Tar Heels Prevail in a Tale of Two Halves
Published on 4-Apr-2017 by Alan Adamsson
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With no apology to Charles Dickens, it was the best of games; it was the worst of games.
As often happens in sports with intermissions, it may well be that the key to this year's Big Dance is what adjustments were made during the mid-game break.
Not in the North Carolina or Gonzaga locker rooms, either.
It was in the refs' quarters.
No bloody kidding.
What had been a totally entertaining battle befitting a championship game was totally and utterly disrupted in the final 20 minutes by a striped trio who morphed from chaperones to hall monitors.
It's enough to make one wonder. Unless, of course, that one is the Angry White Dude. He already knows.
This was basketball like it's rarely seen these days, with banging bigs and piercing passes that was a welcome relief from the arc-lobbing target practice that passes for hoops anymore.
And then, calls like this changed everything; watch the Zags' Zach Collins spread germs all over Isaiah Hicks:
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To be clear, adjusting to whistles is part of the game. But, cripes, players should be able to tell how it's gonna be called within the first five minutes.
The Tar Heels play well amid chaos, and frankly, that was the underlying theme in their 71-66 victory:
North Carolina won due to their alert floor game and Joel Berry II rising to the occasion, and in this one, needing 7-19 to net 22 points passes for rising
Conversely, Przemek Karnowski's 1-8 performance from bunny country and Nigel Williams-Goss devolving back to taking ill-advised and easily blocked shots didn't exactly help Gonzaga's cause.
And so it was.
Full marks to the Tar Heels for making chicken salad when it counted. As Dickens woulda said,'Twas a far, far better thing they did than they've ever done before.
Except for five other times.