unranked herd of Longhorns came visiting. Texas was young, but not slouches, sporting a 9-1
record. Victory number 10 would soon follow as the Tar Heels fell back into their free throw and
rebounds draught in an 86-83 loss.
After the loss it was announced that North Carolina would not seek reinstatement of swingman
P.J. Hairston following his suspension for NCAA rules violations. This may have been the “straw
that broke the camel’s back” for the Tar Heels.
They were able to win the next 3 very winnable games on the schedule before entering ACC
play. However, the arrow pointed straight down from there, when they dropped their first 3 interconference matchups beginning with the opener against Wake Forest.
It is hard to imagine North Carolina navigating its way through the rest of the ACC schedule and
emerging as a serious March contender. They finish the regular season at Duke on March 8th.
Can Duke Still Contend for the
ACC Title?
After jumping out to an 11-2 record with the only losses coming against the then ranked #5
Kansas Jayhawks (94-83 on Nov. 12) and #4 Arizona Wildcats (72-66 on Nov. 29), things went
a bit south to begin the 2014 portion of the Duke Blue Devils season.
Losses to two, average at best units like Notre Dame (79-77 on Jan.4) and Clemson 72-59 one
week later, did not exactly spark optimism in the “Cameron Crazies”. To be fair, both defeats
came on the road with a win against Georgia Tech at home in between.
Some were wondering if the two most prestigious college hoops programs in North Carolina
were both going to go down the drain this year. While the Tar Heels continue to struggle, the
team from Durham seems to be regaining its footing.
There are still a few factors that will need to be addressed moving forward for Duke to once
again emerge at the top of the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Perhaps the most pressing need is for freshman F Jabari Parker to find his rhythm and continue
to improve. For a 2
week stretch
beginning on New
Year’s Eve and
ending on January
13th he shot an
abysmal 32% (19 of
59) from the field
including 24% (5 of
21) from beyond the
arc.
Problem number 2 is
needs Parker to
level. Their defense
allowing 67 points per
them ranked at
the reason Duke
perform at a high
is weak. They are
game which has
around 90 in the
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