With the UNC basketball season is about a month away from beginning, with Late Night with Roy eing this week, the hardwoods are beginning to be on a lot of the fans’ mind. Well, for the former Tar Heels now at the next level, their pre season is in full swing as many have been playing, be it with other National Basketball Association franchise or against EuroLegue teams, since this weekend. Yesterday there were four games in all, of which was one NBA squad playing in Europe and all having a touch of carolina blue, one of the match ups being between squads that both don a former Carolina player and one franchise has a pair of former UNC basketball players on its payroll. So, without further interruptions, let’s get ready for this edition of “Heels in the Pro’s” NBA style for October 9, 2012…
Before I do get to the games I found this tweet that was interesting…
Just FYI: This year T. Zeller, J. Lamb, T. Taylor, J. Cunningham, K. Middleton & J. Henson are doing rookie diaries for NBA.com
— Jared Zwerling (@JaredZwerling) October 8, 2012
…as two NBA rookies that last year donned the carolina blue are going to have diaries for their first year in the pro’s. Should be interesting reading. Now, onto the games…
The first game is the one overseas, with the Dallas Mavericks playing versus Barcelona. The game was played at Palau Sant Jordi in front of a crowd that numbered 16, 236. For the squad from the lone star state it’s veteran shooting guard Vince Carter (@mrvincecarter15 on twitter) who comes off the bench and plays 22 minutes in all. For the 6’6″ guard, who enters his 15th season as a pro, its a five point performance (2 for 7 ~ 0 for 1 ~ 1 for 3) to go with five rebounds, a block and a turnover while having a whooping -21 pts differential. The other ex Tar Heel on this squad is Brandan Wright (@bwright34 on twitter), the fifth year pro. The 6’10″ forward played 17 minutes off the bench, scoring four points (1 for 7 ~ 0 for 0 ~ 2 for 4) to go along with six boards and an assist while amassing a pts differential of -3. In the end it was Barcelona winning this one by 14 points, defeating Dallas by the final of 99 to 85.
Mavs have a nice 4Q but its not enough as they lose 99-85 to @fcbbasket & end the #EuropeLive 1-1.
— Dallas Mavericks (@dallasmavs) October 9, 2012
The second game of the night is a Central Division match up as the Milwaukee Bucks go to the Hall of Fame City to take on the Cleveland Cavaliers. The game was played at the Canton Civic Center in front of a measly crowd of 3,942. This is also a match up between former UNC bigs that now are rookies in the National Basketball Association, and as I said above, are writing blogs for their first season at the next level. For the Bucks it’s John Henson (@_John_Henson_ on twitter), who played a total of a dozen minutes coming off the bench. In that time frame the 6’11″ power forward scored six points (3 for 8 ~ 0 for 1 ~ 0 for 0) to go with seven rebounds, one assist, a block and a turnover while having a pts differential of +5. On the other side of the court it’s Tyler Zeller (@ZellerTyler on twitter) for the Cleveland Cavaliers. The seven footer also comes off the pine, playing a total of 23 minutes. In this one the former national champ scored six points (2 for 4 ~ 0 for 0 ~ 2 for 3) to go with three boards, a steal and having a -7 pts differential. In the end the game was a lopsided one as Milwaukee took this one by 17 points, defeating Cleveland by the final of 97 to 80.
#Bucks win! Beating CLE 97-80. @justryod3 15p/7a, Ellis 15p/5a, Dunleavy 12p, @tobias31 11p/3r, @larrysanders 10p/8r & @_john_henson_ 6p/7r.
— Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) October 10, 2012
FINAL: #Cavs fall to the @bucks 97-80 despite 18 pts from @masfresco and 16 pts by @kyrieirving. #AllForOne
— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) October 10, 2012
Moving on to the second to last game of the day, it’s a game that features a West vs East match up as the Memphis Grizzlies (Western Conf ~ Southwest Div) went to the Windy City to take on the Chicago Bulls (Eastern Conf ~ Central Div) in a game played in front of 21,003 at the United Center. For the visiting team it’s former UNC shooting guard Wayne Ellington (@WayneElli22 on twitter), who came off the bench to play a total of 16 minutes. In that time the former National Champ scored five points (2 for 6 ~ 1 for 3 ~ 0 for 0) to go with two steals, a board, an assist and a TO while having a +/- of -4 in the game. When it was all said and done it would be Chicago winning this one by four points, beating out Memphis by the final of 92 to 88.
Photos, highlights and recap from last night’s matchup in Chicago: on.nba.com/QcIGTe ow.ly/i/10DFh
— Memphis Grizzlies (@memgrizz) October 10, 2012
And we close out with another East/West match up as the Charlotte Bobcats head to the Big Easy to take on the New Orleans Hornets. For the visiting squad it’s former UNC basketball big man Brendan Haywood (@BreHay_30 on twitter), who does not play in this one… “DNP ~ Coach’s Decision”. As far as the teams did it was New Orleans defeating Charlotte in a landslide as the Hornets take this one by the final tally of 97 to 82.
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