A word on UNC and Duke

UNC- The preseason favorite better not get too big for their britches. Roy Williams better have his guys, every one of them, ready to go no matter who the opponent. UNC will learn quickly that there’s a fat million dollar check safety pinned to their collective jerseys. Tar Heelites must hope that Hansbrough isn’t the only player who gets the memo. The Messiah can only do so much.

Key Player- Wayne Ellington. Sure, he can stroke it from just about any area code, but he is lacking elsewhere. You know that when Tyler Hansbrough is a more accomplished ball handler, something has got to change.

Finish- Gotta go out on a limb and say the Final Four. Anything less will be considered an utter failure.

Duke- Recently this team reminds a lot of people of a really good book, a phenomenal book, one they can’t put down for hours and hours. Yet when they do put it down, they feel physically and mentally ill because the ending was so anti-climatic, so wretched, that it reminds them of the Dukie players migration to the pros over the past several years (I am not one of those ‘a lot of people’). The colossal failures of J.J. Redick, Josh McRoberts and Shelden Williams at the NBA level, despite the notion these top of the line studs were supposed to ‘tear it up’, is fantastically ironic.

Am I on the Duke blacklist yet?

Key Player- Brian Zoubek. If the kid can twist free his fist out of his ear and show some intensity, we’ll at least know he’s alive. That would be a decent start.

Finish- Probably a bitch slap from Siena or VCU early on. Keeping my fingers crossed.

Newscom