Rocked Like a Hurricane

There's not much to say about Saturday's loss that hasn't already been pointed out ad nauseum. Too many turnovers, too few rebounds, and the ever-missing outside game is pretty much a surefire recipe for a loss. The question of the week is, will the rest of the ACC just collapse on Hansbrough and destroy the Heels?

As much as I'm getting a kick out of the fact that newcomers Virginia Tech and Miami have (with Virginia) the most losses of teams in the ACC, I have to admit Miami is a talented team. And the good news for North Carolina is that there aren't that many other powerful frontcourts in the ACC. Duke of course has a beast in Sheldon Williams, and Wake still has the (curiously unmentioned of late) Eric Williams. N.C. State has Cedric Simmons leading a balanced attack, but is still young enough to succumb to foul trouble, but after them and Miami, who's left? You could stretch and put Florida State in there, with a couple of big men to back up impressive-of-late Al Thorton, but that's pretty much it.

This is not to say these are the only teams capable of beating UNC this season. Any game with that sort of turnover margin and poor shooting is a possible loss, as the Hokies tried to show earlier in the week. But these are the teams with the lineups that can devote serious manpower to frustrating Hansbrough without leaving the rest of the team (You know, the other four guys on the court? They're pretty good, too.) to score at will. These are the teams - Florida State unfortunately included, as they match up very well against the Tar Heels - capable of putting on a clinic in beating Carolina.

This is also the pool of teams from which you're going to see an upset or two of Duke as the season goes on, as the game plan for beating the Blue Devils - deny the big man anything and pressure the freshman point guard into multiple turnovers - is the same as the one for Chapel Hill. My personal pick of that crew is Wake and Miami getting an upset apiece. Naturally, as UNC knocking off the folks down the road is expected, it's never considered an upset.