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Tuesday, February 14, 2006
Heels have an Achilles
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Hi everybody.
Sorry to be brief today, but I’m toiling on the story for tomorrow’s paper, and I’ve got to get humping.
Tech hasn’t won at UNC since Feb. 10, 1996, and although the Tar Heels are a much cooler version of themselves with considerable youth this season upon losing every starter from last season’s national championship team, they’re going to be tough — but not impossible to beat Wednesday night. They’ve got the best freshman in the conference in Tyler Hansbrough, and they’re moving the ball around better all the time for coach Roy Williams
Tech has more than a fighting chance, in my opinion, if the Jackets keep moving the ball well, compete from whistle to whistle, and continue taking care of the ball the way they did Sunday against N.C. State.
Coach Paul Hewitt commented Monday on how much Ra’Sean Dickey has improved in setting screens, and the Jackets will need several in the Dean Smith Center because other than Zam Fredrick (and occasionally other players) they don’t have perimeter players who routinely create solid shop opportunities for themselves.
“He’s starting to understand the little things that you have to do,” Hewitt said on the ACC teleconference call. “He’s a gifted scorer and can rebound well. [Sunday], he did the little things that really helped us. We talked about keeping Cedric Simmons and Andrew Brackman off the boards, and one of the key stats was that those two guys didn’t get any offensive rebounds.
“The thing he did better … than at any point this year was screening. He did a nice job of finding the guys that were guarding Anthony Morrow and Lewis Clinch, and using those screens to create good post opportunities for them. He’s enormously talented, but as he improves and does more of the little things, he has a good chance of becoming one of the star players in this league.”
Dickey needs to answer Hansbrough in some fashion, for Tech to have a real shot.
More from Hewitt:
“This is a talented basketball team, and we shouldn’t be 3-8 in the ACC, but we are. We have to try to do something about it down the stretch, and fortunately, I’ve been in this situation before when we won seven of our last nine league games three years ago. Hopefully, our coaching staff can draw on that experience and try and keep these guys moving forward. We have a great opportunity on Wednesday night to play in a great venue against a great team, so we’ll see what happens.”
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