THB: The first loss.

The Tar Heels lost to Maryland last night. Except for which team had the most points at the end of the game, the Heels' performance in this game was actually largely indistinguishable from the wins against Clemson and Georgia Tech. All three games were close. In all three games the Heels did not dominate (except in brief runs). What does this say about the soon-to-be-former #1 team?

• Bobby Frasor (out with a season-ending ACL injury) was a much more important part of this team than we appreciated while he was playing. One of the weak points is perimeter defense, too much is being put on defending the boards, and defending the boards has a large element of luck in it. The bounces off the rim and glass are not always going to go our way. On the perimeter, good defense is much more a consistent presence in the game overall. We have holes there.
• It is clear that everyone realizes that they way to take Tyler Hansbrough out of the offense is to cut off his passing lanes. He goes to the same places for the ball consistently, defenses are learning to attend to those lanes. That forces the ball to someone else, or it forces a stupd pass to Hansbrough, a reliable number of which will inevitably become turn-overs.
• The ACC is a very, very strong conference. Being in the middle of the pack in the ACC is equivalent to being a top 25 team. There are no easy ACC games.

THB: Ok, it's on.

This post will start a new category, "THB," which stands for Tar Heel Basketball (to clarfiy, it is Men's Basketball to which I refer). These will not be posts about NCAA Basketball in general. These will not be objective, I am a fan.

Last night the Heels played Clemson, at Clemson. One must appreciate that the Heels have so far cruised through a pretty cupcake schedule. On one hand, all the big programs have, but the Heels have been particularly lucky because the programs on their early schedule which should have challenging, i.e., Kentucky and Ohio State, are both sputtering, or they were when they played the Heels. Until last night, the Heels' most challenging contest thus far was it's first, against Davidson, a small school with a comparatively big basketball program.

Last night, ACC play commenced like an ice-cold shower. Clemson is under-rated at #19. The Heels beat them in overtime largely because of the fabulous clutch performance of 6-4 sophomore shooting guard Wayne Ellington, who not only had 36 points, but who also sank the put-away 3, taking the Heels from a one-point deficit to a two-point lead, with 0.4 seconds on the clock in over-time. It was one of those games that makes watching all the yawners worth the trouble.

What does this say about the team? Why does the number 1 team have so much trouble with number 19?

1. We are really starting to see what losing Bobby Frasor, the 6-3 junior guard who blew out an ACL recently, is going to cost. Bobby was not a big scorer, he was a streaky outside threat, but he was a defensive presence. There's no one on the bench with his defensive skills, we're just going to have to make it up by taking a step up in other places.
2. Our opponents have figured out that taking Tyler Hansbrough out of the game is a matter of cutting off the passing lanes. If Tyler can't get the ball, he can't hurt you. Both Valpo and Clemson did this well, largely neutralizing his offensive threat (except from the line), and while he still pulled a double-double last night, it was an uncharacteristic 12 & 14.
3. Danny Green, the 6-4 Junior who comes off the bench to play both guard and forward, who is one candidate to fill-in for Frasor, is still streaky, he's just been on a long streak of having a hot hand, which ended last night.
4. The lid just sometimes goes on the basket for the Heels. They do have periods where no one can get anything to drop.
5. The Clemson Tigers are a lot better than #19. Oliver Purnell is a first-rate ACC coach.
   

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