- An early arrival with tarheelpwin in tow. Woody and the Tar Heel Sports Network team are all in place. First Erin Andrews sighting, along with your favorite Dookie and mine, Jay Bilas. Erin > Jay.
- Tyler Hansbrough is famous for an extensive pre-game stretching routine. However, on this night, he nearly lost his life when he decided to lay outside the Carolina locker room for said stretching routine. A wayward employee was walking to the press room, turned around to glance back at Danny Green, and almost fell over a sprawled-out Psycho T. Lucky for Tyler, I'm quick like a cat and avoided him.
- Unlike Duke, Carolina does no such crazy tandem stretching or military-like pregame routine. Each player is focused in his own world for the most part. William Graves did manage to swish three straight baseline three-pointers standing about two feet out of bounds on the right side of the basket. I guess that's his spot...too bad it is indeed out of bounds and thus, useless in a game.
- JB Tanner is known within the Tar Heels community for his pre-game shooting displays, but it is really sick in person. The kid just rains three ball after three ball, none as much as touching the rim.
- The mosh pit in the hallway is hype. I did not make it to the Smith Center this year to see it on the videoboard, but it is still fun.
- It is fun to hear everyone boo the Heels on the road. They do not look tight at all, a good sign early.
- One thing that is in stark contrast to Duke is the size of the Carolina players. Everyone on this team is filled out and cut. Frasor is much thicker in person than I remember two years ago and Ty Lawson's calves are the size of my quads (not saying much, but still). What is odd is that Hansbrough is not beefy looking at all, very trim; however, his core strength was only display multiple times on this night as he powered through the Hokies defense.
- During the game itself, the Carolina bench is very much into the game. Pointing on assists, cheering on defensive effort, checking out dancers...
- Contrary to popular perception, Coach Williams may engage the officials as much or more than Coach K. Roy is similar in that he does not typically just scream at them, instead choosing to have one-on-one heated discussions. Maybe it is just because of their reputations and place among the nation's great coaches, but it does seem to me that both Coach K and Coach Roy are given the chance for interaction with officials more so than others. Of course, there are some coaches who just scream and yell and stomp and kick just to put on a show...not naming any names.
- Ed Davis is phenomenal. In this game, he probably made at least five plays that will not show up in a stat sheet, but made a difference for the Heels: a tipped ball here, an altered-shot there. He is athletic, but not out-of-this-world. However, he is definitely a coach's kid, as evidenced by his seemingly innate ability to make smart basketball plays and his understanding of the game. Love this guy.
- Tyler Zeller did not play a great deal, and frankly looked rough in his brief stint. However, he is definitely a legit 7-0 and is fast from end to end. Once he gets back into the flow of the game and slides his feet better, I think he can log some good minutes.
- From our courtside table, I have a wonderful vantage point for checking out the visiting team's shoes. The Heels are well-stocked with Air Jordans, my personal brand of choice. Quite partial to Bobby Frasor and Tyler Zeller's choice of the Team Jordans with the interlocking "NC" on the outer heel.
- After a scrum early in the second half, Davis grabbed an offensive rebound, gathered it in, and rose for a tremendous two-hand stuff. In his excitement, one of the Blue Teamers threw his gum in the air over his shoulder. It landed behind the bench on the front row of the Carolina seats, much to the amusement/dismay of the fans there.
- Speaking of which, one of the Carolina fans was an African-American gentleman roughly the size of my house. Seriously, this guy was easily 6-3, 300 muscular pounds and stood cheering after every made basket. Very nice guy, though I do not know which player(s) he belonged to. Maybe a father, maybe an uncle, not sure.
- Though this game was close off and on, it never felt like the Hokies had a chance to turn the corner. Carolina got in the lane (specifically Ty Lawson) at will, whereas VT had to work like crazy for everything they got. In the end, the Heels are just more talented and were able to win playing at about 85% focus/effort. I don't particularly have a problem with that honestly, as long as they recognize that the time to play at 100% focus/effort begins on March 19th.
- After the game, I made my way to the media room to listen to Coach Williams. I was joined by Dick Baddour, the athletics director at Carolina, who sat drinking Gatorade while Roy talked about how fortunate we were to win, etc. Roy was very calm and poised after the game, even taking the time to share a joke with Baddour and SID Steve Kirschner. How refreshing.
Though there are differences in how they approach things, both Duke and Carolina are highly successful programs. This level of success just serves as further motivation for the both program, each pushing the other along. It was fun to see both of them in person, especially one after the other. Of course, it was also fun to watch them battle it out last Sunday and prove just which blue is better. Duuuuh.
General thoughts on college hoops & my bracket prognostication are coming this weekend. Next week, we'll have picks, a Five to Thrive, and the steps Carolina has to take in order to secure a national championship. Until then...happy 311 Day.
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