Tuesday's Matchup

2005 vs 2009 National Champion North Carolina Main Three

The players at question are 2005's Raymond Felton, Rashad McCants, and Sean May vs 2009's Ty Lawson, Wayne Ellington, and Tyler Hansbrough.

Both squads are very similar. Speedy point guards that could get up and down the court faster than the camera could pan in Felton and Lawson. Swingmen with pure jump shots in McCants and Ellington. And go to big men in May and Hansbrough. Both threes came in as diaper dandies and started right off the bat. To help determine my decision we will compare player to player individually at each position.

Rashad McCants vs Wayne Ellington

Rashad certainly started off as the better player. Rashad became the leader of the pack coming in with May and Felton. His game translated well from high school to college as he was able to both get to the hoop and hit clutch shots from the outside. McCants shouldered the load early in his freshman and sophomore years as Felton and May caught up later.

Ellington came into North Carolina with established star Tyler Hansbrough already in place. This took some of the pressure off of him and Lawson their freshman year. Ellington started his Tar heel career as purely a shooter. A streaky shooter at that. When on, he was unstoppable. Great at working for an open shot and just as great in hitting it. His only problem was he did not add much to the offense when his shot was not falling. As his game developed his shot grew more consistent and he became a more all around player while keeping the silky smooth jumper.

Edge goes to McCants by the slimmest of margin

Lawson vs Felton

This is by far the closest match up of the three. I swear Lawson modeled his game exactly after Mr. Raymond. Both flew with the ball and developed an outside game towards the end of their stays at Carolina. Lawson seemed to be a little more confident in himself in the clutch than Felton. While Felton was more likely to get the game winning assist, Lawson had no problem taking the ball to the hoop or pulling up for the 15 footer. It would be easier to pick Lawson in this battle because of the recent success in both college and the NBA but I am torn so much that this one is a toss up. Were calling this one a push.

May vs Hansbrough

Sean May was the anchor to the title team in 2005. He was the guy that Roy Williams leaned on throughout the tournament and in the Title game. May suffered some injuries like any other hard nosed big man and missed some games. No matter the injury he came back stronger every time. May had the fundamentals and just looked good while taking over a game.

Tyler Hansbrough can be summed up by this. He always found a way. Tyler threw up the most awkward looking shots, usually getting fouled, and seemed to always make them. Hansbrough was the ultimate bulldog on the court and never backed away from any challenge. Blood was just an accessory to the uniform for Tyler. He is the all time ACC scoring leader and the All time free throw attempt and makes leader. These things don't happen all on hard work. Hansbrough had game. What gives Hansbrough the edge over May is how he carried the team his freshman year after the 2005 team left. Tyler turned a team thought to miss the NCAA tournament into a top seeded team by tourny time. As the new recruits came in Hansbrough was still the go to guy. Whether it was to help his draft stock, help the teams overall weaponry, or both, Tyler developed a nice mid range jumper to top off his skill set. He may go down as the greatest Tar Heel of all time and that makes it very hard for Sean May to put up a good fight in this match up.

Edge goes to Tyler and his accolades over Sean May.

With that we have one edge going to 2005, one edge going in favor of 2009, and a push. Therefore for Scuttlebutt's first ever match up, we have a tie. These three guys play each other in a game of 3 on 3 and it may never end.