Vintage MJ

I was reading about this dunk, against the Maryland Terps, and even though most of you have seen it a zillion times here it is:

First time for everything

For the first time since I can remember, I will be watching a March Madness game that my Heels are involved in without a group of friends. The reason for this is a small conference that I will be attending. I guess it is the signs of growing up whenever you start having to do work-related stuffs in exchange for big sporting events. I am sure that soon enough I will be having to TiVo/DVR big basketball and football games due to work-related travel. Thankfully, that shouldn't be happening for a few years.

I know a lot has been written about growing old, and it seems silly to write about it when I am only in my late 20s, but it sure feels like time blows by. My oldest sister is a couple of years from turning 40, and that just seems crazy to me. Working in academic science also provides an interesting view point on aging. The Freshmen undergraduate classes do a really good job at staring you right down and letting you know that there are plenty of 18 year olds in the world.

Alas, I should leave this post on a positive note:

Go Heels!

A picture

In the end the score read 76-68.

UNC Basketball Mailbag

We take a brief break on the [cheater] dookie bashing to bring you this Q&A from the UNC Basketball Mailbag from Tarheelblue. And yes, I am extra stoked that this came out and that Q and Surry Wood had a nice game against Florida St.

I have a quick stats question about Tyler's FT shooting. I know he has been to the FT line more than any other Tar Heel and that he shoots around 77% from the line, which is pretty darn good. The only time he seems to show that he gets tired is when he is shooting FTs while winded, as expected. My question is, does the FT shooting % for Tyler vary from 1st to 2nd halves or when he has played more minutes? I know this is not a direct way to measure that statistic but I figured this may shed some light.
Bernardo
UNC Alum Class 2007
Nashville, TN

Lauren writes: On the season, Hansbrough has made 113-of-133 free throws (85%) in the first half of games and 127-of-163 (77.9%) in the second half. He has also made 11-of-14 free throws (78.6%) in the four overtime periods Carolina has played in. He missed both attempts in the first overtime game at Clemson and has since made 11-of-12. In ACC play alone, Hansbrough has made 54-of-62 free throws in the first half (87.1%) and 64-of-84 in the second half (76.2%).

All of those percentages are good, but it does seem to be true that Hansbrough starts to lose his legs a bit at the line. In Carolina's six blowout ACC wins, Hansbrough has shot 33-of-40 from the foul line in the second half (82.5%) but in Carolina's eight close or overtime games, he has shot 42-of-58 (72.4%) in the second half and overtimes. In the second half alone of those close contests, he has shot 31-of-44 (70.5%).

Rebounding would be another sign of weak legs, though, and that has not been a weak point for Hansbrough in either half. The fewest rebounds he has had in the second half of an ACC game this season is two; in seven of 14 second halves in ACC play, he has five or more rebounds (including 11 in the second half against duke). He also has a ridiculous 14 rebounds in four overtime periods (20 minutes), or 0.7 rebounds per minute. Turnovers might also be a sign of fatigue - in ACC play, Hansbrough has 17 first-half turnovers compared to 13 second-half turnovers. He has just one overtime turnover. On the season, he has 34 first-half turnovers to 28 second-half turnovers. His steals also go up from the first to second half in ACC play, from six total first-half steals to 15 second-half steals and one overtime steal.

Hansbrough has failed to shoot 50% or higher from the field in just 11 first halves in 29 games this season. Of those 11, he turned it around and shot 50% or better in the second half eight times. The Boston College game Saturday snapped a six-game streak of shooting at least 50% in the first half and an 11-game streak of shooting at least 50% in one half.

He has failed to shoot at least 50% from the field in the second half in just nine of 29 games this season. He has shot 59.2% from the field on the season in the second half compared to 52% in the first half. Since ACC play began, Hansbrough has improved his point totals from the first to the second half in seven of 15 games. The biggest improvement came at Miami - he scored just eight points in the first half and went off for 27 in the second half. He has also had at least one double-digit half in each of the last seven games.

That kind of improvement just shows what kind of will Hansbrough has, as if Carolina fans needed additional evidence. But what shows the kind of steadiness that causes the fans and the media alike to sometimes take him for granted is this:

(In ACC play)
1st half: 11.6 points per game, 5.4 rebounds per game
2nd half: 11.4 points per game, 5.0 rebounds per game

He [the king of the cheaters] is a classy guy

When I think of a class act I always think of this guy before anyone else. Then again, would a class act say this about his player smashing his elbow on an opposing player's face? And defend a player that stomped on a defender's chest? Again, when thinking classy guys and classy institution shouldn't we always refer to dook first?

But seriously, if you wanted to have one guy teach your kid about how to behave in and out of the court, I think THIS GUY is really your guy. No, really, he is your guy. The guy won't even curse in front of your kids.

Addendum:

I saw this in the quotes from Roy's weekly radio show and it cracked me up:

On the team's superstitions -
"I've gotten a lot better - I'm better than I used to be. I used to be really superstitious and I guess I still am compared to most people. I walked today, found a penny that was head up and I put it in my pocket. At North Carolina State I found a penny during the day and a quarter in State's locker room. ... There are a lot of silly things that we do. Steve Robinson goes into the locker room during pregame warmups at the 13:00 mark ... If I wear a new suit or new tie and we get beat, you ain't ever going to see me wear that at another basketball game ... We've got all kinds of little crazy stuff. Never get a haircut on game day. With the Olympic Team, Larry Brown and Greg Popavich got a haircut on game day and we lost to Germany in an exhibition game and I told them it was their fault."

Once a [cheater] dookie, always a [cheater] dookie

With one week to go before the rematch between UNC and the dookies this Saturday night in the itty-bitty-tiny shed called cameron indoor, I thought it would be a good time to point out this story in the NY Times (an impartial source to the UNC-dook rivalry I may add). I just love it when dookies go [cheat] through life and act like they are just doing it because everyone else is too. As a matter of fact I wouldn't be at all surprised if a dookie-run team starts a cycling team or a team that employs the likes of Barry "Big Head" Bonds and Roger "shot o'roids" Clemens. Let the fireworks begin!

Note: the one dookie that gets a reprieve because I think he is a good guy and I am sure this happened after he drank water from certain well on the Hill is Jay Bilas.

Tyler Hansbrough-PG

Things have been slow so I have been lagging behind on my writing here. I did see this off the Roy Williams Monday press conference that I thought was interesting:

"On any other players that could slide over to the point guard spot:
“We worked Tyler Hansbrough there last week for a couple of possessions so we’ll have to see if he can handle it or not… He really did good. You think I’m lying, but we put him in for one play just to lighten the mood at practice the other day. We put him at the point and let him bring the ball across the court. We even kept a defensive point guard on him, so he didn’t get it stolen and he brought it across and he could do was giggle the whole time. So I think if he did it during a game, he would probably lose the giggling part.”"

I am not sure I like our chances against the damn dookies if Tyler is playing the point, but I guess I am not completely surprised. On the other hand, I feel like Q is having his best stretch in the team, I mean, he is even shooting the ball somewhat well. If he can just cut down on the plays like the awful layup he did at the end of regulation in the Florida St. game we'll be ok.