Tar Heel Times

Hoops still comes down to North Carolina and Duke

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 09:25:00 -0400

Roy Williams has a new book out, and the Dean Dome has a glitzy new light show. The spoils of victory are sometimes hard to figure. Duke has a renewed interest in recruiting, thus college basketball has a renewed interest in Duke. State's heralded freshman class has arrived without some potential baggage, and that's probably a good thing. Wake's hoping it got better in the offseason despite losing two players to the NBA.

Talk of shorter hoops season circulating

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 09:22:00 -0400

The Men's Basketball Enhancement Group wants the NCAA to shorten the rigors of the basketball season by eliminating a regular-season game. But Mike Krzyzewski and Roy Williams, rival coaches at Duke and North Carolina, may have a better idea: Just push back the start date. "I would not be against - and in fact, would favor - starting practice Nov. 1, and not playing the first game until the Friday after Thanksgiving," said Williams.

Tar Heels have tough act to follow

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 01:39:00 -0400

It's never an easy thing, this whole "defending champs" role. There's that pressure to uphold an elevated standard mixed with the reality that no accomplishment can trump what was achieved the year before. Ten teams from Tobacco Road have won NCAA championships. Yet only the 1991-92 Duke Blue Devils were able to return to the Final Four the following year. So just what can this year's Tar Heels expect?

Tar Heels rock out during exhibition

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:48:00 -0400

North Carolina unveiled its new player introductions Friday night. They came complete with loud music, a video featuring former greats and spotlights illuminating the Tar Heels as the Smith Center was plunged into darkness. It proved to be the most rocking moment of the night as the Tar Heels authored a steady, no-frills effort before turning out the lights on Division II Belmont Abbey 107-59 in an exhibition game.

Heels Roll in Exhibition Victory

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:45:00 -0400

Preseason prognostications for No. 4 North Carolina have centered around the program’s immense talent and depth in the frontcourt, and the Tar Heels further cemented those beliefs in Friday’s 107-59 exhibition victory over Belmont Abbey behind Deon Thompson’s 23 points and eight rebounds. If you were looking for lean, athletic length on Friday night, the Dean E. Smith Center was the place to find it.

UNC-Belmont Abbey: Postgame Quotes + Audio

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:45:00 -0400

"The biggest area of concern, like we did in our scrimmage against Vanderbilt, we turned the ball over way too many times. I like that we got 12 players at least 13 minutes, that was the goal going in, to give a lot of guys the chance to run out there in front of the crowd to hopefully lose some of that nervousness by the time we play on Monday night."

Heels, Thompson topple Belmont Abbey in exhibition

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:41:00 -0400

Senior Deon Thompson has recorded only two 20-plus point games in his North Carolina career. Judging by the Tar Heels' 107-59 exhibition victory over Belmont Abbey on Friday night, he's poised to post quite a few more. Thompson, who spent the last two seasons starting in all-everything Tyler Hansbrough's shadow, scored 23 points on 11-for-12 shooting at the Smith Center.

Belmont Abbey post-game quotes

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:39:00 -0400

"This would be a team that you'd like to have a few more days practice with. Yesterday was our 16th practice and we're playing a game Monday night. We've got two seniors and one junior and the rest are freshmen and sophomores. Even Tyler Zeller said in the locker room he felt like a freshman again. It is what it is, and we've got to make due with that. We're going to come in tomorrow and work on a few things."

Tar Heels Down Belmont Abbey 107-59 In Exhibition

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:39:00 -0400

Deon Thompson had 23 points and eight rebounds to help No. 6 North Carolina beat Belmont Abbey 107-59 on Friday night in its only exhibition game of the 2009-10 season. Thompson hit 11 of 12 field goal attempts in 17 minutes of action. Tyler Zeller scored 17 points for the defending national champions, while Ed Davis added 13 points, six rebounds and four blocks

Heels' block party

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:35:00 -0400

Earlier in the week, Roy Williams called the Tar Heels' performance in a closed scrimmage at Vanderbilt on Sunday "yucky." Five days later, it was a different story. UNC, the reigning national champions, dominated on both sides of the ball to rout Division II Belmont Abbey 107-59 at the Smith Center on Friday. It was the Tar Heels' final scrimmage before their regular season-opener against Florida International on Monday (7 p.m., ESPNU).

Tar Heels Hold Recent Edge On Rival Blue Devils

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:28:00 -0400

For years, everything Duke and North Carolina achieved - the conference championships, Final Four trips and national titles - has been connected in a back-and-forth game of one-upmanship. These days the Tar Heels have the upper hand. Since shortly after Roy Williams returned to his alma mater, the Tar Heels have outperformed Mike Krzyzewski’s Blue Devils in the long-running race between college basketball’s fiercest rivals.

Quick facts: North Carolina

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 13:37:00 -0400

The odd reality of North Carolina's season is that this group might have more pure NBA-type talent than the one that just won the NCAA championship. None of last year's Heels went higher than 13th in the draft; it appears likely forwards Ed Davis and John Henson will beat that when their time comes. Backup center Tyler Zeller might, as well. So the Heels are not starting over in the strictest sense.

College basketball countdown: No. 4 North Carolina

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 13:33:00 -0400

By now, everybody knows the selling points the North Carolina program throws out at prospects: tradition, exposure and NBA pedigree. What's especially intriguing about the recent past is not simply the quality of players but the quantity therein. It's why the Tar Heels lost more than any other ACC program after last year's dominant NCAA championship season but remain unchallenged atop the league.

Book shows UNC coach knows, learns from his emotions

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:42:00 -0400

If we didn't know it already (we've seen Roy cry on TV), his new book, "Hard Work: A Life On and Off the Court" (Algonquin, $24.95) due in local bookstores today, makes it plain that Ol' Roy recognizes a feeling when it hits him. He even teared up the first couple of times he proofread his autobiography.

Williams to sign books in Asheville

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:40:00 -0400

North Carolina basketball coach Roy Williams will be in Asheville on Dec. 13 to sign copies of his book “Hard Work: A Life On and Off the Court,” but he will only sign books purchased from Malaprop's Bookstore/Café on Haywood Street in downtown Asheville. Williams will be at the Justice Center on the UNC Asheville campus from 1:30-2:30 p.m. to sign books.

Belmont Abbey faces tall task vs. Tar Heels

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 01:13:00 -0400

Rarely will Belmont Abbey College face longer odds in an athletic sporting event than Friday night when the Crusaders basketball team plays defending national champion North Carolina in a 7:30 p.m. exhibition game at the Dean Smith Center. But the Abbey also rarely gets the chance to be on the national radar like it will be in Friday’s warm-up game for both teams. “We feel it’s a tremendous opportunity for us,” said Belmont Abbey coach Stephen Miss.

Heels need Lawson-esque performance from Larry Drew

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 01:11:00 -0400

The first coming of Larry Drew II hardly stirred any Roman Colosseum dust. He was a bit player on the largest stage, a point-guard understudy to the maddeningly unique Ty Lawson. If Lawson seemed larger than life -- right down to a sore big toe further inflated by his father's old-time remedy of warm salt water -- Drew seemed smaller than the fine print on North Carolina's NCAA trophy. No more.

Roy Williams reveals more than expected in book

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 01:10:00 -0400

Roy Williams said he opened up more than he expected he would about his personal life in a recently published autobiography. “I shared some things I never thought I would share,” he said Thursday. “Some of that was very difficult.” The 288-page hardcover book, which is written with former Sports Illustrated writer Tim Crothers (a UNC instructor), is called “Hard Work: My Life On and Off the Court.” It was released this week.

Question Marks Hanging Around

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 01:08:00 -0400

There were obvious questions surrounding No. 4 UNC’s backcourt entering the ’09-’10 season, but the situation became real when news of a lackluster performance leaked from the program’s secret scrimmage against Vanderbilt last Sunday. “We just didn’t play well at all,” UNC coach Roy Williams told reporters. “We were just ugly. We were just yucky. I’m saying the good words. And since then, we’ve gotten a lot better."

Roy Williams takes another new group of Tar Heels in search of a crown

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 01:05:00 -0400

A fifth NCAA Tournament championship banner hangs in North Carolina's Smith Center, the spoils of four years of determination, hard work and personal suffering. Six players instrumental in last season's title run are gone, four swept away in June's NBA Draft. Coach Roy Williams will craft another team, built on holdovers from last season and a freshman class rated among the nation's best. Williams has dealt with change before.