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PAGE 12 SCOREBOARD JACOB KARABELL FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS Not OK to forget the NBA T -minus 26 days until basket ball season in Chapel Hill. On Nov. 19, as many fans are aware, the North Carolina men’s basketball team will begin its title defense against Gardner-Webb. For some mem bers of Tar Heel nation, the season will even begin a night earlier, when the UNC women’s team takes on Davidson. Despite much sentiment to the contrary, however, basketball season actually begins in a mere eight days. No, that’s not the date of the Tar Heels’ first exhibition against Fayetteville State. It’s the first night of the 2005-06 NBA campaign. That’s National Basketball Association, not National Burglary Association for those convinced the league exists merely to rob the collegiate ranks of its top talent. Indeed, for perplexing reasons, the NBA in Chapel Hill seems to have to have a fan base on the level of ESPN2 staples such as bass fishing and bull riding. But if the region’s hoops junkies would give professional basketball a chance, they likely would enjoy several aspects of the pro game. Undoubtedly, college basket ball does have superiority com pared to its adult counterpart. The atmosphere at many college arenas is simply uftftfatched, and the NCAA Tournament makes for the greatest three weeks of the American sports calendar. But professional basketball actually has some (gasp) advan tages set against the product played at the Smith Center. First, like any professional sport, the NBA has more parity than college basketball, which makes for a more intriguing product on a nightly basis. Last year, the NBAs worst team the Atlanta Hawks managed to win a game at Detroit, the team that was a Robert Horry 3- pointer away from winning the league’s championship. Compare that to how the bottom half of Division I teams (according to the RPI) fared against UNC a year ago. The Tar Heels played against five of those teams, and their closest margin was a 28-point romp against Oakland in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Their average margin of victory in those games was 39 points. Another reason to watch the NBA is the league’s phenom enal athletes. Superstars such as Leßron James, Kevin Garnett, Dwyane Wade and Allen Iverson are worth the price of admission to any game and certainly merit flip ping over to TNT once in a while. For better or worse, that amaz ing display of individual abilities generally does not trickle down to the collegiate level. While it’s interesting to see five players average between 11 and 17 points as UNC did last year, there’s something dazzling about watching someone such as Iverson become unguardable and score 60 points like he did against the Magic last February. If the most ardent NBA hat ers remain unconvinced, there’s always the direct link from col lege to the pros: last year’s Tar Heel draft class. Surely, Sean May and Raymond Felton did not morph from beloved student-athletes to egotistical monsters in the span of one night in June. Better yet, they happen to play for the Charlotte Bobcats, a team 140 miles away that will have a majority of its games broadcast in the Triangle. Maybe some fans will tune in to the Bobcats this season and give the NBA a chance. At the very least, it will give basketball enthusiasts something to pass the time before Nov. 19 rolls around. Contact Jacob Karabell at karabell@email.unc.edu. SportsMondav MEN'S SOCCER UNC 1 Wake Forest 0 (OT) <i£s UNC 7 VIRGINIA 5 GETTING DEFENSIVE Heels shut down Cavalier attack BY BRIAN MACPHERSON SENIOR WRITER Gone are the days when a porous North Carolina defense would waste touchdown after touchdown by the North Carolina offense. Gone are the days when dou ble-digit deficits regularly would force the offense into a single dimension force the quarter back to shoulder the load and the tailbacks to accept a complemen tary role in a come-from-behind attack. Newly arrived are the days when the Tar Heels can win games on defense and defense alone. In North Carolina’s 7-5 vic tory against No. 23 Virginia on Saturday at Kenan Stadium, the defense held the Cavaliers to a sin gle field goal only two weeks after it surrendered a school-record 69 points to Louisville. “We gave up a big one, but that’s not going to hold us back from being that great defense that we SEE FOOTBALL, PAGE 11 Rushing game thunders past UVa. mr Hr Jdj Hgk Ba V i J 1 " ‘ Hyy jff- DTH/WHITNEY SHEFTE North Carolina RB Ronnie McGill carries the ball Saturday in his second game back since tearing a pectoral muscle in June. He rushed for 118 yards. Tar Heels squeak by ’Pack BY DANIEL MALLOY SPORTS EDITOR Maybe it was because it didn’t have stars Lori Chalupny and Heather O’Reilly on the field. Maybe it was because it under estimated the opponent. Whatever the explanation, the No. 3 North Carolina women’s soccer team played like it was on Fall Break in a 1-0 victory against unranked N.C. State at Fetzer Field on Thursday. Besides not blowing out the Wolfpack (6-10, 2-6 in the ACC), the Tar Heels failed to dis play their usual dominant play WOMEN'S SOCCER N.C. State 0 UNC 1 INSIDE Winget makes case to solve goalkeeper controversy PAGE 11 by not controlling the ball as effectively as usual. Part of that can be attributed to the loss of Chalupny, who sat out with a concussion, and of O’Reilly, who was playing in a U.S. National Team exhibition match. Both are scheduled to return for UNC’s next game, Friday at Wake Forest. W WWliwliytctallßßlCOlll VOLLEYBALL UNC 3 Boston College 1 Hr / ViPb sHH S' ■ BKp.' y$W ~,u.J DTH/WHITNEY SHEFTE North Carolina DBs Cedrick Holt (13) and Trimane Goddard team up to take down Virginia WR Kevin Ogletree during UNC's 7-5 win-Saturday. “At our best were not bad, but at our worst we are horrible.” ANSON DORRANCE, UNC COACH Junior forward Jennifer Perkins and sophomore midfield er Robyn Gayle took Chalupny and O’Reilly’s spots in the start ing lineup, but the stars’ skill cer tainly was missed. “They are the premier play ers in the country, and any time you don’t have them it definitely hurts,” said midfielder Kacey White. “We have a ton of good players, but we lose that spark of Heather on the front line, getting behind defenses. Even if she doesn’t get the ball, it’s scary for other teams, and they mark her.... And Chalupny’s our workhorse in the midfield, and that definitely hurts not to have her.” But head coach Anson Dorrance refused to use the loss of his stars as an excuse, saying he was frustrated by his team’s mad dening up-and-down play. “At our best we’re not bad, but at our worst we are horrible,” he said. BY DANIEL MALLOY SPORTS EDITOR Barrington Edwards wants to call it “Thunder and Lightning.” Ronnie McGill thinks Edwards is too slow to justify “Lightning.” “It’s thunder and lightning, get it right,” Edwards shouted back to McGill after North Carolina’s 7-5 no, it wasn’t a baseball score victory against Virginia on Saturday. So McGill offered a compro mise: “Mighty Thunder and Cloud.” They still aren’t sure what to call it, but the Tar Heel running game is back. With McGill finally healthy, UNC has a formidable backfield duo, and both chewed up yards —and all-important time of pos session during the Tar Heels’ smash mouth victory. McGill thundered his way to 118 yards on 23 carries while Edwards clouded the field for 57 yards to give the Tar Heels their biggest rushing output of the season. It was a far cry from McGill’s lackluster 29 yards in UNC’s 69- 14 loss at Louisville two weeks ago. “That was my first game back, I’m not really sure what “It’s probably the widest range of performance of any team that I’ve coached. Some of the stuff we do is some of the best stuff we’ve ever done. And some of the stuff we do is some of the worst stuff we’ve ever done. And that’s rather shocking.” The only score of the night was pretty much handed to the Tar Heels, as afoul inside the box gave White a penalty kick. Since White’s PKs are some of the Tar Heels’ best stuff she’s now 4- for-4 on the season UNC (16- 1, 8-1) took the lead in the 31st minute. She aimed for the right side of the goal, and even though Wolfpack goalkeeper Kim Selz dove that way, she had no chance. The ball snuck just inside the post. “I don’t know if there’s a secret,” White said. “Luckily I’ve made a few, and now you just try to do SEE SOCCER, PAGE 11 WOMEN'S GOLF UNC, 11th was going on,” said McGill, who missed the first four games of the season after tearing his left pectoral muscle in June. “I knew the plays and every thing, but just not being out there, hot getting any contact is a lot different.” McGill battled injuries last season as well, playing in only seven games. But with the loss of Chad Scott and Jacque Lewis to grad uation, he was expected to take the bulk of the carries this year. And on Saturday, the junior dis- “We could run the ball all day long I’m perfectly happy with that” MATT BAKER, unc quarterback played that potential. He used his size to move the pile and chum out positive yards in situ ations where smaller true fresh man Cooter Arnold, who filled McGill’s spot early in the sea son, probably would have lost ground. “He runs on, as I call it, three legs, because he’s got his legs pumping and he’s got one arm down and he’s just scrambling with the ball, and he gets like four yards,” said senior defen sive lineman Chase Page. “He’s an incredible running back, Terrapins take down UNC BYAL KILLEFFER ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR When the No. 4 North Carolina field hockey team lined up in front of the stands at Henry Stadium to do its tra ditional post-game alma mater sing-a-long Sunday, the players’ displeasure was painfully appar ent. As they straggled into forma tion and halfheartedly put their arms, around one another, you could tell immediately what their thoughts on the game were. In a word, the players were frustrated. Frustrated they’d just lost, 2- 1, to No. 3 Maryland. Frustrated they’d fallen to 2-3 in the ACC. And frustrated they never seem to be able to bring their A-game against top competition. “I accept responsibility,” said Coach Karen Shelton. “I’m the head coach, and I’ve got to get them to play better, because I don’t think that there was a lot ullip Batty sar HM MONDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2005 great player, and I’m so glad he’s back.” McGill also picked up five first downs in a tight game where field position was essen tial. But Edwards wasn’t to be outdone. Besides being more of a speed rusher, he broke a few tackles of his own, giving anoth er dimension to the two-back attack. “We could run the ball all day long l’m per fectly happy with that,” said quar terb a c k Matt Baker, who threw 24 times and handed off on 36 snaps. “It’s good to have both of them in there. Ronnie back to gain those hard yards and Barrington to break some and bounce some outside.” Both backs were vital to the Tar Heels 78-yard touchdown drive the only points of the game for UNC. The duo com bined for 48 rushing yards on that possession, taking up nearly six minutes of clock in the pro- SEE BACKFIELD, PAGE 11 of difference talent-wise between the two teams. “But I felt that they clearly outplayed us in every phase of the game, except for the offen sive penalty comer.” The box score for the game reflects Shelton’s analysis. Although the Tar Heels were l-for-4 in penalty comers while the Terrapins (16-2, 4-1 in the ACC) were 1-for 8, that stat is the only FIELD HOCKEY Maryland 2 UNC 1 bright one on the page. After registering 10 shots in the first half, Maryland took another 10 in the second. UNC (12-4, 2-3), meanwhile, man aged only seven shots in the entire game. And while North Carolina goalie Katy Tran made eighl saves, Terrapin keeper Kathryr Masson had to make only one. SEE FIELD HOCKEY, PAGE 11
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