NCAA Basketball betting

Tar Heels early loss wasnt big surprise

With 130 dunking days left until Final Four Saturday, raw college basketball teams obviously have time on their side.

Theres time for ligaments to heal and nerves to fray, time for selfless defenders to play and selfish shooters to sit. Theres time for almost everything, beginning with North Carolinas sudden departure from the top 10.

The No. 6 Tar Heels got trampled in a mad Syracuse rush just after halftime Friday and fell 87-71. Coach Roy Williams insisted all along that his team, with three new starters, was overrated, and the orange throng at Madison Square Garden repeated the chorus.

Carolina has backcourt issues, with Larry Drew II trying to master the point and senior Marcus Ginyard trying to become a reliable long-range threat and youngsters trying to get a grip on high-speed basketball. Thats a lot of trying – and on the fly, too.

Williams built the early schedule around four TV characters (Ohio State, Michigan State, Kentucky and Texas) that will provide measuring sticks long before the conference grind takes the measure of flawed contenders.

After a victory over Gardner-Webb on Monday, Williams revealed a telling stat: Carolina practiced 24 times before its first game last season and 24 times before its sixth game this season. Thats not enough lab work for the smaller people scurrying around all those talented larger people.

Duke on track

Dukes Mike Krzyzewski has rolled out another relatively sleek product. His teams usually leave the pad like rockets. The Blue Devils will attempt another New York launch tonight against Arizona State, coached by Herb Sendek.

The ride might feel smoother a lot longer than last winter, when Coach K turned the point into a revolving door before settling on Jon Scheyer as the offensive floor leader. Nate Smith looks comfortable as an offensive wing with defensive duties at the point. Recruits have pumped up Dukes inside energy, and 6-10 freshman Mason Plumlee could supply needed toughness when his injured wrist heals.

Wake Forest will take real tests next week, at Purdue and at Gonzaga. One guaranteed question from rival defenses: Can the Deacons make outside shots?

Senior Ish Smith replies: Were going to be a good 3-point shooting team if it kills us and weve got to stay in the gym all night. In what hardly qualifies as a shock, the top candidate resembles the same guy who excels at other tasks, Al-Farouq Aminu.

Pack has success

N.C. State raised some eyebrows by winning the Glenn Wilkes Classic, which honors the former Stetson coach. That was some achievement considering how few eyes saw the Daytona Beach event: 616 fans for the 60-58 title win over Auburn, after 457 for Austin Peay and 416 for Akron. Could someone actually hear waves crashing at the Ocean Center?

Clemson should make infinitely more noise as Coach Oliver Purnell weaves Tanner Smith, jump shooter David Potter, Andre Young, freshman Noel Johnson, Jerai (son of Harvey) Grant and Devin (brother of Trevor) Booker into the rotation.

Purnell intends to impose defensive will through persistent pressure. One-and-done NCAA trips the past two seasons, along with five losses in the final six games last season, made some folks wonder if Clemson had become the unintended March victim in its war of attrition.

Well, Purnell said, Ive never subscribed, really, to that theory. I think thats something thats being put out there, and you either subscribe to it or not. These young men are 17 to 21 years of age, and thats a mental thing they can push through. We are deeper this year, so that shouldnt enter their minds.

It shouldnt, at least in November.