Can things get much worse in Chapel Hill?

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/news?slug=ap-ncarolina-davis&prov=ap&type=lgns

Nope.

At least the Tarheel fans have a couple of Championships the past few years, which should make the situation easier to accept.

Man, there is one bubble team (OK they were pretty far out of the tourney imo) gone. No way this team can make it without Davis....despite his poor play recently.

They were NIT-bound anyhow. But certainly this is another added blow to a hurricane of a season in Chapel Hill.

In all seriousness, Roy looks awful. Like death. He's aged 10 years since last April. You can see it in his face. He might want to take a cool down lap in the off-season, or he may be risking health issues. At 59 years of age, he looks 70.

reclegend22 wrote: They were NIT-bound anyhow. But certainly this is another added blow to a hurricane of a season in Chapel Hill.

In all seriousness, Roy looks awful. Like death. He's aged 10 years since last April. You can see it in his face. He might want to take a cool down lap in the off-season, or he may be risking health issues. At 59 years of age, he looks 70.

I couldn't agree more. From last year's FF to now is like night and day. Plus I think he's put on some weight, which is never good for a man of his age.

09 Final Four:


Wednesday night:

As far as Ed being hurt. I hope this time off will help him get his head, that is buried so far up, out of his ass.

I haven't followed UNC much this year, but I do know how badly they are struggling and that Davis already missed a few games this year.

However, I know that Davis was projected as a possible lottery pick prior to this year, does that still hold true?

Unbelievable. I thought it looked kind of bad when it happened, but when there was nothing said about it yesterday, I thought he was good to go. Looks like that's not the case. Hope he can heal up as quickly as possible, but he won't be playing again this season. Davis was still projected as a lottery pick before this injury, and I'm not sure if that will hurt his status. Since his ankle injury a few weeks ago, he hasn't played very well, mainly because he was playing hurt. Couple that with the fact that he doesn't have any court time to showcase his talent the rest of the year, and that may mean that his stock will fall. Davis passed up being a lottery pick last year at the advice of his father, a former NBA player, so it wasn't a lock that he was leaving after this season anyway. With the injury, I would think the chances that he's back in Chapel Hill next year have increased even more.

That said, I'm not so sure Davis isn't unhappy. He seems to be moping around a good bit lately and I'm not sure what the problem is. He has a laid back demeanor about him normally, but it seems like something else has been going on. I know he's taking a lot of heat from Carolina "fans" in the Chapel Hill area, not just for his inconsistent play, but also for his lack of emotion and energy on the floor. I've been critical of his physicality, and rightfully so, but the other criticism that he's taking ("Ed doesn't care about this season, Ed has checked out mentally, Ed seems to be creating chemistry problems for the team") may end up forcing him to the NBA anyway. Personally, I hope that's not the case and he returns to the Hill next year to make things right.

This Carolina team has been awful since the mid-point of the season, and even without injuries, they're just not that good. However, the toll that these injuries have taken makes things even worse. Davis, Zeller, Ginyard, Graves, Watts, T. Wear, and McDonald have all missed games due to injury and Larry Drew II is playing with a hand injury right now. It appears that this already average basketball team is also cursed because they have been bitten by the injury bug in a major way all season. Now, a team that was most likely out of the NCAA Tournament anyway, might not even make the NIT with Davis, Zeller, and TWear sitting on the bench, while the rest of the guys stink it up on the court. This season just needs to end.

Also, Roy definitely looks bad. The shoulder surgery near the beginning of the season really took a lot out of him, in my opinion. He wasn't able to rest well while recovering from that, and now the team is awful, which is bothering him even more. He recently said that he rarely gets more than three or four hours of sleep each night because he's constantly thinking about what he can do to help this team. The worries and the physical ailments have definitely taken a toll on him. As mentioned above, he needs to take it easy for a while after the season, refuel, and come back with a vengeance next season. As it stands, he's looking really bad and health problems could be a major issue if he continues on in his current state.

And the news keeps coming.

As enjoyable as this Carolina season has been for me, I wish all of the Heels a quick recovery. I want to see you guys back and ready to go in Cameron on March 6 and, possibly, in the ACC Tournament. This is the best rivalry in basketball at any level no matter what, but it's the best in sports when both teams are playing at their best. I'd like to see a regrouped pack of Heels next time 'round.

Injuries really suck. If I feel for Carolina in any shape or form, this would be it.

Even if Zeller and Travis Wear are healthy on March 6th, it's not gonna matter. Duke is going to throttle Carolina at Cameron. I would say that I hope the two teams meet on a neutral court in Greensboro the week after that, but I don't think I can handle three losses in one season at the hands of the Dukies and K. The best I can hope for, unfortunately, is that Davis returns to Carolina, this year's young guys are much better next season, and the incoming class actually lives up to its billing. Then this rivalry will be what it truly should be. Pretty crazy how quickly things have changed.

Roy definitely should have let the shoulder surgery sideline him for the season and let Steve Robinson take the losses...

RiverRat13 wrote: Roy definitely should have let the shoulder surgery sideline him for the season and let Steve Robinson take the losses...

LOL. What kind of coach would do something like that?

Note to Duke fans: I know, you don't have to give me the speech.

RiverRat13 wrote:Roy definitely should have let the shoulder surgery sideline him for the season and let Steve Robinson take the losses...

ironman02 wrote:LOL. What kind of coach would do something like that? Note to Duke fans: I know, you don't have to give me the speech.

Haha, I was about ready to. And I think I still should (for the rest of those who might get the wrong idea).

Seriously, though (and I know how redundant I sound here, so ignore if you must), Coach K was extremely ill, and had to be hospitalized and forced out of his post as Duke head coach by both his wife and medical professionals who believed K was risking his life by continuing to coach and not seek help. This is widely documented. On the flight back from the Rainbow Classic in Hawaii that season, he had to lay flat in the aisle for the entire 10-hour flight the pain was so fierce, and wasn't able to eat for days during the trip. He was very sick. All of this ultimately contributed to his stepping aside for the remainder of the 1994-95 season.

Surely no one would suggest a man who graduated with high honor from West Point would walk out on his team because of a few losses? To think this (and I'm not indicting you, iron) is to be incredibly misguided.

As for the stuff I wrote about the rivalry, if Carolina is at full capacity (which looks to be impossible now) for the March 6 meeting in Cameron, you can rest assured I'll be worrying about the outcome. As we saw the other night, this rivalry can produce emotion that is unexplainable and otherworldly, if even for a fleeting moment. But you never know.

Yes, we'll probably paste you guys again (and hopefully this time eliminate your NIT aspirations), but I still wish Carolina players speedy recoveries. That was the only real intention of my original post.

tl; dr

Good luck getting bounced by the Sweet 16 (again).

In all honesty, even though Roy would take tons of heat, and he won't do it, he should consider taking the rest of the season off to rest.

Urban Meyer hinted at doing so but didn't. Coach Williams must know his physical limitations and if he is scraping the threshold he needs to dial back. If the season is indeed lost he should consider his future.

If he decided to take the time off and Carolina lost every game the rest of the way, I would expect Dick Baddour to expunge those losses from his record. Alleva initiated the same thing at Duke for Coach K, it isn't as big a deal as some are making it. Robinson is capable, imagine if he took control and they won the ACC tournament and found a way to get into the Final Four? Do you think Coach Williams would get credit for those victories?

This is widely documented

I can only guess that Vince Carter and perhaps other recruits were not aware of the documentation. Apparently,they were also not aware that Coach K was dealing with a life threatening situation.


Coach K somehow mustered enough strength to entertain high school recruits - in his home no less - for future seasons. For example, he had Vince Carter over for a January visit, nine days after he advised his players of his need to sign off for health reasons. The punch line later came from Carter himself. Shortly after that visit, Carter was quoted in an SI article on Duke, (published well before Carter chose UNC over Duke by the way). 'He was up and about,' said Carter, 'He didn't seem like a guy who has had all these back problems.'

LTrain23 wrote:Good luck getting bounced by the Sweet 16 (again).

Now I'm down in Tribeca.
Right next to DeNiro
But I'll be hood forever
I'm the New Sinatra
And since I made it here
I can make it everywhere
(Yeah they love me everywhere)
Right there off Broadway
Playing courtside
Knicks and Nets give me high-5

New York!!! Concrete jungles where dreams are made of,
There's nothing you can't do,
Now you're in New York!!!
These lights will in inspire you,
Let's hear it for New York, New York, New York

The past doesn't seem to matter as much when you're eyeing a third non-NCAA/NIT appearance in the last nine years at a program like North Carolina. Three in nine years. That, my friend, is beyond defensible. Sure Billy Donovan can get away with it. It's Florida. But for Roy to let this happen at Carolina, a year after winning the title, oh, oh my, as Dick Enberg might say.

New York!!! Concrete jungles where dreams are made of,
There's nothing you can't do,
Now you're in New York!!!
These lights will in inspire you,
Let's hear it for New York, New York, New York

I will take 2 national championships in 5 years over the numerous 2nd rounds exits duke has made in the last 9 years

Even though I crave for championships, I will take winning consistently, both nationally and in conference, year in and year out over missing the NCAAs three times (twice missing the NIT -- likely to happen this year), including an 8-win season, three different campaigns in a nine year stretch. That's embarrassing for one of the Super Six schools, especially for such a great coach like ol' Roy -- the "best there is."

And Duke has missed the Sweet 16 only twice since 1998. I'll take that over three non-NCAAs/non-NITs since 2002. Again, embarrassing.

so you would take sweet 16 berths over national championships? The expectations have fallen that far at Duke?

No, that's not what I said. But there is also something to be said of consistency. And not making the NCAA once, and the NIT twice, in nine seasons is not cutting it. Duke won a title and reached another Final Four during that same nine-year Carolina stretch. It's not like we've fallen that far. Give me a break.

But to answer your question, no, I don't want to be missing the NCAA tournament almost 35% of the time over the last 10 years.