Quick stuff (UNCW game)....

[gary-7]

...and ugh, meh, bleah (take yer pick).

I really don't have the enthusiasm for much detail, but there's gonna be no hand-wringing, etc..
It's the first game after all, and we won, but... the performance (from both players and staff) was far from ideal. Let's get to it:

- UNCW is no cream-puff, but we started the game with a brain-dead late-clock foul from Caleb, and that sorta set the listless tone.

- We spent too much of the game passive on D and in securing rebounds. The good news was when we got outta that candy-ass auto-switching and locked down in our 21.5 Man, we had some really good defensive possessions, including some clock violations and forced travels --- and honestly?... those possessions were probably the difference in a game with a too-close margin. As for rebounding, yeah, they were grabbing and gouging, but you hafta be strong and snatch the ball.

- Oh, and speaking of switching, in the first half it was apparent UNCW scouted us from last season, and (as I warned) weren't having that forced up/down switch for RJ. Expect that to become a norm, which is all the more reason to default to Carolina transition to trigger our offense.

- And speaking of transition, I generally HATED how passively we approached that jive triangle "press" (big air quotes on that word) they pulled out in the second half. Adjust our Secondary to the sideline/baseline or attack the seam, and it's layup/foul all night. The (too) few times we attacked it, good things happened. Otherwise, we let them dictate pace on DEFENSE, no less. Not good.

- Really disappointed in Caleb reverting to carelessness with the rock, and RJ getting caught in no-man's land more than once. C'mon guys... you're Juniors now. Good news is they pretty much cleaned that up in the second half, and both stepped up with big shots to keep UNCW at arm's length.

- As for personnel usage, welp, a mixed bag. Good news was a commitment to a longer rotation. Bad news came in the details. For one example, although Seth had some good moments, I do not want to see the particular lineup again anytime soon with he and Caleb and RJ together. Ball movement stopped and nobody seemed to know their role. If we want to go "small" it was much smoother with Dunn as the 3rd Guard.

- Finally, generally speaking, there was WAY yonder too much dribbling --- I mean, did we even have an Assist outside of transition? Ok, maybe I'm exaggerating, but it wasn't many. EDIT: Holy crap,... I just went back and looked -- 4 for the GAME??? That's not Carolina basketball.

Welp, as predictable as heat in the summer, once again, when we played Carolina basketball, things went well. When we didn't, things looked like hell. Tonight saw too much of the latter. But again, the good news was we won and there's another game in a few days. Oh, and in other good news, our boy Andrew Platek had 13 with a couple of treys to help Siena to an opener W --- glad to see him back on the court after last season's injury. And glad to see basketball back in the Dome! Hopefully next game will be a bit more fun to watch, and a bit more like what our guys and staff are capable of....

 

[39 Feet Above Sea Level]

So right about allowing the Seahawks to dictate the pace defensively. We're too good and
too talented to allow that. Adjust accordingly and attack the paint! We didn't seem to
be having much fun, either. Tight, nervous, pressured. Maybe we thought we could just dictate
the score versus this opponent.

Game One, 1-0. LOTS of emphasis points in practice today for sure. Shake it off and get it
right. We are # 1 for a reason.

 

[Rabidfrog]

Two competing thoughts from me
1) UGH… We played terrible and were the most stagnant on offense I have seen. 4 assists is embarrassing. Outrebounded is embarrassing. Out toughed/physicalled for most the game should be a wake up call. That was an ugly win
2) Huh… It never really felt close. It never felt comfortable, but it also never felt out of control. Just a slog win. Our defense looked outstanding in spurts. I know we don’t win that game early in any recent season. So it was interesting for playing about as bad as they can… they lead by basically double digits for the last 25minutes of the game (I think it went down to 8 point lead for a possession or two in second half).

We are going to be a defensive nightmare, eventually- the question is what does our offense look like if hero-ball isn’t working.

 

[blazers]

4 assists (9 to), outrebounded - gonna be a long season if they don't wake up.

 

[Grover Thomas]

Can’t disagree with anything Gary. The dribbling shit was embarrassing. RJ dribbles the ball to death and get 1 assist? . Caleb had two turnovers for the game.

I think RJ wants to score the ball. Should move him to the two position and Love to the one.

I hope Davis never ever never try the 3guard lineup. I saw Caleb’s face is like WTF….RJ dribbling all night and now the freshman is playing the point.

 

[dtodd4475]

The rebounding was a complete surprise to me. That contributed, but wasn't solely the reason for the nonexistent transition game.

Only 10 3 point attempts, making only two. I do not think many games will have so few attempts. Like it or not it is a big part of the game. Must get more good 3 looks.

Other then Mando 17-19 from the line, even with him 23-30. That as it was last year is a huge plus. They needed it last night.

8 or 9 turnovers isn't bad, but some just seemed clumsy. That coupled with the glaring stat of 4 assists speaks to the lack of crisp ball movement.

Nance brings a lot of versatility. It showed on dee, but only 3 shots, I'm sure they would like more.

Every starter 30 minutes or more except Mando (28), and that was due to the early 4th foul, against a team they were 20 plus point favorites on. Dunn and Trimble with significant time. Dunn still looks a bit passive, Trimble gets after it. Nickel 6 and Styles 3 minutes got their feet wet.

A win, but plenty of opening game rust to coach up.

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

Team	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	T
UNC Wilmington	15	6	14	21	56
North Carolina	15	17	11	26	69

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

Why did RJ play 37 minutes against a creampuff?

 

[dtodd4475]

Why did RJ play 37 minutes against a creampuff?

Caleb and Nance had 34, Leaky 30, would of been more if he didn't tweak his ankle and sit out 3 or 4 minutes due to it. Mando would of had 34 or so if not for the early 4th foul, he still logged 28.

We are deeper, but in competitive games I see most of our starters getting big minutes. I do hope the non conference affords more opportunity for bench minutes, last night they never pushed out to a big lead though.

 

[ChapelHeeled]

Lots to look at here. UNCW had a couple of kids that transferred in. They played physical defense and played well off of the ball. UNC started ( offensively) too high at times and made it harder to get baskets. First game though. Will learn from this one...

 

[TPFKAPFS]

Learning from a win, especially after receiving shots to the face, only makes you stronger! It is so nice to have Dunn and Trimble as backups AND as motivation/redirection for our starters! Caleb gets a little loose with the ball and Dunn comes in with little drop off. RJ pushes into traffic or lets his man get too close to the basket and Trimble comes in to inject some energy!

 

[FlaTarHeel]

1. It was ugly but we looked uninterested most of the game and this is surprising with all the excitement coming into the season.

2. Ugly win still beats a beautiful loss.

3. TV Ted always, and I mean always makes our games ugly. He's a UNC cancer, he knows it, and he enjoys it.

4. We won't shoot 2/10 from 3 again this season

5. We won't get outrebounded again anytime soon.

6. Nance makes us scary good on defense.

7. Seth will be really good as the game slows down and he stops fouling.

8. Dunn proved he's ready, can't say the same about Styles.

 

[ACokeForRoy]

When Seth starts to finish at the rim consistently he will be a problem because he can get there at will. Surprised (or maybe not) how passive Armando was. Calebs lapses and turnovers didn't surprise me. He tends to shine only for big games. Seemed a bit disinterested for most of the game. Gotta run some plays for Pete. OR maybe there were plays for him and he didn't take them. Also wondering about the status of Puff. Is he dealing with an injury?

 

[gary-7]

Also wondering about the status of Puff. Is he dealing with an injury?

Yes, continuing knee pain.

 

[Tarheelsman71]

we still cant shoot. We went on a deep run last year (at exactly the right time) by outrebounding everyone by a lot. If we dont do that again...we have NO chance. Alot of things went our way in the tournament, but we lost a lot of games last year playing this bad. UNCW shoots worse than stevie wonder, but a decent shooting team would have killed us last night.

 

[FlaTarHeel]

we still cant shoot. We went on a deep run last year (at exactly the right time) by outrebounding everyone by a lot. If we dont do that again...we have NO chance. Alot of things went our way in the tournament, but we lost a lot of games last year playing this bad. UNCW shoots worse than stevie wonder, but a decent shooting team would have killed us last night.

🤡

 

[TPFKAPFS]

Correction: We didn't shoot, but can shoot well and soon will! We can rebound and will reassert this ability soon. We also showed the grit to win despite these shortcomings and this fact is completely different from last season! We will get our D to exemplary as well! 1 game doesn't define a season or condemn a team! It can inform and motivate, however! BTE: Giving up after one game is silly to the extreme! It also indicates a person who has watched very little Tar Heel ball!

 

[Grover Thomas]

When Seth starts to finish at the rim consistently he will be a problem because he can get there at will. Surprised (or maybe not) how passive Armando was. Calebs lapses and turnovers didn't surprise me. He tends to shine only for big games. Seemed a bit disinterested for most of the game. Gotta run some plays for Pete. OR maybe there were plays for him and he didn't take them. Also wondering about the status of Puff. Is he dealing with an injury?

I wasn’t surprise about the excessive dribbling from RJ….seems to love to dribble the shot clock down so he can throw up a shot. How about passing ahead?

 

[Mrs.Jeans15]

We would have lost early last year.

I like the defense..

Not to mention this team knows its only what they do in the tournament.

There will be more games like this.

Plus new players in new roles and down one of our bigs.

Again I loved the defensive effort. That won the game.

 

[adwood81]

No flow to game, we were selfish with the ball all around. Really thought we were to passive against their pressure. It is early and we will see similar games as season goes on. Just because we have 4 players returning doesn't mean this is the same team.

 

[2DDIMOND]

My 3 cents

1. Lots of work to do

2. RJ better not get hurt or it will be a long year. Agree or not if he is our best player, but I think he is tied with Bacot as our most important one.

3. I can’t understand Styles only getting 3 minutes. Did he get hurt or did I miss something else he did wrong? Particularly baffled by Nickel getting double the minutes of Dontrez.

 

[imajericho]

I felt Nickel did okay in his limited minutes. He had trouble staying in front of his player and had bad positioning on 2 passes he should have stopped, but he did relatively all right for someone they couldn't seem to get the ball to when he was open. I saw Love and Bacot both take horrendous contested shots while he was the open kickout. If they find that pass, it's likely a made 3.

He needs to move more on offense though also.
Trimble was good decent. Some of the fouls called on him were weird though.

Still not feeling Nance, but his speed with the ball surprised me when dribbling down court. Didn't have much control when contested, but it was quick. We need to hit him when he is rim running.

 

[dtodd4475]

1. It was ugly but we looked uninterested most of the game and this is surprising with all the excitement coming into the season.

2. Ugly win still beats a beautiful loss.

3. TV Ted always, and I mean always makes our games ugly. He's a UNC cancer, he knows it, and he enjoys it.

4. We won't shoot 2/10 from 3 again this season

5. We won't get outrebounded again anytime soon.

6. Nance makes us scary good on defense.

7. Seth will be really good as the game slows down and he stops fouling.

8. Dunn proved he's ready, can't say the same about Styles.

I like your enthusiasm and others with Dunn, I think he will be fine, but not sure he is ready quite yet. He still seems a bit too passive for my liking, but better then last year. I did not think he showed much in his minutes yesterday though.

Styles only played 3 minutes, so I got no read from that. I liked what Trimble brought the most from what the lightly used bench gave last night.

 

[Tarheel75]

Lots of interesting comments on this thread. From where I sat, it appeared to us that the guys have been reading and listening to all the sports writers and sports talk radio and the old "We got this, no problem" mentality has set in. UNCW has some athletes, and they had a great opportunity to pull the upset. Hubert was not happy that UNCW was very physical in the 1st half, and we did not match it and that along with non-sharing of the ball (4 assists for the game?) common now, that cannot continue. There were 3 opportunities to find Nickel wide ass open and he never touched the damn ball! The first thing is to stop reading your clippings and listening to all the mouth breathing sports talk shows.

The next thing is stopping the selfish play and sharing the ball. I'm with Gary in wanting secondary run more and run correctly. The main reason for the dysfunctional look by the team is simply playing too much ME Ball. It was the same way last year in the beginning through the first 13-15 games and we all saw the results of that trainwreck. I don't know why, but Armando cannot dribble and drive to the basket without losing his dribble or dribbling the ball off his foot. Also, when he gets the ball, he thinks he has to shoot even when double and triple teamed, he has to be reminded that if 2 or more players are defending his ass, there has to be someone wide open, and he never looked to outlet pass. That will have to change as well as we have some good shooters who will knock down wide open shots.

Look-I know I'm bitching, and I know that we won and that's the bottom line. I guess I will cool down and look to see if we make some adjustments on Friday.

 

[al would]

...and ugh, meh, bleah (take yer pick).

I really don't have the enthusiasm for much detail, but there's gonna be no hand-wringing, etc..
It's the first game after all, and we won, but... the performance (from both players and staff) was far from ideal. Let's get to it:

- UNCW is no cream-puff, but we started the game with a brain-dead late-clock foul from Caleb, and that sorta set the listless tone.

- We spent too much of the game passive on D and in securing rebounds. The good news was when we got outta that candy-ass auto-switching and locked down in our 21.5 Man, we had some really good defensive possessions, including some clock violations and forced travels --- and honestly?... those possessions were probably the difference in a game with a too-close margin. As for rebounding, yeah, they were grabbing and gouging, but you hafta be strong and snatch the ball.

- Oh, and speaking of switching, in the first half it was apparent UNCW scouted us from last season, and (as I warned) weren't having that forced up/down switch for RJ. Expect that to become a norm, which is all the more reason to default to Carolina transition to trigger our offense.

- And speaking of transition, I generally HATED how passively we approached that jive triangle "press" (big air quotes on that word) they pulled out in the second half. Adjust our Secondary to the sideline/baseline or attack the seam, and it's layup/foul all night. The (too) few times we attacked it, good things happened. Otherwise, we let them dictate pace on DEFENSE, no less. Not good.

- Really disappointed in Caleb reverting to carelessness with the rock, and RJ getting caught in no-man's land more than once. C'mon guys... you're Juniors now. Good news is they pretty much cleaned that up in the second half, and both stepped up with big shots to keep UNCW at arm's length.

- As for personnel usage, welp, a mixed bag. Good news was a commitment to a longer rotation. Bad news came in the details. For one example, although Seth had some good moments, I do not want to see the particular lineup again anytime soon with he and Caleb and RJ together. Ball movement stopped and nobody seemed to know their role. If we want to go "small" it was much smoother with Dunn as the 3rd Guard.

- Finally, generally speaking, there was WAY yonder too much dribbling --- I mean, did we even have an Assist outside of transition? Ok, maybe I'm exaggerating, but it wasn't many. EDIT: Holy crap,... I just went back and looked -- 4 for the GAME??? That's not Carolina basketball.

Welp, as predictable as heat in the summer, once again, when we played Carolina basketball, things went well. When we didn't, things looked like hell. Tonight saw too much of the latter. But again, the good news was we won and there's another game in a few days. Oh, and in other good news, our boy Andrew Platek had 13 with a couple of treys to help Siena to an opener W --- glad to see him back on the court after last season's injury. And glad to see basketball back in the Dome! Hopefully next game will be a bit more fun to watch, and a bit more like what our guys and staff are capable of....

...and ugh, meh, bleah (take yer pick).

I really don't have the enthusiasm for much detail, but there's gonna be no hand-wringing, etc..
It's the first game after all, and we won, but... the performance (from both players and staff) was far from ideal. Let's get to it:

- UNCW is no cream-puff, but we started the game with a brain-dead late-clock foul from Caleb, and that sorta set the listless tone.

- We spent too much of the game passive on D and in securing rebounds. The good news was when we got outta that candy-ass auto-switching and locked down in our 21.5 Man, we had some really good defensive possessions, including some clock violations and forced travels --- and honestly?... those possessions were probably the difference in a game with a too-close margin. As for rebounding, yeah, they were grabbing and gouging, but you hafta be strong and snatch the ball.

- Oh, and speaking of switching, in the first half it was apparent UNCW scouted us from last season, and (as I warned) weren't having that forced up/down switch for RJ. Expect that to become a norm, which is all the more reason to default to Carolina transition to trigger our offense.

- And speaking of transition, I generally HATED how passively we approached that jive triangle "press" (big air quotes on that word) they pulled out in the second half. Adjust our Secondary to the sideline/baseline or attack the seam, and it's layup/foul all night. The (too) few times we attacked it, good things happened. Otherwise, we let them dictate pace on DEFENSE, no less. Not good.

- Really disappointed in Caleb reverting to carelessness with the rock, and RJ getting caught in no-man's land more than once. C'mon guys... you're Juniors now. Good news is they pretty much cleaned that up in the second half, and both stepped up with big shots to keep UNCW at arm's length.

- As for personnel usage, welp, a mixed bag. Good news was a commitment to a longer rotation. Bad news came in the details. For one example, although Seth had some good moments, I do not want to see the particular lineup again anytime soon with he and Caleb and RJ together. Ball movement stopped and nobody seemed to know their role. If we want to go "small" it was much smoother with Dunn as the 3rd Guard.

- Finally, generally speaking, there was WAY yonder too much dribbling --- I mean, did we even have an Assist outside of transition? Ok, maybe I'm exaggerating, but it wasn't many. EDIT: Holy crap,... I just went back and looked -- 4 for the GAME??? That's not Carolina basketball.

Welp, as predictable as heat in the summer, once again, when we played Carolina basketball, things went well. When we didn't, things looked like hell. Tonight saw too much of the latter. But again, the good news was we won and there's another game in a few days. Oh, and in other good news, our boy Andrew Platek had 13 with a couple of treys to help Siena to an opener W --- glad to see him back on the court after last season's injury. And glad to see basketball back in the Dome! Hopefully next game will be a bit more fun to watch, and a bit more like what our guys and staff are capable of....

I can't argue with anything about your assessment .. especially the "ugh..meh.. bleah". So this is almost the same team that went to the chip game against Kansas last April ??? Okay.
I only watched the first half of the game last night and will watch the replay tonight but the thing (first half) that stood out to me was the complete lack of exploiting our size advantage inside. I kept wondering "when will a big flash or get in the post"? TBH it was a very uninspired start to the season and if the guys were looking to make a "statement" in their opening game they surely missed the mark. Maybe rust or nerves but not a very impressive opening game .. meh .. ugh .. dud. But a win is still a win even though it did expose some flaws. Looking forward to see how they respond Friday.

 

[tarwhiz]

My 3 cents

1. Lots of work to do

2. RJ better not get hurt or it will be a long year. Agree or not if he is our best player, but I think he is tied with Bacot as our most important one.

3. I can’t understand Styles only getting 3 minutes. Did he get hurt or did I miss something else he did wrong? Particularly baffled by Nickel getting double the minutes of Dontrez.

Styles was playing with oven mitts on. Hopefully they come off and he shows some ball control.
Hubert cut out Styles turnovers by not putting him back in.
Seriously, I understand it was just one game, so I need to cut Trez some slack. That being said, this was an important offseason for him to get better as a ball handler, and just skillwork in general. The exhibition game and this one did not show any improved play in those areas.

 

[Heels5150]

There were many areas of concern. I cannot understand why we do not punish teams for trying to press us. We get the ball out of the net and slowly throw the ball in or a guy will have the ball in his hands and he will drop it as if to say it’s not my job to throw the ball in. Get the ball out of bounds and throw it inbounds as fast as you can and GO! Attack a teams press by looking up and passing the ball or dribbling but our guys are being way too passive. At best you will score and at worst you will tire them out for pressing us. RJ is way too talented as is Caleb to let these presses create chaos. We had a 10 second violation and a back court violation while bringing up the ball. Leaky was part of both of those plays. We look side to side bringing the ball up and not up court. Last year I was hard on RJ at the beginning of the season for dribbling too much and having tunnel vision. Butter was fantastic at seeing the whole court. It seems like none of our guys can do that. Even throwing the ball inbounds someone will break to the basket and be wide open and our inbounds passer won’t see them. We are way too careless passing the ball and dribbling causing us to turn the ball over. The steal Caleb had in the second half and he had RJ wide open running with him as his defender is picking him up and he doesn’t pass the ball and shoots a prayer of a layup that missed. RJ and Caleb are Juniors and former McDonald’s AA guards and they are way too talented to play like this. Bacot looked like he did at the beginning of last year (to your point Tar Heel 75), get double teamed and he puts the ball on the floor and looses it in a crowd or off of his foot, missing layups or dunks, He makes a move and falls down awkwardly showing coordination issues and of course not throwing the ball out or reversing it. Manek last year was not only an amazing quick release 3 point shooter but he moved without the ball exceptionally well. No one moved last night. Nance seems pretty robotic in his movements. Plus he was slow closing out on to their 3 point shooters and when he did he jumped out and in instead of out and up. As to which he fouled their 3 point shooter. We didn’t show much effort into trying to box out. We simply turned and looked for the ball while negating to put a body onto someone. First game and all but it was a win as ugly as it was.

 

[Grover Thomas]

My 3 cents

1. Lots of work to do

2. RJ better not get hurt or it will be a long year. Agree or not if he is our best player, but I think he is tied with Bacot as our most important one.

3. I can’t understand Styles only getting 3 minutes. Did he get hurt or did I miss something else he did wrong? Particularly baffled by Nickel getting double the minutes of Dontrez.

Trimble is our best option at PG….plays defense and willing to pass the ball.

Love is by far our most important player…followed by Mondo our best player. Trimble can step right in for RJ and Love is a much better playmaker than RJ.

 

[Grover Thomas]

There were many areas of concern. I cannot understand why we do not punish teams for trying to press us. We get the ball out of the net and slowly throw the ball in or a guy will have the ball in his hands and he will drop it as if to say it’s not my job to throw the ball in. Get the ball out of bounds and throw it inbounds as fast as you can and GO! Attack a teams press by looking up and passing the ball or dribbling but our guys are being way too passive. At best you will score and at worst you will tire them out for pressing us. RJ is way too talented as is Caleb to let these presses create chaos. We had a 10 second violation and a back court violation while bringing up the ball. Leaky was part of both of those plays. We look side to side bringing the ball up and not up court. Last year I was hard on RJ at the beginning of the season for dribbling too much and having tunnel vision. Butter was fantastic at seeing the whole court. It seems like none of our guys can do that. Even throwing the ball inbounds someone will break to the basket and be wide open and our inbounds passer won’t see them. We are way too careless passing the ball and dribbling causing us to turn the ball over. The steal Caleb had in the second half and he had RJ wide open running with him as his defender is picking him up and he doesn’t pass the ball and shoots a prayer of a layup that missed. RJ and Caleb are Juniors and former McDonald’s AA guards and they are way too talented to play like this. Bacot looked like he did at the beginning of last year (to your point Tar Heel 75), get double teamed and he puts the ball on the floor and looses it in a crowd or off of his foot, missing layups or dunks, He makes a move and falls down awkwardly showing coordination issues and of course not throwing the ball out or reversing it. Manek last year was not only an amazing quick release 3 point shooter but he moved without the ball exceptionally well. No one moved last night. Nance seems pretty robotic in his movements. Plus he was slow closing out on to their 3 point shooters and when he did he jumped out and in instead of out and up. As to which he fouled their 3 point shooter. We didn’t show much effort into trying to box out. We simply turned and looked for the ball while negating to put a body onto someone. First game and all but it was a win as ugly as it was.

That play by Love was frustration at RJ endless dribbling and not passing. As soon as he stole the ball I knew he wasn’t going to pass it to RJ. RJ is a 2guard on a PG’s body. The ball sticks in his hands. We are in trouble with him at the PG position as Love is by far a better playmaker….but RJ dribbles the shot clock away.

Mondo sure as hell was not going to pass the ball out of a double or triple team because he knew RJ was not going to give it back to him.

We are best with RJ off the bench and Love as the main ball handler. Start Dunn at the two or Nickel.

 

[2DDIMOND]

That play by Love was frustration at RJ endless dribbling and not passing. As soon as he stole the ball I knew he wasn’t going to pass it to RJ. RJ is a 2guard on a PG’s body. The ball sticks in his hands. We are in trouble with him at the PG position as Love is by far a better playmaker….but RJ dribbles the shot clock away.

Mondo sure as hell was not going to pass the ball out of a double or triple team because he knew RJ was not going to give it back to him.

We are best with RJ off the bench and Love as the main ball handler. Start Dunn at the two or Nickel.

With that thought process, Baylor bitch slaps us in the round of 32 last year & we are ranked about 20th coming into this year. No hype, & maybe not even the same team. The only reason we are ranked #1 this preseason is because we made a run to the finals last year. I’ll bet (barring injury to either player), RJ gets more all conference votes than Love.

 

[Grover Thomas]

With that thought process, Baylor bitch slaps us in the round of 32 last year & we are ranked about 20th coming into this year. No hype, & maybe not even the same team. The only reason we are ranked #1 this preseason is because we made a run to the finals last year. I’ll bet (barring injury to either player), RJ gets more all conference votes than Love.

Maybe he will…..but if he dribble that ball and it sticks in his hands….it won’t happen for him.
Coach Davis is watching film as we speak and saying oh shit….with RJ at the point …we only scored 69 points against a cupcake. I predict Trimble will eat into RJ’s minutes .

Also on our deep run…..go back and watch who was running point everytime when it was winning time….it was Love.

 

[dtodd4475]

Sheesh, I don't get the RJ/Caleb rivalry on here by some? They are a very talented dynamic backcourt, how in the world does that devolve into competition among them, with rooting for one over the other.

They had almost identical numbers last night and yet some are acting like they were guarding each other instead of working together as teammates. I would suggest worrying about how they matchup with Roach or Wong instead of who gets more credit from game to game as teammates.

 

[Grover Thomas]

Sheesh, I don't get the RJ/Caleb rivalry on here by some? They are a very talented dynamic backcourt, how in the world does that devolve into competition among them, with rooting for one over the other.

They had almost identical numbers last night and yet some are acting like they were guarding each other instead of working together as teammates. I would suggest worrying about how they matchup with Roach or Wong instead of who gets more credit from game to game as teammates.

Dtodd4475 will you let me have some fun with these posters please sir. I got them going today with RJ “Me Likes to Dribble” Davis.

Trimble played the point better than RJ last night. Trimble now is projected to make All ACC second team and RJ will fall to fourth team. He will however make first team All Dribbling Team.

I also predict Mondo will be the first player in basketball history to assist his own baskets since RJ won’t pass the ball to him. Don’t look for Mondo to pass out of double teams even quadruple teams. He knows he won’t get the ball back. Mondo was expecting Love to assist like in the exhibition game but the Dribbler came back from injury and wouldn’t pass to nobody.

 

[2DDIMOND]

Dtodd4475 will you let me have some fun with these posters please sir. I got them going today with RJ “Me Likes to Dribble” Davis.

Trimble played the point better than RJ last night. Trimble now is projected to make All ACC second team and RJ will fall to fourth team. He will however make first team All Dribbling Team.

I also predict Mondo will be the first player in basketball history to assist his own baskets since RJ won’t pass the ball to him. Don’t look for Mondo to pass out of double teams even quadruple teams. He knows he won’t get the ball back. Mondo was expecting Love to assist like in the exhibition game but the Dribbler came back from injury and wouldn’t pass to nobody.

It was ok to be so “pro Love”, but now to hate on RJ like you are, you are showing you are not a true Tar Heel, that’s not how we do it. We’re a “we” crowd, not a “me” crowd. RJ is not the problem, nor was he last night.

 

[Grover Thomas]

It was ok to be so “pro Love”, but now to hate on RJ like you are, you are showing you are not a true Tar Heel, that’s not how we do it. We’re a “we” crowd, not a “me” crowd. RJ is not the problem, nor was he last night.

I am pro RJ…..when he’s passing the ball like a point guard and will go back to calling him RJ “We fall down but We get up “ Davis once he comes back to his senses. Until then which may be the next game….he is the Dribbler….if he gets 6 assist next game, I will promote him as PG of the year. But right now GE is The Dribbler

 

[Ozheelfan]

Thanks for the write-up Gary, and for some of the other insights from posters.... esp '75... always value your 'courtside views'.

The team looked very out-of-sorts and I agree, the preseason hype might have got to their heads.... I might even say, this could be the downside of NIL with players who have a new level of distractions to deal with (just a hypothesis, not fact)

Just remember, it's not the worst season opener by a championship hopeful.... anyone remember Santa Clara in '04?

 

[gary-7]

Trimble is our best option at PG….plays defense and willing to pass the ball.

Sorry, but that's not even close. Our offense was just fugly when they let him handle at the top.

Repeat after me: Seth is NOT a PG. He is a Combo trying to LEARN Point, just as RJ and Caleb were 2 years ago. Seth is a freaky athlete who can finish above the rim, and is willing to play defense (albeit still in a learning curve vis-a-vis forces and fouling), but PG does NOT come naturally to him. Don't get me wrong --- he tries hard to do the right things at Point --- but simply does not possess that key innate sense of spacing and movement.

Look... hard truth is we don't have a true PG on the roster (which is all the more reason it needs to be Cadeau-or-bust in the next recruiting class), so for now the staff just needs to remind RJ and Caleb that last season needs to be put in the rear-view. Start playing friggin' Carolina basketball and move the damned rock. Those two guys are three seasons in now, and they know what they're supposed to be doing. Time to reinforce that.

 

[FlaTarHeel]

I like your enthusiasm and others with Dunn, I think he will be fine, but not sure he is ready quite yet. He still seems a bit too passive for my liking, but better then last year. I did not think he showed much in his minutes yesterday though.

Styles only played 3 minutes, so I got no read from that. I liked what Trimble brought the most from what the lightly used bench gave last night.

Let me clarify. I was comparing him to Styles. We need both to develop and provide quality depth on the wing. They were the first two off the bench last night, came in and looked a little nervous, but that is not the end of the world. Dunn settled down in the 2nd half, was active and aggressive on defense. His only basket was a strong drive to the hoop against pressure defense.
So yes last night Dunn looked ready to play, especially when he got that 2nd chance.

 

[gary-7]

There were 3 opportunities to find Nickel wide ass open and he never touched the damn ball! The first thing is to stop reading your clippings and listening to all the mouth breathing sports talk shows.

The next thing is stopping the selfish play and sharing the ball. I'm with Gary in wanting secondary run more and run correctly.

75, i was waiting for you to weigh in, and yes, spot on.

And I'm gonna add one thing to what you posted. Now, you know how much I Iove this staff, but that said, I think Hubert got a touch of tight-ass when the game didn't open up in our favor. For example, I think he gave up on the extended rotation too quickly, which sends a message to the starters that reverting to last season's half-court hero-ball is gonna be enough. News Flash--- It is not.

On that note, your example concerning Nickel being ignored is case-in-point. Especially now, Dunn, Styles and Nickel in particular need to be getting double-digit minutes EVERY game, and the starters from last season need to EXPECT and RESPECT that.

In general, as you said, it starts with Carolina basketball, which starts with the Fast/Secondary breaks, and SHARING the ball in motion offense. As I posted, we've been scouted extensively --- so the forced-switch half-cout stuff ain't gonna be there anymore. Time to get back to the system.

 

[midline]

Despite the hoopla around Bacot and Love, Manek was the one that opened everything up last year. Folks seem to overlook the fact that his unique skill set is hard to replace. And I don't see anybody on this team close to doing it. I am afraid this team will be a struggle from time to time. It may reflect a lot of last years struggles. If Caleb goes off, they can beat anybody. If he doesn't it's up in the air.