214Spencer
01-29-2009, 12:12 PM
A lot of people will probably say that last night’s game against Florida State proves that UNC is not the team everyone thought they were pre-season. They will say that UNC should have dominated the game and providing such a nail-biter with an unranked team proves that they don’t deserve the ranking they currently possess or the attention that is focused on them.
Last night as I was watching the game in a bar largely populated with English grad students and professors (so I was the only one who gave a crap about the game), two guys walked up behind me and started discussing their beer selection. I paid them little heed except for briefly noticing that they were infringing on my personal space and having the most drawn out discussion of all time concerning what beer to order (they finally decided on one that had to be poured into glasses with stems.) As I glared at the television and cuddled my pint of Shiner Bock, one of the dynamic duo looked up and said “Oh, UNC is playing FSU.” He continued to wow his companion by defecating his vast knowledge of basketball in the form of acknowledging the expectations of some that the Heels would go undefeated this year and then concluding that this will not be the case and they are not that good.
No, they are not that good. Nobody is that good. This would not be the sport that we all love if one team could annihilate the rest of the NCAA. The fact that there are so many teams vying for the number one spot and that so many other teams who are not ranked always have the potential for an upset speaks volumes about the quality of College Basketball.
So instead of concentrating on how the game was closer than it should have been last night, I choose to focus on Lawson’s spectacular play to win the game. Every player needs this kind of experience once. Ellington got it when he hit that monster three pointer with 13.7 seconds left on the clock to send the Heels into overtime against Clemson on Jan 6, 2008. Hansbrough got it when he pulled down the offensive rebound and put it back up for the win against Virginia Tech in the ACC tournament last year. Interestingly, Tyler pulled that particular rebound down from a botched shot by Lawson. Last night, Lawson’s turn finally came. It was partially luck, as are all shots of that nature, but a lesser player with the same amount of luck probably couldn’t have pulled that off. Not only was the outcome of the game great for Lawson’s morale, it was great for the team’s morale. It proved to them and everyone else that they can pull out the big wins in tight situations. Ultimately though, I think I am most grateful that Ty didn’t get hurt when Hansbrough and Green decided to turn him into a Lawson sandwich after the buzzer.
Last night as I was watching the game in a bar largely populated with English grad students and professors (so I was the only one who gave a crap about the game), two guys walked up behind me and started discussing their beer selection. I paid them little heed except for briefly noticing that they were infringing on my personal space and having the most drawn out discussion of all time concerning what beer to order (they finally decided on one that had to be poured into glasses with stems.) As I glared at the television and cuddled my pint of Shiner Bock, one of the dynamic duo looked up and said “Oh, UNC is playing FSU.” He continued to wow his companion by defecating his vast knowledge of basketball in the form of acknowledging the expectations of some that the Heels would go undefeated this year and then concluding that this will not be the case and they are not that good.
No, they are not that good. Nobody is that good. This would not be the sport that we all love if one team could annihilate the rest of the NCAA. The fact that there are so many teams vying for the number one spot and that so many other teams who are not ranked always have the potential for an upset speaks volumes about the quality of College Basketball.
So instead of concentrating on how the game was closer than it should have been last night, I choose to focus on Lawson’s spectacular play to win the game. Every player needs this kind of experience once. Ellington got it when he hit that monster three pointer with 13.7 seconds left on the clock to send the Heels into overtime against Clemson on Jan 6, 2008. Hansbrough got it when he pulled down the offensive rebound and put it back up for the win against Virginia Tech in the ACC tournament last year. Interestingly, Tyler pulled that particular rebound down from a botched shot by Lawson. Last night, Lawson’s turn finally came. It was partially luck, as are all shots of that nature, but a lesser player with the same amount of luck probably couldn’t have pulled that off. Not only was the outcome of the game great for Lawson’s morale, it was great for the team’s morale. It proved to them and everyone else that they can pull out the big wins in tight situations. Ultimately though, I think I am most grateful that Ty didn’t get hurt when Hansbrough and Green decided to turn him into a Lawson sandwich after the buzzer.