Every season the fans decide to lay blame on just one player when the team goes thru a rough time. Why?

[IDUNK4HEELS]

What do these names all have in common: Brooks, Platek, McDonald, Britt, Meeks, Love, Maye, Williams, Black, B Johnson, Yes u r right these are players who proudly wore the North Carolina jerseys recently but who were unfairly criticized for not living up to critics expectations who in their own right could not even carry their jocks…

The players owe not me or you anything but many feel the players do which is such a childish and selfish thing to think.

All fans want the young men representing UNC to give their all on and off the court as they grow as a team and if the team players on scholarship and the walk ons don’t perform like a Phil Ford, Michael Jordan, James Worthy or Tyler Hansbrough game in and game out that is no reason to make it a personal vendetta to single them out.

I cannot speak for anybody else but I would have loved to have been on any Carolina team in my younger days and be part of the family and u probably would have too…

 

[FlaTarHeel]

This thread should be pinned at the top of the page!
Thank you IDUNK✌️
@andrew jones

 

[imajericho]

Stop overhyping then. When somewhat sets realistic expectations people here attack them as being lesser fans. It's okay to be upset or frustrated when the team you love falters or the players falter. But, no player can live up to the expectations many of you throw at them.

 

[Ozheelfan]

There is uninformed criticism (Leaky, Maye) unfair criticism (Brice, Meeks, Britt) justified criticism (mcDonald, Brooks) and overall player bashing (Platek)

Current criticism of Caleb’s play is (I believe) justified, especially if, as ‘75 tells us, he is being coached to play a certain way, yet he is not taking on board the lessons.

Also, factor in coaches decisions…. Roy did Garisson no favours by keeping him on the court when he stunk it up, leaving sharpe and Kessler to rot on the bench… I don’t think Hubert is helping matters when he plays Caleb for 38 stinking minutes either.

 

[alabamaheel]

There is uninformed criticism (Leaky, Maye) unfair criticism (Brice, Meeks, Britt) justified criticism (mcDonald, Brooks) and overall player bashing (Platek)

Current criticism of Caleb’s play is (I believe) justified, especially if, as ‘75 tells us, he is being coached to play a certain way, yet he is not taking on board the lessons.

Also, factor in coaches decisions…. Roy did Garisson no favours by keeping him on the court when he stunk it up, leaving sharpe and Kessler to rot on the bench… I don’t think Hubert is helping matters when he plays Caleb for 38 stinking minutes either.

This is a great take Oz!

 

[39 Feet Above Sea Level]

Short is the memory of those who criticize Caleb.
His ”hero ball” beat dook/Krat in two of the biggest games in Carolina history and UCLA last season to
keep our season rolling. When he starts percolating again this season, the criticism will stop.

 

[imajericho]

Depends when his good games happen and what his bad games cost us, I'd assume.

 

[DSouthr]

There is uninformed criticism (Leaky, Maye) unfair criticism (Brice, Meeks, Britt) justified criticism (mcDonald, Brooks) and overall player bashing (Platek)

Current criticism of Caleb’s play is (I believe) justified, especially if, as ‘75 tells us, he is being coached to play a certain way, yet he is not taking on board the lessons.

Also, factor in coaches decisions…. Roy did Garisson no favours by keeping him on the court when he stunk it up, leaving sharpe and Kessler to rot on the bench… I don’t think Hubert is helping matters when he plays Caleb for 38 stinking minutes either.

I hope I have given critique of Caleb's play rather than critise him as a person because from all I have seen and been told, Caleb is a really good kid. There are times I love his play, there are times I really do not like his play and unfortunately both circumstances seem to appear multiple times with in a game. When we say good and bad Caleb pretty much everyone understands what we are referring to, don't ever recall a Tar Heel player being considered in such a way. It is like on the drop of a dime the kid goes from amazing focus, locked in and deadly to making one mistake after another. As good as good Caleb is for this team bad Caleb is equally as bad for his team and in the next 5mins you just don't know which one will appear?

 

[JimmyinVA]

a list of unfair scapegoating by carolina fans must include brendan haywood.

 

[TPFKAPFS]

And Max Owens!

 

[TPFKAPFS]

Some peeps are incapable of discerning the difference between criticism and bashing! (And some are trolls!) Platek was bashed almost exclusively. Leaky, Maye, Brooks, and Caleb are or were bashed a great deal and fairly criticised a bit! Roy didn't decide to put Brooks up for POY consideration, his importance and play did! Roy could play the loyalty card a little too long, but it is a defining pillar of the Carolina Way! Caleb does not fit this narrative. He has shown remarkable progress and has found a way to contribute despite his shot being anemic! He doesn't pout or cause a rift on the team and he is a breakout waiting to happen at all times! Hubs would be wrong to reduce his PT substantially BUT all starters need to play fewer minutes. And he should get a little bench time when he is on a tangent!

 

[bluetoe]

it's me, isn't it.

 

[IDUNK4HEELS]

After seeing more Love hate even after he came thru in winning time Tuesday night I felt the might be a good time to re-examine this topic because I still did not see a real believable answer of WHY one player each year has to be the scrape goal for how good or bad the team is playing…Just does not make any sense…

 

[Archer2]

After seeing more Love hate even after he came thru in winning time Tuesday night I felt the might be a good time to re-examine this topic because I still did not see a real believable answer of WHY one player each year has to be the scrape goal for how good or bad the team is playing…Just does not make any sense…

Your entire post was bullshit! There are very few UNC players that haven’t been criticized at one time or another.

 

[DaveChapelle]

I blame it all on QT

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

I don’t think Hubert is helping matters when he plays Caleb for 38 stinking minutes either.

To the extent that's true, is that Caleb's fault, Hubert's fault, unreasonable expectations...?

 

[dtodd4475]

Caleb seems to be by far the most successful of the whipping boy group though. A legendary tourney with all time iconic shots in a title game run type performances in the Big Dance usually shields a player from some of that type of venom.

I think I just saw that he and Mando recently made the cut down for the Oscar Robertson Award, and another player of the year type award for this year. Strange dynamic for a guy that much of the fan base seems to love to hate.

 

[alabamaheel]

Caleb seems to be by far the most successful of the whipping boy group though. A legendary tourney with all time iconic shots in a title game run type performances in the Big Dance usually shields a player from some of that type of venom.

I think I just saw that he and Mando recently made the cut down for the Oscar Robertson Award, and another player of the year type award for this year. Strange dynamic for a guy that much of the fan base seems to love to hate.

Imo I think you solved his lack of love in your post. More has always been expected from people who have been there, done that. That’s what I think is happening. Just like the bc game. He played much better during the second half and it was great. But, you had the first half in which the whole world knows he’s not that bad. I’ve never intentionally been hard on him, thinking he can’t do it. I’ve been hard on him knowing what he can do. Any sense???

 

[dtodd4475]

Imo I think you solved his lack of love in your post. More has always been expected from people who have been there, done that. That’s what I think is happening. Just like the bc game. He played much better during the second half and it was great. But, you had the first half in which the whole world knows he’s not that bad. I’ve never intentionally been hard on him, thinking he can’t do it. I’ve been hard on him knowing what he can do. Any sense???

Makes sense, it is still a weird dynamic. I just checked for the other award I heard he made the mid season watch list for national player of the year this year,it is the Wooden Award.

Robertson Award cut was down to the top 50 in the nation, Wooden cut is all the way to top 25 in the nation.

 

[DrJaaay]

I still have confidence that we're gonna be good by tournament time (barring injuries) and Caleb will be hitting important shots when necessary. If not, we'll be going home early. Either way, Caleb's heroics last year when putting the final "stains" on k's career ... and helping end k's career ... gives him a pass from me.
Here's to hoping he plays great from here on out, and UNC goes home with the conference regular season title, the conference tournament title and the NCAA title. Go Heels !!!

 

[39 Feet Above Sea Level]

Caleb's heroics last year when putting the final "stains" on k's career ... and helping end k's career ... gives him a pass from me.

….and in my book, it’s a LIFETIME PASS.
You just know that k thinks of Caleb every freaking day!

 

[DSouthr]

Caleb seems to be by far the most successful of the whipping boy group though. A legendary tourney with all time iconic shots in a title game run type performances in the Big Dance usually shields a player from some of that type of venom.

I think I just saw that he and Mando recently made the cut down for the Oscar Robertson Award, and another player of the year type award for this year. Strange dynamic for a guy that much of the fan base seems to love to hate.

The Oscar Roberson award, the Big O was the very definition of consistency, the man AVERAGED a triple double for an entire season. For Caleb to be in contention for an award with Oscar's name on it, sorry but that just strikes me as being very strange.

 

[gary-7]

What do these names all have in common: Brooks, Platek, McDonald, Britt, Meeks, Love, Maye, Williams, Black, B Johnson, Yes u r right these are players who proudly wore the North Carolina jerseys recently but who were unfairly criticized for not living up to critics expectations who in their own right could not even carry their jocks…

The players owe not me or you anything but many feel the players do which is such a childish and selfish thing to think.

All fans want the young men representing UNC to give their all on and off the court as they grow as a team and if the team players on scholarship and the walk ons don’t perform like a Phil Ford, Michael Jordan, James Worthy or Tyler Hansbrough game in and game out that is no reason to make it a personal vendetta to single them out.

I cannot speak for anybody else but I would have loved to have been on any Carolina team in my younger days and be part of the family and u probably would have too…

Logic is hard --- scapegoating is easy.

 

[Old_School59]

I love Caleb as a person and his love for his teammates is well known. I just hate the glaring inconsistencies he has. He can go from one 10 minute stretch being a first team all America to the next 10 being a turnover machine who can’t hit water if he fell out of the boat. It’s that which makes him the eye of the storm so to speak. I think most fan bases have their own Caleb Loves…

 

[kevindow]

Remember this ?

Caleb Love: MVP Damian Lillard's Formula Zero Camp

Caleb is truly a nice guy, a gifted player, and a wonderful teammate. He needs to remember his mental state during the camp, how he played at the camp, the lessons he learned at the camp, and then implement these lessons within the current UNC team. Maybe he should ask Damian to critique some of his recent games for helpful advice. I personally believe in Caleb, and Love will find a way ! (Tribute to the departed Grover !)

 

[Old_School59]

Remember this ?

Caleb Love: MVP Damian Lillard's Formula Zero Camp

Caleb is truly a nice guy, a gifted player, and a wonderful teammate. He needs to remember his mental state during the camp, how he played at the camp, the lessons he learned at the camp, and then implement these lessons within the current UNC team. Maybe he should ask Damian to critique some of his recent games for helpful advice. I personally believe in Caleb, and Love will find a way ! (Tribute to the departed Grover !)

What happened to him?

 

[TPFKAPFS]

He just helped us win 4 in a row, that's what happened to him! It is the same thing that happened to our coach who doesn't seem to be able to manage his individual players; develop a rotation; tell the truth at a presser; notice bad play; develop bench players; while still taking us to the FF and staying in contention for ACC and National recognition! Hubs must be the luckiest man in the world since he is such a poor coach! Caleb must have been born under a lucky star since he isn't good enough to have hit the shots he hit during crunch time! Hubs must be blinded by niceness or the Carolina Way or simple incompetence or he would bench the player that hit the 3 when BC was coming back and when Moo was coming back or when puke was coming back or when .......OTOH: there is not one person on here that is a better coach than Hubs or who has more access, even though we clearly can see more than he can!

Caleb does play inconsistently at times, and he does make a mistake of two with the ball AND he does carry us to victory when it counts! I see a team trending toward the heights again just like last year, but many can only see the bad! I scream at the TV too when there is a loose turnover at the top of the key but I fully expect the inevitable next play to make up for it! I hate the step back 30 footers at the beginning of the clock but I fully expect the charge taken or the dagger dropped too! I can critique as well as the next guy but I have never bashed Family!

 

[Archer2]

He just helped us win 4 in a row, that's what happened to him! It is the same thing that happened to our coach who doesn't seem to be able to manage his individual players; develop a rotation; tell the truth at a presser; notice bad play; develop bench players; while still taking us to the FF and staying in contention for ACC and National recognition! Hubs must be the luckiest man in the world since he is such a poor coach! Caleb must have been born under a lucky star since he isn't good enough to have hit the shots he hit during crunch time! Hubs must be blinded by niceness or the Carolina Way or simple incompetence or he would bench the player that hit the 3 when BC was coming back and when Moo was coming back or when puke was coming back or when .......OTOH: there is not one person on here that is a better coach than Hubs or who has more access, even though we clearly can see more than he can.

Dude, get off your high horse. We know you’re the biggest Hubert fan on the board but you really don’t need to circle the wagons every time someone remotely critiques him. Relax.

 

[2DDIMOND]

He just helped us win 4 in a row, that's what happened to him! It is the same thing that happened to our coach who doesn't seem to be able to manage his individual players; develop a rotation; tell the truth at a presser; notice bad play; develop bench players; while still taking us to the FF and staying in contention for ACC and National recognition! Hubs must be the luckiest man in the world since he is such a poor coach! Caleb must have been born under a lucky star since he isn't good enough to have hit the shots he hit during crunch time! Hubs must be blinded by niceness or the Carolina Way or simple incompetence or he would bench the player that hit the 3 when BC was coming back and when Moo was coming back or when puke was coming back or when .......OTOH: there is not one person on here that is a better coach than Hubs or who has more access, even though we clearly can see more than he can!

Caleb does play inconsistently at times, and he does make a mistake of two with the ball AND he does carry us to victory when it counts! I see a team trending toward the heights again just like last year, but many can only see the bad! I scream at the TV too when there is a loose turnover at the top of the key but I fully expect the inevitable next play to make up for it! I hate the step back 30 footers at the beginning of the clock but I fully expect the charge taken or the dagger dropped too! I can critique as well as the next guy but I have never bashed Family!

I think he was talking about what happened to Grover.

 

[alabamaheel]

He just helped us win 4 in a row, that's what happened to him! It is the same thing that happened to our coach who doesn't seem to be able to manage his individual players; develop a rotation; tell the truth at a presser; notice bad play; develop bench players; while still taking us to the FF and staying in contention for ACC and National recognition! Hubs must be the luckiest man in the world since he is such a poor coach! Caleb must have been born under a lucky star since he isn't good enough to have hit the shots he hit during crunch time! Hubs must be blinded by niceness or the Carolina Way or simple incompetence or he would bench the player that hit the 3 when BC was coming back and when Moo was coming back or when puke was coming back or when .......OTOH: there is not one person on here that is a better coach than Hubs or who has more access, even though we clearly can see more than he can!

Caleb does play inconsistently at times, and he does make a mistake of two with the ball AND he does carry us to victory when it counts! I see a team trending toward the heights again just like last year, but many can only see the bad! I scream at the TV too when there is a loose turnover at the top of the key but I fully expect the inevitable next play to make up for it! I hate the step back 30 footers at the beginning of the clock but I fully expect the charge taken or the dagger dropped too! I can critique as well as the next guy but I have never bashed Family!

Just because I don’t coach for Carolina doesn’t mean I can’t notice or even point out a mistake. And have you ever thought that maybe we wouldn’t need heroics if Caleb would show up for the rest of the game. This is what boards are for. Opinions. I do tend look at the good more than the bad but with him I think we’ve just seen it far too much. We need him that’s for sure. I think there’s still time but we need to win some bigger games that frankly, we don’t have on the schedule.

 

[dtodd4475]

Just because I don’t coach for Carolina doesn’t mean I can’t notice or even point out a mistake. And have you ever thought that maybe we wouldn’t need heroics if Caleb would show up for the rest of the game. This is what boards are for. Opinions. I do tend look at the good more than the bad but with him I think we’ve just seen it far too much. We need him that’s for sure. I think there’s still time but we need to win some bigger games that frankly, we don’t have on the schedule.

We would currently fall at a low 6 seed high 7 seed for the big dance. The ACC is not strong, but if we avoid the "bad loss" easier said then done, playing Duke twice, Virginia, NC State on the road give a chunk of some tier 1 opportunities, maybe Miami at home too. Gotta get 3 out of 4 of those, or 3/4 out of 5 if Miami qualifies as tier 1, if they do could be a 3/4 seed type going into the ACC tourney.

Not a ton of big ones but enough, agreed gotta start winning those.

 

[BlackRanger]

You are not going to like this but....people place blame and angst on individual performers because they (the former "hates" anyone that gets in their (former again) way (consistently) of achieving greatness through association. Friction causes heat.
And the very people that are supposed to accept and love are often the most prominent "haters".

 

[Archer2]

You are not going to like this but....people place blame and angst on individual performers because they (the former "hates" anyone that gets in their (former again) way (consistently) of achieving greatness through association. Friction causes heat.
And the very people that are supposed to accept and love are often the most prominent "haters".

What a bunch of tripe.

 

[al would]

What do these names all have in common: Brooks, Platek, McDonald, Britt, Meeks, Love, Maye, Williams, Black, B Johnson, Yes u r right these are players who proudly wore the North Carolina jerseys recently but who were unfairly criticized for not living up to critics expectations who in their own right could not even carry their jocks…

The players owe not me or you anything but many feel the players do which is such a childish and selfish thing to think.

All fans want the young men representing UNC to give their all on and off the court as they grow as a team and if the team players on scholarship and the walk ons don’t perform like a Phil Ford, Michael Jordan, James Worthy or Tyler Hansbrough game in and game out that is no reason to make it a personal vendetta to single them out.

I cannot speak for anybody else but I would have loved to have been on any Carolina team in my younger days and be part of the family and u probably would have too…

It's called being part of a forum where peeps sit around and think of $hit to post to get some attention and replies that in the big picture changes absolutely nothing except provide bored fans a place to vent and I'm doing my best to get away from it. These are (formerly) unpaid student athletes just living out their childhood dreams and they should welcome criticism because it validates that they are relevant and still have the opportunity to achieve their dreams.

 

[gauchoheel]

What do these names all have in common: Brooks, Platek, McDonald, Britt, Meeks, Love, Maye, Williams, Black, B Johnson, Yes u r right these are players who proudly wore the North Carolina jerseys recently but who were unfairly criticized for not living up to critics expectations who in their own right could not even carry their jocks…

The players owe not me or you anything but many feel the players do which is such a childish and selfish thing to think.

All fans want the young men representing UNC to give their all on and off the court as they grow as a team and if the team players on scholarship and the walk ons don’t perform like a Phil Ford, Michael Jordan, James Worthy or Tyler Hansbrough game in and game out that is no reason to make it a personal vendetta to single them out.

I cannot speak for anybody else but I would have loved to have been on any Carolina team in my younger days and be part of the family and u probably would have too…

Many of these players were (and are) being fairly criticized. 😂 No one should be immune from critique. A couple of the guys on that list weren't even good (relative to ACC-caliber starters) by the end of their Carolina careers. Others spent long stretches not playing up to their potential, and fans were just hoping they'd get there.

No disputing none of us could play even 1% as good as them in basketball. This is a pretty foolish bar though. Do you watch the NBA and never criticize any players' play? You couldn't play like them either. Do you never critique something a big CEO/investor/etc does? You probably wouldn't perform like them either, but doesn't mean they aren't making mistakes.