Late stuff (Cuse game)...

[gary-7]

...and my apologies for the delay --- had to wait for the replay.

So, just some quick random observations from my notes:

- This one came down to perseverence and patience. I've said on many occasions that the Carolina Zone Offense is a thing of beauty, and with the extra spacing afforded by the 3-point line it's just SO hard to defend. I mean, if we go thru our iterations and make-the-pass-that-leads-to-the-pass, we're gonna get shots. Just gotta knock enough down.

- Offensive rebounding, as expected, was a difference-maker --- 24 to be exact, and both our starting Bigs with double/doubles.

- That being said, speaking of pounding it inside, can we just once get an at least competent crew? I mean not getting into the bonus all night until 3:00 to go in the game? C'mon man. And that 10-second call? Hmm... seems like they should've been able to go to replay there.

- Cuse, as usual, has little conscience in talking outside shots, and no matter how well you defend they're just gonna make some. I don't mind that, but there were jags of breakdowns where we made it too easy, and triggered runs when we had chances to put the game away. They hurt us from the tip with their elbow screen-and-curl action, and both our starting wings were getting caught. That said, kudos to Leaky for cleaning up his footwork in the second half and cooling off Boeheim.

- Noticed RJ was putting more arc on his shot and his makes looked good. That line-drive he'd been shooting was no good. Looks like Hubert has been working with him. Speaking of shooting, we survived a bad 3-pt shooting evening and still won --- again, a tribute to our Zone O.

- Good to see Walton realize it's ok to take a pull-up J when the 3 isn't there. And one of the likely under-noticed BIG plays late was Platek's tip-out when we were only up 1.

- Was also good to see us start off the second half in traditional Carolina fashion by using our running game to put pressure on their defense --- then we lost our minds for a stretch, but at least it was a good sign. Also liked the quick buckets off the side option on the Secondary.

- Caleb got off to a really strong start, and only a couple of bad decisions, but he's GOT to get that body vertical on his pull-ups.

- Other than our shooting pct, the only other thing that bothered me offensively is that we're still missing guys --- in other words, there were often some guys open that a solid pass would've produced an easy look in transition. Hopefully that will clean up as we go.

- And finally, it looked like an actual personnel rotation tonight, as opposed to random experimentation, and Roy chose well on whom to rely on in crunch time.

Anyway, this was not a gimme win by any means --- Cuse has been playing really well --- but it's the type of game we need to not let get away. We didn't. Solid win!...

 

[Tom79]

Liked the "lost our minds"...keep the faith gary-7, they are beginning to get it.
Good to hear Ant is in full court work in practice now.

 

[Bubspub88]

It looked like UNC's young guards are finally starting to understand the concept of how Roy wants to push tempo. I noticed several instances early on where Love (often off a Cuse basket) would push up court and the use a pass to immediately put UNC into scoring position instead of just dribbling. That helped UNC on the boards because Cuse started really started to try and make sure they got that zone set. The zone offense was absolutely beautiful in spots with UNC making that extra pass to get open looks.

Defensive lapses continued but some improvement. Did Boeheim score in 2nd half? If you look at points in paint, second chance points and bench scoring UNC had 20 more than Cuse in all 3. The Heels owned the boards with almost 50 rebounds (granted shooting that damn bad gives you LOTS of chances for rebounds) and had 73 fg attempts to Cuse 60. IF UNC can start shooting at a decent clip they can make some serious noise. 11 turnovers was good - even though Cuse doesn't pressure the ball you have to play with some patience and focus against that zone and that can often be harder for younger guys than going against a press.

Is UNC ready for Gonzaga, not even close, but they showed signs of a team that could blow up someone's bracket in March. Florida State will be tough as Hamilton seems to have 5 7-footers and plays 15 guys who all hit ft's. If Love and Davis can play under control and make the smart play instead of trying for highlight plays UNC should leave Tally with a W.

 

[MWHeels]

Good win for the Heels. And just as important:

Virginia Tech - 74
Duke 67

and

Alabama 85
Kentucky 65

Great day of college hoops.

 

[Tarheel75]

Thanks for the overview Gary.

You covered most all areas and I just want to add this: Caleb is not a PG, he is a SG working to be a PG. With this said, he has stubbornly refused to stop trying to force passes into the post that have NO HOPE of being completed. That has got to stop and I mean like yesterday. If I were still playing, I would have a come to Jesus with him and his passes. Who knows, might be that the big guys have. It's just mindless to throw some of the passes that he does. His shot is broken at this juncture of the season with one shot long and the next short armed. That's a fixable issue though.

RJ had the much better night running point and he also gave the Orange PG some problems on defense. His defense is improving, but I don't believe his defense is as good as Caleb's and that's mostly due to his shorter stature.

I was not happy at all with the officiating, as you mentioned, we were not in the bonus until late. Our bigs were all but raped in the post and 3 of the blocks that they got were fouls, with 2 against Sharpe. He is not getting the calls down low and that's on Roy for not insisting that they watch the post area for arms and hands on our bigs every time they took a shot in the post.

Questions regarding officiating are sent to the conference office along with video tape every week, so I would think that the gang up defenses we have seen in the post area SHOULD result in more calls for our bigs going forth. This is usually how it works, as meetings with the conference head of officiating and game officials are held every week to discuss plays that were questionable and how to mitigate those going forth. I guess we will see. That 10 second call was a bad call and I think we all know that. Bacot scored right at the 10 second mark. Just bad officiating, as they could have reviewed that call and didn't.

We won, and that's great. On to FSU.

 

[39 Feet Above Sea Level]

IF Caleb stops making those poor entry passes AND starts knocking down some shots, we can play with
and beat ANY team left on our schedule. Without his improvement, that's a way different story.
Great to see Brooks play well. He needs to break out of his slump and start showing these young guys
what Carolina basketball can be.

 

[dadika13]

Some good:

- Thought we ran more than usual - which is a good thing. There was an emphasis by Caleb and RJ to get out quickly after a make which we've been struggling with for a season and a half now.

- Kerwin is going to have a fun 4 years breaking that zone of Cuse. As Gary said, glad that Kerwin stepped into the soft spot of the zone, which more often than not was the wing about 15-18 feet out.

- Armando was incredible. Over 50% shooting, 7 offensive rebounds, 0 turnovers, and only 2 fouls. Ideal stat line from your big.

- Thank you Roy for finally calling a timeout when we were up 5 with like 44 seconds left to set up a picture perfect inbounds play that leads to an easy layup to basically ice the game. Maybe we should do that more?

Some bad:

- I feel like Caleb takes 1 step forward then 2 steps backwards. I thought he played mostly well until a brutal stretch late in the game where he eventually got pulled for RJ. His decision making still isn't there and he has to start knocking down shots when he does make a good decision to shoot an open one.

- We help off other team's best shooters just way too often. How many shots did Buddy have to knock down for us to realize we shouldn't use his man as a help guy?

- Walker is very much a work in progress. The kid hustles his ass off but he just isn't there yet and looks completely uncomfortable. Basic things like badly missing a 12 footer and not turning and facing when he catches at the foul line are killing him.


Overall, we're winning close games which is nice but close games against some of the weaker ACC teams isn't what you want. Tough stretch coming up, hope we rise to the level of our competition.

 

[DSouthr]

What I saw last night was progression, a lot of much better shot selection vs a team that is typically really good at forcing a lot of bad shots being taken. 11 TOs vs that cuse zone, yeah that is pretty darn solid job of ball security and I felt our focus was better than I have seen so far for a whole game. We consistently attacked that cuse zone SMARTLY, settled for to many long jumpers but that was even less than in prior games.

In that first half and for that little come back to wipe out our 9-0 start to the second, cuse hit a lot of circus shots from outside the Chapel Hill area code. When you see a team have to hit jumpers well past the NBA 3 distance just to hang with you, you know at some point those will not drop. Bohiem had 18 in the first half, he did get red hot but he got shut down and shut out when leaky locked in to defense mode and at that point it didn't matter if leaky scored another point because he impacted the game big time putting the clamps on Bohiem.

Garrison Brooks, well welcome back Mr pre-season NCAA 1st team, we missed ya while you were gone, glad to see ya back~! Brooks was really good in the middle of that zone, made solid decisions and looked to pass as his first option. The big to big passing was really good. Bacot went back to war, that was as well great to see! Amazing isn't it both these fellas had really good games in a game that forces you to put one of your big men at the upper middle of that zone and that big man in the middle first looking for a quick pass rather than "it feels like leather" !

Did ya notice the quick passing around the top rather than the pass, catch, dribble for a few seconds stuff! Those quick passes from UNC are always a key for me, I smile when I see that happen! Cuse were really packing things in hard, they were determined to not give us any easy interior scores at the rim or alley ooops ops, enjoyed Sharpe and Bacot at times as well imposing their physicality out there. I really enjoyed those back to back Platek to Sharpe with Sharpe finishing both thru uncalled contact. Funny, seemed Sharpe was being called for everything but 3 guys could hang on his back and the refs not blow the whistle?

Walton, I see his defense while still a work in progress, is improving but ya have to love how mature this kid plays offensively. He makes a good shot out of a bad situation by little simple moves and last night showed, he isn't looking at where his feet are, he is just taking a shot in his natural rhythm and majority of the time it is a really good look and he is not going to rush it (he did take a couple that I thought were not great shots but Roy does want him to get a few more attempts but he was not comfortable on a couple that stick out in my mind). This kid is like a million dollar life insurance policy, just so comforting to know it is there and when ya really need it, it pays off! We may be looking at the freshman version of the future UNC record holding 3 pt shooter and a challenger for the UNC all time scoring list. If this kid stays healthy he could well be a 20+pt a night guy consistently, (and still not need to be a volume shooter) by end of his Jr season and that could happen sooner with the maturity he already plays with.

RJ, 2 things this kid really needs to dedicate to in the next off season are hitting the weight room and ball handling, played a solid second half, after he hit his second trey, was not a fan of his couple shots afterward any more than I was of Leaky's treys attempts. I just consider heat checks to be really poor shot selections. Love, felt I saw some progression in his play, couple typical what the heck give aways but in general better ball security.

Good call by gary on Loves shooting, seems to have a bit of a curve to his back on his jumper rather than going straight up, like his butt tilts back and his feet forward? He does as well have a habit of pushing the ball at times rather than shooting free & easy. 11 TO game, darn sure like watching those more than the 20+ key stone kops nonsense we have seen in far to many other games this season.

I suspect Roy worked them a bit more in the last coupe days on offense because of the way you need to attack that cuse zone and I felt the increase in offensive work in practice translated to a much better over all offensive attack, much better off the ball movement, guys inside going to battle hard.

Important note, we hit some real key free throws down the stretch, just prior we had missed a string at the line that could have ended this game much sooner but when it was on the line late we hit some big ones that sealed things up.

 

[HoopsCoach42]

My observations...

**How about Leaky's defense on Boeheim in the 2nd half?!?!?! Phenomenal!!!

**Only 11 Turnovers. It's amazing how much better your defense becomes without all those live ball turnovers!!!

**Leaky's Defense!!!

**Garrison looked like he was tired of all the slander! His energy and effort was so good. I hope this jump starts a string of impressive games for him.

**Did I mention Leaky shutting down Buddy???

**41 points, 29 rebounds, 4 steals, and 2 blocks from our rotation of BIGS can cover up a multitude of sins from our guards. But the guards are getting there. Once everyone is firing on all cylinders, this team will be a hard out.

**I know I mentioned Leaky's D, but he overcame a rough shooting night with 7 assists to only 1 turnover

**I'm not one to talk about the officiating much (that's Gary's job ), but our posts were getting hammered around the basket. We didn't make it into the bonus in the 1st half, and barely made it into the bonus in the 2nd half, although with their fouls at the end we eventually got to the double-bonus.

**Finally, I'm with Gary on the rotations. They got shorter, which helped. Only one that had be scratching my head was when Garrison went to the bench toward the end of the 1st half and our lead went from 8 to 0 in the blink of any eye. Having Day'Ron in some early foul trouble messed up some things in the rotation as well

3 game streak!!! Big one Saturday at FSU!!!

 

[Indy_Heel]

Anyone catch Boeheim's intentional trip of Black later in the second half. Black beat him on the dribble at the top of the key as he moved towards the lane. Before falling he was able to get the pass off to Walton. Love's 3 ball form reminds me of Kenny Williams. Kenny had a tendency to jump back instead of vertical. When KW would jump vertical he hit almost every shot. Love's first 3 he looked vertical and once it left his hand I said it's good. Then he reverted back to that bad form. I was hoping to see Puff to play a little more for his shooting against the zone. I've always beat on Garrison for his pouting. He had a good game last night and didn't see the pouting. Even with the dry spots his attitude looked better and his performance showed.

I don't know all the X's and O's but know some. Watching our second half offense, there was a stretch it reminded me of coaching my son's grade school basketball team. Where the ball never leaves the right side of the court once the ball goes there. I know it was on purpose to bust the zone but it just seemed weird for about 2 minutes. The ball stayed on the right side of the court without swinging to left side. I'm talking about AP in the corner swinging it down low to Sharpe. We bogged down a little bit and finally swung it back to the other side then worked the right side again and worked.

Nice seeing our guys finish this out from the FT line.

 

[dtodd4475]

Rebounds and free throws got us home. Your comment on Caleb drifting all over the place with his body on jumpers is so glaring. We have had drifters before and still do, but my gosh Caleb is all over the place. Extreme and random side to side, back, at angles. Needs remediation in that area from step 1, he seems lost mechanically.

 

[Tarheel75]

Some good:

- Thought we ran more than usual - which is a good thing. There was an emphasis by Caleb and RJ to get out quickly after a make which we've been struggling with for a season and a half now.

- Kerwin is going to have a fun 4 years breaking that zone of Cuse. As Gary said, glad that Kerwin stepped into the soft spot of the zone, which more often than not was the wing about 15-18 feet out.

- Armando was incredible. Over 50% shooting, 7 offensive rebounds, 0 turnovers, and only 2 fouls. Ideal stat line from your big.

- Thank you Roy for finally calling a timeout when we were up 5 with like 44 seconds left to set up a picture perfect inbounds play that leads to an easy layup to basically ice the game. Maybe we should do that more?

Some bad:

- I feel like Caleb takes 1 step forward then 2 steps backwards. I thought he played mostly well until a brutal stretch late in the game where he eventually got pulled for RJ. His decision making still isn't there and he has to start knocking down shots when he does make a good decision to shoot an open one.

- We help off other team's best shooters just way too often. How many shots did Buddy have to knock down for us to realize we shouldn't use his man as a help guy?

- Walker is very much a work in progress. The kid hustles his ass off but he just isn't there yet and looks completely uncomfortable. Basic things like badly missing a 12 footer and not turning and facing when he catches at the foul line are killing him.


Overall, we're winning close games which is nice but close games against some of the weaker ACC teams isn't what you want. Tough stretch coming up, hope we rise to the level of our competition.

Great points and summation dadika, I totally agree that we overplay on help defense. I have asked Roy about this, and he declares that they are not supposed overplay their defensive assignments. From what we have seen, I believe that's questionable. Losing your man, particularly a good 3 point shooter and leaving him wide open on more than a few occasions is not good at all. Stubborn man, that Roy is.

 

[TarHeelMark]

Stubborn man, that Roy is.

Lol, so true. No one I'd rather have but he can be frustrating to us fans with his stubbornness.

 

[dadika13]

Great points and summation dadika, I totally agree that we overplay on help defense. I have asked Roy about this, and he declares that they are not supposed overplay their defensive assignments. From what we have seen, I believe that's questionable. Losing your man, particularly a good 3 point shooter and leaving him wide open on more than a few occasions is not good at all. Stubborn man, that Roy is.

I've seen glimpses of it (Leaky rarely left Ziaire during our win over Stanford) but we all know how many 30-40 point nights we've allowed to good shooters over the past 10 years. As @TarHeelMark correctly points out - we just have to live with it and we know the grass is not greener with someone else.

 

[HeelzLover]

Good win for the Heels. And just as important:

Virginia Tech - 74
Duke 67

and

Alabama 85
Kentucky 65

Great day of college hoops.

Let's not forget the Kansas score

 

[UNC-75]

Does anyone else get the feeling that the same ‘Cuse players on this years team have been there for like 6 years at least????

 

[Tarheel75]

I've seen glimpses of it (Leaky rarely left Ziaire during our win over Stanford) but we all know how many 30-40 point nights we've allowed to good shooters over the past 10 years. As @TarHeelMark correctly points out - we just have to live with it and we know the grass is not greener with someone else.

True dat.

I failed to mention that Roy also said that the younger guys are not calling out opposition's screens as they should and we get rubbed off too much. I can buy that, but my eyes still say that we still are overplaying with help defense.

 

[Bubspub88]

True dat.

I failed to mention that Roy also said that the younger guys are not calling out opposition's screens as they should and we get rubbed off too much. I can buy that, but my eyes still say that we still are overplaying with help defense.

With no crowds at the games maybe Roy should designate managers to call out those screens (and actually only half joking the more I think about it)

 

[gthreadgill7929]

Don’t wanna hear any bs ab Garrison in this game. Made timely baskets, key defensive switches, and ate GLASS last nite.

 

[gthreadgill7929]

Noticed RJ was putting more arc on his shot and his makes looked good.

Yep. That pump fake, side step 3 in front of the bench looked pure.

 

[alabamaheel]

I’ve noticed that Walton is never hurried and plays with great poise. The ceiling is the roof for this kid. Reminds me of Kyle Anderson’s game a little, deliberate and under control with sharp looks inside, off his dribble. Not as slow looking. LOL

 

[trollbaby]

Undoubtedly, we would have been in trouble if Black didn’t shut down Buddy B in the second half. I just wish Leaky could figure out the other end of the court. Against Miami he went for 67%fg & 100%3pt(4-4.) Last night, 14%fg & 0%3pt(0-4.) Guess he needs to figure out that if it isn’t dropping, stop launching!

 

[DSouthr]

My observations...

**How about Leaky's defense on Boeheim in the 2nd half?!?!?! Phenomenal!!!

**Only 11 Turnovers. It's amazing how much better your defense becomes without all those live ball turnovers!!!

**Leaky's Defense!!!

**Garrison looked like he was tired of all the slander! His energy and effort was so good. I hope this jump starts a string of impressive games for him.

**Did I mention Leaky shutting down Buddy???

**41 points, 29 rebounds, 4 steals, and 2 blocks from our rotation of BIGS can cover up a multitude of sins from our guards. But the guards are getting there. Once everyone is firing on all cylinders, this team will be a hard out.

**I know I mentioned Leaky's D, but he overcame a rough shooting night with 7 assists to only 1 turnover

**I'm not one to talk about the officiating much (that's Gary's job ), but our posts were getting hammered around the basket. We didn't make it into the bonus in the 1st half, and barely made it into the bonus in the 2nd half, although with their fouls at the end we eventually got to the double-bonus.

**Finally, I'm with Gary on the rotations. They got shorter, which helped. Only one that had be scratching my head was when Garrison went to the bench toward the end of the 1st half and our lead went from 8 to 0 in the blink of any eye. Having Day'Ron in some early foul trouble messed up some things in the rotation as well

3 game streak!!! Big one Saturday at FSU!!!

What the heck, no mention of Leaky's defense against Bohiem in the second half? 😜

Seriously, if up to me to give out a game ball for this game, it would be a hard call between Brooks and leaky with the ONLY limiting factor on Leaky being the first half Bohiem had that torched us. Brooks was solid for all of his PT, even having 3 TOs, for the role he played so well you expect a TO or 2 from your big man because he is or was last night primary a passer.

I go back to something I said a couple weeks ago, I really want either Platek or Walton on the court at all times, at least until Ant gets back. Those 2 fellas have a calming effect that just hits me square in the face, we run so much smoother with those 2 fellas on the court. I am still amazed at saying that fully knowing that Walton is only a freshman, he does defend like a freshman (but is getting so much better on that end) but offensively, if I knew nothing about him and watched him play for the first time, I would swear that kid is at least a junior and more likely a senior with the manner he plays on the offensive end. I watch this kid and I think of Donald Williams in the post season of his Jr season being our catalyst in that natty run. Nothing rushed, good looks, pass up the bad shots, does not look to do to much outside of his comfort zone and does not need to dominate the ball to score. Far and away the most nice surprise of this class!

This team is progressing and frankly guys, that is what you want, we are not anywhere close to the top end of how this team can play. last night, all in, may have been the best I have seen us play all season and I would grade this game as no more than our C+ game. I am telling you right now, feel free to not believe me, when you hear Roy telling you he has very good shooters in guys like Love, RJ, Puff, Walton, and Platek, you should listen! He told you about Marcus early on and no one wanted to hear it, I didn't either, but Roy saw what he saw and in the end we all saw it.

When this team is able to play it's B game consistently with the occasional A game we are at or at least near Gonzaga good, I see the talent, it just has to translate in to games consistently now. Look, last 3 games, Black stepped up huge offensively in 1, Platek hits game winner in another, Brooks and Bacot stepped up last night. WE have guys stepping up, we are waiting for them to step up together, when they do NO TEAM IN THE COUNTRY WILL WANT TO FACE US, and that very much includes Gonzaga! I do think our A game beats the Zags A game, their B game against ours is a push, and their C game beats us by a narrow margin.

 

[FlaTarHeel]

- That being said, speaking of pounding it inside, can we just once get an at least competent crew? I mean not getting into the bonus all night until 3:00 to go in the game? C'mon man. And that 10-second call? Hmm... seems like they should've been able to go to replay there.
-That said, kudos to Leaky for cleaning up his footwork in the second half and cooling off Boeheim.
- Noticed RJ was putting more arc on his shot and his makes looked good. That line-drive he'd been shooting was no good. Looks like Hubert has been working with him. Speaking of shooting, we survived a bad 3-pt shooting evening and still won --- again, a tribute to our Zone O.
- Caleb got off to a really strong start, and only a couple of bad decisions, but he's GOT to get that body vertical on his pull-ups.

1. Brian O'Connell is the white version of Michael Stevens. The more I watch him the more I'm convinced of this.
2. Beoheim Jr is just like his 'ol man, and that's not a compliment.
3. Best game RJ has played in a while. He look really confident from that 1st 3-pointer on.
4. Really good start for Love, but RJ had the better 2nd half, especially late.

 

[tarwhiz]

Anyone catch Boeheim's intentional trip of Black later in the second half. Black beat him on the dribble at the top of the key as he moved towards the lane. Before falling he was able to get the pass off to Walton. Love's 3 ball form reminds me of Kenny Williams. Kenny had a tendency to jump back instead of vertical. When KW would jump vertical he hit almost every shot. Love's first 3 he looked vertical and once it left his hand I said it's good. Then he reverted back to that bad form. I was hoping to see Puff to play a little more for his shooting against the zone. I've always beat on Garrison for his pouting. He had a good game last night and didn't see the pouting. Even with the dry spots his attitude looked better and his performance showed.

I don't know all the X's and O's but know some. Watching our second half offense, there was a stretch it reminded me of coaching my son's grade school basketball team. Where the ball never leaves the right side of the court once the ball goes there. I know it was on purpose to bust the zone but it just seemed weird for about 2 minutes. The ball stayed on the right side of the court without swinging to left side. I'm talking about AP in the corner swinging it down low to Sharpe. We bogged down a little bit and finally swung it back to the other side then worked the right side again and worked.

Nice seeing our guys finish this out from the FT line.

I said the same thing to my Son about the right side dominant stretch. It was obvious.

 

[Bubspub88]

When this team is able to play it's B game consistently with the occasional A game we are at or at least near Gonzaga good, I see the talent, it just has to translate in to games consistently now. Look, last 3 games, Black stepped up huge offensively in 1, Platek hits game winner in another, Brooks and Bacot stepped up last night. WE have guys stepping up, we are waiting for them to step up together, when they do NO TEAM IN THE COUNTRY WILL WANT TO FACE US, and that very much includes Gonzaga! I do think our A game beats the Zags A game, their B game against ours is a push, and their C game beats us by a narrow margin.

I love the optimism but I cannot see this. Zaga had little trouble with an Iowa team that beat UNC in a game that was really never even close. And what Zaga did to UVa's defense was scary. I think UNC frontcourt playing its best can stay with Gonzaga inside buy they have several guys who have such a more diverse offensive skill set than just post moves. Suggs is a natural pg and his ceiling as a pg is much higher than what Love or Davis can offer as they are more combo guards.

Few has an offensive juggernaut that reminds me of some of Roy's best teams - they are just so damn efficient on offense you feel you have to match every basket and if you fall behind and up the tempo to gain more possessions you are walking into a trap. I know Roy says he has shooters but outside of Kerwin there is no consistency. If the Heels had 3 guys the opponent genuinely considered threats from deep then Sharpe, Bacot and Brooks would be unstoppable in a spread floor.

Outside of Gonzaga I do not see a team whose typical game UNC's best game cannot beat (assuming a regular 3 point shooting night from opponent and not some crazy 25 for 40 performance). A team like Baylor can be so physical and disruptive on defense I am not sure UNC's guards would handle the pressure. I am not saying UNC couldn't make a deep tourny run, but at this point in the season I was hoping for more from young guards than 4 - 7 minutes a game of really good basketball.

 

[HoopsCoach42]

What the heck, no mention of Leaky's defense against Bohiem in the second half? 😜

Seriously, if up to me to give out a game ball for this game, it would be a hard call between Brooks and leaky with the ONLY limiting factor on Leaky being the first half Bohiem had that torched us. Brooks was solid for all of his PT, even having 3 TOs, for the role he played so well you expect a TO or 2 from your big man because he is or was last night primary a passer.

I go back to something I said a couple weeks ago, I really want either Platek or Walton on the court at all times, at least until Ant gets back. Those 2 fellas have a calming effect that just hits me square in the face, we run so much smoother with those 2 fellas on the court. I am still amazed at saying that fully knowing that Walton is only a freshman, he does defend like a freshman (but is getting so much better on that end) but offensively, if I knew nothing about him and watched him play for the first time, I would swear that kid is at least a junior and more likely a senior with the manner he plays on the offensive end. I watch this kid and I think of Donald Williams in the post season of his Jr season being our catalyst in that natty run. Nothing rushed, good looks, pass up the bad shots, does not look to do to much outside of his comfort zone and does not need to dominate the ball to score. Far and away the most nice surprise of this class!

This team is progressing and frankly guys, that is what you want, we are not anywhere close to the top end of how this team can play. last night, all in, may have been the best I have seen us play all season and I would grade this game as no more than our C+ game. I am telling you right now, feel free to not believe me, when you hear Roy telling you he has very good shooters in guys like Love, RJ, Puff, Walton, and Platek, you should listen! He told you about Marcus early on and no one wanted to hear it, I didn't either, but Roy saw what he saw and in the end we all saw it.

When this team is able to play it's B game consistently with the occasional A game we are at or at least near Gonzaga good, I see the talent, it just has to translate in to games consistently now. Look, last 3 games, Black stepped up huge offensively in 1, Platek hits game winner in another, Brooks and Bacot stepped up last night. WE have guys stepping up, we are waiting for them to step up together, when they do NO TEAM IN THE COUNTRY WILL WANT TO FACE US, and that very much includes Gonzaga! I do think our A game beats the Zags A game, their B game against ours is a push, and their C game beats us by a narrow margin.

I think this team's "A Game" will be very good, but I'm still not convinced it could beat Gonzaga. They are REALLY good and can beat you in so many ways. The've got great interior play, they can really shoot the ball from all over the floor, they have great guard play, and they they have a Star in Suggs. Also, thye're relatively young. Only 1 Senior in the rotation. Depending on who stays and goes, and if they get Holmgren, they could be even better next year, which is SCARY!!!

The 4 best teams I've seen are the Zags, Baylor, Nova, and Michigan. If Iowa shoots the ball well, they're up there too,

 

[TPFKAPFS]

Our A game could certainly hang with the Zags because it would include superior rebounding and defense in addition to efficient O! Anything less than our A would require the Zags to drop down just a bit for us to compete. Every team has let downs and there is a chance it could happen if we face them. I fully believe we will be able to click well enough to make a deep tourney run, but I'm not fully convinced we will get to consistent A status this year. I would bet on our B against most teams when combined with the grit we have already showed and the number of nail biters we have already experienced. The tourney is largely luck of the draw; health; grit; and bringing your best game at the right time!

This year = I enjoy the ride with my Blue Glasses firmly entrenched!
Next year = I go back to my sky high expectations!

 

[jeans15]

You can tell AAU players vs people who just learn to play the game.

 

[DSouthr]

I think this team's "A Game" will be very good, but I'm still not convinced it could beat Gonzaga. They are REALLY good and can beat you in so many ways. The've got great interior play, they can really shoot the ball from all over the floor, they have great guard play, and they they have a Star in Suggs. Also, thye're relatively young. Only 1 Senior in the rotation. Depending on who stays and goes, and if they get Holmgren, they could be even better next year, which is SCARY!!!

The 4 best teams I've seen are the Zags, Baylor, Nova, and Michigan. If Iowa shoots the ball well, they're up there too,

Understand, at least in the manner i describe it, our A is means our guards are all producing, solid shooting from not just Walton but Love, RJ, Platek, and Ant all hitting good look jump shots and not turning the ball over. Our best game so far this season, would be no more than our C+ game and for my money it was C to C-. I have seen the Zags 3 times,. felt they played at least their A game in 1 of them and no worse than a strong B to B+ in the other 2.

Also understand, what is happening in practice has not really transferred itself to games yet, I do see some progression but there is so much more that we have not yet seen. The 3 major issues that has limited us so far are shot selection, free throw shooting, and and brain fart TOs and I see a good bit of improvement on those fronts but still a lot more improvement is needed before we can see what this team is really capable of.

Everyone is worried about our poor jump shooting but you have Roy and the players all telling you this team can actually shoot really well. I have learned to listen to Roy when he says that and I understand why the shooting has been a struggle. They are rushing their attempts and we have had really really bad shot selection but as I said, I see progression on those fronts. For example, I saw RJ, pump fakes a defender to fly by, take a dribble to regather, calmly took his shot and splashed a trey in our last game He was not doing that 2 weeks ago, he would have taken a rushed shot (which is IMO always a bad shot) and missed it badly. Saw Platek do the same vs Miami, see Walton do that consistently. When you turn a bad shot look in to a good shot attempt your shooting % spikes upward.

Guys, if you watched Andrew's game recap from the dome after that cuse game, you saw a guy on the floor putting up shots, it was around midnight and we had just played, that guy out there was Caleb love. Caleb is now putting in the work guys, just a matter of time before that work shows itself in games. Telling you now, if this team can remain relatively healthy there is not a team in the country that I would believe we had little chance to beat and yes, that does include the Zags and Butler. WE are not there yet but I do now see a progression toward that direction, I need to see even more progression vs FSU. I have seen progression in each game since NC St so I have to expect that to continue even if it is only slight. WE are now starting to see individual players step up to the moment, we have even seen little 5min spurts where we step up as a team on both ends, but we have seen stretches where we look brain dead as well. It is really now down more to making sure the little things are paid attention to and guys are really working in their PT. It is like a break over point, it will be disappointing until that last little thing is ironed out and then we will see a break over point that folks will call a break out game that will set the tone for the rest of the season.

I want to add one other thing about our shooting, I recall not to many years ago, Roy started this freshman guard, kinda pissed me off being honest because I MUCH preferred another shooting guard we had at the time to start. Truth is 5 or 6 games in to that season I had to wonder why Roy stayed with this kid, honestly wondered why Roy even gave this mid western kid a second look, much less a scholarship, I was not alone in that thinking. Roy kept telling us in his PCs that the kid could shoot really well, this little skinny fella that came to us with about the level of hype Walton had, if anything maybe a bit less. But as that season progressed his shots starting dropping and I was tickled to admit I was wrong about that kid and that Roy was absolutely right. That kid was Marcus Paige, one of the most beloved Tar Heels of all time and his jersey is I believe now hanging in the rafters of the Dean Smith center. I learned then, when Roy says a kid can shoot, I am going to listen to him.

 

[Bubspub88]

Valid points as usual DSouthr but I remain skeptical, mainly because of the covid impact. 12 games in usually means we are just getting into conf play, this year we are already a quarter of the way through conf play. Right now there is not even consensus on who should be the starting 5. The pg spot, critical in Roy's system, is very much a work in progress. UNC has ONE 20 point performance this season.

There has not been a single guy who has been consistent at both ends of the floor game and game out. Black follows 4/4 from 3 with 0/4, Sharpe gets a double-double and then next game picks up early fouls and has to sit first half. Roy has arguably the deepest frontline he's ever had and the team is shooting just over 40%. The Heels are shooting under 30% from deep. A game or two with those numbers would normally be considered outliers, but those are season averages. Carolina has not shot over 50% in any game and has had more TO's than assists in half the games.

I would love to see things turn around the way you say I just don't think there is enough time to reach that level. UNC is still on the bubble for the ncaa so they cannot afford any more bumps in the road. My opinion is getting to maybe a 6 seed in the tourny and making sweet 16 is the ceiling. I agree the talent is there to make a lot of noise in the tournament but I don't think Roy has ever really made one of those Cinderella runs from the middle of the pack in the tournament.

 

[DSouthr]

I think this team's "A Game" will be very good, but I'm still not convinced it could beat Gonzaga. They are REALLY good and can beat you in so many ways. The've got great interior play, they can really shoot the ball from all over the floor, they have great guard play, and they they have a Star in Suggs. Also, thye're relatively young. Only 1 Senior in the rotation. Depending on who stays and goes, and if they get Holmgren, they could be even better next year, which is SCARY!!!

The 4 best teams I've seen are the Zags, Baylor, Nova, and Michigan. If Iowa shoots the ball well, they're up there too,

ANY TEAM in the nation that gets Holmgren is better, that kid is un-FREAKIN believable! If Holmgren walked on to our team right now, with as much talent as we have in our front court, we would be a better team that day! You see that kid and there is no way he is a major prospect and then you watch him play and and all you can say is oh my God, do I really see this from that rail thin 7 foot white kid?

 

[GoNtheDistance]

Now we have the potential to be Gonzaga good. I need whatever you guys are smoking.

 

[DSouthr]

Now we have the potential to be Gonzaga good. I need whatever you guys are smoking.

Hey, I have not been to Colorado lately! LOL

 

[TPFKAPFS]

It is easy to see we have the potential to be Zag good just as it is even easier to see we aren't close to that level right now! But I see incremental improvement and I expect to see our learning curve get steeper and steeper. Since to actually meet the Zags we would have to be pretty deep in the tourney, it is fair to say we would have gotten close to our potential!

 

[DSouthr]

It is easy to see we have the potential to be Zag good just as it is even easier to see we aren't close to that level right now! But I see incremental improvement and I expect to see our learning curve get steeper and steeper. Since to actually meet the Zags we would have to be pretty deep in the tourney, it is fair to say we would have gotten close to our potential!

Yep TP, we are on the same page!

 

[imajericho]

I just want to point out that despite the random accolades we keep throwing out based on recency here, Walton has easily looked like our best player offensively even without shooting the ball and with his passing and taking care of the ball.

 

[Heelicious]

It is easy to see we have the potential to be Zag good just as it is even easier to see we aren't close to that level right now! But I see incremental improvement and I expect to see our learning curve get steeper and steeper. Since to actually meet the Zags we would have to be pretty deep in the tourney, it is fair to say we would have gotten close to our potential!

It would take major improvement for us to get to be top 2-3 in the ACC; we're nowhere near that right now. And if that did occur, that'd put us at about 1/3 of the way along the improvement path to be able to compete with Gonzaga this year. They are that much better than us this year.

The improvement we need just ain't happening. We are too young, with flat out lack of talent in our juniors and seniors to think we could realistically compete with Zags this year, even with a high level of improvement. Their superiority in physical gifts, talents, and the way they play is just way too much to overcome.

 

[DrJaaay]

If we make the tournament we could see the Zags in the first round. LOL.

 

[TPFKAPFS]

Actually we are 3-2. If we win and a few others lose this weekend, we could end up in the top tier of the league by Monday! The Zags came out flat last night and had to put together an awesome second half to beat Pepperdine! We are a second half team so....

I'm saying there is a chance. Pessimism serves nobody and UNC history shows me that optimism is way more often justified! BUT realism says that we are a year away unless multiple peep have the light come on at the same time! My gut is we have a team that nobody wants to see in their brackets at tourney time. Always bet on Blue! The Zags better hope we don't see them in the first round!