I must admit, in all my years of watching basketball, I don't recall a team that was as fun to watch as this team, regardless of what uniform the team wore. These guys could beat you outside and/or beat you inside. You really didn't want to get out of your chair when watching this team, you never know when they could score 10 pts in 45 seconds. They've done it before. More than once.
Three of the five starters were legitimate 20 point threats. Danny Green was not to be ignored either, as a 15 point threat. Thompson started, but he and Davis teamed up to man the 4 spot exceptionally.
But, contrary to what the world has been told, this wasn't just an offense only type team. I realize this team won't go down in history as the best defensive team in the world, but they could play defense better than the media gave them credit for (did you watch them in the tourney?). Plus, call me a homer, and I'm probably going to get ridiculed for saying this, but I really think if Marcus Ginyard, the Heels' best defensive player, played this year we'd be talking about an undefeated season **GASP** But we'll never know so I guess we'll just leave it at that.
It was a fantastic run for Psycho T's senior class, as they went deeper into the tourney each year. This year, it was tournament dominance at it's finest. Every win was by 12 or more points. Of the 240 minutes played in the tournament, the Heels had the lower score for only 9 total minutes, 6-7 of those minutes belong to LSU.
Many excuses were handed out towards this team. Hansbrough's "regression" from last year, Lawson's toe, a handful of injuries in December-January, and don't get me wrong, some of those were huge issues, but in the end, this team was special. This team stood out. This team was the last standing.
I'm looking forward to the defense of the title. Ginyard will be back, taking a medical redshirt this past year. I have high expectations for Zeller and Davis. Zeller, the big 7 footer, probably won't be as dominate as Hansbrough, but plays a similar style as Psycho T does. He's good on the boards and has great touch around the rim. Davis, at times, I felt like should be starting over Deon Thompson. But who am I to second guess coach Roy? I can't wait to see Davis when he is getting more minutes next year. Joining them in the post next season will be 5 star recruit John Henson, the 6-10/200 pounder that averages 24 points a game in High school. 6-10, 200 pounds! I don't know what it is, but those long, skinny players are always exciting to watch.
Dexter Strickland is a 5 star guard we have coming in. He's labeled as a good scorer who can play the 2 guard. His noted strength is his ability to drive to the rack under heavy amounts of traffic. It's always nice to have someone on the court who isn't afraid of traffic. Pulling up and hitting a jumper is often an effective way of scoring, but you have to make sure that that doesn't translate into laziness, which would be a huge problem on the offensive side of the ball.
Leslie McDonald isn't rated as high as Strickland, but he is a multi-positional guard who can play the 2, or the point. Roy will possibly redshirt McDonald, but that is just a guess.
These guards will have to share time with Ginyard (assuming Ginyard isn't playing the 3. He'll probably play wherever he needs to be to matchup with the opponents best offensive player) and also have to split time with Larry Drew II and Justin Watts. Drew II is a good distributing point guard. I predict he'll be an All-American at some point down the road. I rally don't know what to think about Justin Watts (besides that he is heavier than John Henson, while being 5 inches shorter). There were a few games when Watts got 10 minutes of playing time, in one game he scored 9 points in 11 minutes. But, even though he only gets garbage minutes, he has a lot of turnovers. On the season he has 9 turnovers, 5 assists and that is unacceptable. Most likely, I'd say, many of these newly recruited freshmen guards will start out ahead of him on the depth chart. Watts might be looking at having a career full of garbage minutes. We'll see what happens though.
Last, but definitely not least, come the twins. David and Travis Wear, both listed at 6-9/225. They come from the other side of the country, California...turning down a scholarship from most PAC-10 schools to play for the Heels. Travis is kind of like a Robert Horry/Jawad Williams player - he's good inside but you have to cover him outside too, he's got a good perimeter shot. David is the same type of player, but his range isn't quite as deep as his brother's. Good, but not as good. David is probably the better defender though. We'll probably see these guys playing the 3, maybe shifting to the 4 occasionally.
But the one I'm most excited about won't come this year, but next year. We have coming in Reggie Bullock, one of the best high school guards and best high school shooters in the class of 2010. Two years from now, this squad is gonna look exceptional.
Congrats to a great season!
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