4:08: Penn won the tip. It's strange not seeing Hansbrough in the starting lineup for a season home opener. Your starters are Ellington, Lawson, Green, Thompson, and Zeller, who has the first two points for UNC.
4:13: Carolina looks very committed to hitting 3's today. They missed their first three, but Ellington finally hit one from the corner. He then had a breakaway dunk that woke the crowd up a little bit. On a side note, it looks as if a good number of Heels' fans stayed home to watch the football game.
4:21: The Quakers are hanging tough wtih pretty smart play and hitting little jumpers from around the free-throw line. Freshman Ed Davis has looked good for the Heels coming off the bench for four points. Surprisingly, Penn is working hard to get a hold of some rebounds that Carolina should clearly be getting with its size. 11:25 left in the first half. Heels 20 Quakers16
4:34: Penn Sophomore guard Tyler Bernadini is making UNC's players pay for not staying with their men as the Quakers set screens and run the Princeton offense. He has nine points, all coming from 3's from virtually the same spot on the perimeter. Under 8:00 minute timeout. Heels 27 Quakers 25
4:40: There's 3:45 left in the first half, and Carolina has used turnovers to extend its lead and gain a little breathing room. In the last four minutes, the Heels have gone on a 14-6 run to pull in front of Penn 37-28.
4:58: Carolina closed the half with an 11-5 run and strong defense. With Hansbrough out, Deon Thompson is showing why he was such a sought-after recruit out of California two years ago. Thompson has always shown flashes, but he has served as a reliable rebounder in the first half dropping in buckets when the Heels needed to stop Penn's runs. He has ten first half points and five rebounds. Ellington also dropped in ten. Davis came off the bench to score eight points, but more importantly, to grab eight rebounds, six of which were defensive and reasons the Quakers came away empty-handed down the stretch. We're at the half at the Smith Center. Heels 48 Quakers 33. And the crowd just showed its pleasure as the football game against Maryland just popped up on the big screens.
5:11: The Heels look good coming out of the locker room. Danny Green hit a three on their first possession, and Zeller sent it home with a transition dunk. Zeller looks great running the floor. He is smooth, but he knows where to position himself when he's running, which shows that he's got acumen to accompany his skill. 15:48 to go in the second half in Chapel Hill. Heels 57 Quakers 41.
5:23: The line-up is predominantly freshmen right now. Davis, Zeller and Drew are on the court with Will Graves and Bobby Frasor. Carolina hit a little lull while they were in during that span. Under 12:00 minute timeout. Heels 62 Quakers 45
5:31: Carolina has implemented a full-court press on two of the their last couple possessions. The Quakers haven't been too rattled by it, though. One of the things that will have to happen this year for the Heels to win a national title is Wayne Ellington shooting consistently. He is not tonight. He was 6-16 in the first half and just made his first bucket in the second half. This is the Ellington that we saw last year. Thompson, on the other hand, continues to dominate. He has seven second-half points. 8:35 to go. Heels 71 Quakers 52
5:41: Lawson just sank two free-throws after being fouled. That marked the first time really all afternoon that I've seen Carolina exploit Lawson's speed against Penn. I thought this would be a game where he would make running the offense in transition look second nature.
5:47: The Heels have played sloppy the last three minutes and have turned the ball over on two straight possessions. This has afforded the Quakers with a chance to hit two straight 3's and go on a 10-1 run and cut UNC's lead to 76-66 with 3:43 left in the game.
4:13: Carolina looks very committed to hitting 3's today. They missed their first three, but Ellington finally hit one from the corner. He then had a breakaway dunk that woke the crowd up a little bit. On a side note, it looks as if a good number of Heels' fans stayed home to watch the football game.
4:21: The Quakers are hanging tough wtih pretty smart play and hitting little jumpers from around the free-throw line. Freshman Ed Davis has looked good for the Heels coming off the bench for four points. Surprisingly, Penn is working hard to get a hold of some rebounds that Carolina should clearly be getting with its size. 11:25 left in the first half. Heels 20 Quakers16
4:34: Penn Sophomore guard Tyler Bernadini is making UNC's players pay for not staying with their men as the Quakers set screens and run the Princeton offense. He has nine points, all coming from 3's from virtually the same spot on the perimeter. Under 8:00 minute timeout. Heels 27 Quakers 25
4:40: There's 3:45 left in the first half, and Carolina has used turnovers to extend its lead and gain a little breathing room. In the last four minutes, the Heels have gone on a 14-6 run to pull in front of Penn 37-28.
4:58: Carolina closed the half with an 11-5 run and strong defense. With Hansbrough out, Deon Thompson is showing why he was such a sought-after recruit out of California two years ago. Thompson has always shown flashes, but he has served as a reliable rebounder in the first half dropping in buckets when the Heels needed to stop Penn's runs. He has ten first half points and five rebounds. Ellington also dropped in ten. Davis came off the bench to score eight points, but more importantly, to grab eight rebounds, six of which were defensive and reasons the Quakers came away empty-handed down the stretch. We're at the half at the Smith Center. Heels 48 Quakers 33. And the crowd just showed its pleasure as the football game against Maryland just popped up on the big screens.
5:11: The Heels look good coming out of the locker room. Danny Green hit a three on their first possession, and Zeller sent it home with a transition dunk. Zeller looks great running the floor. He is smooth, but he knows where to position himself when he's running, which shows that he's got acumen to accompany his skill. 15:48 to go in the second half in Chapel Hill. Heels 57 Quakers 41.
5:23: The line-up is predominantly freshmen right now. Davis, Zeller and Drew are on the court with Will Graves and Bobby Frasor. Carolina hit a little lull while they were in during that span. Under 12:00 minute timeout. Heels 62 Quakers 45
5:31: Carolina has implemented a full-court press on two of the their last couple possessions. The Quakers haven't been too rattled by it, though. One of the things that will have to happen this year for the Heels to win a national title is Wayne Ellington shooting consistently. He is not tonight. He was 6-16 in the first half and just made his first bucket in the second half. This is the Ellington that we saw last year. Thompson, on the other hand, continues to dominate. He has seven second-half points. 8:35 to go. Heels 71 Quakers 52
5:41: Lawson just sank two free-throws after being fouled. That marked the first time really all afternoon that I've seen Carolina exploit Lawson's speed against Penn. I thought this would be a game where he would make running the offense in transition look second nature.
5:47: The Heels have played sloppy the last three minutes and have turned the ball over on two straight possessions. This has afforded the Quakers with a chance to hit two straight 3's and go on a 10-1 run and cut UNC's lead to 76-66 with 3:43 left in the game.
6:00: Roy Williams just cleared the bench after Zeller was intentionally fouled. Carolina is going to win the game comfortably. However, this was far from the dominant performance that the fans, that is the ones who decided to show up and act interested, anticipated with all of the preseason hype.
Final Score from Chapel Hill UNC Tar Heels 86 Penn Quakers 71
3 comments:
How deep of a rotation do you see Carolina having this season when they hit the ACC competition?
They could easily go eleven or twelve deep.
How many of the twelve deep will Roy coach? My guess is zero. Once again, you cannot get all your stars playing time and win it all! Just ask Seth Greenberg!
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