Blowing leads?

[Carolina Way]

Correct me if I'm wrong... but haven't we held 2nd half leads in all 5 losses so far this season? I know we had half time leads in 4 of the 5, the lone exception being Louisville, where I think we had a lead at the under 16:00 media time out in the 2nd.

Are opposing coaches making better adjustments? Are our players coming undone in the 2nd half of games? I guess it's probably a combination of both but I think the alarming thing to realize is that with our size, depth, and experience, we should be wearing other teams out... instead we are getting picked apart after halftime:

Texas outscored us 42-38 after half
Duke outscored us 32-27 after half
Notre Dame outscored us 50-37 after half
Louisville outscored us 43-38 after half
Northern Iowa out scored us 39-26 after half

Tar Heels have averaged a mere 33.2 point after intermission in their 5 losses.

Also... three of those teams used SIGNIFICANT runs to blow us to pieces in the 2nd half:

Northern Iowa -- 29-8 stretch over 12 minutes of the second half
Notre Dame -- 26-3 run in 2nd half
Duke -- 14-5 run to close the game

Our players, and our coaching staff, seem as though they haven't figured out how to win big games yet. At this point in the season, and their careers, that seems inexcusable.

 

[keysersosay#1]

One cannot argue with a thing you just posted

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

Pomeroy shows scoring by quarter. We were:

--ahead entering the 4th quarter in the Texas, Notre Dame and Duke games
--tied entering Q4 in the N.Iowa game
--2 points down entering Q4 against Louisville

We averaged 16.0 points in the 4th quarter in those losses. That's nearly 3 points less than the average of the other quarters in those games (18.9).

What rankles most is that this end-of-game collapse was supposed to be THE point of emphasis this year - because it was a big problem last year.

And it's baffling because a healthy team with our depth really has no excuse to fade late in a game.

My sense is that we are better than last year - even on this measure - but we aren't as much better as we thought and hoped we'd be.

It's hard to figure.

 

[Upper Plains Heel]

The simple answer to your question about coaches making adjustments, is yes. Yes other coaches are far better at making adjustments.

Per Roy's halftime interview last night, he wasn't worried that Duke had scored 42 points. His philosophy is to run up and down the court and outscore the other team. Out score the other team WITHOUT ONE SINGLE RELIABLE DEADLY SHOOTER ON OUR TEAM. What an outdated approach to basketball.

 

[Hark_The_Sound_2010]

Also... three of those teams used SIGNIFICANT runs to blow us to pieces in the 2nd half:

Northern Iowa -- 29-8 stretch over 12 minutes of the second half
Notre Dame -- 26-3 run in 2nd half
Duke -- 14-5 run to close the game

These runs could be stopped with timeouts, and not having terrible lineups on the floor to allow these runs to happen. I don't have the stats in front of me, but I would assume the above runs came with multiple starters on the bench, and without timeouts being called to try to halt them.

 

[tarheelinfl]

These runs could be stopped with timeouts, and not having terrible lineups on the floor to allow these runs to happen. I don't have the stats in front of me, but I would assume the above runs came with multiple starters on the bench, and without timeouts being called to try to halt them.

Roy call a TO?! Before the last minute of the game? And I'm going to win the lottery on Saturday!

 

[coryfly]

The numbers overall for this particular group (in general at least) over the past few years is actually much worse. Someone posted it over on IC (so I can't really copy it exactly) but in the last few minutes of certain games they have been absolutely terrible, like low-major playing elite team terrible. It was something like this. In certain games (maybe 7 or 8 games or so) the last two years where we were leading fairly late and lost we were outscored at a rate of something like 30 points per 40 minutes in the last 8 to ten minutes of those games. That is a ridiculous stat. I mean, that is like losing a normal game by 30 points. There is an issue with this group and closing out games. Fix it and they have a pretty good shot at a run. Don't fix it and they just won't go very far.

 

[strummingram]

26-3 run in 2nd half against ND... ouch!

 

[Spacegrass]

We need a nice warm glass of "better team" fast! Especially down the stretch.

 

[BillyL]

Players win games and coaches lose them.

 

[SeaHawk98]

I understand some of Roy's philosophy of letting the players work through it and not calling timeouts. However, it is obvious that philosophy has not worked the past few years so why not call a timeout and make some adjustments or calm the players down. Makes zero sense, especially if after UNC loses they had two to three timeouts left.

 

[RHFD]

Roy hates calling timeouts.

 

[NCAAUCoach]

I think a big part of it is our style. Roy wants to score so quick, he doesn't emphasize good shots. We try and score within seconds of a made or missed basket. The last few minutes with a lead doesn't make sense to do that so we change our style. We aren't as efficient in the half court with regular sets so we get out of our normal flow. My guess is we don't practice that enough and guys aren't as comfortable. When you aren't as comfortable you don't play as loose.

 

[ChiShankCity]

I understand some of Roy's philosophy of letting the players work through it and not calling timeouts. However, it is obvious that philosophy has not worked the past few years so why not call a timeout and make some adjustments or calm the players down. Makes zero sense, especially if after UNC loses they had two to three timeouts left.

I'm not in the huddle or in practice but I get to talk to former NBA coaches/front office people pretty routinely during basketball season. I haven't had one of them praise Roy in terms of strategy and development. Now, the development is NBA biased. Not necessarily college. Three have told me "Roy doesn't teach shit." How much all that is true, idk, but it's just what I hear consistently during basketball season. But it appears to be a prevailing thought in the NBA and that's REALLY concerning. That message trickles down. If that's the reputation and Roy is recruiting perceived future pros, don't think that won't be used by other coaches that have better reputations.

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

The numbers overall for this particular group (in general at least) over the past few years is actually much worse. Someone posted it over on IC (so I can't really copy it exactly) but in the last few minutes of certain games they have been absolutely terrible, like low-major playing elite team terrible. It was something like this. In certain games (maybe 7 or 8 games or so) the last two years where we were leading fairly late and lost we were outscored at a rate of something like 30 points per 40 minutes in the last 8 to ten minutes of those games. That is a ridiculous stat. I mean, that is like losing a normal game by 30 points. There is an issue with this group and closing out games. Fix it and they have a pretty good shot at a run. Don't fix it and they just won't go very far.

Yeah. It isn't just that our opponents are stepping up their game at the end in those losses, although that's certainly part of it. It's also that we are playing worse late in those losses.

 

[Archer2]

If I could ban you SJung, I would. You are a complete jerk!

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

I can remember some Carolina teams when we'd be 15 points down in the middle of the 2nd half and I be feeling "we've got them right where we want them."

I wondered at the time what it was like being the other team - knowing that any minute now UNC was going to step it up and you wouldn't know what hit you. Nobody has done it to us that bad, but I'm starting to get the idea what it's like to be on the other side.

I want it to stop.

 

[Sk1310]

This team has lost its 5 games by a total of 17 points. I repeat, total of 17 points. If the game has passed Roy, it's not by much. I'm going to trust the man who has 2 national titles to know his team better than us. You saw what this team can be today.