This season after a letdown in the Elite 8 last year against UK was supposed to be the start of something amazing(kind of like 09 after the Kansas loss in which we trailed 40-12 at one point), but alas it wasn't. Too many injures(McDonald, then Strickland, then Henson's BS, then whatever the deal with Kendall Marshall actually was.) It seemed like this team had the decked stacked against it from the get-go and like I said all year, they were not near mentally tough enough to get past it. Stillman White played well in his 2 games at the point(13 assists 0 turnovers), but he wasn't able to be the dynamic passer and playmaker that Marshall is/was and everyone, especially Harrison Barnes suffered from it. Credit to Ohio and Kansas to turning Barnes into a jump shooter and less of the slasher we UNC fans have known him to be since his arrival as the most hyped product since the beginning of time(but I digress, I'll get to him in a minute).
Today's news was texted to me that Barnes, Henson and Marshall have all decided to take themselves to the next level to play in the NBA by my good buddy Aaron Matthews(@matthews_show), and had I not spent 3 hours waiting on my car to get fixed, that news itself probably would have ruined my day. When I heard the news I decided that since it's something I am so passionate about(whether that is good or bad remains to be seen) that I would put my thoughts down for all of you to read about each individual "student athlete", so here goes:
I just feel like his career and legacy at UNC is a mixed bag. He would dominate games against mid level teams like Clemson(40 pts as a frosh) on his way to winning ACC Rookie of the Year honors, but disappeared when it came to games in the tourney unless someone was there to spread the floor and allow him to slash to the bucket. Whoever drafts him will need a TOP FLIGHT point guard, otherwise he will become another NBA ghost like Kerry Kittles(Nova) or Ron Mercer(UK). If anyone on this list needed one more year to come back and prove he can do more than score(17ppg this year but still isn't an elite level defender for an NBA 2/3) and BE THE LEGEND HE WAS PROJECTED TO BE when he signed with UNC, it's Barnes....but I guess legendary isn't a word in his vocab.
Kendall Marshall:Ah Kendall, where do I start? Once again another guy who I had heard GREAT things about and saw play in the Mickey D's game in Cbus. 2 points, 1 board and 5 assists. Not exactly world beating, but given he spent most of the time setting up Jared Sullenger(OSU) it stands to reason he wouldn't get the BIG game in Sully's hometown and future arena. When he started at UNC he was a top rated PG, but we supposedly already had one in Larry Drew 2(we all know how that worked out), and sat until Larry spontaneously combusted and quit the team. K-Mart stepped in beautifully and saved UNC's season.....or so we thought. He played horribly in the loss to Kentucky and was stifled by Brandon Knight and Doron Lamb. This year everyone including Kendall came back and were the #1 ranked team in the country to start the season. After demolishing Michigan State yet again(yes, they are UNC's bitch).....that #1 ranking lasted less than 2 weeks before loss #1 which seemed to oddly take the wind out of the blue sails rather than motivate them. Marshall was the only one who seemed to take it as a challenge to get a better jump shot as he turned it on scoring wise the last half of the season. The thing that bothers me about Kendall is that after he took his fall on his wrist in the 2nd round, it seemed like he just said screw it I'm done. I don't pretend to know how much pain he was in, but I know if it was me and I could go AT ALL I would have been out there...not sitting on the bench in a suit somebody bought me. Like I talked about earlier, it just seemed like yet another kid who didn't buy into the Carolina mystique and decided he could get by on talent alone. Missing him killed UNC's chances at raising banner #6....they were just deflated. But they beat Ohio you say....yes you are correct, BUT they beat Ohio on sheer talent and conditioning alone(watch the Bobcat's heads when they hear the buzzer at 0 in regulation, they were deflated heading to OT because they had UNC right there). How do you leave a mission half finished Kendall? Does that competitive drive not tear you apart that you couldn't accomplish this mission? How do you go out LIKE THAT?(like Devon Jones says, like a bitch!) It's just sad what you left unfinished at UNC to go make a lot of money that will ALWAYS be there with the type of talent you possess.
College sports as a whole is a joke right now. The NBA is just cluttered with too many players who are just there to get a paycheck(check out the Memphis and Toronto rosters), and not guys who are actually talented enough to be there and do something to EARN their paychecks imo.
The guy I most feel bad for on this UNC team? Tyler Zeller. There's the perfect example of a guy who could have bounced twice for money, but chose to STAY AT UNC and try for that title with this group of guys every year because he BLED CAROLINA BLUE.....not because it was a place for him to hang out for a couple of years before he went to the league like the other 3. Zeller, much like the Tyler before him GOT IT....he got what college sports means and what TAR HEEL TRADITION means. The other 3? Well you see how that played out.
I'm thankful I get to watch kids next year like the heir apparent to the PG slot in Marcus Paige, and the duo of Reggie Bullock(who i think will be THE best shooter in college basketball next year), and of course James Michael McAdoo(who I believe GETS it and will be a UNC legend by the end).
Is is November yet? I want another run at this:
#unc4life - @mhirn3 on twitter
