Hines Making Slow Progress

Senior guard Rico Hines expected knee surgery to sideline him for six weeks. Almost two months have passed and he’s still moving gingerly. “It’s coming along much slower than I thought it would,” said Hines, who estimates he’s at 60% of full health. “But I feel a lot better than I did last week. It’s getting better each week. Now that I’m on the court, I can see a little light.”

Well, Hines isn’t exactly “on the court.” He’s able to participate in some low-intensity dribbling drills, but isn’t ready for the cutting and sudden bursts of actually playing.

“It’s just the pain of trying to explode, move laterally, stuff like that,” he said. “I’ve been hurt so many years before that I know what it takes to get back on the court.”

Even when Hines returns to practice and gets into playing shape, he won’t be able to contribute right away. He must serve a two-game suspension for his fight before the season with teammate Matt Barnes in which Hines struck Barnes with a metal chair.

Hines said watching Saturday’s loss to North Carolina was particularly frustrating because he’s from Greenville, N.C., and, “it always hurts to lose to them.”

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The Bruins shot only 33.8% from the field against North Carolina. So, what else is new? The Tar Heels’ previous three opponents made a combined 33.9% of their shots, including a 23.4% performance by Miami--a record low for the Dean Smith Center.

Only Michigan State and Kentucky have shot better than 45% against North Carolina, and those schools accounted for the Tar Heels’ two losses.