Thursday, January 22, 2009

Harold & Kumar Got it Wrong


So I'm driving around this past Wednesday morning in Salem, VA, a small town just off the interstate here in the New River Valley. I was not in a hurry, but did not really have time to backtrack a bit and make the customary stop at Bojangles (which btw, the Bojangles at Exit 137 off I-81 in Salem is one of the three best I've ever been to, no question) for a cajun filet biscuit combo. I was quite hungry, but had resigned myself to by-passing the McDonald's, Hardee's, and other horrendous fast food establishments, instead electing to pray my stomach did not growl too loud in my next meeting. Then, it happened.

I pulled up to a stoplight on Melrose Ave and saw a sign in the distance. "That can't be what it looks like, they don't have those here," I thought to myself (ok fine, I said it aloud in the car). The light turned green and I accelerated, cutting over to the left-hand lane just in case...drove a bit faster...and let out a yelp. That familiar green logo and the big "K K" jumped out to me. A Krispy Kreme? In Salem, VA? "Dear Lord, please don't let it be closed," I prayed. Not only was it indeed open, but there were people sitting inside eating doughnuts. No drive-thru, just an old, down-home doughnut shop with senior citizens and hillbillies hanging out. I parked quickly and opened my wallet to find only $1. Rummaging through the change in my car, I found enough to grant me two delicious premiums and one hot glazed ooey-gooey, sinful delight of dough.

Of course, as I went inside, the regulars all looked at me with bewilderment. It's probably not every day that a 26 year-old dude comes in their spot with a dress shirt and tie on, much less with as much confidence and purpose as I had. My mission: one glazed, one chocolate iced, & one raspberry-filled. $3.05 later, mission accomplished.

I returned to my car, dug up a bottle of water, and proceeded to sit in 21 degrees fahrenheit of Heaven. First, the hot glazed doughnut. Then, the chocolate. And finally, the raspberry. 750 of the most tasty calories known to man were digested in about four minutes, thirty-two seconds. And then, off to my meeting. A detour much needed, money well spent, and a mission accomplished. And that, oh Blue Teamers of the world, is why Harold & Kumar missed it. They should not have wasted their time at White Castle, oh no. Instead, they should have been chugging along down south to find the greatest delicacy of all-time: Hot-n-Now.

Monday, January 12, 2009

They Aren't Who We Thought They Were


Undefeated. The best team in history. Most-talented team in the country. National Title or bust. Each of these phrases had been used to describe the 2008-2009 North Carolina Men's Basketball Team in 2008. Now it's 2009. And the words now include soft, unmotivated, panicked, human. So what gives? How has the best Carolina team ever assembled turned into a rattled, poor-shooting, no-defense, mentally weak squad? And how can this team re-focus and improve moving forward? Finally, can they/will they end up in the position to hoist a big banner and cry while confetti rains down in Detroit at the Final Four?
What's Wrong
1) Defense. It starts here and ends here, both individually and as a team. Lawson has done a poor job of pressuring the ball and staying in front of his man in these two losses to Boston College and Wake Forest. Coach K, for all the hate Carolina fans have for him, is an outstanding basketball coach, especially in the art of pressure on the ball. He demands his point guards pressure their opponent. Subsequently, he demands that the wing players deny their man getting the ball (which in turn adds further pressure on the point guard to make a precise pass). Roy Williams is not much different. His defensive principle implores the 1, 2, and 3 spots to play the passing lanes and take chances to cause turnovers. This has just not happened in the two losses. Why does Coach Williams want to cause turnovers? Because they lead to easy points on the break, duh. And obviously when this team is not getting points on the break, they are resigned to a half-court set. And in the half-court set they...

2) Take Bad Shots. Dear Carolina Guards: I'd like to introduce you to Tyler Hansbrough. He's a big white guy, wears number 50. You can usually find him standing with his back to the basket, arms raised, looking for a post-entry pass. He makes a lot of shots and, when he misses, often tracks down the rebound and scores anyway. He's also become pretty good at driving from the perimeter on a big man and scoring or getting fouled. I would suggest he touches the basketball more often, ok? Thanks. Love, Kyle.

3) Coaching. Roy. Roy, Roy, Roy. How I love thee, but...wow. Let's take the Wake Forest game for a second. (To be fair, Coach Williams could have very well told his players many of the points I am about to bring up. However, it sure was not executed if that was the case). Immediately, in the opening offensive position, I noticed that Wake Forest's big men were hedging on the Carolina screens really hard (also called a "show", it is when the post player steps out in front of the guard trying to dribble around the screen and prevents him from driving or shooting until his teammate can recover to get back in front of the ball). When this happens, it leaves the player setting the screen open to cut to the basket. Often times, a team will combat this by having the screen setter "slip" the screen and cut straight to the hoop without really ever setting a pick (for detail on how to do this perfectly, cue up the DVR and watch what Kansas' bigs did to us in the Final Four last year...if you can stomach watching it that is). Did we do this one time the entire game Sunday night? Nope. At least not successfully. The big was not rolling off the screen and the guard never looked inside for him anyway. Now, I know the pick-and-roll is not a huge part of the offense; however, when it is there for the taking, I'd suggest doing just that. This is just one example of many instance Sunday night that I found myself very frustrated with the strategy from our bench (putting Thompson in with two fouls when they could have gone small with Green at the 4 and watching Deon pick up foul number 3 less than a minute later was another). Overall, I do not think our beloved Heels have played well recently; likewise, I do not think our beloved coach has coached well either.

4) Marcus Ginyard. It seemed to take until now, when the team actually started to struggle and lose games, for people (and by people, I mean the media) to figure out that the Heels really, really, really miss Ginyard. He is the unquestioned leader of the team. He does all of the little things that just are not getting done. He is the only lock-down defender on the team. He is the go-to guy for post-game quotes, thoughts, & analysis. He does not panic and does not let others either. This year, in games that Carolina won, Ramon Harris of Kentucky, Kyle McAlarney of Notre Dame, and Raymar Morgan of Michigan St all had some (or in McAlarney's case, a lot) of success hitting shots. Each of those wing players would likely have been defended by Ginyard at some point, and probably to a much more successful degree from the Tar Heel perspective. Now that the team is losing, the media suddenly has figure out the Boys in Blue miss not only Ginyard's defense, but also all of the other qualities mentioned above. Um, ya think?

How To Fix It

1) I have no idea. They do not pay me to coach.

2) But if they did, I'd start with reaffirming the point of college basketball - having fun. This team does not seem to be doing that right now, as Adam Lucas insinuated in his column on Monday (linked above under "panicked"). The expectations, pressure, and spotlight seem to have gotten to this bunch (again, if Ginyard were involved, I do not see this being as big of an issue). They simply are not having fun and relaxing out there. You can see when they shoot how skittish they are. When Florida's big guns decided to return after winning the title in 2006, they did so because they loved being around each other and having fun together. This team has four guys who were in a similar situation, minus the title to defend, but chose to return. The difference, I acknowledge, is none of them were going in the NBA Draft Lottery. Regardless, the goal was and is to win it and, I hope, to have fun along the way doing it. Right now, they have indeed forgotten to enjoy the ride.

3) Reaffirm the goals of this team: win the ACC Regular Season, win the ACC Tournament, win the National Championship. All of those goals are still quite possible (though two more conference losses will kiss the regular season league title goodbye). Mid-January losses show you what you're good at, what you're not so good at, and what you completely suck at. So get better at them.

4) From an X's and O's perspective, the defense is what absolutely must get better. And it can be good enough, as seen versus Oregon and at Michigan State. We already covered, for the most part, what is wrong defensively. So, fix it. And it starts inside most of the players. As individuals, Lawson has been completely outplayed twice in a week. He needs to take this personally and re-focus himself. He does not get another shot at BC or Wake Forest this season, so learn from it and be ready to dominate the other nine guards he's due to face, on both ends of the court. Ellington must drive more offensively like he did early in the season and at least attempt to play defense. Green has to pull more rebounds. Thompson has to quit playing like a *insert p-word here* (a tentative Thompson ends up in foul trouble by the way). Hansbrough must demand the ball and go all Tim Tebow on them (Interestingly enough, I think the similarities between the two of them are incredible, as also mentioned by an anonymous reader in the "Comments" section last week. Ugly but effective game, loyal to their schools, passing up pro prospects, could get any chick on campus if they were like that...). Ginyard must get healthy. The bench guys must do what they're good at and minimize mistakes otherwise (more minutes for Ed Davis, please). And as a team, they must want it.

5. Somebody has to refuse to lose. Every great college team seems to have this kind of guy. The dude who just wills his team to victory. It's not always the best player, but it usually is the one player the team absolutely would not have won without. Tim Tebow. Mario Chalmers. George Lynch. Raymond Felton. They all had an insatiable appetite for winning a championship and pushed their teammates to the necessary heights to do so. Tyler? Ty? Marcus? I honestly believe that this might be the most important factor for this team's ability to not only rebound from recent adversity, but to improve and eventually secure a national title.

What Lies Ahead
In the short-term, victories. Wins must be ahead in the coming weeks, or this season could blow up really fast. The tougher opponents are at home until the Heels travel to Duke on February 11th. Clemson comes to Chapel Hill (no game at Littlejohn), Miami and Maryland as well (return trips follow the Duke game). Everyone will continue to play with tremendous intensity against this team, as the interlocking NC still doubles as a bull's-eye. Therefore, each game must be approached with increased focus and attentiveness.

In the long-term, practice. This squad must commit to the practice floor and getting better. The communication, the execution, the desire must start in practice and translate to the games.
The outlook has changed only slightly from the beginning of the season. Gone is the superfluous praise that was heaped on this team once upon a time, replaced by the doubt of the "loyal" fans, as well as the media. People have rightfully questioned their toughness, togetherness, and desire. So, put up or shut up. Either this team locks in internally and rallies around one another or things completely fall apart and we're left with the distinct flavor of the 1994 disaster. Other Carolina teams have faced adversity and rallied for great seasons: 1987, 1990, 1997, 2000. But, none have rallied for championship seasons - yet. It can be done. And it won't happen overnight. But, time plus effort times fun might yet still equal a championship.

Every ride is bumpy, so enjoy the sights and sounds along the way and hope for a destination of greatness. Don't even worry, we gonna make it.

Even PETA Would Shoot Those Panthers

An NFL season that heard the Carolina Panthers growl ferociously all year long ended with a hardly a meow Saturday night. Those vicious, punishing, so-talented-it's-sick Arizona Cardinals (sarcasm?) came into Charlotte and intercepted the Panthers on their way to hosting the NFC Championship (get it? Intercepted. See how I did that?). In the most recent entry here on The Blue Team, I mentioned the Cardinals not being a great matchup for the Panthers because of a weakness in the secondary, but thought the Carolina defense would be motivated and the home team would prevail if they took care of the ball and were not overhyped. Instead, all of those contingencies were violated.

The seconday was horrendous, the defensive front produced little pressure, and the linebackers looked typically lost in coverage. More in-depth in my worry was that Arizona would move Fitzgerald around pre-snap (check), try and get him matched up on Richard Marshall (check), and cross him through the middle on our linebackers (and check). Warner had all day to throw the ball, which was a schematic error of collosal proportions. Pressuring a quarterback as prone to sacks, turnovers, and injury as Warner is might be the only way to beat him. I can assure you that letting him sit back and wait for a receiver to come open is not effective. This just goes to show you that the Panthers' coaches do not have a lot of confidence in the secondary in man-to-man coverage, or even just Cover 1. The few blitzes that were run when the game was still in doubt ended up with a toasted DB.

On the other side of the ball, the offense got away very quickly from running the football. Then again, it did not really have the football for much of the second quarter. Jake was just awful. Dreadful. Ghastly. Deplorable. Really all of these things. Delhomme is this type of quarterback: at the end of the year, his numbers look decent. Plus, you cannot measure his intangibles and leadership. Each year, he has 3-4 really good games (270, 2 TDs, clutch throws, etc); each year, he has 2-3 really bad games (170, 3 INTs, missing open guys). In those really good games, he leads the team to victory more often than not; in the really bad ones, he gives you NO CHANCE to win. Saturday night was one of those games that most decent NFL quarterbacks have once a year or so. Unfortunately, it was on the biggest stage thus far. He is known for trying to force the ball into coverage and locking onto a wide receiver (Smith) and he did both all night. Of course, the naysayers and Debbie Downers will spend the entire off-season whining about Delhomme, saying he needs to go. While I'm all for drafting and developing a quality quarterback, I am not for getting rid of Delhomme. Remember last year? David Carr and the white gloves? How bad the team was without its leader at QB? Until there is clearly a better/younger option, then keep Delhomme and learn to hand the ball off 40 times a game.

In closing, this game and season ended in incredibly disappointing fashion. Not to take away from the good things, but the lingering feeling is definitely "what might have been". This is the NFL, not college football, meaning two major differences exist: 1) a real champion is crowned; and 2) winning is the only expectation. And the Panthers did not win. Hopefully next season will begin, and end, with a roar.

Wednesday, January 07, 2009

NFL Stands for "No Freakin' Logic"

Back in September, I wrote a Nostradamus-esque piece about the upcoming NFL season. 23 (hey, that's Michael Jordan's number!) thoughts/predictions on the season to be, with commentary and analysis. Before we delve into looking at this weekend's playoff slate, let's take a moment to make fun of what I made fun of a few months back:

1) No one will go undefeated. Survey Says: Correct. Tennessee lasted the longest before falling to Brett Favre. Not the Jets. Just Brett Favre.

2) No one will go 0-fer. Survey Says: Incorrect. The Detroit Lions will now live in infamy. A brief aside on this - the Lions will be good in one of the next two season. Whoever survives and sticks around on this Lions team will be incredibly motivated to make people forget this season and it will be the "Story of the Year" whenever this happens. And Calvin Johnson will be the best wideout in the league when he gets a consistent quarterback.

3 & 4) Chad Ocho Cinco is sucko and Marvin Lewis needs to go crazy. Survey Says: Correct and N/A. Lewis was headed for the unemployment line until a late-season winning streak, but never went off. And Chad is MIA following a season of non-productivity.

5) The Colts will have to play out the entire season to make the playoffs. Survey Says: 97% correct. 3-4 record turned into 12-4 following the nine-game win streak. Played full-tilt until the final week.

6) Colts is a wimpy nickname. Survey Says: Duh. Still wimpy. My adorable 3 year-old neighbor, Emma, is not even scared of Colts and she wouldn't trick-or-treat this year.

7) 49ers will be good. Survey Says: Correct. Sort of. I really think they would have won the division if Singletary had been their coach all year. San Fran was the best team in the NFC West, but could not get out of the gate and dug themselves too big of a hole.

8) DeKyle. Survey Says: DeKyle is a great choice for my son's name and you cannot convince me otherwise.

9) Dallas is going to be really good or really implode. Survey Says: Incorrect, because my follow-up sentence was "I vote for the former". But boy did they ever implode. I watched the entire 44-6 loss at Philly with the sound on in order to soak up the moment. Boy do I ever hate Dallas.

10 & 11) San Diego (in German...) will sleepwalk through the year and still be 12-4. Survey Says: 1/2 credit - they did sleepwalk through most of the year, but only ended up 8-8...and in the second round of the playoffs. Makes no sense.
12) The local Redskins' fans will be disappointed. Survey Says: Right on! After starting 6-2 and yelling "hip hip hooray" in the locker room, the Skins fell apart and missed the playoffs. And I loved it.

13) Brett Favre will be overexposed. Survey Says: so will TO. Correct.

14 & 15) Carolina will be 10-6...or 6-10. Survey Says: Correct. The secondary was good enough to survive, the pass rush was better, Delhomme played fine, and the 2-RB system was outstanding.

16) AFC Playoff Teams - Survey Says: 2/3. I was correct on 4 out of 6, missing New England & Jacksonville. New England was clearly good enough to make it, but Jacksonville...wow.

17) NFC Playoff Teams - Survey Says: 1/3. I got the Panthers & Eagles. Missed the Cowboys, Packers, 49ers, and Saints. Yikes.

18) Carolina is 10-6 and Jon Beason is a Beast. Survey Says: Correct, except it was 12-4.

19) I will win at least one fantasy league this year. Survey Says: Correct. The Hokie Thugs put on a rally for the ages in the Phi Alpha League, sneaking into the playoffs and pulling off an upset in the finals. My MVP? Baltimore's Defense and...Tyler Thigpen. Anytime you win a championship behind a Coastal Carolina Chanticleer, it calls for a celebration.

20) Praying for Miss Angela. Survey Says: always, no matter what.

21) Tar Heels Football will be pretty good. Survey Says: Correct.

22) So will Virginia Tech football. Survey Says: the sky is blue.

23) Pittsburgh over Dallas in the Super Bowl. Survey Says:...


Four good NFL Playoff matchups this weekend. A quick breakdown of what is to come:
  • San Diego at Pittsburgh: I still like the Steelers, mainly for being at home. The week off helped their health and I like Big Ben to bounce back with a good next three games or so. Plus, in my unpublished picks last week, San Diego was my only miss (I had Indy), so I'm still a little peeved with the Bolts. And oh, I did pick Pittsburgh to win the Super Bowl at the beginning of the season, as seen above, and I'm too stubborn to change my mind now. That O-line worries me, but that defense does not. Whoa.
  • Baltimore at Tennessee: I'll take the home squad here. I really enjoyed watching this Baltimore team all season, especially Ed Reed & Co on the defensive side of the ball. However, I think Tennessee can force Joe Flacco to beat them and I'm not sure he's up to the challenge quite yet. Plus, the Ravens' corners can be beaten (Reed has covered this weakness for them all season). In a game that Baltimore will surely blitz often (both run and pass blitzes), that means a lot of man coverage for the DBs. I see Kerry Collins exploiting that matchup just enough to get a victory for the Titans.
  • Philadelphia at New York Giants: The only upset I am picking - Eagles win. Philly is the worst possible matchup for the Giants. Without Plaxico Buress, the Giants have no wide receiver who requires a safety over the top, freeing up the Eagles to bring heat early and often. However, the Eagles' blitz will not be hunting after Eli Manning exclusively. In their upset of the G-Men earlier this season, the Eagles did a great job run blitzing and keeping the Earth, Wind & Fire combo from running the Giants down the field. A lack of success on first and second down left many third-and-long situations, allowing Philly to bring the heat on Manning and force him into bad throws under duress. As a result, I really think the Giants success in this game depends on their ability to stay out of third-and-long offensively. On the other side of the ball, the Eagles are not going to bother trying to run the ball down New York's throat. Instead, they will use screens, swings, reverses, etc to simulate a running game and force the Giants to respect a "run game" of sorts. Westbrook is just healthy enough to make this work and destroy New York again. Finally, I see DeSean Jackson continuing to have an impact, both on returns and as a deep threat offensively. (Ok, to be honest, New York probably wins this game because everyone is sniffing Philly's jock right now, but I just cannot find a scenario that makes sense matchup-wise. Plus, I want the Panthers playing at home next weekend).
  • Arizona at Carolina: I'll take the Panthers. This really is not a great matchup for Carolina, as the secondary is the worst part of their defense (ahem, Ken Lucas). However, Anquan Boldin is less than 100% and I think having already seen Arizona's passing attack race up and down the field once this year will help motivate and teach the defense. As long as the Panthers take care of the ball and do not come out overhyped, I think they will come out on top.

In other news, there is a BCS Championship Game Thursday night that has drawn some coverage on ESPN this week. Do not confuse this with a National Championship Game, as that would only happen if everyone had a chance to play for the title. The blog entry related to fixing this system is coming very soon, I promise. For now, let's pick the game. I think Florida has had enough time to prepare for the OU offensive attack and can at least slow down Sam Bradford and the Sooners enough to pull this one out. A couple of untimely turnovers by the current Heisman winner will cost the Sooners. I like the Gators 34-24.

The first hater step, the first hater gettin' tossed out