Writing the Pine

I was going to write a long post about the shortcomings of the North Carolina Tar Heels this season (I’ll save that for later), but I can sum it all up in one word: hustle. In a nutshell, nobody on this team is really going after the ball. All those 50/50 balls? Forget it, they’re more like 100/0 balls, for the other team. Sure this team is young and inexperienced but that has nothing to do with how hard you play. My expectations this year were weathered and to be honest, I was shocked at how they dismantled Michigan State and how they came back against Kentucky to only lose by one. Aside from the lopsided victory against MSU, I’m not really surprised at how this season has gone so far. I can’t really say I thought we’d beat any of the top teams this year. But I didn’t think these kids wouldn’t be playing hard. I hate to call out guys for not putting in the effort, especially when I’m the one sitting my ass on the sofa, eating some more twinkies than Dexter Pittman, while I’m watching them on the sofa, but giving up 26 offensive rebounds against Texas? When half our freakin’ team is at least 6′9? That’s just a complete lack of hustle. How a 300 lb. man who can only play in two minute spurts can get 12 offensive rebounds is really beyond me. And I’ve seen it this whole year. Tyler Zeller is 7 feet tall but only averages four rebounds per game. Deon Thompson shows flashes of dominance but doesn’t own the paint like he’s physically capable of doing. It always boggled my mind why he could never average 9-10 rebounds a game, even with Tyler Hansbrough playing alongside him. I can’t knock Ed Davis much. He’s just not as big as the guys he’s going up against and maybe he could be averaging more points but I just don’t think he has the skill set to do it yet. He could probably average 12-13 rebounds a game if he didn’t go up for so many blocks. But I like his aggressiveness trying to swat away shots so I’ll take the 10. But the Heels should be averaging 20 offensive rebounds a game and they can if they just played with more fire. This has got to be the most emotionless group I’ve ever seen at Carolina and I hope by the end of the season they play with some. I said in the beginning of the season that I didn’t expect a national championship at all but really, if they played with some more toughness, there is no reason why they can’t be in the mix in March.