Roy Williams is happy to be winning and clearly he’s overjoyed by our new ‘Weekend Update’ segment which will aim to keep you posted on the Saturday and Sunday games, while hopefully making you chuckle on occasion as well.
This week: Carolina is still winning, Duke has a serious lack of post depth, and Clemson has forgotten that it’s a football school.
The Carolina Way?
UNC coach Roy Williams: "I did think we had a chance to be good… Our schedule is really back-loaded….We feel good about what we've done"
— Mike Barber (@RTD_MikeBarber) January 18, 2016
The UNC basketball juggernaut was a preseason favorite to run roughshod over everyone in its path, but even the pundits have to be a little surprised at just how good the Tar Heels have been. After a solid 12-point win over N.C. State Saturday, Carolina has lost just two games by a combined six points with both games coming on the road at Northern Iowa and Texas. Still, coach Williams is correct in stating that the schedule is backloaded. February is where we’ll learn if the Tar Heels are a legitimate Final Four contender. The month opens with road trips to Louisville and Notre Dame, then later has a three-game home stretch that features Pittsburgh, Duke and Miami.
My Kingdom For a Plumlee
“We’re a good team – we’re not that good, but we’re called Duke, and we’re coached by me.” -K
— Lauren Brownlow (@lebrownlow) January 16, 2016
Somewhere in all of those books on leadership from Coach K is a chapter or two on confidence in the face of trouble. Without Amile Jefferson healthy, Duke has a serious lack of post depth and Notre Dame took full advantage in a 95-91 upset in Cameron Indoor Stadium. Bonzie Colson went off on Duke scoring 31 points and pulling down 11 rebounds. Marshall Plumlee managed just eight points and nine rebounds in 39 minutes while the Blue Devil bench contributed absolutely nothing. The most unsettling trend may be highly-touted freshman Chase Jeter who played just one minute and only registered a personal foul. He’s only averaged 8.1 minutes per game this season and simply hasn’t been able to take advantage of the lack of big bodies for Duke.
And the Winner Is: C-L-E-M-S-O…..N
The Tigers are a scrappy bunch of fighters and also they’re any other euphemism for ‘how are they doing this?’ that you can think of. The Tigers are now 5-1 in ACC play, second only to the undefeated Tar Heels . With Saturday’s win over Miami, Clemson has put together consecutive wins over Louisville, Duke and now the Canes to surprise everyone except maybe Brad Brownell. His club plays great defense and is ranked 14th in the country in points allowed per game (62.4). That coupled with the rise of Jaron Blossomgame, who as a junior appears to be fully in control of his abilities, makes for a squad that has the look of a team you want no part of come March. This comes after a non-conference slate that saw the Tigers post puzzling losses to middling teams like UMass and Georgia.
What’s Going On In the Commonwealth?
It’s hard to say which is more unexpected, Virginia Tech winning or Virginia losing. The Hokies are presently tied for third in the ACC with a 4-1 conference record that includes an upset of those very same Cavaliers. Tech scratched out a close win over Georgia Tech this weekend for the program’s first road conference road win of the Buzz Williams era, but if UNC’s schedule is backloaded then the Hokies’ is inverted. The next ten games for Tech feature, Notre Dame, North Carolina, Louisville, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Clemson, Virginia, Miami, Florida State and Boston College. The Hokies appear poised to come back to Earth a bit after the hot start.
Tony Bennett on struggles: "You have to battle through it. You have to scrap, deeper and deeper."
— Jerry Ratcliffe (@JerryRatcliffe) January 18, 2016
As for Tony Bennett’s club, the rivalry loss in Blacksburg was followed up with a road loss to Georgia Tech and another to Florida State on Sunday. Virginia has yet to lose a home game, but there are some question marks surrounding this team. They’re still defending well on paper, but as my esteemed colleagues pointed out this weekend they really miss Justin Anderson. He was able to guard extremely well on the perimeter while knocking down 45% of his own three-pointers. He was absolutely the straw that stirred the drink last season and as much as I like London Perrantes, I don’t think the Cavaliers have anyone as dynamic as Anderson on this club. They need to find a spark before road losses become a disturbing trend. The next outing is a home date with Clemson which looks like a heck of a way to work out some kinks the way the Tigers are playing.
Follow me on Twitter @BestCates. Like us on Facebook and check out @InsideTheACC.