I only have one stat...

[gary-7]

...for this one.
That stat is 0, as in "zero":

- zero excuse for such incompetent, one-sided officiating in a game of this magnitude. It literally kept dook in the game in the first half with two different sets of rules... and zero excuse for Winslow to not have had two flagrants. That kick to Brice was dookish garbage that should have been the first flagrant.

- zero good reason for not feeding the ball to Brice Johnson, since dook has zero players capable of guarding him.

- zero excuse this late in the season for still allowing JP Tokoto to be constantly handling the ball out on the perimeter in half court offense. Roy, you're right: Taking bad shots are the same as turnovers. And if that's true, then you can add 5 or 6 more to the 4 TOs he was charged with... and truth be known, putting him out there in the same old configuration just enables that.

- almost zero rhyme or reason to rotation and continuity. Just when I thought we might have that figured out.... well, apparently not.

 

[grillheel]

Another great post Gary. Agree with all your points. I love Roy and do not want anyone else coaching us, but some of these lineups, and constant rotating people in and out, have made me wonder what in the world are we trying to do. I appreciate the insights you bring to this board.

 

[Steat]

The only stat that matters is Duke is a BETTER team. If you say something 20 times it becomes a habit. I did and I feel better for it. Perhaps some of our fans will say it 20 times. The best we can hope for this year is that another Lehigh Mercer pulls and upset over Duke and Kentucky.

 

[Spaceytoyz]

The Rotations did hurt, cut out Berry's Minutes for Britt and Only a few minutes for James could have helped, plus go small to beat the press

 

[gary-7]

Originally posted by Spaceytoyz:
The Rotations did hurt, cut out Berry's Minutes for Britt and Only a few minutes for James could have helped, plus go small to beat the press

There are not words to respond to that so...

 

[HeelFan58]

You might as well accept the shitty officiating cause it "ain't going no where". ACC officials are equal parts biased , Stupid and incompetent and the ACC office should be blushing. Another observation Justice Winslow is the stupidest player on the dook team. His 4th and 5th fouls were just beyond idiotic. Did I mention he is also a Hendersonian level thug??

 

[Spaceytoyz]

Originally posted by gary-7:

Originally posted by Spaceytoyz:
The Rotations did hurt, cut out Berry's Minutes for Britt and Only a few minutes for James could have helped, plus go small to beat the press

There are not words to respond to that so...

Berry was bad last night give Britt those minutes back, Cut james down some Minutes and give it back and give them to Hicks, and Play Britt, Tokoto and Paige at the same time to bust the press, Was that over your head? Lol

 

[WoadBlue]

Originally posted by HeelFan58:

You might as well accept the shitty officiating cause it "ain't going no where". ACC officials are equal parts biased , Stupid and incompetent and the ACC office should be blushing. Another observation Justice Winslow is the stupidest player on the dook team. His 4th and 5th fouls were just beyond idiotic. Did I mention he is also a Hendersonian level thug??

I think Winslow was bewildered that those fouls were called. And why should htye have been? He got away with kicking Johnson.

 

[SeaHawk98]

I agree. Duke IS NOT the better team. Both games the officiating ultimately decided the game. NO DOUBT. Yes, UNC made stupid shots, stupid lineups and stupid mistakes, but they outplayed Dook the majority of both games. If officials made the correct calls and made consistent calls, UNC has a sweep. I know refs will miss calls, I fully expect that. However, to call one thing on one end and the complete opposite on the other end all game is a travesty and a complete joke. That is not incompetence, that is targeted. The league needs to be investigated.

 

[gary-7]

Originally posted by Spaceytoyz:

Originally posted by gary-7:

Originally posted by Spaceytoyz:
The Rotations did hurt, cut out Berry's Minutes for Britt and Only a few minutes for James could have helped, plus go small to beat the press

There are not words to respond to that so...

Berry was bad last night give Britt those minutes back, Cut james down some Minutes and give it back and give them to Hicks, and Play Britt, Tokoto and Paige at the same time to bust the press, Was that over your head? Lol

Well, after that one somehow I don't imagine anything you post will be over anyone's head (bless your heart).

 

[Spaceytoyz]

Originally posted by gary-7:

Originally posted by Spaceytoyz:

Originally posted by gary-7:

Originally posted by Spaceytoyz:
The Rotations did hurt, cut out Berry's Minutes for Britt and Only a few minutes for James could have helped, plus go small to beat the press

There are not words to respond to that so...

Berry was bad last night give Britt those minutes back, Cut james down some Minutes and give it back and give them to Hicks, and Play Britt, Tokoto and Paige at the same time to bust the press, Was that over your head? Lol

Well, after that one somehow I don't imagine anything you post will be over anyone's head (bless your heart).

you never have a clue that's what makes you un interesting to ever read

 

[RedlineGold94]

With 7:36 left in game until 2:33 mark we had our regular starting 5 in the game, came in down 3...you can't blame Roy for that rotation. In the span of 1 minute and 17 seconds we commit back to back turnovers and Dook hits back to back 3's to go up 9.

 

[Spaceytoyz]

I would feel it is more on when we had a lead and rhythm he takes guys out and then when they return its not the same, the second Dook went to 8 guys after throwing a guy off the team they never lost because in basketball less is more if the talent is a big drop off...

This post was edited on 3/8 7:11 PM by Spaceytoyz

 

[gary-7]

Originally posted by grillheel:
Another great post Gary. Agree with all your points. I love Roy and do not want anyone else coaching us, but some of these lineups, and constant rotating people in and out, have made me wonder what in the world are we trying to do. I appreciate the insights you bring to this board.

Thanks, grill. Roy is indeed a HOF coach and the notion some put up of the game "passing him by" is absurd.

The toughest thing though for any coach is often "self-scouting" and stepping back from something that is comfortable but just doesn't work as well as it needs to. It is even trickier when he is juggling chainsaws with injuries.

Also the notion that if Paige scores more we win is flawed. Paige's scoring is a symptom, not a cause, and forcing that issue without the same old dysfunctions being addressed is a futile endeavor.

 

[BillyL]

Gary . . . do yourself a favor and put that jackwagon on ignore.

Do me a favor and don't ever quote him so i don't have to read his nonsense.

 

[crysdawn]

My 2 biggest complains (besides the refs), we acted like we had never seen a press before and Pinson got WAY too much playing time. Hope he is better next year!!

 

[matty1212]

How people are ripping on berry is laughable. People were ready to annoint him after the past few games now he deserves to not see the floor. We have some beauties on this board
Posted from Rivals Mobile

 

[RedlineGold94]

Pinson and Berry came in for Tokoto and Britt with a 5 pt lead at the 13:55 mark - Pinson I think it's pretty clear he was just a little bit overhyped and tried do too much rather than play within himself. Understandable given his first time playing in the rivalry...I think Roy left him in for too long of a stretch, maybe pull him out and talk to him one on one, calm down, remind him he's got the talent but play within himself....Then put him back in.

Dook has like 10 players on the entire team, literally reduced their rotation by 1....it ain't some genius K strategy. What happens when shots aren't falling, foul trouble ( ha yeah right Dook) and your opponent has skilled players that maybe landed at a "mid major" because or they're size? First round losses to Mercer and Lehigh.

There isn't a major talent drop off with this team...we've been spoiled with having young players come in a make contributions right out of the gate....all three freshman, Pinson, Berry, and Jackson are going to be really good same with Hicks, Britt and Meeks...just give it some time.

 

[SummervilleHeel]

Duke IS a better team. Why? They shoot the 3 with more consistency. They don't settle for 15-18 foot jumpers when a driving lane or pass is available. They don't beat themselves.

That said, I don't think the difference between the 2 teams is as great as some prognosticators would have you believe. Think about it. The reality is in both match-ups we outplayed them for 35 of the 40 minutes. Those 5 minutes are the reason we lost both games. Were there questionable officiating decisions? Absolutely. Jefferson held Berry on Jones game tying drive in HIS. Paige was hammered on the tip at the end of that game. Should Winslow have been assessed at the very least a flagrant 1 for kicking Brice? Yes.

Here's the difficulty with this year's team, in my opinion. They lose focus and allow themselves to be put into a position where officiating can swing the outcome of the game. We lost focus at Louisville. We lost focus in Durham, and Saturday night for a five minute stretch, we lost focus in our house. That's the difference between a top 10 UNC team (which we could be this year) and a team that will be lucky to make the Sweet 16 (which is what we have looked like more often than not).

 

[CrazyHeel]

good post summer, I concur

 

[mikeirbyusa]

Originally posted by matty1212:
How people are ripping on berry is laughable. People were ready to annoint him after the past few games now he deserves to not see the floor. We have some beauties on this board

Posted from Rivals Mobile

Berry will be a dern good PG for us before he leaves the Hill. That injury really set him back.

 

[gary-7]

Originally posted by mikeirbyusa:

Originally posted by matty1212:
How people are ripping on berry is laughable. People were ready to annoint him after the past few games now he deserves to not see the floor. We have some beauties on this board

Posted from Rivals Mobile

Berry will be a dern good PG for us before he leaves the Hill. That injury really set him back.

If he's not handed the keys sooner rather than later this car will be towed back to the garage without ever getting on the lead lap.

 

[mikeirbyusa]

Come on gary, even you turning on us?

 

[BillyL]

Originally posted by gary-7:

Originally posted by mikeirbyusa:

Originally posted by matty1212:
How people are ripping on berry is laughable. People were ready to annoint him after the past few games now he deserves to not see the floor. We have some beauties on this board

Posted from Rivals Mobile

Berry will be a dern good PG for us before he leaves the Hill. That injury really set him back.

If he's not handed the keys sooner rather than later this car will be towed back to the garage without ever getting on the lead lap.

Berry was nothing short of truly pathetic against dOOk . . he had a very good game against GT, but, then he fell flat on his face this past Saturday.

 

[gary-7]

Originally posted by mikeirbyusa:
Come on gary, even you turning on us?

Nah Mike, just restating what I've seen coming for a while. This current rotation does not, and most likely cannot work for any length of time. I really wish I could say otherwise.

I realize lots of fans get caught up in whether one player had a better 5 minutes than another in one given game. Fool's gold. The issues are always more fundamental and this season they boil down to personnel matching more than anything.

For all the (silly, unfounded) bashing of Leslie McDonald on here last season, inserting him into the starting lineup transformed us from an NIT-bound pretender to a contender. Why? Simple: Because we didn't have a legit guard duo until we did. Marcus could play the 2 but that put Nate at Point and, well, it didn't take opposing coaches long to figure out the weakness that in itself created. Now LMac was no superstar, but he was a legit 2 and knew how to play the game. And if he had another year of eligibility he'd still be starting and we'd be better off for it. Truth.

But LMac is gone and we didn't get a 2 in this otherwise great recruiting class. It's not in JJ's mindset, and Theo could adapt to it but it will take a while. The saving grace was Joel Berry, who has the tools and instincts to be a great --- not good --- great PG, which would allow Marcus to play the 2 without our (vital) PG play going down the tubes. Unfortunately that's not what happened. When I saw the starting lineup in the season opener I got a knot in my stomach, and when I watched JP playing the de facto 2, well, that knot turned into a watermelon.

But OK, all was not lost. Roy could have been (and likely was) working into Berry taking a primo role. Then the groin injury set that back, and then the virus. The bottom line is that we now have a dysfunctional "rotation". By the time Joel B comes in it's almost time for Marcus to get a blow, and they spend too little time on the floor together (which is the configuration that the stats show consistently is the most productive for the team), so the continuity and flow is now a crap shoot with who's gonna be on the floor at any given time. This has put Berry in often awkward configurations (Saturday was a mess), but far more often than not he has done well nonetheless. How quickly some forget that he grabbed the reins when Paige was in foul trouble in Durham and directed the team as it took control of the game... and the offense stalled late only after the ball was taken out of his hands,

Moreover, spending so much time in a one-guard lineup encourages bad perimeter behavior from JP, whereas as a Berry-Paige backcourt would push JP to the 3 where he does SO much better. It's a puzzle and often if you find the one right piece then the others will more easily fall into place.

I'll add one more thing (and this one really hurts me to say): If everyone comes back next season, we'll be an experienced, very talented team with a high pre-season ranking. BUT... if we come back with the same starting lineup and rotation the results ain't likely to be that much better than what we've seen this season.

All that being said, I'll be pulling for my Heels as hard as I can and meanwhile hope Roy can fit the pieces together to create enough continuity to allow our talent to win some more games.

This post was edited on 3/10 7:19 PM by gary-7