ACC Roundup

As usual, there are no Friday night games in ACC play, so the action shifts
to Saturday, when UNC gets Arizona, Maryland gets to slug it out with Temple,
Virginia Tech and Wake square off, and of course Duke and Virginia.

UNC and Arizona is a really interesting matchup. Arizona has had a
strange season. Jawann McClennans is out with a wrist injury. Chris
Rodgers was booted for disruptive behavior, "dismissed -" but he may
well be back, since McClennan's injury is a big hit.

Lute Olson has had bonehead players before - lots of them, actually.
Kenny Lofton was a bit disruptive during his basketball days. Tom Tolbert
was a handful for the coaching staff. Both Stoudamires had issues.
Brian Williams, who later was tragically murdered, was a very complex talent and
his other interests often overshadowed basketball.

But usually he's managed to get people on board.

This season, he has struggled, and while the white-haired Olson has looked
grandfatherly for years, Olson is now 71. At some point, like Joe
Paterno and Bobby Bowden, people will start to discuss his age. He's still
a fine coach - last year was very successful until he ran into Illinois and
Arizona would have won other than a brilliant late comeback - but this year is a
great challenge.

He still has passion though: in UA's last game, against hated rival (and hate
is an understatement - it verges on sick) Arizona State, Olson almost charged
the officials and had to be restrained.

His teams usually are very disciplined, though, and can go man to man or move
into junk zones if necessary. One of the coolest things we've ever
seen in basketball was when he ran a 1-2-2, or 1-3-1, and had the very quick
Lofton shut off baseline penetration by himself. It was a brilliant zone,
and it worked beautifully.

Olson will want to make his points about East Coast bias, being shafted by
the polls, and so on, and the PAC-10 is significantly down, so a win in Chapel
Hill would be just the thing for all of it.

Mustafa Shakur could give UNC fits. We'll see how things go, but this
is a very interesting matchup.

It could be to UNC's advantage that Arizona just played ASU. They beat
them like a drum, but it is still intense and draining.

In Charlottesville, it's not at all clear that J.R. Reynolds will be able to
play when Virginia visits Cameron. Doctors
have not ruled out a concussion.

If Gary Williams and Maryland beat Temple, he'll
break Lefty Driesell's all-time win record in College Park. That's a
significant accomplishment, and something which seemed unlikely to happen after
Lefty was forced out, at least not any time soon.

• Hundreds
  expected at Campout
• Tobacco
  Road sequel a success for Pirates
• STRUGGLING:
  TAR HEELS MAY BE HEADED SOUTH