Being fair and realistic

[IDUNK4HEELS]

Nobody has mentioned it or wants to admit it but losing the entire starting frontcourt from last season and the first off the bench in Bradley and a four year player in Britt cannot be replaced in half a season. All five of those guys helped Berry in one form or the other last season and as GREAT as Berry is he CANNOT do it all by himself.

Many have also conveniently forgot about the NCAA cloud the team was under for like 5 years causing some possible GREAT recruits to think twice about coming to the hill hurt the current alent level.

Carolina,brought in a 5 member freshmen class and the learning curve has been hard in long making the pressure on the core four much greater than it should be.

Finally many of us here have been following Tar Heel basketball for over 50 years and fully realize the regular season is like a roller coaster with its ups and downs and instead of getting emotional decide to enjoy the ride

 

[pln2013]

Nobody has mentioned it or wants to admit it but losing the entire starting frontcourt from last season and the first off the bench in Bradley and a four year player in Britt cannot be replaced in half a season. All five of those guys helped Berry in one form or the other last season and as GREAT as Berry is he CANNOT do it all by himself.

I sure as hell have, as have others.

 

[bax4444]

Good post, but like the above poster Im not sure why youre saying what you said in that specific paragraph. Ive seen Plenty of posters talk about what weve lost and expressed concern about what we replaced it all with, so Im not sure why you included that.

 

[ProfessorOwl]

This is the season the NCAA mess really hurts us. If we could have gone out and gotten a really good center for this class it would have made all the difference.

Glad it's behind us, but it made it's mark on this year.

 

[Archer2]

During the preseason, I said we may very well have 10 losses this year. Frankly, I expected to lose to both FSU and UVA. The lack of interior scoring and consequent over reliance on perimeter scoring is a recipe for inconsistency. Just ask dook.

We'll improve and be playing better by the end of the season. How much is the question. I'm still enjoying this season though because I had realistic expectations coming in. It doesn't hurt that we're defending champs!

 

[Spacegrass]

Still think looking at the schedule this team finishes conference season 12-6 or 11-7 at worst. Not bad when it looks like 13-5 might win it this year at best.

 

[Archer2]

For all their wealth of talent, d00k is 1-2 in the conference too. The difference is they've lost to NVSU and BC on the road, while we've lost to FSU and UVA on the road. As team which was the unanimous preseason national contender, whose fans should be most disappointed?

 

[Canadian Heel]

I don’t know why people are so shocked, ACC road games are brutal every year.

 

[Archer2]

I don’t know why people are so shocked, ACC road games are brutal every year.

Indeed, but they're going to be even more so this year as the bottom half of the league is better than usual.

 

[MWHeels]

Nobody has mentioned it or wants to admit it but losing the entire starting frontcourt from last season and the first off the bench in Bradley and a four year player in Britt cannot be replaced in half a season. All five of those guys helped Berry in one form or the other last season and as GREAT as Berry is he CANNOT do it all by himself.

Many have also conveniently forgot about the NCAA cloud the team was under for like 5 years causing some possible GREAT recruits to think twice about coming to the hill hurt the current alent level.

Carolina,brought in a 5 member freshmen class and the learning curve has been hard in long making the pressure on the core four much greater than it should be.

Finally many of us here have been following Tar Heel basketball for over 50 years and fully realize the regular season is like a roller coaster with its ups and downs and instead of getting emotional decide to enjoy the ride

Well said. I always thought this was a rebuilding year with many highs and lows, and I was fine with that. The Heels will be better next year.

 

[Canadian Heel]

Defensive efficiency

Virginia 3
Much State 6
Florida St 19

Miami 5
Clemson 18
Syracuse 21
Louisville 23

We could see a few more bad offensive games especially on the road.

I’ll be interested to see dook against these teams on the road as well.

 

[TarHeelMark]

Defensive efficiency

Virginia 3
Much State 6
Florida St 19

Miami 5
Clemson 18
Syracuse 21
Louisville 23

We could see a few more bad offensive games especially on the road.

I’ll be interested to see dook against these teams on the road as well.

Hey CH, where did you get these ratings? I'd like to see where the rest of the ACC ranks, as well as the teams we've already played. TIA.

 

[Canadian Heel]

https://www.teamrankings.com/ncaa-basketball/stat/defensive-efficiency

 

[TarHeelMark]

https://www.teamrankings.com/ncaa-basketball/stat/defensive-efficiency

Thanks.

A quick review, and I see that the only other team in top50 that we played was Michigan (20). Heels are currently 50, with Tennessee and OSU right after them.

BTW, dook is 115.

 

[pln2013]

https://www.teamrankings.com/ncaa-basketball/stat/defensive-efficiency

Note that these are raw numbers - they don't control for opponent quality. Grand Canyon has played the 2nd worst offensive schedule in the country, so their defensive rating is super in(de?)flated.

When you control for opponent offense quality, UVA has a commanding lead. Their defense is phenomenal.

 

[jah420]

This is the season the NCAA mess really hurts us. If we could have gone out and gotten a really good center for this class it would have made all the difference.

Glad it's behind us, but it made it's mark on this year.

We had a good center. He decided he would
rather go play in the G League.

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

This is the season the NCAA mess really hurts us.

Yep. The other seasons it hurt our recruiting. But we had 4-year guys who were pretty darn good, so it didn't hurt our play. This year, the NCAA effect is finally slamming our play against better teams (and even some lesser teams).

I'm optimistic about our freshman bigs, but they ALL should be playing behind experienced, higher-ranked players this year. Brooks and Manley would be making us very happy playing behind Bradley and Carter. But both are struggling to keep up in their current roles.

Just think back to 2016 and some of the guys we went after who were not OAD. They'd be starting for us this year. In several cases, I'm confident they'd be doing better for us than they are at their current schools. Which would also be better for them. Guys like these. Not a starter among them as far as I know, with the possible exception of an occasional start by Gabriel.

Javin Delaurier - now pretty good at Duke but only getting 13.5 minutes.
Sacha Killyea-Jones - ditto at Kentucky, 15.6 minutes
Marques Bolden - still an afterthought at Duke, getting 11.5 minutes
Wenyen Gabriel - another UK guy, getting OK minutes, but could be doing better here

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

https://www.teamrankings.com/ncaa-basketball/stat/defensive-efficiency

We're #50.

We've played 4 ranked ahead of us:

#03 - Virginia
#06 - MSU
#19 - FSU
#20 - Michigan

We're 1-3.

Looks bad.

Also worth pointing out that all 3 of those 3 losses were on the road.

For those who wonder: Wofford comes in at #254.

 

[pln2013]

We had a good center. He decided he would
rather go play in the G League.

And we replaced him with significantly worse players. Top programs lose top players all the time; you recruit to replace them. If your season hinges on a single NBA decision, you're not in a great place in terms of recruiting.

From the '14, '15, '16, and '17 (and most likely '18) classes, we signed a single clear ACC-caliber center.

 

[dgheel57]

All I know is this,if this team doesn't get it's act together we may see Clemson win it's first game in CH.

 

[TarHeelMark]

All I know is this,if this team doesn't get it's act together we may see Clemson win it's first game in CH.

Oh no, no, no. We can't let this happen.

But since 8-20 team didn't lose to the Tigers, I'm hopeful we don't this year either.

 

[BillyL]

All I know is this,if this team doesn't get it's act together we may see Clemson win it's first game in CH.

Roger, . . Clemson is pretty bad this year, I just don't think this happens . .

 

[grillheel]

Roger, . . Clemson is pretty bad this year, I just don't think this happens . .

Clemson is 14-1 and 3-0 at this point Billy. May not be a pushover.

 

[bradythegoat2]

UNC just isn't that good. No go to scorer and no NBA talent. The lapse in recruiting the past 2 years is really showing now. Platek, Eighth Woods, B Rob, and Huff have no business being at UNC if we are being honest

 

[Spaceytoyz]

I am glad you mentioned those 4 players, those are Davidson Wofford Clemson type guys But not so Much Heels..

 

[Canadian Heel]

Ridiculous statement. Platek looks like he will be a nice top 7-8 player, Huff may wind up being a depth big and practice player but I wouldn’t write him off in his freshman year FFS. B-Rob hasn’t really progressed I’ll give you that one. I look forward to Seventh shoving those words right down your f’in throat. You instant gratification types make me sick. No program has had the success the Heels have had since Roy came home yet you talk like Crack ride scum. Just go away.

 

[superstar57]

This is the year the NCAA allegations hurts us, but the surprise of TB leaving early is the real problem.

Not saying TB cures all, but he would have given a lot of relief.

We were in back to back title games and help is on the way. Manley, Brooks and Felton are going to mature.

Wish we were not losing, but as a program we are more than okay.

 

[IDUNK4HEELS]

Bottom line Carolina just does not have as many expierenced offensive weapons as they have had recently years and it is showing on the court.

 

[Archer2]

Hey CH, where did you get these ratings? I'd like to see where the rest of the ACC ranks, as well as the teams we've already played. TIA.

This is my favorite statistical site.

https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/schools/north-carolina/2018.html

 

[mjrocks23]

What we are seeing this year is the NCAA investigation's effect on the program. The uncertainty it caused severely damaged the program's recruiting. We are only now beginning to recover our ability to recruit the best players. Even with the ability to recruit the best players again, the Heels will still have many of the players on this roster for years. The recovery will not be complete until the current players have graduated and moved on.

 

[ChiShankCity]

Nobody has mentioned it or wants to admit it but losing the entire starting frontcourt from last season and the first off the bench in Bradley and a four year player in Britt cannot be replaced in half a season. All five of those guys helped Berry in one form or the other last season and as GREAT as Berry is he CANNOT do it all by himself.

Many have also conveniently forgot about the NCAA cloud the team was under for like 5 years causing some possible GREAT recruits to think twice about coming to the hill hurt the current alent level.

Carolina,brought in a 5 member freshmen class and the learning curve has been hard in long making the pressure on the core four much greater than it should be.

Finally many of us here have been following Tar Heel basketball for over 50 years and fully realize the regular season is like a roller coaster with its ups and downs and instead of getting emotional decide to enjoy the ride

Yea, I'll be the first to admit that I haven't been on this board a whole lot this year so I'm not sure what the expectations were. I'm guessing there was a lot of faith put in the experience of Berry, Williams, Pinson, Maye and Roy would expedite the development of the young bigs so we would be a dangerous team in March. I suppose that's still a possibility, but this is kind of how I view this team.

Sure fire NBA players on this roster right now - 0.

Joel Berry might get drafted... Pinson might get drafted... The bigs all need to get a lot better before they sniff the league. The reality is there's not a whole lot of talent on this roster right now. Team really misses Tony Bradley. He'd be a double-double guy, a rim protector and it would allow Manley/Brooks to be energy guys off the bench.

All you need to know about this team right now is they'll go as far as Luke Maye will take them. I love Luke, but that tells you the void of talent on this particular roster. If Luke doesn't play well, we're probably going to lose.

The disappointing parts of this roster for me is it doesn't seem like Brandon Robinson will be a rotational caliber player right now. I haven't seen a whole lot of development from him. Really sucks that Seventh can't stay healthy too. Also, Platek is one of the worst defenders I've ever seen in my life. He's a long ways away from being a player that you trust in any situation.

There are strategies I would like to see changed with this specific roster because I don't see anyone on this roster a natural back-to-the-basket scorer really. So rather than doing the traditional inside-outside half court offense, I think this roster needs to jack up a lot of 3's and the big guys score off of offensive rebounds.

But talent-wise, this is one of the least talented teams since Roy has been here. Hopefully they experience and tough their way to maybe 12 ACC wins and a second weekend NCAA tournament... but I don't think anyone should be surprised if we're in the 8/9 game and fall in the first round.

 

[Heelswin]

This is the season the NCAA mess really hurts us. If we could have gone out and gotten a really good center for this class it would have made all the difference.

Glad it's behind us, but it made it's mark on this year.

When all is said and done, we still have our great name and we're still the defending champs!

The ncaa schyzt will never take that away from us! As far as l'm concerned ... if somebody no like us, they can shove it where the sun don't shine!!!

We're the best and it's not even close!

GO TAR HEELS!!!!!!

 

[kevindow]

There is one and only one problem with our team: We have absolutely no NBA talent on our team according to nbadraft.net in 2018 and 2019. Sure, we have a great name, we are the defending champs, but it will take us 3 or more years to recover from the damage of the NCAA investigation. We need to be patient and trust in Roy !!

 

[ProfessorOwl]

There is one and only one problem with our team: We have absolutely no NBA talent on our team according to nbadraft.net in 2018 and 2019. Sure, we have a great name, we are the defending champs, but it will take us 3 or more years to recover from the damage of the NCAA investigation. We need to be patient and trust in Roy !!

Well next year will go a very long way in addressing our lack of NBA talent. Nas Little could turn out to be RW's first NBA All-star (at UNC).

Coby White also has something we desperately need - the ability to create your own shot. He has that in spades. Rechon Black will be a useful college player (though maybe not immediately). I'd feel better if we had an elite big coming in, but 2018 has very few of them.

 

[kevindow]

Both Little and White will definitely help our team, but they are not projected to be drafted in the 2019 NBA draft. Black will definitely be a 3-4 year player on our team.

 

[Littlejon]

I don't think we need to give up on this team. Don't forget this is the same team that looked like it hadn't missed a step from the NC just a month ago. What has gone wrong? I am not sure, but there is more than a few things that seem out of sync. I thin having Cam come in now may be somewhat of a disruption only because the others aren't used to playing with him yet and he isn't used to them either. That is fixable. Kenny hasn't looked the same and neither has Luke. Maybe they are in a slump, maybe they are just not able to figure out their role, but, again, I don't know that it isn't fixable.

The bigs haven't seem ACC basketball before and no matter what the competition is in November and December, it ain't the ACC. Plus, we hit FSU right after a dook loss that should've been a win and UVa at home, where they are almost unbeatable. We haven't looked like the same team as we were a month ago because we aren't. There are development issues and kinks to work out that, frankly, are more pronounced this year.

I think that Roy will get it back on track. I don't think we lose to Clemson at home and I think we end up with a winning road record again this year. I think we will finish probably 3rd in the ACC, with some losses that are frustrating. I also think we are looking at a 3 or 4 seed in the NCAA's, but I think we are going to be one of those 3 or 4 seeds no one wants to see. I don't know we can make another FF run, but I do think we will make the Sweet 16 and maybe even the Elite 8. It will be a "down" year, but overall we will be proud of this team and their development before all is said and done.

I am also of the opinion that we are 1 or 2 years from another title game at the most. I think the NCAA mess can't be used against us anymore and Roy has at least one more good run left before he hangs up his hat for good, possibly 2 or more. We may even see one more title before he leaves, which is just fine by me.

All in all I am not too bent out of shape over this right now. I think this team has a lot of fight left and despite the deficiencies, they are still a team that can beat anyone on any given night.

I am looking forward to seeing how this all plays out.

 

[Tru Blu Tar Heel]

Defensive efficiency

Virginia 3
Much State 6
Florida St 19

Miami 5
Clemson 18
Syracuse 21
Louisville 23

We could see a few more bad offensive games especially on the road.

I’ll be interested to see dook against these teams on the road as well.

Eh....take the Syracuse efficiency with a grain of salt. Have they played a D1 team on the road....heck, have they played a D1 team AT HOME???

 

[bradythegoat2]

Ridiculous statement. Platek looks like he will be a nice top 7-8 player, Huff may wind up being a depth big and practice player but I wouldn’t write him off in his freshman year FFS. B-Rob hasn’t really progressed I’ll give you that one. I look forward to Seventh shoving those words right down your f’in throat. You instant gratification types make me sick. No program has had the success the Heels have had since Roy came home yet you talk like Crack ride scum. Just go away.

Ridiculous statement. Platek looks like he will be a nice top 7-8 player, Huff may wind up being a depth big and practice player but I wouldn’t write him off in his freshman year FFS. B-Rob hasn’t really progressed I’ll give you that one. I look forward to Seventh shoving those words right down your f’in throat. You instant gratification types make me sick. No program has had the success the Heels have had since Roy came home yet you talk like Crack ride scum. Just go away.

I would love for Eighth to prove me wrong (Roy calls him this as well). Platek is like a Jackson Simmons at the guard position. My point was that a lot of these players on the bench aren't the typical bench pieces at UNC that we are used to seeing. The 2 year lapse in recruiting shows. We offered the 3 big men last minute to fill roster spots.

This ain't the 2005-2009, 2011-2013, 2015-2017 Tar Heels

 

[RoseHeel]

I would love for Eighth to prove me wrong (Roy calls him this as well). Platek is like a Jackson Simmons at the guard position. My point was that a lot of these players on the bench aren't the typical bench pieces at UNC that we are used to seeing. The 2 year lapse in recruiting shows. We offered the 3 big men last minute to fill roster spots.

This ain't the 2005-2009, 2011-2013, 2015-2017 Tar Heels

Is there a point you're attempting to make by calling him Eighth?

 

[bradythegoat2]

Is there a point you're attempting to make by calling him Eighth?

The same point Roy uses by calling him Eigth as well. Roy says he doesn't call him Seventh because so far he's not the player that they recruited