ACC Roundup - A Full Day Around The Conference

In Saturday’s ACC Action, Georgia Tech heads down to Miami to face an impressively game Miami team, Notre Dame goes to Syracuse where it’s chilly and there’s a Lake Effect Winter Weather warning, NC State and Wake Forest have a good old fashioned Tobacco Road tussle, Florida State visits struggling Pitt and Louisville stops in Chapel Hill.

Where to start? They’re all interesting games.

We really admire Miami’s toughness in difficult circumstances with so many injuries and problems to overcome. They’re just 7-12 but we find it hard to bet against them. We’ll still take Georgia Tech here, but not confidently. Also, we learned today that Chris Lykes is probably out for the year.

Syracuse has played well but Notre Dame has size it lacks and can just about match its three point shooting. The Irish have really improve lately so we’ll take them here even though that might be a mistake. You have to respect hard work and improvement though.

That’s also why we respect Wake Forest. Duke beat Wake Forest soundly but before that loss? No one has blown them out since Georgia Tech did on their second game back from a December pause. You can disregard 6-10: Steve Forbes is doing a brilliant job.

We’d like to see Pitt knock off FSU but we just don't think it’s going to happen. But Pitt can just about match Florida State’s athleticism so it’s not impossible. But it seems unlikely.

Finally, Louisville visits UNC and their version of the Pack Line could frustrate UNC as surely as Virginia’s did. It’s a lot harder for the big guys to maneuver inside against that defense and with limited three point shooting, UNC could have a tough time.

All of these games are interesting and none of them really seem absolute. We can make solid argument for every team playing Saturday. The league is down and Covid is a major complication but the competitive urge that defines the ACC?

It’s not down at all. Not in the slightest.

Matt Doherty has been gone from Chapel Hill (and coaching) for a good while now and he's out with a book about his experience.

From the interviews you might say trauma rather than experience.

He talks about how he didn’t understand the concept of emotional intelligence until he heard the term in a class at Whorton and...well, to quote the former coach:

“We sometimes look at a good-looking person that has a personality, gets good grades and isn’t afraid to speak up as a leader. Maybe they’re starting on second base or third base, but maybe they don’t have the emotional intelligence part of it down. That’s where I lacked. I didn’t understand emotional intelligence when I got the job in 2000. I never heard about emotional intelligence until I went on my leadership journey. I’m sitting in the class at The Wharton School taking an executive course, and they’re talking about emotional intelligence, and I’m literally smacking my forehead saying, “If I would have taken this class before, maybe I’d still be the head coach at North Carolina.”

We could be wrong, but still not sure he gets it.

Jay Bilas heard what Jim Boeheim said about Jalen Johnson’s Duke departure and termed the criticism “inappropriate,” saying he had said much the same thing about Georgetown transfer James Akinjo when he left for Arizona.

He went on to say “Jalen Johnson does not have a ‘camp,’ ‘people in his ear,’ or a ‘posse.’ He has a family. He has a mother and father helping him, with his best interests in mind, making decisions. We can differ with the decision, but the undertones of the criticism of Johnson are concerning.”

No word on whether Boeheim has fired back that we’ve seen. It’s a small point of interest that Syracuse was one of Bilas’s finalists when he was a high schools senior and he gave serious thought to playing for Boeheim.

Saturday’s ACC Action

• Georgia Tech at Miami || 12:00 || ACCNX
• Notre Dame at Syracuse || 2:00 || ACCN
• NC State at Wake Forest || 2:00 || ACCNX
• Florida State at Pitt || 4:00 || ACCNX
• Louisville at UNC || 6:00 || ESPN ||
• Virginia at Duke || 8:00 || ESPN

ACC Standings

• UM coach Jim Larranaga: point guard Chris Lykes ‘unlikely’ to play rest of the season
• Can NC State continue its momentum against Wake basketball? How to watch, betting lines.
• Former UNC basketball coach Matt Doherty opens up about stormy tenure with Tar Heels
• Three things to know about the N.C. State-Wake Forest men’s basketball game
• Miami basketball hosts Georgia Tech with roster decision
• FSU preps for Pitt, benefits from COVID basketball pause
• 2021 NCAA tournament will have fans, as up to 25% capacity allowed for all rounds
• What Georgia Tech has polished at ‘finishing school’
• Former Georgia Tech captain Mfon Udofia earns unlikely opportunity
• How the implosion of Pitt’s once-promising defense has defined its recent skid