- Charlotte Observer: The biggest news around the conference was definitely North Carolina‘s loss to UNLV in Las Vegas. We each weighed in on the upset both immediately after the game and then a few hours later focusing on the formula for beating the Tar Heels and the flaws exposed in the loss. Andrew Carter at the Charlotte Observer provides a slightly different perspective focusing on potential lessons learned from the loss. After the game Roy Williams addressed his use of timeouts: “I’m not going to call timeouts. […] This is what it is. We’ve got to be tough enough to ask the players (to persevere).” One thing is clear: there were a lot of lessons to be learned from the loss. Now the hard part is applying them. Also, The Sporting News reported Barnes left the game with crutches, but Robbie Pickeral said that is no longer the case.
- Tallahassee Democrat: Missed free throws are killer. Especially for Florida State against Connecticut. The Seminoles were poised to knock off the defending national champions, but Okaro White missed a free throw with 12 seconds left that would have made it a two possession game. To make matters worse, Luke Louks missed the two tying free throws in overtime. Leonard Hamilton’s squad may leave the Bahamas with two straight losses, but this team is still very talented.
- Charlotte Observer: Three wins in three days taught Duke a lot about itself. The Blue Devils may not have won pretty, but they were tough. They learned that they could lock down a preseason All-American even if only for the last few minutes. They learned that they could win without Nolan Smith and Kyle Singler. Now comes the toughest test yet: Ohio State on the road.
- CBSSports.com: Future ACC member Syracuse fired Bernie Fine after further evidence and more allegations surfaced this weekend. Now Gregg Doyel wants to hold Jim Boeheim to task for his earlier statements about the incident. Doyel has no problem with supporting a friend, but thought the long-time Syracuse coach went too far when he said, “The Penn State thing came out, and the kid behind this is trying to get money.” I agree that the statement was incredibly brash. I don’t know whether Boeheim should be fired as he did rescind his comment, but this story is not going anywhere soon.
- Winston-Salem Journal: North Carolina has potential lessons to learn after its loss, but Wake Forest showed its learned something very important this off-season. The Demon Deacons learned how to rebound from a tough loss. Last year it felt like Wake Forest got pummeled night in and night out with each loss feeding the team’s collective attitude. This year CJ Harris and Travis McKie bounced back from a beatdown against Arizona State to beat Texas Tech for seventh place at the Old Spice Classic. Wake Forest is bound to sustain some pretty brutal losses this year so bouncing back will be critical.
EXTRA: One part of the Division I recruiting that has come under fire–and rightfully so–the last few years is the National Letter of Intent (NLI), which binds an athlete to his school for all four years (despite his scholarship being annually renewable). Kevin Scarbinsky of The Birmingham News looks at the NLI and its fairness for athletes.