North Carolina Writer Rips Vols and SEC

#2
#2
good stuff. he based the ACC's strength on UNC's and Duke's OOC victories. KY beat a vaunted KY team in Lexington and Duke beat Wisconsin.

Said UT could not beat Clemson because Clemson is much quicker.

Used the Vandy game to point out that, aside from Lofton, UT can't shoot. He also disliked that we lost by 19 to TX.

Clearly solid analysis. Using Vandy game as the measure of UT and talking about our barely beating OSU at home and UNC "thumping" them away. That was the entire volume of analysis.

Nothing about UT beating Memphis away nor any mention of any other big wins. Hasn't mentioned any change from the TX game. Never mentioned any other shooters on our team or the rebounding advantage we've enjoyed for quite some time now.

But, all of that aside, what he failed miserably in mentioning is that Duke and UNC have seen some soft schedules, neither plays any D, Duke is athletically challenged in a big way, UNC needs officiating help and Ellington to shoot it well, Duke has been beaten recently by two sorry squads and Duke ripped UNC in UNC's house.

All in all, the author has no business in a basketball debate of any kind.
 
#4
#4
that kinda stuff just pisses me off. We played a tough schedule leading up to Ohio State, and still had enough in the tank to beat them. And does he really think that Clemson would beat us? Wow. Tell this guy to take down his coach k and roy williams posters in his room!
 
#5
#5
And he must have missed the duke v miami game.
Or when unranked Maryland dominated his beloved tarheels.
 
#6
#6
good stuff. he based the ACC's strength on UNC's and Duke's OOC victories. KY beat a vaunted KY team in Lexington and Duke beat Wisconsin.

Said UT could not beat Clemson because Clemson is much quicker.

Used the Vandy game to point out that, aside from Lofton, UT can't shoot. He also disliked that we lost by 19 to TX.

Clearly solid analysis. Using Vandy game as the measure of UT and talking about our barely beating OSU at home and UNC "thumping" them away. That was the entire volume of analysis.

Nothing about UT beating Memphis away nor any mention of any other big wins. Hasn't mentioned any change from the TX game. Never mentioned any other shooters on our team or the rebounding advantage we've enjoyed for quite some time now.

But, all of that aside, what he failed miserably in mentioning is that Duke and UNC have seen some soft schedules, neither plays any D, Duke is athletically challenged in a big way, UNC needs officiating help and Ellington to shoot it well, Duke has been beaten recently by two sorry squads and Duke ripped UNC in UNC's house.

All in all, the author has no business in a basketball debate of any kind.

Not sure I would've bothered to break down this goober's argument, but nicely done BPV...
 
#7
#7
The article could have been about any #1 team in the land, and I still would have found it an affront to sports journalism.

50 people on this board could have made a better case for UNC and Duke than this guy made. Every single one of us could have made a better case for UT. Just weakly written drivel by a lazy and ignorant hack.
 
#8
#8
Get used to it people. Now that we are a big boy were going to be taking the criticism. Apathy regarding our b-ball program is a thing of the past.

Bring on UNC or Duke. We've shown that we will play anyone, anywhere at any time based on our OOC schedule. And we win most of them.
 
#9
#9
UNC beat tosu by double digits while tenn barely beat them.

What a great basis for an argument.
 
#10
#10
Whether we are a 1 or 2 seed, I hope like heck that we are on the opposite end of the bracket from UNC or Duke. The others we might expect there are drastically better teams.

Any buffoon who decides, based upon the Vandy game, that we only have one shooter needs to be removed from position which includes opining upon basketball games.
 
#11
#11
The guy almost openly admits to never watching this team other than the Vandy game. If someone had never watched us and watched the Vandy game...he might have solid conclusions. It's too bad there is more than 1 game a year.
 
#12
#12
Quick stats for the year

* UNC guards (Lawson, Ellington, Green, Thomas) vs UT guards (Lofton, J Smith, R Smith, Prince, Howell)

UNC FG% - 48.1% UT FG% - 42.7%
UNC 3PT% - 38.2% UT 3PT% - 41.1%


* UNC forwards (Hansbrough, Ginyard, Thompson, Stephenson) vs UT Fowards (T Smith, Chism, Crews, Williams)

UNC FG% - 53.9% UT FG% - 52.8%


* Rebound avg per game (all players listed)
UNC - 38.9 UT - 35.6

I don't see that huge of a difference. I'll give the guy FT%, but his assessment is wrong in all other areas.
 
#13
#13
The article could have been about any #1 team in the land, and I still would have found it an affront to sports journalism.

50 people on this board could have made a better case for UNC and Duke than this guy made. Every single one of us could have made a better case for UT. Just weakly written drivel by a lazy and ignorant hack.

:yes:
 
#14
#14
This is no different than if UNC or Duke rose to be the #1 ranking in football in 3 years. SEC fans' worlds would be thrown upside down - "we're the football conference, not them." The natural reaction is to look for faults that show it's an aberration. But saying Duke is better b/c they beat Wisconsin by a large margin, at home, without Wisconsin's best guard, in January, is not in the same universe as a compelling argument.

I love living in an area where basketball matters. But many folks here, like Mr. Holliday, believe the college basketball world only exists within a 20 mile radius.
 
#16
#16
This is no different than if UNC or Duke rose to be the #1 ranking in football in 3 years. SEC fans' worlds would be thrown upside down - "we're the football conference, not them." The natural reaction is to look for faults that show it's an aberration. But saying Duke is better b/c they beat Wisconsin by a large margin, at home, without Wisconsin's best guard, in January, is not in the same universe as a compelling argument.

I love living in an area where basketball matters. But many folks here, like Mr. Holliday, believe the college basketball world only exists within a 20 mile radius.


I agree with you on this one. But you also have to look at that he said UNC beat OSU by a bigger margin than Tenn, that UNC is better, is a normal reaction in any sport. My boss thinks Purdue is better because they beat OSU by a bigger margin, he is a Purdue alumni, but even though it is a bad argument, I see it being common.
 
#17
#17
One point worth noting is that, unlike folks like Adams, NC sports writers are okay with writing positive stories about their state's teams. It even seems logical that emotional biases would favor, and not oppose, one's home team.
 
#18
#18
How many road wins do UNC and Duke have this season?

Duke has beaten two ranked teams away from home: Marquette, in the first weekend of the season, in Hawaii, and at North Carolina, without Lawson.

UNC won at Clemson when Clemson was ranked.

That's it for both teams.

UT has won at Xavier and at Memphis, who are both currently ranked. We also beat Gonzaga when they were ranked and Mississippi State when they were ranked.
 
#19
#19
How many road wins do UNC and Duke have this season?

Duke has beaten two ranked teams away from home: Marquette, in the first weekend of the season, in Hawaii, and at North Carolina, without Lawson.

UNC won at Clemson when Clemson was ranked.

That's it for both teams.

UT has won at Xavier and at Memphis, who are both currently ranked. We also beat Gonzaga when they were ranked and Mississippi State when they were ranked.


They (UT, Duke, UNC) all have good teams and are thus all ranked accordingly. Duke's win over UNC was impressive. If they do it after Lawson returns, that would be as impressive as UT's win at Memphis.

Also, part of this guy's argument is that the rankings are not accurate. To use rankings subsequently as evidence of superiority somewhat misses the point. That's why I think he focused on common opponents. But really... who knows? That's why they have a playoff in basketball.

Whoever wins that, wins the debate.
 
#21
#21
Seriously, everyone covered all of the flaws already, but 3 paragraphs about the bottom line?

This guy needs to figure out a better way to keep us interested.
 
#22
#22
good stuff. he based the ACC's strength on UNC's and Duke's OOC victories. KY beat a vaunted KY team in Lexington and Duke beat Wisconsin.

Said UT could not beat Clemson because Clemson is much quicker.

Used the Vandy game to point out that, aside from Lofton, UT can't shoot. He also disliked that we lost by 19 to TX.

Clearly solid analysis. Using Vandy game as the measure of UT and talking about our barely beating OSU at home and UNC "thumping" them away. That was the entire volume of analysis.

Nothing about UT beating Memphis away nor any mention of any other big wins. Hasn't mentioned any change from the TX game. Never mentioned any other shooters on our team or the rebounding advantage we've enjoyed for quite some time now.

But, all of that aside, what he failed miserably in mentioning is that Duke and UNC have seen some soft schedules, neither plays any D, Duke is athletically challenged in a big way, UNC needs officiating help and Ellington to shoot it well, Duke has been beaten recently by two sorry squads and Duke ripped UNC in UNC's house.

All in all, the author has no business in a basketball debate of any kind.

Good response,you should go post it in the comments section of that article.
 
#23
#23
We'll get respect when we go deep in SEC and NCAA tournaments. The only way to shut this guy up is to win. I think the conference strength debate will be settled by how many teams from each conference make the sweet 16. In the last three years, here is the breakdown between SEC and ACC (2007 3-1 SEC, 2006 2-1 SEC, 2005 3-1 ACC). So in the last three years, its 6-5 SEC over ACC. And I'd say that we'll be equal or greater this year with teams in the Sweet 16. This is just general resentment from ACC land that they are no longer the dominant basketball conference - not saying the SEC is - but there is at least debate. No other team in NCAA can match Tennessee's resume for big wins (with the possible exception of Texas).
 
#24
#24
We'll get respect when we go deep in SEC and NCAA tournaments. The only way to shut this guy up is to win..

A TV sporstcaster from Raleigh.... If he writes about us every day for the rest of his time at that lofty perch, I will have been concerned about it not one second longer than I already have.

Calling local TV sportcasters journalists is an incredible hit and miss proposition...
 
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