Really great to see Seventh healthy and confident, he deserves it. He did a lot of nice things tonight- he was very under control, unselfish throughout, made smart decisions and made everyone else around him better. He also did a nice job of pushing the tempo, getting the ball into the post for good scoring opportunities and actively kept the ball moving too. He was once again very engaged defensively and is starting to become a real force there. It can’t be understated how important it will be for us to have Seventh be a steady force for us off the bench that provides a veteran/calming presence while also being a positive contributor.
Ya know Frank, I can't help but recall some VERY spirited "discussions" I had on here concerning 7th's ability to play the point this past off season. My position was that the kid had to deal with injury as well as playing behind Joel Berry that sapped his confidence, caused him to try to do to much because he knew his ops were going to be limited. I tried to ask folks to have some faith in the kid, that he was going to be a player for us, that he could be a very good PG for us, maybe not Ty Lawson or Joel but a very good 7th Woods PG.
I was flat out told that was not going to happen (not by you BTW, just using your post here to get this off my chest), that he just was not "born to be a PG". All I asked was that folks give him the chance when he was healthy and not playing behind a great UNC PG with little if any room for him to play at the 2 and I was straight told that NO, he just was not nor would he ever be able to effectively play the point for UNC.
All I need to say at this point is considering how 7th just does not have the talent or ability to play the point for UNC, how damn good would he be if he actually did have the ability, how good would he be if he actually was "born" to be a PG? Heck, we might even know how many "blown assists" he had in each game? LOL
And while yeah, this was a needle stick back to some of those "heated" off season discussions, discussions that I did NOT like at the time, there is a larger point I want to make in this post. You just don't give up on a kid that has not had the chances to really show what he can do. Because of injury and playing behind really good upper classmen, 7th's chances of showing what he could do have been limited, this is NOW his best chance and what I have seen is a pretty darn good PG arise from those ashes. Coby will as well prove to those that doubt him as a PG wrong and in the end I think folks may see why my position going in to this season was and still is we go as far as our front court allows us because our back court and specifically our PG position will be in good hands. So far this season I think we see exactly what I talked about this off season and why I am so high on how far this team can go if the front court (specifically Brooks and Manley) can hold down the center spot. *If they can I think we are a final 4 level; team, if not then sweet 16. My bet so far, final 4, maybe beyond.
