SB Nation - Deon Thompson

The Big Blue Daily Mail -- Rich Brooks Edition

Truzenzuzex — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 23:24:31 -0000

Hype? Just ask the guys there in powder blue.

As most everyone has heard by now, Rich Brooks has been voted Coach of the Year by CollegeFootballNews.com. No, it's not the AP or SEC, but it's still an honor and I think Brooks deserves it, especially considering having to start a freshman at quarterback for most of the season.

In other news, Mike Miller of Beyond the Arc says he wouldn't be averse to expanding the NCAA tournament. Personally, I am fairly agnostic about the idea, but I do wonder when we reach the point of too much of a good thing? If we expand the tournament much more, we are going to be allowing teams in that don't even have a winning record or a conference championship, and at some point there will be diminishing returns.

Then again, all these bowls don't seem to be a problem in football, because if they didn't make money, they woudn't exist. I suppose I could always just ignore the first round of the tournament and start watching from the second round on if they expand.

And for those of you who are wondering, the Austin Peay Governors at the Kentucky Wildcats will be shown in Louisville and a few other Kentucky markets on Insight channel 2. That's good to know.

The rest of the news follows the jump.

Santa Cat is Coming to Town | Coach Calipari
Are Basketball Fans Obsessed with John Wall?
Heh. Well, there you go.
Anything but Gatorade: ALL -AUGHT KENTUCKY BASEKTBALL TEAMS?
Looks like a pretty good list to me.
UK Football Fan: Saturday Reset
Locke exploring the NFL? Really?
Pitt's perfect to add to Big Ten - Beyond the Arc - msnbc.com
Interesting. I would have been more inclined to Syracuse, but Pitt is closer to Big Ten country than the 'Cuse.
Kentucky-Austin Peay basketball game will be on Insight Ch. 2 in Louisville. | courier-journal.com | The Courier-Journal
I guess I'll be able to watch the game after all.
Rick Bozich | Some ratings are not kind to Louisville, Kentucky basketball | courier-journal.com | The Courier-Journal
Pomeroy's numbers are not as bullish as I expected on Kentucky. The Wildcats are projected to lose six of 16 games in the Southeastern Conference, including two to Tennessee. No surprise that he picks the Vols to win the SEC East at 13-3.

We discussed this yesterday. Those predictions will change pretty quickly if UK blows out a few foes here in the next several days, but it will take an undefeated non-conference season to really affect them -- which is certainly a very real possibility.
TheTimesTribune.com, Corbin, KY - Lots of stuff to ramble about this week
A lot of people are saying UK’s "Great Wall" is the best freshman point guard since the "Magic Man" was manning the position for Michigan State in the late 70s.

So how does John Wall compare to Magic Johnson? Hmm. Interesting ...
Rush The Court " Blog Archive " Morning Five: 12.16.09 Edition
I sure would like to seen Brandon Knight in Blue and White. Hey, that rhymes ...
One-and-done works for Calipari, Wall and UK | Vaught's Views
Wildcat Blue In a Sea of Orange: A rivalry builds: Kentucky vs Kansas, Wall vs Henry, Calipari vs Self
You Know It’s A Great Year When….. | BigBlueRules
Heh.
FeinsteinOnTheBrink: A little more on the ‘list’; Touching on the Roy Williams controversy
Okay, let’s not make this into a big deal because it’s not. Did Roy overreact? Yes—even if some of his loyal supporters have jumped in claiming the fan in question was drunk, was rude, didn’t have a ticket (or should NOT have had a ticket) in that section, had used profanity prior to his crack AND was involved in the conspiracy to kidnap the Lindbergh baby. Deon Thompson, by the way, somehow shook off the ‘heckling,’ to make his free throw.

Heh. Not a Feinstein lover at all, but I think he gets this right.
Men’s Roundup - Scheyer Scores Career-High 36 as Duke Routs Gardner-Webb - NYTimes.com
This is how you get to the top of Pomeroy's rankings.
NCAA Basketball And CBS Headed For A Split? - SB Nation
UK met all criteria for Jon Davis | Vaught's Views
Some hoops nuggets
From Jody Demling.
Kentucky Sports Radio " Blog Archive " Steelers sign former Cat
Congrats, Johnny!
John Wall has our attention at Kentucky. Don't look away, writes Scoop Jackson - ESPN
How does someone 6-foot-4, 185 pounds vanish, then reappear only after points are scored, assists are made with a smile on his face that could light up Manhattan?

Hype? Yeah. But fun!
Riek finally eligible, but will he play? - College Basketball Nation Blog - ESPN
Kentucky coach John Calipari said Wednesday he tried to see if the Wildcats could handle themselves without his tutelage in Tuesday’s practice. They failed.

Well, that's not really a surprise.

Individual Stats Now Available

Akula Wolf — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 21:42:34 -0000

Here. W-L projections are out as well: 19-12, 6-10. Sounds about right at this point.

-- With Tracy Smith taking such a huge chunk of the shots, the leftovers are being distributed pretty evenly throughout the rest of the lineup. Everybody else getting significant minutes is taking between 15%-22% of the shots. In that regard, they're a little like this team.

-- Javi's assist rate ranks fourth nationally and is tops among power conference players.

Elsewhere:

-- Ed Davis, Deon Thompson, Ty Zeller...not a bad frontcourt. Will Graves should probably shoot less often.

-- Four ACC schools rank in the top ten in effective height. Ugh.

-- At least Ish Smith isn't turning the ball over quite as often.

-- Clemson needs a hero and the person for that job, clearly, is Ray Dungeon.

-- Tough start for Greivis Vasquez.

-- Iman Shumpert is still killing possessions with great frequency, but Georgia Tech's heralded freshman class is panning out well and their offense is vastly improved. If they can find a way to cut down on the turnovers...

-- Andre Dawkins holy crap.

-- Look at all those ugly turnover rates. Scoring points in the paint against FSU has been virtually impossible, and it looks like they're following the same win-ugly-with-defense model they did last season.

-- Note the number of possessions in the VMI/Seton Hall game, which ended in regulation. Who do I have to bribe to get VMI on the schedule? Or at least on TV? That system of theirs is epically self-defeating (just look at their FG% D) but so much fun.

Roy Williams Kicks Out Fan For Cheering

aramnath — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 02:15:07 -0000

More photos » by Gerry Broome - AP

Roy Williams gets angry when you say mean things to his players. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)

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This past Saturday the defending national champion North Carolina Tar Heels hosted Presbyterian and crushed them by a count of 103-64. Normally a game like this wouldn't warrant any mention, but when Roy Williams had a guy booted for the weakest heckle in sports history, well it hits the newswires.

In case you didn't hear about it the Heels coach kicked out a Presbyterian fan for shouting something to the effect of "you're going to miss this free throw" to UNC's Deon Thompson. I don't know if Williams knows this, but players have had much worse said to them. Just ask J.J. Redick who had to deal with an entire Maryland student section chanting "f*ck you J.J." while he was taking free throws. To my knowledge Gary Williams didn't have security remove the student section from the game.

This is absolutely ridiculous and what's worse is the BS excuse that the university came up with to cover for Roy's butt. UNC team spokesman, Steve Kirschner said that Williams had the fan removed because he thought he was sitting in seats that the basketball office had issued tickets for. So while this guy is coaching a game he's concerned that somebody is sitting in seats they don't have tickets for? Give me a break.

As far as I'm concerned Williams should take a page out of Chip Kelly's playbook and send this guy a refund for his ticket and the trip he made. That or he should be suspended for a couple of games for removing a guy from the stadium because he rooted against UNC.

Williams had this to say after the game:

"I just don't think anybody should yell negative things toward our players who come in on our tickets to watch our games."

Is this youth league basketball?! I'm pretty sure that your players had a lot worse said to them during your national title run last year - and every time they set foot in Durham I can guarantee you the abuse they take is far worse.

If I was a Duke fan I would be getting real excited for the Tar Heels' trip to Cameron Indoor this year.

The Roy Williams Excuse: "I'm From the Mountains"

Truzenzuzex — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 13:15:50 -0000

More photos » by Gerry Broome - AP

It must have been the shoulder ...

Browse more photos »

By now, most of you have probably heard about this thanks to a link in the FanShots by A Sea of Blue member tippey.

As you can see, Ol' Roy throws out a Presbyterian fan who had the effrontery to sarcastically say in the general direction of Deon Thompson, "Hey Deon, don't miss it!" while he was shooting the second of two free throws.

Rush The Court excoriates Williams for abuse of position, comparing him to an unpopular former vice president:

They say that suppression of dissent is one of the first steps toward totalitarianism, and in a showing of power drunkenness that would make even Dick Cheney blush, Roy has taken his standing to show up someone with whom he merely disagrees to an entirely new level. As he put it in the postgame comments, he doesn’t believe that "anybody should yell negative things toward our players (when) you come in on our tickets to watch our game." EXCUSE ME??

Heh. Strong words. I suppose under the new Roy Williams standards, we should go ahead and cancel our visit to Chapel Hill now. If being manhandled by security is what happens for such a tiny affront, surely booing North Carolina is a felony offense. And when Duke comes in to play? The jails in Chapel Hill are likely to be full of miscreants in that one.

Dan Weiderer of The Fayetteville Observer observes:

I do, however, still hold firm in my opinion that Williams was being too snippy in a home game his Tar Heels were winning by close to 40 points. There’s no question Williams’ annoyed reaction came immediately following one of the more harmless heckles you’ll ever hear in a college basketball arena. That’s what made the whole situation so bizarre and so newsworthy. On a night where UNC was delivering a pretty superb performance on the court, Williams’ annoyance with a visiting fan seemed odd.

Odd? Well, yes, more than odd, in fact. His behavior was reprehensible and wrong. And being "from the mountains" does not excuse that. In fact, I'll wager that most people from the mountains would find Ol' Roy's thin skin funny at best

Follow me past the jump ...

Chris Chase of The Dagger gets it right:

Because Roy is normally such an affable guy and this came in a meaningless game in the middle of December, there won't be much criticism lobbed his way. There should be. It's was inappropriate for Williams to censor a fan that wasn't breaking any rules. He overstepped his bounds and should be embarrassed about his actions.

Of course, Carolina fans are mostly reacting with a shrug, and I honestly can't hold that against them. Williams has brought the Tar Heels two national championships and a ton of good basketball, so you can hardly blame them for ignoring the incident. But since we have had to live with Gillispie and Calipari jokes for the last four years, and I think it is only fair to take notice when a rival's coach misbehaves in public.

I'm not a Roy Williams hater, though. I think he is a great coach and a good man, although the media has given him a pass on the NCAA violations he created at Kansas, ignored some at North Carolina under the rubric of political freedom, and generally lionized the guy. I know that surgically repaired shoulder is hurting him and all, but Williams had a bad night, and was a straight-up jerk both on the court and in the news conference when he refused to talk about it.

Dress up that halo, Roy. It has a noticeable list to starboard.

Early Season All-ACC Team

MRickman84 — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 16:30:14 -0000

More photos » by Ricardo Arduengo - AP

Browse more photos »

I thought it would be fun to take a look at who is really shining in the ACC so far. And what better way than through a list, right? I'm not going to do second teams right now--I'll save that until a few games into ACC play. But I will give you who I think is on the first team as well as who is the front runner for ROY.

The All-ACC team after the jump...

G- Jon Scheyer

15.8 ppg, 5.3 apg, 3.3 rpg

There are a few good PG in the ACC this year, but Scheyer is the most complete. He manages the game well, barely turns it over and is perfect for Duke's system. He has come a long way since his freshman year where he was compared to J.J. Redick and since his switch the point has been very good for the Blue Devils.

G- Malcolm Delaney

20.9 ppg, 3.8 apg, 3.8 rpg

I was tempted to go a number of different directions here. Nolan Smith has been playing really well so far, as has Malcolm Grant and Sylvan Landesberg, but Delaney is the reason Virginia Tech wins basketball games. He has the scorer's mentality that so many ACC guards in the past have had and will only get better as the season wears on.

F- Al-Farouq Aminu

16.44 ppg, 10.1 rpg, 1.6 spg, 2 apg

Homer pick, sure, but Aminu is averaging a double-double and has not even played his best basketball yet. His skillset makes him dangerous against any team and when he starts to play more under control, he will be even more effective. Compared to Kyle Singler, Aminu gets the edge.

F- Gani Lawal

14.7 ppg, 10.3 rpg, 1.3 bpg, .556 FG%

Lawal is one of the most overlooked players in the ACC. He was very impressive last year and again is doing the same kinds of things. Now that GT is receiving a little more attention, people should start to recognize how good Lawal really is.

C- Deon Thompson

16.9 ppg, 1.2 apg, 8.3 rpg, .53 FG%

I really considered putting Ed Davis here (although he technically plays the 4), but when it comes to UNC, when Deon Thompson goes, the Tar Heels go. They play better when they get Thompson involved early and often and he absolutely needs to get his touches. The guy has really improved his face up game out to about 12-15 feet and with his back to the hoop he is always a threat to score.

ROY- Derrick Favors

We knew he was good coming in, but wow. He is still a bit shaky at times and makes the typical rookie mistakes, but 68% from the floor? That's insane for a guy averaging over double digits per game. I also looked at C.J. Harris (13.1 ppg, 1.6 apg, 1.7 rpg, .524 3PT%), who has really come on strong so far, as well as Andre Dawkins, who has really given Duke a lift off the bench with his electriic shooting. Favors' rookie contemporary Mfon Udofia has been very good as well, averaging 13 ppg, 3.3 apg and 3.1 rpg

North Carolina Tar Heels @ Kentucky Wildcats: Pre-game analysis

Truzenzuzex — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 23:17:30 -0000

More photos » by Ed Reinke - AP

We hope to see a lot of this out of the Big Cuz tomorrow.

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Obviously, the UNC contest at Rupp Arena tomorrow is a big, big game for the team, but even more so for the fans, who are very tired of losing to our neighbor to the east.

The Tar Heels are young, but not nearly as young as Kentucky is. The Tar Heels start two seniors, a junior and two sophomores.

North Carolina is perhaps the only team in America that is taller and longer than the Wildcats are. The Heels go 6'10", 6'9" and 6'6" across the front line, and have four reserves 6'10" or taller. UK is taller across the starting lineup, but the 'Cats do not have quite as much height on the bench.

UNC is 7-1, their only loss coming in convincing fashion at Madison Square Garden versus Syracuse. That game was over with about 3 minutes still left to play, but the men in powder blue came back and beat a highly ranked Michigan State team in Chapel Hill just a few nights ago in the ACC-Big Ten challenge. In that game, the Tar Heels played extremely well at times, and that game tap has provided some sobering images for the UK staff and players.

What we will be doing today is presenting you with an extremely high-tech visualization of the comparative statistics of this game. This service has been provided by A Sea of Blue member Sylvar, and it is gobsmackingly awesome. I think no other blog can match this new style of graphical stats delivery, and I'm sure you will enjoy it. But remember, this was Sylvar's work, not mine, so be sure to thank him.

Also, for the Carolina perspective, be sure to visit SB Nation's excellent North Carolina Tar Heels blog, Carolina March.

More after the jump.

Four Factors Analysis

First off, I want to point out that this display is interactive. If you move the sliders just under the trend graph, you can zoom in on various slices of the series to see how they have done in smaller segments. The dials on the right indicate ranges from red (worse) to yellow (okay) to green (good) based on the average values of the top ten teams from last year.

As you can see by the offensive efficiency trends on the top chart, Kentucky has been trending better than the Tar Heels since about the fourth game of the season. In the last game vs. UNC-Ashville, UK's OE was at it's peak so far this season, but still just a bit below the peak UNC achieved vs. Valparaiso.

Defensively, you have to keep in mind that lower is better. UK's DE has been much worse than UNC's through the first four games. From game five (Cleveland St.) on, UK's DE has been improving, and the two team's efficiencies on defense have effectively merged. But you can see that UNC's peak DE has been much better than the best UK has put out there so far. This is largely a function of having more experienced players, most likely.

Moving down to the Four Factors, you can see that these two teams are almost dead even statistically. The green bar is the average statistic for the top ten teams from last year, just to have something to compare with. You will note that neither UK nor UNC are at top ten efficiency yet.

Another interesting thing is that UNC turns the ball over almost as much as UK does. That's partially a function of how many possessions they have per game as a function of their high tempo, but it is a bit surprising to see that a more experienced team like UNC is having as many problems with turnovers as a mostly-freshman UK.

Moving on to the defense, we see that UNC is the better team right now, but UK seems to be forcing a few more turnovers and doing a better job on the defensive glass. UK's free throw rate is very high, and that could be a major factor in the game as time goes on.

In the miscellaneous cateory, we see that both teams shoot a similar 3-point FG%, but UNC takes more 3-point shots per field goal attempt.

Next, we'll look at the players for the Tar Heels, and their stats:

North Carolina Tar Heels Basketball Roster

	#	Pos.	Comments	W	H	College
Marc Campbell	2	G	-	175	6-0	senior
Ed Davis	32	F	Starter	225	6-10	sophomore
Larry Drew II	11	G	Starter	180	6-2	sophomore
James Gallagher	35	F	-	185	6-4	senior
Marcus Ginyard	1	G	Starter	210	6-5	senior
Will Graves	13	F	Starter	240	6-6	junior
John Henson	31	F	-	195	6-10	freshman
Leslie McDonald	15	G	-	215	6-4	freshman
Terrence Petree	14	G	-	165	6-1	senior
Dexter Strickland	5	G	-	180	6-3	freshman
Deon Thompson	21	F	Starter	245	6-9	senior
Thomas Thornton	30	G	-	180	6-3	senior
Justin Watts	24	G	-	210	6-4	sophomore
David Wear	34	F	-	225	6-10	freshman
Travis Wear	43	F	-	235	6-10	freshman
Tyler Zeller	44	F	-	240	7-0	sophomore

North Carolina Statistics

			FG			3PT			FT			Rebounds			Misc
	G	M	M	A	Pct	M	A	Pct	M	A	Pct	Off	Def	Tot	Ast	TO	Stl	Blk	PF	PPG
Deon Thompson	8	27.4	6.4	11.8	54.3	0.0	0.1	0.0	4.5	5.6	80.0	3.6	4.6	8.3	1.4	2.8	1.0	0.6	1.6	17.3
Ed Davis	8	25.4	5.3	7.5	70.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	3.4	5.3	64.3	2.9	6.5	9.4	1.5	2.1	0.5	2.4	1.6	13.9
Marcus Ginyard	8	30.9	4.3	7.6	55.7	1.3	2.6	47.6	1.4	2.4	57.9	1.4	2.3	3.6	4.5	2.5	2.0	0.1	0.8	11.1
Tyler Zeller	8	15.8	3.8	6.5	57.7	0.0	0.0	0.0	2.1	2.9	73.9	1.5	2.5	4.0	0.4	0.8	0.4	1.0	1.9	9.6
Larry Drew II	8	25.5	3.0	5.4	55.8	1.1	2.4	47.4	1.9	2.8	68.2	0.1	2.1	2.3	6.6	3.0	0.9	0.0	2.4	9.0
Will Graves	8	18.4	2.5	6.6	37.7	1.0	3.4	29.6	1.0	1.3	80.0	1.1	2.6	3.8	0.8	0.8	0.9	0.1	1.0	7.0
Travis Wear	8	9.0	1.4	2.8	50.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.9	1.0	87.5	1.1	1.0	2.1	0.1	0.6	0.3	0.0	0.8	3.6
John Henson	8	10.6	1.4	3.0	45.8	0.1	0.6	20.0	0.5	1.3	40.0	0.6	2.0	2.6	1.3	0.4	0.6	1.3	0.5	3.4
Dexter Strickland	8	13.4	1.3	3.1	40.0	0.3	1.1	22.2	0.5	1.1	44.4	0.3	0.6	0.9	1.8	1.6	0.4	0.3	1.5	3.3
Justin Watts	8	6.8	1.1	2.0	56.3	0.4	0.5	75.0	0.3	0.6	40.0	0.4	0.4	0.8	1.4	0.9	0.1	0.1	0.9	2.9
David Wear	8	9.4	0.8	2.1	35.3	0.1	0.3	50.0	0.1	0.5	25.0	0.1	1.0	1.1	0.8	0.6	0.3	0.1	0.4	1.8
Leslie McDonald	6	6.7	0.7	2.3	28.6	0.2	1.0	16.7	0.2	1.0	16.7	0.0	1.3	1.3	0.7	0.5	0.3	0.2	0.5	1.7
Thomas Thornton	3	1.7	0.3	0.7	50.0	0.3	0.7	50.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.7	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.0
James Gallagher	3	1.7	0.0	0.3	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.3	0.3	0.7	0.3	0.0	0.3	0.0	0.0	0.0
Terrence Petree	3	1.7	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.7	0.0	0.0	0.7	0.7	0.3	0.3	0.0	0.0	0.3	0.0
Marc Campbell	3	1.7	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.0	0.3	0.0	0.0	0.0

Position Analysis: Point guard

The starting point guard for the Tar Heels is Larry Drew II, son of a former NBA player. Drew assumes the starting point guard spot from the now-graduated Ty Lawson. Drew is a solid point guard and is doing a good job of learning the spot this year. He had one year behind Lawson and is now familiar with Roy Williams style.

The strength of Drew, though not so much this year up until the last game, is his 3-point shooting. He is shooting a fine percentage, but has been a relatively reluctant shooter so far this year, preferring to get the ball to teammates in scoring position, which is the job of a point guard. His assist/turnover ratio is 2-1, which is the gold standard for point guard play.

The knock on Drew has always been his footspeed and athleticism. Unlike Lawson or Wall, Drew is not a blur getting up and down the court. Drew is a competent but not flashy ballhandler, and he isn't going to blow by people like Lawson before him, or Wall does now. But what Drew does have is NCAA championship experience, and a year under his belt. That is worth a lot.

For Kentucky, the point guard is John Wall. We all know what John Wall is capable of, that is, at least to the level he has currently played. Wall and Drew could not be less similar -- Wall is an athletic freak and a slasher, as well as a flashy ballhandler and passer, but an average 3-point shooter. Drew will need help with Wall, as Wall is not only quicker, faster and a better athlete, but he is also four inches taller.

Advantage: Kentucky

Position Analysis: Shooting guard

Marcus Ginyard is the starter at shooting guard for the Tar Heels. Ginyard is a strong, athletic player with good size at 6'5". Ginyard was injured back in 2008, and was granted a medical redshirt.

Ginyard brings senior leadership to the Tar Heels backcourt, and does the little things that help his team win. He is not a big scorer, averaging 11 points/game, but he is a good rebounder and fine passer. He is athletic but not extraordinarily so, and has a good understanding of the North Carolina system. Ginyard is a polished defender, leading the team in steals.

Eric Bledsoe will be the starter at the off guard for Kentucky, and even though he is significantly more athletic and just as strong as Ginyard, he is far less experienced. Blesdsoe is much quicker off the dribble than most any player of his quality that North Carolina has faced so far this year, so Ginyard will have to deal with a quickness disadvantage.

But Ginyard has the advantage in virtually every other area, especially in experience.

Advantage: North Carolina

Position Analysis: Small Forward

Will Graves is the Tar Heel's starter at small forward. Graves is the least touted of all the North Carolina starters, grading out as only #105 in Rivals' class of 2006. Graves is a hard worker, good team player and has loads of experience coming off the bench during North Carolina's most recent run of success. He is not a particularly good three-point shooter, although he can make it. He is a decent but not outstanding rebounder. What he does do particularly well is defend.

Graves is an experienced player who adds experience to the team, as well as bulk and strength inside.

Graves will be going up against Darius Miller. Miller has the advantage of height, quickness and athleticism over Graves, but Graves is much heavier and stronger than Miller, which could provide UNC some opportunities with Graves posting Miller up. If Miller decides to assert himself (a big "if"), he could give Graves great difficulty due to his superior skills, speed, and athleticism.

Advantage: Draw

Position analysis: Power Forward

Ed Davis is the power forward for North Carolina, and the young sophomore is extremely talented. Davis is strong in the low post and quick off the floor. He doesn't have great range, but he is a good finisher and has a strong lower body. Davis runs the floor very well and will dunk on you if you are slow getting back. He is a solid defensive player with long arms and good footwork.

Davis is not strong in the upper body, though, and has narrow shoulders, which makes it harder for him against more physical power forwards. Davis is a good shot blocker with long arms and good timing.

I am going to assume that Patrick Patterson will be guarding Davis, because I think he is just too quick for DeMarcus Cousins. Offensively, Patterson is a much more versatile and powerful player than Davis. Davis is highly skilled, but Patterson is capable of shooting with range and will probably try to take Davis away from the basket.

Defensively, Patterson is stronger than Davis in every respect. He should be able to keep him far enough off the low block to force him into spin moves or short, challenged jumpers. Pattrerson runs the floor just as well as Davis, so there is really no part of the game in which Davis is superior to Patrick Patterson.

Advantage: Kentucky

Position Analysis: Center

Deon Thompson will play the post for the Tar Heels, and Thompson is a senior with all kinds of great skills. Thompson can face up from 15 feet, bury you on the block, rebound, block shots, you name it. He is the Tar Heels' leading scorer and overall best player.

The knock against Thompson has been that he sometimes doesn't work that hard, but this year he seems to have solidified his work ethic. Thompson is big, strong, reasonably quick and has great hands -- he will catch everything thrown in his direction.

DeMarcus Cousins will likely get the assignment on Thomson. Offensively, Cousins and Thompson are very similar players, with the main difference being that Thompson is a better face-up player. Cousins is longer and even heavier than Thompson, so a determined effort by Cousins will force Thompson farther away from the basket than he has been most of this year. Cousins also has the unusual habit of keeping his feet on the head fake, and using his very long arms to bother shots. That will serve him very well against Thompson if he continues to do that.

Offensively, Cousins is capable of pushing Thompson around in the post, and his greater length and soft hands make him a big challenge for Thompson defensively. What works against Cousins are two things -- Thompson is a senior, and has all the experience in the world. Cousins is an excitable freshman, prone to fouls, and a poor foul shooter. Overall, the balance of the equities goes to Thompson.

Advantage: North Carolina

Bench Analysis

The Tar Heels are huge on the bench, having four bench players at 6'10" or taller. UK is deep along the front line as well, but unlike the Heels, Kentucky has better depth at the guard position. It would be much better if DeAndre Liggins were available, but we won't know about that until game time.

Kentucky has been the much higher scoring team so far, but North Carolina gets a greater percentage of points from their bench. That is something the Wildcats will have to keep an eye on.

Carolina's depth is actually better than UK's at critical positions. They could, for example, execute a "Hack-a-Shaq" game against Cousins if Cousins is able to dominate in the post, and force him to the line. They could literally expend 24 fouls guarding Cousins and still field a great team.

Advantage: North Carolina

Overall analysis

This game is going to be a track meet, so it is important for both coaches to manage their players carefully. Loafing up and down the floor will likely produce dunks on the other end, and I expect to see a ton of dunks in this game.

These two teams are both extremely big and long, and you can expect a lot of shots blocked by both sides. If the officials call this game close, it will be to the advantage of the Tar Heels in a big way. If they don't, that advantage is minimized.

The higher the pace, the more advantage to Kentucky. That's because UNC has so many big men, and relatively few guards and swing players.

UK must strongly guard the three against UNC, because they can shoot it. They don't shoot it that much because they would rather get layups and dunks, just like UK, but UNC is the more dangerous team from the perimeter. If UK doesn't put on some strong perimeter defense, the Heels can burn the 'Cats there.

I think this game will ultimately come down to which coach manages his player's minutes better. Both are going to be tired at the end, and I would be surprised if the winning margin is more than ten points. Kentucky has the home court advantage, which will be big, but not huge, in this game.

Projected score: Kentucky 93, North Carolina 88.

How Impressed Should UNC and Kentucky Be?

T.H. — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 12:58:04 -0000

More photos » by Ed Reinke - AP

17 days ago: Kentucky's DeMarcus Cousins, left, celebrates with teammate John Wall during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against North Carolina-Asheville in Louisville, Ky., Monday, Nov. 30, 2009. Cousins led all scorers with 24 points and Wall handed out 14 assists in Kentucky's 94-57 win. (AP Photo/Ed Reinke)

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Yeah, I've seen them. I'm not impressed.

That, of course, was DeMarcus Cousins, Kentucky's 6'11" freshman forward talking about the Heels after a drubbing of UNC-Asheville early in the week. And stupidity about taunting your opponent aside, you can't really fault his logic. Carolina, at that point, hadn't really impressed me much either with their best win (Ohio State) marred by letting the Buckeyes back in in the second half and their one loss (Syracuse) including as it did a horrific 22-1 run against. I'm happier with the Heels now, after the win over Michigan State, but I still have my reservations. They're a young team, brilliant in stretches, but who have yet to put together the forty minutes of ball I'd like to see.

Of course, the same thing can be said about Kentucky. The Wildcats are 7-0, but against a schedule so soft it will put you to sleep. It includes such powerhouses as Morehead State, Sam Houston State, Cleveland State, and Please Find Us Another Patsy to Get Us to 2000 Wins State. The toughest foe on the slate was Stanford, currently at fearsome 4-3, and the Wildcats had to go through overtime to get that win.

The other thing about Kentucky is that they are, shockingly, younger than the Heels. Three of their top six players by minutes-played being freshmen, and another two sophomores. UNC, for all the freshmen they put out on the floor, still start two seniors, two sophomores, and a junior. If you're going to take on a talented team (and they are packed with raw talent) like the Wildcats, the best time to do so is early in the season when they haven't faced much adversity.

Kentucky is playing the same style of ball all the cool kids are this season. Or at least the style UNC and Michigan State share, with a rapid tempo and the incredible number of turnovers that accompany it. Kentucky has more height than the Spartans, on par with the Heels, and both teams naturally eschew the three-pointer most of the time. Here's way another strong outside shooting night from Larry Drew and Marcus Ginyard can pay off, as Kentucky is horrible at defending the three.

The rest of the game will be decided on the interior matchups, however. Cousins vs. Ed Davis and Patrick Patterson on Deon Thompson will be the way things start presumably, but UNC has big men galore to stream off the bench, and as long as the starters can maintain their cool and avoid foul trouble, things should go well. Whoever wins the battles of rebounds and blocked shots should be able to control the game; everything else, from pregame talk to last year's recruiting grudges won't matter a bit after the ball is tipped. I think if the right Carolina team shows up, they can win this one handily. I'm just never sure which team leaves the locker room on any given evening.

UNC 89, Michigan State 82

T.H. — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 04:52:57 -0000

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Tom Izzo has lost his number.

I'm not sure exactly how he lost is number, mind you. Perhaps he left it on the roof of his car as he drove off. Maybe it slipped between the cushions of the couch, or he left it on the back of his chair at the restaurant. His kids could have even dropped it while walking home from show and tell at school. But Tom Izzo has definitely lost his number.

Because UNC has Tom Izzo's number.

For the third straight game, Michigan State headed to the locker room at halftime with a double-digit deficit and having given up 50 or more points to UNC. The Spartans had since their last meeting molded themselves even more like Carolina, picking up the tempo and building a strong interior game, only to meet a more deliberate UNC team this time out. It was the Heels who slowed the pace down tonight. Sure they pushed the ball up the court after a missed shot and still treated every defensive rebound as the firing gun of a sprint, but when the easy bucket wasn't there they probed the defense with a patience I haven't seen in quite some time. Every possession seemed to have two, three, or four entry passes, until the right shot could be found, and enough times that shot was on the perimeter to keep the defense honest – Ginyard, Drew, and Strickland were a combined 4-7 from behind the arc and 12-17 overall.

More importantly, it seemed like the freshmen were beginning to find their rhythm. The first half run where UNC pulled away from a 21-21 tie happened with four freshmen on the floor. Dexter Strickland had his best game to date, including two blocks, and John Henson was a game changer with four blocks, three in the first half. In fact, Carolina's height kept Michigan State off-balance or most of the game, forcing them to shoot tentatively, and miss badly. Add to that their extremely cold shooting from behind the arc, and it was no wonder that it wasn't until late that the Spartans put together any sort of run.

Of course, the fact that they were able to cut the lead to six and missed two prime opportunities to tighten it further is still worrisome. This Tar Heel team has yet to manage a full forty minutes of quality play. Deon Thompson was particularly frustrating late with a bad three-pointer, and a three of his five turnovers coming in the last 1:16 of play. Thompson has yet to display his senior leadership role on the court, and it's beyond time he did.

Luckily, Larry Drew and Ed Davis are stepping in. Davis was 8-10 for 22 points while only drawing one foul all game, while Drew was almost perfect from the field and more crucially 5-6 from the line in the final minute at a time when both Marcus Ginyard and Dexter Strickland were only hitting iron. This team has started to gel, and if the playing time is going more to the starting five, the rest of the team is making the most of their time on the court. There were still plenty of mistakes to irritate Roy Williams – how many times did MSU beat the Heels down the court after Carolina scores? – but it was a good win and the kind of game UNC will have to play to walk out of Rupp Arena with a win this weekend.

Preview: Michigan State Spartans vs. North Carolina Tarheels

KJ@theonlycolors — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 03:46:35 -0000

More photos » by Eric Gay - AP

When last we met.

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Your MICHIGAN STATE SPARTANS vs. the NORTH CAROLINA TARHEELS

THE DEAN E. SMITH CENTER, CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA

9:00 P.M. (ET), TUESDAY

TV: ESPN (Dickie V, sadly)

Tarheel bullets:

You may recall that North Carolina had a pretty good squad last season: 34-4 overall, 13-3 in the ACC, National Champions.
Oh, and they posted two wins against the Spartans of Michigan State University by a combined margin of 52 points.
Four of five starters departed for the NBA.
6-1 thus far in the new season. Beat Ohio State by 4 points; lost to Syracuse by 16 (both games in New York).
Plenty of talent/depth remains. 10 players averaging at least 9 minutes per game.

Starter-plus-sixth-man (Zeller) statistical capsule (more stats here):

Pos	Player	Height	Year	Min/G	Pts/G	2pt%	3pt%	FT%	Reb/G	Ast/G
G	Larry Drew II	6'2"	SO	25.3	7.7	.526	.471	.625	2.3	6.7
G/F	Marcus Ginyard	6'5"	RS SR	30.3	11.4	.595	.474	.692	3.7	4.1
F/G	Will Graves	6'6"	RS JR	18.7	7.3	.440	.269	.800	3.7	0.7
F	Deon Thompson	6'9"	SR	26.9	17.7	.561	--	.800	8.9	1.4
F	Ed Davis	6'10"	SO	24.9	12.7	.680	--	.618	9.9	1.4
F	Tyler Zeller	7'0"	SO	16.0	10.1	.614	--	.773	3.9	0.4

TMadison has already provided us with a thorough rundown of the early four-factors profile for the new-edition Tarheels. I won't repeat everything he's already done.

The offensive strength of the team rests with the final three numbers in the "2pt%" column of the table above. Thompson, Davis, and Zeller are all scoring very efficiently near the basket. That's going to pose a major problem for MSU. In both our games against quality opponents to date (Gonzaga/Florida), the opponent's big men scored very efficiently--much more so than the opposing guards. Draymond Green and Delvon Roe, for all their strengths, don't have the height to match-up with taller players who can turn and score.

The trick will be to deny the Tarheel big men good position, limit them to one shot when they do get the ball in the post, and hope the UNC guards don't get hot. In Carolina's loss to Syacuse, Graves and Drew combined to make just 2 of 14 FG attempts against the Syracuse zone. (It also helped that the Orangemen posted an eFG% of 61.0%.) Might we finally see that zone defense Tom Izzo keeps claiming he's got the team practicing--at least to throw a different look at the Tarheels for a few possessions? More broadly, it'll be interesting to see whether Izzo has his guards hedge off perimeter shooters more than usual to try to deny clean entry passes into the post or pressure the UNC guards to try to take advantage of the turnover issues the Tarheels have displayed to date.

Generally, it's going to be on Kalin Lucas, Durrell Summers, and Chris Allen to take advantage of their experience and scoring abilities against the relatlively-less imposing UNC guards. Marcus Ginyard--the man who forced Evan Turner to turn the ball over 10 times--will have something to say about that, though.

UNC is a "long" team, as the NBA draft experts would say. Five of their top six players are 6'5" or taller. The team is averaing 5.9 blocked shots per game, led by Ed Davis' 2.6 blocks/game. Thankfully, MSU has shown a propensity for avoiding getting its shots blocked this season, ranking 7th in the nation in offensive block%. They'll need to create good looks near the basket, but probably not right at the rim, and knock down whatever open 3-point looks they get agains the UNC guards (opposing 3pt% = 37.3%).

This game feels more must-winnish than nonconference games (even those against top-ten opponents) typically do. Some of that is the revenge factor for last year's two blowout losses--the second on the game's biggest stage. But it's also a function of the ugly loss to Florida. Win this game and that loss becomes a narrow loss to a young, fairly-talented team that will likely be an NCAA Tournament team in three months. Lose this game and we fall clearly outside the top 10, having struggled or lost against all three quality opponents to date, and a #1 or #2 seed for the NCAA Tournament becomes a pretty steep uphill climb.

If this game is to be won, I expect it'll be done so in a high-scoring affair, with both teams taking advantage of the other's defensive weaknesses. Given that MSU's lineup is now pretty close to 100%--with Raymar Morgan (who, as always, is the X-factor offensively) coming off three straight appearnaces of 19+ minutes--it's now or not-until-the-22nd-vs.-Texas to show what this team can do when all the parts are clicking on offense. I don't think the Lucas-plus-Green-plus-one-or-two-other-guys-playing-efficiently offensive attack works in this one. [/excessively-hyphenated sentences]

P.S. Talor Battle and Co. win on the road to give the Big Ten a 1-0 lead. Reverse-jinx Sagarin-odds post working perfectly. [Laughs maniacally.]

Around the ACC: 11.30

MRickman84 — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 13:53:10 -0000

More photos » by Jae C. Hong - AP

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A clean sweep yesterday, huh? Really nice to see FSU pull out a big win and Clemson win a thriller against Butler. Those wins are going to look great for the conference come March. The ACC/Big Ten Challenge starts tonight with Virginia vs. Penn State, so start getting geared up now.

NC State 69, New Orleans 52
State's defense really helped in this game, holding New Orleans to 35% shooting and just 24 points in the second half. The Wolfpack shot 8-16 behind the arc, with CJ Williams and Javi Gonzalez hitting a combined 5-10. Tracy Smith led the way with 20 points and 8 rebounds on 8-12 shooting. The Pack draw Northwestern next in the Challenge.

UNC 80, Nevada 73
Here we go again. The Tar Heels let a team hang around and end up pulling out a victory by under a dozen points. This is going to haunt them if it keeps happening this way. Deon Thompson stepped up again with 23 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists. Larry Drew II had a solid game as well, getting a career-high 10 assists to go with 12 points. Ed Davis had his most effective game this season too, finishing with 16. UNC went through a 5 minute drought that netted only two FTs and eight missed shots.

Clemson 70, Butler 69
Clemson needed this one. The loss to a solid Texas A&M team actually may have been a blessing in disguise, as it probably loosened the Tigers up. This one came down to the wire as Demontez Stitt (19 points, 3 assists) netted both FTs with 3.3 seconds to put the Tigers up one with 3.3 seconds. Butler went the length of the floor and called time out and got one last chance, but Trevor Booker (12 points, 8 rebounds) blocked the shot and gave Clemson the win.

The stats were in Butler's favor, with the Bulldogs outshooting and outrebounding Clemson, but the Tigers hit 5 more FTs and hit 2 more threes, which was just enough. Gordon Hayward led Butler with 20 points and 12 rebounds. The Bulldogs are going to walk away really hoping that they had taken at least one against Minnesota or Clemson, but will have another chance to prove themselves against Georgetown and Ohio State later on.

Florida State 57, Marquette 56
In another exciting finish, Solomon Alabi came through with about 12 seconds left and FSU's defense held, with Marquette turning it over on their last possession. This was the shocker of the weekend. Marquette looked downright great their last two games against Xavier and Michigan.

Florida State, despite their 6-1 record, has looked shaky at times and got blown out of the gym against Florida. It's great to see them put it together though. Alabi is a beast and Chris Singleton (18 points, 10 rebounds) is looking very good so far. Lazar Hayward led the Golden Eagles with 19 points and 10 rebounds. The 'Noles will take on Ohio State next in another chance to prove what they're made of.