From: doel@bae.bellcore.com (Michael Doel)
Subject: Re: UNC versus Ohio State(late)
Organization: Bell Communications Research
Date: 28 Dec 92 17:31:47


Curtis Hill writes:


> My good friend Todd, who scored the tickets for me, and I arrived very
> early for the game, after a delicious meal at the local "All in One" (that's
> a combo Hot'n'Now/Taco Bell/Pizza Hut/KFC for all you non-gourmands).

we always called it Kentucky Fried Taco Hut.  The Hot'n'Now part is new I
guess. 


> St. John Arena is very pleasing to the eye.

and thankyou for getting it right.  Contrary to popular opinion, St. John's
plays their home games in New York, not Columbus.


> The crowd, while not the most knowledgeable (and mainly sarcastic for good
> reason), was very, very loud.  It was extremely loud during the close parts
> of the game and the OSU runs.  I don't know how apparent this was on
> television.

very apparent.  I'm not sure what it is, but St. John is acoustically great
for crowd noise.  I went to a Syracuse game in the Carrier Dome a couple of
years ago and despite having almost twice as many fans, the noise level was
nowhere near as intense.


> However, Brutus, the Buckeye mascot (old style football player with a
> Buckeye head) has to go.  Makes me think UNC's angry sheep is attractive.

Be careful when you start saying sheep are attractive.  People may take that
the wrong way. :-)


> Arriving early also allowed me to watch Dick Vitale, who had ripped
> Funderburke off-the-air during the OSU at Indiana game last year, work the
> crowd.  Lots of autographs and free books handed out.  Talking and smiling.
> There were some boos at the beginning of the game, but most of the fans at
> St. John had decided to forgive Vitale for his comments.

a little sucking up never hurt anyone.



> The officials, some of the ACC's "best", had the crowd howling.  Dick Paparo
> only had a few clueless calls (or ones that might sort out once I see the
> tape of the game), but Duke Edsall and the other were in a different world.
> The crowd appeared most upset with four 5 second calls against OSU in the
> first half.  The first 2 were legit; the second 2 appeared to be a bit quick.
> For the rest of the game, the crowd near me would be screaming for a 5 second
> call whenever a UNC player was picked up by an OSU defender.

I thought the 5 second calls were all legit.  In fact, each time I was
yelling for Etzler/Simpson to pass before they got called.  These guys are
still young and can be expected to make mistakes like that.  UNC's defense
in this respect was awesome.

There were a few bogus calls though.  One in particular I remember was when
Skelton stole the ball, looked like he had an easy layup only to be
mercilessly hacked with no call.



> It also appeared that Ayers and Smith had decided to run a full-court press
> test during the first half, as both teams pressed and trapped on almost every
> possession.

This is OSU's normal defense.  You didn't see it much against WVU because we
didn't score much.



> Ohio State made a good run in the second half, but a couple of ill-advised
> shots by Skelton (running, contested 15 footers on the baseline) led to
> UNC fast breaks and easy scores.

Actually, the thing which killed the run IMO were the put-backs on the
missed UNC free throws.  OSU had cut it back to 5 before those.  All of a
sudden, they got lazy on the glass and were back at a 12 point deficit.
Take out those two putbacks and it's still a manageable 8 point lead.


> Some of the Ohio State freshmen played well (Macon and Simpson).  However,
> Simpson was overmatched defensively at the point and Derrick Phelps used
> him unmercifully in the second half.

Too bad Derek Anderson wasn't ready to go.  There had been talk of him
suiting up for this game.  I guess they decided not to rush him back.  Macon
is starting to gain confidence finally.  His drive-to-the-goal-jam in the
first half had me howling.  Simpson will soon take over for Etzler if this
continues.  I'm most impressed that he doesn't seem to be pressing too much.
I half expected him to come in an put it up every time down the floor (ala
Jamie Skelton's first year).


> I thought Phelps had an excellent game except for the 3 turnovers.  He
> was very animated during the game, with lots of smiling and offers to the
> folks covering him to come take the ball.  Often he would drive by his man,
> pull back, then go by again for a shot or a dish.

agreed and as Dick Vitale couldn't stop mentioning, his defense was great.


>    o Montross - just HUGE in the middle.  Dunked most everything,
>      emphatically, to show Lawrence "I just can't shut up" Funderburke who
>      was boss inside.  It worked.

I thought the matchup between the two was pretty even.  Funderburke
outplayed Montross in the first half.  Montross outplayed Funderburke in the
second half.  I too wish Funderburke would stop talking trash.  One good
thing I saw out of him though was a little floor leadership.  In the first
half, after Watson (I think) misfired on a play, Funderburke immediately
took him aside and schooled him on the right way to do it.  He also gave
Macon a shove on the defensive end to get him in correct defensive position.
These types of things are going to have to continue.



>    o Confidence.  Even when down or in the middle of an OSU run and lots of
>      noise, the UNC team did not wilt or panic.  They just played hard.

Well, I never lost confidence that UNC would eventually prevail either.
Nonetheless, it was a good test for the Heels.


>    o The team played like a top 50 team in the first half and a top 5 team
>      in the second.

seems about right.  OSU played like a top 20 team in the first half and a
top 50 team in the second.

--
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Mike Doel				<doel@bae.bellcore.com>
444 Hoes Lane RRC 1B-209
Piscataway, NJ 08854

"For every complex problem, there is a solution that is simple, neat
 and wrong." - H.L. Mencken
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Newsgroups: rec.sport.basketball.college