Manuel, Noel Audio
"Senior Jackie Manuel and junior David Noel fielded questions from the media Friday afternoon at the Smith Center."
Carolina players in the top 15 in ACC Individual Stats
Some interesting facts from the current ACC stats:
- McCants is 3rd in scoring, Jawad is tied for 9th
- May is 4th in rebounding, Marvin is 15th
- Jawad is 4th in field goal pct, McCants is 11th
- Felton is 1st in assists (of course)
- Marvin is 7th in free throw pct (!!!), Jawad is 10th, McCants is 12th
- Felton is tied for 12th in steals
- McCants is 3rd in 3-point field goal pct (51.4%)
- McCants is 5th in 3-pointers made
- No one in the top 15 in blocked shots (!!!)
- Felton is 11th in Assist/Turnover ratio
- Felton is 14th in minutes played (need to get this down a bit!)
Coach Williams ACC Telecon
You can
listen to Coach Williams during the weekly ACC Coaches telecon. Try to ignore the other people on the page ;-)
Next telecon isn't until Jan. 10th.
Carolina Men's Basketball Month-to-Month Calendar
Get your 2005 Carolina Basketball Calendar. Jawad Williams is on the cover. Price is $10 if you buy at a basketball game (Entry A) or $15 to order.
Lucas: UNC Basketball Mailbag December 7
Adam Lucas answers some questions from the mailbag. Topics include:
- Two-in-four rule for early-season tourneys
- Jawad is underappreciated by the media
- Rule change this year where free throws are shot after TV timeouts (side note: I don't personally like the rule change, but Adam gives a good reason for it)
- Why the change in warm up suits? (they are gray this year)
- Points per possession and percentage possessions lost
- Why not have a game or two in Carmichael so we can have a "Duke-like" atomosphere
Lucas: Tuesday Talking Points - This week's facts and figures about the Heels.
Adam Lucas provides some interesting stats about the season so far. A few tidbits:
- David Noel has only missed 7 shots this year
- McCants is scoring more while shooting less
- Everyone's playing time is down this year except for.....Jackie Manuel
Heels Climb One Spot in AP Poll
I'm glad to see Carolina ahead of Duke in the AP Poll poll again. Isn't it crazy to have 5 ACC teams in the top 12??
McCants Named Hardee's Carolina Student-Athlete of the Week
Why did McCants get student-athlete of the week? Because he deserved it. I've seen a lot of basketball games so far this year including 7 of the top 10 teams. I think I have a pretty strong case for McCants being the best player in the country so far.
UNC 91, Kentucky 78
Game Summary
I don't go to many games in person, but I was asked at the last minute if I was interested in a couple of tickets to the Kentucky game. How can I turn down UNC-Kentucky? The answer is I can't. So my wife and I made a day of it at the Dean Dome. And it was worth every penny (even though I was in the nose bleed section).
Carolina came out with a ferocity I haven't seen in some time. It just looked like the guys were determined to win no matter what. We started out on a 8-0 run and was at 16-5 after just 5 minutes. The refs were terrible all night, but Felton was the only real concern with fouls after he picked up his 3rd with 2:00 left in the first half. Fouls were a big problem for Kentucky though. Their two top point guards ended up fouling out of the game along Chuck Hayes who is perhaps their best player.
McCants had another standout game by scoring 28 points (20 in the first half). He is in a zone right now and no other player in the country is better than him. This was also a coming out for Sean May who had 19 rebounds and 14 points. He played like a man possessed and did a great job of running the floor.
This was the kind of game I love to see in person because the crowd was in to it and there was no shortage of dunks and other great plays. With a tough win over Indiana and drilling Kentucky (who never led the entire game), I think this makes a case for a top 5 ranking for Carolina in the next poll. I guess we'll see...
Game Breakdown
Who: Kentucky
Where: Chapel Hill
Viewing method: In person!
Box Score
Photo Gallery 1
Photo Gallery 2
Coach Williams Quotes
UNC Locker Room Quotes
Coach Tubby Smith Quotes
Starters
Ray Felton - Felton may have not had the best night stats wise, but we wouldn't have won the game without him. He scored just 3 points on 0-5 shooting, 3-9 from free throw line, 7 assists and 5 turnovers. He controls the pace of the game perfectly. What I love about this year's team that I didn't see very much last year is that even when the other team makes a basket, Felton will be dribbling the ball at half court before most of the other team has stopped celebrating. He had a few bad passes and was having a tough time shooting, but his wrist obviously still hurts him. In the second half, #4 from Kentucky stripped the ball from Felton but obviously mugged him in the process. The problem was that the refs didn't call a foul and Felton was in MAJOR pain. If you've ever had a nagging injury and then tweak it bad again, you know what I'm talking about. He had to walk it off for several minutes and ultimately Quentin had to come in the game. Fortunately, he turned out to be ok and came back in to lead the team to victory. To be honest, I'd take his poor shooting any night with all the other intangibles he brings to the game.
Sean May - Alright, this is the May we all wanted to see. He had an awesome game to say the least. He finished with 19 rebounds! He was a monster tonight. He had several dunks under the basket and was running the court like a guard. May had back to back dunks followed by a layup shortly thereafter. If we could get this kind of game out of him every night, no one could touch us. He was going to the basket much stronger than usual. His finesse game is what gets him in trouble sometimes, so I was glad to see this change of pace.
Rashad McCants - If anyone can make a case for someone other than McCants being the best player in the country right now I'd love to hear it. He is playing incredibly well. He had 20 points at the half! And ended with 28 on the evening. Mind you, this is against Kentucky -- one of the best teams in the country. He also had an awesome steal and dunk. Of course he had another NBA-style 3 in the first half. I think he looked at his weak peformance last year against Kentucky and used it as motivation.
Jawad Williams - Jawad continues his consistently high level of play. He had 19 points on 6-9 shooting. He has come so far since his freshman year. Now, I don't mind so much when he shoots that little turnaround J from the baseline that he likes so much. He is also a threat from the 3 point line even though he went 0-1 there tonight. Hopefully he won't get hurt this year (like last) and will keep it up.
Jackie Manuel - Jackie had a good night. He went 3-6 from the floor and 3-3 from the charity line for 9 points. He also had 3 steals and played great D as usual. I assume he got the defensive award for the game (unconfirmed).
Reserves
Melvin Scott - Melvin played sparingly (11 minutes) and made 3 points on 1-3 shooting behind the 3 point line.
David Noel - Mr. Consistency had another good night. He went 4-4 from the floor and ended with 10 points in just 16 minutes. He had a dunk, but nothing flashy. I don't know about you, but I'd kind of like to see some flashy dunks from him :-)
Marvin Williams - Marvin had a quieter night than his last couple of outings. He did a good job and even made a 3 pointer.
Quentin Thomas - Quentin subbed in for Felton and did a decent job. He definitely doesn't have the floor vision of Felton or his speed, but then again there may only be a handful of people in the entire country (NBA included) that do. Quentin played solid D and had a nice steal. I feel better with him at the point than Melvin.
Wes Miller - Did not play.
Byron Sanders - Did not play.
Reyshawn Terry - Did not play.
Damion Grant - Did not play.
C.J. Hooker - Did not play.
Charlie Everett - Did not play.
Sidelines
Coach Williams was a little more animated today than in previous games. I think he gets up for these big games like the players do. I think this one meant something to him especially since we hadn't beat Kentucky in several years.
(Courtesy of the Associated Press)
Announcers
I was at the game in person and didn't bring a radio so I couldn't listen to any commentators.
Refs
If I had to use one word to describe the refs tonight, it would be HORRIBLE (yes, in all caps). In fact, these refs are the worst of the year so far (beating out the refs in the Indiana game). And this was on our own court! Where are the hometown refs when you need them. They called touch fouls from the beginning, which I don't like, but what made it worse is that they were very inconsistent. Some players would get robbed (like Felton) and no foul called and in other situations there would be a clear block and they would call it.
My preference would be for the refs to just let them play and make sure it doesn't become a brawl, but if you are going to call touch fouls, please at least be consistent. It seems when they start showing inconsistency like this, they start trading bad calls as the coaches start to get on their case.
Crowd
The crowd was very loud. With so many thrilling plays (dunks, steals, clutch shots), it was hard not to be excited. The one gripe I do have is that there were some (not a lot) of empty seats. The stadium was mostly full and supposedly it was a sell out so that means some fans bought tickets and didn't give them up to someone else even though they couldn't make it. For a game like Kentucky, every single seat needs to be filled.
It is also worth mentioning that after Felton got hit in his wrist by #4 Rondo Rajon, Rondo was booed every single time he got his hands on the ball. When he fouled out, the crowd cheered loudly. Now it isn't the fact that he intentionally tried to hurt Felton. I'm sure he didn't. But the fact that one of theirs hurt one of ours, regardless of the situation, calls for our crowd to let the opposing player know we don't like that. All in good clean fun :-)
UNC 70, Indiana 63
Game Summary
This is the kind of game I hate to watch. The whole team played lethargic and didn't seem as in to it as Indiana. Indiana came into the game unranked and not very hyped, but played like a very solid team. We couldn't get the transition game going at all and our big men stunk it up down low. They were taking ill advised shots and not blocking out well. Indiana got 19 offensive rebounds! Overall, Indiana just outhustled us. Fortunately for us, we had enough talent to pull out the game and keep a 4-6 point lead for most of the game.
This was Sean May's homecoming and the crowd let him have it. It didn't help that May had a bad game and was trying to force things. Felton's play was a little sloppy, but made up for it with scoring (18 points). McCants had another terrific offensive game with 19 points.
This was a good solid road win in a hostile environment. And I'm glad it is behind us.
Game Breakdown
Who: Indiana
Where: Bloomington, IA
Viewing method: ESPN
Box Score
Photo Gallery 1
Photo Gallery 2
Photo Gallery 3
Coach Williams Quotes
UNC Locker Room Quotes
Starters
Ray Felton - Got the word at the start of the game that Felton will have his wrist taped for least 6 more weeks!! That sucks. They said he wears a hard cast during the day and has to come in early to get it taped before games. Lets hope it doesn't get any worse. The upcoming exam break should help. Felton had a sloppier game than usual with 7 turnovers and only 3 assists. He did, however, help out a lot on offensive by scoring 18 points (second behind McCants). He made a couple of clutch 3's including one at the end of the first half. A couple of times Felton would look down at his wrist after an errand pass. He said afterwords that it is effecting his control of the ball.
Sean May - Ahh May. I've noticed that whenever May looks like he is trying too hard, he usually doesn't play well. You could tell he wanted to do good in front of his hometown tonight, but it wasn't to be. May got stuffed in the opening minutes, took bad shots a long way away from the rim, and even got called for an offensive foul. And just when it looked like things might change for May, they got worse. With 7:35 to go in the first half, he stole the ball and was driving the other way for a layup, but got called for another offensive foul. With his 3rd foul, he sat out the rest of the half. May came out in the 2nd half and played a little better. On perhaps his best play of the night, he went strong to the hole, dunked it, and got fouled. He ended the game with 8 points on 2-7 shooting and 4 rebounds after only 19 minutes of PT.
Rashad McCants - McCants had a great game again. He has been on fire so far this season (knock on wood). He hasn't really had an off game yet. And he has picked up his defense from last season to make him an even more complete player. McCants had 3 3's in the first half with one of them being from NBA range. He has hit an NBA style 3 in at least his last 3 games. His range is incredible (bring on Reddick). In the second half, McCants stole the ball and drove for a layup, but was fouled hard. McCants got up in the defenders face a bit and everyone made such a big deal over it like he was Ron Artest or something. I'd be pissed to if the defender took a cheap shot after getting his pocket picked. McCants helped seal the deal with 2:30 to go with a very tough 3 pointer. He was awarded the Playstation Player of the game after scoring a game-high 19 points.
Jawad Williams - Jawad had a decent game with 13 points, but also had 6 turnovers.
Jackie Manuel - Jackie had a pretty quite night. 0-4 shooting, 3 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 steal.
Reserves
Melvin Scott - Melvin must still not be fully recovered from his hurt hip because he isn't playing very much. He played 6 minutes according to the box score and ended with 2 points on 0-2 shooting and 2-2 from the charity line.
David Noel - Noel is fitting into his role well this year. He isn't as active on the offensive side as much as his Freshman year, but he is becoming a defensive stopper and very active filling gaps. He had two steals tonight. He played excellent D. His shooting percentage is still up there too by going 2-4 for 4 points.
Quentin Thomas - I was a little surprised to see Thomas only play for a couple of minutes. Felton played most of the game. Quentin didn't have any shots, assists, turnovers, rebounds, etc. I know Felton is tough, but I'd like to see Quentin get a little more PT in case Felton gets a bad injury later in the season or has foul trouble.
Marvin Williams - Marvin had only 4 points on 2-7 shooting, but he ended with a game-high 12 rebounds. He got smacked in the forehead in the first half and had to get 4 stiches. He came back in the game later and didn't show any obvious ill effect.
Wes Miller - Did not play.
Byron Sanders - Byron had to come in with 4:38 to go in the first half due to May's foul trouble. He ended up making a layup.
Reyshawn Terry - Did not play.
Damion Grant - Did not play.
C.J. Hooker - Did not play.
Charlie Everett - Did not play.
Announcers
Dan Shulman
Dick Vitale
Doris Burke
Even though Dickie V is known for having a Duke bias, he is usually fun to listen to. And heck, he picked UNC as his preseason #1! They talked about May a lot, of course, because of his homecoming.
As usual:
- McCants is moody
- UNC had ACC leaders in scoring, assists, rebounding last year
- Felton's 1-game suspension
Dick: "Jawad is one of the top 5 support players in the country"
Refs
The refs were calling everything! Ugh. It is hard to watch sometimes when they call every little touch foul possible. I much prefer for them to let them play. They really didn't mind calling touch fouls against May. I guess I shouldn't be surprised because I got a glimpse on several occasion of Indiana's Coach Davis actually hugging and getting all close to the refs. Jeez. I counted at least 5 NO CALLS against Indiana that the refs missed.
Crowd
Obviously the crowd was pumped up. There was a lot of hype about May's homecoming and the crowd let him have it every chance he got. The noise to start the game was extremely loud.
I think the crowd showed poor spirit though by chanting "TRADER" when May would shoot a free throw. Can you imagine if we did that for every hometown recruit we missed out on?
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