Comments on: North Carolina dominates Michigan State…yawn http://www.scoresreport.com/2009/04/06/north-carolina-dominates-michigan-stateyawn/ The National Sports Blog Fri, 17 Feb 2012 19:52:54 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.2 By: John Paulsen http://www.scoresreport.com/2009/04/06/north-carolina-dominates-michigan-stateyawn/#comment-356565 John Paulsen Mon, 13 Apr 2009 16:35:50 +0000 http://www.scoresreport.com/?p=16314#comment-356565 Dr. Ebola -- Let's get real here. Nobody "wrote" Carolina off. I had them losing in the Sweet 16 because it looked like Ty Lawson was going to be hobbled for the entire tournament. I even said in my preview that if he were at or near 100%, then the Tar Heels were the favorites to win the whole thing. <a href="http://www.scoresreport.com/2009/03/18/filling-out-your-bracket-i%E2%80%99m-here-to-help/?year=2009&monthnum=03&day=18&name=filling-out-your-bracket-i%E2%80%99m-here-to-help&page" rel="nofollow">Here's what I wrote</a>: <em>I think that UNC can get past the first two rounds even if Ty Lawson isn’t 100%. But I’m not sure that they can get by Gonzaga without him playing at a high level. This is probably the biggest “IF” of the entire tournament. <strong>If Lawson can play at 90-95%, then the Tar Heels are probably the tournament favorite.</strong> If he can’t, then they could easily lose before the Final Four.</em> It's being disingenuous to say that no one thought UNC could win it all. The fact of the matter is most people didn't think they could win without Ty Lawson, and heading into the tournament his toe was looking very iffy. Dr. Ebola — Let’s get real here. Nobody “wrote” Carolina off. I had them losing in the Sweet 16 because it looked like Ty Lawson was going to be hobbled for the entire tournament. I even said in my preview that if he were at or near 100%, then the Tar Heels were the favorites to win the whole thing. Here’s what I wrote:

I think that UNC can get past the first two rounds even if Ty Lawson isn’t 100%. But I’m not sure that they can get by Gonzaga without him playing at a high level. This is probably the biggest “IF” of the entire tournament. If Lawson can play at 90-95%, then the Tar Heels are probably the tournament favorite. If he can’t, then they could easily lose before the Final Four.

It’s being disingenuous to say that no one thought UNC could win it all. The fact of the matter is most people didn’t think they could win without Ty Lawson, and heading into the tournament his toe was looking very iffy.

]]> By: Dr. Ebola http://www.scoresreport.com/2009/04/06/north-carolina-dominates-michigan-stateyawn/#comment-356520 Dr. Ebola Mon, 13 Apr 2009 14:49:19 +0000 http://www.scoresreport.com/?p=16314#comment-356520 Did you not think it was fun to watch such a dominant organization go to work? Many analysts--including you, I know--had not anticipated Carolina winning. You had them going out in the Sweet 16 at one point. So, while they were a #1 seed and, technically, no Cinderella, I have to call them a semi-dark horse. Especially with the way most everyone wrote them off after they went 0-2 in conference play. Yeah, I realize some people like to see close games and upsets--games like Syracuse vs UCONN in the BE tournament--but I wouldn't say this was a total snoozer. Did you not think it was fun to watch such a dominant organization go to work?

Many analysts–including you, I know–had not anticipated Carolina winning. You had them going out in the Sweet 16 at one point. So, while they were a #1 seed and, technically, no Cinderella, I have to call them a semi-dark horse. Especially with the way most everyone wrote them off after they went 0-2 in conference play.

Yeah, I realize some people like to see close games and upsets–games like Syracuse vs UCONN in the BE tournament–but I wouldn’t say this was a total snoozer.

]]> By: Dan Hood http://www.scoresreport.com/2009/04/06/north-carolina-dominates-michigan-stateyawn/#comment-354150 Dan Hood Tue, 07 Apr 2009 15:25:05 +0000 http://www.scoresreport.com/?p=16314#comment-354150 "I don’t know if it was just bad luck or a lack of mid-majors in the field, but it just wasn’t quite as exciting as usual." Amen to that! “I don’t know if it was just bad luck or a lack of mid-majors in the field, but it just wasn’t quite as exciting as usual.”

Amen to that!

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