...and this last one will focus mostly on moving from last season to the immediate future.
With that said, first...
A Last Word on Chemistry: In the last edition I discussed how Hubert's restoration of accountability (Leaky being the biggest case-in-point) ultimately rebuilt the foundations of good team chemistry. Welp, that wasn't the only issue in that regard. As we remember, well into the ACC schedule our performance was nonetheless maddeningly choppy, especially in regards to how the guys meshed (or more often, didn't) on the court. So much so, that folks I trust were privately pointing fingers at different potential sources of the disarray. However, at that point the only source I had was just my ol' coach's eye as to what I was seeing on the screen, and turned out it was right --- the sore thumb was Dawson Garcia.
* BTW, at this point, let me stress that this part is NOT going to dive into any "inside" locker room stuff --- again, it's just from observations of on-court performance.
Even before the concussion, I started isolating my eye on Dawson, and even back when we were trying to get the transition game going, he was often the proverbial wrench in the gears, rarely getting to his assigned "sprint" or "trail" lane in the Secondary, instead flaring to perimeter lanes. often getting in other guys' way. In other words, he was trying to be a 3 whilst playing the 4. And from there, when he got a swing pass, if he didn't shoot, instead of swinging the rock he'd attempt to drive from the 3-point line (the LAST thing I want my 6'11 guy doing), which predictably seldom ended well (not to mention evoking some "looks" from his teammates). Add to that, in general he was maddeningly "soft" inside, and the thing is, it wasn't from lack of physical ability --- he was our tallest and most naturally athletic Big --- it was more from lack of "want-to", and that sort of thing doesn't tend to sit well with teammates.
Anyway, as unfortunate as the circumstances of Dawson leaving the team were (and I wish him the best), being frank, bottom line is that it had the unintended side-affect of removing the wrench from the gears, as it were, while enabling the eruption of the legend known as "Birdy" Manek.
Now, on to sustainability....
Guard Play: Last time, we discussed the staff's adjustments to the absence of a floor-general. The bad news is IMO, that model is not likely to be sustainable moving forward. The main reason? SCOUTING. There's now beaucoups video for opposing coaching staffs to dissect. Lemme offer just one example from our previous discussions, i.e., how we created initial mismatches for RJ that maximized his strengths and compartmentalized his options. Well, frankly I still CANNOT believe that after the whupping in Durham, dook didn't adjust to that in the NCAAT (thank you, K, BTW
). The coach bud I watched that one with and I were both stunned they just kept accepting that high switch, and we flat wore them out. If I'm coaching against us I'm gonna "flat" and/or go under those high ball-screens and dare RJ to beat us from deep. Sure, he might knock down a couple but I'll gladly take my chances with the little guy chunking 25 footers, as opposed to him running amok with a 6'11 guy trying to chase him. In other words, that ain't rocket science, and opponents are likely gonna play us differently next season.
The good news? Our starting backcourt returns for their 3rd seasons, and historically that's when Carolina Combos tend to "get it" (Dexter Strickland, e.g.). Ideally then, we won't have to compartmentalize quite so much, and (hopefully) will have less need to deploy gimmicks. And speaking of which...
Clock and Pace: One of the consequences of triggering so many possessions with forced switches was too often playing Russian Roulette with the shot-clock. I mean, let's be honest, we pulled some possessions out of our collective butts (mostly Caleb's) with buzzer 3s... and yes, too often that buzzer went off before we got a look. Thus, it shouldn't be controversial to say that model is neither ideal nor sustainable. Here again is the good news about having 3rd-yr Guards. If (called plays notwithstanding) we can save that 5-6 seconds it takes to manufacture a forced switch, that makes the clock parameters a LOT more comfortable. Look, I'm NOT saying we should totally eschew that action --- it's a valuable trigger to pull out --- but it is limited as a default, so hopefully experienced Guards will give us more ability to Freelance and/or start half-court possessions more seamlessly.
To that end, IMO, the ultimate key to moving forward positively is to reclaim our vaunted transition game. As we've grown up with, keeping that constant pressure on defenses with ball-movement and spacing eliminates a lot of the need for manufactured triggers. Sure, there still won't be a Berry/Butter/Ray General leading the shock-troops, but our Guards should at least be Colonels by this season.
Depth and Rotation: Being frank, this past season was inordinately important for Hubert AND the program. We just weren't in a good place going in (for reasons previously alluded to), and personally, I found doubts about the hire particularly troubling. So, one could hardly blame Hubert for playing things close to the proverbial vest, which manifested in the tight rotation. Just as he made it clear we couldn't afford to have Kerwin's bad defense on the floor for any length of time, neither did he want to risk (albeit talented) youngsters not taking care of the ball or not executing their assignments. In other words, Hubert coached this team as if first-year results needed to be job-1, and that in turn would enable a more thorough restoration moving forward --- that's the way I choose to look at it, anyway --- and well, he succeeded.
OK, but nonetheless I doubt many here would argue that is sustainable. There were certainly mucho (legit) critiques on here about not building depth (and frankly, I find the whole "Iron Five" thing to be a, um, less-than-ideal meme for Carolina basketball). But again, while I can't speak for the staff, I think it was seen by Hubert as a bit of a zero-sum game for this one season --- and that under more "normal" circumstances he would've been more inclined to follow his mentor's approach to roster management. Welp... then I guess we'll see pretty soon, no?
From what I can glean, I think the accountability message has been conveyed, and that the returning players will enter Fall camp knowing that playing time will require knowing and executing your responsibilities on both ends. I also believe that the staff will make expanding the rotation a priority starting early on. I fully expect Puff to make the next step into standout status, and our two rising Sophs to become major contributors. I also believe McKoy can and should give us more minutes as a versatile backup. The question-marks of course will be from the three incoming Frosh --- as in how quickly will Washington (the most talented) be able to bang and go full-tilt?... or how quickly will Trimble (yet another Combo) start to "get it"?... or how quickly will Nickel learn to play defense and compete physically at this level? The good news here is that we should be in pretty good shape with or without major contributions from the newcomers.
Anyway... a few days after I posted the second of these threads, an interview with Brad came out elsewhere, and he alluded to many of these same topics in a way that actually dove-tailed nicely with the content of these threads. Moreover, he at least gave the impression that more steps toward some of the aforementioned prescriptions for restoration may well be in the queue this Fall. Keeping in mind that any new HC will naturally go thru learning and adjustment curves, I sincerely hope that is indeed the case. IMO, Hubert's fresh perspective combined with restoring the systemic foundations of Dean Smith basketball could be a pretty dadgummed good thing...
With that said, first...
A Last Word on Chemistry: In the last edition I discussed how Hubert's restoration of accountability (Leaky being the biggest case-in-point) ultimately rebuilt the foundations of good team chemistry. Welp, that wasn't the only issue in that regard. As we remember, well into the ACC schedule our performance was nonetheless maddeningly choppy, especially in regards to how the guys meshed (or more often, didn't) on the court. So much so, that folks I trust were privately pointing fingers at different potential sources of the disarray. However, at that point the only source I had was just my ol' coach's eye as to what I was seeing on the screen, and turned out it was right --- the sore thumb was Dawson Garcia.
* BTW, at this point, let me stress that this part is NOT going to dive into any "inside" locker room stuff --- again, it's just from observations of on-court performance.
Even before the concussion, I started isolating my eye on Dawson, and even back when we were trying to get the transition game going, he was often the proverbial wrench in the gears, rarely getting to his assigned "sprint" or "trail" lane in the Secondary, instead flaring to perimeter lanes. often getting in other guys' way. In other words, he was trying to be a 3 whilst playing the 4. And from there, when he got a swing pass, if he didn't shoot, instead of swinging the rock he'd attempt to drive from the 3-point line (the LAST thing I want my 6'11 guy doing), which predictably seldom ended well (not to mention evoking some "looks" from his teammates). Add to that, in general he was maddeningly "soft" inside, and the thing is, it wasn't from lack of physical ability --- he was our tallest and most naturally athletic Big --- it was more from lack of "want-to", and that sort of thing doesn't tend to sit well with teammates.
Anyway, as unfortunate as the circumstances of Dawson leaving the team were (and I wish him the best), being frank, bottom line is that it had the unintended side-affect of removing the wrench from the gears, as it were, while enabling the eruption of the legend known as "Birdy" Manek.
Now, on to sustainability....
Guard Play: Last time, we discussed the staff's adjustments to the absence of a floor-general. The bad news is IMO, that model is not likely to be sustainable moving forward. The main reason? SCOUTING. There's now beaucoups video for opposing coaching staffs to dissect. Lemme offer just one example from our previous discussions, i.e., how we created initial mismatches for RJ that maximized his strengths and compartmentalized his options. Well, frankly I still CANNOT believe that after the whupping in Durham, dook didn't adjust to that in the NCAAT (thank you, K, BTW
). The coach bud I watched that one with and I were both stunned they just kept accepting that high switch, and we flat wore them out. If I'm coaching against us I'm gonna "flat" and/or go under those high ball-screens and dare RJ to beat us from deep. Sure, he might knock down a couple but I'll gladly take my chances with the little guy chunking 25 footers, as opposed to him running amok with a 6'11 guy trying to chase him. In other words, that ain't rocket science, and opponents are likely gonna play us differently next season.The good news? Our starting backcourt returns for their 3rd seasons, and historically that's when Carolina Combos tend to "get it" (Dexter Strickland, e.g.). Ideally then, we won't have to compartmentalize quite so much, and (hopefully) will have less need to deploy gimmicks. And speaking of which...
Clock and Pace: One of the consequences of triggering so many possessions with forced switches was too often playing Russian Roulette with the shot-clock. I mean, let's be honest, we pulled some possessions out of our collective butts (mostly Caleb's) with buzzer 3s... and yes, too often that buzzer went off before we got a look. Thus, it shouldn't be controversial to say that model is neither ideal nor sustainable. Here again is the good news about having 3rd-yr Guards. If (called plays notwithstanding) we can save that 5-6 seconds it takes to manufacture a forced switch, that makes the clock parameters a LOT more comfortable. Look, I'm NOT saying we should totally eschew that action --- it's a valuable trigger to pull out --- but it is limited as a default, so hopefully experienced Guards will give us more ability to Freelance and/or start half-court possessions more seamlessly.
To that end, IMO, the ultimate key to moving forward positively is to reclaim our vaunted transition game. As we've grown up with, keeping that constant pressure on defenses with ball-movement and spacing eliminates a lot of the need for manufactured triggers. Sure, there still won't be a Berry/Butter/Ray General leading the shock-troops, but our Guards should at least be Colonels by this season
.Depth and Rotation: Being frank, this past season was inordinately important for Hubert AND the program. We just weren't in a good place going in (for reasons previously alluded to), and personally, I found doubts about the hire particularly troubling. So, one could hardly blame Hubert for playing things close to the proverbial vest, which manifested in the tight rotation. Just as he made it clear we couldn't afford to have Kerwin's bad defense on the floor for any length of time, neither did he want to risk (albeit talented) youngsters not taking care of the ball or not executing their assignments. In other words, Hubert coached this team as if first-year results needed to be job-1, and that in turn would enable a more thorough restoration moving forward --- that's the way I choose to look at it, anyway
--- and well, he succeeded.OK, but nonetheless I doubt many here would argue that is sustainable. There were certainly mucho (legit) critiques on here about not building depth (and frankly, I find the whole "Iron Five" thing to be a, um, less-than-ideal meme for Carolina basketball). But again, while I can't speak for the staff, I think it was seen by Hubert as a bit of a zero-sum game for this one season --- and that under more "normal" circumstances he would've been more inclined to follow his mentor's approach to roster management. Welp... then I guess we'll see pretty soon, no?
From what I can glean, I think the accountability message has been conveyed, and that the returning players will enter Fall camp knowing that playing time will require knowing and executing your responsibilities on both ends. I also believe that the staff will make expanding the rotation a priority starting early on. I fully expect Puff to make the next step into standout status, and our two rising Sophs to become major contributors. I also believe McKoy can and should give us more minutes as a versatile backup. The question-marks of course will be from the three incoming Frosh --- as in how quickly will Washington (the most talented) be able to bang and go full-tilt?... or how quickly will Trimble (yet another Combo) start to "get it"?... or how quickly will Nickel learn to play defense and compete physically at this level? The good news here is that we should be in pretty good shape with or without major contributions from the newcomers.
Anyway... a few days after I posted the second of these threads, an interview with Brad came out elsewhere, and he alluded to many of these same topics in a way that actually dove-tailed nicely with the content of these threads. Moreover, he at least gave the impression that more steps toward some of the aforementioned prescriptions for restoration may well be in the queue this Fall. Keeping in mind that any new HC will naturally go thru learning and adjustment curves, I sincerely hope that is indeed the case. IMO, Hubert's fresh perspective combined with restoring the systemic foundations of Dean Smith basketball could be a pretty dadgummed good thing...
Last edited:
