Felton & Robinson

[What Would Jesus Do?]

I'd like to see these guys get good minutes today. BRob had a nice game against Clemson. A game that might signal he's starting to turn the corner. A game where it looked like things were finally slowing down for him. So let's give him a chance to continue that transition.

Felton needs more PT, too.

Both of those guys could be critical off the bench later on if they can get their games where they need to be.

I'd particularly like to see Felton and BRob come in for Joel and Theo at the same time. Since Joel and Theo will be gone next year. Let's give these 2 teammates more time playing together in real games.

 

[RP12]

I was thinking late when Clemson was pressing how helpful it would be to have Jalek on the floor but he just doesn’t have any trust yet. It will come.

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

An article on TOS says this. I hope they are right.

"Four of UNC’s next five opponents – Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech, N.C. State and Pittsburgh – rank near the bottom of the ACC in the NCAA’s official RPI rankings, thereby potentially providing Felton with more opportunities to win his head coach’s trust before the brutal closing stretch begins in February."

 

[mikeirbyusa]

Mooou will be a dog fight.

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

Mooou will be a dog fight.

They are so erratic it's hard to know. I mean they beat Arizona, Duke and Clemson, but lose to Greensboro. WTF? Then again . . . Wofford.

But Markell Johnson is back. And judging by the box scores I've seen recently, Yurtseven is finally playing closer to expectations. He's now starting and playing starter minutes - which he wasn't doing earlier.

Baffling to me why Abu isn't better. Is he still not 100% after missing a bunch of games earlier? Wasn't he thinking about going pro last year?

Most of the time when I want to watch a few minutes of one of their games, it's blacked out in my area. So I'd be curious to hear other people's views.

 

[mikeirbyusa]

Me too, have not watched them.

 

[2DDIMOND]

Mooou will be a dog fight.

Not at home! Feb 10th in Raleigh yes, but I think we roll them at home. Remember Roy don't like 'em, coupled with the fact that he owns them.

 

[Heelswin]

mooooooooooooooo!!!

 

[Tru Blu Tar Heel]

Mooou will be a dog fight.

 

[mikeirbyusa]

Boys, this ain't last year and Gotyourgirlfriend ain't there. They actually have a dern good coach.

Don't get cocky with this one.

 

[TPFKAPFS]

Love me some Felton and BRob! BRob seems to be finding his niche and looking more like TP every day! Felton is showing growth with his decision making and spacing, but still seems lost on D too many times. BRob should keep going as he is, especially with his growing confidence in his shot. Felton needs to focus on D and effort 100% of the time and continue his decision making development. I agree this stretch could be good for them and Branley if we handle our business!

 

[TPFKAPFS]

BTW: I'm glad State has a good coach. I hope they can hold onto him because I long for the days when the Big 4 was important nationally. Now we are the Big 2 sadly.

He will have them fired up to play us just like they did at puke. I believe we will be ready and poised to withstand their initial rush of energy!

 

[mikeirbyusa]

Felton sure can show flashes of extreme promise! He and BRob will be critical down the stretch for us coming off the bench.

 

[DrJaaay]

My daughter recently graduated from State (although she grew up a Heels fan) so I actually pull for them on her behalf (as long as they're not playing us) just so she can be happy. So I hope the new coach is a good and sticks around for a while ... although if he does well there, I expect he will flee for greener pastures.

 

[tarheel0910]

BTW: I'm glad State has a good coach. I hope they can hold onto him because I long for the days when the Big 4 was important nationally. Now we are the Big 2 sadly

I wasn't alive in the 1800's so I can't remember what it was like when moo was relevant.

 

[KOOL123]

Well I hope the new coach fails like the rest have....I hate them and when I say hate I mean a to the bone hate...I hope they never win anything ever again...They are the scum of the earth imo...

 

[TPFKAPFS]

I understand the extreme hatred for them recently due to the incredible ignorance of their fanbase, but we used to have a respectful if strong rivalry back in the "1800's"! There was a time where they actually cheered FOR State not simply against UNC.

But my little brother is in his late 40's and he can't get over being the "little" brother either!

 

[GoNtheDistance]

Because of unc and Dook being so good and so close together, state will always be a leverage job for a coach on the rise, or a close to last stop for a declining big name. State won’t ever compete with unc or Dook consistently but if a coach can sneak in a few wins here and there against them and then compete for NCAA tourney births in most every year, the stock of that coach will naturally rise as folks will say wow look what he did in carolina and dook’s backyard.

 

[heels05champs]

The good thing for us fans is that Roy absolutely hates NCSU. It dates back to his college days. Players have said he ramps up his intenisty during game week with them. Needless to say, Roy will have the guys ready to play on Saturday and the crowd will be rowdy. I’d be shocked if we don’t bring it on both ends of the court.

 

[DSouthr]

BTW: I'm glad State has a good coach. I hope they can hold onto him because I long for the days when the Big 4 was important nationally. Now we are the Big 2 sadly.

He will have them fired up to play us just like they did at puke. I believe we will be ready and poised to withstand their initial rush of energy!

Thing is, with the manner that fan base has conducted themselves over the last 5-6yrs, I want us to beat them by 50 every time we see them, I want us dunking the ball with 2 seconds left in the game and a 50pt lead!

Pay back is a dish best served COLD !

 

[gauchoheel]

On the other hand, this should be a close game (we're favored by about 5 points). Giving up even 2-3 extra points by playing the backups more significantly impacts our odds of winning.

Would you feel comfortable extending the bench more this game if it drops our win probability from say 70% to 55%? I know it's not the end of the world to lose a regular season game, and I'd like to give the starters at least 6-8 minutes of rest, but I'd prefer to wait for the upcoming NCSU and Pitt home games (where we'll be favored by double digits) to give the bench guys 10-15 minutes of action.

I do believe rotating Manley in a bit more doesn't leave us with much of a dropoff, and to some extent B-Rob (hard to say how well he's playing still). I still think Berry brings a lot more than Felton though.

 

[Tru Blu Tar Heel]

Because of unc and Dook being so good and so close together, state will always be a leverage job for a coach on the rise, or a close to last stop for a declining big name. State won’t ever compete with unc or Dook consistently but if a coach can sneak in a few wins here and there against them and then compete for NCAA tourney births in most every year, the stock of that coach will naturally rise as folks will say wow look what he did in carolina and dook’s backyard.

They had that in Sendek and sent him packing.

 

[TPFKAPFS]

Yup. I think tonight's game is a wait and see game. If we have comfortable margins, slip them in and if we don't...BRob, Manley, and positions of need (fouls, rest) should be the only subs! I'm a fan of playing all your peeps, but not at the expense of winning. I don't care about margin, however, so I don't complain to much when Blue Steel causes me to lose in the contest, lol!

 

[TPFKAPFS]

Holding coaches to the impossible standard of beating ratty and Roy is silly at best! They must regret losing Sendak by now!

 

[mikeirbyusa]

Well I hope the new coach fails like the rest have....I hate them and when I say hate I mean a to the bone hate...I hope they never win anything ever again...They are the scum of the earth imo...

Right there with you!

 

[FranktheHeel]

Yup. I think tonight's game is a wait and see game. If we have comfortable margins, slip them in and if we don't...BRob, Manley, and positions of need (fouls, rest) should be the only subs! I'm a fan of playing all your peeps, but not at the expense of winning. I don't care about margin, however, so I don't complain to much when Blue Steel causes me to lose in the contest, lol!

And I think that is exactly the approach that Roy has been having based on the pace of the game and how his team is fairing. You could see how he tightened up his rotation more in the Clemson game knowing that he had an extra rest day as they weren't playing again until Saturday, but more importantly, for one you could see that it was one that he wanted to win (as he said "I'm gonna be fired up for this one") and also Clemson's run in the second half really made him need to have his main guns to be out there for extended minutes being able to throw some punches back at Clemson compared to the GT game where he was able to give his reserves some more run as we started to build a lead and were commanding the game.

And my favorite lineup to close out games is Ma, Rush, Rholman (Thor), Miller and Huff, empty the bench Ole Roy!!!

 

[FranktheHeel]

On the other hand, this should be a close game (we're favored by about 5 points). Giving up even 2-3 extra points by playing the backups more significantly impacts our odds of winning.

Would you feel comfortable extending the bench more this game if it drops our win probability from say 70% to 55%? I know it's not the end of the world to lose a regular season game, and I'd like to give the starters at least 6-8 minutes of rest, but I'd prefer to wait for the upcoming NCSU and Pitt home games (where we'll be favored by double digits) to give the bench guys 10-15 minutes of action.

I do believe rotating Manley in a bit more doesn't leave us with much of a dropoff, and to some extent B-Rob (hard to say how well he's playing still). I still think Berry brings a lot more than Felton though.

I totally agree that I would like to see Manley get some more run tonight and B-Rob to play what he has in the last 3 games about 8-9 minutes as I do believe that they are starting to develop a good trust and chemistry with our core guys. I do believe that allowing guys like Manley and B-Rob who have shown signs of being able to hold their own in environments like this will only pay more dividends for them and our team as a whole as the year progresses.
Something that I have always credited Roy for is developing his bench and giving them the ability to gain in game experience throughout the year as they go through some ups and downs, as a way to increase their confidence and have them come out an even better player come March as an asset to the team. I think we have seen it the last couple of years how important having guys come off the bench to relieve your starters for a few minutes in a tight/hard fought game late in the season is. Also, you might even need to have them ready to come in and play a predominant role as one of our starters gets into foul trouble. They become even more valuable if they can provide a spark like Manley did against GT as he came in aggressive and gave us a big boost that ignited our guys to get on a run which we were able to build on and carry over into the second half.
I think you do make a good point that giving them extended minutes against teams that we are a little more favored against or have built a solid lead in a game, does also provide value to their growth, as like I've said my thought is that you need to give these two guys in particular enough opportunities to play and be able to continue to gain confidence since we do need them to be a complete team. Having Sterling and B-Rob as solid and reliable pieces off the bench that are ready to contribute when their number is called is big for our team.

 

[gauchoheel]

I totally agree that I would like to see Manley get some more run tonight and B-Rob to play what he has in the last 3 games about 8-9 minutes as I do believe that they are starting to develop a good trust and chemistry with our core guys. I do believe that allowing guys like Manley and B-Rob who have shown signs of being able to hold their own in environments like this will only pay more dividends for them and our team as a whole as the year progresses.
Something that I have always credited Roy for is developing his bench and giving them the ability to gain in game experience throughout the year as they go through some ups and downs, as a way to increase their confidence and have them come out an even better player come March as an asset to the team. I think we have seen it the last couple of years how important having guys come off the bench to relieve your starters for a few minutes in a tight/hard fought game late in the season is. Also, you might even need to have them ready to come in and play a predominant role as one of our starters gets into foul trouble. They become even more valuable if they can provide a spark like Manley did against GT as he came in aggressive and gave us a big boost that ignited our guys to get on a run which we were able to build on and carry over into the second half.
I think you do make a good point that giving them extended minutes against teams that we are a little more favored against or have built a solid lead in a game, does also provide value to their growth, as like I've said my thought is that you need to give these two guys in particular enough opportunities to play and be able to continue to gain confidence since we do need them to be a complete team. Having Sterling and B-Rob as solid and reliable pieces off the bench that are ready to contribute when their number is called is big for our team.

Well said. I agree.

 

[Archer2]

I would add Jalek to those two, Frank. I truly believe those 3 will get the lion's share of the minutes off the bench as the season winds down, with Garrison and Andrew getting a handful between them. I think there is a bigger dropoff from starters to bench this year than usual and so I anticipate the starters playing more minutes than we generally see, out of necessity.

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

I wasn't alive in the 1800's so I can't remember what it was like when moo was relevant.

LOL