2009-2010 UNC Basketball Review

This was the most depressing season for any team that I can think of in my entire life as a sports fan. I personally witnessed it break many-a-fan (which was interesting, seeing how long it took each one to break down ha), and I couldn't help but get caught in the depression myself - though to a very low degree. In no way was I expecting another national championship, but I still foolishly predicted another ACC title. I say it was foolish, because heading in I KNEW that the Tar Heels had no guard-play, no perimeter scoring, and no post scoring. For some reason I thought their size would be enough. I was very wrong.

Seniors
FAIL. Deon Thompson was a good understudy to Tyler Hansbrough, but he was a nightmare this year. The fact that he won the team's MVP award is really... sad. I really thought he could be a reliable post scorer and rebounder. Instead I saw 6.7 rebounds/game and the same dreadful turnaround jumper every time he touched the ball. Shame on me for expecting anything, I guess.

Marcus Ginyard is a joke of a player. Interesting how a guy like that is recruited to be the lockdown defender on a championship team (ala Byron Mouton on the '01-'02 Maryland team) but his injury allows for the emergence of Danny Green, who played an integral part in the championship run (he could play some ball too). He had an embarrassing year.

NBA Draft Early Entrants
Only one: Joe Forte. (Oops, did I just say that? I mean Ed Davis.) I don't get the move, and I can only assume it's financially charged. In no way is he ready for the NBA; not physically, not skill-wise... he WAS by FAR the best player on the team, has a high motor, is a good shot blocker and rebounder and has a deceptively respectable post game. But not enough to be a factor in the NBA. Rooting for him, though. And if he had stayed UNC's roster would look a lot better next year.

Returning - Bigs
Three white guys and a massive stick-figure: Tyler Zeller, David and Travis Wear, and John Henson. I don't like Zeller at all - as some people can attest to ha - but he's a serviceable player. Decent post scorer, too big (7' 240) not to have an impact on the defensive end, even if he is a dismal rebounder. The Wear twins are pretty skilled - they'll make for a good high-post/low-post duo - but didn't play much, and I can't tell the difference between them yet. Henson is a stud, but would get out-muscled by half of the women's team. He can finish with both hands, rebound from time to time, and blocks shots like a phenom. Still don't know what his position is, though.

Returning - Wings
Will Graves. That's it, really. He played with a lot of heart, but he's just not that good. Made some big shots, but not much else. He won't start next year.

Returning - Guards
There aren't many. Three to be exact: Larry Drew, Dexter Strickland and Leslie McDonald. McDonald's playing time was very sporadic, something I didn't agree with, but I'm not coaching that team. I think he could be pretty good. Dexter Strickland is FAST, aggressive... he'll be a lot better when he learns how to finish. Time will tell if he's ever worthy of a starting spot. And definitely not a point guard.

Of course, speaking of point guards, we come to Larry Drew. I had high hopes for this kid, and while I'm not as down on him as most of Chapel Hill is, he still let me down. I was pretty confident that he'd be a legit starting point guard, and he proved himself to be a very good backup. Simply put, he just didn't show that he has 'it' all year. I'm not gonna say he'll never find 'it', but I wouldn't bank on it either.

Looking Ahead
The biggest deficiency this team had was that they didn't play with the swagger EVERY Tar Heel team should play with. I don't care if they lost Lawson, Hansbrough, Ellington, Green... you play home games at the DEAN DOME. This team didn't play like the expected to win, didn't even expect to compete.

The incoming freshmen should change that. Harrison Barnes is a BEAST; at first I called him a Carmelo Anthony/Danny Granger hybrid, but he's a better playmaker than that, there's really no comparison. Reggie Bullock has been described as a bigger, more athletic Wayne Ellington...not bad. Kendall Marshall will hopefully take the starting PG role quickly. Jason Kidd's name has been mentioned with Marshall's - far too many Kidd comparisons in the last few years - but I've actually seen a couple games of his and he's legit.

The main thing they all have is an undeniable presence, especially Barnes. It's not a loud confidence, but it's there all the same. Without Davis this probably isn't a title contending roster, but they'll be much improved. I can't stress enough how excited I am to see how Barnes produces early on and how he progresses throughout the year. Should be very exciting.

Weekly Recap - January 18

I'm gonna try to do this every Monday. I know I'll forget a lot, but you're more than welcome to leave comments...

Gilbert Arenas

BIG week for him. Having been charged with - and pleaded to - a felony, the door is now officially open for the Bullets to void his contract. I have very mixed feelings on this of course. On the one hand, it would clear up a ton of cap space, and that combined with the likely jettisoning of Antawn Jamison and/or Caron Butler would put the team in a good spot to be major players this offseason. This seems to be the must reasonable course of action.

*Make two trades: 1. Butler and Brendan Haywood for Jermaine O'Neal and Miami's two first round picks; and 2. Jamison for Zydrunas Ilgauskas, ideally with JJ Hickson thrown in as well (You can see the whole trade here). This would clear up over $20 million in cap space to go after the greatest free agent class in history AND give the Bullets three first rounders, including their likely top 5, Miami's likely mid-20 and Toronto's likely late-teen early-20 (Toronto's pick is lottery protected). Meaning opportunities to take three good young players (so long as they draft well...), one of whom could theoretically be John Wall, with Greg Monroe as a great consolation. Or maybe even ammo to trade for Wall.

But I digress, and admittedly with a LOT of hypothetical events. There IS another side to this. If the Bullets void Arenas' contract, they'd be committing an unheard-of (at least to me) act. (EDIT: Latrell Sprewell had his contract voided after choking his coach.) And if you're looking for employment, are you gonna go to the ONLY company in your chosen field's history to void an employee's contract? Not to mention a little thing called loyalty, but that seems to be a foreign concept in the business world. Even if you keep Arenas and do the above trades you still have money to throw at FAs, AND the three picks. That would give the Bullets the chance to get what they paid for; build around Gilbert Arenas the scorer and not the point guard.

Let's get real. We're not signing LeBron. We're not signing Wade. We're not signing Bosh. Is it really worth it to go after any of the other guys when in all likelihood the end result wouldn't include the acquisition of a player who's even the same caliber player as Arenas? Not if I'm in charge. I DID say that it's time for the team and Arenas to part ways, but upon further review, it just doesn't make sense. Make those two trades though...

(P.S. Jamison and Butler are my dudes, but this team DOES need to be blown up. How many teams have ever had the opportunity to do that AND keep their franchise player?)

(P.P.S. Is that not the most depressing image of Gil you've ever seen?)

NFL Playoffs Observations

-The NFL HATES the Ravens. Probably will until Ray Lewis dies.

-The NFL LOVES the Saints. Probably will until Haiti gets a franchise (Though it would've been nice if the Cards left Arizona).

-Vikings-Saints is gonna be interesting (note how the NFL got exactly what it wanted. These were the top two seeds in the conference, I know. Just making an observation). New Orleans vs Brett Favre. I got Favre.

-Everyone took the Jets too lightly. I'll include myself in that list, even though my gut DID tell me to go with the Jets. I need to trust my gut more...but enough about me. That defense is a BEAST, and Darrelle Revis is too good. I can't imagine how good they'd be with Kris Jenkins. By the way, Jerricho Cotchery is one of the most under-appreciated talents in the league. Jets-Colts will be a good one.

-FOR THE LOVE OF GOD GET RID OF KICKERS. Not to take anything away from the Jets - they won the game fair and square - but games between grown men with athletic ability shouldn't be decided by puny nobodies. Especially ones who look like they have a birth defect.

UNC Basketball

Summarizing that last point is UNC. They are the softest, most unprepared team I've seen in a while (relative to the talent on their roster). Roy Williams seems as if he's at a loss for what to do with these players. Their "senior leadership" is a joke (Deon Thompson and Marcus Ginyard define soft. Sorry, but that's the only conclusion I can come to from what I've seen. Will Graves...uhhh...). They have three guards on the roster, Larry Drew, Dexter Strickland and Leslie McDonald. Strickland and McDonald don't play nearly as much as they should, while some argue Drew plays too much (I'll get into that in a little bit). Ed Davis is their best player in my opinion, but far from anything reliable with the ball in his hands.

A lot of people are calling for Larry Drew's head right now. And I promise you that 99% of those people range from being basketball ignorant to unsure of how to root for a team that goes from national champions to this. I feel like Roy's plan is that his season lasts two years, this one being the first half (while the second half - next year - will culminate in a championship). Regardless of whether you buy into that nor not, it makes sense for Drew to be playing significant minutes now since he's their point guard for the foreseeable future (Strickland isn't a PG). And while he's playing like someone who hasn't been in charge of a team before this year (...) he's NOT playing poorly, all things considered. He's aggressive, and he's displayed obvious talent. Is he Ty Lawson? Obviously not. But there's no reason to hold Drew to those standards either. Allow him to develop, and become LARRY DREW. Trust, he's gonna be very good.

But Dexter Strickland and Leslie McDonald DO need to play more. Especially Strickland. But I'm not coaching the team...

College Basketball

-Damion James is the player of the year as of right now. No question about it in my mind. John Wall MUST cut down on the turnovers. I got Greg Monroe up there too.

-Much in the same matter that UNC is, college basketball is DOWN this year. Might as well admit it. Next year will be great.

RIP Gaines Adams