Tar Heel finds video games bad for hand
North Carolina Tar Heels senior point guard Joel Berry II broke his right hand last week by punching a door after losing a video game to teammate Theo Pinson and a manager.
“He did a silly thing,” North Carolina Coach Roy Williams told ESPN at ACC media day Wednesday. “That’s what it was. One of his greatest characteristics is his competitiveness.”
Pinson said Berry broke his hand while playing NBA 2K18. “It was just a freak accident,” Pinson said.
Pinson said Berry told him something was wrong with the hand before they went to bed, but he assumed it wasn’t serious.
Williams told ESPN that he is uncertain how long Berry will be out, but the initial prognosis was approximately four weeks. The Tar Heels open the regular season on Nov. 10 in Chapel Hill against Northern Iowa.
The Tar Heels have tried to adjust in practice without Berry.
Pinson said he’s played point guard in the team’s last two practices, which has pushed sophomore Seventh Woods and Kenny Williams, who also are vying to replace Berry during his absence.
“[Williams] always wants three point guards after the Kendall Marshall incident,” Pinson said.
Marshall suffered a broken wrist during the 2012 NCAA Tournament, which derailed UNC’s title aspirations.
Berry was the Most Outstanding Player at the Final Four last season and helped lead the Tar Heels to the national title. He had 22 points in the national championship game victory over Gonzaga.
He averaged 14.7 points and 3.6 assists last season and was named a preseason first-team AllAmerican by ESPN on Monday.
Bicycle found
Police say a man has returned a bike belonging to Pittsburgh Steelers receiver Juju SmithSchuster, telling investigators he bought it from someone for $200 on the street.
Mount Oliver Police Chief Matt Juzwick said the man called from a bar about 11 p.m. Tuesday after realizing from TV news the bike was reported stolen by the Steelers receiver.
Mount Oliver is a tiny borough bordering Pittsburgh. The man who turned in the bike gave police a description of the man he bought it from and Pittsburgh police are hoping to find him.
Smith-Schuster, a 20-year-old rookie, didn’t get a driver’s license while attending USC because of the school’s ride-sharing program. He’s used the bike to get from his apartment to the Steelers nearby practice facility.
Coming up short
From Janice Hough of leftcoastsportsbabe.com:
“Best thing about [Tuesday’s] WorldSeries game. Big $$$ that FOX is losing on commercials1 because the game only went 2 /2 hours.”
Also from Hough:
“21/2 hours? Guessing most fans spent more time getting in and out of the parking lot.”