Friday, February 3, 2012
Hoop Cheese: The Twitter of our discontent, and getting ready for Duke-UNC bonfires
- File photo by D.L. Anderson
- Celebrating victory over Butler. April 5, 2010.
The pagans among us recall that Groundhog Day is a manifestation of the ancient practice of watching the sun go down. Forty-some days after the winter solstice marks the lowest point in meaningless non-conference games, Feb. 2 tells us that spring is on the way, and that we're halfway to the midpoint of March Madness.
But spring is only on the way when Duke and UNC meet in basketball. The women are doing it on Monday, and anticipation is so high for this showdown in Cameron Indoor Stadium that the Duke press office was moved to issue a hopeful memo to the media, alerting us to the possible spontaneous eruption of a bonfire. Duke students "may celebrate afterward with a bonfire in the West Campus residential quad area."
And why, the city fire marshall "has approved plans for a bonfire in front of House P."
The men have a game going on Wednesday, Feb. 8. It's at 9 p.m. in Chapel Hill. If UNC wins, students *may* concoct a daring plan to occupy a street somewhere in town and jump over small bonfire-lets. If Duke wins, we'll be making a beeline for House P.
But, back to the awful winter, the winter of our discontent, made glorious summer by the sum of tweets. But now, there will be tweets no more, as our resident anti-Shakespearean Adam Sobsey relates.
The December run of awful blowouts was made tolerable partly by unfiltered frankness from players via their Twitter thingies. But Mike Krzyzewski and his grim-visag'd henchmen with unwrinkled suits have stepped in to save the players from themselves accept the players' wise self-censorship. No more loose tweets leading to defeats.
By the way, basketball may on the march in Raleigh but the point production is suffering. Neil Morris tells us about it after the jump. Potter, Harrington and Sobsey follow.
Thursday, February 2, 2012
CAMERON INDOOR STADIUM/DURHAM With apologies to Warren Harding, Duke faces a return to normalcy tonight in women’s basketball with a home game against Wake Forest.
- Photo courtesy Duke athletics
- Duke forward Haley Peters
Duke has won 26 straight conference games at Cameron and 36 against the Deacons, who have long been in the conference’s middle class under Mike Petersen. The last time the Deacons were really close at the end of a Duke game was a five-point loss in the 2003 ACC Tournament, and Duke won 76-58 on Jan. 6 in Winston-Salem.
This time the Blue Devils dominate more, rolling to a 75-43 rout.
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
- File photo by Arianna Hoffmann
- Assists maven Kendall Marshall loves to share
In its past three road games — versus Wake, Virginia Tech and Florida State — Carolina has shot poorly in five of the six halves. Beginning with the second half against the Deacons and counting backward, here are the gruesome percentages: 28, 34, 52, 41, 33 and 41.
Apart from the strong 52 percent the Heels notched against the Hokies to pull away in that game, even the team’s top scorers have struggled outside the Chapel Hill border. The club’s 2-1 record during those contests includes two victories over weak opponents — Wake is now 2-6 against ACC foes, while Tech is 1-5 — and a humiliating blowout loss versus FSU.
A genuine national contender shouldn’t sustain droughts over such a compressed period of time, and Carolina’s title hopes will prove unrealistic unless the Heels bring their offense with them to hostile or neutral court environments.
On the other hand, Carolina played superlative defense against the Deacons. Yes, Wake is a bad team, but the Heels’ effort on that end of the court deserves praise. UNC shut down the interior yet also smothered three-point shooters, limiting the Deacs to just 2-for-18 from deep.
Tyler Zeller continues to shine and has been Carolina’s most complete player. The senior big man missed a few chip shots (like everyone else) but finished with 18 points (5-for-13 field goals) and 18 rebounds. He’s hitting the glass with such tenacity that John Henson’s rebounding numbers have taken a slight hit recently.
Monday, January 30, 2012
Ice-cold shooting dooms Duke in another loss to Connecticut
- Photo by Chris Baird
- UConn's Kiah Stokes handles the ball as Elizabeth Williams defends.
Tonight the No. 5 Blue Devils (17-2) host No. 3 Connecticut (19-2), which has established itself as the nation’s premier women’s program ever since coach Geno Auriemma got it up to speed.
Duke has been consistently in or near the Top 10 during Joanne P. McCallie’s tenure, but she hasn’t yet taken the Blue Devils to a Final Four.
This game could have a big effect on that, as a Blue Devil victory would put them on the inside track for the No. 1 seed in the Raleigh Regional. And the Blue Devils will get help from the largest home crowd of the season as Cameron is almost sold out.
But recent history is not on Duke’s side, as UConn has won four straight in the series and the last three by at least 33 points including a couple of very tough nights for the Blue Devils last season.
Duke has won 34 straight home games, with the last loss that 81-48 shellacking by the Huskies here two years ago.
The good news for Duke is that this time the Blue Devils aren’t humiliated. But the bad news is their shooting percentage, an icy 24.6, in a 61-45 loss before a noisy 8,033.
Before you click away elsewhere, take a quick look at the Carolina Hurricanes’ roster. And, as you read it, refresh the page a few times. Chances are fair that it might change before your eyes.
The trade deadline approacheth.
- Photo by Peggy Boone
- Tuomo Ruutu, seen here in a December game versus Buffalo, might not be a Cane much longer.
Another name might vanish though. I’m actually hurrying to write this and get it posted before something happens. General manager Jim Rutherford, between presumed gulps of an energy drink, could be typing up his third press release of the day right now. In addition to the Gleason announcement, Riley Nash was recalled today from the Charlotte Checkers. Sure, not a big deal. It’s Nash’s second cup of coffee this season. And he’s probably just taking the spot that Zac Dalpe vacated when he was sent down a week ago.
But it could also foreshadow a roster forward’s departure, possibly Tuomo Ruutu, whose contract expires at the end of the season. Ruutu leads the Canes with 15 goals and has been playing his guts out for months. Any team with hopes of going deep in the playoffs would love to have his mix of grit and skill.
Unfortunately, the Canes are not one of those teams.
This past weekend’s National Hockey League All-Star break provides the last pause before the spring playoff rush. It’s a time for teams to take stock of where they are in the standings, to decide if their play thus far merits improving their rosters before the Feb. 27 trading deadline or if they should dump pending unrestricted free agents for draft picks and prospects. In short, it is when teams become either buyers or sellers.
Sunday, January 29, 2012
- File photo by Arianna Hoffmann
- Bullock's shooting relieves pressure on teammates
The Tar Heels typically prefer a gentlemanly course against over-matched foes, and their uninspired performance in the second half should be viewed through that lens. Carolina’s offense moved briskly and dissected Tech’s defense repeatedly, frequently taking a high-percentage shot early in the possession.
UNC scorched from long-range, burying 10-for-16 on threes. The Heels shot 54 percent overall (60 percent in the first half) and notched 22 assists with only 10 turnovers.
Harrison Barnes looked sensational on a series of drives, post-ups and spotting up from distance. He finished with 23 points on 8-for-14 shooting. Tyler Zeller continues to piece together one of the finest stretches of his career, amassing 17 points (7-for-9 field goals) and throwing down impressive slams. Kendall Marshall's command of the offense once again dazzled, as he dished out 12 assists and committed only one turnover.
Everyone wondered whether the offense would enjoy a boost when Reggie Bullock stepped into the starting lineup for the injured Dexter Strickland, and Bullock’s play certainly stood out against the Yellow Jackets. He converted 3-for-6 on threes and led the team with two offensive rebounds.
On defense, Carolina bothered Tech with its great length as well as with aggressive traps and overall ball pressure. The Yellow Jackets rank among the poorer ACC clubs in terms of talent — as their 1-6 conference record suggests — and they shot only 38 percent in the first half.
The evening's highlight also occurred in the first half, when freshman guard Stilman White utilized a dribble move that caused his defender to fall down and then immediately banged home a three. For such an untested player, White has performed solidly thus far in his backup role since Strickland's injury.
UNC improved its record to 18-3, 5-1 in the ACC. The Heels are tied for first place with Duke and Florida State, which holds wins over both UNC and the Blue Devils. Click here to view the UNC/GT box score.
- Al Drago
- Lorenzo Brown's final shot falls short in N.C. State's 61-60 loss to Virignia
As I departed the RBC Center following N.C. State’s 61-60 loss to Virginia, ahead of the rest of the media corps still rapping out their copy inside the bowels of the arena, the most jarring yet poignant image of the evening was the sight of Johnson as he walked out at the same time. Johnson was barely recognizable, his eyes shrouded beneath a light grey hoodie, his lips pursed and not passing a word. Accompanied by a small group of friends and/or family, he climbed into the passenger seat of a waiting vehicle and rode off, surely contemplating not just the heart-wrenching defeat but his subpar performance: 0-6 from the field, 0-4 from the free throw line and a key possession late in the second half when he missed three straight shots, including two open layups.
Ten minutes after this encounter, Johnson tweeted this missive under his otherwise cheeky handle, @SupermanJohnson: “All the praise to you Lord. Lord I’m at rock bottom. Hear me Lord Im (sic) crying out for you! I try to be strong but I am Weak. Help me Lord."
Saturday, January 28, 2012
He went on for a little over three minutes, praising St. John's and lamenting his own team, saying that "we did enough to win" but that it "almost makes me sick to say that." Then he said, "That's the story. You can ask your questions... Maybe some question will open up some little thing that I have not looked at, but believe me, I do this all the time."
Well, we did ask questions, of course, and the revealing thing was that Krzyzewski wound up holding forth for what may have been his longest postgame session of the season so far. There was in fact plenty to say, and some of Krzyzewski's bitterest comments—made palatable by the occasional acerbic quip—shed new light on Duke basketball in his three-decade tenure.
Well, before we get to that, perhaps it's worth choosing this moment to remind ourselves, in the words of Austin Rivers, "We did win. It's crazy, because the locker room setting is like we lost." Ah, yes: Duke beat St. John's this afternoon at Cameron, 83-76. The Blue Devils put together a superb first half on both offense and defense. They had a 16-point lead at the break—had they converted a couple of easy layups, it could have been 20—and it swelled to 22 just three minutes into the second half.
St. John's started five freshmen and was piloted by assistant coach Mike Dunlap (head coach Steve Lavin has been receiving treatment for prostate cancer). Nonetheless, the Red Storm made a game of it thanks to its two best players, national top-40 prospects Moe Harkless and D'Angelo Harrison, who scored 33 of their team's 47 second-half points. St. John's narrowed the Duke lead to seven points with a 21-9 run; but the Blue Devils went to the free throw line 16 times over the game's final eight minutes, making 14 of the attempts, and salted away their 18th win against just three losses. Duke is tied for the lead in the Atlantic Coast Conference standings and is one of the top 10 teams in the country.
So why the long faces?
Friday, January 27, 2012
Rodriguez' last-second shot foils Wolfpack for Florida State
- Photo by Chris Baird
- Myisha Goodwin-Coleman looks to the hoop while FSU's Chasity Clayton defends.
Making the NCAA Tournament instead of the WNIT is predicated on the Pack’s success against the ACC’s middle class, and tonight’s game with Florida State (11-10, 3-4) is a straight-up battle for fifth place.
Kellie Harper’s club comes in at 13-7, 3-4 in conference play, and has won three of its last four games. But the Pack has been licking some wounds since a 60-50 loss to arch-rival UNC here on Sunday.
Florida State has won four straight in the series, but by a total of only 18 points.
Tonight FSU keeps its magic in the series alive, winning 67-64 on Leonor Rodriguez’ 3-pointer with 1.1 seconds left to stay above .500.
Thursday, January 26, 2012
- File photo by Arianna Hoffmann
- Zeller is making a push for first-team All-ACC
After all, Carolina embarrassed itself at Florida State a couple weeks ago, and the Wolfpack arrived in Chapel Hill the proud possessors of a 4-1 ACC record. Enthusiasm understandably has risen since Mark Gottfried arrived in Raleigh — and the ‘Pack will welcome a tremendous recruiting class into the program next year — but none of that could stave off a 74-55 beating versus the Heels.
UNC competed in spirited fashion from the opening tip, overpowering State’s smallish frontline to win the rebounding battle 48-26. Any hope the ‘Pack had of winning likely died when Richard Howell landed in foul trouble in the first half and ultimately fouled out in the second.
Tyler Zeller’s torrid stretch continues apace. The senior big man appears to have regained the form he attained during last season’s NCAA Tournament, and his 21-point, 17-rebound performance versus State spearheaded Carolina’s inside dominance. He scored quickly and efficiently, hitting 8-for-11 from the floor.
His frontcourt partner, John Henson, contributed nine points, 10 rebounds and five blocks, suffocating Wolfpack forward C.J. Leslie (3-for-12 field goals) and helping limit the Pack to just 37 percent shooting from the floor.
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