Tobacco Road Report

By Michael

This game played out in a nearly identical fashion as North Carolina's 79-73 win over Duke on February 7th. Duke stayed in the game early with hustle and second chances on the offensive glass, but the superior depth and talent of the Tar Heels eventually wore the Blue Devils down. Then, with only 14 seconds remaining and the outcome determined, the game was marred by an ugly foul by Gerald Henderson on Tyler Hansbrough.

The first half was quite ugly for Duke fans. With 7:53 remaining before the break, Duke was shooting a paltry 38 percent from the floor while Carolina was stroking it at 67 percent. Duke, however, was able to use 8 offensive rebounds for 9 second chance points in order to keep the deficit at 27-22. If Carolina held the defensive boards during this stretch, it could have become ugly early on.

With the exception of Gerald Henderson, Duke was inept offensively. At the 2:40 mark of the first half Josh McRoberts had logged 2 points, 2 rebounds, and 6 turnovers. He would foul out with only 9 points on seven shots in 36 minutes.

Nelson and Paulus would eventually pick up their games in the second half. Nelson finished with 14 points, but needed 15 shots to get there, and Paulus had 21 points on 3 of 8 from behind the arc.

Paulus' offensive improvement is a welcome sign given his woes during the first half of the season, but as we've noted before, Paulus leading the Blue Devils in scoring is problematic. Nelson and McRoberts should be the offensive focus and when the offense resorts to Paulus shooting long-range three pointers, it's a sign the rest of the offense isn't working.

Part of the reason the Duke offense wasn't clicking was the way the Tar Heels defended the pick and roll up top. The Blue Devils were unable to use their multiple high picks to generate penetration or layups. With Brandon Wright guarding the basket, Carolina can afford to be more aggressive in the passing lanes. Wright had three blocks, including a sweet rejection of a potential Duke dunk, and he altered just as many.

Carolina's most consistent offensive threat (again) was Hansbrough. This was his best outing of the year with 26 points and 17 rebounds -- 9 offensive -- in 30 minutes. Hansbrough is the type of guy you love to have on your team but hate if he's on te opposing team because he never quits.

Think of him as the Danny Ainge of the ACC.

Hansbrough had the Blue Devils so frustrated that Gerald Henderson resorted to a dirty foul with a forearm across the bridge of Hansbrough's nose. I guess that makes Gerald Henderson the Tree Rollins of the ACC. We at TRR aren't buying Billy Packer's diagnosis...Henderson should feel lucky that it will only be one game.

Carolina's offensive spurts in the second half came primarily with Lawson on the floor. This gentleman has been in and out of Roy's dog house lately, apparantly as a result of poor practice habits. What is clear, however, is that how far Carolina goes will be dependent on Lawson's game. He's faster with the dribble than anyone TRR has seen in a long time and his assist to turnover ratio is impressive for such a young talent.

Lawson's ability to create a fast break where none exists is even more important when considering how weak Carolina's three point shooting has been. If Carolina runs up against a team with a front line that can match up with Hansbrough and Wright (e.g. Florida, Kansas), then watch out. Carolina probably has the best chance of anyone in conference to put together six straight in the NCAA Tournament, but that doesn't mean they're without a weakness.