Like the article points out, this was inevitable.
Someone was bound to do a ranking of the best UNC basketball teams ever. And they did. This time they used a computer to make it seem more legit and the computer says that the 2005 Tar Heels were the best ever.
To that I say “balderdash!” Just because you wrote a program to calculate odds doesn’t make the result any more accurate. Who determined the criteria? As they say in my industry, garbage in – garbage out.
Yes, the ’05 was very good. I’d definitely rank them above the ’91 title team. The program picked them just above the ’77 team which I am too young to remember.
I do remember the ’82 team though. These guys claim the ’05 version was just too fast and to that I say “wha?” Who’s faster, Sean May or Sam Perkins? Jawad Williams or James Worthy, who ran on the best fast break squads in NBA history? Rashad McCants or Michael Jordan? I’ll give you Felton over Jimmy Black, but that ’82 team could play with anyone – then or now.
And what about the ’84 team that was upset by Indiana early in the NCAA Tournament (after Kenny Smith broke his wrist)? That team was pretty awesome, with Jordan at his peak (people seem to forget just how dominant he was as a junior, preferring to chortle about how Dean Smith kept him under wraps), plus Kenny Smith (every bit as fast as Felton, but a better shooter), Sam Perkins (also a first-team All-American) and Brad Daugherty (who would eat Sean May up). Hell of a team (I hated ’em).
I don’t know. Maybe it’s just my age, but I’d take either of those 80’s teams over the 2005 team.