Quote of the Day
"It means that we lost a game." -Kendall Marshal in response to a reporter's question about what going 3-1 over the last four games means to the team. The kid is a leader, folks.
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A surefire recipe for disaster goes something like this:
Lose a point guard that started 37 games in the 2009-10 season, and 17 games this season. Replace that point guard with a freshman that has started exactly four games in his career. As his back up, use a player that is a natural shooting guard and has had difficulty not turning the ball over. Add to that, host a team that is only allowing opponents to shoot 36% from the field, and score 62 point per game.
Sounds awful, right? 99% of the time, you'd be correct. But, in this case, the loss of Larry Drew II only meant more minutes for Kendall Marshall at the helm of the Tar Heel ship. Marshall played a season-high 36 minutes, scoring nine points, dishing out 16 assists, and turning the ball over only three times. That assist mark breaks the Carolina ACC record set by Carolina greats Phil Ford and Ed Cota. Meanwhile, Dexter Strickland played arguably his best game of the season as the starting 2-guard and back up point guard. Strickland scored 15 points and had four assists to only three turnovers. Dex also shot 6-10 from the field, and hit on 2-4 from behind the arc. As Tim Brando said, "addition by subtraction", and it was fully on display yesterday.
Top Performers:
Kendall Marshall - 9 points, 16 assists, 3 turnovers
Dexter Strickland - 15 points, 4 assists, 3 turnovers
Harrison Barnes - 17 points, 10 rebounds, 0 turnovers
John Henson - 16 points, 10 rebounds
Tyler Zeller - 16 points, 4 rebounds
During my preview I noted four keys to the game. Let's see how those played out.
1. The rebound battle must be won. Carolina outrebounded Florida State 37-31. Carolina came into the game leading the nation in rebounds per game, while Florida State was 9th. John Henson and Harrison Barnes both had 10 boards each.
2. Roy Williams needs to use timeouts efficiently. Kendall Marshall had not played more then 24 minutes in any game so far this season. I figured with the added weight of playing at least 30 minutes, Roy would need to use his five timeouts effectively to give Kendall some added rest. But, what do I know? Roy used one timeout with 42 seconds remaining to get Blue Steel into the game, and Kendall logged 36 minutes on the day.
3. Carolina needed to hold Florida State to under 40% shooting. In Florida State's six ACC wins coming into Sunday's game, and in five of those wins, the 'Noles shot over 40%. In both ACC losses, they shot 33% and 36%. But, I underestimated how quick Carolina would play with Marshall running the show. Florida State shot 47% from the field and lost by 20. After all, Carolina is coached by Roy Williams.
4. John Henson needed to stay out of foul trouble. I thought that Henson would likely guard Chris Singleton, one of the ACC's top players. And though he did match up against Singleton some, that job mainly went to Harrison Barnes. Singleton scored 15 points, but early foul trouble relegated him to the bench for the majority of the first half.
Game ball goes to: Kendall Marshall. The kid is as cool as you like on the floor. He sets a Carolina assist record in a game that nobody would have faulted him if he played poorly. It's also no surprise that Harrison Barnes' stats have improved over the past five games. Marshall makes everyone better, and the team looks more comfortable with him in charge.
Next up: Carolina at Duke.......2/9/11 @ 9pm.
I have to say, watching Carolina last night was like watching a completely different team, as an offensive explosion that hasn't been seen by Heels fans since 2009, erupted. Carolina put 106 points on BC, winning their 6th ACC game, 106-74. The 2009 edition scored 100+ points three separate times in conference games, against Maryland (108), Duke (101), and Georgia Teach (104). The offensive efficiency displayed last night gave glimpses into the reasons why Carolina was rated a top-10 team coming into the season. Everything was clicking last night, and though BC hit 13 threes, they were completely overmatched. Carolina had four players scoring in double figures, shot 57 % from the field (52% from 3), and had 27 assists to only 9 turnovers.
Carolina's big contributors last night were:
Harrison Barnes - 26 points (season high, 9-15 FG, 4-7 3PG)
Reggie Bullock - 16 points (6-9 FG, 4-7 3PG)
Tyler Zeller - 18 points, 6 rebs (6-7 FG, 6-6 FT)
John Henson - 13 points, 7 rebs, 2 blks (6-10 FG)
Kendall Marshall - 7 points, 6 assists, 2 TO's
Larry Drew - 9 assists, 1 TO
During my BC preview, I had four keys to the game, and Carolina took care of all four.
1. The transition games gets going. Carolina outscored BC 24-2 on fast break points, and scored 33 points off BC's 16 turnovers.
2. Carolina must hold Reggie Jackson to under 20 points. Jackson scored only six, a season low.
3. Harrison Barnes must continue the great play he displayed against NC State. The stats speak for themselves. 26 points, shooting 60% from the field. Welcome, young man.
4. Carolina must neutralize the BC homecourt advantage. Did they ever. Carolina handed BC their first home conference loss, and did it in style, winning by 32.
I was fully off on my UNC 71- 67 BC prediction, except for the result. BC played at much higher rate than I thought they would, and it shows that if a team is willing to run with the Heels, they might be in a bit of trouble.
Next up for Carolina, Florida State at home. This will be big time game, especially if Maryland can beat Duke in College Park tonight. Either way, Carolina is now showing how good they can be when it all comes together.
My how different a team can look just 48 hours after getting absolutely destroyed. But, nobody can deny the voodoo hex that Chapel Hill seems to have over Clemson. Clemson has made the trip to Chapel Hill 55 times, and they have left the Tin Can, Wollen Gym, Carmichael Arena, and the Smith Center with a loss. If you watched the game tonight, you noticed Tim Brant mentioned the streak about 6,000 times, mainly because he has nothing else to talk about. But, that's neither here, nor there.
The big story lines tonight centered around Roy Williams' use of his team. Thus far, we've seen an anemic starting five, a second team that consistently has to save the day, and hockey line changes every four to five minutes. But, with Leslie McDonald out with a collapsed lung, the bench was narrowed to nine players minus walkons, and was further shortened when Justin Watts left the game in the first half with a sprained ankle. Both players will be fine, and will probably get minutes in a week, when Carolina takes the floor again. That absence of Watts and McDonald left Roy with an eight man rotation, something that he used to great effect in the 2005 and 2009 seasons, and look what happened there. I think the shortened bench was the biggest key to Carolina's turnaround.
The second shake up was Kendall Marshall's first start of the season. People have been clamoring for the switch, myself included, since Carolina hit the skids in Puerto Rico. Kendall played well, scoring 5 points, dishing out 5 assists, and turning the ball over 3 times. But even though Marshall got the start, Larry Drew finished with more minutes, 23 to Marshall's 22. Drew had rebounded very well, scoring 8 points. Williams even used Drew and Marshall together, which I actually became a fan of. It makes sense, especially late in games since both are good ballhandlers.
Overall, I thought it was a great bounce back game for Carolina. I figured Zeller and Henson would struggle with Jerai Grant and Devin Booker, but you can't teach length, and those guys have it. Henson had five blocks, and Zeller three, and held Booker and Grant to a combined 13 points. Big win, and the boys get a little rest before taking on Miami on January 26th.
