Late stuff (UC-R gane)...

[gary-7]

...and well... why?

Honestly, tonight I almost decided to stop writing these. First, I dunno who's keeping "official" stats, but they need to be replaced. Just wow. And second, I feel like I'm back in friggin 2014. More on that below.

All that notwithstanding... some stuff:

- As I've warned more than once, sometimes 3s ain't gonna fall, but transition is constant. We shot poorly from deep (except for Washington), but we got almost half our points in transition

- Speaking of Washington, any more doubters? Let's put that nonsense to rest, shall we?

- Encouraging to see some delayed 42, triggered on perimeter screens. BUT... the ball-side "interceptor" needs to get his ass in the damned passing lane.

- Also, the one series of 44 resulted in a steal by EC.

-- As mentioned previously, I like that our guys have an "edge". When UCR got chippy, we gave it right back. That edge might serve us well vs the dooks of the world. High and Withers in particular were giving them what-for.

- Speaking of chippy, UCR got frustrated because of our defense, and especially when EC and Seth were in the backcourt together (Cadeau pitched another shutout, FYI)

- Mando continues to be more efficient with fewer minutes --- and he finally knocked down a 3 (!) --- although I can do without the heat-check

Finally, back to the intro --- i.e., why?:
Telling moment --- at the end of the first half, Hubert calls his TO for the last shot. Ok, cool. BUT... he inexplicably takes out EC --- our one (and ONLY) guy who can create a good look for himself or a teammate at will. Honestly, at that point, I literally threw my hands up, and sure enough, we got diddly-squat. Here's the bottom line: The current startiing lineup is NOT our best lineup. Period. Not for half-court, and certainly not for transition. It is past time to put that out to pasture and not repeat 2014.

And BTW:
EC at PG --- 47 pts (26 transition)
RJ at PG --- 30 pts (12 transition)

Anyway, on to Atlantis and real competition.
Can only hope we start with our best foot forward...

 

[gauchoheel]

I don't think Cadeau was good enough offensively in this one. He had more turnovers than the rest of the team (sans High) combined. 4 turnovers is way too much given his minutes, usage, and the competition. Idk if you're referring to the scorekeeping on this, but I counted 4 as well when watching. Several crappy passes and a strip, and a couple passes that could've been additional turnovers but he was a bit fortunate on. He was forcing things; against a high level team where he plays 33 minutes that's a 7-8 turnover game. He also still isn't comfortable shooting from the outside. I agree he (and Trimble) were very good defensively.

Cadeau looks clearly better than Wojcik but I think the minute distribution matters more, and he's played more minutes than Wojcik the last two games. The season will really start on Thanksgiving; we'll see the minutes distro Hubert wants to use in tough games then. For these cupcakes I much prefer to see a mix of guys. I'm actually really refreshed by the frequent subbing this year; someone finally got in Hubert's ear on this!

If Wojcik could hit some shots I could see trying to start him, as Davis/Bacot can soak up a lot of the early possessions. Cadeau is more valuable when one of them hits the bench than having all three of them out there and then later playing minutes with only 0-1 on the floor. I would try to have minimum 2 of those three on the floor at all times.

Hopefully the shooting returns to form soon. We supposedly added a bunch of shooting this year but it hasn't played out that way: Withers has mysteriously yet to even attempt a 3 as a Tar Heel after shooting 42% last year, Wojcik has only hit 1 three and I believe it was the first possession of the season, Cadeau is shying away from 3s, and Ryan/Ingram are off to poor shooting starts. We saw the aggressive Bacot doubling rear its head again, and we weren't able to punish it. It was encouraging to see outside shots falling for Washington and (!) Trimble.

 

[dtodd4475]

Didn't get a chance to watch tonight, so just taking in your guys takes, and looking at the stat lines.

Seems like we had another rough night shooting from distance, but controlled the game fairly easily? Only 9 turnovers, only 14 assists (maybe that is the official stat reference).

Three games in three days up next, the deeper rotation should really be a plus down in Atlantis. Against legit competition, which should help to get a better look at these combinations.

Time to get started with the NET building in these non conference neutral site matchups. Looking forward to watching the developments.

 

[Geth]

Thanks as always Gary. I feel like we were full throttle early on and honestly think that they lost interest. Everyone says it in a game like this but the final score did not remotely tell the story. By my eye UCR are the weakest team we've played by a distance. Our 3pt shooting was not on and Cormac looked strangely steps behind and simply not there.
Trimble is making the leap from frosh to 2nd year and this will help. Withers has not come close to showing what he can give. Ingram has flashes of brilliance that show he's got the gear to shift into where he can take over a game.
No words for Mando or RJ... they are who we knew they'd be and then some. I wouldn't pick a best starting 5 in colege basketball w/o eothet of them...(takes of lightly blue tinted bifocals).

Ive got few negatives except for fluxing composure which I think will come with continued cohesion as this mix of kids will take time to gel as should well be expected. Many were "the man" where they came from and are not only having to adjust to an entirely new school, team and relatedly loftier expectations... they are having to humble themselves and take on a role that challenges their egos to stay checked.

Cadeau has the look in his eyes of a kid who is realizing what the light blue stage is all about and i think it's bigger than he anticipated... as such he's being eased in and looks to have the humility to not press too hard until the pieces fall into place, the keys are in his hands and all cylinders are primed and firing.

The lack of ego and negativity on this team IMO is astounding to me. There will be hurdles and bumps but this version of Carolina basketball has me more excited than I have been in many years. They will be a force to be reckoned with, but it will take time.

 

[sdingeldein]

Cadeau will get there. He is clearly adjusting to bigger faster players in the college game. And he already stopped taking threes to go to the basket or pass out. He will be the PG later in the season. No worries there. Rome wasn't built in a day.

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

Here's the bottom line: The current startiing lineup is NOT our best lineup. Period. Not for half-court, and certainly not for transition. It is past time to put that out to pasture and not repeat 2014.

Who would you start? How would you like to see the minutes divided up?

 

[39 Feet Above Sea Level]

Good comments guys. By this time next week we will know much more about our Heels.
IMO, the most positive aspects of our team: depth, enthusiasm, offensive pace, and defensive
attitude. Now, we need more outside shots to drop. Jalen and Seth are gonna see more time, deservedly.

 

[TarHeelFanWV]

Well even if Cadeau shouldn't start, Wojcik definitely shouldn't start!!! Honestly, what does Wojcik do for us? He doesn't provide much offense and he seems a little non athletic and gets his shots blocked and misses some easy shots around the rim. The only thing you can say is he doesn't hurt us.. but he doesn't help either!

Wojcik is a lot like Nance was in the sense that there are so many times/games he doesn't do anything for us and our offense struggles. The year before Nance we made a deep run all because of Manek imo.. Manek provided the offensive spark that Nance couldn't. Same with Wojcik, he doesn't provide the spark that we need to be elite.

Even if Cadeau doesn't score, he can help with our passing and finding the open players better than Wojcik can. Based off of last night alone, Cadeau, Trimble, and Withers are all better options as a starter than Wojcik. At least they all provide elite defense.

 

[ChiShankCity]

Repeat again that I won’t take too much away until Cadeau starts. But it’s a positive sign that we can dog walk an opponent without shooting it well at all. Last year, this might still be a win but may have been like a 10 pt win.

Ingram being a huge upgrade over Leaky is important. I’m not sure how we score last year if our backcourt shot it the way they did in this one.

Advanced stats:
Possessions: 70 (season low)
Adj offensive efficiency: 108.1 (season low)
Adj defensive efficiency: 81.7 (season best)

My word does RJ love to shoot off the dribble and step back jumpers! I know he has to create space because of his size. But it’s such an inefficient shot. Would love to see less of those. Especially the step-back long 2’s. We probably have better options than those shots.

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

Well even if Cadeau shouldn't start, Wojcik definitely shouldn't start!!! Honestly, what does Wojcik do for us? He doesn't provide much offense and he seems a little non athletic and gets his shots blocked and misses some easy shots around the rim. The only thing you can say is he doesn't hurt us.. but he doesn't help either!

Wojcik is a lot like Nance was in the sense that there are so many times/games he doesn't do anything for us and our offense struggles. The year before Nance we made a deep run all because of Manek imo.. Manek provided the offensive spark that Nance couldn't. Same with Wojcik, he doesn't provide the spark that we need to be elite.

Even if Cadeau doesn't score, he can help with our passing and finding the open players better than Wojcik can. Based off of last night alone, Cadeau, Trimble, and Withers are all better options as a starter than Wojcik. At least they all provide elite defense.

Wojcik reminds me a bit of Doherty. The player, not the coach. He may have been the worst player on that championship team, but someone has to be worst, right? Doesn't mean they are bad. Definitely important to getting the job done.

I do expect he'll be the guy who loses the most minutes if/when EC starts. But he'll still be a steady hand off the bench.

 

[ChiShankCity]

Wojcik reminds me a bit of Doherty. The player, not the coach. He may have been the worst player on that championship team, but someone has to be worst, right? Doesn't mean they are bad. Definitely important to getting the job done.

I do expect he'll be the guy who loses the most minutes if/when EC starts. But he'll still be a steady hand off the bench.

Wouldn’t be surprised if he plays fewer than 5 min come March tournament time.

 

[Assasin3200]

Personally i think we need to forget about outside shooting go down to 8 to 12 3's attempted per game. Attack the rim for 40 minutes with Cadeau Seth Ingram Withers and Bacot starting. Bring RJ in for offense like a normal team would. Ryan can fill in for Ingram and we have a little shooting possibly. That leaves us with 4 bigs rotating. We can use our depth and fast pace to create foul problems for most teams.

My feeling is we aren't going to be a great shooting team from 3 if the first 3 teams we played were an indicator of our shooting this year.

 

[tmatheny]

I love RJ and have always been high on him. I was the 1st two games but I felt last night he took a step back toward last years mentality. He was forcing his shot alot more than previous 2 games. In those games he let it xome to him. His shooting percentage was down last night and to me that's a pure reflection on shot selection.

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

Wouldn’t be surprised if he plays fewer than 5 min come March tournament time.

On paper we have a lot of depth this season. Last year our depth was "will someone PLEASE step up." This year it might be "who will step up the most?"

Time will tell.

Right now it looks like Cadeau, Washington, Withers, Trimble and maybe even High could elbow their way ahead of Wojcik in the pecking order . . . but will they?

I'm seriously chuffed at the prospect of seeing us against good competition.

9 British slang words you need to know ‹ GO Blog | EF United States

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[DSouthr]

Personally i think we need to forget about outside shooting go down to 8 to 12 3's attempted per game. Attack the rim for 40 minutes with Cadeau Seth Ingram Withers and Bacot starting. Bring RJ in for offense like a normal team would. Ryan can fill in for Ingram and we have a little shooting possibly. That leaves us with 4 bigs rotating. We can use our depth and fast pace to create foul problems for most teams.

My feeling is we aren't going to be a great shooting team from 3 if the first 3 teams we played were an indicator of our shooting this year.

WE may become a very good jump shooting team but so far out of the gate we have not been. Last night we had more bad shots put up than we maybe had in the first 2 games totaled. Ryan was and has been off with his shooting, scored a total of 2pts last night, Paxon tallied only 2 as well. Even RJ shot poorly last night going 3-11 and Ingram struggled shooting going 4-11. It was the poor shooting from Ryan that caught my eye, he was not just missing open looks he was missing them badly. Our 3 "green light" back court jump shooters in RJ, Ryan, and Pax were a combined 12points on a combined 4-19 shots (1-12 on trey shots). This vs a really weak sister, doubt we will play a team weaker than those Riversiders the rest of this season. We easily won this game due to a strong defensive "EFFORT" and the simple fact that this was a talent mismatch. A lot of this poor shooting came from a mix of to many bad shots (rushed and needed to make that extra pass) and guys floating off their shots, Ryan really seemed to struggle with this. Fact, the coming road trip is not going to be pretty unless we unlock some of these shooters we rely on.

They got REALLY REALLY sloppy in that second half, freshman proving sloppy passes, heat checks, fumble fingers, way different from the first half (all seemed to come from a lack of focus). The game was basically over by then but these guys have to realize those minutes in a blow out is a factor in the minutes you will get later on in close games. Hopefully that will be a focused teaching point in game review with them.

I don't really want to get in to the fray right now of should Pax not be in the starting line up and be replaced by Cadeau because for me the the real guage is minutes more than who begins the game. Paxson got 19mins, Ryan got 22mins, RJ 28mins as compared to Cadeau's 22mins and Seth getting 15. That from my view is to many minutes for Pax and not enough for Seth, and if Ryan is going to shoot this poorly his minutes will need to come down. I see Pax as a 8-12min a game guy. I liked the minute distribution much more thou would like to see Withers with more than 16mins, those minutes maybe come from High.

Speaking of minute distribution, I LOVE that the most minutes last night from any individual player was 28 for RJ, 26 for Ingram and 25 for Bacot. Said it before this season began, I want an average of no more than 25mins for any one guy so yeah, I like no one over 28mins in this one.

BUT...LOL... I enjoyed watching this team and I do mean TEAM, defend last night, they were suffocating. WE switch so darn much it gets you dizzy trying to keep up with it all. WE forced bad desperation heaves one after another (we got out to the spot of 3pt shooter much better) and it looked like our communication was on point on the defensive end. We played game winning defense last night and the key to it was EFFORT, as long as the effort is there to defend we are in any game. If this team can establish it's calling card as a team that really works it's butt off on the defensive end knowing our jump shooting will or at least should improve, well then we have something that could be real special.

Soph class, WELCOME to the season! Seth and JWash were outstanding! Washington went from Jalen to JWash last night, his jump shooting was cash money last night. What I really liked was JWash gave me that sense of security when Bacot sat. Seth, WoW, last night easily out played his more touted counter parts. Read a post yesterday that said Seth gives us nothing, that poster should maybe reconsider that position because the kid was outstanding last night. Scored double digits and played his usual smothering defense, good on him!

 

[alabamaheel]

WE may become a very good jump shooting team but so far out of the gate we have not been. Last night we had more bad shots put up than we maybe had in the first 2 games totaled. Ryan was and has been off with his shooting, scored a total of 2pts last night, Paxon tallied only 2 as well. Even RJ shot poorly last night going 3-11 and Ingram struggled shooting going 4-11. It was the poor shooting from Ryan that caught my eye, he was not just missing open looks he was missing them badly. Our 3 "green light" back court jump shooters in RJ, Ryan, and Pax were a combined 12points on a combined 4-19 shots (1-12 on trey shots). This vs a really weak sister, doubt we will play a team weaker than those Riversiders the rest of this season. We easily won this game due to a strong defensive "EFFORT" and the simple fact that this was a talent mismatch. A lot of this poor shooting came from a mix of to many bad shots (rushed and needed to make that extra pass) and guys floating off their shots, Ryan really seemed to struggle with this. Fact, the coming road trip is not going to be pretty unless we unlock some of these shooters we rely on.

They got REALLY REALLY sloppy in that second half, freshman proving sloppy passes, heat checks, fumble fingers, way different from the first half (all seemed to come from a lack of focus). The game was basically over by then but these guys have to realize those minutes in a blow out is a factor in the minutes you will get later on in close games. Hopefully that will be a focused teaching point in game review with them.

I don't really want to get in to the fray right now of should Pax not be in the starting line up and be replaced by Cadeau because for me the the real guage is minutes more than who begins the game. Paxson got 19mins, Ryan got 22mins, RJ 28mins as compared to Cadeau's 22mins and Seth getting 15. That from my view is to many minutes for Pax and not enough for Seth, and if Ryan is going to shoot this poorly his minutes will need to come down. I see Pax as a 8-12min a game guy. I liked the minute distribution much more thou would like to see Withers with more than 16mins, those minutes maybe come from High.

Speaking of minute distribution, I LOVE that the most minutes last night from any individual player was 28 for RJ, 26 for Ingram and 25 for Bacot. Said it before this season began, I want an average of no more than 25mins for any one guy so yeah, I like no one over 28mins in this one.

BUT...LOL... I enjoyed watching this team and I do mean TEAM, defend last night, they were suffocating. WE switch so darn much it gets you dizzy trying to keep up with it all. WE forced bad desperation heaves one after another (we got out to the spot of 3pt shooter much better) and it looked like our communication was on point on the defensive end. We played game winning defense last night and the key to it was EFFORT, as long as the effort is there to defend we are in any game. If this team can establish it's calling card as a team that really works it's butt off on the defensive end knowing our jump shooting will or at least should improve, well then we have something that could be real special.

Soph class, WELCOME to the season! Seth and JWash were outstanding! Washington went from Jalen to JWash last night, his jump shooting was cash money last night. What I really liked was JWash gave me that sense of security when Bacot sat. Seth, WoW, last night easily out played his more touted counter parts. Read a post yesterday that said Seth gives us nothing, that poster should maybe reconsider that position because the kid was outstanding last night. Scored double digits and played his usual smothering defense, good on him!

I do love the fact that Seth hung around, worked hard, and didn’t look for greener grass. Almost seems like an old school scenario unfortunately. Great teams are built this way. If he plays and attacks like last night with the minutes he gets I can easily see him being a key player. Props to him for being patient and working his tail off.

 

[adwood81]

Washington and Tremble seem to be playing themselves into more floor time. Wojick looks tentative and High , while maybe ahead of projections may see time decrease. Really need to see open looks start falling . ball tends to get stuck when RJ is at point

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

Just now watching the game.

Twice in the first half the announcers have said this is Withers's final year. That's not correct, is it?

One redshirt year and 3 playing years at Louisville = 3. This year at UNC = 4. Plus next year if he wants it as his COVID year.

What am I missing?

I've been thinking he'll probably start for us next season.

 

[IDUNK4HEELS]

No question in my mind the biggest thing that came pot of the game last night was that the bench contributed 34 points. Both Trimble and Washington scored in double digits and neither one did not look scared to shoot like they did last year…

 

[DSouthr]

Just now watching the game.

Twice in the first half the announcers have said this is Withers's final year. That's not correct, is it?

One redshirt year and 3 playing years at Louisville = 3. This year at UNC = 4. Plus next year if he wants it as his COVID year.

What am I missing?

I've been thinking he'll probably start for us next season.

Yeah, both Withers and Ingram have another season after this one is they choose to.

 

[gary-7]

I don't think Cadeau was good enough offensively in this one. He had more turnovers than the rest of the team (sans High) combined. 4 turnovers is way too much given his minutes, usage, and the competition.

Look... I'm not trying to stir anythng up, but that's just not on point. That TO thing is misleading, especially when 2 were Roger's crew swallowing their whistles when EC got hammerd on drives, and one was his teammate not getting to his spot off a screen. Plus, with a competent stat-keeper, EC has a MINIMUM of 4 dimes.

 

[gauchoheel]

Look... I'm not trying to stir anythng up, but that's just not on point. That TO thing is misleading, especially when 2 were Roger's crew swallowing their whistles when EC got hammerd on drives, and one was his teammate not getting to his spot off a screen. Plus, with a competent stat-keeper, EC has a MINIMUM of 4 dimes.

You're not going to get every foul call, that's the game. He was too careless with the ball. He also had several other bad passes that didn't result in turnovers.

He can both be a good passer and have a game where he didn't pass very well. Both things are possible.