Justin pierce

[DSouthr]

I agree with earning minutes. Showing you belong and earning the starters spot, but still being one among 3 similar players still affords you less opportunity (minutes) then being a clear option at another top level place and then being able to compete head up against those type players in real game action nightly.

I just don't see it as being "scared" of competition as many seem to throw out there when bringing in multiple guys at the same position or having multiple guys at the position back is mentioned as a negative for a player when choosing among his suitors.

Understand, I am not in any way meaning to suggest Pierce picking Michigan would mean he is scared to compete for PT with us, I was talking in broad general terms.

Very true that a big time kid has to look at the quality of depth at his position, a quality back up reduces the need for a coach to have a guy on the floor for huge minutes and the better the back up usually the more time that back up gets, means lesser PT for that big timer.

Specific to Pierce, have heard nothing about him demanding to be a starter but I do think he wanted a clear feeling for how many minutes he could reasonably expect and how he would be used (at the 3 exclusive, at the 4 exclusive, split minutes between the 3 & 4), all very reasonable concerns that he should want clarity on.

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

I am really taken aback a bit about all the hand wringing concerning Pierce's decision. Decent player I suppose, but he was at W&M. And there for a reason. UNC already has guys at his size that are better athletes, that have already been in the system. He might be a capable emergency type player, but just don't see him playing a pivotal role.

We have one guy his size - Leaky - who had a good but limited freshman year. We all expect him to do well as a soph. But let's remember that he missed 13 games last season and didn't play even 10 minutes in any game in the 2nd half of the season (including games before the injury).

The off season will be important for Leaky. But he looks good.

We all (I think) have Leaky penciled in as starting at SF unless maybe we land Pierce - but even then most of us expect Leaky to start. But even if he can handle starter minutes, who's his backup? 6'4 170 BRob, who himself only averaged 12 mpg as a junior. Sure, he looked good. But he looked good mainly as a SG, not a short, scrawny SF.

And, as several have pointed out, if no one steps up to play backup PF - who would that be? - then Leaky will have to try to do that. Meaning more minutes at SF for BRob, or some other short guy.

Pierce meets a very real need.

 

[ajklum]

Plenty of playing available at the 3 for JP. We are way thin there. He can play the stretch 4 like Maye as well to give Brooks a blow. I can see him getting 20+ minutes given that the 3 and 4 are our weak spots this season. Even if Leaky get the start at the 3, he isnt gonna play for 40 minutes.

 

[dadika13]

Plenty of playing available at the 3 for JP. We are way thin there. He can play the stretch 4 like Maye as well to give Brooks a blow. I can see him getting 20+ minutes given that the 3 and 4 are our weak spots this season. Even if Leaky get the start at the 3, he isnt gonna play for 40 minutes.

Are we sure he can guard the 4 spot?

 

[DSouthr]

Are we sure he can guard the 4 spot?

I don't really want to assume that, I think the 4 will be handled by Brooks and Bacot, one comes out put Manley in at the 5 and roll on. It is my hope that Manley will take a big step forward and earn the starting 5 job, not because Bacot is lesser than expected but more Manley taking that kind of step. Kid will be a Jr, he has talent as well as serious length, if he gets the stamina to play big minutes, him starting would not shock me, so far we have seen no indication of reason to expect he will have that kind of stamina.

 

[dadika13]

I don't really want to assume that, I think the 4 will be handled by Brooks and Bacot, one comes out put Manley in at the 5 and roll on. It is my hope that Manley will take a big step forward and earn the starting 5 job, not because Bacot is lesser than expected but more Manley taking that kind of step. Kid will be a Jr, he has talent as well as serious length, if he gets the stamina to play big minutes, him starting would not shock me, so far we have seen no indication of reason to expect he will have that kind of stamina.

Yeah, agreed - to me, I think Manley is pretty big for how good we'll be next season. If he can develop as you mentioned, he's just such a unique weapon to have with what will be a top level PG.

 

[dadika13]

Take this with whatever you want to do with it...

Pierce's new instagram followers today include Brad Frederick, BRob, and Butter. Probably nothing, could be something.

 

[gauchoheel]

Don't sell mid major players short. Misevaluations are made all the time. Gordan Hayward and Step Curry were mid major players. Make no mistake Pierce can help Carolina win games.

His brothers Ladder and Stair were not quite good enough though.

Are we sure he can guard the 4 spot?

I asked a similar question to WWJD a couple days ago, will repeat the same question for you: which ACC 4s do you think Pierce/Leaky would struggle to guard? As a reminder, Pierce is 6'7" 215 lb and played the 4 for W&M.

 

[unchampions]

which ACC 4s do you think Pierce/Leaky would struggle to guard? As a reminder, Pierce is 6'7" 215 lb and played the 4 for W&M.

Yah. Good point. I took a quick scan through top 7 players by mpg for all ACC teams. Very rare to have two guys on the court much bigger than Pierce. He also looks at least average for ACC as far as athleticism.

I mean sure. He's going to struggle against Zion or Hunter...but who isn't. He's also in the same ballpark as those guys sizewise. Well...not in the lbs. department with Zion of course.

 

[DeuceManJones]

Take this with whatever you want to do with it...

Pierce's new instagram followers today include Brad Frederick, BRob, and Butter. Probably nothing, could be something.

Maybe Justin wants to see if they can improve his post game.

https://giphy.com/gifs/beBy7w1gklos0/fullscreen

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

Are we sure he can guard the 4 spot?

I don't think we're sure we have anyone who can guard the 4 except Garrison. But at the least if we have Pierce, we can have someone fresh - whether it's Leaky or Pierce - when Garrison isn't on the floor (or if Garrison needs to move to the post).

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

Is it just my imagination or has the upcoming season had more logistical problems than usual? I mean there are always question marks, but they are usually whether someone's shot will improve, or whether they will have fully recovered from injury when the season starts. Things like that. But this year we have also had serious holes at multiple positions. Almost filled now, but many more and later in the recruiting season than usual.

Last time we had anything close to this, that I can recall, was after the Wear boys jumped ship.

 

[gauchoheel]

I don't think we're sure we have anyone who can guard the 4 except Garrison. But at the least if we have Pierce, we can have someone fresh - whether it's Leaky or Pierce - when Garrison isn't on the floor (or if Garrison needs to move to the post).

Why would we feel more confident in Brooks at the 4 though? He might be too slow for a lot of those guys. Dook's last three starters at the 4 have been Zion, Bagley, and Tatum. We didn't play Brooks on Zion, and Theo was our best defender against Bagley. Tatum would have been far too quick for Brooks.

As mentioned above UVA used Hunter at the 4. He's too quick for Garrison. Va Tech played Ty Outlaw, a 6-6 spot up shooter, at the 4 last year. Kansas will probably run a 4 guard lineup this year unless they get Precious. Louisville used 6-7 Jordan Nwora. Even famously big FSU played Phil Cofer at the 4, and while he's 6-8 he shot more 3s than 2s.

One guy I think Garrison would be a good matchup against is Oshae Brissett at Syracuse, but it seems like with modern 4s there's a risk Brooks struggles with speed too.

 

[DSouthr]

Yah. Good point. I took a quick scan through top 7 players by mpg for all ACC teams. Very rare to have two guys on the court much bigger than Pierce. He also looks at least average for ACC as far as athleticism.

I mean sure. He's going to struggle against Zion or Hunter...but who isn't. He's also in the same ballpark as those guys sizewise. Well...not in the lbs. department with Zion of course.

Honestly, I don't understand that "he has average athleticism", not picking on you champ, but I have seen that expressed in several different ways so I picked your post to discuss this. Kid easily rises up and plays over the rim, at 6'7" he elevates easier and higher than Deon did for example. I see plenty of athleticism in him that I would not call average for any NCAA league.

What I see in the kid is a bit more athletic version of Matt Doherty (the player). As I have shared, I don't expect us to get him but I would LOVE for us to, he IMO is the missing piece to the puzzle.

 

[dadika13]

Take this with whatever you want to do with it...

Pierce's new instagram followers today include Brad Frederick, BRob, and Butter. Probably nothing, could be something.

Update, Pierce has followed them all back on Instagram.

...real hot intel I'm bringing here guys

 

[tarheel0910]

Update, Pierce has followed them all back on Instagram.

...real hot intel I'm bringing here guys

Was the sky blue when he started following? If so, he's a lock.

 

[Sk1310]

Who hosted Pierce?

 

[Sk1310]

Update, Pierce has followed them all back on Instagram.

...real hot intel I'm bringing here guys

Lol. Is he following any Michigan guys?

 

[dadika13]

He's announcing tomorrow at noon.

 

[heels05champs]

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

View embedded media

Should have leaked by now.

Where is Julian Assange when you need him?

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

Why would we feel more confident in Brooks at the 4 though? He might be too slow for a lot of those guys. Dook's last three starters at the 4 have been Zion, Bagley, and Tatum. We didn't play Brooks on Zion, and Theo was our best defender against Bagley. Tatum would have been far too quick for Brooks.

As mentioned above UVA used Hunter at the 4. He's too quick for Garrison. Va Tech played Ty Outlaw, a 6-6 spot up shooter, at the 4 last year. Kansas will probably run a 4 guard lineup this year unless they get Precious. Louisville used 6-7 Jordan Nwora. Even famously big FSU played Phil Cofer at the 4, and while he's 6-8 he shot more 3s than 2s.

One guy I think Garrison would be a good matchup against is Oshae Brissett at Syracuse, but it seems like with modern 4s there's a risk Brooks struggles with speed too.

That hadn't occurred to me. Sure, he will struggle against somebody, but it hadn't occurred to me that this might be more than an occasional problem.

All the more reason why we need Pierce - so he or Leaky will be fresh for those challenges.

 

[Steat]

Sticking with my prediction I made several days ago. He will commit to UNC.

 

[Archer2]

Should have leaked by now.

Where is Julian Assange when you need him?

Or Comey?

 

[TarHeelMark]

His brothers Ladder and Stair were not quite good enough though.

LOL

 

[headenheel]

I prefer Avenatti... heard he has a copy of the LOI.

Bwaaahhh

 

[gary-7]

Understand, I am not in any way meaning to suggest Pierce picking Michigan would mean he is scared to compete for PT with us, I was talking in broad general terms.

Very true that a big time kid has to look at the quality of depth at his position, a quality back up reduces the need for a coach to have a guy on the floor for huge minutes and the better the back up usually the more time that back up gets, means lesser PT for that big timer.

Specific to Pierce, have heard nothing about him demanding to be a starter but I do think he wanted a clear feeling for how many minutes he could reasonably expect and how he would be used (at the 3 exclusive, at the 4 exclusive, split minutes between the 3 & 4), all very reasonable concerns that he should want clarity on.

There's nothing to explain or justify... from you or from him. I mean, if you get (and earn) the op as a grad tansfer to move on up to the big-time for one season, who can blame that player for wanting to play as much as possible during that one year?

Pierce was never recruited by the sort of programs that want him now, so good on him for earning this late chance at high-D1. Honestly, he'd be dumb NOT to look at the roster of his prospective destinations, given he has one chance at this. Wouldn't you?

Pierce is a fine player whom I would normally be happy to have at UNC. My main trepidation (that I posted above) is the fit on this roster, in particular when we already have two fine returning players at his position who have worked their way through the system.

 

[carolinablue34]

I feel pretty confident going into next year.

Would love to have pierce on the roster. If not, I wish him well.

What’s the big deal here?

 

[liloollie]

Our bench play will be key. Likely Black, Robinson, Manley, and Harris. Out of those guys I only see Black who can score being that Harris may not be all back with his injury. To me the big question is Pierce and Keeling if the level of competition they can score like that have been. Looks like these two along with Cole is our only scorers who can be counted on night in and night out

 

[GoNtheDistance]

JP Tar Heel

 

[dadika13]

I’m back to 50/50 on this one.

 

[headenheel]

Dadika... is that up from say 30/70 UM??

 

[itstartedwithmj]

I’m back to 50/50 on this one.

lol.... I'm at "I don't know & don't have a clue". Is that the same as 50/50?

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

Yah. Good point. I took a quick scan through top 7 players by mpg for all ACC teams. Very rare to have two guys on the court much bigger than Pierce. He also looks at least average for ACC as far as athleticism.

I mean sure. He's going to struggle against Zion or Hunter...but who isn't. He's also in the same ballpark as those guys sizewise. Well...not in the lbs. department with Zion of course.

And keep in mind that if we don't have Leaky and Pierce at SF and PF in those situations when Garrison is out then we're going to have BRob and Leaky at SF and PF.

So while the question about how well Pierce can guard genuine PFs in the ACC is valid, it comes down to a choice of a 6'7 185 SF and a 6'7 210 PF together on the court OR a 6'4 170 SF and a 6'7 185 PF together on the court. I feel safer with the first option.

 

[headenheel]

When does Precious announce?

 

[mikeirbyusa]

When does Precious announce?

Hi noon

 

[headenheel]

near OK Corral?

 

[mikeirbyusa]

near OK Corral?

 

[dadika13]

lol.... I'm at "I don't know & don't have a clue". Is that the same as 50/50?

Exactly.

That said, some positive UNC vibes this morning.

 

[mikeirbyusa]

Positive vibes from a pretty good source.