Yearly Archives: 2011

Not Our Rivals

Posted on November 8, 2011 by Marc
3 Comments

In his post yesterday, Nate touched upon the fact that UNC looks at NC State like an older brother looking at a little brother. NC State is jealous of their older brother and wants to beat him in every competition possible. At the moment, NC State only beats UNC at graduating farmers and engineers, but not much else. Nate also wrote briefly of how the relationship between Duke and Maryland is similar to the relationship between UNC and NC State. I wouldn’t state that Maryland envies Duke in everything they do (even though they should), but Maryland really, really wants to beat Duke every time they play basketball. Maryland fans go absolutely insane every time they play Duke. While Duke fans assume an aloofness while dismissing the Terrapins by yelling things at them like “Not our Rivals.”

The past 11 years have provided for some amazing contests between the two schools and also some extremely low points from Maryland fans.  We’ve been entertained by the likeness of Juan Dixon, Lonny Baxter, Chris Wilcox, Greivis Vasquez and many others. Steve Blake haunts my dreams like no other player because he had the ability to eternally frustrate Jason Williams. Steve Blake to Jason Williams is like Tyronn Lue to Allen Iverson. A vastly inferior player getting under the skin of a supremely skilled player and just interrupting him constantly. Somehow, someway, the fellow who penned this amazing piece about a “restaurant that brings people happiness” was able to disrupt one of the best players I’ve ever seen. Continue reading →

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Greatest Carolina Players in the ACC Era: A Summary

Posted on November 7, 2011 by Adrian
2 Comments

Now that the top 100 list is complete, I figured I’d do some quick post-game analysis.

Which state has produced the most top 100 Heels? It’s actually a tie at the top:

1. North Carolina: 22
1. New York: 22
3. Pennsylvania: 12
4. Virginia: 9
5: International: 5
6. Maryland: 4
6. New Jersey: 4
8. Indiana: 3
8. Ohio: 3
10. South Carolina: 2
10. Florida: 2
10. California: 2
10. Tennessee: 2
14. 8 tied with 1

And what is the distribution by decade (using peak seasons)? Continue reading →

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(Just)Pessimism Week 10: UNC – NC State

Posted on November 7, 2011 by Nate
11 Comments

Confession: I didn’t get a chance to start watching The Rivalry Game That Isn’t until about 2:45 on Saturday afternoon. I suppose that makes me a bad fan, but I was out doing good in the community (no, seriously, stifle your laughs because I was). I was thinking on my drive home, “How am I going to find this game? It’s on the ACC Network and isn’t televised here. Hmm.” On a whim, I fired up the Xbox and loaded ESPN3… and there was the game! Holy crap! So I got to watch the UNC game in full HD, on my own TV, while skipping commercials. By turning on my video game console. God I love technology.

I suppose I should explain why for a game that had a ton of hot air around it this week – UNC coach Everett Withers essentially called NC State a crappy academic institution, then later said “I was only referring to the academic facts” – I’m calling it the Rivalry Game That Isn’t. Because, as evidenced by the picture below, NC State really IS a crappy academic institution:

I mean, we should all just be impressed he spelled "Committee" correctly, right?

Continue reading →

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The Triangle Prophets, Week 10

Posted on November 4, 2011 by Shane
4 Comments

Every Friday, a group of fearless webmasters and sports fanatics from around the Triangle will gather to predict five college football games against the spread. Every Duke, Carolina, and N.C. State game will be featured, along with a smattering of high profile non-Triangle games. As the season goes along, we’ll keep the standings updated and see who emerges as the one true prophet. Make your predictions in the comment section. Each week, we’ll feature any and all commenters who pick all 5 games correctly.

Current Standings

1. John Watson, The Devil’s Den – 26.5 points

2. Nate Friedman, UNC football correspondent – 24.5 points
2. Me – 24.5 points

4. Tar Heel Fan Blog – 23.5 points

5. The Devil Wolf, TRB – 20.5 points
5. Jim Young, Editor, ACCSports.com – 20.5 points

7. William Earnhardt, Site Designer – 19.5 points
7. James Henderson, Publisher, Pack Pride – 19.5 points

Continue reading →

Posted in Miscellaneous | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

The Thirty-something Pledge

Posted on November 4, 2011 by Joey
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Each week, contributor and new parent Joey will post his thoughts as he undergoes the transformation from fanboy to father.

So I don’t think I’ve ever missed being to my seats at Kenan for a kickoff. If I’m going to the game, it’s just planned that we leave our tailgate in enough time to get to our seats before the kick. Most of the time, we’re there to see the team come out of the tunnel, but definitely by the time the opening kick is in the air.

I willingly jeopardized that this past weekend.

We got a late start up to the stadium. After a great tailgate of an old-fashioned pig-pickin’, it took a while to shut everything down. Nonetheless, our group meandered hurriedly through Kenan toward our seating section. We’d already been cut off by security as they escorted some hosted recruits to their seats. But none of those things actually made me late to my seat.

Continue reading →

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Carolina’s Greatest Players of the ACC Era: The Top 10

Posted on November 3, 2011 by Adrian
19 Comments

Well, we’ve finally made it to the cream of the crop. It’s been a long process (see: 91-100 (+ methodology), 81-90, 71-80, 61-70, 51-60, 41-50, 31-40, 21-30, and 11-20), but we’ve now reached the top of the mountain: the ten greatest players in Carolina basketball history!

First, a quick review of 100 through 11: (Click on a name to jump to that player’s details)

100 – 91 90 – 81 80 – 71
100. Marcus Ginyard
99. Bob Cunningham
98. Dick Kepley
97. Henrik Rodl
96. Jimmy Braddock
95. Jackie Manuel
94. Ranzino Smith
93. Dave Popson
92. Brad Hoffman
91. Ray Respess		 90. Kevin Salvadori
89. Ed Stahl
88. Steve Previs
87. Charlie Shaffer
86. Harvey Salz
85. Al Lifson
84. Kris Lang
83. Reyshawn Terry
82. Warren Martin
81. David Noel		 80. Jim Hudock
79. Dudley Bradley
78. Marvin Williams
77. Serge Zwikker
76. John Kuester
75. Jerry Vayda
74. Dante Calabria
73. Joe Quigg
72. Deon Thompson
71. Brian Reese
70 – 61 60 – 51 50 – 41
70. Lee Dedmon
69. Brandan Wright
68. Ed Davis
67. King Rice
66. Kevin Madden
65. Steve Bucknall
64. Jason Capel
63. Ademola Okulaja
62. Jawad Williams
61. Matt Doherty		 60. Pete Chilcutt
59. Scott Williams
58. Jimmy Black
57. Darrell Elston
56. Steve Hale
55. Jeff McInnis
54. Dick Grubar
53. Joe Wolf
52. Danny Green
51. Tommy LaGarde		 50. Bill Bunting
49. Bill Chamberlain
48. Larry Brown
47. Jeff Lebo
46. Donald Williams
45. Brendan Haywood
44. Rusty Clark
43. Shammond Williams
42. Wayne Ellington
41. Ed Cota
40 – 31 30 – 21 20 – 11
40. Derrick Phelps
39. George Karl
38. Hubert Davis
37. Tommy Kearns
36. Bob McAdoo
35. J.R. Reid
34. Rashad McCants
33. Rick Fox
32. Vince Carter
31. Doug Moe		 30. Lee Shaffer
29. Raymond Felton
28. Joe Forte
27. Rasheed Wallace
26. Eric Montross
25. Jerry Stackhouse
24. York Larese
23. Dennis Wuycik
22. George Lynch
21. Mike O’Koren		 20. Walter Davis
19. Kenny Smith
18. Mitch Kupchak
17. Bobby Jones
16. Sean May
15. Pete Brennan
14. Brad Daugherty
13. Al Wood
12. Bob Lewis
11. Ty Lawson

I won’t leave you in suspense a second longer.
Continue reading →

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Catching Up on Duke/UNC Fall Sports

Posted on November 3, 2011 by Shane
2 Comments

Hey gang, wanted to check in this morning with a quick update on some of the fall sports reaching their climax in the Triangle.

Women’s Soccer

As you all could probably tell, I’ve become pretty obsessed with women’s soccer this year, which I never imagined would be so much fun to watch. In that department, UNC suffered its FIRST EVER LOSS in the ACC tournament last weekend, losing in the quarterfinals to Florida State. That’s a bit of a deceiving word formulation, because UNC has actually lost three times previously on penalty kicks, but still, it’s the first regulation loss for the team that’s won 18 of 21 ACC tournaments. UNC also set a new program low with five losses on the season, and they’ll need an at-large bid to even make the tournament. Strange stuff for one of the best teams in college history.

The Dukies, on the other hand, are in prime form. Ranked third in the country, they’ll face Wake Forest in the ACC semis tomorrow in Cary (I’ll be there at 5:30). Duke won just its second ACC regular season title a week ago, and are vying for their first ACC tournament championship. After that, they’ll attempt to make just the second Final Four in school history, and win the first championship. Their lone ACC loss this year came to Carolina, when they were missing freshman standout Kelly Cobb and conceded the deciding goal with two minutes remaining.

Continue reading →

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Carolina’s Greatest Players of the ACC Era: 20-11

Posted on November 2, 2011 by Adrian
5 Comments

To review picks 21-100, see: 91-100 (+ methodology), 81-90, 71-80, 61-70, 51-60, 41-50, 31-40, and 21-30.

Time to introduce numbers 20 through 11.

20. Walter Davis: 1974-77, SF/SG, 6’5″, 180, Pineville, NC

  • Peak season (1977): 15.5 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 3.3 apg, 2.4 spg, 57.8 FG%, 77.8 FT%, 61.1 TS%
  • Career averages (4 years): 15.7 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 3.4 apg, 53.1 FG%, 77.3 FT%, 56.9 TS%
  • Accolades: one 1st-team All-ACC, one 2nd-team All-ACC, one regional All-Tournament team, starter on one Final Four team

As alluded to in the George Lynch write-up, Davis is the only member of this list’s top 20 to not have an All-American honor on his resume. While Davis’s scoring averages did not change much throughout his career (14.3 PPG as a freshman, 16.1 as a sophomore, 16.6 as a junior, 15.5 as a senior), he became a more and more efficient scorer (year-to-year TS%’s of: 53.6, 54.4, 58.3, 61.1). Much like Vince Carter, the upperclassman version of “Sweet D” was an efficient and dangerous secondary/tertiary scoring option (behind Ford and Kupchak). On different teams (like, say, the Forte teams of 2000 and 2001), Carter and Davis could have easily been 20-PPG scorers (albeit with a probable loss in efficiency). Davis was a fantastic passer and defender, rebounded well for a wing, and could affect the game in many ways. His most famous Tar Heel memory is probably the long banker against Duke to cap the ’74 “8 points in 17 seconds” comeback. Davis averaged 19.0 PPG and 7.7 RPG (including 31 and 12 in an opening round win against Wake) as the Heels won the ’75 ACCT, but was somehow left off the All-Tournament (first) team. After scoring 22 points in the ’77 ACCT semis, Davis was limited to 8 minutes in the championship game with a broken index finger. He missed the Round of 32 game, struggled in the Sweet 16 (while adjusting to his taped-together fingers), then busted out in the Elite 8. Despite the injury to his shooting hand, Davis averaged 20 PPG (on 64.5% from the field) and 6.3 RPG over UNC’s final three games (Elite 8 versus Kentucky, and Final Four match-ups against UNLV and Marquette). While injuries eventually caught up to the Heels in ’77, Davis’s postseason run was one of the most heroic and memorable in the program’s history. Like Phil Ford, Davis is missing that elusive national championship to complete his legacy. The lack of a ring wasn’t at all related to his stretch-run performance, however. Continue reading →

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Will our bigs actually be productive this year?

Posted on November 2, 2011 by Marc
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If goofiness equaled basketball skills then the Plumlees would be the best players since Rodman.

Through this entire preseason I’ve read numerous articles that claim that this is the year Duke will become a more balanced team because its big guys are better and stronger.  We get quotes like these from Coach K from this article:

“Our strength right now is our big guys.” Junior forward Ryan Kelly was the leading scorer on the China trip, but Mason and Miles have made huge gains in the workouts and practices since then. Krzyzewski seems to think Miles, who had somewhat of a mediocre junior year, can be an impact player in the post. “The last couple of years, we’ve been a perimeter team, but this year, our big guys need to touch the ball,” he said. “They’re good enough to play with anyone in the country.”

Continue reading →

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Carolina’s Greatest Players of the ACC Era: 30-21

Posted on November 1, 2011 by Adrian
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To review picks 31-100, see: 91-100 (+ methodology), 81-90, 71-80, 61-70, 51-60, 41-50, and 31-40.

Let’s crack the top 30.

30. Lee Shaffer: 1958-60, PF, 6’7″, 220, Pittsburgh, PA

  • Peak season (1960): 18.2 ppg, 11.2 rpg, 43.6 FG%, 78.6 FT%, 48.8 TS%
  • Career averages (3 years): 14.0 ppg, 8.1 rpg, 44.4 FG%, 76.7 FT%, 49.8 TS%
  • Accolades: one 1st-team All-American, one 3rd-team All-American, one ACC Player of the Year, one 1st-team All-ACC, one 2nd-team All-ACC, two All-ACC Tournament teams

In his first year on the varsity in 1958, a sophomore Shaffer averaged 11.0 PPG, 6.1 RPG, and shot 74.1% from the line. Those numbers improved across the board in each of the next two seasons (13.2/7.1/77.1, 18.2/11.2/78.6), culminating in ACC Player of the Year and 1st-team All-American honors in ’60. After a rough start to his ACC Tournament career (4.7 PPG on 31.6% from the field in ’58), Shaffer played extremely well in Raleigh (the annual site of the ACCT in those days). In ’59, he averaged 18.3 points and 12.0 rebounds in three ACCT games (including 21 and 21 in the 1st round versus Clemson). He was even better as a senior, averaging 25.0 points and 11.5 rebounds in two games. Shaffer made the All-Tournament team in both of those seasons. At a solidly-built 220 pounds (quite big for the late-50s), Shaffer combined physicality, skill, and a soft shooting touch. While he’s the least heralded of Carolina’s ACC POYs (a group that also includes Rosenbluth, Brennan, Cunningham, Miller, Kupchak, Ford, Jordan, Jamison, Forte, Hansbrough, and Lawson), Lee Shaffer has earned his place among the program’s legends.

Continue reading →

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