The Upside UNC

[SWC75]

- It was an offensive game so several players have good numbers. Buddy Boeheim showed no sign of the ankle injury that had JB doubting he’d even play on Thursday to hit 9 of 17 shots for 22 points. He had three assists, too. He was only 2 for 7 from the arc, meaning that he was 7 for 10 from two point range and I don’t recall any lay-ups. They are guarding him closely outside so he went inside to score from the Twlight Zone. A man after my own heart…

- Despite being guarded by a quick 6-8 guy in ‘leaky’ Black, who didn’t leak, Elijah Hughes wound up with his usual 19 points, although he was only 5 for 16 from the field and has 3 turnovers and 4 fouls. But true stars still find a way to get their points. He was 7 for 7 from the line.

- But the star of the game for our side was clearly Bourama Sidibie. He had the sort of numbers he had against Pittsburgh in his freshman year: 17 points, 15 rebounds with 6 blocks and a steal. He started to emerge with 6 points, 10 rebounds a block and 3 steals vs. Georgia Tech and improved that to 13 points, 10 rebounds 4 blocks and 5 steals vs. Pitt. That’s 36 points, 35 rebounds, 11 blocks and 9 steals in three games. This guy is beginning to come into focus:



- Instead of 2-5 inches of snow we got 2-5 snowflakes. The crowd at the Dome was the liveliest of the year, even though we were behind virtually the whole game. The star power of Tom Brady and Jimmy Fallon made it a fun atmosphere, especially when Fallon began directing the band. A good time was had by all. Sort of.

16-13 (9-9) with 2+ to be done

LET’S GO ORANGE!

 

[CaptainJ]

- It was an offensive game so several players have good numbers. Buddy Boeheim showed no sign of the ankle injury that had JB doubting he’d even play on Thursday to hit 9 of 17 shots for 22 points. He had three assists, too. He was only 2 for 7 from the arc, meaning that he was 7 for 10 from two point range and I don’t recall any lay-ups. They are guarding him closely outside so he went inside to score from the Twlight Zone. A man after my own heart…

- Despite being guarded by a quick 6-8 guy in ‘leaky’ Black, who didn’t leak, Elijah Hughes wound up with his usual 19 points, although he was only 5 for 16 from the field and has 3 turnovers and 4 fouls. But true stars still find a way to get their points. He was 7 for 7 from the line.

- But the star of the game for our side was clearly Bourama Sidibie. He had the sort of numbers he had against Pittsburgh in his freshman year: 17 points, 15 rebounds with 6 blocks and a steal. He started to emerge with 6 points, 10 rebounds a block and 3 steals vs. Georgia Tech and improved that to 13 points, 10 rebounds 4 blocks and 5 steals vs. Pitt. That’s 36 points, 35 rebounds, 11 blocks and 9 steals in three games. This guy is beginning to come into focus:



- Instead of 2-5 inches of snow we got 2-5 snowflakes. The crowd at the Dome was the liveliest of the year, even though we were behind virtually the whole game. The star power of Tom Brady and Jimmy Fallon made it a fun atmosphere, especially when Fallon began directing the band. A good time was had by all. Sort of.

16-13 (9-9) with 2+ to be done

LET’S GO ORANGE!

WOW. I'll explain the wow in the next paragraph(and who knows, it may only have had that effect on me, to give a disclaimer), but I want to dive into a reply about Sidibe. I've been less than less than generous to the guy(and I thought rightfully so), unlike guys who excited me like even Baye Moussa Keita. As you noted he's been starting to come alive, but(to me, at least) it seemed today is when the switch in his brain fully flicked. Maybe it was subjective on my part, but for those less grounded in the material world at times, that dunk attempt did not even look like him to me.

Again, I don't believe it to be a culmination of increased skill and/or better physical health, though I don't care to get into speculation at the moment. Maybe someone can let me know if they saw it otherwise, and if my past perceptions were askew. As mentioned earlier, it has me so positive that I felt by next season he could be a "poor man's senior Christmas"...and maybe even less poor than when I originally thought that. There may have been some of it in his made dunks or other shots or blocks, but to me it looked like something innate took the reins for a moment on that play. To me, that alone may have been worth the price of admission. The other talk on here had distracted my focus from that until you brought it back, and I wanted to say thanks.

As much as I appreciate your epic write ups each game, when I saw this title I was planning on making clever quip(as seems to be a popular action on here, lol) directed at the title alone. However, after faithfully reading the post, I had no desire left to do so. I mentioned that song about the Witch Doctor earlier, but when I read this and wanted to reply that you had magic hands to type something that shifted my mood so quickly, it reminded me of that song from Heart. (don't worry, I dont feel driven enough to write a parody). (and no, I don't mean the kind Patriots' Owner Bob Kraft flew out to Florida to visit, my tribute to Brady and Edelguy's appearance). Maybe like the masters in India and elsewhere who can transfer something to students just from their presence, you can transfer the magic hands to Sidibe to even further his ascent?

Try try try to understand
He's a magic man" aww yeah
He got the magic hands!

 

[SWC75]

WOW. I'll explain the wow in the next paragraph(and who knows, it may only have had that effect on me, to give a disclaimer), but I want to dive into a reply about Sidibe. I've been less than less than generous to the guy(and I thought rightfully so), unlike guys who excited me like even Baye Moussa Keita. As you noted he's been starting to come alive, but(to me, at least) it seemed today is when the switch in his brain fully flicked. Maybe it was subjective on my part, but for those less grounded in the material world at times, that dunk attempt did not even look like him to me.

Again, I don't believe it to be a culmination of increased skill and/or better physical health, though I don't care to get into speculation at the moment. Maybe someone can let me know if they saw it otherwise, and if my past perceptions were askew. As mentioned earlier, it has me so positive that I felt by next season he could be a "poor man's senior Christmas"...and maybe even less poor than when I originally thought that. There may have been some of it in his made dunks or other shots or blocks, but to me it looked like something innate took the reins for a moment on that play. To me, that alone may have been worth the price of admission. The other talk on here had distracted my focus from that until you brought it back, and I wanted to say thanks.

As much as I appreciate your epic write ups each game, when I saw this title I was planning on making clever quip(as seems to be a popular action on here, lol) directed at the title alone. However, after faithfully reading the post, I had no desire left to do so. I mentioned that song about the Witch Doctor earlier, but when I read this and wanted to reply that you had magic hands to type something that shifted my mood so quickly, it reminded me of that song from Heart. (don't worry, I dont feel driven enough to write a parody). (and no, I don't mean the kind Patriots' Owner Bob Kraft flew out to Florida to visit, my tribute to Brady and Edelguy's appearance). Maybe like the masters in India and elsewhere who can transfer something to students just from their presence, you can transfer the magic hands to Sidibe to even further his ascent?

Try try try to understand
He's a magic man" aww yeah
He got the magic hands!

What was the middle part, again?

 

[CaptainJ]

What was the middle part, again?

View attachment 177362

Don't be afraid. It's similar to how being in "the zone" works. The conscious mind is less in the way, and something more primal comes into play. I'm not sure how many here may have ever been full on in the zone, but it's something that you can remember many years later(unless it happened to you often, it didn't to me). Anyhow, I thought I observed an element of that today, which caught me very off guard. And besides just that play, Sidibe's focus appeared increased overall, including on the blocked shots.

 

[SUSScuse]

Don't be afraid. It's similar to how being in "the zone" works. The conscious mind is less in the way, and something more primal comes into play. I'm not sure how many here may have ever been full on in the zone, but it's something that you can remember many years later(unless it happened to you often, it didn't to me). Anyhow, I thought I observed an element of that today, which caught me very off guard. And besides just that play, Sidibe's focus appeared increased overall, including on the blocked shots.

Don't forget he was also seven of eight from the free throw line.
This from a guy that typically isn't focused from there.

 

[SWC75]

Don't be afraid. It's similar to how being in "the zone" works. The conscious mind is less in the way, and something more primal comes into play. I'm not sure how many here may have ever been full on in the zone, but it's something that you can remember many years later(unless it happened to you often, it didn't to me). Anyhow, I thought I observed an element of that today, which caught me very off guard. And besides just that play, Sidibe's focus appeared increased overall, including on the blocked shots.

In other words he stopped thinking and started playing.