A Maddening March

2011 ACC Champs

This article sums up how I feel about this season for the Tar Heels. 

Creighton is now up there with Dook in basketball teams I despise. I do love that Roy Williams is a gentleman and that he won't antagonize or be dragged into negativity. But just because Roy won't say it doesn't mean I won't: that team was pathetic and played dirty because they knew they had no chance. Had Marshall not broken his wrist I truly believe this year's national champion would be a lighter color blue.

Harrison Barnes

It's really too bad we don't have everyone coming back next year to make a real run for it. Even though I was barely old enough to understand the game, I am wistful for the days when great players stayed all four years and really left a legacy behind (even MJ stayed three years...). I will say that I think Harrison Barnes never really fell into his rhythm at Carolina like I thought he would when I first read about him in the 2010 recruiting class recap. People made comparisons to all the basketball greats (i.e., MJ), and, yes, he is a good player who delivered on many occasions, but what makes the "greats" is the ability to deliver night after night, day after day. When it mattered most the people carrying the team were Zeller, Marshall, and, heck, even Bullock was more clutch in the tournament. He is incredibly talented, but there's a mentality that separates the good players from the great players and I'm not sure he gave himself enough time to really develop that at Carolina. I guess we'll have to see what the NBA will do for him. The player I'll miss the most is Marshall. He embodies everything I love about college basketball: talent, teamwork, vision, selflessness... He has a way of playing that makes everyone around him play a better game, and not just because he can feed them an infinite number of flawless passes. He is a leader and an inspirational player and I'm nervous to see who can possibly fill those shoes. I felt that way about Ty Lawson in 2007 and it took until 2010 to see someone comparable (although Lawson graduated to the NBA with a nice shiny championship ring...). 

Barnes, Strickland, Zeller, and Marshall

I would have won my the bracket pool at work had UNC won (and a sweet $460), and I would have come in 2nd had Kansas won, but I'm okay with Kentucky winning over Kansas because I can't stand Kansas fans and their irrational hatred of Roy Williams. I could not tolerate a year of their strutting and preening that they don't care about losing Roy (TO HIS HOMETOWN TEAM) and how Bill Self is superior coach (GAG!). Anyway, not every year can end in a national championship so in the words of Adam Lucas, "they won at Cameron Indoor Stadium and they won the ACC regular season title and they played a game on a real live aircraft carrier and they had the academic All-American of the year and the best single-season passing performance in conference history." GO HEELS!

There's always next year...