Don’t … drop … that … trophy, Danny!

Finally, UNC is national champion in basketball again. After weeks, even months, of anticipation, exhilarating wins interspersed with agonizing losses, shouting at the TV, and superstitious non-bathing (ok, maybe not that last one), I can finally kick back, relax, and enjoy hearing my alma mater’s name be preceded by the words “national champion”.

We watched the title game from the same little neighborhood bar where we watched the Tar Heels’ previous three NCAA Tournament games and one of their games against Duke. The place seems to be a lucky charm for the Heels. I’m usually not a superstitious person, though I do have some weird thing about not wearing UNC colors or paraphernalia on game days. As the Tar Heels got deeper in this year’s tournament, however, I got more superstitious. Aside from going to the same bar, we also tried to always sit at the same table, and I even put on the same outfit last night that I had on for the semifinals (why take any chances?). My superstition ran into a glitch, however, when we got to the bar at 8:15 p.m. last night only to find our lucky table already claimed by a group that the bartender said had been there since 4 p.m. Staking out a table for five hours is something I can’t compete with. Fortunately, we found another table with an equally good view, and it did the Heels no harm.

Some thoughts on the game and the title:

• The six-game winning streak in the NCAA Tournament is probably the best sustained performance I’ve seen from this group in the last few years. There were some anxious moments in the second half of the second-round game against LSU, but starting with the last 10 minutes of that game, the Heels were just dominant. They had sloppy second halves against Villanova and Michigan State, but their strong showings in the first halves of those games gave them a comfortable cushion to fall back on.
• Hilarious moment No. 1: Seeing the on-screen graphic during WRAL’s pregame show talk about police resorting to “greased polls” on Franklin Street to keep people from climbing street lights after the UNC win.
• The outgoing group of UNC seniors is one of the most accomplished (if not THE most accomplished) classes in school history:
  • A school-record 124 wins in four years.
  • Won all four of their games at Cameron Indoor Stadium
  • Back-to-back Final Fours (and of course, the impressive title-game win)

• One can make a strong argument that UNC has been the most dominant program in the country in the last five seasons, starting with the title in 2005. True, Florida did go back-to-back in 2006-07, but since then the Gators have not even made the NCAA Tournament. UNC, meanwhile, has won at least one tournament game every year in the last five seasons, won two ACC Tournament titles and three regular-season conference titles, went to two Final Fours, and bookended the run with another national championship.
• Hilarious moment No. 2: Seeing tools crowd-surfing on top of the S. Columbia Street sign on Franklin Street and falling off. Yes, large amounts of alcohol, small, wobbly platforms held up by giant mass of inebriated humanity, and open flames make a hilarious combination every time. (Side note: Who knew that the road signs on Franklin Street were big enough to ride on?)
• Wayne Ellington got the Most Outstanding Player award, but I really felt it should’ve been Ty Lawson. Aside from his mastery running the offense throughout the tournament and his opportunistic defense last night, he also shot a record 35 free throws (making a record 25) at the Final Four, many of which came in the second halves of the games, when the Tar Heels’ offense got stagnant and they had to hold on to their leads from the free-throw line.
• I think there’s one big similarity between this year’s team and the 2005 title team: Both started the season with one clear guy being the go-to scorer, but made their title runs behind the emergence of another player. In 2005, Rashad McCants was the most prolific offensive weapon going into the season, but then Sean May went bonkers over a two-month stretch to spearhead the title run. This year, Tyler Hansbrough was obviously the focal point going into the season, but Lawson and Ellington emerged in the second half of the year as the main men on offense.
• I thought the emergence of that backcourt duo was the key to the title run, because those two guys are a lot more adept at creating their own shots against tough defense than Hansbrough, which meant UNC was better able to keep putting up points even when the offense breaks down. Hansbrough’s strong play was still an important cog, but the Heels were now better equipped to deal with defenses that try to mire him in traffic near the basket.
• Hilarious moment No. 3: Danny Green fouling out of his last game. I love Danny Green; have since he was a freshman, because I saw how versatile his game can be. But I would be the first to admit that he does have too much of a tendency to follow up a good play with a bad one and does boneheaded things that drive you nuts (though he was better about that this year). So it seemed only fitting for him to go out like this. We kept a tally of his good/bad plays ratio for the title game (+1 for every good play, -1 for every bad one), and he finished at -2. Oh Danny.
• Hilarious moment Nos. 4, 5, 6, 7 … : Every time Tyler Hansbrough tried to dunk in the Final Four … and failed. Tyler has been catching flak for the last week or so for this laughable dunk attempt against Oklahoma:

Ever since that FAIL, we’ve been rooting for Tyler to get one good dunk in before his college career ends. He never could get one down in the Final Four, though. With UNC up big most of the game last night, we were able to have a good laugh about Tyler’s quest for a rim-rattler. He even tried to jam home a shot that was still rolling around on the rim (and ended up knocking it out). He had some chances, but got fouled or settled for a layup instead each time. I was half-expecting Roy to draw up a play to have the other four guys form a human pyramid under the basket so Tyler can hop on their shoulders and ascend to the hoop. He had one last shot when Bobby Frasor got the ball on a breakaway in the final minutes, with Tyler trailing. But alas, Frasor selfishly goes in for a layup instead of giving poor Tyler another chance to throw one down (poorly done, Bobby!). Bless his heart; Tyler will never be able to dunk again.