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26 Mar 2012

North Carolina’s Great Season Comes to An End

The 2011-2012 edition of the North Carolina Tar Heels was a “National Championship or Bust” edition.  With that much future NBA talent, there was simply no result other than a championship that would have been enough.  Along the way, Dexter Strickland was lost to injury.  Then John Henson went down.  And just as Henson returned, Kendall Marshall suffered an injury and never returned.  Without a key component of the offense, it is not surprising that Kansas defeated North Carolina on Sunday, 80-67.

Perhaps the biggest surprise of the game was that Kansas out-rebounded North Carolina 39-30.  With a frontcourt of Harrison Barnes, Tyler Zeller, and John Henson, the Tar Heels were used to putting up gaudy rebound totals.  The trio combined for only 14 against Kansas.  The Jayhawks had the size up front to hold their own and it helped take away a North Carolina strength.

James Michael McAdoo came off the bench to lead the Tar Heels with 15 points. Barnes added 13, while Zeller scored 12.  Henson only scored 10 points.  Ultimately, the big trip produced a disappointing total of 35 points and 14 rebounds–well off their season average of 48 and 25.

Notwithstanding the preseason hype, North Carolina still finished a respectable 32-6.  While the fans and team hoped for more, it is hard to lose a key player in March.  That North Carolina could not overcome that is not surprising.  Disappointing, but not surprising.

With Syracuse and North Carolina losing, the Final Four of Kentucky, Louisville, Ohio State, and Kansas will not feature any ACC teams.  For diehard ACC fans, Pittsburgh will play Washington State today in the CBI tournament.

 

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Basketball, Game Review, March Madness and tagged , , , , , , ,
25 Mar 2012

Syracuse’s Great Season Comes to an End

The 2011-2012 edition of Syracuse Basketball will undoubtedly go down as one of the best ever.   The team finished 34-3 overall, including 17-1 in Big East play.  But that season ended last night with a 77-70 loss to Ohio State.

As good as the Syracuse-Wisconsin game was, last night’s game was a harder game to watch.  The referees decided to impact the outcome.  Ohio State star center Jared Sullinger was whistled for his second foul with 13 minutes remaining in the first half on a play where he, at most, breathed on Syracuse’s Dion Waiters.  Conversely, Syracuse had 12 fouls in the first half compared to Ohio State’s six.  And with 12 minutes to go in the second half, Syracuse had 3 players with 4 fouls.  The referees just did not let these two great teams play.

Still, Syracuse had its chances to win.  It squandered the first half–when Sullinger was on the bench.  It settled to contested jump shots, rather than driving to the void at the basket left by Sullinger’s absence.  Syracuse also missed several layups.  And then down the stretch, Seniors Kris Joseph and Scoop Jardine had three consecutive turnovers to destroy any momentum.  A great season coming to a difficult end.

2012-2013 promises to be interesting for Syracuse.  There will be lots of questions.  Will Fab Melo come back?  Will Dion Waiters come back?  Who will replace Kris Joseph?  Who will replace Scoop Jardine?  Will Rakeem Christmas–who played better as a freshman than Fab Melo–make a similar leap in the off season?  The one thing that is likely is that a Jim Boeheim-coached team will find a way to keep Syracuse in the spotlight.

I guess one more question–will Syracuse officially be an ACC team for 2012-2013 or will it still be in the Big East?  These are interesting times.

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Basketball, March Madness and tagged , , , , ,
24 Mar 2012

Elite Eight is Set–Two ACC Teams in the Mix

The Big Dance field has been whittled from 68 teams to 8.  The Atlantic Coast Conference can take pride in having two teams still in the mix.  #1 seeds Syracuse and North Carolina have made it to the Elite Eight.

Syracuse got to the Elite Eight by holding on to defeat Wisconsin, 64-63.  If you watched this game, you saw a classic.  Both teams executed their game plans very well.  Wisconsin controlled the tempo–holding Syracuse to fewer possessions than any game in the past 15 years.  Syracuse was able to force a handful of rare Wisconsin turnovers and convert them into points.  And, despite the slow tempo, this game was on pace to be very high scoring until the last five minutes.  That is because both teams were just blisteringly hot offensively.  Wisconsin hit 14 three-pointers (out of 27), including one stretch where they converted six in a row.  Syracuse shot 55% from the field.  Wisconsin had two shots to win it down the stretch, but came up short.  So, Syracuse now moves on to face #2 Ohio State.  While Ohio State plays a more upbeat tempo than Wisconsin (as does everyone), Ohio State also has more talent than anyone Syracuse has faced all year.  The key for the Orange will be to use their depth as an advantage and get the Buckeyes’ stars in foul trouble.

North Carolina got into the Elite Eight by holding on to defeat #13 seed Ohio, in overtime, 73-65.  North Carolina actually had a comfortable lead for parts of the first half–by as much as 15.  But credit the Bobcats–they did not give up.  Instead, Ohio took advantage of North Carolina lacking point guard Kendall Marshall and pressured the Tar Heels into 24 turnovers.  That is a recipe for disaster and allowed Ohio to climb right back into the game.  However, Ohio missed a chance to win the game in regulation.  Once it got into overtime, Ohio went scoreless from the field and the Tar Heels dominated.  Here is a notable stat–the Tar Heels outrebounded the Bobcats 55 to 27.  Tyler Zeller was the star, scoring 20 points and adding 23 rebounds.  North Carolina moves on to face #2 Kansas, who only narrowly defeated North Carolina State, 60-57.

So both teams get to have their #1 seeds challenged by the regional #2 seed.  And both teams are missing key players.  If either or both teams make the Final Four, they will definitely have earned it.

 

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Basketball, March Madness and tagged , , , , ,
22 Mar 2012
1 Comment

The Confidential’s Very Own Sweet Sixteen Rankings

Yesterday, the Confidential noted that the new rage was rating the Sweet 16 teams.  The pundits have had their chance.  Now it is time for the Confidential to share its rankings.

  1. KENTUCKY.  The best, healthiest team.  End of story.
  2. MICHIGAN STATE.  If they make the Final Four, they will deserve it… Louisville, Marquette, and Florida are all playing good basketball right now.
  3. OHIO STATE.  Got some luck when Syracuse lost Fab Melo.  Will they overlook in-state rival Cincinnati?  They better not.
  4. NORTH CAROLINA.  Ohio has been a nice story, but North Carolina missing one of its 5 future NBA players makes them merely a speed bump.
  5. KANSAS.  North Carolina State is playing some good basketball, but Kansas has more experienced talent.
  6. WISCONSIN.  Gets the perfect draw in Syracuse–a team that thrives on turnovers, which Wisconsin never does.
  7. SYRACUSE.  However, if Syracuse can force turnovers, Wisconsin will have to hit a lot of 3’s to win the game.
  8. MARQUETTE.  Playing outstanding basketball right now.
  9. BAYLOR.  Nice draw with Xavier–like Ohio, a run that is probably ready to come to an end.
  10. LOUISVILLE.  If anyone can challenge Tom Izzo as a coach, it is Rick Pitino.
  11. CINCINNATI.  This is the Bearcats time to shine.  Beat Ohio State and they will be in-state kings.
  12. FLORIDA.  Have played good against two overmatched teams.  Marquette posts a real test.
  13. INDIANA.  Not fully healthy.  And they face Kentucky.  And Kentucky is motivated for revenge.  It was fun while it lasted.
  14. NORTH CAROLINA STATE.  If everyone else has them at #14, so should the Confidential.
  15. XAVIER.  They can beat Baylor.  It just seems unlikely–the Bears are battle-tested.
  16. OHIO.  Great season, ending on a very high note.  Even a wounded North Carolina is a tough team to beat.

So there it is.  Criticize aways.

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Basketball, March Madness and tagged , , , , , ,
21 Mar 2012
1 Comment

The Pundits Chime in on the ACC Sweet Sixteen Teams

The Sweet Sixteen is the major sporting event taking place right now.  Especially now that Peyton Manning has decided to try to replace Jesus Tim Tebow in Denver.  The pundits have much to say about the ACC teams’ chances at getting to the Elite Eight and beyond.

For some reason, the opinion-makers have decided to rank the 16 teams still alive.  ESPN’s Jason King has this to say about each team and its ranking:

4. North Carolina: Even with point guard Kendall Marshall less than 100 percent — or perhaps out altogether — it’d be foolish to ignore North Carolina’s size, experience and, most of all, talent. Post players Tyler Zeller, John Henson and James Michael McAdoo are all projected as lottery picks in the NBA draft. So, too, is small forward Harrison Barnes, who creates matchup problems for almost every opponent. North Carolina will have a hard time winning it all without Marshall at his best. But a Final Four certainly isn’t out of the question.

8. Syracuse: Thursday’s near-loss to No. 16 seed UNC Asheville created some serious concerns about the Orange’s ability to reach the Final Four without suspended center Fab Melo. Even though Syracuse bounced back with a convincing win over K-State — which was without Jamar Samuels — Syracuse doesn’t have the look of a Final Four team. Jim Boeheim’s squad hasn’t advanced past the Sweet 16 since 2003. I think it will break that trend this season and get to the Elite Eight.

14. North Carolina State: The team a lot of people think didn’t deserve to be in the tournament advanced to the Sweet 16 by defeating two higher seeds (San Diego State and Georgetown). Lorenzo Brown averaged 7.5 assists in the two wins, while C.J. Leslie contributed 14.5 points. This is a talented team with loads of length and athleticism. The Wolfpack could give Kansas trouble.

Matt Nortander of CBS as a different set of rankings:

4. Syracuse.  I have bailed a little bit but not that much. I had Syracuse in the Elite Eight before the Melo news and didn’t remove the Orange even after the sophomore center was deemed ineligible. Let us not forget how this is Jim Boeheim’s deepest team. And that Kris Joseph is now pretty incredibly underrated.

5. North Carolina.  Can’t put UNC in the top four if I don’t know if Kendall Marshall is playing. Marshall is motor oil for that offense. Stillman White is about to become the most well-known backup since Curtis Painter. Carolina has all that talent, but its offense is completely different without Marshall’s NBA-level court vision and passing ability. I don’t think the Tar Heels can win the tournament if he’s out for the rest of it. Fortunately, UNC gets a break with Ohio in its regional semi.

14. North Carolina State.  I love the upsets no one calls. The ones that aren’t even incredibly shocking but still camouflaged in the bracket like a lioness in dying beige African vegetation. N.C. State in the Sweet 16 was not one of those upsets. Many people had the Wolfpack getting past San Diego State, and a large subset of those people went a step further and put Mark Gottfried’s team into the regional semifinals. State fans have waited a long time for this. And now they’ll demand it every year, lest they fire another coach who can’t make it happen. Unreasonable expectations! Yes!

Apparently, the consensus is that North Carolina State has little chance of making the Final Four.   George Mason, Butler, and Virginia Commonwealth should provide North Carolina State all the encouragement it needs when it takes on Kansas in its Sweet Sixteen game.

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Basketball, March Madness and tagged , , , , ,
19 Mar 2012

The ACC and the Post-Season: Update 5

Sunday featured three ACC teams trying to make it to the Sweet Sixteen.  Unfortunately, only two of them made it.  And, for one, it was a bittersweet victory.

The first game of the day was a success as #11 North Carolina State upset #3 Georgetown, 66-63.   C.J. Williams, Scott Wood and C.J. Leslie each scored 14 points to lead North Carolina State into the Sweet Sixteen.  Lorenzo Brown had a nice game too, with 12 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists, and 2 key free throws down the stretch.  North Carolina State will play @2 seed Kansas.

The second game of the day was a bittersweet result for North Carolina.  The #1 seed Tar Heels had little trouble defeating #8 Creighton, 87-73.  John Henson returned from injury with 13 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks.  But North Carolina point guard Kendall Marshall broke a wrist–putting him in jeopardy for future games.  Marshall scored 18 points and dished out 11 assists.  And 3 other Tar Heels scored in double-digits too.  Creighton was held to 41.2% shooting and rebounded by 9.  All in all, a very solid effort for the Tar Heels.  Next up is the #13 seed Ohio, who defeated #12 South Florida.

The final game of the day featured #3 Florida State and #6 seed Cincinnati.  Unfortunately, Cincinnati defeated Florida State 62-56, ending the Seminoles season.  Poor shooting plagued Florida State as they hit only 38% of its attempts from the floor.  In addition, Florida State committed 17 turnovers.  Luke Loucks led the Seminoles with 14 points.  Michael Snaer was only 3 for 9 from three-point range, but rebounded from his scoreless opening round game to add 11 points.

After today’s results, the ACC is down to North Carolina, and North Carolina State, as well as Syracuse.

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Basketball, March Madness and tagged , , , , ,
18 Mar 2012

The ACC and the Post-Season: Update 4

The Big Dance is now down to 24 teams, as half the Sweet Sixteen is set.  There are four ACC teams left: Syracuse, North Carolina, North Carolina State, and Florida State.

Syracuse was the first team to make the Sweet Sixteen, defeating Kansas State, 75-58.  The game was actually quite close in the first half–although both teams traded significant runs.  But the second-half was all Syracuse, as the depth of the Orange wore down the Wildcats.  Dion Waiters came off the bench to lead Syracuse with 18 points, while Scoop Jardine led the starters with 16 points.  Perhaps the biggest surprise was the decent play of freshman center Rakeem Christmas, who had 8 points and 11 rebounds.  All in all, Syracuse looked substantially more like a #1 seed than they have in weeks.  They will move to play #4 seed Wisconsin on Thursday.

Sunday will feature three ACC teams trying to make it to the Sweet Sixteen.  The first game of the day will be the 12:15 pm matchup (on CBS) between #11 North Carolina State and #3 Georgetown.  At 5:15 pm,  CBS will also televise the game between #1 seed North Carolina and #8 Creighton.  Although the talk on Selection Sunday was the potential of Creighton defeating North Carolina in a shootout–ESPN.com’s Giant Killers Blog gives Creighton a 2.7% chance of winning.  Finally, at 9:30 pm, TBS will show #3 Florida State play #6 seed Cincinnati.  Both teams looked great in their conference tournaments, but then failed to put together a solid 40 minutes in the opening round.  All three games should be fairly exciting.

Syracuse's Rakeem Christmas slams one home. Photo courtesy of Dennis Nett/The Post Standard 2011. See http://www.syracuse.com/axeman/index.ssf/2012/03/syracuse_basketball_vs_kansas.html

 

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Basketball, March Madness and tagged , , , , ,
17 Mar 2012

The ACC and the Post-Season: Update 3

Well, it is College Basketball Tournament season.  The Big Dance is already down to 32 teams.  As noted earlier, Duke is not among them.

But it was not all bad for the Atlantic Coast Conference on March 16, 2012.  Even without John Henson, #1 North Carolina had no trouble defeating #16 seed Vermont, 77-58.  Tyler Zeller had 17 points and 15 rebounds to lead the Tar Heels.  In Henson’s absence, James Michael McAdoo started and scored a season-high 17 points also.  With the win, North Carolina advances to play #8 Creighton, who defeated Alabama 58-57.

Perhaps the most impressive win of the day for the ACC was #11 seed North Carolina State upsetting #6 seed San Diego State, 79-65.  While not an extraordinary seed difference, nobody expected the Wolfpack to run away with the game.  After all, they were on the wrong side of the bubble for most of Championship week.  But North Carolina State shot an amazing 58.5% from the field en route to the victory.  Richard Howell led the team with 22 points, but State picked up big contributions from Lorenzo Brown (17 points), C.J. Leslie (15 points) and Scott Wood (10 points).  The Wolfpack moves on to play #3 seed Georgetown, who finally got over their first round issues by defeating #14 seed Belmont, 74-59.

The most disappointing performance of the day for the ACC was not Duke’s loss, but #10 Virginia’s utter collapse against #7 Florida, 71-45.  While the Gators have more talent than the average #7 seed, they have not played to potential very often at all.  But a 41-23 second-half made this an unexpected blowout, ending Virginia’s surprisingly good season.  As usual, it was Mike Scott leading the way for Virginia with 15 points.

The final game of the day involved #3 Florida State and #14 St. Bonaventure.  Give credit to the Bonnies for making this game close throughout, but the Seminoles ultimately prevailed 66-63.  While Michael Snaer has been the hero for most of the season, he was absent on Friday and held scoreless on 0 for 7 shooting.  Bernard James stepped up to lead the Seminoles with 19 points.  Ugly as it was, Florida State moves on to play #6 seed Cincinnati, who defeated Texas 65-59.

 

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Basketball, March Madness and tagged , , , , , , ,
17 Mar 2012
1 Comment

Hide Dick Vitale’s Shoelaces–Duke Eliminated By Lehigh

The Big Dance came very close to a historic upset on Thursday with Syracuse’s decision to play terribly for 35 minutes against North Carolina Asheville, but Friday produced one of the bigger upsets in NCAA Tournament History as #2 seed Duke lost to Lehigh, 75-70.  It was only the sixth time that a 15 seed has beaten a #2 (the fifth time was earlier Friday when Norfolk State defeated Missouri).  The end result, however, is that Duke is out of the tournament.

Non-Duke ACC fans will savor this–but Lehigh actually had more free throw attempts than Duke.  Significantly more–37-23.  But the real reason for the Lehigh win was the play of C.J. McCollum.  The country’s fifth leading scorer contributed 30 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists.  Duke had no answer for him.  Plus, Duke was 6 for 26 from three-point range.  In losing, Duke squandered 19 point games by Mason Plumlee and Austin Rivers.  The upset should not come as a total surprise as this year’s edition of Duke simply lacked the magic of prior seasons.  Losing at home to Florida State and Miami is just not typical.  And, in atypical fashion, Duke was eliminated from the Big Dance in the opening round for only the second time in 16 years.

So with Duke gone, someone keep Dukie V Dick Vitale on suicide watch.

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Basketball, March Madness and tagged , , ,
02 Mar 2012

Bracketology Update: ACC Style

There are now several individuals that offer predictions as to who is going to be part of the 68-team field for the Big Dance.  Here is where the major ones currently stand with respect to ACC teams:

As of February 29, 2012, ESPN “bracketologist” Joe Lunardi has Syracuse and five current ACC teams making the field.  In addition to the obvious Duke and North Carolina, Lunardi has Florida State, Virginia, and Miami.  The respective seeds are Syracuse (#1), Duke (#1), North Carolina (#2), Florida State (#4), Virginia (#8), and Miami (#12).  Hard to disagree with that. Florida State’s narrow victory over Virginia last night, 63-60, is not likely to change his analysis.

ESPN’s Eamonn Brennan has the same basic structure for teams either in the field or close to it.  Surprisingly, he has completely eliminated North Carolina State from consideration.  With a 19-11 record, this seems a bit hasty.  Especially after North Carolina State just beat Miami.

CBS’s Jerry Palm is not quite as positive.  Palm does not have Miami in his field currently.  So that leaves only Syracuse (#1), Duke (#1), North Carolina (#2), Florida State (#6), and Virginia (#9).  Palm is definitely “cool” on ACC teams as everyone beyond a #2 seed is at least one round lower than Lunardi.

Mike Huguenin of Rivals/Yahoo has a blend of Lunardi and Palm.  He has the teams just like Palm does in terms of seeding.  But unlike Palm, and like Lunardi, he also has Miami in the field as a #12 seed.

Finally, the interesting site the Bracket Project pulls from 50+ bracket projections.  After combining the various brackets, this is the national consensus:

  • Syracuse is a #1 seed and second overall
  • Duke is a #1 seed and third overall
  • North Carolina is a #2 seed and sixth overall
  • Florida State is a #5 seed
  • Virginia is a #8 seed
  • Miami is a #12 seed
  • North Carolina State is 7 spots out of the final at-large position.

So there it is.  Barring a run by North Carolina State, only Miami really seems on the fence for the Big Dance right now.  Hard to believe that brackets will be announced in just 9 days.

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Basketball, March Madness, Predictions and tagged , , , , , , , , , , ,

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