+/- Kennedy Meeks

[DSouthr]

This is a hard one for me, really hope we can see consistently in his senior season what we have seen glimpses of all along the way, we will just have to see.

+ side

1. He is a very experienced 2yr starter and will now be looked to in order to provide senior leadership
2. NBA level outlet passing ability, the name Wes Unseld has been invoked to describe his outlet passing ability.
3. Very soft and very strong hands, catches most every pass within his reach and does not tend to fumble it when he catches it.
4. Under estimated big man passer over all, has good vision and his passes seem easy to catch and usually help his man end up n position to finish.
5. Really good team mate, has had more than his fair share of criticism but no matter what has been said about him he has never publicly shown anything but a love for his teammates and the program over all.
   
6. As a freshman showed off some mid range ability and I think there is a lot more there.
   
7. Physically strong rebounder and seems to have a good feel for blocking out so that either he or one of his mates get the rebound. Reads the flight of the ball well.
   
8. Should be physically in the best condition of his life.
9. Has a little knack for shot blocking, has nice shot blocking timing
10. Does not pick up a ton of fouls so does not lose a ton of time sitting in foul trouble.

- side

1. Does not elevate well, seems to need a step to dunk, especially in traffic.
2. Because of his struggles to elevate up and thru physical contact he does get a lot of his shots blocked.
   
3. Rather than seek out the physical contact on his shots in deep tends to try to finesse them up and around a defender. When you are inside the block charge circle and you are 6'9" & 250+, attack the defender and make sure you get to the foul line, attack that defender and he is not likely to block your shot, may get more and 1 ops.
   
4. Tends to negate his size by bringing the ball down in traffic
5. Pump fakes to much, a pump fake is fine but to many begins to have the defenders expecting them.
   
6. Sets up to deep at times results in his being under the back board with a tuff angle to finish from.
7. Still at times seems to play as if he is still over 300lbs, harder for him to root out a defender at 250 and less butt. Move your feet and use that physical strength.
   
8. Has had knee issues that resulted in his production dramatically dropping off past December for the last 2 seasons. Needs a full season playing strong for the full season and not allow nagging injury to cause such a drop off.
   
9. Seemed to lose a lot of confidence over the last couple seasons, forget about that, just go play the game you love with the passion that shows how much you love it.
   
10. While decent at the free throw line needs to take that freeby % up a notch.

Meeks, is an enigma for me, there is a good amount of talent there and I do think he has a good feel for the game when his head is in the game but his head has kinda checked out at times IMO. Maybe that was a loss of confidence, maybe that was a couple of injuries in back to back seasons that limited him much more than has been reported. And the question on my mind as well as any other Tar Heel fan is wil we see a repeat of the last 2 years where he seemed to dramatically drop off from jan on or do we see this kid take his game to that next level we have been waiting to see? I not only do not have an answer to that I don't even have a reasonable guess, what I do have is HOPE!

 

[mikeirbyusa]

Going to have to wait and see here. He has a lot of pluses so long as he is injury free and keeps the weight off. Outlet passes can be spectiluar and his hands are about as good as they come. Show us what you got big fella.

 

[TPFKAPFS]

KM has the perfect attitude that coaches love! He always supports his teammates and doesn't seem to sulk when on the bench. I think last year his "check-outs" were more along the lines of disappointment in his body. He had worked so hard to get ready that he felt his body was betraying him. This is depressing when you know what to do, tell your body to do it, and don't get a proper response! (all us over 50's know what this is like, lol) A healthy Meeks will be a problem for other programs, especially since they also don't have any idea what to expect! (is there any usable film on him?)

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

I just hope he stays healthy. Everything else will be fine and he could even be a star (on a team that could have several stars) if he is healthy.

As I said in another thread, I think a slimmed-down KM could play some at PF. Not everyone agrees. But that lets him move to PF when he and Tony are on the floor together (letting Tony play his natural position). He might even play there at times with Isaiah. Isaiah has the strength to play inside and elevates better than Kennedy. So that should help Isaiah's rebounding.

 

[heelmanwilm]

He was never the same after injury. Prob is that he wasnt great beforehand. Not that he was expected to be great. At least not by me. Anyone thinking he was gonna me a hansbrough or may wasnt paying attention. I hope he returns to being a solid 10-12 pts, 8 reb guy. We certainly need him to.

 

[dlew71]

Pretty good at getting steals for a big as well

 

[IDUNK4HEELS]

I agree with Dsouthr that Meeks does not use his body enough to draw fouls and push opponents out of the way to make room for himself. Nobody wants to be known a soft interior player but Meeks will always be looked at that way unless he develops a meaner streak in the paint.

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

He was never the same after injury. Prob is that he wasnt great beforehand. Not that he was expected to be great. At least not by me. Anyone thinking he was gonna me a hansbrough or may wasnt paying attention. I hope he returns to being a solid 10-12 pts, 8 reb guy. We certainly need him to.

If he performs at last year's level, he'll have those numbers if he plays 28 minutes a game. He won't foul out playing than many minutes, but will this season be the one where he has the stamina and health?

Given that he played a good chunk of last year hurt, it's easy to imagine a healthy Kennedy doing noticeably better than 12 and 8. If he plays away from the basket more, it might hurt his rebounds. But I can see Kennedy giving us more like 14-15 points, 8-9 rebounds and 3 assists if he can log those minutes.

 

[Archer2]

If there are two guys who have struggled to stay healthy, it us Kennedy and Theo. I wanted so much for both to have an injury free year where they could just play. Unfortunately, Theo has suffered another setback. But both are great teammates and I hope Kennedy can finally have a full season healthy so he can display all his assets.

I really do wish Roy would try him in the high post, I can't say this strongly enough. Kennedy's skill set is perfect for the high post, perfect. Very good passer, check. Very good 18 foot jump shooter, check. Opens up the lane for slashers to the basket, check. Negates his lack of elevation inside, check. It just seems the perfect way to maximize his skills and minimize his weaknesses.

BTW, if he's a solid 10-12 PPG/8 RPG guy, I'll be thrilled.

 

[dadika13]

I'd love to see him develop the same rapport with Isaiah that he had with Brice. Their high-low action can really disrupt teams that want to play zone on us if we struggle to shoot the ball well this year.

 

[kylep45]

I hope Kennedy has a 14/8 type of year. But, don't sleep on Tony Bradley. He could be that type of player if Roy gives him the ball and minutes.

 

[Archer2]

Continuing to use Kennedy in the same manner and expecting different results is insane. He may be 250 pounds but he doesn't have a mean bone in hi body, much like Joel James. And you can't bang inside and utilize your body to it's fullest if you don't possess a little nasty streak. Joel was, and Kennedy is, a finesse player who avoids contact versus initiating it. Period.

And while Joel didn't possess the jumper or the passing ability to be effective in the high post, Kennedy certainly does. I love Roy but his inflexibility drives me to distraction sometimes. So I doubt we'll see Kennedy in the high post and that's a damn shame because Isaiah and JJ could be great with a little more room to operate down low.

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

I hope Kennedy has a 14/8 type of year. But, don't sleep on Tony Bradley. He could be that type of player if Roy gives him the ball and minutes.

Even if Kennedy plays 28 minutes and Isaiah 26 (that's +8 minutes for each of them over last year) that leaves 26 minutes to be filled up front. Tony will get as many minutes as he can handle. I'm encouraged about the reports that make him seem more ready than most of our recent bigs.

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

Continuing to use Kennedy in the same manner and expecting different results is insane. He may be 250 pounds but he doesn't have a mean bone in hi body, much like Joel James. And you can't bang inside and utilize your body to it's fullest if you don't possess a little nasty streak. Joel was, and Kennedy is, a finesse player who avoids contact versus initiating it. Period.

And while Joel didn't possess the jumper or the passing ability to be effective in the high post, Kennedy certainly does. I love Roy but his inflexibility drives me to distraction sometimes. So I doubt we'll see Kennedy in the high post and that's a damn shame because Isaiah and JJ could be great with a little more room to operate down low.

I picture a lot of give-and-go with Kennedy at the high post. With guys like Justin, Brandon, 7th and Kenny being on the end of Kennedy's return pass.

 

[Archer2]

He could be sooooooo effective in that capacity, WWJD.

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

He could be sooooooo effective in that capacity, WWJD.

And just think how our drivers could scrape defenders off by curling around Kennedy up around the foul line. Thud!

 

[DSouthr]

Continuing to use Kennedy in the same manner and expecting different results is insane. He may be 250 pounds but he doesn't have a mean bone in hi body, much like Joel James. And you can't bang inside and utilize your body to it's fullest if you don't possess a little nasty streak. Joel was, and Kennedy is, a finesse player who avoids contact versus initiating it. Period.

And while Joel didn't possess the jumper or the passing ability to be effective in the high post, Kennedy certainly does. I love Roy but his inflexibility drives me to distraction sometimes. So I doubt we'll see Kennedy in the high post and that's a damn shame because Isaiah and JJ could be great with a little more room to operate down low.

Archer, up to a point I agree, I do think Meeks could do a solid job up top and I as well agree that it would not hurt him to be able to have a run to the rim as opposed to having to go straight up from the deep post. I actually think Meeks sets picks better than Hicks in that Hicks can tend to pick up silly fouls setting picks up top, trys to move off the pick to quickly and the refs see that as a moving screen.

When I disagree a tad is Meeks does do a solid job blocking out down low, Brice got a lot of rebounds off of Meeks blockouts and Hicks could use that as well. When I talk in terms of attacking the defender it is more recognizing the the situation and taking advantage of it than mean streak. Real nasty habit meeks has is setting up to deep allowing defenders to use the back board as an additional defender. Pump fakes don't help you as much when you are having to twist and snake the ball to avoid both the block and the back board. Defenders do not have to get so close that you can attack them, they can back off a step and still have you. To often Meeks will set up fine but catch the ball and turn to a position where he is to deep and has no outlet. Either catch and pass it back out quickly or have a path to turn and finish without the back board being an additional defender. Stop with the multiple pump fakes and the bringing the ball down so low that Roy can steal it.