University of North Carolina Athletics
Rutgers Game Guide
December 15, 2007 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 15, 2007
By Lauren Brownlow
The Basics
No. 1/1 Carolina (8-0) will end a streak of six consecutive road contests as it travels to Piscataway, New Jersey to face Rutgers (7-3) on Sunday. Carolina is off to its best start since 1999, when the Tar Heels started the season 8-0. The 1997-98 team had the best start in recent years, coming out of the gate 17-0. The Tar Heels have not played since December 4th, when they defeated Penn on the road, 106-71. Rutgers has played three games since that date, including most recently a win on the road at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, 65-55. This season, the Scarlet Knights have also beaten Lafayette, Princeton, Dartmouth, North Carolina Central, North Dakota State and Tennessee Tech. The Scarlet Knights' three losses have been to Florida in Gainesville, to St. Peter's and to Nebraska in Lincoln. The Scarlet Knights are undefeated in the RAC this season.
Carolina leads the all-time series with Rutgers 8-1, including eight in a row. Rutgers' lone win came in 1921. Prior to last year, the two schools had met just twice in the last 22 years. This will mark the first time Carolina has traveled to New Jersey to face Rutgers and only the second time in the series that the two teams have met on one of the teams' home court. Rutgers is 0-9 all-time against No. 1 teams, but nearly beat Connecticut at the RAC in 2004 in its last try, losing 75-74.
Game Time: North Carolina at Rutgers, 8:00 PM.
Last Time: On December 28, 2006 in the Smith Center, Carolina was able to halt a five-game Rutgers winning streak in an 87-48 victory in what was at first a very slow game at the outset. Carolina shot 44.8% in the first half while Rutgers shot just 28.6%. The Tar Heels led just 33-19 at halftime but opened the second half on a 23-9 run to seal the deal, leading 56-28 with just over 12 minutes left in the game. Carolina shot 64.5% in the second half and 55% for the game. Rutgers shot 43.3% to bring its percentage up to 36.2% for the game.
Quentin Thomas and Bobby Frasor were hobbled with injuries and Ty Lawson (nine assists, no turnovers) and Wes Miller (five assists, no turnovers) combined to handle the load very well. As a team, Carolina had 27 assists on 33 field goals. Brandan Wright led all scorers with 19 points on8-of-10 shooting from the field and added seven rebounds and three blocks in just 24 minutes. Wayne Ellington had 17 points on 5-of-7 shooting (5-of-6 from the three-point line). Tyler Hansbrough added 13 points on an uncharacteristic 5-of-13 shooting performance and was the only other Tar Heel in double figures. Adrian Hill led Rutgers with 13 points on 6-of-11 shooting and added a team-high eight rebounds. Jaron Griffin added 10 points.
Radio Coverage: Tar Heel Sports Network coverage begins at 7:00 PM.
Injury Report: Carolina has no injuries to report. Rutgers guard Courtney Nelson has missed the past five games with an injury.
Storylines
Continuing to grow defensively: Penn's 56.7% shooting performance in the first half against the Tar Heels was the third-highest allowed in a half this season and the highest that Carolina had allowed in the past three games in a half, since allowing Old Dominion to shoot 61.5% in the second half in Las Vegas. In 16 half's of basketball this season, Carolina has allowed opponents to shoot over 50% in just four of them, including two half of 50% or better shooting allowed to Old Dominion.
Carolina has held four opponents to under 70 points this season; its last three opponents (all on the road) are averaging 67.7 points per game. But combining the way the Tar Heels like to force tempo with the way opponents like to slow the Tar Heels down, statistics like points allowed don't tell fans a lot about the team's defense. On a Roy Williams-coached team, scoring defense is not nearly as important as statistics like opponent turnovers and field-goal percentage defense. Carolina is doing well in forcing turnovers and ranks third in the ACC in steals (9.75 per game) and in turnover margin (+4.63). The Tar Heels are also third in turnovers forced with 19.6 per game. The problem is that Carolina ranks 11th in field-goal percentage defense (42.1%) and eighth in three-point percentage defense (33.3%).
While it's not a huge concern, this Carolina team has had a tendency to allow (but more importantly, withstand) opposing teams' runs of hot shooting, most notably against Kentucky and against Penn. In the end, Carolina has outscored both teams but that alone is not enough for their coach. "The best teams I've ever been around always really didn't just want to outscore the other team - they wanted to outscore the other team and they wanted to stop the other team. The 2005 team down the stretch really started taking a great deal of pride in the field goal percentage of the other team. In 1997-1998 teams at Kansas, 2002 and 2003 - they really wanted to stop other people. I think that's an important part of it," Williams said.
Carolina's opponents are attempting 35.1% of their shots from the three-point line and making just 33.3% of them. Only two Carolina opponents (South Carolina State and Kentucky) attempted fewer than 20 three-pointers against Carolina. However, since allowing Old Dominion to shoot 55.4% from the field (63.6% from two-point range), Carolina had held its next three opponents to 46.3% or below from two-point range. But Carolina allowed the Quakers to shoot 61.4% from two-point range, largely on backdoor lay-ups. Yes, Carolina is forcing turnovers but the Tar Heels also need to stop giving up easy baskets. For example, taking out Penn's three-point attempts in the first half, the Quakers shot a scorching 15-of-20 (75%) from two-point range. In Carolina's first five games this season though, it allowed opponents to shoot 46.1% from the three-point line and 47.3% from the field. In Carolina's last three games, it has held its road opponents to 39.3% shooting overall and 29% from beyond the arc. "I think we're getting better and better at having pride defensively. I think that's the one thing we have to get better at. We have to do a better job of cutting down the other team's field-goal percentage and still get some turnovers. Right now, we're getting turnovers but we're not holding the team to a poor field-goal percentage," Williams said.
Rutgers is 5-0 when shooting a higher percentage than its opponent and has a 5-1 mark when shooting 40-49% this season. The Scarlet Knights are 4-0 when they pass the 70-point mark this season and are 5-0 when making more three-pointers than their opponents. Rutgers has struggled at times but it is a talented team with players that can shoot the ball, and it is a dangerous team when that is happening.
At The Game
Listening to the Tar Heel Sports Network at the game: The in-stadium frequency in the RAC will be 87.9.
Watching At Home
Turn down the sound: If you're watching at home while listening to the radio or over the computer via Carolina All-Access, there will inevitably be some delay. For the reason - and a possible solution - click here.
A full list of THSN affiliates can be found here.
ESPN coverage: The game will be available on ESPN. Sean McDonough will handle the play-by-play and Bill Raftery will add the color commentary.
Names To Know
Danny Green: Analysts all over the country are raving about Danny Green as perhaps one of the most improved players in the country, and deservedly so. Carolina's best sixth man since Marvin Williams is averaging 14.0 points per game (12th in the ACC) and has scored in double figures seven times in Carolina's eight games. In the last two games, Green is shooting a scorching 17-of-23 from the field (73.9%) and 3-of-5 from beyond the arc (60%), scoring 39 points (19.5 per game). Against Penn, he had 19 points on 9-of-12 shooting (1-of-1 from three-point range) and added five rebounds, two assists, a block and a career-high four steals in just 16 minutes. He leads the team in steals with 13 and is tied for ninth in the ACC in steals per game (1.63).
"It's the chicken or the egg, which comes first (the confidence or good play)? That's honest. Last year, the ball didn't go in the basket as much for him so he wasn't as confident. Now, is it going in because he's more confident or is he more confident, which one do you want to put first?" Williams said. "The things that we discussed in the spring that he had to do, I think that he's done those things. The way that we challenged him as to how important he could be with the team if he would do those things I think he worked on them with more of a purpose as opposed to just going in the gym and playing pick-up games."
After averaging 13.3 minutes per game and scoring just 5.1 points per game last season, Green came into this season wondering about his "role". After publicly questioning what that was last season, Roy Williams dismissed the notion, saying the role of any player is pretty simple - play. But Green played sporadically and his minutes weren't consistent. Whether that was because of his own inconsistent play or because of his minutes is a chicken-or-the-egg argument. But what is not debatable is how much more at ease on both ends of the floor Green has played this season. "It's easier now than it was in the beginning because now I know what's expected of me," Green said. "I'm a lot more comfortable, especially now that I have more minutes than last year. It's easier to work with. Last year, I had a couple of minutes here or there. Now this year, it's more minutes at a time and I can get into a rhythm."
Green seems much more comfortable in the role of providing a spark off the bench. In fact, in the four games this season when Green has played under 20 minutes in the game, he is shooting 22-of-32 from the field (68.8%), 6-of-10 from the three-point line and averaging 15.0 points in just 15.5 minutes, adding 4.0 rebounds, 1.0 assists, 2.0 steals and 1.3 blocks per game. But in the four games that Green has passed the 20-minute mark, he is shooting 18-of-41 from the field (43.9%), 6-of-20 from the three-point line (30%) and is averaging 13.0 points in 25.0 minutes.
Green's shot selection has also vastly improved. As almost exclusively a wing/forward, Green attempted 51.3% of his shots last season from the three-point line and 37.3% of his points were generated from beyond the arc. Even as a freshman, 35.1% of his points came from the three-point line. But this season, Green has expanded his game quite a bit and just 41.1% of his attempted field goals (and a career-low 30% of his made field goals) come from beyond the arc, as well as just 30% of his points. In fact, Green's 9-of-12 shooting against Penn marked the first time in his career that he took double-digit field-goal attempts without more than one three-point attempt. That just goes back to Green's newfound ability to drive to the basket and hit higher-percentage (smarter) shots, and he appears much more comfortable on the court trying to do that. Last season, he had only three games when he did not attempt a three-point shot; the most field-goal attempts he had in one of those games was three. "I think last year, I would try to force the issue a little bit," Green said. "This year, I've started pulling up more, not forcing it as much, and just pick and choose my moments when I think the lane is open or a shot is open."
Even though the Tar Heels have played a few games at Madison Square Garden, the trip to Piscataway will mark a homecoming of sorts for Green. Like the rest of the Tar Heels, Green rarely gets to see his family, much less play a game in front of them. Wayne Ellington admitted that he was tight in front of his hometown crowd and took some "out-of-the-ordinary" shots for him. Tyler Hansbrough had 15 points in his return to Missouri last year, and he knows what it's like to want to impress your family and friends. "I remember when we went to St. Louis, it was one of those things where everybody from my hometown was there and I was like, `Man, what if I mess up?' It puts a lot of pressure on you," Hansbrough said. "When I went home, I know I just wanted to play the best I've ever played. It kind of lingers on you the whole week when you're thinking about playing, but it is tough."
Deon Thompson: Against Penn, Thompson had arguably his best game of the season, notching 12 points on 6-of-10 shooting and added ten rebounds (five offensive) for his first career double-double. With the increased glare of the starter's spotlight on him, Thompson has struggled at times this season. Fellow sophomore and frontcourt reserve Alex Stepheson is averaging 5.8 rebounds a game, second on the team and 20th in the ACC. Stepheson has pulled down 46 rebounds in 123 minutes this season as opposed to 37 rebounds in 168 minutes for Thompson. The good news is that his 0.22 rebounds per minute rank behind only Tyler Hansbrough and Stepheson, barely nudging out stat-stuffer Danny Green (0.216 per minute) and Marcus Ginyard (0.18). "I think he needs to improve on everything, as almost all of our players do. But he needs to focus on the rebounding aspect of it. He's had two games where he's had zero rebounds, and you can't have one of your post players doing that," Williams said.
But Thompson is getting better quickly, as Carolina will need him to do. After pulling down no rebounds against BYU, marking his second zero-rebound game in Carolina's first five games, he has since pulled down 23 rebounds (7.7 per game) in Carolina's last three contests, including nine offensive rebounds (3.0). In Carolina's first five games, Thompson had just 14 total rebounds (2.8 per game) and five offensive rebounds (1.0).
One area that is still a concern for Thompson is free-throw shooting. On the season, he has made just 2-of-10 and is 0-of-4 in Carolina's last three games. He also has yet to have a turnover-free game this season. But Thompson's improvement in terms of rebounding is encouraging and also, he has shot 15-of-28 from the field (53.6%) and scored 30 points (10.0 points per game) in Carolina's last three games. He began the season shooting 18-of-34 (52.9%) and scoring 38 points (7.6) in Carolina's first five games. In Carolina's first five games, Thompson had three or more fouls in four of those games, including four fouls in three games. In Carolina's last three games, he has just four fouls total and has not had more than two fouls in a game in that span.
Thompson is still a little raw from a basketball perspective, having not played the game on the same level or for as long as some of his teammates. But one aspect of Thompson's game that has not varied is his effort. "Am I satisfied with him? No. Am I pleased with him? No. Am I happy with him? Yes, because he's trying. I truly believe that he's going to get better and better and better as the season rolls along," Williams said. "His work habits are so much better than they've been in the past. He's never been a bad worker. His enthusiasm varies. He's got to be consistent with that part of it because I think then that everything comes so much easier for him. But I'm ecstatic for having him."
JR Inman: The 6-9 junior forward led Rutgers in scoring and rebounding last season, and he has picked up where he left off this year. His scoring is up from 12.0 points per game a year ago to 16.8 points per game this season, and his rebounding has gone from 7.3 per game last year to 9.1 per game this season so far. He leads the team in both categories in addition to leading the team in field-goal percentage (46.8%), three-point percentage (38.2%), made three-pointers (13) and both made and attempted free throws (39-of-56). At 35.5 minutes per game, Inman is the only Scarlet Knight to average more than 30 minutes per game.
The Scarlet Knights go as Inman goes - in their seven losses, he is averaging 18.3 points per game on 49.4% shooting (39.1% from beyond the arc) and 74.5% shooting from the foul line, adding 9.6 rebounds (4.0 offensive boards) and 1.0 blocks per game. In their three losses, he is averaging 13.3 points on 41% shooting (36.4% from the three-point line) and 44.4% from the foul line, adding 8.0 rebounds (2.0 offensive) and no blocked shots. He is averaging 6.7 free-throw attempts in Rutgers' wins versus just 3.0 attempts in losses. Inman has failed to reach double-figure scoring just once this season, scoring nine points in a win over Dartmouth. Against NJIT, he had 14 points on 4-of-16 shooting but added a season-high 13 rebounds (five offensive). In fact, of the four games this season that he has been held under 15 points, he has had at least ten rebounds in three of those games. He has failed to shoot at least 50% from the field in just two Rutgers wins and he has failed to shoot at least 40% in only one game this season, the NJIT game.
Corey Chandler: The 6-2 freshman guard has started in all but one game this season and is the only other player besides Inman to average in double figures (13.2 points per game). He leads the team in steals with 21 and is tied for second in assists with 18. He also ranks second on the team in three-pointers made (11) and three-point percentage (30.6%). Chandler has failed to make a three-pointer this season in four out of ten games, going a combined 0-for-13 in those games. But in games that he has made at least one three-pointer - including five of Rutgers' seven wins - Chandler has shot 47.8% (11-of-23) from behind the arc.
In the Scarlet Knights' seven wins this season, Chandler has shot 37.5% from beyond the arc and 71.4% from the foul line. But in Rutgers' three losses, Chandler is shooting 16.7% from beyond the arc and 55.6% from the foul line. Chandler struggled at the line in Rutgers' first seven games, making just 8-of-18 tries (44.4%) and averaging 2.6 attempts a game. But in Rutgers' last three games, Chandler has made 17-of-19 tries, averaging 6.3 attempts per game and shooting 89.5% from the free-throw line. In two of Rutgers' last three games, Corey Chandler has set a new career high, scoring 19 points against Lafayette and then 25 points against Nebraska on the road. Though he struggled shooting from the field against NJIT (3-10, 0-3 from the three-point line), he managed to get to the line nine times and converted all nine tries for 15 points, marking the third straight game he has scored in double figures.
Quotables
"When I say, `Five-twelve-skip-the-one-T,' he (Greg Little) thinks we're running a frickin' double reverse. ... We have 16 variations of secondary break. He has zero. Yesterday, it was so funny - all the guys on the blue team and everybody was trying to help him. He was so confused - he could have put on a helmet and not known which way to look out." -On the progress of Greg Little, who joined the team this week
"He (Danny Green) is playing well - except when he tried thinking he was Kenny Stabler and throwing that stupid long pass left-handed to the other end of the court, it looked like a dying duck coming down." -Roy Williams on a baseball pass that Danny Green had intercepted during the Penn game
"Going into other people's buildings and beating them in their home stadium, their home crowd and everybody is there. It's fun to hear the things that fans say to you or about you and then shutting them up after you beat them." -Danny Green
"In the past, I haven't used it as much. We don't work on it that much in practice, floaters. But if it's open, I'm going to take it and if it goes in, there's not much he can say." -Danny Green with a little bit of a wink on what Roy Williams termed his "unorthodox" runners in the lane
Lauren Brownlow is the managing editor of Tar Heel Monthly.
