McAdoo to Stay in School

The Raleigh News & Observer is reporting that UNC commit James McAdoo will stay in school for his senior season instead of joining UNC a year early.  Read the story here.

I'm happy McAdoo made this decision.  A senior year in high school is something most kids will never forget and he should take the opportunity to enjoy his.  There will be plenty of basketball to play but there will never be another senior year (maybe not even in college).

I'm sure the sting of last year's disappointing season and the transfer of the Wear twins put some unnecessary pressure on him to come in and help out early.  It's good to see reason win out over that.

Carolina-Duke, Part Infinity & One...

Well, here we go again.  Time for the oldest and greatest rivalry in college sports. Carolina-Duke!

Being a Tarheel fan, and having been on the better side of this rivalry seven out of the last nine games, it usually feels good to say that it never matters what the records are or who the players are - this game is ALWAYS great.

I remember one year in the nineties - during one of Duke's worst seasons in the last three decades - it took three overtimes for UNC to overcome an overmatched effort from the Blue Devils that included a 50-foot buzzer beater by Jeff Capel to survive.  I also remember during Carolina's horrendous 8-20 season in 2002, they barely lost to Duke in another couple of thrillers.

But this year, it's harder to imagine.  Yes, I realize that just a couple weeks ago I spouted my undying belief that this group would get it figured out and march into March and yet another appearance in at least the Sweet 16.  But I'm just not so sure anymore.

What looked like the start of a comeback with the win against NC State has turned into yet another losing streak of bewildering performances.  What bothers me the most is that nobody - and I mean, nobody - seems to know what's going on.  I am concerned about hearing statements like, "I don't know what it is", and, "we have to play as a team," and, "We need to come together with more effort," etc.

These are simply not statements that Tarheel Nation is used to hearing.  To me, when you put on that uniform, the effort and focus should be a part of that.  End of story.  How do you 'coach' that?  Unfortunately for Roy Williams, you can't.  And that's what scares me about tonight.

But who knows??  Stranger things have happened and most often, they happen in this game.....

Carolina Tar Heels Try To Stop The Bleeding

Shades of the Doherty years.  Lack of fire and execution.  Poor upperclassmen leadership.  Porous defense.    Lack of shooting.  I've heard them all.  They're all true to one extent or another.  That's all well and good, but where does it end?  It ends with Roy Williams.

I recently read Roy's autobiography "Hard Work" and was struck by just that - how hard he works and how intense his commitment is to excellence.  I don't believe since his first year at Kansas has he had such a challenging situation as this year's Heels.  Saddled with no true leader, a bushel of underclassmen, untimely injuries to key contributors, and the heavy weight of expectations from Tar Heel Nation, this group has significantly underachieved to this point in the season.  But if there's one thing I am sure of, it's that Roy Williams will not stop trying to find the answer.

I truly believe that when they lost an 11-point lead at College of Charleston in the last four minutes, something snapped in the psyches of these kids.  All of the sudden, they weren't bulletproof anymore.  But what they don't realize is that swagger doesn't just happen.  The NC on your chest doesn't afford you anything between the lines.  In fact, if anything, it means you get everybody's best shot.  There are probably two kids playing for Charleston that could be on North Carolina's roster but that didn't stop them from looking Carolina in the eye and saying, "Not tonight!"  This team must learn that this is what they can expect every night, especially now that their opponents smell blood in the water.

It's true - there's nothing quite like beating Carolina, no matter what the situation or who is on the floor.  That joy is even greater at home.  So tonight, they walk straight into another lions' den against NC State at the RBC Center in Raleigh.  You can rest assured the place will be jumping and as soon as State pops a couple three pointers, the frenzy is on.

UNC has had six days to lick wounds, massage egos, man up, have team meetings, or whatever it takes to get the ship righted.  But you can bet Ol' Roy hasn't slept much in the last six days thinking about it.  And it won't get righted until this group of players buys into what he wants, trusts each other on the court and find what it was that allowed them to wear that storied uniform in the first place.

If not, it may be a boring March on Tobacco Road...