Welcome to the A C C Panic room alongside Lauren Brownlow. I'm Jovi is at the Smith Center and the regular season comes to a close with Duke having never lost to North Carolina in very small print with Jon Scheyer as the head coach. I mean, look small print or not. Like, that's a really nice, I mean, it's a really good fit like that and the undefeated home record, I think both because the first one was something, I mean, do I haven't done that since I was 2014, was the last 2014, was the last time they wrapped up the home slate unbeaten. Yeah. And I mean, I remember looking back and they already had a home loss by January, I think for at least the last 67 years. And so like for him to keep a team like this, that is a good defensive team has offensive talent, but hadn't quite put it all together on that end for him to take this team and, and do that. I think it's been pretty impressive. Sweet Carolina go undefeated at home. I mean, honestly, like, especially with where we thought Duke was like a month ago, come out just fine. Giulio and I were talking about this after the game. The job that Jon Scheyer has done from that meeting at PNC Arena in January. So, where they are today, there's a lot of factors that go into that playing time, had a lot to do with it. Key injuries here and there. They never were really their group. But, and we've talked to Jon Scheyer about this on the radio show. He's, we have two unthinking or deconstruct or unlearned, I guess I should say because I know I know English, what we always knew about Mike ski teams versus what John is trying to do. He's doing it his way. And that means that they've got like an eight guy rotation that they're comfortable going to at any given moment where Ryan Young didn't look like he was able to hold it down against Armando Bacot in the first meeting at Cameron Indoor Stadium and why Derek lively was so important. Well, they had to deal with some serious stretches without Derrick lively today when he picked up his fourth foul and they kind of got run over slowly or Ryan Young did a good enough job, he rebound here, not getting beat so badly like we saw at Duke and Carolina, like not getting so right. So all these things kind of play into each other and if it wasn't, and this is what Julia and I were talking about, you know, Jim Larranaga and Miami win the league today. What Jeff Capel was able to do with the Panthers this season was really commendable, but Jon Scheyer should get coach of the year consideration for how this stretch from the totality of replacing Mike Krzyzewski dealing with the injuries, getting this team to basically kind of understand their roles, understand who they are, which is defensive minded, rebound, minded, win some ugly games. And that's, that's ultimately my takeaway from the, from, from tonight's matchup, Lauren Duke won a game, they've won a bunch of times in a game. They played a bunch of times and Carolina lost the game, they've lost a bunch of times this season and while it did play out very similar to what happened at Cameron Indoor Stadium, as Hubert Davis said after the game, they played a lot of games like this and that doesn't bode well for their trip to Greensboro. Yeah, I mean, it was weirdly, it was like a microcosm of their season really. Maybe even over the last two, maybe even three years. Honestly, like, it was just like, started off rough last three years that they all have for Carolina. Um, they give you enough flashes in the middle that you're like, well, maybe they can. And then, you know, except for last season, notable exception, it has ended with a bit of a fart noise, you know, like last season did they kind of lived to the finish they get in, they lose to Wisconsin kind of a blowout fashion, you know, then they make the run they did last year. We all know that. I think that there was this moment in that game, I think like, maybe now they can finally at least put to bed this notion that like, things are just going to be fixed. You know what I mean? Literal in your comparison to last year, you could look at the Duke game as the one where they were like, oh, we can make shots now, like we suddenly have found it off. Yeah, but I felt like I felt like that kind of came into play before this game, okay, whether it was, you know, the Virginia win, I felt that, yeah, they were, they had just never really, like, strung it together this year, like they've done it at times this year. We're like, oh, they have that winning them, okay. But they've never done it more than once, but they've really done it more than once going into last postseason either. It's not the same thing that I think we all understand because last year's team could shoot this one. Can't, they haven't been able to consistently shoot at all. I know Chris at Dagon box scores have pointed out that this was a season low for twos in this game and it was pretty bad and it wasn't like they had a marquee night shooting threes either, but neither team did. But again, it gets back to how we started this conversation. Dukes won games like this before Carolina's. They, everything is predicated on the ability to make shots well, and we can make fun of Roy Williams saying all the time. But you know, everything is a lot easier when the ball goes in the basket. But that's kind of been U N C S M O all year. Nothing's been easy for them because everything has been a struggle, everything has been difficult. Everything has just been like dragging along and whether it's running a coherent offense, whether it's, as you mentioned, getting the ball to Armando Bacot, sometimes they do, sometimes they don't. Um And even today, like you can commend Hubert Davis. It wasn't lost on anybody in this building and I know it wasn't lost on anybody on social media that Caleb Love took two questionable shots early in the game and he sat a considerable amount of time and you know, and the reason why I was kind of like, I use the new Michael Jordan's to sum up there half. It's the fact that Hubert Davis at this point in the season is still trying to find some sort of group that gives them a spark. No man. Like if your city you're trying to get quality minutes numbers 12345 at one point. I love that. Yeah, that was, that was actually kind of funny to see, but like if you're needing, I know not a tweeted this, if this is where you're at at this point in the year, you can't be trusted in the postseason. You can't be trusted to go string together wins in Greensboro. Let's make no mistake. No one trusted. Well, and again, I'm not comparing them. I'm just still saying in terms of the way we're looking at it, no one trusted them going into last year's either. I think the A C C tournament did a lot for the way we thought about Carolina going into to the tournament though. I don't think that we were even after the win over Duke, I don't think we would have been having the same conversation about Carolina can get this upset win over the one seat that we were having by the time they've gone through the tournament. You know what I mean? And so, like, that's the thing for Carolina. Like, all right, you got, you got a manageable enough bracket in the C tournament, like, who knows with them? And you just don't know. I mean, you and I are talking, it's like, what's likely with this team? Like, what's the least likely outcome? And I said, I'm tempted to pick it because like, that's kind of been how Carolina's rolled this year and like the A C C as a whole to, it's just whatever the least likely thing is to happen, it's going to happen. So, going forward and I know Giulio. Giulio joked with me as we're walking down to the press room. It's kind of like, so last year's year is highlighted by Caleb Loves Three. Made it last year, made it last year. MRS. It, it's like a weird symmetry. It really is. And there's almost like, there's almost like you've been watching a ton of movies, horror movies. This is kind of like if you and see what's, what's that, What's that cinema group that you like? A 24? So is there like a Monkey's Paw type plotline for this North Carolina team where last year they end coach K season with the party and in the final four. But at what cost Lauren at the, the Monkey's Paw is you did this, you got to the tournament based on Duke, you beat them in the final four. You send coach K off in a golf cart. The rivalry is over. We got the ultimate trow card and you go from a preseason number one with N C double A championship aspirations to U N C double A tournament. Essentially coming down to whether or not you can get to Saturday of the A C C tournament in Greensboro this week. That is some a 24 horror movie stuff right there. Lauren. Yeah, I mean, the, at what cost movies are very, I mean, that's like, it's more like a black mirror episode, right? Okay. Maybe it's blackmail. You're the one who's really into some dystopian stuff. I'm just wondering where this U N C movie would kind of come into play. Not necessary. Whatever. Lauren. Lauren, you act like we haven't been friends for like 10 years. Come on now. I mean, whatever, but it's more like a black mirror episode if we're being technical. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Okay. Fair enough. It's funny as we're doing this and I think that as of right now Carolina fans will still take the cost as of now. We'll see, we'll see that. I feel like that's when to revisit. All right, so let's let's get down to this. Alright, so they had a senior night. Okay. And Armando Bacot based on all the way they treated this from him being honored on the court to having a video where he remembers his time in U N C. It looked and acted and felt like Armando Bacot last regular season home game here at the Smith Center? But is it because as I've talked to some people, they're like, well, where's he gonna go? He can make a bunch of money in N I L coming back another season because remember he has another year of eligibility. Same with Caleb Love. Same with RJ Davis, the only guy here that was out of eligibility because the COVID year kind of screwed up how we talk about players and their timeline. Leaky Black is the only one that had no more eligibility of this group. He has done, done for real. I know a listener pointed out that they did the same thing for Leaky Black last year honoring him and things like that. And then they kind of went through the process again. So it is possible it is possible that Armando RJ and Caleb Love can come back next season with N I L Money because that might be more lucrative for them than to go to the N B A. But here's the question. If you're, if you're Hubert Davis, do you want all three back? Do you take, do you want some of them back? Do you want? Because if you look at next year's roster, it's not like it's overflowing, it's 2024 that's been highlighted as the year where this new crop coming in. So what do you do? I mean, do you tell? Yeah, you know what? We'll take Armando back, we'll take RJ back, Caleb. I don't know. I mean, like, what do you do in that situation? I mean, look the way I was reading that Hubert was talking about this team in particular anyway. And that could just be what he's saying to the media. He still thinks very highly of it and I would think that if he still thinks as highly of it as he says and believes in it the way that he says he does that not that it's mutually exclusive to be fair to Hubert. But if he feels that way you would think he would want the centerpieces of the team back. Okay. Well, here's where I'm at with Hubert Davis. I don't believe anything he says right now. Honestly, I don't mean just having sat there, having sat there in the, in the coach's press conference, he was asked a pointed question by Andrew Jones of Target Illustrated and he was like, you know, the players are kind of fretting about their incidentally tournament chances. How do you, what's the message? He's like, where are they getting that narrative from? And it's like, dude, they watch ESPN there on social media, they know what's going on. This is not a day and age where you can kind of block out the aware of the situation. Yeah, they're not watching Joe Lunardi on a split screen while they're watching games. But this goes back several weeks after they lost to Miami on a Monday night. And Armando Bacot straight up said, I'm worried about making the inside tournament. And back then Hubert Davis is like, I don't know why people are discussing this. I'm focused on Wednesday and I get that there's a public facing portion of it and then there's a behind the scenes, but he's very much like I still believe in this team, even though the team, even though the team keeps giving his evidence to the contrary. And while I commend his unwavering belief in this team, they haven't rewarded, they have not rewarded him with that belief at all. It's like the, like, old boyfriend. You keep trying again with that. You're like, maybe one day he'll finally have gotten his stuff together and he's ready to settle down. Right. And then, you know, just keep going back and then, no, he's not ready. I'm leaning back in my chair. Like, do you have some things to get out? No. No, this is not personal. It's literally just a relationship analogy. We all know people like this that have like an X that they always end up going back to in some capacity. And it's like, oh, now they can change, maybe they've finally gotten it together and you're just kind of like, I mean, maybe, but probably not, you know, and that's kind of what this year's Carolina team is like, you're, you're just like, maybe now they will know it's not what? No, no, no, no, no, no, no. I'm just saying that that's an interesting way of putting it in an interesting way. Unwavering faith though. Like, there's nothing you can do to shake that faith that that person will eventually do it. All right. We'll be lying. They got, no, no. Well, I guess I'm not saying lying. That's not what I'm trying to get at it. That's how it came across. That's not what I'm saying. You're saying it is, it's like you can't really believe that. Right. Right. It is, it is eye opening to me that, that it hasn't that he's done such a put it like this. I actually am impressed that he's done such a good job of presenting as though he truly believes this team can still put it together even though just about everybody else. And I'm even wondering if the team has as well, doesn't believe it. So, in a way, I like, I can like commendable man. Well, remember he did tell us to be fair to Hubert. He did tell us last year during the tournament at almost any media availability. Had that. I never stopped, y'all did. I never stopped believing in this team. And I told you all that and you looked at me like I was crazy. But you know, and so he did like, and I'm not, but if you did that and had that experience a year ago, I didn't see why you would feel pretty strongly that like, let me repeat exactly what I did then, you know what I mean? Like maintain beliefs. We're not dropping that all that. I mean, what else do you do? Like, it's not like this team can have a crisis in confidence. Well, I think they're doing it for him. I mean, honestly, I think they're doing it for him and we see it, we see it unfold in the course of the game. And again, I don't see them being able to string things together as we're having this conversation. My little ESPN app on my phone dropped down, you know, with the tar heels and it was like, you know, they need a deep run in Greensboro to make the NC double A tournament. Now, that gets to another question. If they don't make the N C double A tournament, we can discuss this next week. Do they even bother going to the N I T? And to me it's like, what's the point? I mean, what is that? Totally different situation? Totally different situation. That was, that was a transitional post championship team that Roy Williams while there were some, there was some friction with the leftovers, you know, like with, with Marcus Skin Yard and I loved Marcus Kenya as a player and so did Roy Williams, but there was the next up and coming group that included guys like Zeller and that was, yeah, and Hanson and things like that. So that was valuable playing time for the tournament experience that they could build off of. There's nothing about this group that needs any sort of postseason seasoning. They are what they are. So if you told me that Hubert Davis was going to play all the young guys, you know, if it was the show, the dontre style show, okay, then I'm with you on that. But like otherwise it really makes no sense to go, especially going from a preseason number one team with championship aspirations to what winning the N I T like, it ain't the same. It just is not the same as 2000 and it's been brought up to me a couple of times and I get why I think was in 03. They also went to the t but that doesn't count because that was his last year. So it's like the situations are completely different to me. Completely different to me when we talk about the, I mean, yeah, I guess they don't think they ever have turned down and I'm not saying they wouldn't, I'm just saying like I get what you're saying, I get what you're saying. I just, I don't know that they would unless it's like below N I T, I don't see a team turning down the N I T around here necessarily just depends. I mean, I think there's a lot that goes into it but I mean, I just, I feel like teams want to play and they want to keep going and, you know, I'm not saying that like it would be a satisfying outcome for them. I'm not saying that I'm just saying I'd be surprised if they said we're not doing it. Alright. Back to back to do. Um I don't, I still don't, I don't see Duke. Duke's good. They're good. I don't know if that makes them final four. I don't, I don't know if they get too, I don't know if they win the sec championship. I really don't know, but Duke's gonna be in it. That, that's probably the best I can describe it. They're gonna be in it and banking, all of these kind of grinded out rock fight type basketball games can do them a world of good and with every one of these wins, I feel like they've just kind of been stacking. All right, we were this at one point overcame that. Alright, we still have some things to work out, overcame that and being here in a very loud building that was really feeling it when they went up four with about 808 to go and they put uh Derek lively back in the game. It was easy for them to kind of shrink back because it's a completely different kind of environment. So their ability, so their ability to fight through that even overcome like, you know, Terry's Proctor was not at his best today. A lot, a lot of forced, forced tough 2s, one of the step backs he had uh contested like in a one on one situation that missed badly. I mean, I literally thought I was like, that felt like a Caleb love shot. Like just why. Yeah. Yeah. But then you got Mark, but Mark Mitchell comes up and make some big plays. Kyle Filipowski who's probably gonna be in the running for the A C C player of the year was had a really weird wonky game. But, but again, it was like a weird way to get to ended up being a pretty phenomenal game for him and I don't know who's gonna win the SEC player of the year. I know Kenpom loves Kyle Filipowski. It's entirely possible that he's a big, who shoots a high percentage that makes threes and, you know, it doesn't, I don't think he's super turnover read either and he gets some other stats. So, yeah, like his efficiency, numbers are gonna be like, it's possible our motto because it's a career award that he didn't get last year. So you got a sec player of the year this year. I mean, again, I don't know, it's been a, it's been a wide open race. It could go to the best player on the best team in the case of Miami. I know Isaiah Wong has made a case uh as well. So there's any pit, had one, you probably take pits players best, best player as well. So I really don't know how the regular season awards are gonna shake out. Um I don't know who's gonna win A C C coach of the year. Maybe Jim Larranaga gets it for winning. It. Maybe Jeff Capel gets it for being up until the last game getting it. I know John Shower is gonna get some coach of the year votes as well. But it's been a very, it's been a very what started out as a very un interesting A CC season in my book, it started off really, really slow once they got into league play there were enough storylines and enough if you watched enough entertaining games with, I got you here. You get me their outcomes that it ended up being a pretty good fun season. The A C C regardless of how you feel about them nationally. I know Kenpom got them seven behind the mountain West. But ultimately, Lauren ended up being a pretty, pretty entertaining year in conference play. It was a little too coastal chaos. E for me just to touch, you know, like just literally results that seemed to make no sense almost on purpose, you know, like you're just like, wait, you beat them and you literally the next night can't beat the worst team in the league or whatever it is. I mean, just a lot of things happening that made very little sense from a night in night out basis. But like, you know, yeah, it was entertaining. It was weird at times as usual that's on brand for the as well. We love that. I love to see that. Um But yeah, I mean, it was just kind of some underwhelming underwhelming team, some really bad ones like historically bad, but like, I mean, yeah, there were some teams that they're capable of beating you on a night in night out bases. All you have to do is be like that good and the A C C had a bunch of those types of teams. Yeah, but that's gonna wrap it up for this edition. Of the A C C panic room. Um, well, we will have our final run of panic rooms at the A C C tournament in Greensboro. Yes, we, we are, we are finally sunsetting the A C C panic room once the A C C tournament comes to the close, but I can't think of a better place to do the final A CC panic rooms. Lauren in Greensboro for one of the more coastal chaos basketball season is very excited about this. Yes, there's no better place for sure. No better place to do it. All right, let's gonna wrap it up. We will see you in Greensboro next week.