Key stats, etc - UVA, ACC Semis

[gary-7]

See my previous post on Roy's game plan (defensive and offensive). It was superb, with the offensive side of that only undone somewhat by turnovers.

Anyway:

Guard combos (in order of appearance)
Paige alone (24:44) 1.7 PPM (12 TOs)
Berry/Paige (11:37) 2.1 PPM (4 TOs)
Berry/Britt (2:13) 1.4 PPM (2 TOs)
Berry alone (1:26) 2.1 PPM (0 TOs)

*Physically UVA looks like an NBA team, and they use that size to drive and get you to over-commit. We did a good job for the most part in staying in front of them and preempting driving lanes.

*UVA's Bigs are what I call "cleaners", in that they wait for your Bigs to lose backside contain and get chippy garbage buckets off the aforementioned drives. Kudos to Brice and Kennedy for staying home and being tough.
Out-rebounding them 32-25 was huge.

*The TOs (mostly in the one-guard lineups) were damn near fatal. In all honesty, we spent too much time in that configuration, and it brought out way too much "Bad-JP". But I understand why: Roy knew that in two-guard lineups Paige would be stuck guarding Brogdon which doesn't go well. On the other hand, he lit up JP in the second half, too.

*Lordy Mighty, Joel James was, well, awful tonight. On top of his 3 TOs, he cost us a possession arrow and blew 3 assists, and for the second straight game tipped in a basket for the other team from volley-balling instead of rebounding. It all comes down to the inability to simply catch a basketball. He looked like a 3-year-old trying to catch a balloon. Seriously, for a guy that big and strong with a soft shooting touch to struggle on such a simple skill, that means his issues are mental. Big Joel needs to get in a gym with a coach and just work on catching and snatching the ball over and over and over. We're all pulling for the big fella and we cannot afford another game like that in March.

*Adding Jackson and Berry to Paige as legit 3-point threats bodes quite well going forward and will keep opponents honest.
7-14 from 3 will win you some games.

*I hate that it came down to JP getting shaken up, but let's be honest: With us in the lead he should've come out of the game at least 3 minutes sooner down the stretch, for the FT liability if nothing else. I was disappointed that Roy hadn't made the move earlier.

*Of those who play (all due respect to Luke Davis who's damn good), Joel Berry is easily our best defensive Guard. UVA's PGs were a non-factor while he was in and he did well on Brogdon the few times they got matched up. In addition to the credited steal, he was directly responsible for at least 2 other UVA TOs. If you're wondering why Nate only got in for a couple of minutes, it was likely to keep UVA's physical Guards from taking advantage of him.

 

[DSouthr]

Yeah, pretty spot on, I especially agree that James in a game that he just doesn't matchup well for last night. The premium for a big man vs UVa is of course catching the ball but making a quick decision once you do catch it, the double will be coming quick. Example our first score, Meeks catches strong and the double snaps to him but he dishes off to the wide open Brice for the jam. But that all started by Meeks catching the ball strong and that is a particular weakness for James.

Now I did read a post this morning about Joel should not be taking anything but stick backs, actually from what I see I like him taking it out to about 10-12ft more than his sticking one back.

Totally agree this was not a great game for Brit to get a lot of time just because UVa guards are really physical and Brit just struggles to defend but you also have the added bonus of Berry really working on the defensive end and being able to handle the physicallity.

When JP is in at the 2, you just have to accept the fact that there will be more TOs, he has to off set that by being a defensive stopper on the other end and I felt he did a very good job of that, especially on Brogden in that first half. Brogden hit some well contested shots in that second half and got on a run but ya knew that UVa team was going to make a hard run at some point in that second half fortunatlely the fellas showed really excellent poise down the stretch.

Oh and Roy, I really liked his sub patterns for this game, looked like he had them ready for what UVa wants to do, Roy has had a great tourney so far as a coach. Those that have dumped on him for some of our less than steller games that were maybe not the best of Roy should realize and credit him when he does a great job as he has with his team in this tourney.

 

[Tigertown_a_Rick]

Originally posted by gary-7:
See my previous post on Roy's game plan (defensive and offensive). It was superb, with the offensive side of that only undone somewhat by turnovers.

Anyway:

Guard combos (in order of appearance)
Paige alone (24:44) 1.7 PPM (12 TOs)
Berry/Paige (11:37) 2.1 PPM (4 TOs)
Berry/Britt (2:13) 1.4 PPM (2 TOs)
Berry alone (1:26) 2.1 PPM (0 TOs)

*Physically UVA looks like an NBA team, and they use that size to drive and get you to over-commit. We did a good job for the most part in staying in front of them and preempting driving lanes.

*UVA's Bigs are what I call "cleaners", in that they wait for your Bigs to lose backside contain and get chippy garbage buckets off the aforementioned drives. Kudos to Brice and Kennedy for staying home and being tough.
Out-rebounding them 32-25 was huge.

*The TOs (mostly in the one-guard lineups) were damn near fatal. In all honesty, we spent too much time in that configuration, and it brought out way too much "Bad-JP". But I understand why: Roy knew that in two-guard lineups Paige would be stuck guarding Brogdon which doesn't go well. On the other hand, he lit up JP in the second half, too.

*Lordy Mighty, Joel James was, well, awful tonight. On top of his 3 TOs, he cost us a possession arrow and blew 3 assists, and for the second straight game tipped in a basket for the other team from volley-balling instead of rebounding. It all comes down to the inability to simply catch a basketball. He looked like a 3-year-old trying to catch a balloon. Seriously, for a guy that big and strong with a soft shooting touch to struggle on such a simple skill, that means his issues are mental. Big Joel needs to get in a gym with a coach and just work on catching and snatching the ball over and over and over. We're all pulling for the big fella and we cannot afford another game like that in March.

*Adding Jackson and Berry to Paige as legit 3-point threats bodes quite well going forward and will keep opponents honest.
7-14 from 3 will win you some games.

*I hate that it came down to JP getting shaken up, but let's be honest: With us in the lead he should've come out of the game at least 3 minutes sooner down the stretch, for the FT liability if nothing else. I was disappointed that Roy hadn't made the move earlier.

*Of those who play (all due respect to Luke Davis who's damn good), Joel Berry is easily our best defensive Guard. UVA's PGs were a non-factor while he was in and he did well on Brogdon the few times they got matched up. In addition to the credited steal, he was directly responsible for at least 2 other UVA TOs. If you're wondering why Nate only got in for a couple of minutes, it was likely to keep UVA's physical Guards from taking advantage of him.

Spot on as usual, Gary7!

Really liked our defensive tenacity last night, and thought we did a great job in limiting UVA's 2nd chance opportunities!

What can you say about Justin Jackson: Breakout game at just the right time, and hope this is a sign that he's finally turned the corner?

JP got injured on that idiotic play where he tried to go one-on-one against 2 defenders, and turned into the chest of one of the Wahoos hurting himself and losing control of the ball at the same time.....Can't remember exactly what happened after that as I was too busy stomping around the house and saying a few words that can't be repeated here...lol!

Agree that Berry is maturing right before our eyes, and did a great job of staying in front of Perrantes last night, while also knocking down a big shot or two....Young man is going to be a player for the Tarheels!

Brice is becoming the steady and consistent force down inside that we've been needing all season long, and it's great to see him running the floor the way he is right now....

Glad to see Kennedy playing more physical and looking more like his old self yesterday....Hope his sickness is behind him, moving forward!

James really struggled yesterday, and hope he plays better today and in the upcoming tourney?

Paige was money at times yesterday on offense, especially that high off the backboard layup over Broden late in the game, but thought that he tried to do too much at times which resulted in several unnessary turnovers that can't be repeated today if we are going to finish the deal, and beat the Irish?

Yesterday was the first time all season that I felt like our team as a whole played really good on both ends of the floor.....If we can cut down on our turnovers, make a majority of our free throws as we did against Louisville, and play with the tenacity and composure as we did yesterday, then this team might just go a little further in the big dance than most of us would have thought possible at the end of the regular season?

Like the mentality of this team right now, but we need to finish the deal tonight against the Irish!

Go Tarheels!

 

[BillyL]

JB's ball-handling ability has improved so much this year, that I am totally confident in his being the only guard on the floor. The youngster is just getting better by the minute . . the confidence he is showing now has made a big difference for him. His 8 points in the first half of the Louisville game when most of our other guys were ready to head to the showers was a game saver.
He deserves as much credit as anyone for that W . .

 

[gary-7]

Originally posted by DSouthr:
Yeah, pretty spot on, I especially agree that James in a game that he just doesn't matchup well for last night. The premium for a big man vs UVa is of course catching the ball but making a quick decision once you do catch it, the double will be coming quick. Example our first score, Meeks catches strong and the double snaps to him but he dishes off to the wide open Brice for the jam. But that all started by Meeks catching the ball strong and that is a particular weakness for James.

Couldn't have said that better, Dave. A clean catch and quick decision are vital against them. Basically everything Joel James does not do well.

And I'll tell ya what absolutely infuriates me. UVA is even worse than dook at undercutting and pushing post players after catches. It is dirty and illegal as hell and the refs just let it go. Hell, on one play they doubled Brice at the block and 3 seconds later they had literally pushed him out of bounds without a dribble having been taken! NO CALL, and a turnover results.

Originally posted by DSouthr:

Oh and Roy, I really liked his sub patterns for this game, looked like he had them ready for what UVa wants to do, Roy has had a great tourney so far as a coach. Those that have dumped on him for some of our less than steller games that were maybe not the best of Roy should realize and credit him when he does a great job as he has with his team in this tourney.

Again. Couldn't have said it better.