Post Game Thoughts: UNC vs Miami

UNC prevails 98-82.

While the Heels won by 16, the game never quite seem wrapped up. At the same time, I never felt like they would lose the game either. This, in a nutshell, describes the past few weeks for the Tar Heels.

While Tyler and Lawson played wonderfully, the rest of the boys seemed to be playing at a different speed. Although the box score shows that Marcus and Deon had decent games, neither seemed to ever get into the flow of the game. I will say, however, that Marcus had his hands full defensively with McClinton all night, and he certainly seemed up to the task.

Danny, Wayne, and Alex all had sub par games in my estimation. Both Danny and Wayne forced a lot of questionable shots and once again, the closeouts on 3-pointers were very hit-or-miss. It's becoming such a cliche statement, but at some point if we don't remedy this problem, we are gonna get exposed in some big games(aka Duke.)

Obviously, the effort tonight was much better than Saturday against Maryland, but I still think we are under achieving, at least considering our immense potential. Hansbrough and Lawson were absolutely beasts tonight, and I loved the energy and attitude both showed tonight. I still do not like how we seem to fall apart the minute Tyler or Ty come out of the game and really wish someone like Marcus or Wayne would step up and be a strong leader during those stretches. I'd also like to see Q get a little more burn, if no other reason then to lighten the load on Ty and give Q the chance to establish some confidence. We all know a game is coming soon when Ty picks up 2-3 quick fouls and Q will be forced into some tough minutes. I'd love him to have faith in himself once that time comes.

I do want to mention the Canes a bit. They impressed me quite a bit. They can really shoot the ball and I thought they seemed extremely well coached. Frank Haith is not a super fiery guy, but I like his demeanor(a heck of a lot more than some ACC coaches.) He has gotten the most out of these kids and they certainly seem like a NCAA Tournament team. McClinton(although Ginyard limited him tonight) and Hurdle seem like legit All-ACC players, and their post guys play very physically, without resorting to brute force like GT did. I applaud this team and really hope they finish in the top half of the ACC and make the NCAA tourney.

Now, I'm just curious what this eight game lay-off is gonna do to us? More on that tomorrow.