Friday, February 1, 2008

How 'Bout Them Heels

My friends at JoS & RSFFPT have got the Sox news, what little there is, pretty well covered, so I thought I'd thump my chest a little about my other big passion - them HEELS!
The Tar Heels blew out Boston College yesterday 91 - 69. Tyler Hansbrough had his usual phenominal game, scoring a team-high 18 and pulling down 6 rebounds. The big news, however, is that Ty Lawson is back. He seemed to be easing up just a bit for a few games as the Heels played good, but not great, teams in the last 3 or 4 weeks. After the stinging home loss to Maryland he got serious.
At Miami he scored a sizzling 23 points while dishing out 10 assists against only 1 turnover. That was great but last night was better. He "only" scored 16, but once again had 10 assists and no turnovers. Let me repeat that. NO turnovers. This while playing 28 minutes against Tyrese Rice, one of the best guards in the conference, maybe the best after himself. Ty drove the lane, dished to his teammates, forced turnovers, and made shots when he needed to. He got to the free throw line 9 times, and made 8 of those attempts good. Rice did score 20 points, but the BC offense is geared to getting him shots, unlike Carolina's. And Lawson's defense held Rice to only 3 assists while he turned the ball over 6 times and commited 4 fouls. Lawson had 3 steals and only 1 foul himself.
Everyone saw the Hansbrough dunk. The one where he broke ahead of the crowd and got the monster 360 degree slam midway through the 2nd half. What most didn't notice was that the play was created by Lawson swatting the ball loose from Rice, staying after it, and finally diving on the floor to tip it out ahead of Hansbrough, who finished the job with the dunk.
It's so much fun to watch kids who are that enthusiastic and hard-working, even with a lead as large as they had at that time. I find myself physically jumping out of my seat and yelling numerous times during most games, often endangering my grandson's sleep if it's a later game. I hope all that work carries them a long way.
The BIG game is next Wednesday. I know, everyone thinks this Sunday is a big deal, but they just haven't seen Carolina-Duke. Pats will win big this Sunday, but there will be REAL excitement in Chapel Hill 3 days later.
I'm already getting jittery!

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