NCAA Basketball Discussion

[Jay-Peso]

Discuss NCAA Basketball here:

Marquette is my favorite team but losing Dwayne Wade is a great loss mainly because he was the center of every thing. But ya know Deiner does not look to bad.. I was not impressed with there first game. The score almost made me pueke.

[PoliceLineDoNotCross]

UNC WINS IN COACH SMITH'S DEBUT

(9) North Carolina 90, Old Dominion 64
(from yahoo.com)

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) -- Shot selection was better, the unselfishness returned and the defense picked up for No. 9 North Carolina in Saturday night's opener.

And it seemed like old times with Roy Williams back on the bench.

The storied program lost a combined 36 games the last two seasons, but the Tar Heels gave their new coach an impressive victory in his debut, beating Old Dominion 90-64 Saturday night.

It all came with former coaches Dean Smith and Bill Guthridge watching as Williams passed muster in his return to his alma mater.

``I told the kids that that was No. 1 and now we talk about this year,'' Williams said. ``We don't talk about the stuff in the past. That will be a lot of fun for me.''

Rashad McCants had 18 points and a career-high eight assists against an Old Dominion team that returned four of its six best players.

ADVERTISEMENT


Sean May, who missed most of last season with a stress fracture in his left foot, was back in form with 17 points, seven rebounds and three blocks as the Tar Heels shot 61 percent.

``Guys weren't trying to do things by themselves tonight and that wasn't always the case last year,'' May said.

Abdi Lidonde led Old Dominion with 15 points.

``Well, everything went according to script,'' ODU coach Blaine Taylor said. ``They're good, Roy's good, a great crowd, a great environment. Their energy was very, very good.''

Williams, who left Kansas this spring after 15 seasons to replace Matt Doherty, was greeted with a standing ovation as entered the Smith Center floor, waving to the crowd several times and his family in the stands.

He also won some points with the student section when he held up a T-shirt that read: ``North Carolina basketball, worth coming home for.'' Williams then threw the autographed shirt into the crowd.

``My first thought as I came out was that I didn't see myself ever walking out of that tunnel as the head coach of North Carolina,'' Williams said.


AP - Nov 22, 10:25 pm EST
More Photos


Then it was down to business for the coach who learned his craft under the Hall of Famer Smith.

The Tar Heels shot the most 3-pointers in the ACC last season, but weren't firing away much from the outside under Williams, who yelled repeatedly from the bench to ``get the ball inside.''

``They are really taking to heart some of the things that Roy is trying to do,'' said Taylor, whose club lost to the Tar Heels 67-59 last year. ``This is quite a good start for them.''

And North Carolina's defensive pressure was evident from the start as Old Dominion (0-1) missed 22 of its first 29 shots, turned it over 11 times and had six shots blocked in the opening 20 minutes to fall into a deep hole.

``We played the way we wanted to defensively,'' McCants said. ``That was big tonight and it will be big all year.''

The Tar Heels received a scare 7 1/2 minutes in when preseason All-American Raymond Felton tumbled to the floor during a drive, clutching his ankle. The point guard limped off, but returned three minutes later and made an acrobatic shot as he was falling and being fouled.

Felton's three-point play was part of a 22-6 run that gave North Carolina a 17-point cushion midway through an opening period in which the Tar Heels shot 59.3 percent.

North Carolina pushed its lead to 22 by the first TV timeout of the second half, after Jawad Williams scored on a pair of layups and May added a hook shot and a fast-break basket.

The coach with the best active winning percentage even got his new team running like some of his Kansas clubs in the second period, using a 18-0 surge to salt it away with 12 minutes left.

``We had a little bit of star-gazing in this setting,'' Taylor said of his young club. ``We watched and soaked up the experience rather than played basketball. Maybe this was more than it was fair to think we could handle at this juncture.''

North Carolina's Rashad McCants saves a loose ball against Old Dominion Saturday, Nov. 22, 2003, at the Smith Center in Chapel Hill, N.C. McCants scored a game-high 18 points as North Carolina won 90-64.

[Fresh8]

CCan somebody tell me about the Saint Peters college...are they a D1 B/ball school? Cause I dopn't know much bout them but they have an awesome scorer....can't remember his name but they call him Kiki CVlark or somethin and he's 5'7 I think...

[air gordon]

anyone here following the march madness? with the exception of the uconn game, i think the elite eight games were the one the best games i've seen all year, including nba

[GloveGuy]

Yeah I'm following. I was 2/4 for my Final Four predictions.

If Georgia Tech and UConn both get the to the Championship Game, then I got that right.

But yes, I've been following a ton this year.

[air gordon]

i got 3/4. damn kentucky hehe..

i haven't really followed college ball this year, just mostly the local teams if any.

and admittedly most of my interest now is because of the gambling involved

but that being said, the last few games have been great. as usual i'm anti duke, anti-billy packer and pro underdog. my pocket says uconn but my heart is for the underdog, G-tech

what about you?

[GloveGuy]

I've got UConn beating GT in the Final game.

I'm also Anti-Duke. Coach K is overrated in my opinion. I can't even count how many McD's AA's they have. Also, I'm a Maryland fan, so I really can't stand Dook.

[air gordon]

i had uconn over kentucky.. damn wildcats killed my brackets

true that about all the talent on the bench. kind of bothers me that the number of illinois prep stars committing to duke is increasing. guess you can't blame the kids though. that duke mystique (and exposure) is hard to decline when you're trying to make it to the pros

i'm not against coack k. he's a frequent guest on local tv/radio sportshows around here. he comes off like a good guy.

i'm more against this lovefest that the broadcasters have for the program and its players. most recently- the 'heroic' chris duhon and his rib. sheesh maybe they should pair him and shane battier up so they cure cancer and other deadly diseases.

but yeh, i very much like to see unconn advance by eliminating the beloved duke program

[GloveGuy]

i'm more against this lovefest that the broadcasters have for the program and its players. most recently- the 'heroic' chris duhon and his rib. sheesh maybe they should pair him and shane battier up so they cure cancer and other deadly diseases.

Yeah Dicky V. and Jay Biased are sometimes painful to listen to as they praise Duke and their program. I'm actually mostly against J.J. Redick. He's just a one-dimensional stoner the way I see it.

[y2k02c5]

Wow, tell us how you really feel about Duke...