First of all, thanks to all the participants in the liveblog. It was fun as usual, and the comments were great.
Second, I though our team competed very hard, they were simply outmanned and outgunned by a better team. North Carolina played well enough to win, and that's really all that needs to be said. Congratulations to the Tarheels. We shall return.
Third, Patrick Patterson's expression when he finally was sent to the bench for good was priceless. I don't think I'll ever forget it. He was so ... unhappy, and you could tell that losing this game absolutely stuck in his craw. He hated it, and that makes me happy. An attitude like that is infectious, and if the rest of the Cats truly catch it, watch out.
Now, for a few additional observations:
- I saw something today I have never seen before -- Crawford pass out of a dribble drive not once, but a couple of times.
- There were times this team showed flashes of brilliance on offense and on defense. They were just too few and far between.
- Michael Porter had a good ball game. Four assists, two turnovers and four rebounds.
- Patrick Patterson is one tough guy.
- Ramel Bradley played ok, but only 2 assists and 2 turnovers.
- AJ Stewart might be a star here one day if he keeps improving. He has incredible energy.
- 5 blocks for each team
- Gotta love Perry Stevenson's aggressiveness. Hopefully, that is Patterson is rubbing off on him.
I'll have more to say about this in the morning. For now, I think we may have turned a bit of a corner today. We'll know next Saturday when we visit the Hoosiers.