Well, That Was Anticlimactic: UNC 84, Florida State 58

Some observations from the game:

• The Seminoles are composed of Al Thornton and not much else. Al Thornton had 29 points by himself last night against the Heels. Jason Rich had 10 points in the first half and none in the second half. The remaining seven players who were on the court for FSU combined for 19 points. 19 points. Nothing against Thornton, because he is an incredible player: he can drive, he can post up, he can shoot from the outside, and he can pass. He is the complete package and NBA-caliber talent. However, if FSU wants to survive in the tough ACC this year and met their aspirations of an NCAA invite, the rest of the team will have to step up more in tough games.
• If Ty Lawson and Bobby Frasor aren’t careful, we might see the Tar Heel go into the tournament led by Quentin Thomas. After Felton declared following the 2005 National Championship, I panicked. After seeing Q in his freshman year, I thought that whether or not we even made the tourney in 2006 would depend on the development of Q in the offseason. I did not trust him as the starting PG. Q has made great leaps since then. In the 7 minutes he played, he made more impact than Lawson and Frasor did in 33. He took care of the ball, always made good passes, didn’t commit any turnovers, and showed the most hustle of anyone on the court. Roy is going to reward him with more PT, I guarantee it.
• Brendan Wright and Tyler Hansbrough are unstoppable. The Florida State frontcourt had no answer for Tyler’s physicality and aggressiveness, as he wore out the defense and scored 20 of his 25 points in the second half. Nor did they have an answer for Brendan’s athleticism, as he was able to drive to the basket pretty much at will. I see very few teams that can defend this duo successfully.
• What concerned me about this game: UNC seemed to have a very difficult time boxing out, especially in the first half. The Heels seemed not to have a defense answer for Al Thornton; this does not bode well for us against the Jared Dudleys (BC) and the Josh McRobertses in our future. There were times that UNC alternated in and out of focus in the first half; this cannot happen against a very good team that can put us in a deep hole early.
• Why we won: We baited Florida State into playing our up-tempo style of basketball, and the Seminoles got cleaned like a monkey carcass in the jungle.

• WE’RE NUMBER 1! WE’RE NUMBER 1!:With about 3 minutes to go in the game and a 20+ point lead, I began cheering this in the stands. Unfortunately, no one else cheered it, and I have no idea why.

Well, that was fun. Wednesday I’ll be at the Virginia game hoping that Q gets the 15 minutes of PT he deserves.