extra points the UNC guards need to go after

[IDUNK4HEELS]

I cannot be the only poster who wonders why the Carolina guards do not go to the charity stripe more than they do.
Yes I fully understand that Paige, Britt and Berry are not really big but it seems to me that UNC especially with Britt and Paige shooting nearly 90 percent from the line are missing out on a bunch of free points from the line which are crucial during close games.
While in college at UNC I never felt Lawson or Felton were dead eye jump shooters but they both went to the line a ton because they were fearless in going to the hole.
Being upper classmen I would hope that Paige and Brett would lead by example and take a few bumps for the betterment of the team by going to the hole. Now that Berry is healrhy again I also expect him more than any other guard to take the ball with no fear to the rack.
I would like for one or all of the above mentioned players make a living from the line this season and help Carolina get a ton of free points.
Anyone disagree or agree with this thread?

 

[gary-7]

I cannot be the only poster who wonders why the Carolina guards do not go to the charity stripe more than they do.
Yes I fully understand that Paige, Britt and Berry are not really big but it seems to me that UNC especially with Britt and Paige shooting nearly 90 percent from the line are missing out on a bunch of free points from the line which are crucial during close games.
While in college at UNC I never felt Lawson or Felton were dead eye jump shooters but they both went to the line a ton because they were fearless in going to the hole.
Being upper classmen I would hope that Paige and Brett would lead by example and take a few bumps for the betterment of the team by going to the hole. Now that Berry is healrhy again I also expect him more than any other guard to take the ball with no fear to the rack.
I would like for one or all of the above mentioned players make a living from the line this season and help Carolina get a ton of free points.
Anyone disagree or agree with this thread?

Valid observation. A calling card of UNC guards going back to Dean Smith is the propensity to pressure the defense by driving.
Honestly, I think that suffered last season due to spending so much time in one-guard lineups. Between Paige getting doubled and Tokoto monopolizing the ball, well....
Guards can only afford to drive if the floor is balanced and spacing allows. Hopefully our much-anticipated new backcourt will enable that.

 

[gunslingerdick]

Valid observation. A calling card of UNC guards going back to Dean Smith is the propensity to pressure the defense by driving.
Honestly, I think that suffered last season due to spending so much time in one-guard lineups. Between Paige getting doubled and Tokoto monopolizing the ball, well....
Guards can only afford to drive if the floor is balanced and spacing allows. Hopefully our much-anticipated new backcourt will enable that.

That's pretty accurate, IMO. Paige doesn't appear to like driving the ball. Maybe he did so little of it last year because of the injury. I seem to remember a little bit more of it during his sophomore year. I think Britt drives enough for my liking. He's pretty good at getting in the lane but he doesn't finish all that well and I'm not sure he can really draw fouls. Berry is the guy. He's built for driving the ball. He's not exceptionally quick which hurts him a bit but he's strong enough to hold the defender off while driving. I want to see this from him more than anything else. Have no idea what Williams' abilities are in his regard.

 

[TPFKAPFS]

I agree 100% with this observation. I think Paige is an above average driver and finishes well through contact, BUT he was injured and asked to do so much that he couldn't take the chance on more bumps and tiring himself even more. ( I bet this was a coaches decision) Berry and JJ are the answer to this issue I think. Berry has the body and JJ the craftiness to get this done. With more balance, increased strength, and good health I bet we see Paige go to the hole even more this year. With more perimeter depth, we should see our guards go back to the style UNC prefers also. Williams seems to be a good driver also, but I don't yet have a good sense of his speed with the ball.

Heels are Family!

 

[DSouthr]

I am a really good driver...Oooops, wrong movie... LOL

 

[gary-7]

That's pretty accurate, IMO. Paige doesn't appear to like driving the ball. Maybe he did so little of it last year because of the injury. I seem to remember a little bit more of it during his sophomore year. I think Britt drives enough for my liking. He's pretty good at getting in the lane but he doesn't finish all that well and I'm not sure he can really draw fouls. Berry is the guy. He's built for driving the ball. He's not exceptionally quick which hurts him a bit but he's strong enough to hold the defender off while driving. I want to see this from him more than anything else. Have no idea what Williams' abilities are in his regard.

I think you're right about the injury angle. Marcus was having trouble just landing after catching a pass at one point. But once he got to feeling better he got more aggressive. When he's right Marcus has shown he can drive through the trees (witness the Louisville clincher) and make something good happen.

You're also right about Berry. One of his calling cards at the highest level of AAU competition was to take it to the rack, going over, around and/or through bigger guys to finish or dish.

That brings us to Britt, and you're pretty much on that one, too. Nate first instinct is to penetrate but he doesn't have Paige's acrobatics and leaping ability, nor does he possess anything like Berry's strength and explosiveness.... the result being he isn't a good finisher. Maybe his biggest issue though is "driving with a purpose". His but he too often doesn't have an idea of what he's trying to set up. How often did we see him get himself stuck just inside the foul line or halfway down the baseline with nowhere to go (aka, PG no-man's land)? Now, here's the positive: Nate has some shake-and-bake and if he gets confident with a little floater pull-up he has the quicks to create space. He showed some of that in the summer pick-up games.

Bottom line is so much of successful guard penetration depends on floor balance and spacing, and driving with a purpose. There has to be 1) room to drive, 2) space for passing angles to cutters, and 3) having teammates used to reacting to drives ready to cash in on dishes. The paint is no place for a little guy to go without an idea of what he's doing --- a bad decision is a turnover and without floor balance can be a run-out waiting to happen. Having a true two-guard lineup will certainly help with the latter.

Now, as to the FT situation, all our guards are excellent FT shooters. Of course it helps if the damned zebras actually call the fouls. I just re-watched the first dook game and re-witnessed Berry and Paige getting absolutely flattened by body blocks on drives and no FTs to show for their trouble.... while guys like Jones get rewarded for jumping into a defender who had beaten him to the spot (ask Bronson Koennig about that one ).

 

[dadika13]

Another factor is our poor jump shooting last year (more toward the beginning of the year than the end).

Teams can pack in the defense which limits overall driving lanes and forces the offense to take mid range shots. Also, there aren't that many great big men in the country, we happen to have 2 of the best. We focus on getting them the ball in the paint instead of needing to be so guard heavy.

Good observation and I think it's a combo of reasons.