University of North Carolina Athletics
Tar Heel Rundown: January 9
January 9, 2014 | General
Basketball
Well, that was frustrating...Another game story that hits on some of the high/low lights...The Miami bench was key...The postgame Roy Williams press conference was an emotional scene. Adam Lucas tries to explain exactly why...
The next opponent is Syracuse, and here's a handy (and only partly tongue in cheek) guide to the Orange. Had no idea there was such a raging debate on the pronounciation of "Syracuse"...If you love in-depth stats, this is a very truthful read about how official scorekeepers impact some of those stats. Coming from someone who has listened in as some of those scorekeepers try to keep track of everything that happens in a game, it's a very, very challenging job because of the pace involved (especially at a place like Carolina)...Interesting poll on the top arenas in college basketball, with some intriguing picks on some of the individual ballots...
Lastly, the game didn't have the outcome anyone wanted, but this J.P. Tokoto dunk might have been his best of the season:
Tar Heels in the NBA
Danny Green had seven points and nine rebounds as the Spurs blew out the Mavericks...The Tar Heel trio for Dallas had 14 (Carter), 9 (Wright) and 5 (Ellington)...Harrison Barnes had six points as Golden State's ten-game winning streak was snapped...The first bad shooting night for Kendall Marshall as the starting Lakers point guard, as he had five points and eight assists...Still, Jeremy Lin had some praise for Marshall, calling him "a phenomenal passer."
Football
The 2014 offensive line will have some new faces. Here's a good breakdown of one of next year's key position groups...Meet the five early enrollees who began class yesterday, both in words and in the following video, which is impressive:
Olympic sports
Like it or not, Andrew Calder is in the spotlight...Missed this last month: Andrew Carignan has signed a minor league deal with the Giants and sounds excited about the possibilities. He's one of the toughest players in the Mike Fox era...Pretty sweet: the 2014 Carolina baseball batting gloves:
Our new @nikebaseball batting gloves for 2014. Wish @ChazFrank2 could have worn these. pic.twitter.com/8dpRRroVyH
— Scott Jackson (@jaxonsc) January 8, 2014
Today's games
Women's basketball has a top-20 showdown with NC State at 6 p.m. on ESPN3.
Today in Tar Heel history
Jan. 9, 1985: Maryland led 72-69 at Carmichael with 36 seconds left (and no three-point line). Kenny Smith's jumper with 18 seconds left cut the deficit to one, and then Adrian Branch missed the front end of a one-and-one free throw. That enabled Dave Popson to hit a jumper that gave Carolina the lead, and Curtis Hunter swished a couple late free throws to seal the win. Games like this one go a long way towards explaining why Lefty Driesell always seemed so exasperated with the Tar Heels, and why Branch seems bitter even today.
Long read
OK, he went to NC State (sort of), but this is an impressive story about Russell Wilson, his relationship with his father, and the wisdom passed down from one generation to the next.
