Tar Heels, Blue Devils ready for another terrific battle
March 7th, 2008, 12:49 pm · Post a Comment · posted by Alex Kreitman
What could be the biggest game of the college basketball season takes place Saturday night.
Who will win the Tobacco Road showdown between North Carolina and Duke?
I’m picking the Tar Heels and here’s why. The last time around North Carolina was without point guard Ty Lawson and even though Lawson isn’t 100 percent, the Heels are in much better shape with him on the court.
When Duke beat the Tar Heels in Chapel Hill, North Carolina was struggling to find offensive rhythm. It was pretty much the first game the Heels had to play with Quentin Thomas at point guard. Thomas looked sloppy at times and although he had some nice drives to the lane for baskets, he got away from what North Carolina does best and that’s give it to Psycho T, Tyler Hansbrough.
Look for North Carolina to learn from its mistakes and feed the ball into the paint to exploit the mismatch. The Blue Devils have no one to cover Hansbrough and he went off last time around. I wouldn’t be surprised if Hansbrough scored 40 points Saturday night because he’s just that good.
Also, the tragedy that hit the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill this week will only inspire the players. The student body president was killed and the entire campus has been mourning the last few days. It’s an unfortunate event, but I think the Tar Heels will give the students something to cheer about.
For Duke to win, it will need to get hot from 3-point range, something it was able to do in Chapel Hill. Greg Paulus needs to find his shooting touch and make those lucky 3’s that always tick me off if Duke wants to have a chance.
Kyle Singler also needs to shoot well and prove why he’s one of the top freshmen in the country.
No matter who wins, it’s going to be a great game and the energy will be insane. The winner will also take home the regular season ACC crown. We might get lucky to see these two powerhouses square off again next weekend in Charlotte for the ACC Tournament final. Now wouldn’t that be special.
It appears my post a few weeks ago was totally inaccurate. I wrote off the Houston Rockets after center Yao Ming went down for the season.
The Rockets have done nothing but win since the injury. Winners of 17 straight games, the Rockets are getting production from everyone on their roster and I’m shocked.
With help from Bobby Jackson and Carl Landry, Tracy McGrady has his team in fifth place in the Western Conference and just 2 ½ games out of first.
Dikembe Mutombo has filled in nicely for Yao and the team chemistry has really made a difference. The Rockets are playing together and that’s made a huge impact on their success. I just wanted to say that it looks like I was wrong. Good work Rockets.
