Isiah Hicks, our power forward !

[DSouthr]

Brice is gone and now there are some huge shoes to fill, fortunately we have a big guy that IMO can fill those shoes, if he can stay on the court...

Hicks game as improved by leaps and bounds since coming to us as a heralded Micky D freshman. He has filled out his frame nicely, he is IMO our most aggressive (a good thing) on court player in that he attacks the basket and does not mind going to contact as he does so.

I flash back to a game last season, truth is I don't even recall who the opponent was, but we saw both Brice and Meeks on the bench in foul trouble and Hicks came in, we had not been playing all that well, we may have been behind or at least it was close. But Hicks comes in and we go to our small ball with Theo at the 4 and all the sudden we began to click, fact was we played better that game with Hicks on the court. I came away from that game with a feeling I have had ever since, that if Hicks could stay on the court and not have the foul issues, the drop off in Hicks from Brice is much smaller if any at all than many feel it is or will be.

I feel very comfortable when Hicks is in the game, shows me a little bit of an Ed Davis type of game but the difference is Hicks is a quiet kid that is a great team mate, he isn't a kid that seeks the spot light and sulks when he doesn't get it. With Isaiah it is all about his team and his team mates more than his own personal glory.

While we all are concerned with the numbers of fouls he picked up last season, there is just a different mindset kids take on when they come off the bench as opposed to being a starter. A starter realizes he has to be careful not to pick up early fouls, a kid off the bench plays with more abandon and doesn't worry with risking some fouls a starter is not as likely to try. Kid off the bench wants to effect the game right now, a starter knows he has a lion share of 40mins to effect the game but can't if he is sitting on the bench with foul trouble.

We saw Roy manage Brice's fouls last season and we saw Brice manage them as well, that was the big problem with Brice as a Jr after all, his own foul issues. We saw that greatly reduce as a sr due to the way his coach and the player managed things, I expect similar will occur with Hicks.

As I have said, IMO, there is not a ton of drop off between Brice and Hicks if Hicks can stay on the court more, there may be no drop off at all actually. IMO, this could well be a all ACC type of season for Hicks, maybe even 1st team, maybe even likely 1st team considering the situation he walks in to. I really believe in Hicks that much, that I want him to rival Joel for playing time, I think Hicks may well be the un-expected key for next season. We have a final 4 quality back court IMO, the real question marks is what we can get out of our front court and IMO Hicks will be the foundation stone of our front court if he can stay on the court...

 

[Steat]

Hopefully Hicks is working on a 15-foot jumper with a little more arc on his shot. This is the only part of his game that is lacking. This will allow more space for his post moves.

 

[dadika13]

Hope he makes a similar leap this year that he made this past offseason. He was still very raw at the end of his sophomore year but you can tell he worked his tail off over the summer by his game this season.

I won't anoint him the next Brice Johnson just so soon, but the talent is (and always has) been there for him. Excited to see where he can take his game this season.

 

[TPFKAPFS]

I really love this kid! He plays with joy and aggressiveness! I really believe that a significant portion of his foul trouble was a combination of bench instant energy mentality and a desire to get approval from Roy causing hesitation. He did have some positioning and footwork issues as well as decision making, but I expect the off-season work to correct this AND becoming a protected starter will take care of the other issues. I'm really excited about the prospects of this great Family member!

I think we have the pieces in place to repeat or even build upon last year's success. Our three Alpha Dogs (JJ, JB, and IH) could lead us to the promised land!

 

[IDUNK4HEELS]

I hardly EVER disagree with Dsouthr on any of his comments because the man loves his Carolina basketball and is not only very knowledgeable of the game but can back up his opinions will facts and stats and NOT just here say but I CANNOT agree with him when he states Hicks talent wise is close to Brice Johnson. I hope Dsouthr ' s optimistic view will pan out to be correct this season especially UNC will really only have three players vying for time in the paint but as much as Hicks has made tremendous strides especially in his offensive game I just do not see him putting up Johnson type numbers. Hopefully David West can have another successful summer of working with Hicks down low and maybe he can get some advise from May as well...David, you know over the years I have followed and admired you rent less work here on this blog so this is not a ding at all just a difference of opinion...Wish there were more fans like you and Gary and Archer who commented all year thru not just during basketball season...

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

I would rather see Isaiah in the low post and Kennedy in the high post. Isaiah looks plenty strong enough to handle that, and is more aggressive around the rim. Meanwhile, Kennedy is a fine passer and has a better jumper.

But, realistically, I don't expect Roy to get that radical.

Brice's game improved dramatically as a senior. Part of that was because Roy designed the flow to emphasize what Brice was good at. That same game plan won't work for Isaiah, because his skill set is different. But Roy will design one that should emphasize Isaiah's strengths. So I expect to see Isaiah blossom as a senior, too. Maybe not as dramatically as Brice did, but solid improvement.

If you remember, in most games last year, Roy would get the ball to Brice early and often, even if he was missing. Will Isaiah get that benefit this coming year, or will it be Justin or someone else who gets that early emphasis?

 

[DSouthr]

I hardly EVER disagree with Dsouthr on any of his comments because the man loves his Carolina basketball and is not only very knowledgeable of the game but can back up his opinions will facts and stats and NOT just here say but I CANNOT agree with him when he states Hicks talent wise is close to Brice Johnson. I hope Dsouthr ' s optimistic view will pan out to be correct this season especially UNC will really only have three players vying for time in the paint but as much as Hicks has made tremendous strides especially in his offensive game I just do not see him putting up Johnson type numbers. Hopefully David West can have another successful summer of working with Hicks down low and maybe he can get some advise from May as well...David, you know over the years I have followed and admired you rent less work here on this blog so this is not a ding at all just a difference of opinion...Wish there were more fans like you and Gary and Archer who commented all year thru not just during basketball season...

First off ID, it is nothing but opinion and I don't expect everyone to always agree with the way I see things and yes of course what I said is higher expectations than I would expect most to have. His game is much different than Brice's game was, he is not going to do it like Brice did, I think he can get it done his way.

I really see Roy doing what WWJD suggests in moving Hicks to the low post and bringing Meeks up top to take advantage of Hicks strength and vertical down low and Meeks passing ability from the top. I think that puts Hicks in a great situation to benefit from the dump offs and the stick backs, as well as base line cuts for the ooops. His free throw shooting, was not IMO discussed nearly as much as it deserved but Hicks became a near 80% free throw guy and as the guy down low would be the big man you would expect to see get to the line most often.

Now I don't know that I expect Hicks to replicate Brice's rebounding but hopefully a healthy Meeks can help fill in that void.

And ID, man, don't you ever worry about disagreeing with me. All I ever ask from anyone that disagrees with me is simply to do so respectfully and they will get the same in return from me. ID, you are and IMO have always been a very respectful guy and I appreciate you for being so.

 

[Spacegrass]

Hicks needs to make the next step. He has the tools just not quite the polish. Hicks needs to be our post mismatch guy we feed.

 

[alabamaheel]

Don't forget guys, Hicks basically lost his freshman year due to wrong position. Not blaming anyone for that btw. Hes had to acclimate to his true position and even then hasn't had the most pt in the world. FOULS I know, but that weighs on you after a while. I truly believe he can make yet another big jump this year.

 

[gary-7]

Brice is gone and now there are some huge shoes to fill, fortunately we have a big guy that IMO can fill those shoes, if he can stay on the court...

Hicks game as improved by leaps and bounds since coming to us as a heralded Micky D freshman. He has filled out his frame nicely, he is IMO our most aggressive (a good thing) on court player in that he attacks the basket and does not mind going to contact as he does so.

I flash back to a game last season, truth is I don't even recall who the opponent was, but we saw both Brice and Meeks on the bench in foul trouble and Hicks came in, we had not been playing all that well, we may have been behind or at least it was close. But Hicks comes in and we go to our small ball with Theo at the 4 and all the sudden we began to click, fact was we played better that game with Hicks on the court. I came away from that game with a feeling I have had ever since, that if Hicks could stay on the court and not have the foul issues, the drop off in Hicks from Brice is much smaller if any at all than many feel it is or will be.

I feel very comfortable when Hicks is in the game, shows me a little bit of an Ed Davis type of game but the difference is Hicks is a quiet kid that is a great team mate, he isn't a kid that seeks the spot light and sulks when he doesn't get it. With Isaiah it is all about his team and his team mates more than his own personal glory.

While we all are concerned with the numbers of fouls he picked up last season, there is just a different mindset kids take on when they come off the bench as opposed to being a starter. A starter realizes he has to be careful not to pick up early fouls, a kid off the bench plays with more abandon and doesn't worry with risking some fouls a starter is not as likely to try. Kid off the bench wants to effect the game right now, a starter knows he has a lion share of 40mins to effect the game but can't if he is sitting on the bench with foul trouble.

We saw Roy manage Brice's fouls last season and we saw Brice manage them as well, that was the big problem with Brice as a Jr after all, his own foul issues. We saw that greatly reduce as a sr due to the way his coach and the player managed things, I expect similar will occur with Hicks.

As I have said, IMO, there is not a ton of drop off between Brice and Hicks if Hicks can stay on the court more, there may be no drop off at all actually. IMO, this could well be a all ACC type of season for Hicks, maybe even 1st team, maybe even likely 1st team considering the situation he walks in to. I really believe in Hicks that much, that I want him to rival Joel for playing time, I think Hicks may well be the un-expected key for next season. We have a final 4 quality back court IMO, the real question marks is what we can get out of our front court and IMO Hicks will be the foundation stone of our front court if he can stay on the court...

Hicks is a mondo athlete and a Burger Boy who was a bit of a tweener, who was forced to play out of position as a freshman. However that experience at the 3 didn't hurt in the long run and he has become a very dangerous face-up 4 man who can score in a variety of ways (and PJ Washington would look very good as his replacement in that role next year... jes' sayin' ). As I said before I would like to see a lotta hi-lo action with Meeks dealing from the high post and letting Hicks go to work.

Of course the key will be a summer of working on playing D with his feet, and concentrating more on positioning and rebounding as opposed to shot-blocking which gets him in trouble. We need Hicks to stay on the floor, averaging 25 minutes would be great.

 

[mikeirbyusa]

Shot Blocking-Footwork, he gets those 2 down and LOOK-OUT!

 

[Archer2]

I don't give a hoot if Isaiah blocks a single shot! I want him to move his feet and play solid fundamental defense without reaching. IOW, stop picking up silly fouls! Can he do that? I certainly hope so because we need him to play 25+ MPG next year and 28-30 would be even better.

We also need him to average 15+ PPG and 8+ RPG and those numbers are certainly realistic when you consider he averaged 9/5 in only 18 MPG last year. He has a lot of talent and could very well play his way into the first round but he's also got a lot to prove. And that begins and ends with playing smart enough to stay on the court for 28 MPG.

If he can't, we're going to be in a world of hurt next year as Brice's routine double doubles are going to be very hard to replace.

 

[adwood81]

On sleepless nights I count the projected Point's and rebounds of players for the upcoming year and not sheep For 16/17 my sleep number for Mr. Hicks is 14 and 9. Those numbers seem to help soothe my nerves and settle in to the night. I believe those are very reachable and he becomes our nbr 3 scorer behind JJand JB As many have said he must play better position d and quit reaching because he is in the wrong place.

 

[gary-7]

On sleepless nights I count the projected Point's and rebounds of players for the upcoming year and not sheep For 16/17 my sleep number for Mr. Hicks is 14 and 9. Those numbers seem to help soothe my nerves and settle in to the night. I believe those are very reachable and he becomes our nbr 3 scorer behind JJand JB As many have said he must play better position d and quit reaching because he is in the wrong place.

Yep. And if he can stay on the floor (minute-wise and physically) that scoring # might be low.

 

[adwood81]

Yep. And if he can stay on the floor (minute-wise and physically) that scoring # might be low.

Agreed He has talent to be a stud big if he can play intelligently

 

[DSouthr]

Hicks, I am very strong on this kid's game, actually feel better about him going in to his Sr season than I did Brice going in to his sr season because Brice at times was a bit of a hard head. Hicks IMO takes in his coaching a little stronger than Brice did, not that Brice was a bad kid just that he had a hard headed streak in him that at times drove Roy a lil nutzs.

Next season's team will be different than this past season's was, I think how we go about things has to be different. We played like we did last season because we had the players we did, Brice had a great season and we kept going to him, Marcus struggled some and we still went to him hoping he would warm up. But in part because marcus struggled as he did and Justin at times as well, we went a lil more inside, used a lot of brice's ability to knock down the mid range shots.

Hicks IMO has more of a power game where Brice was more finesse, Meeks seems to want to be more finesse but I think he should be more of a physical power guy. Point being we will have to involve Hicks in a different way than we did Brice, in other words play more to Hicks strengths.

 

[Archer2]

And play more to Kennedy's strengths too. Put that man in the high post and utilize his ability to hit the 18 footer and pass to cutters down low. He can't power the ball up and over defenders so he shouldn't be expected to do so. Open up the lane and give our slashers more room to operate.

 

[DSouthr]

And play more to Kennedy's strengths too. Put that man in the high post and utilize his ability to hit the 18 footer and pass to cutters down low. He can't power the ball up and over defenders so he shouldn't be expected to do so. Open up the lane and give our slashers more room to operate.

And archer, you just hit the major question I have, he can not power the ball up and over defenders so why not power the ball up and THRU defenders? Why not draw the foul on the defender, get the defender in foul trouble, and get to the foul line for 2 or the and 1? Vast majority of the time when meeks is posted up so deep his defender in INSIDE THE BLOCK CHARGE CIRCLE! By definition that can not be a charge if Meeks attacks his defender when that defender is in that circle. PUNISH THE DEFENDER FOR BEING THERE!

 

[TPFKAPFS]

Sometimes you have trouble asking an antelope to be a bull! Meeks interior game doesn't match his exterior physique. It takes time and persistence to change self perception. He is a finesse player in a power body. Roy and company should be able to use his own experiences and the feedback he got from the pros to convince him that his now, healthy body can power through peeps in the low post AND be effective from the high post!

HIcks will be a breakout star this year and should get to the 17-18 and 9-11 marks by ACC time. I see it happening especially now that he gets to change to the starter mentality. The coaches will beat the idea that footwork is the key to D into his head!

 

[IDUNK4HEELS]

The biggest difference I see between Johnson and Hicks was I think between the ears. Johnson when he got the ball anywhere near the paint did not ever hesitate or think about the shot he just immediately put it up. Hicks to this observer seem to think about what to do instead of letting his natural talent take over. He liked to dribble to get even closer when he was in and around the blocks instead of trying to score from where he was at which resulted in many steals and turnovers. I agree with David that Hicks might have a monster year but I wish he was more like Johnson and Hansbrough in the paint where their motto was I am shooting and there is not a dam thing you can do to stop me...

 

[dadika13]

The biggest difference I see between Johnson and Hicks was I think between the ears. Johnson when he got the ball anywhere near the paint did not ever hesitate or think about the shot he just immediately put it up...

But...Brice wasn't always that way. I think this season Roy will hammer to Hicks that he has to be more aggressive offensively.

 

[alabamaheel]

But...Brice wasn't always that way. I think this season Roy will hammer to Hicks that he has to be more aggressive offensively.

LOL. I understand. During this same time for brice going into his sr season there was great concern if he would quit fouling like a sixth grader on the play ground. Hicks has shown great improvement the last two seasons, and I hope and pray that getting the nod for a starter will seal his mindset of shoving that dang ball down everyone's stinking throat.

 

[DSouthr]

The biggest difference I see between Johnson and Hicks was I think between the ears. Johnson when he got the ball anywhere near the paint did not ever hesitate or think about the shot he just immediately put it up. Hicks to this observer seem to think about what to do instead of letting his natural talent take over. He liked to dribble to get even closer when he was in and around the blocks instead of trying to score from where he was at which resulted in many steals and turnovers. I agree with David that Hicks might have a monster year but I wish he was more like Johnson and Hansbrough in the paint where their motto was I am shooting and there is not a dam thing you can do to stop me...

ID, I think you will see more of that alpha mindset from Hicks as a starter, it is just a different mindset a kid takes when he starts over coming off the bench. A few can bring a starters mindset off the bench, Theo IMO finds a way to do this but Theo is a alpha guy anyway, he is a alpha dawg at team meals! But more and more over the last couple years I have seen Hicks become aggressive with his play on the court, he has more and more gone in to attack mode. For some reason I didn't feel he really gelled with Brice on the floor with him, it was like he was not as comfortable in being his own player when Brice was on the court, almost like a lil brother kind of thing.