The Ultimate Truth; feeling no pressure pre-Carolina

The Ultimate Lord has been poring over this feeling for awhile now; let Him see if He can explain.

Coming into this season, this Duke team had more question marks than any Duke team in recent memory. Could Greg bounce back and prove that he was indeed worthy of being a D1 point guard? Could Demarcus step up after years of disappointment? Would the freshmen contribute, or fall apart in the intense heat of the ACC? Would Lance and Brian become... heck, even decent? Was Duke at the beginning of a massive decline that would end in Duke exploding and sinking into the grounds of North Carolina and Coach K turning into dust like the bad guy from the third Indiana Jones movie?

Carolina, on the other hand... yikes. The amount of chest thumping going on in that feminine-blue wonderland was jaw-dropping. Talk of Ty being the greatest point guard ever, an NBA super-freak in baby blue. Talk of Tyler being the greatest Carolina player ever. Talk of Deon and Alex blossoming into a truly dominant big man duo. Talk of Ellington and Green being amazing, the best guards in the conference. And talk of Carolina being THE team to beat... heck, some fans basically handed UNC the title long before the season even began.

And then reality came a-knocking, and questions were answered. And lo and behold... Greg bounced back in style, and was supported by a super frosh point guard. Demarcus stepped up to be one of the best, if not THE best, seniors in the country. The freshmen had a bigger impact than most freshmen, collectively, in Duke history. And much to our chagrin, Thomas and Zoubek struggled mightily. So we were left with a Duke team that was super tough, FAR stronger than any of us could have hoped, and we sit now with a record that NO one could have predicted.

However, there is still that un-answered question down low, a weakness that everyone still sees and just hopes won't bite us. And indeed a weakness that in some ways makes a Duke win over UNC difficult to imagine.

Carolina, on the other hand, has performed about as expected... if maybe a touch worse. Yes they have a gaudy record, and yes their individual players have largely played well, but for some reason Carolina has faltered a bit... suspicious D and underachieving bigs and some skin-of-their-teeth wins... but still Carolina has the potential to be SO good at every position; they just need to perform that way.

So The Ultimate Lord comes into this game a fan of a team that has overachieved in the most spectacular fashion in Duke history, a team that is a point away from being undefeated despite playing a super-small lineup that leans heavily on young, unproven players. And The Ultimate Lord cannot help but think that the pressure is all on Carolina, having crowed from the rooftops how superior they are and how badly they will beat Duke and how they will OWN the league... and now they have to prove they can do it against a line-up that, on paper, shouldn't be able to give them a game.

So the pressure is on, UNC. The pressure is on, Tyler and Ty and Dancing Danny and you loudmouth UNC fans. Little ol'Dook, with its crappy white point guard and its thug Henderson and that face-freak Scheyer and its total lack of big-boy muscle and its gaunt freshman "center," indeed a team wobbling on the peak of collapse, walks into the Dean Dome, 19-1, first in the ACC, and ready to REALLY ruin the day for some UNC fans. And even if UNC wins... well, to be honest, they SHOULD have won against THAT line-up, no?

So no pressure.

Go to Hell Carolina, Go to Hell.