The Confidential

The ACC Sports Blog

Archive for the category “Correspondents”

04 Apr 2014

Why James Michael McAdoo Declared for the Draft

When news broke yesterday that junior forward James Michael McAdoo was forgoing his final season of eligibility and declaring for the NBA Draft, there was a lot of anger and confusion among North Carolina fans. Why now? Why not return for one more year? It seemed obvious on the surface. He’s not projected to be a first round pick in most mock drafts, so why leave when he could stay and improve his chances? It’s easy for fans to say that because they’re not in his shoes, but things are never that simple. Even though his decision could be viewed as impulsive and ill advised, that doesn’t mean that it actually is. Here are a few of the reasons why McAdoo might not be returning next season-

Read more…

Posted by Mr. Tar Heel in Basketball, Draft, ESPN, UNC Correspondent
27 Mar 2014
2 Comments

A Sweet Sweet 16

Say what you will about the way the selection committee selected and seeded this years tournament, whether they seeded for TV match ups or not, but it was an incredible opening  weekend. It featured a record six over time games and ample upsets for the underdog lovers. Our beloved ACC is down to Virginia and Louisville and the SEC went 7-0, who would’ve guessed that? The new Big East has been eliminated while the rest of the power conferences has lost at least half of their teams. The Sweet 16 is dominated by the power conferences with the lone exceptions being Dayton and San Diego State.
Read more…

Posted by lenvillecards in Basketball, Louisville Correspondent, March Madness and tagged , , , , , ,
25 Mar 2014
1 Comment

Season End Recap- Why North Carolina Deserved a Chance in UNC-Iowa State

Another North Carolina Basketball season has come and gone. 24 wins. A Hall of Fame Tipoff Tournament Championship. And for the first time ever, a Roy Williams coached Carolina team is back at home after the Round of 32 for two years in a row. For many fans, it’s been an interesting, yet unsatisfying, season. Summer drama led to early season losses. Disappointing outcomes led to surprising upsets. Big victories led to an almost unprecedented poor start in conference play. A wake up call led to a huge win streak. And the season ended early, yet again, in the most bizarre of circumstances. As we reflect on the 2013-2014 North Carolina basketball team and look to the future, here are a few observations from this year’s season-

Read more…

Posted by Mr. Tar Heel in ACC only, Basketball, March Madness, Opinion, UNC Correspondent
19 Mar 2014

Are the Cards poised for a repeat?

Say what you will about the Louisville Cardinals 4 seed, rather deserved or not, but it is of no consequence now. Its time to dance. We all remember Louisvilles remarkable finish ending with the national championship to put an exclamation point on the “year of the Cardinals”. What are the Cardinals chances at a repeat performance?
Read more…

Posted by lenvillecards in Basketball, Louisville Correspondent, March Madness, Opinion, Predictions and tagged , , , , , ,
19 Mar 2014

What, No Kansas?- Analyzing the Tar Heels’ Path to the Final Four

Let’s go ahead and get the most obvious thing out of the way. No, North Carolina is not a favorite to make the Final Four. But could they get there? Absolutely. They have all the talent and tools to make a deep March run- defensive intensity, a wide rebounding margin, a star point guard, excellent bench play. Add a Hall of Fame coach to that list and you’ve got a pretty sure shot, right? The problem is, that the Tar Heels rarely exhibit all of these qualities at one time. This is the same team that lost to UAB (which finished with a losing record in lowly C-USA) and beat then #1 Michigan State (many media member’s pick to win it all) in the same WEEK. You never know what you’re going to get when they step on the court. A 12-game winning streak just became a 2-game losing streak courtesy of Duke and Pittsburgh, two teams which North Carolina had already beaten earlier in the season. So why do I think they still have a chance?

Because the Tar Heels always seem to show up when it matters most.

Read more…

Posted by Mr. Tar Heel in Basketball, March Madness, Predictions, Schedule, UNC Correspondent
18 Mar 2014

The Tigers Aren’t Finished Yet

Picked to finish 14th in the ACC, Coach Brad Brownell’s Clemson Tigers surprised everyone when they ended the regular season 6th in the conference. Not to mention a season long, star performance by junior forward, K.J. McDaniels who was voted an ACC first team All-American and defensive player of the year.

The Tigers take on Georgia State in Littlejohn Coliseum tonight at 9pm on ESPNU in the first round of the NIT, a postseason honor not all ACC schools can boast about. The ACC is one of the toughest basketball conferences in the nation and you must give credit where credit is due to Brad Brownell. He took the underdogs and made them into competitors that demanded to be taken seriously.

With a heartbreaking overtime loss to Pitt at the end of the regular season, Clemson started the ACC Tournament right with a thrilling overtime win against Georgia Tech, just to be fortunate enough to move on to play Duke in the quarterfinals. What at one point looked like it would be a Blue Devils blowout, the Tigers fought back to bring the game back to within a few points, only to lose by 1 on a controversial call that sent Duke to the next round.

While Clemson won’t be entering “The Big Dance” this March Madness season, they do have a lot to be proud of. Players like Landry Nnoko, Demarcus Harrison, and Jaron Blossomgame improved to become vital assets to the team. Consistent players like K.J. McDaniels and Rod Hall gave another tremendous effort to show that at least one school in South Carolina knows how to play basketball.

This young team should be coming back in full force next season, but might be one short. K.J. McDaniels, while only a junior, is likely to enter the NBA Draft after this season concludes. While I can’t say I blame him, I do hope he’ll consider finishing out his career as a Clemson Tiger and seeing how far he can lead this team next season.

If you haven’t had the chance to watch the Tigers play this season, catch them on ESPNU tonight at 9pm in the first round of the NIT!

clemson

Posted by marystewartb in ACC Network, ACC only, Basketball, Clemson correspondent, Conference News, Correspondents, ESPN, Game Review, March Madness, News, Opinion, Results, Schedule, Something Positive, This Day in ACC and tagged , , , , , ,
12 Mar 2014

Syracuse Basketball: Grading the Orange

The Syracuse Orange closed out the regular season on Sunday with 74-58 win over the Florida State Seminoles.  The win earned the Orange a 27-4 mark for the regular season, a record that, any other year, would have SU fans jumping for joy.  This season, though, the fact that Jim Boeheim’s squad went only 2-4 over their last six has many of the Orange faithful’s panic-o-meter cranked up to 44.

Relax.

Yes, the Orange had their seasonal slide a bit later than usual.  True, that slide included a couple of really bad losses to Boston College and Georgia Tech.  And, of course, one fairly dominant win over the ‘Noles doesn’t erase the flaws shown by Syracuse late in the season.  So, let’s take a moment to take the long view and grade the Orange as they prepare for the post season.

Read more…

Posted by cuseorangeblood in ACC only, Basketball, Syracuse correspondent and tagged , , , , , , ,
11 Mar 2014

TJ Warren is ACC Player of the Year

TJ Warren has won the ACC Player of the Year award, a very bright spot in what has been a so-so season, though IMHO a much better one than last year.

Warren led the league in scoring at 24.8 ppg and while many fans and media thought the award would go to Duke’s Jabari Parker, Warren’s win is justifiable.  It is pretty clear that without the sophomore’s nearly automatic scoring touch the Pack could not have achieved 19 wins and a .500 conference record.  He scored 81 points in his last two games, so he is peaking at the right time. Read more…

Posted by mikemab2000 in ACC only, Basketball, March Madness, NC State Correspondent and tagged , , , ,
07 Mar 2014

The Tar Heel Panic-o-Meter: A UNC-Duke Preview

As the final week of the regular season comes to a close, it’s time to return to our Tar Heel Panic-o-Meter one last time. When we last visited this concept back in early December, Carolina had an acceptable 4-2 record, with puzzling losses to Belmont and UAB. Inconsistency was the rule, not the exception, and wins at then #1 Michigan State and #11 Kentucky led to an 0-3 start in ACC play.

But a lot has changed since then- this isn’t the same team.

Read more…

Posted by Mr. Tar Heel in Basketball, Opinion, Poll, Predictions, UNC Correspondent
24 Feb 2014
4 Comments

Keeping the ACC Title Game in Charlotte is the Right Choice

It’s basketball season in ACC country, and things are better than ever. Four teams are ranked in the AP poll (#4 Syracuse, #6 Duke, #12 Virginia, and #19 North Carolina), and the league is coming off of one of its most exciting weeks ever. An unexpected roadblock in Syracuse’s quest for dominance has sent them reeling, while the Duke-North Carolina game was, well…Duke and North Carolina. An instant classic. So naturally, the league is doing everything it can to seize this media momentum by calling a press conference today to talk about…football.

Read more…

Posted by Mr. Tar Heel in Football, News, Opinion, Schedule, UNC Correspondent

Post Navigation

← Older Entries
Newer Entries →