The Hornets have hit a rough patch over the two and a half weeks, losing their last five games and seven of their last nine overall. With that, the Hornets have fallen to 9th place in the Eastern Conference after spending a majority of the season inside of the top six in the conference. However, the Hornets do still remain above .500 and are still closer to 6th place in the conference than they are to the 11th spot.
The Tar Heels entered Saturday's meeting with the Duke Blue Devils in Dean E. Smith Center coming off of a four-game winning streak, but in Coach K's final game in Chapel Hill, the team simply got embarrassed. The Tar Heels never led and were down as much as 28 points late in the second half and never got within single digits of the lead after the 16:20 mark of the first half.Â
Saturday night in the Dean E. Smith Center in Chapel Hill, one of the best rivalries in all of the sports will add a new chapter to it's story as the No. 9 Duke Blue Devils travel down US 15-501 to take on the North Carolina Tar Heels in a game that will determine who is in first place in the ACC as we head just past the midway point in conference play. The Blue Devils, on paper, are the better team heading into this matchup, but the Tar Heels have been a much different team in the Smith Center this season than they have been on the road, where a lot of their issues have popped up.
The Tar Heels will head to Louisville on Tuesday night as they look to continue the momentum that they built off a three-game homestand that they swept last week in the Dean Dome. The hope is that this can be the turning point for a season where the Tar Heels have had a lot of inconsistencies especially on the road and has left many fans frustrated after similar issues to close the Roy Williams era, even with the fact that this is Hubert Davis' first season as a head coach at the varsity level.
The Tar Heel basketball entered last Monday meeting with the Virginia Tech Hokies needing a win about as bad as any team in college basketball as they had fallen squarely on to the bubble. While it may not have been the prettiest win, that was the starting point for a 3-0 week which included a 100-80 win over NC State on Saturday that was desperately needed for this Tar Heel team to avoid falling completely out of the tournament field.
The Hornets suffered one of, if not their most disappointing loss of the season on Friday to the Orlando Magic in Charlotte, but they had an opportunity to get things back on track against a New York Knicks team that appeared to be getting themselves together after a rather disappointing start. They did just that with a dominant 97-87 win which was led by a career performance from Miles Bridges, who dropped 38 points on 14-20 shooting, and another nice afternoon from Terry Rozier, who finished with 22 points of his own.
The Tar Heel football team in 2021 was riddled with inconsistencies and the same looks as if it can be said for the Tar Heel basketball team so far this season. Following arguably the best all-around performance of the season against Boston College, the Tar Heels were picked apart on Wednesday night by a less than stellar Notre Dame, especially on the defensive end of the floor. The Fighting Irish shot 47.5% (29-61) overall on the night and 41.9% (13-31) from beyond the arc in what was another questionable effort defensively from the Tar Heel that left fans with something to desire.
The Hornets had no issues with the Huston Rockets on Monday, disposing of them 123-99 in what was their largest margin of victory of the season. Terry Rozier led the way for team in the win, dropping 27 points on 10-17 shooting from the field and 7-12 from beyond the arc, but the bench production led by Kelly Oubre Jr. and Nick Richards was once again a big part of the success in this one.
James Bouknight might be the most polarizing player on this 2021-22 roster in terms of his role with the team. In the midst of playing in just seven of the team's first 24 games of the season, fans were calling for him to be given an opportunity and now that that has happened, fans want more and rightfully so. Bouknight has played in each of the last five games during this period of COVID issues for the Hornets and has played well. He is averaging 10.0 points per game and shooting 50.0% from behind the arc while averaging 17.7 minutes per game during that stretch, leaving to wonder if he deserves a role in the rotation for this team even when they return back to full strength.
This afternoon, Nick and Stan welcomed on Hornets head coach James Borrego, as they were live from their annual Cornucopia event. The conversation started talking about the team's growth on the defensive end of the floor and then transitioned into the home-court advantage this team has had this season. Borrego said: "There's a pride about our home court that we're building, and I can't say that's been here from day one since I got here. The crowd played a huge role in the Hornet's last two wins, over the New York Knicks and the Golden State Warriors, both franchises with passionate fanbases. The Hornets are currently on a four-game homestand and are 4-2 overall in the Spectrum Center this season.
