It’s Wednesday and you know what that means: doughnut day at the SC8 offices. But more importantly, it’s also time for our weekly roundup of North Carolina’s best sportswriting, featuring past and present athletes, coaches, trash talk, beards, and other miscellaneous good stuff. Here we go:
Are NFL quarterbacks really struggling to adjust to life on the professional level because they weren’t developed enough during their time in college? I’m guessing no, but here’s Laura Keeley of the N&O with a far more educational look into this topic, including discussions with Duke coach David Cutcliffe.
On Sunday in Seattle, the Carolina Panthers mounted two 80-yard touchdown drives during the game’s the final eight minutes; they did so, according to Jonathan Jones of the Charlotte Observer, by staying ahead of the chains: the Panthers faced third down just ONCE during those two possessions en route to victory.
Much has been made of the NBA’s massive transition to the pace-and-space era of offensive basketball – and rightfully so, just look at how the best teams are constructed (Memphis being the lone exception here). However, as Charlotte Hornets back-to-the-basket maven Al Jefferson explained to Adi Joseph of the Sporting News, the post-up isn’t dead just yet.
Defensively there are some serious concerns, but so far on the offensive end of the floor, the backcourt duo for the Charlotte Hornets of Jeremy Lin and Kemba Walker is coming together quite nicely. Scott Fowler of the Charlotte Observer examines the relationship between both halves of the double point guard pairing.
NC State basketball – currently No. 1 in our most recent Bracketology update – is gearing up for what looks like a possible fifth-straight run to the NCAA Tournament. If they’re going to do that, though, they’ll need major contributions from sophomore wings Caleb and Cody (both now rocking beards!), according to Bret Strelow of the Fayetteville Observer.
From the Piedmont Triad: Angela Lambson is the coach of Winston-Salem Prep’s JV football team. After accepting the job in 2015, Lambson became the first female head football coach in North Carolina high school history. But as Kegan Lowe of the Winston-Salem Journal describes, Lambson is doing way more than just making history.
This may not exactly qualify as journalism, but by god is it glorious: Steph Curry of the Golden State Warriors was so pleased with his Carolina Panthers’ come-from-behind victory Sunday over Seattle that he took to Instagram to taunt NBA mini-man Nate Robinson.
