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12:13

FayObserver Moderator - Hi everyone and welcome to our live chat with ACC Basketball Beat Writer Dan Wiederer of the Fayetteville Observer. Dan is getting ready to head to Detroit to cover North Carolina in the Final Four. But before he takes off, we wanted to give everyone a chance to ask some questions or make some comments about the Tarheels and how the tournament has gone for the rest of the ACC.

So, while we wait for our 1 p.m. start time, feel free to leave some questions and comments so we can get them in the queue. We'll see you here at 1 p.m.

12:59

[Comment From Steve]
Where all have you been so far in the tournament? Where's your favorite place?

12:59

[Comment From Steve]
Looking forward to going to Detroit?

1:00	FayObserver Moderator - Looks like Dan is here and ready to go folks, so we'll get started. Get some more questions in!

1:04

Steve, it's been a wild and blurry March for yours truly. (And actually it's April now.) My wild month started with the Duke-Carolina game at the start of March, then to Atlanta to Greensboro to Memphis and now onto Detroit. Coolest city of the bunch: Memphis. Thought I think five days there is about the maximum I could take. And yeah, I am looking forward to going to Detroit. I hear it's a beautiful city at the start of April.

1:04	[Comment From Psycho T] Hey Dan what's the best game of the tournament been for you

1:05	As I was telling friends and family earlier, covering the NCAA tournament is a total adrenaline rush. And I wouldn't trade it for a thing. But you experience the madness so differently...

1:06

I've been with UNC since the tournament began and so essentially I've seen four lopsided Tar Heels wins, with the LSU game being the most entertaining game of the group by far. Had Lawson not sucked it up, I think the Tigers were playing well enough that day to pull off a monumental upset. But because I was writing about that game after it happened, I missed all but the last 2 minutes of Duke-Texas -- which was a fantastic game in its own right. And most of the great games in the tournament...

1:07

I've only caught bits and pieces of. I was still finishing up my UNC-Oklahoma preview packages Saturday evening when all teh craziness of Villanova-Pitt was unfolding. The last 5 minutes of that game were spectacular. No doubt about it. At least now, we're down to four and I can watch the final three games of this tournament in their entirety. That's exciting.

1:07	[Comment From Psycho T] Oh and who is the MVP so far

1:08	Not sure who you go with for MVP. Lawson has clearly been the most valuable and most energizing player for UNC...

1:10

For Villanova, Scottie Reynolds sure is a playmaker who gets it done in the clutch. Michigan State would not be here if it weren't for Goran Suton (and remember, he didn't play when UNC played the Spartans in Detroit in December.) And for UConn, obviously we all know about Thabeet, but A.J. Price has been terrific as well. I'm still picking a UConn over UNC title bout on Monday night. So if that unfolds, I see Price as the MOP of the Final Four.

1:10	[Comment From Brandon] OK, Dan, I fully admit that Tyler Hansbrough is a great player. And I see that Blake Griffin is a fantastic player too. But has there ever been a combination of two bigger crybabies on the court at the same time? I can't come up with one.

1:12

Hmmm... Not sure they're both huge cry babies. I've seen guys who are a lot worse over the years. But I did talk to a fellow reporter earlier this week about the outraged look Hansbrough gives every official who calls him for a foul or traveling violation. He just stares at them for a minute even when the call is obvious. Teammates come over to talk to him and it's as if he can't even hear them. But I'm not sure he's an overwhelming crybaby...

1:12	Griffin didn't strike me as a crybaby. He seems to just stare a lot. And I mean a lot...

1:14	I will say this, seeing that guy play in person, I wish I was an NBA GM and had the No. 1 pick. Total no-brainer. I was amazed by his size and athleticism. Absolutely incredible. The one knock I'd have on him is that he didn't look all that interested in being a superb defender.

1:14	[Comment From Steve] Detroit. Beautiful in April. Yeah, that's one way to make the trip not seem as dreadful.

1:15	Detroit in April is just like San Antonio and the Riverwalk isn't it? Did I get the wrong travel brochure?

1:15	[Comment From Brandon] Can you tell us a little more about Memphis? On TV the court looked weird and the lighting was quite unusual. Maybe just weirdness of TV?

1:16	Perhaps it was just the weirdness of TV. The court itself seemed normal to me. The lighting though was, in fact, kind of dim and in an arena where the seats are all dark, it contributes to it being kind of a dank place...

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