I know the CWS thread has info about who is leaving but I thought I might start a new thread to keep up with our baseball team. It is so hard to follow as roster changes are not as widely reported for baseball as for football and basketball. I saw that we have evidently already picked up a pitcher from an Ivy League school. Tom Chmielewski from Princeton. Looks like lefty potential starting pitcher. Hope others will add info as players make decisions. Does anyone know what high school recruits we already have?

Unless everyone was watching a different game than I was watching it was not just great offensive performances from Jackson and Withers that kept Carolina ahead slightly thru out the night but Coach Davis’s probably BEST COACHING DECISION the entire season when with about 12,minutes to go with Syracuse guard Starling lighting up every Tar Heel person trying to slow him down he took a giant gamble and asked Drake Powell to try and slow down the Syracuse sharpshooter who was as having a career game and was trying to put the final nail into Carolina’s coffin in its hopes to getting invite to March madness…

What a great move as Powell’s height and quickness completely shut down the Orangeman star for the next 10 minutes helping Carolina build up a workable lead again. His clutch block on Starling who was trying to tie the game but ate rubber instead was the play of the game and it kept Carolina’s season already on life support alive for another game…For those who live to attack and criticize Coach Davis at every opportunity must admit as much as it hurts to say so that was a game saving decision as was going with three forwards(withers, Powell and Washington) in winning time instead of playing four guards…

Just now I got home from a pleasant week at Myrtle Beach where we had no rain and temps in the 60’s all week. Hopefully Carolina will not be as cold as it is here in the Triad because they already are on life support.

A couple questions to ponder before tip off in 20 minutes. Number one “will there be a new starting lineup? Number two, will Capt Jack get out of his funk that happened coincidentally when Trimble was healthy to play again? Number three will the team play like they know they are on life support and get behind big again or just play out the strong? Number four can one or two of the players step up and take a verbal leadership and lead by example? Lastly can Coach Davis even though it is not his personality to yell at players get on em to show what it means to wear a Carolina jersey…

We need all of these questions to be answered by the players and coach on the floor

...and these guys just can't make it easy on us, huh?

I'll go ahead and start with a couple of positives:

- We did come out with urgency and effort --- which needs to be the case every game --- and acted like we were gonna blow it open for a while.

- I liked that we started a bigger lineup, and I like that we mixed in 30 and 40 traps at different level (!)

- It was good to see Wash with the early blocks and confidently knocking down a 3, but again, the latter needs to be a regular thing.

- on the other side of things, I was really disappointed in our execution of Zone Offense. Cuse plays their 2-3 so high it's more like a 2-2-1, which means SHORT CORNER is your key! But the guys running pivot were hesitating on what needs to be a touch-pass there --- sheesh --- we missed that over and over. Yeah, we got a couple of floaters from the pivot, but TBH, knocking down 3s bailed us out of some clunky possessions. Fortunately, Hubert adjusted in crunch time letting EC go to work in the pivot to make the looks smoother.

- On the schizoid side, I have a new nickname for our Mr. Withers --- "Harvey Dent". For those who don't get the Batman reference, that's the alter-ego of "Two-Face". I mean, heat-checking from 3 but followed by standing straight up and letting a guy drive right by him, or making uber-athletic finshes but not having a clue in the Zone Offense pivot, or getting a huge late block-and-board, but followed immediately by throwing it away and fouling for an and-1 (when RJ was standing wide open beside him)

- Relieved to see Ian rediscover his offense after hitting that wall, but yikes at his missed interceptor rotations in 32. Come on guys --- if we want Hubert to keep calling scrambles we need to EXECUTE!

- And Eliot, don't go back to falling for those bump-reaction fouls that Cuse's Guard was baiting you with. Yeah, you got him back when it counted (see below), but we need you on the floor, son.

- And come on, guys --- WTF with the missed FTs? I mean, Groover and his clone and their sidekick did us no favors (only the late on-purpose fouls evened up the raw attempt #s), but when you do get to the line, take advantage!

- Finally, we did some nice things to not let this one get away. On that note, Drake worked in some key plays, including a big block and that late transition dime to Harvey. And, when it got too close for comfort up only 2 with 45 seconds left, Eliot's pick-up-your-jock-strap number for that lay-up was the clutch dagger that got if off a 1-possession game for the duration, and then we got it in RJ's hands for the late foul-fest to seal it (and BTW, I noticed RJ had his thumb-wrap off --- hopefully a good sign moving forward).

Anyway, we survived a game in which a 58% and 71% foul shooter together would knock down 18/19 FTs, as well as more than our share of self-inflicted give-backs. When every game is a must-win, we need to take the good and move forward and clean up the bad. And PLEASE Hubert, keep being more multiple! (I mean, we can hope, right?)...

I am here solo. Weather is miserable outside. Snow galore.

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/team/_/id/44/american-university-eagles

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North Carolina Tar Heels​

14-11, 7-6 Conference
ESPN
2/15
6:00 PM



https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/team/_/id/183/syracuse-orange

Syracuse Orange​

11-14, 5-9 Conference





NCAA College Basketball Odds, Betting Lines & Point Spreads



Contest Rules:

Contest #1: Total points for entire season
Contest #2: Reset: Total points after game #15
Contest #3: Final Four Pool Bracket (Top 64 players)
Contest #4 Grand Prize: Total points ACC and NCAA tournaments games through title game (contest continues even if UNC eliminated)
Contest #5 Early Season Non-Conference Contest


Bullet Points!
For the first 20 games, three (3) Bullet points will automatically be added for any player that forgets to post a prediction for a game. Thus, as long as a player posts a prediction for at least one game, he will receive 3 points for all games that he fails to make a prediction. This is applicable even if he does not make his first prediction until the 20th game of the season. In this case, he will still get 60 points for the first 20 games that he failed to make a prediction for. Bullet Points will be automatically added. You do not have to request them.


Points Awarded Per Game
36 pts--Max points, Quadruple points game
27 pts--Max points, Triple points game
18 pts--Double points game
12 pts--Partial points, Quadruple points game
9 pts--Partial points, Triple points game
6 pts--Partial points, Double points game
3 pts--automatic points for any game missed (you failed to make a prediction) in first 20 games


Contest #1 Prizes
1st Place - 1-Year Subscription to Premium, plus miscellaneous prize
2nd Place - 6-Month Subscription to Premium, plus miscellaneous prize
3rd Place - 3-Month Subscription to Premium
4th Place-- 3-Month Subscription to Premium

Contest #2 Prizes
1st Place - 1-Year Subscription to Premium, plus miscellaneous prize
2nd Place - 6-Month Subscription to Premium, plus miscellaneous prize
3rd Place - 3-Month Subscription to Premium
4th Place-- 3- month Subscription to Premium

Contest #3 Prize - 6-Month Subscription to Premium, plus miscellaneous prize

Grand Prize (Contest #4)
Post Season Contest
Top 15 players in Contest #1 and # 2
ACC and NCAA Tournaments games through title game (contest continues even if UNC eliminated)
Prizes: Large Flat Screen TV, Laptop or Tablet (winner option)

Contest #5 Early Season Non-Conference Contest

I was going to make it a poll, but realized I'd probably leave out some things that belong on a Coach's Report Card. So I'll just list a few that I think belong and ask you guys to add the rest. After a while, if there's enough interest, I'll try to consolidate that list into 10 report card assessments.

Recruiting - from High School
Recruiting - from the Portal
Player Development
Roster Construction
Pre-Game Preparation
Halftime Adjustments
In-Game Adjustments
Xs and Os
Game Closeouts
Maintaining Team Moral, Spirit and Commitment
Handling Player Injuries, Departures, Attitudes and other Disruptions

ALTERNATIVELY, you could just cut and paste my list and add your own grades.

I suggest using the old fashioned ABCDF and I (incomplete) grades; but PASS-FAIL might be easier. Or mix and match.

You could also, if you wish, give him an overall grade.

If I am IU AD, I focus on Pitino. He got 20 wins last year in his first at St Johns. and this year he has the Jonnies at 21-4 - their best team in a very long time. His age means that he would last no more than 3, 4 or 5 years, which is enough for him to get IU fully righted while the school searches for the ideal long term replacement to have the Hoosiers get back to being at the top of the BT. The BE is certainly a step up- from the Metro Atlantic, but it is not the BT.

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/team/_/id/44/american-university-eagles

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North Carolina Tar Heels​

14-11, 7-6 Conference
ESPN
2/15
6:00 PM



https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/team/_/id/183/syracuse-orange

Syracuse Orange​

11-14, 5-9 Conference





NCAA College Basketball Odds, Betting Lines & Point Spreads



Contest Rules:

Contest #1: Total points for entire season
Contest #2: Reset: Total points after game #15
Contest #3: Final Four Pool Bracket (Top 64 players)
Contest #4 Grand Prize: Total points ACC and NCAA tournaments games through title game (contest continues even if UNC eliminated)
Contest #5 Early Season Non-Conference Contest


Bullet Points!
For the first 20 games, three (3) Bullet points will automatically be added for any player that forgets to post a prediction for a game. Thus, as long as a player posts a prediction for at least one game, he will receive 3 points for all games that he fails to make a prediction. This is applicable even if he does not make his first prediction until the 20th game of the season. In this case, he will still get 60 points for the first 20 games that he failed to make a prediction for. Bullet Points will be automatically added. You do not have to request them.


Points Awarded Per Game
36 pts--Max points, Quadruple points game
27 pts--Max points, Triple points game
18 pts--Double points game
12 pts--Partial points, Quadruple points game
9 pts--Partial points, Triple points game
6 pts--Partial points, Double points game
3 pts--automatic points for any game missed (you failed to make a prediction) in first 20 games


Contest #1 Prizes
1st Place - 1-Year Subscription to Premium, plus miscellaneous prize
2nd Place - 6-Month Subscription to Premium, plus miscellaneous prize
3rd Place - 3-Month Subscription to Premium
4th Place-- 3-Month Subscription to Premium

Contest #2 Prizes
1st Place - 1-Year Subscription to Premium, plus miscellaneous prize
2nd Place - 6-Month Subscription to Premium, plus miscellaneous prize
3rd Place - 3-Month Subscription to Premium
4th Place-- 3- month Subscription to Premium

Contest #3 Prize - 6-Month Subscription to Premium, plus miscellaneous prize

Grand Prize (Contest #4)
Post Season Contest
Top 15 players in Contest #1 and # 2
ACC and NCAA Tournaments games through title game (contest continues even if UNC eliminated)
Prizes: Large Flat Screen TV, Laptop or Tablet (winner option)

Contest #5 Early Season Non-Conference Contest