Covering Carolina sports beyond just men's basketball and football — with the most complete women's basketball coverage
Is there any doubt that Theo Pinson will thrive as a coach if that’s what he wants to pursue when his playing career ends? Pinson has been a team favorite at every NBA stop even when he hasn’t played much, and that’s been no different this season as a Dallas Maverick. With the New York Knicks last season, he was called the ultimate teammate while playing only 34 minutes over 17 games.
Walker Miller’s amazing season at Monmouth just keeps getting getter. Miller scored a game-high 22 points in Sunday’s 76–63 road victory over Quinnipiac for his fifth game of at least 22 points this season. He added a 3-pointer, six rebounds and two steals.
Reggie Bullock, in his ninth NBA season, stayed on a roll Sunday, scoring at least 20 points in three consecutive games for the first time in his career. Bullock scored 22 points, including a six 3-pointers and nine rebounds, both season-highs, in the Dallas Mavericks’ 103–94 home victory over the Atlanta Hawks. Dallas improved to 9–1 when Bullock scores at least 15 points.
Playing for the Sacramento Kings, some of Harrison Barnes’ best nights this season haven’t always been enough to produce victories. With the trade deadline looming Thursday and his name coming up in trade rumors, that wasn’t the case Saturday. Barnes collected 24 points, nine rebounds, five assists and three steals in one of his best games of the season to lead the Kings to a 113–103 home win over the Oklahoma City to snap the Thunder’s three-game win streak.
CHAPEL HILL — Instead of the greatest rivalry in sports delivering another memorable evening, it delivered North Carolina’s fourth blowout loss of the season. It was more painful for the Tar Heels than the first three because it was against No. 9 Duke, but was very familiar. The common elements were there again: a hot-shooting opponent, horrible UNC shooting, poor defense and the suspension of all hope because of a slow second-half start.
Reggie Bullock has evidently gained the confidence of Dallas Mavericks coach Jason Kidd with his outstanding play of late. Bullock, starting for the first time since Jan. 7 and for only the 14th time this season, scored 20 points and made two clutch 3-pointers down the stretch in the Mavs’ 107–98 home victory Friday over the Philadelphia 76ers.
James Worthy is one of four coaches for the NBA Rising Stars team and, in a snake draft on Friday night, he picked Cole Anthony as one of the seven players on his team. All four coaches are members of the NBA’s 75th-anniversary team. The others are Rick Barry, Gary Payton and Isiah Thomas.
Harrison Barnes, Coby White and Cameron Johnson all had outstanding games on Thursday but they all came in road losses. Barnes collected 25 points, four rebounds and three assists as Sacramento lost to Golden State 116–114 in the second half of games on back-to-back nights after putting up 19 points in a home win over Brooklyn the night before.
For the second time in three games, Reggie Bullock had his best game in more than three years and continues to turn around a season that was full of frustrations up until a couple of weeks ago. Harrison Barnes and Cole Anthony both had big games to help their teams earn big victories. In an efficient 26 minutes off the bench, Bullock scored a season-high 23 points for the second time in three games with five 3-pointers. He collected eight rebounds and three steals, both tying season-highs, in the Dallas Mavericks’ 120–114 overtime home loss Wednesday to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The much-anticipated ESPN Films documentary “The Tournament: A History of ACC Men’s Basketball,” promises to rekindle many memories for longtime Carolina fans and give insights into the evolution of the program to the younger ones. Can the debate over the infamous 1975 scoreboard game be settled? Should Lenny Rosenbluth have been called for charging in 1957? Both rankle Wake Forest fans years later. UNC alum John Dahl co-produced the 10-part, 10-hour series with fellow Emmy Award winner Jonathan Hock. It debuts on ACC Network at 9 p.m. Monday, with two episodes every Monday until March 7, the week of the ACC Tournament. It includes clips from over 160 interviews.
It was a big day for Cole Anthony but, unfortunately for his Orlando Magic, it didn’t include a victory. After being selected as one of the “sophomores” for the Rising Stars game Feb. 18 in Cleveland during the NBA All-Star Weekend, Anthony — who already was set to compete in the slam-dunk contest — collected 20 points, six rebounds, nine assists and two steals in the Magic’s 126–115 Tuesday road loss to the Chicago Bulls.
There was quite a bit of vitriol from North Carolina fans toward Christian Laettner during his time at Duke and that hasn’t changed over the years. ESPN even produced a 30 for 30 documentary called “I Hate Christian Laettner. Many Tar Heels fans agree with that sentiment but UNC coach Hubert Davis isn’t in that group.
All five UNC alums who played in NBA games Sunday night scored in double figures, with Coby White’s 18 points and Cole Anthony’s 16 points both coming in victories. The Chicago Bulls (31–18) have won three of four after White scored 18 points for the second consecutive game in a 130–116 home victory over Portland.
Former North Carolina centers Brandon Huffman and Walker Kessler both are playing for teams that are unbeaten in league play and atop their conferences.
Reggie Bullock has dealt with struggles and shooting slumps in his first season with the Dallas Mavericks but produced his best game of the season Saturday night. Bullock came off the bench to score 23 points on eight field goals and six 3-pointers, all season-highs, in the Mavericks’ 132–104 home win over the Indiana Pacers.
tarheeltribune.com 