Al Featherston piece
on the UNC-UVa game is titled "Heels have to hang on once again,"
meaning they had to work for the win, but
they won. They're winning a lot, just in case you hadn't notice. They're
thinking about us, too - Joseph
Forte, who hit for 33, broke one of the little rules of sports cliches
- taking them one at a time - and said: "weÂre holding on, but we have to understand we have Duke coming
up. If we get Duke down, weÂve got to keep them down and not be so apt to let those guys back in the game."
Brendan Haywood questioned UNC's killer instinct, but he just needs to look
at #40, because he unquestionably
has it.
Incidentally, we said last year that UNC seemed to have some chemistry
problems and got some e-mail for saying it. Brendan
Haywood now admits it.
In Clemson, Georgia Tech had
a shootout with Clemson, winning 111-108 - but only after blowing a 17 point
lead. Next up for Tech is FSU, and assuming they win that (safe
asssumption), they'll be at .500
in-conference, which is pretty good considering what was expected from them
this season. If they can get five or six more wins, they are a bubble team
at the least. Their big non-conference wins and tough schedule will help a lot.
Clemson, by contrast, is 1-5 in the conference, 10-9 overall, and in danger
of slipping out of even NIT contention.
Will Solomon, by the way, scored
41 last night.
And in Raleigh, State is still trying
to turn it around, but the reality is that they'll be playing for NIT
watches unless there are radical changes, and soon.