Psycho G?

After watching this fouled heard around the world by Gerald Henderson over and over again, I have concluded that he, in no possible way, did that on purpose. Yes, of course, I am biased but believe it or not, my first reaction to the first replay CBS showed was that it may have been done intentionally. That was in normal motion. BUT, in slow motion, you can tell that he didn't do intentionally and that once Psycho T lost the ball he tried to change his motion and his elbow got in the way of Hansbrough's face. A few thoughts on the foul:

1) It should've been called a flagrant foul.
2) I don't like this garbage that it warrants an automatic suspension. I mean can you compare that foul to the groin punch Chris Paul gave Julius Hodge a few years ago? No, you can't but they both got 1 game suspensions. Where is the justice there?
3) Psycho T had it coming. Not that I wanted him to get hurt because believe it or not, I like the energy he plays with. BUT, you miss a free throw, up 12, with 15 seconds and you run and grab your own rebound? Then, to boot, you try to go up and throw down an emphatic dunk to rub it in Duke's face? What did he expect? Duke has pride and I know exactly what Henderson was trying to do. He went up as hard as he could and he was going to block that ball as hard as he could right back in his face but obviously that didn't happen.

For anyone to come on TV and say this is a black eye for Duke is an absolute joke. It was unfortunate but why didn't anyone say that about David Noel's foul on Luol Deng a few years back that knocked him unconscious and was done blatantly on purpose? Why wasn't that a black eye for UNC basketball? Or what about Matt Doherty dropping the "N" bomb towards Andre Buckner in 2003, which caused Johnny Dawkins to not shake his hand in the following game? Why wasn't that a black eye? This incident is the latest attempt for all the Duke haters to take aim at a rarely vulnerable Duke team. I'm going to say this once and one time only, GET IT OUT OF YOUR SYSTEM NOW BECAUSE THIS TEAM, NO NO NO WAIT, THIS PROGRAM WILL BE BACK TO POWERHOUSE STATUS AS SOON AS NEXT YEAR!!!

This season North Carolina is a much better, much deeper team than Duke and I believe they have a great shot at winning the national title. This season Duke should just tip their cap to Carolina and call them their daddy but don't get used to it. With nobody leaving this years team, (if McRoberts leaves, he has a brain tumor), then add 3, possibly 4 five-star recruits and next year you have a team to be reckoned with.

Believe it or not, there actually was a game. I'm not so sure I stand by the statements the media is making that Carolina kicked their ass. To me, the game was closer than the final score, it just got away from Duke in the last 8 minutes or so. I thought Greg Paulus was terrific...again. Given the number of attempts he gets during the game, he's really starting to shoot the ball with Redick-like efficiency. He hit one fade away from behind the basket that was beautiful and cut the lead to 50-48. Duke had a chance to tie the game on the next possession but David McClure couldn't handle the pass Greg Paulus and Hansbrough got a 3-point play on the other side of the floor. Speaking of Hansbrough, he was like Sean May out there. He was spectacular and that performance may give him the POY Award in the ACC considering Dudley, Singletary, and Dowdell all lost games they should've won this weekend. What can I say? I loved Duke's effort yesterday. You can't blame their effort but lets face it, they don't have the front court depth to stay with Carolina for a full 40 minutes.

Also, let's admit Duke had a lot of things working against them yesterday:
1) UNC is better and more talented
2) A win would give Roy his 100th win at Carolina
3) It was their Senior Day
4) UNC had lost two straight games
5) A #1 seed and actually a bye in the ACC Tourney was on the line

Next up for Duke is NC State in the ACC Tournament on Thursday. Even without Henderson, I look for Duke to win the game. BUT, this game won't be as easy as the first and only meeting this season when Duke absolutely hosed NC State at home. Atsur is back in the lineup, they run a pro-style offense and they have the capability to beat anyone in the nation, just ask Carolina. I do think Duke will bounce back though in a big way and I also like how their bracket shaped up for the Tourney. I can certainly envision a scenario where Duke goes to the Championship Game on Sunday. If they beat NC State, they would play Virginia and I know Duke is dying for a rematch after they let that game get away that essentially started their downfall this season. If they get by UVA, they would play wither GA Tech or VA Tech, which is certainly a winnable game as well. But, first thing is first. Beat NC State.

Prediction: Duke 70 NC State 61