Never Has Crow Tasted So Sweet

I know I did the unthinkable disparaging my beloved Tarheels, but actually after reviewing what I wrote after the Sweet 16 I still agree with my synopsis. Here is what changed:



Reason 1: Hansbrough & the Softies never had to encounter any strong front lines. True, they had to play Oklahoma and watch Hansbrough get tossed around like Paulus at an NBA tryout, but OU had nobody else that could start in the ACC on its front line to complement the Naismith Player of the Year. Much like Hansbrough, Griffin's brother is a stiff and I honestly couldn't tell you else starts for their front line. Deion Thompson was wretched until the Championship game and just in time, Ed Davis grew up to become a factor and give Carolina fans a reason to look forward to next season. He has a chance to be something special.



In addition, how lucky was Carolina to get the draw that they did & then get the good fortune of Memphis getting blown out by Mizzou and an overachieving Michigan State team take down the other two #1 seeds?



Reason 2: Danny Green bottled the confidence from the shot versus LSU and morphed back into the all-around player that saved the Tarheels season back in the early ACC Conference. He didn't shoot it quite as well, but he became a threat again from the outside and started doing the little things - coming off the weak side to block shots, saving balls going out of bounds by re-establishing himself in the court, etc. - the little things that offset some of his absolute stupid fouls that get him in senseless foul trouble. Fortunately, we're 8-9 men deep so we can hide the young man's intelligence & decision-making which sometimes resembles his old man who resides in the pokey.



Reason 3: The Toe either sucked it up & played in pain like nobody's business or it really wasnt' that big a deal. After watching what he did the last two weeks, the "injury" was fairly minor in the grand scheme of things which segues to something I thought I would never say....



Reason 4: Roy evolved into a coach this post-season. Now granted he didn't have to draw up any late game-saving plays thanks to double-digit leads throughout the entire tournament, but here is what he DID do.



First, against Oklahoma he doubled down on the post for the first time I can remember in my 20+ years watching Carolina basketball. Griffin was a beast, but he couldn't beat us alone. Capel (now who did he play for?) just flat out got outclassed & outcoached.



Second, one of Roy's assistants must have informed him that he has timeouts that you can actually use before the 38 minute mark. When 'Nova started gathering momentum & whittled a 15-pt lead to 9 with just over 2 minutes to go in the first half, Roy stopped it cold. He called a brilliant play out of the timeout to get Hansbrough a layup to stop the run. Granted 'Nova got the 2 back before the end of the half, but he stopped the momentum which is what good coaches do.



Third, the decision to sit Lawson in the ACC Tourney. It was bold, a bit arrogant, but in his own words "Doggone it" - I applaud him for trying to win the whole damn thing. Not many people are thinking about the lost ACC Tournament Championship today are they K-Rat & the Dorks?



Fourth, don't tell me this team didn't sandbag it on D after the first 15 games, then turn it back on starting in the 2nd half versus LSU. This team knew they had the most talent and they kept the foot



Last, Roy finally figured it out...the best players on this team were not his front line players and the offense should not run through Tyler Hansbrough. Ty Lawson was the straw that stirred this drink and guards rule college basketball...don't believe me? All 4 starting point guards in the Final 4 show just how guards are in the college game. Instead of pounding the ball to the low post, the offense started to flow at the top with the guards with Green, Ellington & Lawson. Green didn't have to be spectacular because Wayne Ellington & Lawson were next to unstoppable. With a pair of big men in Hansbrough & Thompson that can shoot effectively from 8-12 feet, the low post game wasn't necessary and they could do what they're best at - crash the boards. No more Hansbull in the China Shop...and man am I glad because watching him try to get his shot off in the post is like watching Dexter Manley trying to read War & Peace.

So kudos to Roy and the boys on a great season and shaking off some tags that have hounded the program for a long, long time...why not more titles with all that talent, too soft, don't play defense, etc. Now comes the tough part though because now your spoiled-rotten fanbase expects it. Good luck.