost their first three ACC conference games to Wake Forest, Miami, and Syracuse. The Syracuse loss was probably expected. (They were also underdogs to Louisville, Kentucky & Michigan State) Then they looked incredibly good against Boston College, winning by double figures. Now, they are playing Virginia tonight. Granted, Virginia is a good team. They have a winning record. But the Tar Heels should be good enough to beat them. They are losing, and losing badly.
Folks-- the Tar Heels are not in the Top 10 national polls. They are not EVEN in the Top 10 in the ACC. That's right : presently, UNC is in 11th place in the ACC basketball standings with a 1-4 league record. Will they rise above this mediocrity and make a late-season run? Who knows?
Blue about Carolina Blue
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I have to be honest. This is the first time in a long time when I really do not look forward to watching a UNC Tar Heels basketball game. I would not even think of going to a live game. It's just too much of a downer for me. I don't know about you, but as a diehard loyal Tar Heels fan, it doesn't give me any satisfaction to go watch another team play and beat our guys in Carolina blue.
Maybe things will change soon. I hope so. We may eventually regret bringing all of these Big East teams to the ACC. The elite of the ACC used to be UNC and Duke. Now it's Syracuse and Pitt. If not them, then Miami. There seems to be a slow metamorphosis happening. We need a resurgence. It may take new players. But I'm hoping the ones presently on the court will soon "wake up" and play up to their individual and team potentials. I believe the potential is there- dormant but there.
Stay with me. Let's ride out this mystery tour and see if the sleeping giant finally does wake up... before it's too late.
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