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How Kentucky gets it done in recruiting
ESPN As one of the elite blue-blood programs in college basketball, Kentucky enjoys the advantage of outstanding resources, facilities, fan following and tradition to excel on the recruiting trail. Kentucky has had many players go onto the … Kentucky's DeAndre Liggins: 'Too many egos' among last year's freshmen Kentucky's Final Four Run Through The Eyes Of Jamal Mashburn, The All-American … Huskies Are Kentucky's Latest Shot At Redemption |

The broadcast evening news anchors all got ten minutes with President Barack Obama on Tuesday afternoon in New York City to press him about contradictions in his Libya policy, ceding authority for foreign entities and how he’s a hypocrite after his criticism of President Bush for unilateral actions and not getting congressional approval, but instead they simply prodded him to provide arms to the rebels and pushed him to take action in Syria.
But ABC’s Diane Sawyer stood out for her obsequiousness as the Kentucky native ended by giddily bringing up the college basketball tournament: “How much do you think Kentucky will win by?” Before that, she cued him up to agree he’s as burdened as Abraham Lincoln:
What about the famous quote from another beleaguered President, Abraham Lincoln, who said he had been driven many times to his knees because his own wisdom and that around him “was insufficient for the day”?
Obama assured her: “I do a lot of praying.”
Following the interview except, Sawyer personalized her “beleaguered President” theme:
By the way, on that avalanche of crises the President faces every day – from Libya to Iraq to Afghanistan to nuclear crises in Japan – the President goes home every day to talk to his daughters about his day. I ask him what does he say to them about days like this? And you can see that at ABCNews.com/World News.
She had teased World News: “One on One: I ask the President about cutting a deal with Moammar Gadhafi and does he ever say ‘what's going on with this avalanche of world crises’?”
Brian Williams teased the NBC Nightly News: “‘Not ruling it out.’ Tonight, in our conversation with President Obama, he leaves the door open to arming those rebels in Libya.”
For CBS, Erica Hill landed the sit-down with Obama, which she teased: “Tonight, keeping up the pressure on Gadafi. The new air strikes and a diplomatic push. We talk to the President.”
Hill posed about the toughest question, which shows just how soft the sessions were: “The supreme allied commander for NATO said today that there are flickers of al Qaeda and Hezbollah amongst these rebels. How do we know what their end goal is? And how do we know they won't, in fact, turn on the U.S. and on our allies?”
Diane Sawyer’s questions to Obama as aired on the Tuesday, March 29 ABC World News:
– In my interview with the President I started by asking about Gadhafi and those reports he is trying to make a deal. [To Obama:] As of this moment, any sign Gadhafi wants out?
– If Gadhafi ends up in a villa someplace in Zimbabwe with no war crimes trial, is that okay with you?
– Have you made, or would you make any calls to say “take him”?
– We are hearing tonight, it’s fierce fighting, the U.S. must send munitions. How long would it take to get there?
– Can we say that we could have it [arms] in there in a day, in two days?
– I want to try to clarify what you’re saying today to the people of Syria. [Sawyer narration: We specifically asked the President, is he saying to the protesters in Syria that if they meet the five criteria he laid out last night] Are you saying to them we will be there for you as we were there in Libya?
– Even if these paper criteria are met?
– What about the famous quote from another beleaguered President, Abraham Lincoln, who said he had been driven many times to his knees because his own wisdom and that around him “was insufficient for the day”? [Obama: “I do a lot of praying.”]
– Just a final question: How much do you think Kentucky will win by?
Erica Hill’s questions to Obama as excerpted on the CBS Evening News:
– Earlier today I spoke with President Obama here in New York. He has made it clear, from the beginning, he wants Gaddafi out. But what if he doesn’t go?
– Are there also discussions and even perhaps meetings at all with people in Muammar Gaddafi's camp?
– The supreme allied commander for NATO said today that there are flickers of al Qaeda and Hezbollah amongst these rebels. How do we know what their end goal is? And how do we know they won't, in fact, turn on the U.S. and on our allies?
– Can you give us an idea of what some of those goals are [for the Libyan rebels]? Beyond just removing Qaddafi from power?
– You mentioned the region. There's obviously so much focus on the region at this point. From everything we've seen over the last couple of months, there is renewed focus, though, on Syria. What would it take, what circumstances in particular would lead to direct involvement from the U.S. in Syria?
The questions from Williams to Obama run on the NBC Nightly News:
– The moment your speech ended last night the Associated Press put out an item that read: “President Obama’s speech was about defending the first war launched on his watch.” How does it end?
– What if it doesn’t work? What if the rebels find themselves bogged down, this becomes protracted?
– How do you not offer the rebels direct assistance of some sort?
– Due respect, Mr. President, watching the reportings of our two correspondents in Libya, what it appears the rebels need is military equipment. Some of their equipment dates back to World War II. Are you ruling out U.S. military hardware assistance?
– Three weeks from now, if a member of your circle makes an impassioned case to do the same in Syria, to finally de-couple it from Iran, what do you do?
– So when people hear words like “values” and “interests” and your phrase “the flow of commerce” – which some people couldn’t help but substitute oil – they shouldn’t think that there is any blanket policy, this may be an ad-hoc business if this so-called Arab Spring turns into Arab Summer and we keep at this, watching countries change?
— Brent Baker is Vice President for Research and Publications at the Media Research Center. Click here to follow him on Twitter.

The broadcast evening news anchors all got ten minutes with President Barack Obama on Tuesday afternoon in New York City to press him about contradictions in his Libya policy, ceding authority for foreign entities and how he’s a hypocrite after his criticism of President Bush for unilateral actions and not getting congressional approval, but instead they simply prodded him to provide arms to the rebels and pushed him to take action in Syria.
But ABC’s Diane Sawyer stood out for her obsequiousness as the Kentucky native ended by giddily bringing up the college basketball tournament: “How much do you think Kentucky will win by?” Before that, she cued him up to agree he’s as burdened as Abraham Lincoln:
What about the famous quote from another beleaguered President, Abraham Lincoln, who said he had been driven many times to his knees because his own wisdom and that around him “was insufficient for the day”?
Obama assured her: “I do a lot of praying.”
Following the interview except, Sawyer personalized her “beleaguered President” theme:
By the way, on that avalanche of crises the President faces every day – from Libya to Iraq to Afghanistan to nuclear crises in Japan – the President goes home every day to talk to his daughters about his day. I ask him what does he say to them about days like this? And you can see that at ABCNews.com/World News.
She had teased World News: “One on One: I ask the President about cutting a deal with Moammar Gadhafi and does he ever say ‘what's going on with this avalanche of world crises’?”
Brian Williams teased the NBC Nightly News: “‘Not ruling it out.’ Tonight, in our conversation with President Obama, he leaves the door open to arming those rebels in Libya.”
For CBS, Erica Hill landed the sit-down with Obama, which she teased: “Tonight, keeping up the pressure on Gadafi. The new air strikes and a diplomatic push. We talk to the President.”
Hill posed about the toughest question, which shows just how soft the sessions were: “The supreme allied commander for NATO said today that there are flickers of al Qaeda and Hezbollah amongst these rebels. How do we know what their end goal is? And how do we know they won't, in fact, turn on the U.S. and on our allies?”
Diane Sawyer’s questions to Obama as aired on the Tuesday, March 29 ABC World News:
– In my interview with the President I started by asking about Gadhafi and those reports he is trying to make a deal. [To Obama:] As of this moment, any sign Gadhafi wants out?
– If Gadhafi ends up in a villa someplace in Zimbabwe with no war crimes trial, is that okay with you?
– Have you made, or would you make any calls to say “take him”?
– We are hearing tonight, it’s fierce fighting, the U.S. must send munitions. How long would it take to get there?
– Can we say that we could have it [arms] in there in a day, in two days?
– I want to try to clarify what you’re saying today to the people of Syria. [Sawyer narration: We specifically asked the President, is he saying to the protesters in Syria that if they meet the five criteria he laid out last night] Are you saying to them we will be there for you as we were there in Libya?
– Even if these paper criteria are met?
– What about the famous quote from another beleaguered President, Abraham Lincoln, who said he had been driven many times to his knees because his own wisdom and that around him “was insufficient for the day”? [Obama: “I do a lot of praying.”]
– Just a final question: How much do you think Kentucky will win by?
Erica Hill’s questions to Obama as excerpted on the CBS Evening News:
– Earlier today I spoke with President Obama here in New York. He has made it clear, from the beginning, he wants Gaddafi out. But what if he doesn’t go?
– Are there also discussions and even perhaps meetings at all with people in Muammar Gaddafi's camp?
– The supreme allied commander for NATO said today that there are flickers of al Qaeda and Hezbollah amongst these rebels. How do we know what their end goal is? And how do we know they won't, in fact, turn on the U.S. and on our allies?
– Can you give us an idea of what some of those goals are [for the Libyan rebels]? Beyond just removing Qaddafi from power?
– You mentioned the region. There's obviously so much focus on the region at this point. From everything we've seen over the last couple of months, there is renewed focus, though, on Syria. What would it take, what circumstances in particular would lead to direct involvement from the U.S. in Syria?
The questions from Williams to Obama run on the NBC Nightly News:
– The moment your speech ended last night the Associated Press put out an item that read: “President Obama’s speech was about defending the first war launched on his watch.” How does it end?
– What if it doesn’t work? What if the rebels find themselves bogged down, this becomes protracted?
– How do you not offer the rebels direct assistance of some sort?
– Due respect, Mr. President, watching the reportings of our two correspondents in Libya, what it appears the rebels need is military equipment. Some of their equipment dates back to World War II. Are you ruling out U.S. military hardware assistance?
– Three weeks from now, if a member of your circle makes an impassioned case to do the same in Syria, to finally de-couple it from Iran, what do you do?
– So when people hear words like “values” and “interests” and your phrase “the flow of commerce” – which some people couldn’t help but substitute oil – they shouldn’t think that there is any blanket policy, this may be an ad-hoc business if this so-called Arab Spring turns into Arab Summer and we keep at this, watching countries change?
— Brent Baker is Vice President for Research and Publications at the Media Research Center. Click here to follow him on Twitter.
And so it ends. I don’t know how anyone can think this was a good season, I mean last year’s team was still playing at this point in the season!
Obviously, I am kidding.
This was a tremendous season, especially when you consider that from December 1st on, UNC went 25-5. Was it as ultimately successful as some of Carolina’s past seasons? No, but in many ways, it was more fun to watch, as we got to see a collection of individual of talents grow into a collective unit that may be on the precipice of greatness. Whether they ever reach that level (or get to attempt to reach that level) will be answered in the weeks and months to come, but for now, the only real disappointment in this season’s end is the fact that we will now have to wait another 8 months to see this team play again.
Four Factors
The biggest difference between this game and the first match-up between these two teams? Free throws. In the game in December, UNC had an FTR of 63.8% and made 26 free-throws. On Sunday, those numbers fell to 24.2% (FTR) and 12 (FTM). A big reason for UNC’s drop in FTR can be traced to Tyler Zeller’s statline. In the game in December, Tyler Zeller lead the team with a possession % of 26.3 and a FTR of 92.3. On Sunday, his possession % fell to 19.3 (third on the team) and his FTR fell to a paltry 25.0. UNC simply did not do as good a job of making Zeller the focal point of the offense, and as a result, their FTR suffered. If UNC had just reached their season average FTR of 37.9, then at the 80% clip they shot for the game, they would have had an additional 7 points. Pretty obvious as to how 7 more points could have changed things. And while there is no doubt that Kentucky shot incredibly well, and it is difficult to win when you give up an eFG% of 58.9, the Heels did beat Clemson when they had an eFG% of 59.1, and had the Heels found a way to get Zeller a few more possessions, they very easily could have done it again.
Statistical Highlights
- This was only the second time all season that the Heels had a steal percentage over 10.0 (13.8) and lost (Vanderbilt). For the season, they were 11-2 when they got a steal in 10.0% or more of their opponent’s possessions.
- With zero blocks, John Henson snapped his incredible 21-game streak of blocking at least one shot. For the season, Henson had at least one block in 32 of UNC’s 37 games.
- Justin Watts (+19) led the team in Roland Rating, albeit it was only in 6 minutes of game time. Justin Knox (+9) led those who played at least 10 minutes. John Henson had the lowest score on the team, at -23.
Beyond the Box Player of the Game
Before getting to the POG, let’s first take a look at the top five ORtgs for the Tar Heels (minimum possession percentage: 10% or minimum minutes percentage: 80.0):
Player | ORtg | Pos | eFG% | TS% | Roland |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
T. Zeller | 136.6 | 12 | 75.0 | 78.2 | -1 |
D. Strickland | 128.0 | 8 | 44.4 | 52.7 | 7 |
K. Marshall | 92.0 | 11 | 25.0 | 31.9 | -13 |
H. Barnes | 83.8 | 19 | 42.1 | 44.0 | -1 |
J. Knox | 82.1 | 6 | 50.0 | 50.8 | 9 |
No player really stood out enough to warrant being named the Player of the Game, but there were two who were close.
Tyler Zeller had an extremely efficient game offense, once again posting a team leading ORtg, along with team bests in eFG% (75.0), TS% (78.2) and Floor % (70.2), en route to his 4th straight game with 20+ points. Had Zeller had a more significant possession %, he likely would have been a clear-cut choice for POG, and while much of this fault belongs to his teammates, he did not help matters with an OR% of only 6.1.
The second player who stood out was Dexter Strickland. Strickland put together a classic stat-stuffing line of 11 points, 4 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 assists, ZERO turnovers, and finished second on the team in both ORtg (128.0) and Floor % (66.6). And on the defensive side of the court, while Brandon Knight was able to score 22 points, Strickland was still able to harass him into a 7-18 shooting performance and 3 turnovers. Like Zeller, Strickland is ending the season on a streak of arguably his four best games. With the confidence, and understanding of role, gained from these performances, and a full off-season to heal and improve, it is possible that the Strickland we saw in the NCAA Tournament is just the tip of the iceberg of what we will see next season.
Beyond the Box Player of the Year
The final rankings will be revealed in the year end “Beyond the Box.”
Note: For reference, a full stats glossary can be found at StatSheet.com.
New York Daily News |
NCAA tournament: Kentucky downs North Carolina to reach Final Four
Washington Post MIKE SEGAR/ Reuters – Kentucky's Brandon Knight, center, celebrates with Terrence Jones, left, and Doron Lamb. By Liz Clarke, Sunday, March 27, 7:22 PM NEWARK — The game had been over for at least 20 minutes, plenty of time for the harsh reality to set … Kentucky beats North Carolina 76-69 in East final Thanks for waiting, Josh Harrellson Brandon Knight builds his legacy at Kentucky |
New York Daily News |
NCAA tournament: Kentucky downs North Carolina to reach Final Four
Washington Post MIKE SEGAR/ Reuters – Kentucky's Brandon Knight, center, celebrates with Terrence Jones, left, and Doron Lamb. By Liz Clarke, Sunday, March 27, 7:22 PM NEWARK — The game had been over for at least 20 minutes, plenty of time for the harsh reality to set … Kentucky beats North Carolina 76-69 in East final Thanks for waiting, Josh Harrellson Brandon Knight builds his legacy at Kentucky |
New York Daily News |
NCAA tournament: Kentucky downs North Carolina to reach Final Four
Washington Post MIKE SEGAR/ Reuters – Kentucky's Brandon Knight, center, celebrates with Terrence Jones, left, and Doron Lamb. By Liz Clarke, Sunday, March 27, 7:22 PM NEWARK — The game had been over for at least 20 minutes, plenty of time for the harsh reality to set … Kentucky beats North Carolina 76-69 in East final Thanks for waiting, Josh Harrellson Brandon Knight builds his legacy at Kentucky |
Seattle Post Intelligencer |
Brandon Knight builds his legacy at Kentucky
Boston Herald NEWARK, NJ — During the University of Kentucky's pre-season media day, it only seemed every question directed at Brandon Knight contained a variation on the same theme. So, Brandon, how do you plan to replace John … Wildcats bail out Goliath at end of wacky weekend Calipari, Wildcats topple Tar Heels to punch ticket Calipari brings Kentucky back to spotlight of Final Four |
Los Angeles Times |
Kentucky sings a winning rap
NorthJersey.com North Carolina's Dexter Strickland, a Newark native, making a strong move toward the basket as Brandon Knight defends. He was able to be part of the celebration in the winning locker room. The rapper congratulated Kentucky … East championship capsule: Kentucky 'Cats scratch Final Four fever Kentucky vs North Carolina (3/27/11 at Prudential Center – Newark, NJ) |
Boston Globe |
Final Four odds: Kentucky is the early favorite to win national title
USA Today This year's Final Four is an eclectic mix of teams that traveled very different paths to Houston. But now that they've secured their spot in the national semifinals, who is the favorite to cut down the nets and win the whole … East championship capsule: Kentucky Four things I think about the NCAA Tournament: Doug Lesmerises The long wait finally over for Kentucky |
New York Times |
East championship capsule: Kentucky
SportingNews.com The strength: The Wildcats can guard. They are not a deep team, with only six players in the primary rotation. They are not a big team, with 6-9 Terrence Jones, more a natural wing, playing power forward alongside 6-10 center Josh Harrellson. … Four things I think about the NCAA Tournament: Doug Lesmerises Kentucky ends a dry spell with Final Four trip NCAA Tournament gives modest boost to Newark businesses |
New York Times |
East championship capsule: Kentucky
SportingNews.com The strength: The Wildcats can guard. They are not a deep team, with only six players in the primary rotation. They are not a big team, with 6-9 Terrence Jones, more a natural wing, playing power forward alongside 6-10 center Josh Harrellson. … Four things I think about the NCAA Tournament: Doug Lesmerises Kentucky ends a dry spell with Final Four trip NCAA Tournament gives modest boost to Newark businesses |