NC Pro Am Highlights July 13, 2011

Tuesday night's matchup of Wall vs. Hodges got told by a lot of folks one sided. At Bull City we told both sides of the story. We gave Julius his props as he held his own against one of the premier point guards in the country. Hodges did his thing but Wall did get the slight edge as his team won and he hit the big jumpshot to ice the game. 

The games were hot and heavy Wednesday night as well. Wednesday brought us four games instead of the usual three so the gym was packed early.

6:00 PM 20/20 vs. CEO Munny

This game started and it appeared that it was going to be completely one sided. CEO Munny is one of the few teams without a lot of star power. However it doesn't keep them from going hard. The game started close as 20/20 found it's way to the basket time after time. 20/20 was led by top UNC recruit James McAdoo as he looked virtually unstoppable. McAdoo made his way to the hole pretty much at will and he showed some pretty tough defense as well. 20/20 also had a strong offensive game from Charles "Sticks" Futrell. Sticks showed some athletic ability and a midrange game that is better than advertised. Defensively he always does a great job on big assignments but todays defensive anchor was UNCW big man Jeremy "Noodles" Harn. Harn had several blocks and made life difficult for CEO Munny around the basket. 

James Zimmerman wasn't his usual self as he made several sweet assists, but his offensive jumpshot wasn't typical of what he does to his foes on most nights.

20/20 erupted for 20 unanswered to win by 22 points.

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NC Pro Am Recap: July 7, 2011

7:00 PM Triangle G vs. Next Level Custom

This game started a little one sided as the Triangle G team got out to an early lead. The starting five of Jerry Stackhouse, John Henson, Harrison Barnes, P.J. Hairston, and Ervon Pritchett took the floor and they began to dominate from the start. It was obvious that they had the most talent but they were put to the test as Johnson began to establish his dominance as the premier player on the floor for Next Level Custom. He started with an explosive dunk on the young P.J. Harrison. The then began to exploit John Henson and Harrison Barnes. Barnes showed some flashes of being that guy as he was able to get to the line quite a bit. 

Make no mistake about it though; this game was dominated by John Henson. Henson has a real upside and he is very improved as an inside presence. If the young man gets a consistent midrange jump shot, he might be uncheckable. His defense is already NBA quality from the help side but if his offensive game continues to improve, the sky is the limit for the young Henson. 

The surprise in this game was P.J. Hairston as an offensive player. He won't have any problem getting buckets at UNC but he needs to work on his defense. Several times he was taken to the basket and beat off the dribble. This won't work for Roy Williams, however its going to be hard to keep someone with his offensive ability off the floor. 

The game ended with Triangle G winning by 13. 

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The Tar Heels Are Streaking As They Send Golden Eagles Packing

After their win today, the UNC Tar Heels are one victory away from returning to the NCAA Final Four. That makes their NCAA Tournament winning streak (9 games) the longest as they haven’t lost an NCAA tournament game in over 3 years now. You may ask how that is possible? Didn't Duke win the title last year? Well a year ago, North Carolina was headed to New York for the NIT Final Four. So because they didn’t play in the tournament, they didn’t lose any NCAA tournament games.

The second-seeded Tar Heels look strong with only one starter remaining from the team that failed to reach so many over-expectations last season. The Tar Heels easily dispatched No. 11 Marquette 81-63 to advance to the East Regional final.

They will play either No. 4 seed Kentucky or top-seeded Ohio State on Sunday.

It was a game that showcased these Tar Heels at their best as they were scoring in transition, feeding their big men, dominating the boards to take as much as a 33-point lead; but also at their most frustrating period of the game they were missing shots, failing to feed their big guys, allowing the Golden Eagles to chip back to within 14.

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