Psycho T is here.
If UNC is going to win the national title it will be against the toughest Final Four ever. There are tons of questions for this one. Will Green and Ellington shoot the ball worth a darn? Will we see “beep-beep” Lawson? How well will Deon Thompson play? Can the defense step up huge. Tyler Hansbrough will bring his game but will enough help be there to push the Heels win?
Time to make it happen.
GO HEELS!
9:07 PM: Heels down five. UNC needs to settle down. Kansas has come out in this game with a great deal of energy, probably adrenaline based. UNC just needs to play smart and I think Kansas will come back to them.
9:21 PM: Heels down 13. This is all about the Kansas defense. Unless UNC solves that this game might be over.
9:31 PM: Heels down 26. I am not sure they can come back down 26 against a team like Kansas.
9:44 PM: Heels down 21. Okay here is the deal. Three things about Kansas right now: (1) They used a lot of energy to build the lead which means they may tire. (2) They cannot possibly continue the hot shooting and (3) Possible foul trouble. If the Heels can run off some points and get deficit down they might have a shot to get back into in the 2nd half. I do stress “might” in a huge way there.
HALFTIME: Heels down 17. I think Kansas will get tired and get some foul trouble the question is will UNC be in any kind of position to rally back to win the game. There is a small margin of error and this game might get determined in the first five minutes of the 2nd half.
10:20 PM: Heels down 14. Not as good a start as I hoped for. I was looking for closing it to about ten. That being said UNC has the ball out of the TO and Kansas has two players with three fouls. If they can score to cut it to 12 or 11 I think the mental game might hurt Kansas.
10:31 PM: Heels down 8. Don’t sleep on NC. Kansas looks like they are scared and tired.
10:33 PM: Heels down 6. This team has no quit in them. If they can keep doing what they are doing I think they can win.
10:41 PM: Heels down 5. I think the Heels are in control a bit but it would be nice to pull off another run. They need to keep this game about where it is at and then at the right moment run off 8-10 points and get the lead.
10:53 PM: Heels down 12. Sigh. It is not over but the hole may have been too deep.
10:58 PM: Heels down 17. Hole was too big in the end.
Tar Heel Fan 
Can’t say I’m crazy about Roy’s tie. LOL. I suppose that’s a good sign! Go Heels!!!!
Surprisingly calm.
Although, I must admit, professionally, it would be better for me if I did not have to stay up late on Monday…
Maybe Roy could channel a little Wyatt Earp for tonight’s game…just sub in “Heels” for “Hells” and you get the drift. (lifted from “Tombstone” on imdb)
Wyatt Earp: So run, you cur… RUN! Tell all the other curs the law’s comin’!
[shouts]
Wyatt Earp: You tell ’em I’M coming… and hell’s coming with me, you hear?…
[louder]
Wyatt Earp: Hell’s coming with me!
this has been a long, long day. 20 minutes left to wait… anxiously…
Cannot sit down. Cannot keep down my supper. I WANT TO PLAY! ABOUT TO DIE! Did all of my pre-game rituals. Now I can only hope!
Cold Beer, Frosted Mug, Popcorn, Family at the inlaws, I am ready. Lets GO HEELS.
Have my lucky sweatshirt on. Lucky Livestrong band. Lucky spot on the floor marked and ready. Sweating bullets. GO HEELS!
Really didn’t need to see that Rhodes injury… poor guy.
Wow…almost deposited some pizza and wings upon seeing that.
NOOOOO! STOP IT GUYS!
UNC looks flat-out overmatched…
I think the “flat” term is appropriate…as in flat-footed
At this rate, UNC will be lucky not to get run out of Texas.
Game over?
Had to turn it off.
I’m giving it to HT.
So does Tyler come back next year?
Crying going for a walk must stop playing like this
Packer is right, This game is over. And I thought last year was a bad ending…
Wow, KU is doing everything right and we are doing everything wrong. Make it stop, make it stop.
I honestly don’t know what happened to the team between Charlotte and San Antonio. Did they all catch something on the flight?????????
maybe room service at the hotel…honestly KU has played incredibly well & is probably reaching Villanova-like proficiency on offense.
UNC has answers…but the gap is becoming bit wide to cross. Full-court press, zone look perhaps? Throw something to make it think a little
UNC is not just missing shots, but very badly.
UNC was due for a bad game and this is it.Talk about a bad time to have a bad game.
Lame…
40-19 at the 3:35 mark….with a min-run on offense and perhaps semblance of defensive effort could potentially climb into this. Call me crazy….my cheif concern now will be stamina.
*fouls are piling up on KU
I agree – just picked the worst time of the year for a really bad half, but there is still time…
catch the **** ball dang it
I am going to throw up. It’s over. Did we get cold feet? We might come back if Roy breaks a clipboard or cusses everyone out a halftime or a miricale happens.
I guess it’s pointless to say go Heels.
Worse than last year.
We can’t handle the pressure.
Stop me before I all out cry.
At these moments Billy Packer is the most annoying.
Don’t give up. Cut it to 15 by the half and we have a chance.
Ah very true. Cut it to below 20 at the half, get the crowd into it, make shots we could win. Sorry for my negativity I had to get it out.
Big shots by Danny Green!
Go Heels in the second half. Here’s hoping for something spectacular.
Nothing is over until we say it is over. Get a grip, you bunch of whiny girls….
Kansas is racking up fouls and many of those shots Carolina missed, Billy Packer, notwithstanding, were just easy misses, by Deon and Wayne especially. Lawson has to stop forcing passes and we need to clamp down on defense. There is plenty of time and Kansas is mediocre from the line.
Where is the charge on the last shot. Thats Bull. THF hang in there. KU are missing shots already and picking up fouls. Come on everybody, hang in there.
WHOOOOO! DOWN BY 17 AT THE HALF! Normally I wouldn’t be happy about that but considering the way we’ve been playing that is a very good thing.
I can now say: GO HEELS!
17 point game @ the half… this game is far from over, folks.
we need to see a solid start to the 2nd half. if we can cut it to an 8-10 point deficit in the first 5 or 6 minutes of the 2nd half, we’ll be in good shape.
go heels!
There is a chance. No one needs to give up yet. Let’s all do any ritual that may help during this very critical half-time. My daughter just called to report that my son-in-law (UNC-2000) has gone to bed. He did that once during regular season and awoke to a WIN the next morning. You know that Roy is doing all possible in that locker room right now. Everyone COULD come back and be ON. I’m praying that could happen. Billy Packer is my contempory and I have disliked him for many, many years. You young people do know that he hates Carolina, right. Annoying just isn’t strong enough.
If we as fans give up then can we expect anything more from our team? When Packer said it was over that’s when I thought we would make a comeback. I’ll be there until the end. If it ends badly I will celebrate our GREAT year. Come on guys! GO HEELS!
I won’t turn it off until zeroes on the clock….
The second half is Psycho T’s time. We may not win, but the mental health of our players over the summer and next year is on the line for how we play in the second half.
Ellington is not going down without making some shots. I feel it.
First 5 are definitely critical. Not sure UNC needs to get it below 10. 10 with 10 to go will be fine. Can’t let it get back over 20.
I am listening to the fight song. I am going to sing Hark the Sound! I will scream Aye Zigga Zoomba! We will be back!
GO HEELS!
Please don’t call me a whiny girl. Thanks.
Even if we loose Tyler will be back and this game will be at the back of their minds making them better.
Hating Billy right now he needs to shut the heck up.
Tyler will be key so will Ty, Alex, Deon and Wayne. Oh and the Green Bean! Go Danny!
Go Heels!
Claw our way back to the top!
If they win, they need to make Billy Packer blow a goat for saying “It’s over.”
Its over?..lol that’s the kiss of death for Kansas now. Isn’t there two halves to a Bball game?
Billy Packer needs to be fired if we win.
GO HEELS! DOWN WITH BILLY!
I hope UNC makes FUDGE PACKER eats his words!!
I meant everybody. What could be better than proving Packer wrong?
Yes jakemiller. If we can come out strong in the first five minutes in the second half we will have a chance. Roy has the ability to get our guys pumped up during halftime.
GO HEELS!!!
The first five minutes are crucial IMO.
There is more pressure on KU than there is on UNC.
The next 15 will also be important
We are a second half team. We can come back. Never give up! Go Heels!!!
If by pumped you mean he will break a clipboard then I hope he does. I WANT TO SEE ROY BREAK A CLIPBOARD! but if we win and he doesn’t then I will be ok with that.
First 5 very important. If we can come out with a shot by Tyler or Wayne or Ty then we will be on the right track.
UNC NEEDS TO SETTLE DOWN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
If UNC can come back with in 10 before the ten minute mark they have a shot.
BLOCK SHOTS! GET ON D!
Somebody stop Rush grrrrrrrrr
Beat them by 3 to the 1st TV TO. Do that 2 more times, and it is an 8 point game with 8 to go…
Somebody(s) shut Kansas down!
Folks, this is a ballgame…
54-42… climbing back into it UNC is. Make defensive stops…do or do not. There is no try
“40-19 at the 3:35 mark….with a min-run on offense and perhaps semblance of defensive effort could potentially climb into this. Call me crazy….my cheif concern now will be stamina.
*fouls are piling up on KU”
Game On – GO HEELS!!
I have nothing to do except pray.
PRESSURE D UNC CMON!!
WITHIN TEN BABY
Oh yeah !! Let’s go Heels GREAT D
Down to 10… Kansas is missing open threes but Carolina isn’t capitalizing… let’s go Heels
ELLINGTON’S ON FIRE!!
Danny is trying to do it all. Down 8 GO HEELS!
FUCDGE PACKER UBC GONNA MAKE U EAT YO WORDS
ELLINGTON STEAL WOW CHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHUUUU
The Colonel is in the building!
Now Packer wants to start backtracking – I wish J Nance would pull is d*** plug on his mic
FYEAH FUDGE PACKER ITS OVER ALRIGHT BUTTHEAD
Packer should be fired even if Heels lose. Who in their right mind would call a game with 8 minutes left in the first half!!!! He has to be shut up!!!!! 6 points to go. GO HEELS!!!!!
I LOVE TYLER HANSBROUGH!
“This would be the mother of all comebacks.”- One o fhte announcer guys I pray it wasn’t Billy.
GO HEELS!
UNCS WITH IN 4…LOL
I cannot watch. I sit in the den and read while my dad watches the game. I go in for an occasinal update and then leave. I dare not change anything.
GO HEELS!
ELLINGTON BABY!! 58-53
Ellington is freakin’ feeling it.
great d unc shot clock runs out..
“D” at its best ….. We are in great shape. Go Heels !!
OMG! GO HEELS!
This would be the biggest comeback in Final Four history. Wow. I’m not assuming anything. I will not cry. I WILL NOT CRY!
GO HEELS!
Gotta hang onto the ball… be crisp in these last few minutes.
my stomach hurts, i’m going to vomet
Ditto Brooks.
I might just loose all the food I have consumed in the last 24 hours.
Kansas has settled down. The Heels will have to play extremely well now.
interior D has got to step it up – NOW . Go Heels !!
Come on guys we can’t throw it away now.
Ellington needs to calm down.
GO HEELS!
No. No. No.
Pray everyoone Pray.
keep praying!
Sloppy D since the under-8 TO.
Now it’s over.
Praying. So scared.
GO HEELS!
Good night Gracie… 😦
Impossible. So close but it’s over.
We fought hard.
We had a great season. Let’s be happy about that.
What happend? How did we crack like that? We were so close!
Horrible way to end a GREAT season.
Thanks THF, for all of your work!! I’ve enjoyed the banter.
What a great season! I am so proud of this team. They gave me and my wife a lot of great thrilling moments. Already anticipating next year. GO HEELS
That is one of the strangest games that I have ever seen. Maybe this will give Kansas some closure. I have no idea who will will Monday since both Memphis and Kansas looked so good, but Memphis seems to have been practicing free throws.
Great season. If we won them all, then it would get boring. Ask the UCLA people circa 1970 or UNC women’s soccer circa 1994. I don’t think Roy coached his best game, but Thompson and Stepheson didn’t show up and Ellington waited until the second half. I think we saw why Lawson needs to come back.
Great season. We made a great run. Hard to turn that final corner with the refs making some of the worst calls. But the Heels needed to hit some big shots and they did not. Great game KU. They did not fold and made the plays they needed to. I think they will handle Memphis. Hopefully Tyler and Lason stay another year. Lawson really had a poor game. Thanks Q. Great year.
Well I must say this team has changed me this season..largely thanks to PSYCHO T, I am proud to be a Tar Heel Fan..GO HEELS!!
Thanks for a wonderful year, Heels! Q, you will be greatly missed. I have SO enjoyed this season and have love this blog. Thanks Tar Heel Fan. Now lets pray everyopne comes back to do it again (maybe finish better) next year. Wonderful fans here.
KU’s long-armed defenders gave the perimeter game all kinds of problems through-out, and the big men pretty much camped in the paint 2 / at a time. I would’ve loved to see UNC complete the comeback…but you just can’t spot a top-tier team 28 points this late in the season.
Great season all…THF thanks for the forum.
That had to be one of the most exciting second halfs of basketball I’ve ever seen……up until the last nine minutes or so.
It just seemed like coaching cost UNC the game late in the second half. Bill Self made the adjustments and it seems like Roy was a step behind in the last moments. Not hating Roy, but it just seems like the bigger the games get the tighter he gets and the worse the team plays.
Between the baseball and basketball teams the past two years, you would think UNC has some sort of curse in them.
I disagree Andy. The coaches were not at fault. The Heels came out flat. TOs and poor shooting killed them. KU could not miss to start. I don’t know what the coaches could have changed. We did take too many threes early to try and come back. KU was the better team tonight.
Maybe Kansas was just better. Of course, if Davidson shoots normally, then we would have been playing Davidson. When it is one and done, you can’t really over-analyze it. I remember some of those Laker-Celtic series where one team would win by 30 and then the other team would win by 30 the next game on the same floor–but that was best of seven.
The middle third of the first half was eerily similar to the end of the Georgetown game. UNC had to hit a couple of three’s to open up the paint and we couldn’t do it. I thought we were past that, but then it happened again down the stretch. Kansas was just waiting to be toppled and we couldn’t get a shot to go when down four and five points.
Deon, Alex, Marcus and Ty all disappeared. With Tyler having 3 guys hanging all over him, we really needed Deon and Alex to step up and we really needed Ty to distribute the ball and it didn’t happen.
I have to say that I was really impressed with Danny’s growth this year. Very few Tar Heels have ever improved as much in one year. Kudos to Danny–I think he was sort of the Jawad Williams of this team and really came through against Clemson and also tonight when we really needed him and no one else could do it.
We knew earlier in the year (and forgot) that we could struggle against teams that were big down low, especially if Tyler didn’t get any help. Alex and Deon looked like their heads were not in the game. It sounds strange to say when you lose by 18 but I think one more shot and Kansas might have toppled but we just couldn’t get it down to 2.
i’m so proud of this team. they showed amazing heart coming back in this game. you can’t take anything away from kansas… they were just better tonight.
i hate to see the season end this way, but like i said, i’m incredibly proud of them. i’m proud of their season.
go heels!!!
Don’t blame the refs for a second. Kansas was better tonight, plain and simple. They kicked “our” butts and they deserve to play Monday night.
=( i hate looking for the positives cause a loss like this is supposed to sting…but i can only hope that this is a factor in hansbrough comin back next year…..
Hopefully, this loss will be enough to make up for Roy leaving Kansas and we will not have to hear any more about that . . . and next time, if there is one with an RW recruited team, he will coach to win, even if it is Kansas.
Well, this coach and the team brought us this far and they stopped it here too! After the last Charlotte game, there was too much media coverage and it has defenitely distracted the team.
How would you feel if you were Bill Self and the fans were so angry that your predecessor left? Does this mean he’s now accepted as their head coach? Or will he have to win Monday night before he’s the man?
First and foremost, THF-I was incredibly moved by your story pertaining to memories of you and your father watching UNC games. Thank you so very much for this site and all that you contribute to the #1 fan base in all of america.
Secondly, I posted heavily on this site last summer, right up until my baby boy came into this world. Since then, between work and fatherhood, I have only checked in now-and-again to see what was on everyone’s minds. Then, I would listen to Woody Durham on XM satellite radio. Being a former baseball player, I succumbed to my superstitious ways and would not allow myself to blog during the season, starting with the Davidson game.
My thoughts on the KU game are much like what I have already read; specifically, our boys came out shooting terrible, turning the ball over, and getting out-hustled. Then, when they were making a classic Tar Heel comeback, they fell just short. Well, it is what it is and now we move on.
I wanted to start grinding the axles for next year, and share my thoughts with my fellow UNC family members. Now, this loss was painful to endure, but let’s keep in mind that history was already made this year, by this team. Total wins, total wins by one player over four years, Hansbrough gets his jersey retired during his JUNIOR season, the classic wins over Clemson, and the impressive margin-of-victory numbers just to get to the Final Four. Mind you, all of my hater-friends have essentially filled up my text inbox tonight with their up-to-date assessments of how UNC were getting de-faced, but nearly all of them concluded by saying, “They will be back.”
SO, once the dust settles and then clears, we will all rub our eyes and look forward to next year. In that context, we should be the happiest fan base in all of America. I firmly believe that a less-than-stellar performance (which tonight certainly was) was the next-best thing that could have happened, save for a national title. Why? Look no further than 1998. UNC played poorly against Utah in the F4, lost a sloppy game, but were not blown out. Antawn Jamison kisses the NCAA logo at midcourt on national tv and we all put our heads in our hands and take that hard, inward breath. UNC made a run that left the ’98 squad content enough to accept their legacy as a memorable one and then Carter and Jamison departed. Now, I know that they were projected lottery picks (and that Dean always encouraged players in that capacity to turn pro), but we all felt that pit in our stomach that seemed to be telling us, “that will be as good as it’s gonna get for a while.” And it was. Also, it didn’t help that Krzyzewski was building a beastly squad that would dominate college hoops the next season.
Anyways, my point: this final four leave me with the same impression that ’98 did. Rather, I feel as though this was the prologue to the epic final chapter. In this story, Tyler Hansbrough is the valiant warrior who is repeatedly teased by ultimate victory, only to suffer brutal defeats after getting so close. This story has an ultimate resolution, one that should unfold next year over the course of what could be a monster season. I think that Tyler coming back is a no-brainer. At best, he is a late-first rounder. The obvious question marks are Ty and Wayne. I think Ty demonstrated tonight that he is neither Raymond Felton or NBA-ready. In regards to Wayne, I still don’t know how badly he wants to win a title. I’m sure that the desire is there, but his stock is relatively high and (after tonight) I see him as going highest in this year’s draft. Lawson was the front-runner, but he took a step back tonight.
So again, we should consider ourselves the happiest fan base in the entire country. If the post-game locker room tonight was anything like I had imagined it to be, then there were probably a lot of guys looking towards next year. I have every reason to believe that at least two of the big three (Tyler, Ty, and Wayne) will be back. Plus, the addition of Tyler.2, Ed Davis, and Larry Drew will provide needed energy late in games. I know that Roy will be coaching defense, defense, defense in the off-season. The three newcomers had better prepare. Although none of the three are strong perimeter players, they can at least help to cut-off driving guards and also to get stops in zone situations.
I think we have a lot to be excited about. Thanks again, THF.
Correction: paragraph #4, first sentence. Obviously, this season did NOT leave me with the same overall impresson as ’98. My bad.
First of all, I would like to say… I LOVE ROY WILLIAMS. This past week has been tough for me as all the vocal minority at Kansas has expressed their opinion about Roy. I believe that he gave us 15 great years. I respect the way that he ran our (and your) program. Having said that, I am glad that Kansas beat the daggum pants off the tarheels.
Rock Chalk and Thanks Coach Williams
MD, I don’t want to pass along the impression that it’s ALL coaching because there were certainly a ton of execution issues tonight, but coaching was a very large part on how this game turned out to be a defeat.
Don’t me wrong, I know Roy is a hall of fame coach and I’m just a hack who plays three nights a week at the gym, but come on now. UNC constantly gets killed by not switching on screens and there never seems to be an adjustment to switch. The one time it happens at Duke, and we win the game. When KU was getting tired in the first half and slowing the pace down, UNC could have pressed and trapped to speed the tempo back up. These are calls that come in from the sideline.
I admire whatever he did to inspire one of the most impressive comebacks I’ve seen in watching basketball, but it seemed like Bill Self had KU better prepared and making better adjustments down the stretch while UNC was just doing the same thing on the defensive side.
All in all, I’m already excited about the pospects for next year. Provided everyone comes back, this team should be the hands-down favroite to take it all. I’m just dreading the fact now that we’re gonna have to put up with Doug Gottlieb, Skip Bayless, and the rest of the UNC haters out there just say “I told you so.”
And if Daddy were alive he would simply quote the words of the Jimmy Ruffin song:
Life lends a crushing blow
And once again a heart is broken
And as history repeats itself
These few words are sadly spoken
I’ve passed this way before
And I’ve felt this pain before
A hurt that took so long to end
Has found my poor heart again