1. Chicago Tribune: (author’s Note: with Notre Dame joining the conference, it’s time to start including some midwestern media outlets) According to Brian Hamilton, there was mutual interest between the ACC and Madison Square Garden in hosting the ACC Tournament, but the Garden never bid for it. Swofford noted that Madison Square Garden wanted an annual relationship with the league, but the ACC wishes to continue its current location model (normally in North Carolina, but moving around regularly). North Carolina makes the most sense from a fan perspective: It’s central location is closest to the most schools, making fans more likely to make the trip.
2. BC Interruption: There’s cautious optimism out of Chestnut Hill! Whether or not its record shows it, Boston College improved dramatically from 2011 to 2012. Over the course of the season the Eagles went from a ragtag group of teenagers who were blown out by Holy Cross at home to a rough around the edges team that shocked the eventual ACC champion. Expect the Eagles to improve markedly again this season, as they get more experience. However, there’s still a talent ceiling for this group — especially after the trio of Ryan Anderson, Patrick Heckmann and Dennis Clifford. Don’t expect Boston College to find itself on the bubble, but the watchability of Steve Donahue’s team should improve.
3. Fox Sports Carolinas: Roy Williams talked a little bit in this article about finding out about tumors on his kidneys. Both of Williams’ parents died of cancer, so the news hit the UNC head coach particularly hard. In addition to the great news that the tumors were benign, the best part of this story is the support for Williams from fans, his team and even from his opponents: “Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski called three times, and Wake Forest head man Jeff Bzdelik sent ice cream.” Williams spoke with the rest of the conference coaches as well. This story proves, once again, that some things are bigger than basketball.
4. Orlando Sentinel: Florida State has eight newcomers joining the roster this season led by Devon Bookheart and three new seven-footers. There are around three people out of a million over seven feet tall, and Leonard Hamilton is bringing in three of them this year alone. While raw, the three — with the possible exception of Michael Ojo — should see decent playing time this season thanks to all of the spots that opened up after last season. Even when players aren’t seven feet tall, they should fit Hamilton’s system well thanks to their off -the-charts wingspan and athleticism.
5. The TandD.com: In what’s rapidly becoming a theme, Brad Brownell and Clemson have 12 first or second-year players. Across the league teams are much younger than in most years, heavily relying on underclassmen to shoulder significant responsibility. From Brownell’s comments, he’s really concerned with energy on both ends of the floor. He wants to play quickly (but efficiently) on offense and defense, so the team is doing a lot of defensive drill work. One thing that still needs significant improvement is the team’s communication, which is the linchpin for a strong team defense.

mpatton (576 Posts)

This entry was posted on Friday, October 12th, 2012 at 6:01 am by mpatton and is filed under acc, microsites, morning 5. Tagged: acc tournament, boston college, dennis clifford, devon bookheart, florida state, madison square garden, patrick heckmann, roy williams, ryan anderson. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.