That's a little premature. Roy said in the PC that it was the other knee. Fluke injury, hope not what it looked to be.
Yale vs UNC game thread on: Monday 30 December 2019
- Thread starter IDUNK4HEELS
- Start date
I thought Pierce had a helluva game!
I really hope Anthony Harris is okay. When he went down... it looked pretty bad. Hopefully it's not too serious and he only misses a few games at the most.
I really hope Anthony Harris is okay. When he went down... it looked pretty bad. Hopefully it's not too serious and he only misses a few games at the most.
bingo. 10-12 point lead went away once we let Leaky play extended minutes. He’s just not the guy we were hoping he would be given his size.
Well, thats not the reason he was running the point (the final 6 of the 7 minutes) on offense. At this stage of his development, he is not close to an ACC level pg. If Harris had not gone down with under 2 to go(forcing Francis into the game), we probably blow the entire 13 point lead and take the L.
Roy was chewing on JFs head quite a bit for not slowing it down when needed. But with that said, I sure do wish that JF would give leaky some of his piss and vinegar!!!
Leaky has a ton of talent and zero confidence. I don't understand it.
it looked to me like Francis was limping right before he went out the last time. I was surprised he came back in.
my beef here with Roy (yes he’s the best coach in college basketball) is that he’ll pull Francis but let some others waste away for long periods on the floor doing the the same, if not worse. Leaky, BRob at times, etc.
Ton of potential, not sure it’s talent. The knock on Leaky late in his high school career and on the travel circuit against good competition was that he completely disappears against quality competition and he is more comfortable being in the background. That’s not the type of commentary you want in a UNC recruit.
I'm hoping for the best, but that did not look good. He is FAR from "hanging it up" done even if it is. D. Rose came back from one only to blow out the other one. Rose is playing great again, different, but ballin' at the highest level. Ant is young, hopefully it isn't a full restart on the other knee. In any case he will carry on with his dreams, I'm sure of that.
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I wished I could agree on the talent opinion. He is slow running the court and has minimal offensive game and the ball just seems to stick with him—always seems to be late with the ball or miss the open pass. I’m just not seeing what others see in him.
It looks like Francis is limping a lot. I noticed it almost every game. When he made that layup he called to come out, and was noticable ginger. I think it might be something he always deals with due to his past injuries though.
agree. One thing we all do, myself included, almost every off season is “give” some of our returning players this mythical talent that they’ve yet to display. leaky is one of those. Coming into the season, many had proclaimed he was the next Theo Pinson. I certainly hope he makes that big of a jump eventually, but at this point, he’s shown us absolutely zilch to lead any of us to believe that it’s likely he’ll be that type of player for us. Hell even half as productive as Theo would be a major upgrade for Leaky. He’s just not been good for us and the narrative around him since his junior year in HS has been one of declining stock due to slow
Motor, limited offensive game, and tends to disappear against good competition. We need him to be better but not sure it’s there or sure we’ll ever see it given the talent coming in next year.
Can’t believe you didn’t mention all the injuries we’ve had, IMO one of our biggest issues this year. Add the overall lack of basketball IQ and our lack of shooters, and you get a team that is mediocre.
I’ve never seen a poorer shooting UNC team nor one with lower basketball IQ. At this point, making the tournament and winning our first game may be all we can hope for.
I hope Anthony isn’t badly hurt and that Jeremiah is okay.
Agreed, and I believe he had double digit rebounds. He’s simply not a PG, period.
I think Leaky is what he is, and that is not a bad thing. He is a solid "piece" player. He is young and brings plenty of valuable skills to be used. He is not a dominant take control "star" level player though.
He is the "role" player on a typical UNC roster fits perfectly. The problem is on this roster we have typically bench level players playing his part as a "role" "glue" guys. That leads people to want Leaky to blossom into a "go to" type lead dog. Just never been him.
Hopefully we get to the point where he can give 6 to 8 points and do the other things with his passing, Dee, length, rebounds, etc. where people will look at It as another solid game by Leaky. Good winning type role player
Right now, many people want more, and are disappointed he is not asserting himself as a take control type star. That is because He is not that. He will be around all 4 years probably, and will be well respected for his career as a Heel when he leaves.
Who knows by senior year with so few talented guys staying all 4 years, you might see a David Noel/Adomola Okulaja, or yes Theo type burst in scoring output his senior year. They all progressed as slowly as sophomores.
He is the "role" player on a typical UNC roster fits perfectly. The problem is on this roster we have typically bench level players playing his part as a "role" "glue" guys. That leads people to want Leaky to blossom into a "go to" type lead dog. Just never been him.
Hopefully we get to the point where he can give 6 to 8 points and do the other things with his passing, Dee, length, rebounds, etc. where people will look at It as another solid game by Leaky. Good winning type role player
Right now, many people want more, and are disappointed he is not asserting himself as a take control type star. That is because He is not that. He will be around all 4 years probably, and will be well respected for his career as a Heel when he leaves.
Who knows by senior year with so few talented guys staying all 4 years, you might see a David Noel/Adomola Okulaja, or yes Theo type burst in scoring output his senior year. They all progressed as slowly as sophomores.
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I agree and add that I still forget that he missed a lot of last year.
You're right, the injuries are a huge contributor. I'm just surprised even our healthy guys aren't playing better.
Theo's role was pretty minimal as a sophomore as well; maybe he would have struggled similarly...
This is a bit blasphemous, but I didn't think Theo was a star either. Was surprised to see him in people's top 10 players of the decade. He couldn't shoot and was a good but not great defender. Great passer and could score by his senior year but still not great scoring, plus we got bounced early that year. Theo was also a role player ideally. Perfect fourth or fifth starter like on our championship team, but miscast as one of the lead guys.
You make a good point. Some of us (including me) have wondered if guys on our bench could be a lot better with PT. With all the injuries, there's been more PT. But has that translated?
Seems like a lot of the available PT was immediately scarfed up by the guys who just got off the injury list (Francis and Harris). Not so much by returning benchers or even grad transfers.
KJ is getting good minutes, and doing reasonably well, but I don't think most of us were expecting him to suddenly turn into his father. Good job, but not a difference maker or season saver.
Now with Harris and Platek in doubt (did we learn why Platek didn't suit up?), will Keeling and Leaky shape up?
I would say KJ, Platek, Keeling and mostly even Leaky have all really struggled. Below replacement level (besides Leaky's defense/rebounding). Pierce has been a decent contributor, and Harris/Francis look like it so far too. Not great for starters but much better than the other guys eating up minutes.
Things finally clicked for Theo as a senior. Similar to things clicking for Brice as a senior. And, yeah, I'd say he was a star as a senior - albeit on a team with lower-than-usual star power.
Theo made my 13-man roster, but he was the last to make the cut. Which is not a knock, because he did make it. And besides, he was a fun player, on and off the court.
Both of them (Theo and Brice) would definitely make my All-Senior team - along with obvious picks like Hans, Zeller and Danny. Who else?
Most of us feel like it took Cam 2 years to break out mainly because of injuries. But could it be that another significant factor is that it just takes 2 years even for most good players to fit into the system?
All those guys you mention look like guys who could break out in their "2nd" year. They don't all have equal ceilings, but our grads, for example, are struggling to fit in. Pierce seems to be more successful than Keeling in carving out a role for himself as an undersized, keep-moving, garbage-collecting, blue collar player, but he still goes MIA every other game or so. Keeling is struggling more, but I still have hopes for him. And let's not forget that even Leaky didn't get a full year under his belt last season and missed a lot of summer development.
A seasoned point guard would be a big help to some of these guys. He would chivvy the new guys where they need to be. But freshman PGs don't know any better than anyone else where they are supposed to be.
Personally I think people make way too much of time in the system. Certainly matters some, but talent is the biggest factor in basketball. Coby dominated his first year, and Zion just broke the game.
I think it far more likely things just fully clicked for Cam as a player, than he really needed a second year to learn the wing in Roy's system. He mostly lived on spot up threes anyway, which is not a particularly difficult offensive action to understand.
Keeling is beyond struggling, he's been horrible. I want the best for him obviously, but it's true. He's been world's worse than Cam as a junior. Would love to see him turn things around though.
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But again, Brice was probably the best player in the country his senior year. Theo was at best the third best player on UNC his senior year. I don't see those seasons as comparable.
Leaky looks like he is in cruise control. He doesn’t play with any fire. He seems like a great kid but he needs to do a couple of things. One) shave Two) he is a role and a glue player but he has a unique size and athletic ability for having PG experience. He is hesitating right now and not taking advantage of what the defense gives him. It’s not just Leaky though. Pierce, Keeling and Leaky will have an open shot and they won’t take it and they dribble into the defense and then take a contested shot. Keeling should never drive to the basket unless he is WIDE open. He needs to knock down midrange to 3 pointers. Leaky is hurting himself and the Team by being so hesitant and passive. He has the size and athletic ability to be a huge mismatch for Teams. He needs a little Alpha in his game and that’s what this Team this year needs as well. I really did think Platek would really show up this year by being a sharpshooter. I thought if he got more burn that he would get into a groove. Unfortunately thus far that has not been the case. I told my friends and Family after the UNCW game that we would be lucky to make the tournament this year. They thought I was insane. I hope and pray I am wrong. I will also say this, it really bothers me that I keep hearing these kids tell Coach Williams that they are one and done before they have dribbled a ball in college. I fear that these kids are going to ruin their careers by trying to play professionally before they are ready. Lottery projections I understand. And to be fair I do not know in what context these players are telling Coach this. It’s one thing to say if I’m going to be a projected first round pick Coach I am going to have to go but if it’s like I will play one year and I’m gone that’s not a good idea in my opinion. Example, Bacot, if he REALLY thinks he is ready for pro ball then I don’t know what to tell ya except it’s not how fast you get to the NBA it’s how long you can stay. I think College Basketball needs to adopt the football outline and 3 years minimum. I know it’s a different era but what is still the same is that these kids bodies and minds need that time and experience. Both The nba and college basketball suffers. Michael, Tim Duncan, Hakeem, etc..... have done extremely well and all have stated that they never would have been the players that they became without having laid the basic foundation and principles of basketball instilled into them by college. Just my rant and I got off topic but it’s what I see and how I feel. Happy New Year Everyone
