...and I'm glad I watched this on DVR instead of live (I went to another game down here) --- I might've been as livid as Hubert was in the second half.
But yeah, I'll resist the temptation to jump to any conclusions from a first game, but there were some things we need to get cleaned up in a hurry, and these were as much mental as physical. First, credit to Elon --- they're much better than (inherently meaningless) preseason evaluations indicated, but that fact exposed the dangers of the sort of lapses we saw on our end.
With that said, at NO point in a second half should Elon ever lead this UNC team, so let's start with what went wrong:
- Shot-selection went thru some bad spells. RJ was hunting outside of flow due to his clunky start, and some of our shots around the paint were more throw-ups than strong gathers-and-finishes, all of which contributed to the lacksuster 32/80 perfomance
- JWash NOT taking shots he should have
- Some really bad decision-making by Seth in transition --- "give it up to get it back" is the way we're supposed to do things here
- Withers followed a good first half with a WTF second --- just yikes at some of those passes
- Jackson reverted back to his Memphis ice-skates --- take a deep breath, son
- Tyson looked lost, and we weren't effective in deploying him
- I continue to SMH at the stubborness of not forcing these guys into our tempo by mixing in traps
- And our vaunted Zone Offense --- sheesh. Elon deployed a 2-2-1 ameoba look that morphed into a 3-2 on wing passes, and we were just clunky as hell even getting into our pivot rotation.
- Gotta be careful with the cross-court pitch-aheads. Dean did not teach that as a routine for a reason --- you only used it for a WIDE-open look that would lead to a lay-up or create a 2-on-1. When in doubt, I want it in my elite PG's hands to create pressure with the Secondary.
Fortunately, disaster was averted with enough positives:
- When things worked, it was an enticing look at what we're capable of, incl some highlight film moments --- spectacular transition finishes, slick ball-movement, etc... LOVED that Dean Smith back-screen lob play late in first half, for example.
- RJ shook off a rough stretch to be the hero when things got dicey. It's great to have that guy when the chips are down.
- Time to recognize that Cadeau has turned into a not-just-good but excellent defender --- flashing some Joel Berry footwork to go with his quicks and ball-hawking instincts. And I think we can maybe put to rest the backing off of EC and Seth nonsense --- they combiined for 6/8 from deep (and Eliot had one taken away by an untimely whistle).
Anyway, for all the clunkiness, I'm glad Hubert didn't abandon utilizing depth. These are the precious few games that allow that to be built for down the road. So, how are we gonna do at KU? That's impossible to know, but at least the staff sure as hell should have some teaching material on film after this one...
But yeah, I'll resist the temptation to jump to any conclusions from a first game, but there were some things we need to get cleaned up in a hurry, and these were as much mental as physical. First, credit to Elon --- they're much better than (inherently meaningless) preseason evaluations indicated, but that fact exposed the dangers of the sort of lapses we saw on our end.
With that said, at NO point in a second half should Elon ever lead this UNC team, so let's start with what went wrong:
- Shot-selection went thru some bad spells. RJ was hunting outside of flow due to his clunky start, and some of our shots around the paint were more throw-ups than strong gathers-and-finishes, all of which contributed to the lacksuster 32/80 perfomance
- JWash NOT taking shots he should have
- Some really bad decision-making by Seth in transition --- "give it up to get it back" is the way we're supposed to do things here
- Withers followed a good first half with a WTF second --- just yikes at some of those passes
- Jackson reverted back to his Memphis ice-skates --- take a deep breath, son
- Tyson looked lost, and we weren't effective in deploying him
- I continue to SMH at the stubborness of not forcing these guys into our tempo by mixing in traps
- And our vaunted Zone Offense --- sheesh. Elon deployed a 2-2-1 ameoba look that morphed into a 3-2 on wing passes, and we were just clunky as hell even getting into our pivot rotation.
- Gotta be careful with the cross-court pitch-aheads. Dean did not teach that as a routine for a reason --- you only used it for a WIDE-open look that would lead to a lay-up or create a 2-on-1. When in doubt, I want it in my elite PG's hands to create pressure with the Secondary.
Fortunately, disaster was averted with enough positives:
- When things worked, it was an enticing look at what we're capable of, incl some highlight film moments --- spectacular transition finishes, slick ball-movement, etc... LOVED that Dean Smith back-screen lob play late in first half, for example.
- RJ shook off a rough stretch to be the hero when things got dicey. It's great to have that guy when the chips are down.
- Time to recognize that Cadeau has turned into a not-just-good but excellent defender --- flashing some Joel Berry footwork to go with his quicks and ball-hawking instincts. And I think we can maybe put to rest the backing off of EC and Seth nonsense --- they combiined for 6/8 from deep (and Eliot had one taken away by an untimely whistle).
Anyway, for all the clunkiness, I'm glad Hubert didn't abandon utilizing depth. These are the precious few games that allow that to be built for down the road. So, how are we gonna do at KU? That's impossible to know, but at least the staff sure as hell should have some teaching material on film after this one...
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