Berry playing the 2?

[Steat]

Word is that Roy will experiment with Berry starting games at the 1 but switching to the 2 during certain periods in the game. Seventh and Felton running the point while Berry is playing the 2. Word is that Seventh outside shot has improved and his speed is impressive.

What do you think of this?

 

[truetarheelraider0806]

Love seventh hope it's true. Though I have heard the same thing, and will add Berry took Seventh under his wing this off season. Talking to him encouraging him. Let him know he wasn't the only one to struggle freshman year. He himself struggled. That seemed to hit seventh; he took it to heart and is off and running

 

[mikeirbyusa]

Love it! Berry has and can play the 2 very well. If the light is coming on for 7th LOOK OUT!

Love to see some of Berry-Felton-7th-Cam and a BIG at times.

 

[shun1]

Love seventh hope it's true. Though I have heard the same thing, and will add Berry took Seventh under his wing this off season. Talking to him encouraging him. Let him know he wasn't the only one to struggle freshman year. He himself struggled. That seemed to hit seventh; he took it to heart and is off and running

Hi truetarheelraider,..SMILE

!!!!!!!!!!!! GO TAR HEELS !!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[TPFKAPFS]

Love this as well! JB would still be on the floor to keep the team focused and efficient. I have always felt that 7th would eventually turn the corner and become a real problem. No idea of the readiness of JF, but how wrong can we go as long as JB is on the floor?

Run them to death and then sub in an equally athletic and fast team.

 

[Steat]

Word is that Roy is communication to Leaky Black that he will be given the opportunity to run the point when he arrives. Thus, next season (assuming Felton is OAD) it will be Black and Seventh sharing the 1 position. Bottom line, Seventh has a chance to solidify the starting position for next season if he proves he can handle it this season.

 

[acarter0277]

Doesn't surprise me a bit...Worked out pretty well when MP5 slid to the 2 spot and JBII was the PG!

 

[dadika13]

Yeah...let's take the best PG in basketball and move him to the 2. Good god.

 

[Steat]

Yeah...let's take the best PG in basketball and move him to the 2. Good god.

Trust in Roy......Iol

 

[BillyL]

Yeah...let's take the best PG in basketball and move him to the 2. Good god.

What possible harm would it do to any of our players to give this a try . . ?

Do you think all of sudden that JB will have forgotten how to play the point . . ?

 

[superstar57]

I hated Paige playing the 2 so that Berry could be PG. I hate the idea even more for Berry, but if we make a final four I'm good.

 

[dadika13]

What possible harm would it do to any of our players to give this a try . . ?

Do you think all of sudden that JB will have forgotten how to play the point . . ?

You wanna move Tom Brady to linebacker too?

The goal is to win basketball games. Our best chance to win basketball games is to put our All-American PG at PG. That's what I'm saying.

 

[FlaTarHeel]

Love it! Berry has and can play the 2 very well. If the light is coming on for 7th LOOK OUT!

 

[B3rry]

You wanna move Tom Brady to linebacker too?

The goal is to win basketball games. Our best chance to win basketball games is to put our All-American PG at PG. That's what I'm saying.

Brady at linebacker. Jeez I'd feel bad for running backs. No way they finish the season without charges

But I would have to agree about Berry

 

[mikeirbyusa]

Yeah...let's take the best PG in basketball and move him to the 2. Good god.

He has already played the 2 at times. Worked out really well don't you think? Or maybe you know more than Roy. Could you at least calmly discuss why you think it is a bad idea. And NOBODY is saying move JB off the point for good. Gracious.

 

[gauchoheel]

I think he'd be great at the 2. Question is can Seventh/Felton handle the 1?

Also, if this happens we have to be playing small at the 4. I can't imagine Theo/Cam/Kenny/B-Rob all sharing minutes at the 3.

 

[gary-7]

Word is that Roy will experiment with Berry starting games at the 1 but switching to the 2 during certain periods in the game. Seventh and Felton running the point while Berry is playing the 2. Word is that Seventh outside shot has improved and his speed is impressive.

What do you think of this?

7th HAS improved his shot. He is NOT a PG.
Putting 7th at the 1 and JB at the 2 is the equivalent of buying a bicycle for a fish. Hell, the Dodgers might as well move Puig to pitcher and Clayton Kershaw to RF.

 

[superstar57]

He has already played the 2 at times. Worked out really well don't you think? Or maybe you know more than Roy. Could you at least calmly discuss why you think it is a bad idea. And NOBODY is saying move JB off the point for good. Gracious.

It is a bad idea because of the way JB is dominate for us. JB is a really good shooter because he is picking spots. JB is really good driving to the basket because he picks his spots. What is allowing JB to pick his spots is that he is controlling the game from the PG position. I understand getting our best players on the court at the same time, but why make our best player move positions.

I watch basketball enough to know there will be moments Felton and Woods will handle the ball with JB on the court, but IMHO those should be limited or Berry like Paige will pay for that.

 

[BillyL]

So, you guys are against Roy experimenting with his lineup as it pertains to JB @ pg . . ?

 

[Steat]

7th HAS improved his shot. He is NOT a PG.
Putting 7th at the 1 and JB at the 2 is the equivalent of buying a bicycle for a fish. Hell, the Dodgers might as well move Puig to pitcher and Clayton Kershaw to RF.

Based on last year's performance you are correct about Seventh, but this is another year. There were times last year that I went nuts when Roy put Seventh in the game because he was a turnover machine.

Look, there are direct quotes on TOS from Berry where he says Roy will play him in "certain situations" at the 2 with Seventh and Felton playing the 1. I think before we blow our stacks about Seventh playing the point why not wait until the season starts and see how he performs?

If Roy made a promise to Seventh when he was recruting him that he would get an opportunity to play the point than I believe Roy will give him that opportunity similar to giving Henson an opportunity to play the 3.

If Seventh does not run the point the way Roy expects him to, than he will go to the bench. Berry is quoted as saying Roy talked to him with the logic that he will not get as tired in games by spending some time at the 2. Berry will start at the 1 but he will spend some time at the 2 and let Seventh and Felton use their pentration skills and kick the balll back to Berry for the 3. I would rather see our best player on the floor playing a few minutes at the 2 than sitting on the bench tired waiting to go back in at the 1.

 

[superstar57]

So, you guys are against Roy experimenting with his lineup as it pertains to JB @ pg . . ?

Not against it because I ride with UNC basketball, but my expectations of it being successful is low, again I understand there will be parts of the game because of different scenarios where we are forced to play Berry at the 2.

I saw Paige being a preseason ACC player of year at PG move to SG. We still made a finals appearance, but Paige personally did not benefit, in fact it can be debated he loss money.

 

[Steat]

This is an interesting article. Berry talks a little here about smaller line-ups, but he gets into more about playing the 2 in another TOS piece. Premium info....

 

[gary-7]

Doesn't surprise me a bit...Worked out pretty well when MP5 slid to the 2 spot and JBII was the PG!

Only difference there was we had a better PG (JB) on the team already.

Honestly I'm not sure where this "word" is coming from (other than in designated sets) since our summer practices focus mostly on Secondary Break as far a team stuff goes, but it would be no surprise to see set plays where JB is designated as a finisher in what would be the traditional "2" role. That being said I have a hard time imagining Roy moving, as @dadika13 put it, the best PG in college BBall off the ball in normal continuity offense.

 

[soap - new and improved]

7th HAS improved his shot. He is NOT a PG.
Putting 7th at the 1 and JB at the 2 is the equivalent of buying a bicycle for a fish. Hell, the Dodgers might as well move Puig to pitcher and Clayton Kershaw to RF.

I KNEW you would love this idea Gary!

 

[Steat]

Only difference there was we had a better PG (JB) on the team already.

Honestly I'm not sure where this "word" is coming from since our summer practices focus mostly on Secondary Break as far a team stuff goes, but it would be no surprise to see set plays where JB is designated as a finisher in what would be the traditional "2" role. That being said I have a hard time imagining Roy moving, as @dadika13 put it, the best PG in college BBall off the ball in normal continuity offense.

TOS premium has Berry direct quotes Gary advising that Roy and him have talked about this. I don't know what else I can tell you. Berry said it is going to happen. It's all there for Premium subscribers to read. He will start at the 1, but he will play some 2. It's Berry quotes. That's one of the advantages of having Premium. They have staff that are able to get interviews with players during pre-season.

 

[truetarheelraider0806]

Hi truetarheelraider,..SMILE

!!!!!!!!!!!! GO TAR HEELS !!!!!!!!!!!!

TAR.....

 

[gary-7]

Based on last year's performance you are correct about Seventh, but this is another year. There were times last year that I went nuts when Roy put Seventh in the game because he was a turnover machine.

Look, there are direct quotes on TOS from Berry where he says Roy will play him in "certain situations" at the 2 with Seventh and Felton playing the 1. I think before we blow our stacks about Seventh playing the point why not wait until the season starts and see how he performs?

If Roy made a promise to Seventh when he was recruting him that he would get an opportunity to play the point than I believe Roy will give him that opportunity similar to giving Henson an opportunity to play the 3.

If Seventh does not run the point the way Roy expects him to, than he will go to the bench. Berry is quoted as saying Roy talked to him with the logic that he will not get as tired in games by spending some time at the 2. Berry will start at the 1 but he will spend some time at the 2 and let Seventh and Felton use their pentration skills and kick the balll back to Berry for the 3. I would rather see our best player on the floor playing a few minutes at the 2 than sitting on the bench tired waiting to go back in at the 1.

As I said in another response, There would be nothing earth-shaking or surprising to see JB assume the "2" role in certain sets --- in fact I would expect it --- and it happens momentarily in the organized chaos sometimes in transition as it is.

My negative response was to the idea of swapping out positions in our normal continuity attacks, which would be rather silly.

BTW: I have since seen the article where JB talked about it and it's being taken a bit out of context here. Joel actually described almost exactly the scenario I laid out about situational flips to give a different look in certain sets and/or relieve the heavy lifting in transition. He didn't say anyone in particular would be playing PG (he actually mentioned Jalek first), he just said that when another guy is on the floor with him who has played Point (Jalek or 7th) it would be cool if they could sometimes (as Marcus often did) assume the de facto Point in transition.

In other words, he said it would be nice if he didn't always have to the one pushing the ball --- that is if the off-Guard gets it first JB should be able to fill a lane or get down court in transition. When Marcus was still here, he had that partner to do that from time to time, but last season (unless he was playing with Nate) he didn't.

Bottom line of the actual context is he is talking about situations where Jalek or 7th would be playing the 2 beside him, and have them be able to do what Marcus or Nate did.

 

[gary-7]

TOS premium has Berry direct quotes Gary advising that Roy and him have talked about this. I don't know what else I can tell you. Berry said it is going to happen. It's all there for Premium subscribers to read. He will start at the 1, but he will play some 2. It's Berry quotes. That's one of the advantages of having Premium. They have staff that are able to get interviews with players during pre-season.

As I just posted (above) I have read the article (including JB's quotes) and it is being overstated and relayed somewhat out of context ITT.

 

[Steat]

As I just posted (above) I have read the article (including JB's quotes) and it is being overstated and relayed somewhat out of context ITT.

Here you go Gary. I don't want to get in a back and forth with you. Lets just let the board interpret what he said. I will probably get chastised for putting this on the board but he clearly says he will be playing the two.


This season, Williams is thinking about taking his All-American point guard, who did a little bit of everything for the Tar Heels his first three seasons, and moving him off the ball. Not permanently, though.

In a recent interview with XXXXXXXXXX, Berry conceded that he’s spoken with Williams about playing the ‘2’ part time.

“… I know that I’ve been playing the one spot since I’ve been here – that’s been my spot – but we’ve talked a bit about moving me to the two sometimes throughout the game,” Berry explained.” He (Williams) wants me to start off the game at the one but as the game goes on you want to give the defense a different look. With me having the ball all the time and having to push it down, sometimes I lose energy by just pushing it up the floor. So if I can just get to the corner, hopefully Jalek (Felton) or Seventh Woods, Coach can have enough confidence in them to bring the ball up, get our offense set, and be able to push me over to the two where I don’t have to be on the ball all the time.”

 

[gary-7]

Here you go Gary. I don't want to get in a back and forth with you. Lets just let the board interpret what he said. I will probably get chastised for putting this on the board but he clearly says he will be playing the two.


This season, Williams is thinking about taking his All-American point guard, who did a little bit of everything for the Tar Heels his first three seasons, and moving him off the ball. Not permanently, though.

In a recent interview with XXXXXXXXXX, Berry conceded that he’s spoken with Williams about playing the ‘2’ part time.

“… I know that I’ve been playing the one spot since I’ve been here – that’s been my spot – but we’ve talked a bit about moving me to the two sometimes throughout the game,” Berry explained.” He (Williams) wants me to start off the game at the one but as the game goes on you want to give the defense a different look. With me having the ball all the time and having to push it down, sometimes I lose energy by just pushing it up the floor. So if I can just get to the corner, hopefully Jalek (Felton) or Seventh Woods, Coach can have enough confidence in them to bring the ball up, get our offense set, and be able to push me over to the two where I don’t have to be on the ball all the time.”

And?...
That's just what I described (in context) in my post. Last season one thing that hurt our transition game at times was that JB almost always had to come and get the ball, even if he was elsewhere at the time of the outlet pass. When Marcus was here he didn't have to worry about that as much... plus if Marcus happened to end up at the Point in the Secondary he could also go ahead and initiate the half-court continuity off of that. Last season we didn't have that luxury and Joel had to do all the initiating at both the beginning and end of the Secondary. In other words, it would be nice to go back to the former situation.

BTW: I'm not blaming you for the context issue --- the way it was advertised in the original article is the culprit there. A writer brought up the subject of him playing some 2 and Joel gave the response above in the article. He is simply describing in-game situational flips and Guards inter-meshing roles in transition. Again, nothing earth-shaking nor particularly surprising.

 

[DSouthr]

7th HAS improved his shot. He is NOT a PG.
Putting 7th at the 1 and JB at the 2 is the equivalent of buying a bicycle for a fish. Hell, the Dodgers might as well move Puig to pitcher and Clayton Kershaw to RF.

Well I m trying to figure out exact context I need that says 7th can at any point in the game slide over to the point while Joel slides to the 2? Or do fish actually bicycle at times and I just didn't know?

It seems pretty darn clear that Roy does not agree that 7th is not nor can be a PG. He played him as back up PG all last season and has now discussed moving Joel at times to the 2 and 7th or Jalek being the PG. Point being, Roy does not agree with ya. Honestly, anyone here want to claim they have a better feel for this question than Roy?

 

[pln2013]

I personally think Seventh is closer to being a viable PG than he is to being a viable SG. He's useless without the ball in the half court. Teams will sag off of him like crazy. At least with the ball in his hands he can attack. Berry can exert significant control over the offense without being the primary ball-handler.

 

[gary-7]

Well I m trying to figure out exact context I need that says 7th can at any point in the game slide over to the point while Joel slides to the 2? Or do fish actually bicycle at times and I just didn't know?

It seems pretty darn clear that Roy does not agree that 7th is not nor can be a PG. He played him as back up PG all last season and has now discussed moving Joel at times to the 2 and 7th or Jalek being the PG. Point being, Roy does not agree with ya. Honestly, anyone here want to claim they have a better feel for this question than Roy?

Not quite that clear, but ok. Dave, my point in that sarcastic post was that any such position switch (other than the situational stuff I discussed further down in the thread) would be downright silly and I highly doubt Roy has that in mind... and sure enough, if the article is taken in context that's not what was being proffered.

I'll just say, scroll down the thread and read my more detailed responses before you draw any conclusions on what I'm getting at. Hell, anything that recreates the backcourt interchangeability in transition we had with JB and Marcus makes perfect sense and is something I would hope/expect Roy to do... as are set plays that feature JB's ability to put the ball in the hole as a finisher. The fact that Jalek is a natural PG --- and 7th has played the position here --- simply affords those options when one of them is paired with JB.

That, however, is (thankfully) a far cry from the sort of position-change it was made out to be.

 

[dadika13]

Wait, there are still people who think when JB goes out that 7th is playing over Jalek at the 1 and a healthy Kenny at the 2?

No, that can't be, right?

 

[Steat]

Not quite that clear, but ok. Dave, my point in that sarcastic post was that any such position switch (other than the situational stuff I discussed further down in the thread) would be downright silly and I highly doubt Roy has that in mind... and sure enough, if the article is taken in context that's not what was being proffered.

I'll just say, scroll down the thread and read my more detailed responses before you draw any conclusions on what I'm getting at. Hell, anything that recreates the backcourt interchangeability in transition we had with JB and Marcus makes perfect sense and is something I would hope/expect Roy to do... as are set plays that feature JB's ability to put the ball in the hole as a finisher. The fact that Jalek is a natural PG --- and 7th has played the position here --- simply affords those options when one of them is paired with JB.

That, however, is (thankfully) a far cry from the sort of position-change it was made out to be.

Who made it out that it was going to be a position change for Berry?

If you are referring to my comments (with the majority being a cut and paste from a premium board), I don't see how you can intepret the comments as a position change. A position change would be Berry playing the bulk of his minutes at the 2 in the future. I don't think anyone reading this thread would come to that conclusion Gary. If anything, your Clayton Kershaw analogy hit Seventh pretty hard. Seventh will be given an opportunity to be Berry's back-up out of the gate. It will be up to him to take advantage of the opportunity. I hope you are wrong about Seventh playing the 1. There is a logjam at the 2 (Williams, B-Rob. Pinson. Felton (on occasions). My money is on Seventh making it or breaking it at the 1.

 

[al would]

What possible harm would it do to any of our players to give this a try . . ?

Do you think all of sudden that JB will have forgotten how to play the point . . ?

Considering the long term ... I wouldn't play JB at the 2 because we are blessed with 2's .. 3's/wings and the fewer miles JB has on his wheels the better off we are in the long run. Let the younger players get some burn and let JB shine at his natural NBA position. jmho

 

[BillyL]

Considering the long term ... I wouldn't play JB at the 2 because we are blessed with 2's .. 3's/wings and the fewer miles JB has on his wheels the better off we are in the long run. Let the younger players get some burn and let JB shine at his natural NBA position. jmho

It's an experiment . . Roy wants to try it . . long term doesn't equate if the HOF coach doesn't think it would benefit his team.

There is NO commitment to this lineup . . it's a 'If It Works' proposition, nothing more . .

 

[al would]

It's an experiment . . Roy wants to try it . . long term doesn't equate if the HOF coach doesn't think it would benefit his team.

There is NO commitment to this lineup . . it's a 'If It Works' proposition, nothing more . .

Think the key word to this post might be in its beginning .. that being the word "rumored". JB may well play some 2 this year but I think the minutes there will be few and far between ... because there is no point (cheap pun) in putting him there. jmho

 

[gary-7]

Who made it out that it was going to be a position change for Berry?

If you are referring to my comments (with the majority being a cut and paste from a premium board), I don't see how you can intepret the comments as a position change. A position change would be Berry playing the bulk of his minutes at the 2 in the future. I don't think anyone reading this thread would come to that conclusion Gary. If anything, your Clayton Kershaw analogy hit Seventh pretty hard. Seventh will be given an opportunity to be Berry's back-up out of the gate. It will be up to him to take advantage of the opportunity. I hope you are wrong about Seventh playing the 1. There is a logjam at the 2 (Williams, B-Rob. Pinson. Felton (on occasions). My money is on Seventh making it or breaking it at the 1.

Steat, like I said above, I'm not blaming you for any misconception about the context of the article. Upon reading the whole deal, the interviewer obviously is the one who brought up the subject about Joel playing the 2 and JB just responded with some (frankly) unsurprising comments.

But yeah, I was being sarcastic with the Kershaw/Puig crack. Still, I didn't intend it as an insult to 7th at all (Puig's a helluva baseball talent, after all). My point is that I believe 7th is terminally out of position trying to be a 1. It's good that he got some time there for future reference as a Combo or as serviceable depth there (see: Dexter Strickland), but that's it. On the other hand, I firmly believe he can excel at the 2 in our system. I thoroughly disagree with the notion that his career here will be made or broken at the 1. If that's the case then I feel bad for him as that wouldn't be a fair shake.

As for 7th getting a shot at being JB's backup? Well, I can't speak for Roy's intentions but I cannot envision any scenario (barring injury) where that job doesn't go to Jalek. Speaking of that, if you want to read further between the lines of JB's comments he instantly spoke of Jalek playing the 1. That's probably because over the summer Jalek left little doubt as to the qualifications Joel alluded to, e.g., the ability to push the ball and shoot and space the floor. In contrast, with 7th everything was predicated on some ifs.

All that aside, as I've posted more than once on here, 7th has had a great summer with his shot and confidence and there's no reason he can't be a major factor in our Guard rotation. I just believe that can be better achieved primarily at the 2. I like the kid and I want him to succeed --- plus he possesses some freaky-ass talent --- it's just a matter of the right fit.

 

[imajericho]

Seventh is a ball dominant 1.