North Carolina collapses on the finish line and beats Miami

This was a good-news/bad-news type of a game for North Carolina and adds more intrigue to what we should see from them in the NCAA tourney in March. The last three years they have under-achieved by at least one round in the tourney!

The good news is that they managed to win on the road with Lawson under the weather and Hansbrough taken out by the defense. The bad news is that they had the game won (14 point lead) but got short-circuited offensively and let Miami come back in the game. Most coaches would have called two time-outs during the meltdown, but Ole Roy called ZERO, in keeping with the Dean Smith tradition of letting the players figure it out on their own. Back to the good news, it looks like when Lawson has the flu, he can't miss a shot. Also good news, this is the second game in a row where Lawson had a major impact during the second half, last time by penetrating the defense, this time by shooting over the defense.

Frank Haith has a great game plan and even without Dwayne Collins he managed to get close, oh-so-close yet so-far-away from beating UNC. Jimmy Graham was a stat-sheet-stuffer, and Jack McClinton pulled out another 35er from the hat. But no one else had consistent impact on the game and the Canes fell short of a win. This bodes well for Miami if they use their performance in this game as a spring-board for the next few games, and not as a "OMG we lost, goodbye 2008-2009!".

And one more thing, UNC may have stars and future-stars, but the MVP of this team is Danny Green. During the meltdown, it was Green's block that broke the Miami rhythm. It's not just that Green stuffs the stat-sheet, it's that he has impact on the game, with critical shots, blocks, steals and things like that. If UNC wins the championship in April, it will probably be thanks to Danny Green!

Gameday: Miami at North Carolina

It's awesome baby with capital A! It was the first all-star Gameday with the one and only Dookie Vitale, but it seems that the priority was the destination, not the actual game, as ESPN picked an expected Tar Heels win over Miami. But expected it was not during the first quarter of the game, as the BC-TarHeels showed up.

Eventually though they woke up, and Ellington (yes, he was on the roster the last few weeks) hit six three-pointers in a row to seal the game for UNC.

And while initially it may have looked like the Zeller and Ginyard injuries would not have been a major issue, well, it looks like they were after all. Zeller would have given them an actual seven-footer to go against other centers, while Ginyard would have given them someone who locks down on defense all the time. Ed Davis is going to make lots of money on basketball, but this season he is too skinny/weak to wrestle with the big guys down low. Notice how the ball gets taken away from him on offense. Imagine if he adds strength to his other skills!

Miami feels under-appreciated by the basketball people. Well, they are probably under-appreciated at their own football school, so they have to earn it the hard way. And as we have seen in the past, teams with Iversonesque guards don't always have a lot of team success (Virginia/Singletary anyone?) Nevertheless Frank Haith looks like he has exceeded expectations so far, and he is bringing in talented recruits. But if all else fails, he can always "Steve Robinson it" with a high-profile assistanship :)

Thank you Miami, thank you!

Thank you Miami Hurricanes! Thank you Frank Haith! Thank you state of Florida for delivering yet another Duke loss! Thank you Miami fans, alumni, players, alumni, professors, janitors, athletic department employees, boosters, and everyone affiliated with the great University of Miami!

Why am I so excited about Miami? Because they BEAT DUKE! last night!

To celebrate this win, be sure to get some Miami Hurricanes gear: