Time for Caleb to be a star

[superstar57]

I am not here to debate poor shot selections, I am here to make a case that Love's legacy may be on the line with Bacot and Nance out.

Caleb's freshmen year, we as die hard fans knew it wasn't a great year, but as a fresh we knew Caleb had at least the ability to control a game when he scores and is getting steals. Caleb's sophomore year he still had games we thought he could play better, but we discovered he has a clutch gene or the want to make a play at the end of games. During the tournament he had very few games he put together two good half's, but his ability to score in bunches was on display.

Now we reach a point in the season that maybe we were on the cusp of getting our swagger back, we are hit with a major piece in Bacot being out.

I contend that Caleb's UNC career legacy is on the line right now. Real UNC fans have been very patient as Caleb has been ragged about his play this year. It would be a nice time to see Love's game as Bacot is out, if not he definitely will be hurting his NBA stock. He can't hide he is a streaky scorer, he can show is a winner right now. I know Jimmy Butler plays better defense, but that is who I compare Love to, and Jimmy buckets gives it to cats when he needs to step up. Caleb time, just hope he is ready!

 

[TarHeelFanWV]

I couldnt agree more.. As I have said over and over, there is ZERO reasons why we cant win without Bacot with our guards Love and Davis (who were considered to be some of the best guards in the country coming into this season). They should both be able to take over any game and give us 20+ points each if needed. We will only go as far as they can take us this year. Armando cannot do it all on his own.

 

[ChiShankCity]

You compare Caleb Love to Jimmy Butler??? Hopefully Caleb can be the Marquette version of Jimmy Butler.

Caleb Love's peak NBA comparison is Monta Ellis. An inefficient scoring combo guard who has explosive potential.

 

[midline]

Caleb is Caleb. After this long, I am not sure much of a change is in store. He obviously has all the tools. But he can shoot you into a game when he goes white hot, like he did against UCLA last year. But on the flip side he can shoot you out of a game, or with some of his decisions to just go one on five and get off the ground when in the lane with nowhere to go. In my opinion, Caleb has spent the majority of his time at UNC looking for every opportunity to audition for NBA scouts. Successful, or not. Roy couldn't get him under control.....and I haven't seen any evidence that Hubert can either. I don't expect to see that change. We have what we have. Just have to hope that the good Caleb shows up at the right times as when he is on, he is as good as anybody

 

[superstar57]

You compare Caleb Love to Jimmy Butler??? Hopefully Caleb can be the Marquette version of Jimmy Butler.

Caleb Love's peak NBA comparison is Monta Ellis. An inefficient scoring combo guard who has explosive potential.

Jimmy Butler has a way of reminding you how talented he is in big moments, that is why I compare. When Love is driving and getting steals he effects everything, similar to Butler.

I think possibly Caleb could take this opportunity to ball out. The right play for this team is always look for Bacot for an easy one. No Bacot, I need Caleb. Davis is special, but not Caleb special.

 

[TPFKAPFS]

I could live with a little Jimmy Butler in Caleb! I think he really cares about the team and winning. I think sometimes his excess emotion can lead him to try to save the team when we really need him to lead! He is learning and changing, but not as quickly as we are used to and definitely not to the extent we want. This weekend will reveal a lot about multiple peeps. We should learn a great deal about Hubs, Puff, Caleb, Trimble, Washington, Dunn, Nickel, and McKoy. I think we know what we have in RJ, Leaky, Nance/ Bacot (except health). Styles is a complete enigma to me!

 

[DrJaaay]

I hear what you're saying about Styles. I know that there have been times when I was really impressed with his athleticism and said to myself "this guy is gonna be real good", but then he gets in the game and immediately does something stupid. I'm afraid this is gonna be his last year as a Heel ... but I'd love to see him stay here for the rest of his college career.

 

[DSouthr]

The walking enigma, if this kid could ever just learn to get in to the sweet spot, he plays to the extremes. He seems to need to either take over a game or disappear from it, what I and so many have wanted is for him to find that middle ground, for him to understand when to push harder and when to back off some. I want Caleb totally involved for his time on the court but I want the easy pass rather than the highlite reel, I want the clean shot drained rather than see the fall away with a hand in his face from 40'. I want him to drive the ball, yes I do but I want him aware of the outlets to spot up guys in the event he has a really hard look, if he has the lane take it but when he doesn't is where I want him to improve. I want him in triple threat position on a drive, hit the floater, finish at the rim, or kickout to a spot up shooter. I like his assist numbers going up, really wish that didn't come with a increase in TOs and poor shooting with clean looks. I mean, you get 5 assists, awesome, but you match that with 4 TOs and all the good is stepped on.

 

[DSouthr]

Styles, thing with Styles is I no longer really care, I have kind of given up on him being honest, hate to say it but that is how I see him. I really can't tell you what his game position really is, I think he is a under sized 4, kind of like Boo Williams kid was for Ky but he really struggles against bigger guys and frankly, most 4s are going to be bigger than he is. If he can not become a knock down jump shooter, which he is not, this challenge may be to much for him.

 

[RaulJones]

One can hope. Its crucial to the success of this team.

 

[Archer2]

The walking enigma, if this kid could ever just learn to get in to the sweet spot, he plays to the extremes. He seems to need to either take over a game or disappear from it, what I and so many have wanted is for him to find that middle ground, for him to understand when to push harder and when to back off some. I want Caleb totally involved for his time on the court but I want the easy pass rather than the highlite reel, I want the clean shot drained rather than see the fall away with a hand in his face from 40'. I want him to drive the ball, yes I do but I want him aware of the outlets to spot up guys in the event he has a really hard look, if he has the lane take it but when he doesn't is where I want him to improve. I want him in triple threat position on a drive, hit the floater, finish at the rim, or kickout to a spot up shooter. I like his assist numbers going up, really wish that didn't come with a increase in TOs and poor shooting with clean looks. I mean, you get 5 assists, awesome, but you match that with 4 TOs and all the good is stepped on.

Yeah David, Caleb is one of the most exasperating UNC players I can remember. He is so mercurial, great one minute and disengaged the next. We won’t achieve our goals of making the dance(I’ve conceded that winning the regular season/ACCT isn’t happening), and making a run in the big dance unless Dr. Jekyl returns. If Mr. Hyde sticks around, we’re doomed to fail. He’s just that crucial to our success. Frankly, I’m not expecting much from this team. We’re a decent team that has one electric player. But that electric player runs on a faulty circuit that can short out at any moment.

 

[slothrop8]

I’m hoping RJ asserts himself more, he’s a significantly better offensive player than Love, with some of the other extra shots being soaked up by Puff, Nickel, and Dunn. Love has had a few all-world college games and a couple of them at critical times including UCLA and Duke in the tourney, but for most games of his college career he’s been an outright detriment to the offence. Love deciding to pick up more usage over this stretch without our bigs is a potential recipe for disaster.

 

[JimmyinVA]

ironically, caleb plays best when he's trying NOT to be a star. trying to be a star he takes the first available shot no matter the distance or being guarded. when he decides to be part of a team, he lets the game come to him, drives to the basket, gets into the flow of the offense and makes good passes instead of being a one-man offense -- that's when he's most effective.

 

[dtodd4475]

I thought Caleb played pretty well against Virginia, he wasn't scoring early, but doing all the other parts hard and pretty well, all the stuff that many are calling him out for not doing when he is not "on". Dickie V. and others seem to think he was a no show without the buckets though.

They get down late and he hits tough contested shots to keep them alive, and "he finally woke up". It's a bit of a Catch 22 for the kid it seems.

 

[Ozheelfan]

Yeah David, Caleb is one of the most exasperating UNC players I can remember. He is so mercurial, great one minute and disengaged the next. We won’t achieve our goals of making the dance(I’ve conceded that winning the regular season/ACCT isn’t happening), and making a run in the big dance unless Dr. Jekyl returns. If Mr. Hyde sticks around, we’re doomed to fail. He’s just that crucial to our success. Frankly, I’m not expecting much from this team. We’re a decent team that has one electric player. But that electric player runs on a faulty circuit that can short out at any moment.

TBH I’m just looking forward to his departure.

I know that sounds cruel, but I have stopped watching games live, I have stopped with the prediction contest, and frankly my hopes for this team are well less than 50% positive.

Whilst there are a number of contributing factors, his play stands out as the most exasperating to watch…. Making the team’s disfunction quite unbearable.

All that said, if he turns it around and the team turns it around I’ll happily ride the wave…

 

[xtarheelx]

Caleb: “I’m Him!”
Ellis: You sure about that?

 

[al would]

Caleb needs to understand the concept of team basketball .. ie .. team before self.

 

[UNC Blue Hup]

I’m tired of the pouting and moping if his shots not falling—and it’s not going in now obviously—play hard D and distribute the ball, get rebounds...man up and commit to just winning, points will come with effort young man. I’m rooting for an attitude /effort change for the teams benefit

 

[ChiShankCity]

If RJ continues to play this efficiently offensively, it lessens the need for Caleb Love to basically not be Caleb Love, lol.

The reality with Caleb is he's a below-average basketball player. He's a talented one, but a below-average one. You put his numbers up against anyone in the country who shoots 39% overall and 29% from 3, you wouldn't give them many qualifiers and do any "if he does ______, he's great." You would say he's simply a below-average basketball player.

That's what we have. Caleb Love is a below-average basketball player. He happens to be talented, but he's shown us for the vast majority of his career that this is who he is. But if RJ is like a 45/40/85 guy the rest of the way... We're in better position to recover from Caleb's poor play throughout the game. Then hopefully Caleb makes one or two game-changing (in a positive way) plays late in March.

You can find a hundred guards who score 16 ppg on less than 40% shooting in high school gyms in the country.

It is really disappointing though that he's a junior with full-time PT experience throughout his career... Yet, he can still only contribute when he scores. Get involved in some other ways. But, he's just a scorer. What a shame.

 

[xtarheelx]

how many times has Caleb shot a 3 and then at the next possession, turns it over.
How many turnovers today?
his stats are abysmal.
this is a junior Caleb.
Remember the freshman Caleb? perhaps that’s why Roy retired.

What you see is what you get. Caleb is playing himself into returning to UNC. I think his inconsistency bleeds into the team’s inconsistency. As much as I love Caleb ending Kay, Id really like to see other players getting minutes and experience and development.

 

[gauchoheel]

If RJ continues to play this efficiently offensively, it lessens the need for Caleb Love to basically not be Caleb Love, lol.

The reality with Caleb is he's a below-average basketball player. He's a talented one, but a below-average one. You put his numbers up against anyone in the country who shoots 39% overall and 29% from 3, you wouldn't give them many qualifiers and do any "if he does ______, he's great." You would say he's simply a below-average basketball player.

That's what we have. Caleb Love is a below-average basketball player. He happens to be talented, but he's shown us for the vast majority of his career that this is who he is. But if RJ is like a 45/40/85 guy the rest of the way... We're in better position to recover from Caleb's poor play throughout the game. Then hopefully Caleb makes one or two game-changing (in a positive way) plays late in March.

You can find a hundred guards who score 16 ppg on less than 40% shooting in high school gyms in the country.

It is really disappointing though that he's a junior with full-time PT experience throughout his career... Yet, he can still only contribute when he scores. Get involved in some other ways. But, he's just a scorer. What a shame.

I agree with this. He should get less minutes though if it's truly his talent level. It's a bit tough because Trimble is not ready defensively and Dunn's been a bit limited (today's excellent game notwithstanding). It's not really clear who gets the minutes unless you go big with Puff (which we tried today, I think there was a couple minutes of Bacot, Washington, Leaky, Puff, Davis). I don't think Trimble will be ready for big minutes this year, so hopefully Dunn can play like today more often. A player who's a bit above average on both ends would be a big upgrade over the black hole we've gotten from Love for 35 minutes a game most of this year.

I am not here to debate poor shot selections, I am here to make a case that Love's legacy may be on the line with Bacot and Nance out.

Caleb's freshmen year, we as die hard fans knew it wasn't a great year, but as a fresh we knew Caleb had at least the ability to control a game when he scores and is getting steals. Caleb's sophomore year he still had games we thought he could play better, but we discovered he has a clutch gene or the want to make a play at the end of games. During the tournament he had very few games he put together two good half's, but his ability to score in bunches was on display.

Now we reach a point in the season that maybe we were on the cusp of getting our swagger back, we are hit with a major piece in Bacot being out.

I contend that Caleb's UNC career legacy is on the line right now. Real UNC fans have been very patient as Caleb has been ragged about his play this year. It would be a nice time to see Love's game as Bacot is out, if not he definitely will be hurting his NBA stock. He can't hide he is a streaky scorer, he can show is a winner right now. I know Jimmy Butler plays better defense, but that is who I compare Love to, and Jimmy buckets gives it to cats when he needs to step up. Caleb time, just hope he is ready!

Can't compare Love to Butler. Butler is one of the best wing defenders in the NBA (or at least has been at times in his career). Love is not even an average college defender. Sadly, I can't see how Love has any NBA stock at the moment. He would need a complete 180 to get drafted this year, unless I'm totally mistaken.

 

[dcmargo]

Caleb is Caleb. After this long, I am not sure much of a change is in store. He obviously has all the tools. But he can shoot you into a game when he goes white hot, like he did against UCLA last year. But on the flip side he can shoot you out of a game, or with some of his decisions to just go one on five and get off the ground when in the lane with nowhere to go. In my opinion, Caleb has spent the majority of his time at UNC looking for every opportunity to audition for NBA scouts. Successful, or not. Roy couldn't get him under control.....and I haven't seen any evidence that Hubert can either. I don't expect to see that change. We have what we have. Just have to hope that the good Caleb shows up at the right times as when he is on, he is as good as anybody

Well said. And Love is not coming back next year.

 

[IDUNK4HEELS]

Love and Bacot carried the team in the second half