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RJ Davis coming back wasn’t a good idea

He’s had a great career at UNC and an amazing year last year, but we are better without him on the floor. Swap Jackson for him and we are better.
Absolutely wrong. Watch the games and even when RJ isn't shooting well, he's doing a lot of other great things on the court. He's our best player.

The issue is Cadeau doesn't fit as well as a starter on this team. He'd be better coming off the bench. With some different players, taller players for example, it might be different.

And the real issue is we just lack an elite or high quality big man. The 4 and 5 are the real issues, but in terms of our guards, RJ isn't the issue.

Why Does This Team Consistently Come Out Flat

I know there's been a lot of focus on who starts at the 4 and 5... Reality is the 1-3 have been the same for the entire season and for the entire season UNC has gotten off to slow starts. I tend to think those 3 (Cadeau, RJ, and Seth) simply aren't the best combination on the floor. Cadeau and RJ are very ball dominant guards and while Seth can score without offense being designed for him, he's certainly at his best with the ball in his hands attacking the paint.

So some water and oil mixing in the backcourt perhaps? You combine that with Cadeau and Seth aren't willing shooters (Cadeau is 1/15 from 3 over the last 4, Seth is 3/12 from 3 over his last 5) and RJ hasn't shot the ball well this season.

But not a whole lot you can do with the backcourt. You can't not start Cadeau because he's the only PG on the team. You're not going to bench RJ for Jackson. And Seth is is a 2-way wing on a team that doesn't defend particularly well. If everything were truly up in the air, I would explore Jackson starting at the 2 to get some more size there. Also, Ian's a late shot clock option like RJ is. But that's probably not a realistic option for this team.

Long winded "way of saying this is an entire team issue. The bigs and the coach will get the most criticism. They're the easiest targets.

But if Cadeau is generational, he needs to be a tone setter on both ends of the floor. If RJ is an All American, he needs to simply play like one. And if Seth isn't immune from completely disappearing for large stretches of the game too.

This backcourt can be one of the best in the country. But to have that reputation, you need to perform on the floor.
" You can't not start Cadeau because he's the only PG on the team."

Yes, you can. Cadeau's passing isn't all that great at present and he turns the ball over. RJ, Ian and Seth, pg by committee. It's doable. If Cadeau steps up coming off the bench, keep him in the game longer but there's the defense side of things as well.

Let Powell play the 3 more coming in for Seth or one of the other guards and Seth moves over, and let Cade get more time there as well.

Quick stuff (UCLA game)...

Great outcome finally. Just finished watching after getting into Asheville late for Christmas with some family. Man our two freshmen saved our neck. When RJ went out in the first half those two held us up. EC with three quick tos. Seth was non existent until RJ went out with the thumb. He showed up and finished strong. That set rolled pretty good as Gary mentioned. I have to say, at the last push with EC, RJ, Seth, Ian, and wash in there my thoughts were put Powell in the post lol. And the more I pondered, especially after two stupid j wash fouls, it really makes sense. Crazy small but literally the most talented group that must be guarded on offense. It looked so open for us. I do miss Bacot.
EC with a perfect and I mean perfect last defensive stance!!! Good win that helps in the long run. Didn’t realize that all the teams that’s beaten us have a combined 7 losses. Wow
Edit to add, I’ve never been really hard on just one individual player but I don’t know why withers gets pt. I’ve wanted to pull for him and have even taken up for him but dang it’s tough to watch. Makes me mad. All that size and athleticism but that’s it. I feel bad for him.

Quick stuff (UCLA game)...

I totally agree with going inside at least as a threat.

The other thing that you don't mention is we have a point guard with a turnover problem. Granted not having an inside presence doesn't help but I am dumbfounded by some of the stuff he does to get turnovers. Hubert needs to introduce him to the KISS method.

I have waited for Jalen to click and I have to admit how wrong I was about him. Shocks me that he can have so little confidence. Not sure our guards would know how to feed a post if we had one anyway. This is not enjoyable basketball to watch to me. I like the process of progressing throughout the year and still holding out hope to see that.

Been a fan for 45 years and 8-20 is the only other time I felt like this.
That's not what it's about. It's about scheme. Nothing more, nothing less.

OOTB Carolina Basketball Discussion Thread

Start Jackson. Gotta start RJ. Trimble is the best on the ball defender and so start him, but play Powell at the 3 more and play Cade there as well, especially if he's hitting his shots. Trimble either plays less minutes to do that or slides over more.

Cadeau comes of the bench for RJ or Jackson.

For the 4 and 5, who knows right now? Some guys need to step up, especially Withers and Washington.

Quick stuff (UCLA game)...

I totally agree with going inside at least as a threat.

The other thing that you don't mention is we have a point guard with a turnover problem. Granted not having an inside presence doesn't help but I am dumbfounded by some of the stuff he does to get turnovers. Hubert needs to introduce him to the KISS method.

I have waited for Jalen to click and I have to admit how wrong I was about him. Shocks me that he can have so little confidence. Not sure our guards would know how to feed a post if we had one anyway. This is not enjoyable basketball to watch to me. I like the process of progressing throughout the year and still holding out hope to see that.

Been a fan for 45 years and 8-20 is the only other time I felt like this.

Quick stuff (UCLA game)...

Thanks as always for the analysis. I'm so happy they got the win and am excited to see Ian growing into a really special player. But why do you think the team is making it this hard? Is the staff not emphasizing the post? Are the players not executing? It's mind boggling to me that our entire staff are Carolina guys that don't seem to want to play traditional Carolina basketball. I get Hubert and staff perhaps wanting to put their own modern/nba stamp on it... Fine don't play 2 traditional bigs but we can execute post entries more than 3 times a game, right? And what on earth is going on with EC? It's a different team from last season, I get that, but he seems to have regressed. Not sure if the regression is more him or a reflection of the team woes but man. Or maybe some personal stuff. Really hope we get him back on the right track again.
My friend, you just posed the million-dollar question, but this is in no way on EC. Without him we don;t stand an iota of a chance today. He is being asked to create in a scheme that gets shut down easily. Opponents are overplaying lateral kickouts because that's what this offense resorts to.

Quick stuff (UCLA game)...

...and it doesn't have to be this hard.

It really doesn't... but I'll save that for later below. I'll start with how we managed to pull it out:

- despite a couple of frustrating sequences, we out-rebouned them by 6, as there were better efforts at boxing out today

- we actually scrambled fairly often and (mostly) effectively. We had a couple of shaky rotations (and a DA foul by Withers in 32), but UCLA (as with many teams) did not react well to pressure. We utilized 30, 40 and even 50 once, with full, 3/4 and half pickups. We could stand to use even more, and even earlier, to get the juices flowing

- It took a comeback (yet again), as our cacaphony of offensive ineptitutde and defensive wtf-moments not only got us off to another slow start but then ballooned into a 16 point deficit. After being on the verge of being on the wrong end of a blowout, the turnaround started by (being blunt) getting RJ off of the Point, turning up the D and attacking the rim. BTW, a lineup during that sequence of EC/Ian/Seth/Cade/Wash was +7 during a key 2-minute stretch of that flurry

- speaking of attacking the rim, when we actually did that, it also got #34 in foul trouble --- and that was a good thing, considering Lubin and Claude couldn't seem to figure out that it wasn't a good idea to lay back and let him shoot 3s :rolleyes:

- We know what Ian is right now --- a cold-blooded scorer. I mean, being real, he's seldom seen a shot he won't take --- and we need that coinfidence --- but he's also seldom seen an easy pass he'll actually make, and (yikes) he's still lost in team-D, but he brought the points today and that is his role.

- Defense in general made a needed appearance down the stretch. Huge plays by Seth and Withers, and JWash (despite the zebras suddenly getting touchy) held his ground and also stoned #34 on a key possession --- and when Cronin decided to go iso on their last possession, EC played it strong and got the winning stop vs a bigger opponent.

- It may not schow up in today's scorebook, but Cade does some really nice things away from the ball, and he's damn good in help-D

- credit to RJ for returning after jamming his thumb and being part of that attacking thing down the stretch

- Speaking of RJ --- arrrghhh, f***ing Roger Ayers (who seems to follow us every time we play a "physical" opponent) damn near cost us this game. Y'all saw it --- after RJ got (properly) called for an obvious offensive foul, he made up for it by stepping in on Help and perfectly drawing a textbook charge on the other end --- well, EXCEPT that Roger (who had characteristically swallowed his whistle all night, leaving his colleagues to call Cronin's mayhem-ball) made the worst block call I've seen in years --- one that flipped the scoreboard (and woulda been easily overturned with the NBA appeal rule).

But again, it shouldn't have come down to individual calls or plays --- it simply shouldn't have been this hard. I'll illustrate with a couple of "moments":

- First moment: With 7:44 to go in the 1st half, we made an actual, legit ENTRY PASS to the post (they DO exist!!!) --- EC to Lubin --- and we drew a foul. Unfortunately, that would be the LAST of the game.
- Second moment: Down 14 with 10:12 to go in the game, Powell knocks down a 3 from the top on a VERTICAL kick-out from the paint --- the easist catch-and-shoot there is, which comes from INSIDE-OUT action. Thing is though, the Assist came from Eliot who had driven from the wing into the lane. OK, that's fine, except that we didn't get any of those from our Bigs. See where I'm going with this? They gotta get the damn rock --- to score, draw fouls and set up catch-and-shoot kick-outs --- in other words, to STRESS THE RIM.

- Look, our down-hill drive actions by our perimeter guys is a fine part of an offense, BUT that cannot be the totallity of our paint game. This is not much of an exaggeration --- if I took my coach's whiteboard with the little court on it, I could damn near diagram our offense by taking my marker and starting in the coach's box on one sidelne and drawing a slight arc outside of the 3 line to the opposite sideline, and do it back and forth. Putting it in football terms, we're doing way too much "East-West" and not nearly enough "North-South". We pulled out the game by getting North-South. So... howz about doing that with the entry PASS too?

- In other words, we are EASY to scout. Opponents mirror our actions and just push us further out to start our offense. Again, y'all had to see this --- I mean, when your dadgummed 5 man is sprinting almost to the half-court line to set a ball-screen, something ain't working. Hell, if they run a double to the Point (as teams often do with RJ) just make the pass to the flash high post instead and you'll have a de facto 4-on-3 break!

Anyway, look, I don't want to down-play a gritty must win. It's just that this shouldn't have been a "must-win". We have our strengths and weaknesses, but our roster is better than UCLA. Fact is, we're mostly better than everyone we've played (with the exception of Auburn) even in this brutal schedule. The staff needs to take a good look at the film and get back to what every one of them was taught as players --- that backetball is Applied Geometry and best played INSIDE-OUT --- and come back out of the gate after Xmas with something everyone can buy in to. We made a nice first step with being more mutilple on D --- now let's rediscover our Post game to complement and take the pressure off our dynamic Guards... :cool:
Thanks for the insight and analysis gary-7. I agree with everything. We have no choice but to figure out an emphasis on an inside outside offense. Too many turnovers today. I’m glad UCLA struggled at the line too. I’m happy to see us execute in the last 4 minutes. Man you are right with that east/ west mess! I want to see more of Jackson too! As always, Go Heels!
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