Britt will be Improved
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I hope all of our players will make some substantial improvements in their individual games.
Britt worked very hard last year after deciding to go from being a left handed FG shooter to a righty. So, we know he has a strong work ethic . . and he knows there is and will be a lot of competition for floor minutes this upcoming season.
Paige
Berry
Britt
Williams
I think the majority of Theo's minutes will mostly come from the WF spot . . with some time at the 2 spot. We really need Justin and Theo to stay healthy this year . .
Britt worked very hard last year after deciding to go from being a left handed FG shooter to a righty. So, we know he has a strong work ethic . . and he knows there is and will be a lot of competition for floor minutes this upcoming season.
Paige
Berry
Britt
Williams
I think the majority of Theo's minutes will mostly come from the WF spot . . with some time at the 2 spot. We really need Justin and Theo to stay healthy this year . .
Britt has always shot as a righty according to his father, it was not like it was the first time he had tried to shoot that way.
Nate really needs to work on defense hard, needs to find some level of dedication to that end of the floor, hopefully with a couple years of experience under him he can be more effective on that end. If his defense and ball handles do not dramatically improve his chain will be very short cause we have some very talented fellas at the 2 positions he plays.
I think we may see some rotations with Theo playing some 4 along with Jackson in a small ball look. We have to find a way to get Theo some more court time when his wheels are ready, the kid is a game changer, not the most skilled guy around but darn hard to question how hard he works out there, he just effects the game in a positive way if you are a Tar Heel fan. I am gonna say it, I think he will develope in to a better defender than Jackie Manual and may even rival Dudley Bradlley in that area before he is done playing for us. You just don't see freshmen that defend like that, you just don't. This kid has the ability to dominate a game and not score a point and you just don't see that often. It is like a wing version of Rodman, crazy stuff.
when I go through the lineups and minutes I have a hard time placing him in the game for any minutes, if Williams can shoot right out of the gate then Britt is only getting mop up minutes
Williams won't be "shooting right out of the gate" so Britt won't have that to worry about. Wms won't be getting the same open looks he was getting in HS. He will have to adjust to shooting with hand(s) in his face and pulling up off the dribble. That is a difficult adjustment for HS SG's. Especially ones in Roy's system where there are no plays called specifically to get shooters open. The question will be how/when Wms can make the adjustment shooting contested jumpshots. So, Brit will get plenty of burn until then.
Britt made major improvements last season especially in the area of taking a shot from the outside when it was available and hitting free throws at crunch time. I completely disagree with Spacey that Britt will hardly get any minutes on this years team. Everybody who follows Carolina knows Coach Williams like Coach Smith prefers to play upper classmen as much as possible because they know the system and he trusts them. This season will be no different...
ID, I agree and I disagree, first I do agree Britt showed a good deal of improvement on the offensive end especially jump shooting. I further agree that Roy does tend to go with his more experienced guys. However, for what, the 3 seasons in a row Roy has started freshmen so it isn't as if Roy always goes with experience if that frosh is in his opinion ready. Now of course, if it is close Roy will go with experience over youth.
But I would suggest that the quickest way to gain a starting job for Roy is to defend and be at least a threat to score on the offensive end. You can score a ton but if you do not defend your position you will find the pine and find it quick. Notice how far Nate's PT dropped at the end of last season. I would suggest his PT may have dropped even further had it not been for Berry getting hurt and then sick as well as Theo getting hurt.
It may seem I go out of my way to down talk Nate, that is not my want, but I watched the kid very closely last season and I especially watched him of the defensive end and I just consistently did not like what I saw. Roy clearly agrees because his PT did drop so hard once Joel Berry was able to go.
Don't misunderstand me, NO ONE wants Nate to play at a great level more than I, at least as a fan. I do not in any way consider him a wasted scholly. I understand he is a little fella and has to try to guard bigger guys a lot, I get how difficult that is. But I have watched much smaller guys really excell by moving their feet and understanding the system they play in, and frankly displaying a level of toughness I just have yet to see in Nate's play. I believe it ain't about the size of the dog in the fight but it is about the size of the fight in the dog. Dropping under screens and not recovering back quickly enough, being lost on defense causing others to have to switch over and pick up your guy, allowing your guy to get the drive angle by not moving those puppies. Those are things that the little fellas have to really make sure do not define them
I disagree, first if Kenny is in with Marcus & Jackson you know as well as I do defenses will do what they have to to try to stop Marcus & Jackson and that will mean leaving the new guy and make him prove he can hit open shots. But don't make the mistake of thinking kenny Williams is nothing but a catch & shoot jump shooter, the kid has a lot more to his game than just that. He can put the ball on the floor and shoot off the dribble with either a pull up or floater.
Kenny IMO is a much better player over all than many seem to think, jump shooting is not his whole game, I think he will get more PT than many think and I would suggest Nate really needs to work harder this off season than he ever has in his life because if he is not careful this kids PT could come at his expense.
Now of course UNC is known for getting the ball inside for higher % shots from our bigs but if we do not have those bigs that can carry us scoring Roy has more & more run sets to free up his jump shooters. He ran them for PJ, he runs them consistently for marcus, lots of elevator screens and especially late second halves. I really wish Roy would run more pick & roll looks so the bigs we have can have a couple of steps to finish rather than setting up so deep and not being able to explode up and thru or so much of the fall away stuff.
I dont see where some folks assume that Nate will lost PT. First, if Roy with his line up as the first unit: Berry, MP, JJ, BJ, KM then Second unit will be Britt and WIlliams, Theo, Hicks, Joel well I don't see how in the world that would effect anyone as long as everyone is "playing and defending well".
If Britt can pick it up on D, and by the way, his BIGGEST issue there is he is still trying to defend like he did in high school. ALWAYS standing straight up relying on his long arms instead of getting down and moving those puppies! If he can get that thru his head and make better decisions he can be a very good role player for us. jmhho
I agree Mikey but let me ask you, you watched you saw, did it concern you as much as it did me that last season was Nate's soph season and a soph season that followed a frosh season that he got a ton of PT. Did it not concern you as much as it did me that his defense was not up to the level it has to be to be a major PT guy in the ACC? A frosh I can see it, expect it, but a well seasoned frosh, not a frosh for the first time getting solid PT but one that had solid PT as a freshman. As big a deal as Roy makes playing defense and not turning the ball over, He shot the ball better but I honestly did not see a lot of improvement from him outside of his jump shooting.
It was concerning Dave. I honestly expected to see him do a better job of staying in front of defenders and such, but it didn't happen. No improvement this season and his PT will go down fast. Theo-Marcus-Berry-Wiliams will eat his minutes up. Let's all hope he is much improved on D.
Yup, Nate has got to be feeling those guys breathing down his neck.
If Roy does what most of us on here thinks he will and starts Joel B with Marcus, then Britt will be in a tough position. If he doesn't perform, sub patterns will favour the shooting guards: Theo and Williams which'll mean way less time for Nate.
Actually, those are built into our continuation off the Secondary Break, before we go into called sets or the Passing Game. They just didn't pan out as often last season because of our personnel issues. Marcus would too often get doubled, or JP's man would slough and clog the lane, or Britt wouldn't create the spacing necessary for it to work.
Roy also has pick & roll action in set plays that, again, had problems for the aforementioned reasons.
Also, among our Bigs, Brice and Hicks are more suited for P&R action than Meeks or James. The latter two are more suited for Pick & Spot-up.
We seemed to execute our best P&Rs off of set out-of-bounds plays, where it's tougher to help on D... or in situations (not surprisingly) when we had Berry, Paige and Jackson on the court together. Thus, I expect that to improve markedly this season.
After last season's head-scratchers I'm not gonna predict exactly what Roy will do with roles, but as for personnel I feel safe in saying that KW is a year way from being a consistent force. His contributions this season will likely come in spurts as he physically matures (he has a ways to go there) and gains comfort and confidence... and Theo wlll probably mostly split time with JJ at the 3... so there should be minutes available for Nate behind Marcus at the 2, which he is probably best suited for now with his improved shot.
That being said, the issues for Nate are (as so many have correctly pointed to) 1) his on-ball defense, and 2) (the one many do not want to address) consistently running the offense from the PG position. I'm just gonna say it straight up: A healthy Stilman White is a better PG for our system, although Roy will still likely give Nate the first crack at backing up there.
As you and others have said, Oz, his challenge will be to improve markedly in his problem areas, because if Theo's perimeter skills evolve as we hope they do, then he might end up taking more of the available minutes at the 2, and again, don't sleep on White getting more meaningful minutes this season at the 1.
I really liked the changes Britt made shooting the ball. I felt good with him shooting. I also think he tries to play at Roy's pace, which makes coach happy. The biggest issue there is that sometimes when he does he doesn't do it with a purpose. He will pick up the pace and then just overdribble or pass the ball around the perimeter. Like you guys have said, he was a liability guarding guys individually though. That has to change.
Biggest issue is size and strength. I have stood next to him and he is maybe 6'0 170lbs which is what I believe he is listed at. Marcus Paige looks an inch or two and 15 lbs bigger than Britt in person. But like Cory said he does play with pace and his shot has made nice improvements since he arrived.
Add to that Marcus's underrated vertical leap which makes him play much "bigger". Same with Joel B with his athletic power and explosiveness.
Nate is quick with a good handle, but he still doesn't elevate on his J, which makes him more of a spot-up shooter, and as you said, he is slight of build.
Now, I have heard Nate is working hard on his body this summer and it would be nice to see him get stronger. That is a big thing for him.
Marcus has pretty long arms for a 6'1-6'2ish guy. Not sure exactly but if I had to guess his wingspan is in the 6'6" neighborhood.
Britt will play especially when we have the lead late. Roy loves his FT shooting and his ability to make 3s. He's not as bad defensively as some of y'all are making him out to be. He has the most active hands on the defensive end and he plays hard. Needs to move his feet better and he needs to cut down on stupid turnovers. But he'll play plenty.
I think he is pretty solid off the ball and agree his hands are good. I just think he is pretty poor straight up where he is having to stop someone on his own. That is pretty tough for anyone though. A good PG is going to have his way with almost any defender on an island.
Not sure I'd use the term "solid", but he plays passing lanes well enough to get his hands on some balls. Backside help, on the other hand? Another story.
You're right: As a PG defending isn't so much a matter of "stopping" someone as it is staying in front of your man and not allowing your opponent to have his way by forcing him off his intended path. It was painfully clear last season that the scouting report on Britt is "take him to the rack", and that's usually what happened... without a lot of resistance. Learning to move his feet and beat the dribbler to the spot rather than reaching is a vital point for improvement. Adding some strength wouldn't hurt either. Carolina forces baseline with shell-rotation help principles. If the opposing PG is allowed to go where he wants, that scheme gets undone.
OK slinger, help me understand how he works hard on the defensive end yet needs to move his feet better? Those 2 things are in conflict with each other. I watched way to much of his man having to be picked up and we forced in to scramble to be able to agree on the works hard part. Move your feet, stay in front of your man by moving your feet, don't casually drop below every screen by again moving your feet and sticking tight.
Think back to the number of guards that totally lite us up last season, now I want to give Marcus a bit of a pass because he was hobbled most of the season and he expends so much energy on the offensive end that he may rest a little bit on the other end. But collectively our back court defense was a problem and because it was I tended to watch more on the defensive end, especially the off the ball stuff.
I understand Nate is not a big fella even for his position but most smaller guys like nate figure out early that they have to move their feet, tend to have a quickness advantage, may not be able to hold off with physical strength but should be able to stay in front of the bigger PG. I just didn't see the intensity consistently with nate, I saw it in spurts but I saw a lot of casual play as well. Saw it way to much on the defensive end but saw it as well in his ball handles, dribble the ball and out run your dribble or try a lazy cross over that gets picked, or a casual pass to the wrong guy?
I don't enjoy saying it this way, don't like at all saying things like this about a player who in my opinion is a good kid. But I am goiing to say what I saw, good bad or other wise. I did not like the way berry was shooting the ball early last season, as much as I like that kids talent and I spoke about it here, he was forcing a modified set shot and needed to release the ball higher over his head. The change in berry's stroke (still needs work by the way) was clearly noticable later season, his release point was much higher and the ball dropped in the basket at a much better clip. Point is there was a problem and with Joel it was worked on and improved in a noticable way and stills needs work in this off season but a kid that showed that improvement during the season gives me every reason to suspect the work in the off season will be there. I really do want to see nate improve, I do think he has a LOT that needs work and improvement and I know for him to stake out PT like he got his first 2 seasons he is going to have to put in more work or at least that work is going to have to show it self better in games. He has the experience edge but there are some really talented guys competing for time at the 2 positions on the floor Nate plays.
I will go on record right now in saying that Kenny Williams will surprise in a pleasant way as a freshman, he is a classic 2 guard with good size for a college 2 with a solid shooting stroke and extremely coachable. It is going to be really hard not to have him out there at the 2 when Marcus is not at that position. I say he will surprise because with Marcus you know the defense will be focused on keeping marcus from getting clean looks, who ever the 2 guard (or PG actually) is at the time will get a ton of clean looks when their defender leaves them to pick up the double on marcus. Last season defenders were leaving JP and doubling Marcus, if JP were a solid jump shooter he could have averaged 25 a game with all those clean looks he was getting. You can't leave jackson to double Marcus, if you have a solid shooting 2 or PG depending on where marcus is playing, you are forced if you double marcus to do it with a big man (4 or 5) and that opens it up for our inside guys with room to operate. If you can keep from giving it right back on the defensive end, then you have something special. Kenny can hit those jump shots that JP was forced to give up and he has the size and grit to defend on the other end. Don't be shocked to see this kid later season be the first guard off the bench. Don't be shocked to see marcus swing over to the point when Berry comes out and Roy swing in 2 guards rather than replace with a PG like nate. I see nate & kenny battling it out for back up 2 guard time, IMO Nate gets the nod early by experience, we will see who wins it later season.
Like cory said, nowadays, you can't expect even the best defenders to stay in front of a good point guard. Guys are just too quick, handle the ball too well and have been coached on how to beat a guy off the dribble (AAU ball emphasizes that). Nate puts the effort in. It's not like he's loafing. Effort is different than execution. The effort is there. Like I said, he needs to work on his lateral movement. The key for him is containment. Like Dan Patrick always said, "you can't stop (an ACC point guard), you can only hope to contain him."
Maybe it's just a UNC PG thing because in the past I haven't seen our PG's completely shut down their man or keep his man in front of him 99.9% of the time. Hell Lawson use to get beat too but that's seem at times due to lack of effort but when he locks in it's a different ball game. Kendall was deem to slow and at times he got beat. Felton, he was the exceptional expect for that time he went up against Chris Paul.
Paige, he got beat too however I seem times where Roy would switch and put JP on the PG or Dexter so.
As long as Nate can contain his guy I'm good and hit the jumper when needed to keep his man honest then that would be a blessing for the Team for which he as showed that last year. Just keeping improving and all will work out.
Paige, he got beat too however I seem times where Roy would switch and put JP on the PG or Dexter so.
As long as Nate can contain his guy I'm good and hit the jumper when needed to keep his man honest then that would be a blessing for the Team for which he as showed that last year. Just keeping improving and all will work out.
Some good observations there.
Remember again, that our perimeter defenders are taught to force baseline, so it doesn't always mean they were beaten just because the PG drives without being stymied. As long as he can't have his way in the paint, the defender may still be doing his job. The problem comes when the PG drives and successfully creates room for an easy passing angle or to get off an uncontested shot. And you're absolutely correct. In the past when that becomes an issue Roy has sometimes switched a better defender over to end that nonsense, because if the opposing PG is free to deal inside the foul line / paint, that is fatal in our scheme.
Ray was good at handling his man, and of course guys before him like Phelps and McInnis were. Berry can bring that benefit for us. But yes, Butter had issues with little quick guys, and Roy was constantly on Lawson to put in the necessary effort on-ball.
Phelps was a very under-rated defender. Did a GREAT job staying in front of his man, hoping Nate can develop those skills.
While Kendal was beaten by quickness, Kendal also had excellent size for a college PG as well as outstanding strength to go along with superior court awareness. Disadvantages are covered if your advantages are superior. I don't think you will find a Tar Heel fan and I am definitly not one that would begrudge Marcus for taking a bit of time on the defensive end to catch his breath, the kid works so hard on the offensive end and we need him to. But Nate just is not a 20 pt a game guy, he is more a 4-6 a game guy, guys like that have to contribute in other ways.
A smallish guard has to make up for it in other ways, Mugsy did, heck Shammond did for us, you don't find out you are small for your position once you get in to college, you already know that and you have to have already compensated for being small well before you get to the college game. If not you are going to be abused, you have to move your feet, you have to understand how to use your quickness advantage and you better be quicker than the bigger guys. IT ain't about the size of the dog in the fight fellas... But little dogs better have big time fight...
Now we can list our really steller UNC PGs and say they didn't always stay in front of their man as well. Ty Lawson I thought was going to put Roy in an insane asylum because literally the only way Roy could get him to really lock in on defense was to call a time out and spend the whole time screaming at Ty. But Ty Lawson, Ray Felton, Kendal were not on the court because of their defensive ability, they were there because they were vital cogs to our offense. Nate is not any where near the level of offensive weapon those fellas were.
Absolutely Gary, one of our core defensive principles is to funnel a guy in to the teeth of our defense. Funnel them in to the base line and side line traps, funnel them in to our shot blockers, funnel them & cover back to the spot up shooters or stick and allow the rotation to cover. But when your guy has beaten you and the rest of the team is in a scramble you chasing the guy in front of you is wasted effort. Air isn't going to score on ya so guarding air does not really help the cause.
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