If you have a bad heart (like I do) the game that the Heels just played against the Huskies is not for you, or better said, too many like that could be harmful to your health. Not because of the speed that the two squads moved back and forth on the floor, but for the last seconds of the game when John Henson made us shake our heads wondering “why did he just do that”. The good part is the #2 North Carolina beat #7 Washington 86 to 83, and are now on their way to the Sweet Sixteen in Newark. The bad news is that once again we let the opponent get a double digit lead and then clawed back into the game, showing good play at times and not so good others. In the end, as the old saying goes, the Tar Heels survived and now are advancing.
John Henson showed us why he was named ACC’s Defensive Player of the Year, with a great blocked shot with about four minutes to go to start a UNC play that led to a three pointer by Harrison Barnes, or the deflected in bounds pass that took away the chance for UW to score down only one point. But he also made a couple of mistakes that showed us why being at the Big Dance is a whole different enviroment than anywhere else. With about two seconds to go he tried to catch a ball headed out of bounds that would have given UNC the ball with a three point lead. Then, on the ensuing play, the last one of the game, he almost got called for a goaltend. It would not have mattered as the shot was a two pointer and the Heels were up three, but still, that is just something he can ill afford to do going forward.
All the haters and ABC’ers will find a way to give the spin that the Huskies lost this game and the Tar Heels just got lucky. I do not see it this way in that these squad seems to sleep walk through part of the game, seems to make mental mistakes they shouldn’t, but one thing that is seems never to do is give up. Give up on one another or themselves and especially give up as a team. They seem to be working together, working for a common goal and that to me is key for a team that has talent but is still young.
Other Tar Heels to be mentioned in this good win for head coach Williams’ team, who by the way from what @TZarzour tweeted, has been plagued by vertigo since early this morning, are Tyler Zeller with 23 points, Harrison Barnes with 22 and Kendall Marshall with 13 points and 14 assists. I will have much more once I watch the game again, but for now, I think that the one thing I come out of after this game is pretty simple: this team keeps growing and growing, which should be good news for them and not so much for the remainder of the field.
