wildcats wrote:I'll talk about it more on Tuesday's semifinal thread, but I want your thoughts on Carolina's NIT run...
It hurts me. A losing season was abducted from me, I feel.
All joking aside, Carolina's run in the NIT has been wonderful for the Heels. I am of the camp that would rather see my team watch the NCAAs from home than play in the NIT, but in the case of UNC, it would have been catastrophic to end the season that way. The team looked dead. There was no team. Roy had lost his players. Blame was being thrown around. They didn't
believe they could win. Deon was locking himself in his closet playing halo because "it's all I have now." The NIT gave UNC new life, and something to prove, I think. With the burden of the regular season to forget behind them, they've had a clean slate to do things over, to mend past mistakes and failures. Winning three in a row is a start, something the Heels hadn't done since before Christmas -- and ingraining in his players that they
can win is the most important thing Roy needed to do to turn things around.
Most importantly, though, this run has bolstered the confidence of John Henson. He's playing really well. He's averaging 11.5 points and has grabbed over 20 rebounds in three NIT games. Some might say, well, it's the NIT, but that doesn't matter. During one six game ACC stretch in January-Feb, Henson scored nine points and grabbed four rebounds. Nine and four. Frankly, at that point, and I think many Carolina fans would agree, he looked like no help. He's proving now that he just needed some more time to adapt to the college game. I'm sure his light frame had a lot to do with his struggling transition, too, but these extra games have given him the confidence that he can play and play well at this level. He looked like a completely different player the other night against UAB. True, he had about four games where he scored in double figures near the end of the year, but these added games are only icing on the cake. Next season, he'll be ready to fly out of the gate. (I hope he goes to the League

).
That's about all the nice things I can muster

. And I'm still reeling from K-States dumbass win from its d-bag coach who I frickin' hate looking at.