And I think Seventh will become a very good defender as well. Ergo, one reason I fell he'll play quite a bit.
Can't see Maye playing much, if any, at the five.
Theo can score, he just won't score much from the outside.
Brief Intel (pt. 2)...
- Thread starter gary-7
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I'd say Seventh is already a very good defender, with the potential to be amazing (for a guard). His offense was ghastly last year, but his defense was really good.
Maye at the 5 is dependent on how the freshman bigs play. If they're not good enough, we'll see some tiny ball. Lineups with Maye at the 5 would be amazing on offense; defense would require a ton of effort and communication.
The entirety of Theo's career to this point demonstrates that he's not a scorer. He's never had a usage rate above 15.1%, and his career high TS% is 50.9%, which is atrocious. He has no outside shot (9-38 from 3 last year), he has no mid-range shot (2-12 from 10'-20', 3-12 from 5'-10'), and he doesn't get close shots with enough frequency to offset his woeful ability away from the rim (fewer close shots/min than everyone but White, Britt, Williams, and Robinson). Theo's contributions are extremely valuable, but he is in no way a scorer. Trying to turn a low-volume / low-efficiency scorer into a medium- or high-volume scorer almost never goes well.
Top 3pt shooter from the 2 spot for us last season, that is like being the biggest guy in little league, come on gary, he was up against Nate, Theo, and freshman BRob?
You watched the games, you saw it, Kenny was really hesitant to shoot, someone mentioned his % was based of a low number of shots, yet that low number of shots came as he was not just a starter but a big PT starter until Theo came back fully. He had a couple games where his shots fell but later in the season he just was not the guy that was or you wanted taking the big shot.
Loved Kenny's defense, loved he was a solid team mate, didn't matter as much that he was not a go to scorer because we had Justin and Joel, and a front court that were threats to score double digits each. But that front court is now unproven frosh + Luke, rather than 2 starting seniors and a Micky D AA freshman center. Justin is gone and we can hope Cam comes in and plays lights out but reality is Cam was what, around a 12pt per game guy and started more than anyone else on that Pitt team last season? All the sudden he is gonna knock in 20+ for us every game, all the sudden Theo is going to become a solid shooter? I believe I would rather bet on Jalek being a double digit scorer for us that either of those other scenarios.
FACT, Kenny is NOT coming in to this season healthy, FACT, Kenny has been on the shelf for the later part of last season all the way to now and only hopes to be able to practice by the time practice gets here. So do ya reckon he will all the sudden become a go to jump shooter when he wasn't that last season when he was healthy?
My point is you are writing off Jalek, BRob, and 7th and I think you are going to be very surprised by them if you find it so easy to state that either Kenny or Theo will absolutely be our 2 guard starters and no other opinions should be accepted.
". Remember, Theo our starting 2 shot like 24% from 3 last season, but he was always a threat,"
LOL, man, what the heck does that mean ^, got to promise ya, a 24% shooter from 3 is much more a threat to miss than to make. LOL
Finally, I am not dumping on Kenny, I was maybe the only one here that not only defended him last year this time but the guy saying he is gonna surprise every one. Problem is Kenny really needed this off season to hone in his offensive game and become much more confident in it and he simply has not had that off season to be able to do that. Others have...
Huh? What in the wide wide world of sports are you even talking about?
I simply said that IF Kenny came to camp healthy he'd likely be the starter and I stand by that. He showed he can be effective offensively --- just needs to look for his shot more --- and none of the other candidates' defense is even close.
Fact is though, he'll have to start off practice slowly so that changes the equation to be a more open question. Nothing more, nothing less.
Let's get real: There are exactly two staring spots open. JB, Theo and Luke are locks (barring injury) . Plus, I can almost guarantee you based on Roy's history and preferences that one of the freshman Bigs will start (and that could flip among them game by game unless one just grabs it). That leaves one Wing spot.
If Cam starts at the 3, then Theo starts at the 2. End of story. But if Theo starts at the 3 then it's an open question at the 2, and KW's physical set-back opens things up. That being said, if Kenny has his legs under him he's gonna be awfully tough to dislodge. Ya play defense, ya play for Roy.
I agree that he shouldn't. But Nate Britt started games for us when we had much better options, so I'm not counting anything out - especially in the early going.
". Remember, Theo our starting 2 shot like 24% from 3 last season, but he was always a threat,"
^^^ And you are going to ask me what in the wide world of sports I am talking about?
Why shouldn't he? He's the best defender we could put at the 2 and he knows Roy's system and what Roy expects. He also plays pretty good team ball and keeps the ball moving. The only person that you could even think of starting over him would be Johnson and he has all of about 4 weeks under Roy.
If Johnson hadn't come, then it was a stone cold lock that Williams was starting - bad wheel and all. But I could see Johnson starting if Williams is slow to recover.
He was a threat to shoot, drive or make a good pass. The discussion was about a guy who wasn't a great shooter playing the 2. C'mon D, you might wanna read these threads before you jump in". Remember, Theo our starting 2 shot like 24% from 3 last season, but he was always a threat,"
^^^ And you are going to ask me what in the wide world of sports I am talking about?
Once again... #context
We don't win it all without Theo.....down one, who made the pass to JJ for the "and 1"?...Down vs Kentucky late in the elite 8, who made a big basket to stop their run? ....Its a lot of effective two guards who can't shoot in college. He may not be a threat from the outside, but he an effective weapon.
Don't forget his assist to Luke vs Kentucky.... a dime worth a million.
A 24% shooter was a threat to shoot? Yeah, he was gonna pass or drive, they want a 24% shooter to shoot it. Teams wanted Theo to shoot, beat the heck out of Justin or Joel shooting it, kinda like they used to dare JP to shoot treys.
Context? Really, come on, when we are talking Luke is similar to Larry Bird and Theo being a 24% shooter is a shooting threat, exactly how much context is required before it makes sense?
I get the discussion of lesser shooters playing the 2 and the fact we have had that and still won but that does not justify saying a 24% shooter is a jump shooting threat, what part of that is not clear?
#content
I don't argue counter to that at all, pretty much why IMO Theo is one of the 3 locks to start for us this season, along with Joel and Luke. Theo is an absolute threat to facilitate the good pass by his ability to play over opponents with his length as well as ability to put the ball on the floor vs longer defenders, and the kid plays with a great motor.
But you look back at UNC teams of the past, our final 4 level teams may have had a weaker shooter at the 2 or the 3 but we had a solid proven shooting threat at one of those positions. Jackie had Rashad, Kenny/Theo last year had Justin. Now we would all love for Cam to be Rashad or Justin like knock down shooter but don't forget, this is his first year with us. We would all LOVE for Theo or Kenny to become solid knock down shooters this coming season but do you expect that?
I am gonna play the odds here on what I expect, I think the odds are against Theo and Kenny all the sudden becoming go to knock down jump shooters. I do not like the odds of Cam coming in and being Justin Jackson 2.0. I do know for a fact how much Roy prefers 2 PGs on the floor together and I see one reserve from last season in 7th that has PG experience with us and I see Jalek who many here have slotted as our next PG star when Joel leaves. I see BRob who I think will shoot much better this coming season, has added some weight, and has a solid length advantage at the 2 and I have not forgotten BRob coming in a duke game and playing some tuff hard nose defense. Personally I like my odds much more with those 3 guys at the 2 and THeo/Cam handling the wing spot. Had Kenny had this whole off season healthy to work on his game, he would be my favorite to be our 2 guard starter but he simply has not had that and who knows how close to 100% he will be when practice starts or when the season begins?
2 other for me safe bets, first 7th will be able to defend 2 guards at the level Kenny does, this kid has a passion to defend. 7th would push the offense more than Kenny, 7th will not hesitate or be reluctant on the offensive end where Kenny hesitated and gave up ops to often. He badly needed this off season to gain confidence in his ability to knock down shots with a hand in his face.
Second safe bet IMO, Jalek is an electric scorer, not a great jump shooter but solid enough that it must be respected and a willing passer. Jalek will not hesitate to put the ball on the floor and drive to the rim or put up the clean shot.
Let it go, brother. You missed the boat yesterday on this stuff and you just did it again. And one last time --- NOBODY was comparing Luke to Larry Bird
I remember you being Kenny's leading advocate before last season started. And when Theo got injured, Kenny proved you right.
The injury/idleness situation is why I worry that the window of opportunity for Kenny may not be open very wide, if at all. Not a knock on Kenny, who played well last season and would have been expected to improve more this year under ordinary circumstances. But circumstances weren't ordinary.
If Theo and Cam both start - as I expect them to - there will be a whole lot of competition to be the first guard/wing off the bench.
There are a lot of variables. I'm expecting Seventh and Brandon to have improved a lot. Probably not Kenny, although I hope he does, too. Then there's Jalek. Andrew, Rush and Aaron probably won't get much burn. But you never know.
A different way to look at it is to ask questions like this:
Who replaces Theo when he needs a rest?
Who replaces Theo when he moves to PF?
Who replaces Cam when he needs a rest?
Which guys do you want on the floor when Berry is out?
There are combinations you may not want on the floor at the same time. For example, if Theo and Seventh are still struggling with their outside shooting, you may not want them on the floor together very often. Meanwhile, there may be others that play better when they are on the floor at the same time.
Let's say that...
Berry
Theo
Cam
Luke
Brooks
...are on the floor when it's time for Joel to take a rest.
The likely choice is whether to put Seventh or Jalek in for Berry. But do you also swap out anyone else?
When Luke needs a rest, is that a good time to go small? With Theo moving to PF, are we better off bringing in a taller player like Brandon or going small at SG with Jalek or Seventh?
I Joel, CJ, and Luke, we have 3 very good shooters. As long as 2 of them are on the floor all the time, we should be fine. I don't think you'll see any 5for5 substitutions unless Roy is royally pissed and wants to make a point.
BYW, I expect Kenny and Seventh to improve their shooting percentages.
BYW, I expect Kenny and Seventh to improve their shooting percentages.
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