NCAA Tournament Update

We're down to one team left from the ACC in the final 8 of the NCAA Tournament.  Let's start with N.C. State, which had a valiant effort against Kansas but just couldn't get it done in the last minute.  A common theme throughout the Sweet 16 games was the inability of the underdog to score inside.  That plagued Wisconsin, Ohio and N.C. State, and left those teams trying to make a lot of threes to stay in it.  The Wolfpack looked down and out, but managed to scrape back in it in the last few minutes.  It was the inability to execute down the stretch, though, that doomed them.

Down by one, Scott Wood took a quick three that missed, and then C.J. Leslie rushed a drive to the basket.  N.C. State had plenty of time, but seemed a little scattered on that possession.  Believe it or not, they had a good chance still even down by 3 with 2.9 seconds left.  If Richard Howell had been able to see Wood and recognize that he was wide open for the tying three, he should have passed it to Wood instead of throwing up a heave that was not even close.  Still, you have to applaud Mark Gottfried for what he did this year.  Going from a borderline NIT quality team for 5 years to winning two games in the NCAA Tournament is a big jump.

Alright, now let's turn to North Carolina.  Anyone who has the Tar Heels winning it all in their bracket has to feel a little nervous.  The Heels didn't look like nearly the same team they did against Creighton without Kendall Marshall.  They looked lost at times on offense, and even though Stillman White didn't have any turnovers, he was invisible.  Carolina was very close to losing this game.

Paging Harrison Barnes!  Where are you?  Barnes is supposed to be a potential top draft pick in the NBA, and carry the offensive load with Marshall out.  Instead, he went 3-16 and scored 12 points (4 of those at the line).  Barnes has got to step it up if the Tar Heels want to beat Kansas.  The Jayhawks didn't exactly play the best against N.C. State, but they have much more talent than Ohio.  Ohio shot 32% and got out-rebounded by 30 and still got to overtime against the Heels.  That being said, North Carolina still has enough talent to beat Kansas, even without Marshall.  But the other players must play better than they did on Friday to make it to the Final Four.

Finally, a note about Wake Forest.  In the early part of 2009, Wake was the #1 ranked team in the country.  Just three years later, they are a complete mess. Wake has gone through an 8 win and a 13 win season the last two years.  And now, in the last couple days, three players announced they were leaving the program.  That includes two starters: Tony Chennault and Carson Desrosiers.  Chennault was the team's third leading scorer.  Desrosiers was a much needed big man who blocked 1.9 shots per game.  Maybe Jeff Bzdelik knows what he's doing.  But a bad team can't afford to have players leaving left and right.  It could get very ugly very soon in Winston-Salem.