Andrew or moderators, I was hoping to see or watch online the senior speeches. Interested to what they said, thoughts and observations. Thank you.

Where do you think we will end up?

Where do you want us to end up?

Andrew what is Davis philosophy on subbing for players when they admit they are tired or exhausted? Some have suggested that the players use to raise their fist suggesting they were tired. Was this a practice that has been abandon, since players are not willing to state this due to the fear of showing weakness?

It is just a game, yet it teaches, grows and develops us for life's lessons. It is just a game, it is way to honor our LORD and give him glory praise and worship. It is just a game, putting on the Jersey you are representing and honoring the University, alumni, students, faculty and fans. It is just a game, holding and representing your family name and community by the product you produce and provide while participating. It is just a game, it shows your work ethic, determination, will and how well you handle adversity. It is just a game, it springboards you for future success and opportunities. It is just a game. for those people who you call teammates, coaches and staff, become pillars and supports in your life. It is just a game, the game of life. It is just a game.

I googled "shot selection charts" (because of another thread where that was mentioned) and ended up on the NBAdraft.net* "Big Board" - listing their top 100 draft prospects. Four of our guys are on it. Three about where you might expect. One is a bit of a surprise.

23 - Caleb Love
34 - Seth Trimble
61 - Armando Bacot
83 - RJ Davis

Those numbers don't agree with their positions on the same site's Mock Draft, but there are obvious reasons for that (freshmen, foreigners, expectations that some Big Board players won't enter the draft, etc.).

25 - Caleb
45 - Armando

They also have a User Consensus Mock Draft, which I'm guessing is even less useful than the other 2, but what the heck...

22 - Caleb
38 - Armando
55 - Seth

What do you guys think? Not about the site, but about our guys' prospects. In particular, Trimble. And the omission of Nance.

Personally I thinkTrimble has been looking very good. I'm glad he didn't have to start as a freshman like Marcus did - as could have happened if Caleb had gone pro - but I think he might have been able to handle it. That said, it seems way too early to be talking about Seth entering the draft.

If Seth is getting noticed this soon, we probably need to make sure he is in line for some good NIL.

As for Nance, I keep expecting him to get it, but it hasn't happened yet. If it does, he could make the Big Board, but I don't know about getting drafted.

Seems clear that Armando is still riding on last year's performance. He's worse this year, so far, and apparently wouldn't have gotten drafted last year. Caleb might be in that boat, too.

*I don't see that website as a competitor to Rivals.

Just like last year when UNC was on the bubble and they had to beat Duke to even be considered to get into the dance even if the over hyped ESPN pre-game coverage were getting everything ready for Coach K’s final going at party Carolina not only did not get the memo that they were suppose to lay over and play dead but they spoiled the party and all of the 100 lettermen and overflowing crowd went home with a bad taste in their mind and a memory that will last forever…

This year there shoe 👟 is on the other foot 🦶 as Duke knows they can be the final nail in Carolina’s chances of getting back to the dance 🪩. UNC also knows this as well so I expect the Tar Heels to play with a giant sense of urgency.

The matchups will be interesting as the Blue Devils are really big and athletic and it showed in the first battle in Durham as they had a record day in blocks with Dereck Lively at 7’1 having 8 of them and never being called for a foul. Which is hard to still believe but again it was at Cameron.

After watching the recent Duke and State game Lively had problems with the Wolfpack big man who used his body to move the seven footer out of the way and unlike the first game Bacot needs to also muscle the Duke Center and use some simple head and shoulder fakes to get fouls on Lively. Mando cannot play scared and try his best to take over the game.

To me the biggest matchup today is Kyle Filipowski vs Pete Nance. Filipowski is another 7 footer who can score from both the inside and outside. He killed State inside the paint getting so many offensive rebounds which resulted in easy baskets 🧺 or free throw attempts. Pete needs to play like he did against Clemson and Florida State not only scoring but also making a big difference defensively.

Mark Mitchell and Dariq Whitehead will take turns trying to score on Black and I am really interested to see the Whitehead vs Black battle since Whitehead did not play in the first contest in Durham and gave great bulletin board stuff when he said Black could not cover him earlier in the season. We will see if he eats his words like Banchero did last season.

Guard play will also be interested to watch. Jeremy Roach is the key to the Duke attack he keeps all of the freshmen in line by leading by example. He also had State going crazy as he drove for layups, hit jumpers and found teammates for easy scores. RJ Davis who a ton of teams have gone after recently will have his hands full trying to keep up with Roach 🪳 so I would not be surprised if Trimble gets more time than normal trying to slow the important Duke guard down.

At the other guard spot the 6’5 Tyrese Proctor has the responsibility of trying to slow down Caleb Love who as we all know loves to play against the Blue Devils. This is one of those instances where I truly believe a experienced junior guard who has been there and done that and it probably facing Duke for the last time will take it to the freshman Duke defender.

Duke probably has the advantage when it comes to the bench but Puff, Washington and even Styles might just rise to the occasion.

Unlike the first game where Carolina only took three free throws I expect being at home they will get many more which I feel will make the difference. Duke in Cameron had a bunch of break away layups and in this contest Carolina needs to reverse than trend and get some easy hoops. The three pointers in the last three games have been falling and for the Tar Heels to win Davis, Black, Love and Nance to continue the trend I think it will happen again. I like UNC 75-70

LOLOL

By UNC ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – No. 13 North Carolina begins a three-game series at home against Stony Brook on Friday.

UNC (6-3) posted back-to-back wins over VCU during midweek competition, while the Seawolves are still in search of their first win of the season after being swept by Cal State Northridge and Troy during the first two weekends of play.

Carolina is 6-2 at home this season, while Stony Brook (0-6) has played all six of its games on the road.


The Tar Heels outscored VCU 24-14 in their two games earlier this week, blasting eight home runs and pounding out 26 hits. Tomas Frick hit two home runs in the series opener Tuesday and Jackson Van De Brake duplicated the feat in game two Wednesday.

Mac Horvath has five home runs and five doubles while hitting .400 for the Tar Heels. He has hit safely in five straight games, going 11-for-24 (.458) with four doubles, four home runs and eight RBIs.

Vane Honeycutt has homered in three straight games and leads the Tar Heels with six stolen bases.

UNC has launched 17 home runs, including 15 in the last five games, which is their most in the first nine games in more than two decades.

Last year's squad, which finished with 101 home runs, hit 14 dingers in its first nine games.

Evan Giordano leads Stony Brook with a .360 batting average, nine hits and six RBIs. He is second on the team in OPS (.785) behind Shane Paradine, who has the team's only home run of the year.

The Diamond Heels lead the all-time series against Stony Brook, 9-0, sweeping three-game series at Boshamer Stadium in 2007, 2011 and 2013.

Andrew and Brandon are on press row while Kevin is shooting the game. I also think Jacob will be in the building.

Huge game for the Tar Heels against their nemesis the Duke Blue Devils. Also, it’s Senior Night!!

Adapted from the Bart Torvik graph (that @dadika13 posted here), I've plotted UNC's Offensive Efficiency (Smith Method) with 3-pt Shooting since 1987. Points in gold are teams that went to the Final Four. The current team is in red.

The conclusion that @5th_factor made on January 16 is that this team could really do some damage if its 3-point shooting starts hitting, because they are getting remarkable efficiency from inside the arc and from the free throw line.

If we look at Final Four appearances, a pretty crude way of judging success, we really don't see that success is predicated on the correllation between these two factors. However it's still a fun graph to study.