ACC Basketball 2006: Duke and North Carolina Ride Again (Part One)

I'm a native washingtonian by birth; My family is from the heart of tobbaco country in Southern Virginia and North Carolina. As you can imagine, basketball is a staple for us, as it is for many inhabitants of the Mid-Atlantic. Atlantic Coast Conference Basketball is synonomus with excellence. The competition within the conference is legenday for it's quality and tenacity. The rivalries are some of the most intense in all of sport. The histories of these programs read like a veritable who's who of NBA stars and hall-of-famers. Some of the most dominant basketball programs of all-time have prowled the courts of this conference. With that legacy in mind, let's take a peak at whatt this year's edition of the ACC has to offer. Here's one loyal fans' perspective of the ACC landscape for the 2006-07 season.

Predicted Order of Finish:

1)North Carolina Tar Heels
2) Duke Blue Devils
3)Boston College Eagles
4)Maryland Terrapins (tie)
Georgia Tech YellowJackets (tie)
Virginia Tech Hokies (tie)
Florida State Seminoles (tie)

8)Miami Hurricanes
9)North Carolina State Wolfpack
10) Clemson Tigers
11) Wake Forest Demon Deacons
12)Virginia Cavaliers

All-ACC 1st Team:

Sean Singletary, Virginia Cavaliers (PG)
Mike Jones, Maryland Terrapins (SG)
Reyshawn Terry, North Carolina Tarheels (SF)
Josh McRoberts, Duke University (PF)
Tyler Hansborough, North Carolina Tar Heels (C)

Other Candidates:
Al Thornton (Florida State), Greg Paulus, (Duke),
J.R. Reynolds (Virginia), James Gist (Maryland),
Jared Dudley (Boston College), D.J. Strawberry (Maryland),
Sean Williams (Boston College), Vernon Hamilton (Clemson),
Jeremis Smith (Georgia Tech), Ra'Sean Dickey (Georgia Tech),
Anthony Morrow (Georgia Tech), Ekene Ibekwe (Maryland)

Impact Freshmen:
Tywon Lawson, Wayne Ellington, Brendan Wright (North Carolina)
Gerald Henderson, Brian Zoubek, Lance Thomas (Duke)
Thaddeus Young, Javaris Crittendon (Georgia Tech)
Greivis Vasquez, Eric Hayes (Maryland)

Overview

This year's ACC has the potential to be one of the more competitive races in recent memory. Outside of the top 3 positions, there's a ton of parity between the rest of the squads. On paper, Duke, North Carolina, and Boston College have enough talent and depth to seperate themselves from the rest of the pack when conference play starts. That being said, Any one of theses teams could be a potential sleeper in conference. It will all depend on how the influx of young talent into the league will develop at their respective schools. The level of freshmen talent is arguably the best of any confrence in the land collectively. that bodes well for the continued excellence of the ACC as a conference. Let's take a look at the teams:

Duke Blue Devils

Head Coach: Mike Kryzyzewski
Location: Durham, NC
Players of Note: Josh McRoberts, Greg Paulus, Demarcus Nelson
Impact Freshman: Gerald Henderson

Duke has enjoyed the type of dominance over this conference that other programs dream about. "Coach K" has been at the cuting edge of the coaching ranks for years, drawing the ire and wrath of fans like myself in the process. Regardless of what you may think ofr the program or the school, one thing is for certain; Winning the ACC doesn't happen until you go through Durham, North Carolina to do so. This year is no different. Although not picked to win the conference by alot of the experts, the Blue Devils still have enough firepower to get the job done if conference incumbent North Carolina takes a siesta. The retur of Josh McRoberts for another year of school was a huge relief for the Blue Devil faithful. McRoberts and fellow classmate Greg Paulus make one of the better outside/inside tandems in he conference. Unfortunately, depth with still be a factor with this season's Blue Devil squad, despite their annual haul of blue-chip talent into the program. Gerald Henderson formed arguably the best high school backcourt in the country with buddy Wayne Ellington, who happens to be down the road a spell in Chapel Hill. He's an explosive athlete at the 2 spot with an extremely mature mid-range game. He will immediately push Demarcus Nelson and Martynas Pocius for minutes at the off-guard spot. Both Nelson and Pocius are good athletes, but need to really show some advancement on the offensive end in order to give K the rotation stability he's looking for at the 2 spot. fellow Freshman Lance Thomas maybe a solution for Duke's recent woes at the 3 spot. Another blue chip talent that has the potential to be a defensive stopper. John Scheyer has been lauded as another knock-down outside shooter, although filling the shoes of perennial ACC villain and shooting prodigy JJ Reddick is going to be a tough act to follow.

Post play and depth is going to be a real concern for this team. Outside of Josh McRoberts, there's going to be a real struggle to get scoring from the post. Brian Zoubek is another part of this Blue chip class that's going to be counted on heavily to provide that depth on the block. Jamal Boykin and David McClure are servicable players in Coach K's system, bu there are doubts as to how effective they will be on the offensive end.

Outlook: The Blue Devils still have enough talent on the court to make a run at the ACC title, but it's going to be hard for the kids from Durham to compete on the block with some of the stronger teams in the conference. If the injury bug hits, the Blue Devils are going to be in a world of hurt. Offensively, he JJ Reddick factor is gone. Tis squad is going to have find another perimeter threat to stretch defenses. Will John Scheyer, Gerald Henderson Jr, or DeMarcus Nelson be up to the task?

North Carolina Tar Heels

Head Coach: Roy Williams
Location: Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Players of Note: Tyler Hansborough, Reshawn Terry
Impact Freshmen: Tywon Lawson, Wayne Ellington, Brendan Wright

Deep...Talented....Scary....All of those adjectives pretty much describe the type of weapons the Tar Heels have at their disposal this season. Take sophmore wrecking ball Tyler Hansborough and silky smooth forward Reshawn Terry (whom are already the best 1-2 post combination in the conference), a solid and defensively stout backcourt, then throw in arguably the best recruiting class in recent program history. What do you have? Instant National title contender.Both Tywon Lawson and Wayne Ellington were ranked #1 respectively at their positions in this year's incoming freshman class. Brendan Wright isn't too far behind. All three will have an immediate impact on both ends on the floor. Lawson gives Roy Williams a point guard cut from the same cloth as mercurial Raymond Felton. He can get to the rack at will and is almost impossible to contain off-the-dribble mono y mono. Wayne Ellington is a scoring machine from Pennsylvania that will complement both Lawson and Hansborough on the offensive end. As a freshmen, he may already have one of the better mid-range games in the conference for a 2 guard. Brendan Wright will be a immediate seconday post presence that will make it easier for Hansborough to operate in isolation situations. The ultimate question will be how quickly Coach Williams will be able to blend all that fabulous talent into a cohesive unit. For the rest of the league, a quick resolution to that question is bad news.

Outlook: The Tar Heels have the horses necessary to run away and hide from the field. Will they be able to do that? Only time and games will tell.

Stay Tuned for part two of ACC Basketball 2006-07...