Tar Heel Hoops: Don’t Bite the Hand

Two things crossed my mind last night, watching Doc River’s son with the dirty mustache dribbling down the final seconds—clearly lining up for a three point attempt. One was, “How is it humanly possible that they are only down by two?”

And the other was, “What the hell is Tyler Zeller doing out there?”

Photo Credit: Bob Donnan-US PRESSWIRE

I didn’t have time to go through the process of figuring out the answer to these pressing questions, because, well dirty mustache son hit the three-pointer and Dook won.

One thing that soon followed my utter disbelief that UNC actually lost, was pain. It pained me to see us lose in that fashion. We had dominated the entire game in every category except the one that mattered: box score. The Tar Heels were up by 10 with two minutes remaining and, huh, lost?

And there I am, watching my T.V. intently, screaming at Zeller to press harder, do something! He didn’t. I knew he was going to shoot a three. Everybody in the coliseum knew he was going to shoot a three. Everybody that is, but Tyler.

It was, and is still hard for me not to place our loss on Zeller’s shoulders. It would be so easy to do too. He didn’t pressure Rivers, he missed two key free throws in the final minute (including one in the final 13.9 seconds), and he tapped in a basket for Dook accidently. But I won’t and I won’t do it for a number of reasons.

Reason 1: Why is the out there?
Why didn’t Roy call a time out? Why is a seven-footer 25 feet from the basket? Why did one of our guards not switch on that screen?
There are just too many questions and not enough answers in last night’s game. The loss deserves collective blame.

Reason 2: Tyler Zeller had 23 points (second-highest for a Tar Heel) and 11 rebounds
Simple math; A 1-point loss + 23 not scored by Zeller = 24 point blow-out for Dook. And that’s the bare minimum (11 rebounds equal second-chance points for offense and turnovers forced by the defense.)
Simply put, we fared much better with him out there than we would have without.

Reason 3: Our defensive game-plan didn’t adapt
Why did they score 42 freaking points off of three-pointers? Because UNC guards kept going under picks instead of fighting through them. It became painfully, glaringly, horribly, evident that Dook’s strategy was to set a ball screen and launch a three behind it. Nobody on the UNC coaching staff caught on to that? They shot 36 of them.

It’s pretty clear that UNC has a sizable advantage if they play up on three-pointers, pack it back on defense with a bigger front line and force Dook to hit mid-range jumpers.

We’re more athletic on the defensive glass than they are and it gives the opportunity for our faster guards to leak back for a fast-break basket.

Either way you cut the bitter, disgusting, stinking cake—it’s not #44’s fault.
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