Last season North Carolina Men's Basketball was anointed as the Champion before they even played a game. With the whole crew back, led by uber college stud Tyler Hansbrough, the Tar Heels marched all the way to Detroit leaving crumbled opponents in their wake. Ty Lawson was the floor general, Wayne Ellington, the sniper and Danny Green was the glue that held the whole thing together.
Now they are gone.
Just like in 2005, practically all the scoring, rebounding and assists are gone from a loaded squad. Also like in 2006, the new team will be full of potential All-Americans with a bit of good leftovers to bridge the gap.
Roy Williams has prided him teams on running, shooting, scoring and playing defense in spurts (especially come March). This year it appears as though this team will be led on the defensive side with spurts of offense (hopefully come March).
The two seniors on the team are Deon Thompson and Marcus Ginyard. Thompson has been overshadowed by Hansbrough for the last three years, but he'll have a full season this year to prove he can play in the NBA. Ginyard should have been a senior last year, but a foot injury kept him from leaving a champion with his own class. He is known as a defensive stopper, which just happens to be the only weakness the Heels had last year.
Also returning will be Ed Davis who will be the most scouted prospect on the team this year. He is long and lanky. If you get out a guard or a wing, Davis will be there. He has the tools to score, but again it'll be defense first for him. Larry Drew II is the key to the team. He is stepping in for Lawson at the point. Will he be able to increase his shooting percentage, lower his turnovers and increase his assists (oh and play quality D as well)? That's a ton of question marks in a Roy Williams system.
Tyler Zeller had an abbreviated season last year (bleep you Kentucky) but returned to gain some much needed experience down the stretch. He is yet another long (you'll hear that word used a lot with UNC) player who has some definite offensive skills with a nice touch from outside the paint.
Will Graves (suspension) and Justin Watts (too much talent ahead of him) also saw some playing time last year and will be in the mix this season.
The blue ribbon recruiting class Roy Williams brings to Chapel Hill this year is led by string bean John Henson. The Wear brother, Travis and David, are also tall, but actually look like they have been to a weight room before heading to college. Dexter Strickland and Leslie McDonald are in to hopefully fill Ellington's shoes at the wing spot.
All in all there is a ton of raw talent, and if I had to have someone put the pieces together, I'd ask for Roy Williams.
For a quick season prediction...this year will look a lot like 2006. UNC is going to have real good nights and nights where things are a bit askew. The ACC is not the strongest that his has been in the past, but it is good. I can see UNC going 11-5 in conference.
Come March they will lose in the ACC semis and probably in the Sweet Sixteen of the Big Dance. As long as Dook doesn't win the whole thing (or friggin' Kentucky).
Good luck Heels!
Monday, November 9, 2009
Friday, November 6, 2009
Poker talk for the Weekend
So I'd love to have more money and be able to play poker a lot more, but for now I usually play once in a while with friends. For fun, though, I play weekly at a local watering hole. We usually get between 20 and 45 players for a 10:30 start and that's not bad. There is a wide range of skill levels in the room and I'd like to believe I'm in the top 5% of the people who sit down.
I can practically punch my ticket to the final nine week in and week out if I concentrate enough and don't lose out to a bad beat. Sometimes the people I'm with are annoying and I get out of my style and make stupid plays trying to run over the table. It's not a deep stack tournament and the blinds fly by so one big mistake will end your tournament.
It's fun, it's free and there are weekly cash prizes and a quarterly tournament for $500.
Speaking of final nine...the WSOP is down to exactly that this weekend. Phil Ivey is the best player in the world and he is still in it. He is 7th out of the nine players in amount of chips, but according to ESPN 78.6% of people believe he is going to win. Jeff Schulman, the editor of Card Player Magazine is also there and he's been at a final table before. I believe he will be heads up for the championship. Darvin Moon, the logger from Maryland, has the massive chip lead and has been getting hit in the face with the deck. Recently he has shown a little bit more skill with fewer cards. He is bluff check raising and raising out of position. As long as he keeps with the style he had in getting to the final table he'll be around for a while. Don't get stupid Darvin.
I'd love to see Phil Ivey win, but I believe he'll be 1st out or last out. He's going to get aggressive and try for the quick double up hoping that everybody else is nervous in the beginning and playing close to the vest.
I'm picking Jeff Schulman to win over Darvin Moon.
I can practically punch my ticket to the final nine week in and week out if I concentrate enough and don't lose out to a bad beat. Sometimes the people I'm with are annoying and I get out of my style and make stupid plays trying to run over the table. It's not a deep stack tournament and the blinds fly by so one big mistake will end your tournament.
It's fun, it's free and there are weekly cash prizes and a quarterly tournament for $500.
Speaking of final nine...the WSOP is down to exactly that this weekend. Phil Ivey is the best player in the world and he is still in it. He is 7th out of the nine players in amount of chips, but according to ESPN 78.6% of people believe he is going to win. Jeff Schulman, the editor of Card Player Magazine is also there and he's been at a final table before. I believe he will be heads up for the championship. Darvin Moon, the logger from Maryland, has the massive chip lead and has been getting hit in the face with the deck. Recently he has shown a little bit more skill with fewer cards. He is bluff check raising and raising out of position. As long as he keeps with the style he had in getting to the final table he'll be around for a while. Don't get stupid Darvin.
I'd love to see Phil Ivey win, but I believe he'll be 1st out or last out. He's going to get aggressive and try for the quick double up hoping that everybody else is nervous in the beginning and playing close to the vest.
I'm picking Jeff Schulman to win over Darvin Moon.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Final Table Night and Trading
So tonight ESPN airs how the final 18 players go down to the final 9 in this years WSOP. I know 2 of the 9 players that make up the final table, but it will still be intriguing to see who the other 7 players are. I love the new format that the WSOP developed last year. After playing for 8 straight days, the final 9 get to take a couple of months off, rest up, learn their opponents, get sponsorship and get some much needed insight from the world's best.
If I played poker for 8 straight days, other than being in heaven, I'd be exhausted. I'd hate to think that I misread my opponent costing me $8 million after surviving 6000+ players because of exhaustion. When the tournament was under 1000 players and you only played for 4 days in a row, there was no need for a break.
Learning your players, watching the tape of them and asking around for insight about the other 8 is very, very important. Just because you made the final 9, don't go home and celebrate by buying a new house and car. Get to work. There is a big, huge, gigantic difference between 1 million and 9th place and 8 million, 1st place and countless endorsements later. Who came in 9th last year?? Who cares? I know Peter Eastgate won last year and I will always know that from here on in. Learn how they play or if anyone has picked up on a tell. Study every hand that was filmed for TV and see how they played while ahead in a hand or behind or when they didn't know where they were. See what cards they like raising with or flat calling. See how many times they stay in a hand on a draw. Can you bet them out? Can you bluff them? There is so much to be learned.
Getting sponsorship is important if you are short on chips. If you don't think your chances to win the whole thing is high, then put as many stupid patches on you clothes as you can. Get the money up front. Soak in the limelight as much as possible. If you have a ton of chips then get what you can get and get out. You'll be on television longer and if you win it all, you can pick your sponsors later and for much more money.
Next hire a pro to help you fix your game. Pay him to watch you in a tournament. Have him videotape every hand of yours. Go back study your tape. Make sure you are not revealing anything. Figure out a way to do the same thing every hand. If you bet with your right hand when you're bluffing and your left hand when you have the nuts, you'll see that on film. If you touch your face on a bluff, you'll see that. Nobody is going to reveal to you your tell, so the only way to figure it out by watching film. Then there's the strategy of hands, the more you know...well you know how that goes.
Good luck to the final 9, I hope to see you there one year.
Shifting gears back to fantasy football. Now is the best time of the year to pull off trades. The studs and duds have emerged. Bye Weeks are almost over. You as an owner know your team strengths and weaknesses. There is no reason to be carrying a stud on the bench. You either make a run for the money or you get left behind. If you pull off a great deal to bolster your team for a playoff run and an injury happens, tough luck. Better to have tried and failed then to never have tried in the first place.
The common factor I have in all of my leagues is a glutton of running backs with shoddy quarterback play. I banked on Kurt Warner having yet another MVP-esque year, but it hasn't happened. I have been fortunate to have 2 good starting running backs and my 3rd string running back become the fantasy sleeper of the year. Cedric Benson has defied all the odds and become a must start #1 back. Look at what he did against the Ravens earlier this year. Go ahead...look...I'll wait.
In my other league Jay Cutler had a strong start (after Week 1) but has flamed out in recent weeks. I have Ray Rice, Thomas Jones, Pierre Thomas, Clinton Portis and Johnathan Stewart to work with and have pulled off a trade sending my #4 and #5 backs in return for Donovan McNabb. He may not be the best quarterback, but his team is a throwing team and will be a definite upgrade over Cutler. The bears will run more and more as the weather gets colder, but Andy Reid refuses to run even up big (watch the film from last week vs. the Giants).
If I played poker for 8 straight days, other than being in heaven, I'd be exhausted. I'd hate to think that I misread my opponent costing me $8 million after surviving 6000+ players because of exhaustion. When the tournament was under 1000 players and you only played for 4 days in a row, there was no need for a break.
Learning your players, watching the tape of them and asking around for insight about the other 8 is very, very important. Just because you made the final 9, don't go home and celebrate by buying a new house and car. Get to work. There is a big, huge, gigantic difference between 1 million and 9th place and 8 million, 1st place and countless endorsements later. Who came in 9th last year?? Who cares? I know Peter Eastgate won last year and I will always know that from here on in. Learn how they play or if anyone has picked up on a tell. Study every hand that was filmed for TV and see how they played while ahead in a hand or behind or when they didn't know where they were. See what cards they like raising with or flat calling. See how many times they stay in a hand on a draw. Can you bet them out? Can you bluff them? There is so much to be learned.
Getting sponsorship is important if you are short on chips. If you don't think your chances to win the whole thing is high, then put as many stupid patches on you clothes as you can. Get the money up front. Soak in the limelight as much as possible. If you have a ton of chips then get what you can get and get out. You'll be on television longer and if you win it all, you can pick your sponsors later and for much more money.
Next hire a pro to help you fix your game. Pay him to watch you in a tournament. Have him videotape every hand of yours. Go back study your tape. Make sure you are not revealing anything. Figure out a way to do the same thing every hand. If you bet with your right hand when you're bluffing and your left hand when you have the nuts, you'll see that on film. If you touch your face on a bluff, you'll see that. Nobody is going to reveal to you your tell, so the only way to figure it out by watching film. Then there's the strategy of hands, the more you know...well you know how that goes.
Good luck to the final 9, I hope to see you there one year.
Shifting gears back to fantasy football. Now is the best time of the year to pull off trades. The studs and duds have emerged. Bye Weeks are almost over. You as an owner know your team strengths and weaknesses. There is no reason to be carrying a stud on the bench. You either make a run for the money or you get left behind. If you pull off a great deal to bolster your team for a playoff run and an injury happens, tough luck. Better to have tried and failed then to never have tried in the first place.
The common factor I have in all of my leagues is a glutton of running backs with shoddy quarterback play. I banked on Kurt Warner having yet another MVP-esque year, but it hasn't happened. I have been fortunate to have 2 good starting running backs and my 3rd string running back become the fantasy sleeper of the year. Cedric Benson has defied all the odds and become a must start #1 back. Look at what he did against the Ravens earlier this year. Go ahead...look...I'll wait.
In my other league Jay Cutler had a strong start (after Week 1) but has flamed out in recent weeks. I have Ray Rice, Thomas Jones, Pierre Thomas, Clinton Portis and Johnathan Stewart to work with and have pulled off a trade sending my #4 and #5 backs in return for Donovan McNabb. He may not be the best quarterback, but his team is a throwing team and will be a definite upgrade over Cutler. The bears will run more and more as the weather gets colder, but Andy Reid refuses to run even up big (watch the film from last week vs. the Giants).
Monday, November 2, 2009
Ovechkin and Warner
So every Washington Capital fan is holding their breath today waiting for word on how long Alex Ovechkin will be out with his undisclosed 'upper body' injury. In hockey you don't have to put out an injury report like they do in football. The reason for this is simple: betting lines. Gambling is so prevalent in the NFL that every minute injury has to be officially documented to avoid fines and punishment.
For all we know Ovechkin has a broken foot if they are saying 'upper body'. That's what is awesome about hockey. It keeps opponents from intentionally aiming for that part of the body with a stick or a check. Now I know the recent rule changes sorta forbid this policy, but I assume some shenanigans are still going on.
My fantasy football team had a great start yesterday with long runs by both Frank Gore and LeSean McCoy. In my league we get double points for touchdowns over 50 yards so I took a good sized lead. My opponent got back into the game with a TD pass from his QB to his WR, but I still had Kurt Warner to play. He was at home against the Carolina Panthers who have not been a defensive force this year to say the least. He threw an early interception, but followed up with a TD to keep me close. That is when his wheels fell off. After falling down by 21 (good for me, all throwing the rest of the way!!) he threw 4 more interceptions and lost a fumble. Thanks, Kurt, thanks.
My draft strategies have been take a QB or two late (7th rd or later), but this year I tried something new and took Kurt in the 5th round, but man do I wish I had a better WR instead of him. I could have waited 2 more rounds and snagged Big Ben or possibly Philip Rivers. More on those thoughts in the off season.
So tonight I'm hoping that Jason Elam has 5 fg's and the Saints D doesn't get a sack or a turnover off Matt Ryan....c'mon kid, help me out!
For all we know Ovechkin has a broken foot if they are saying 'upper body'. That's what is awesome about hockey. It keeps opponents from intentionally aiming for that part of the body with a stick or a check. Now I know the recent rule changes sorta forbid this policy, but I assume some shenanigans are still going on.
My fantasy football team had a great start yesterday with long runs by both Frank Gore and LeSean McCoy. In my league we get double points for touchdowns over 50 yards so I took a good sized lead. My opponent got back into the game with a TD pass from his QB to his WR, but I still had Kurt Warner to play. He was at home against the Carolina Panthers who have not been a defensive force this year to say the least. He threw an early interception, but followed up with a TD to keep me close. That is when his wheels fell off. After falling down by 21 (good for me, all throwing the rest of the way!!) he threw 4 more interceptions and lost a fumble. Thanks, Kurt, thanks.
My draft strategies have been take a QB or two late (7th rd or later), but this year I tried something new and took Kurt in the 5th round, but man do I wish I had a better WR instead of him. I could have waited 2 more rounds and snagged Big Ben or possibly Philip Rivers. More on those thoughts in the off season.
So tonight I'm hoping that Jason Elam has 5 fg's and the Saints D doesn't get a sack or a turnover off Matt Ryan....c'mon kid, help me out!
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