Late stuff (UF game)...

[gary-7]

...and at some point, ya gotta make shots.

Before I go any further, let's start here: UF is big --- I mean, NBA big. I've watched them several times since Golden had been there, and they utilize that size and play bully-ball. That said, we are WAY quicker and more athletic. In other words, it's a matter of who uses their advantages. But again, you gotta make shots.

This is nuanced, so this will be randomly positive and negative:

- First: Do NOT say we didn't defend. We actually defended very well for the most part. Sure, they were unconcious early, but it wasn't the fault of our defense. With that said, we SHOULD have been more aggressive. we played one series of 43, and UF was disjointed. Sorry to be a broken record, but this team need to be multiple to be at its best. There's just no good reason not to scramble more.

- Speaking of D, our early 2nd half spurt was triggered by blitzing their half-court actions and exploiting of our quickness advantage.

- On the flip side, our lineups were vulnerable to their sheer size. Particularly, their PF wore us out on the offensive glass.

- Our Secondary continues to be tits-on-a-boar-hog. Beyond that, yes, I see a BIT of an effort of using the post, but the failure to be effective with that starts in transition

- A positive on the coaching front was IDing Ian having a mismatch with a bigger slower guy on switches and milking it during in a key stretch

- With that said, we just CANNOT have Cadeau off the floor for any long stretches. With all due respect, RJ running point for any length of time is not a formula for success. I dunno who was keeping stats, but suffice to say they were kind as to the TOs in tha scenario. And wtf was Hubert doing pulling JWash for being fouled without a call? There were times when having two Bigs would have been helpful.

- Don't wanna focus on this, but objectively this was a horrifically officiated game --- no surprise with Shows and Groover --- and I would hope nobody would have the poor judgment to even argue that fact. We got fouled without calls on AT LEAST 10 finish attempts --- and I'm talking OBVIOUS fouls. The very idea that UF would shoot more FTs than us is an utter absurdity. And when they finally called a couple of offensive push-offs, welp... they could've called double the amount.

- With that said, when we do get calls, we can't afford to be clunking FTs.

- Some spectacular defensive efforts by Seth at key times. And we saw our guys man-up in the 2nd half vs their size, but that needs to be a constant

- Finally, what it came down to was making shots. Other than the advantages garnered by their size, we straight-up outplayed these guys. We had better looks on offense and played better defense. But this version of UNC in particular MUST make a decent pct of shots --- 5/28 from 3, especially with the great looks we got, just ain't gonna hunt.

Anyway, here we are. Ridiculously tough schedule but it's also ridiculous that we're 6-5. Lotsa factors at work here, but please don;t give me this nonsense that we're not talented enough. That's HORSESHIT. At WORST we should be 8-3. OK, That is what it is. Will we start to play to our potential? I suppose we'll see Saturday...

 

[39 Feet Above Sea Level]

Excellent post, G. I know you hate having to reiterate the same old criticisms after after every loss.

1. It is BASKETball, as in…shoot the ball lN the basket. Maybe stop jacking 3’s in every possession.
2. When you fall behind by serious double digits, but rally to take the lead, you must be doing
something positive defensively. Keep doing that! With even more scrambles, variations, and
DEPTH. It is a strength that doesn’t require making shots.
3. Make your free throws. One could argue we lost the game right there. My daughter played point
guard in high school and made 36 ft’s in a row during her Senior season. It ain’t that hard to be
good at it.
4. Give Captain Jack more minutes. He may have some defensive flaws, but he has the ability to score going
downhill.
5. REBOUND!!!! If missed ft’s didn’t sink us, the Gators second chance points certainly did. 🤭
6. Work the damn refs, Hubert! You might not cuss, but hell, brother, take a T for the team and see if it helps.
7. We need to beat the Bruins because “quality” conference wins are just not going to be there this season.
Even 14-6, 15-5 in the ACC won’t be that impressive.

 

[gkss]

...and at some point, ya gotta make shots.

Before I go any further, let's start here: UF is big --- I mean, NBA big. I've watched them several times since Golden had been there, and they utilize that size and play bully-ball. That said, we are WAY quicker and more athletic. In other words, it's a matter of who uses their advantages. But again, you gotta make shots.

This is nuanced, so this will be randomly positive and negative:

- First: Do NOT say we didn't defend. We actually defended very well for the most part. Sure, they were unconcious early, but it wasn't the fault of our defense. With that said, we SHOULD have been more aggressive. we played one series of 43, and UF was disjointed. Sorry to be a broken record, but this team need to be multiple to be at its best. There's just no good reason not to scramble more.

- Speaking of D, our early 2nd half spurt was triggered by blitzing their half-court actions and exploiting of our quickness advantage.

- On the flip side, our lineups were vulnerable to their sheer size. Particularly, their PF wore us out on the offensive glass.

- Our Secondary continues to be tits-on-a-boar-hog. Beyond that, yes, I see a BIT of an effort of using the post, but the failure to be effective with that starts in transition

- A positive on the coaching front was IDing Ian having a mismatch with a bigger slower guy on switches and milking it during in a key stretch

- With that said, we just CANNOT have Cadeau off the floor for any long stretches. With all due respect, RJ running point for any length of time is not a formula for success. I dunno who was keeping stats, but suffice to say they were kind as to the TOs in tha scenario. And wtf was Hubert doing pulling JWash for being fouled without a call? There were times when having two Bigs would have been helpful.

- Don't wanna focus on this, but objectively this was a horrifically officiated game --- no surprise with Shows and Groover --- and I would hope nobody would have the poor judgment to even argue that fact. We got fouled without calls on AT LEAST 10 finish attempts --- and I'm talking OBVIOUS fouls. The very idea that UF would shoot more FTs than us is an utter absurdity. And when they finally called a couple of offensive push-offs, welp... they could've called double the amount.

- With that said, when we do get calls, we can't afford to be clunking FTs.

- Some spectacular defensive efforts by Seth at key times. And we saw our guys man-up in the 2nd half vs their size, but that needs to be a constant

- Finally, what it came down to was making shots. Other than the advantages garnered by their size, we straight-up outplayed these guys. We had better looks on offense and played better defense. But this version of UNC in particular MUST make a decent pct of shots --- 5/28 from 3, especially with the great looks we got, just ain't gonna hunt.

Anyway, here we are. Ridiculously tough schedule but it's also ridiculous that we're 6-5. Lotsa factors at work here, but please don;t give me this nonsense that we're not talented enough. That's HORSESHIT. At WORST we should be 8-3. OK, That is what it is. Will we start to play to our potential? I suppose we'll see Saturday...

Good breakdown gary-7. I really feel that the lack of an inside scoring presence really affects our shooting. We don’t seem to have an offensive identity. Giving up offensive rebounds will continue to doom us. Without a doubt- we would have an advantage with a Secondary Break! We’re going to need to get better pretty quickly as the losses are piling up. We’re deep enough to press, trap, use a secondary break, and commit, with confidence, to work the ball inside! Just my thoughts. As always, Go Heels!

 

[Archer2]

After a furious comeback, 3-4 OR’s by Florida, missed FT’s and a couple of unforced TO’s by us cost us a Q1 win that we desperately needed. This in spite of the fact that we couldn’t throw the ball in the ocean from behind the arc. 20/10 combined from Lubin, Washington, Withers, and Claude isn’t going to cut it night in and night out unless our wing players are shooting a good percentage.

This is simply not a fundamentally sound nor mentally tough team, much like our football teams of the last decade. That is demonstrated by missing FT’s and failing to box out on the defensive end.

Our staff is not maximizing their potential either, IMO. We change up defensively, it works and then we don’t do it again. As Gary keeps saying, our secondary break is almost nonexistent under this staff. Hubert is proving to be as stubborn headed in his own way as Roy.

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

Our top rebounders were RJ with 8 and Seth with 7.

Even if our bigs played as many minutes as RJ and Seth, RJ and Seth still would have been our top rebounders.

Is that how it's supposed to work?

 

[CarolinaMagic]

This roster certainly has its limitations but I wish you would come on this board and admit you were wrong about Jalen Washington. He’s drug store cotton soft and is a bench piece at best at this level of basketball. He’s been nothing short of a disaster most nights. The Hubert Davis experiment should be over at seasons end.

 

[Archer2]

This roster certainly has its limitations but I wish you would come on this board and admit you were wrong about Jalen Washington. He’s drug store cotton soft and is a bench piece at best at this level of basketball. He’s been nothing short of a disaster most nights. The Hubert Davis experiment should be over at seasons end.

I won’t go that far but next year could potentially be even worse. Yet another hire that isn’t aging well due to nepotism and DEI. Thanks Roy.

 

[TPFKAPFS]

A few things:
1. I love how hard we play at times and the grit showed to fight back against a seasoned bully who knows how to use physicality!
2. Our offensive scheme garnered a ton of open looks and we clanked them, including at the rim
3. JWash will get more time when he develops more cajones! (He cannot keep allowing himself to be bullied and must box out to play!)
4. Those saying Tyson can't play are swiftly losing credibility!
5. We needed 2 of 4 critical plays to go differently to beat a huge, skilled, well coached team that has been destroying their comps! For example:
A. Charge/Block call on Tyson (awful call)
B. EC not dribbling the ball off his knee (yes, I know he got bodied but he must be tougher)
C. Either of the two offensive rebounds they got to close out the game!
D. Call the body blocking on attempted shots near the freakin rim!
6. Make freethrows, hit all bunnies, and freakin be strong on block outs and with the ball peeps!

There are plenty of answers despite what some might claim. I have seen them in action and so have all of you! Learn to play with maximum intensity in the first half; pay attention to details the whole game; be strong with the ball, take pride in your D, be fundamentally sound in rebounding techniques, take it personally when your man gets an offensive rebound and never allow a second!

Our team doesn't need better coaching, it need a larger set!

 

[tcb22]

MAKE SHOTS! A college team can't miss it's first 10+ 3 point attempts and hope to be in the game. And most of the shots were good shots. We have players who have demonstrated that they can shoot, we have Lebo, Hubert, Paige--all not good but great shooters-as coaches. I would think technique is fine but I don't I am not an expert. There are other things that have been pointed out so I won't repeat them. Also, RJ seemed to wake up during the second half which was the difference maker in my opinion. Cadeaux has got be better at the end. Several commented on the dribble off his leg, but he threw a bad pass for a turnover just before that.

 

[Kool1234567]

3 of the 4 years Hubert has been coach UNC has entered January on the bubble…Starting to become a trend….Just a poorly put together roster….Can’t win when your Starting 1,2, and 3 are all under 6’3 with 2 of them at 6’0 with shoes on…This thing could really come off the rails the next few weeks…No need to even talk about the Post play…Just a disappointment all the way around…From Coaches to Players…

I am watching the game and I don’t even know what we are trying to do on offense or defense just keep seeing Hubert acting like a clown on the sidelines running up and down…I am at the point now I expect them to lose…

 

[sdingeldein]

Baffling team. Good analysis of the game. I do wish Cadeau would cut down on the hero passes and make the good pass.

 

[heels05champs]

What is our blueprint? I just can’t understand what the staff is trying to do on offense and it looks like they don’t know either.

With Dean and Roy, you basically knew the framework and what you could expect to see each year. With Hubert, I have no idea of what they’re trying to do with their system.

 

[notashelbyfan]

What is our blueprint? I just can’t understand what the staff is trying to do on offense and it looks like they don’t know either.

With Dean and Roy, you basically knew the framework and what you could expect to see each year. With Hubert, I have no idea of what they’re trying to do with their system.

Size is a factor but when you see how they played in the 2nd half and how much better it was you have got to wonder why not start that way? If they start with that fire you don't get down my 10 12 or 15 points have have to dig out of a hole.

We have coaching issues this is his 4th season and it's the same story every year, and now since there is only one of Roy's player left on the roster we are starting to figure out not only can he not coach but he can't recruit either.

 

[NathanFielder]

If +/- means anything to you, Cadeau was a -10 and quite frankly was really bad in the last 2 minutes, and that's oftentimes when these games are decided.

A PBP recap of the final 2 minutes after Cadeau's layup to give UNC a 2pt lead:
- Florida missed 3, offensive rebound, Elijah Martin fouled by Lubin on a layup attempt. Makes 2 FT. 84-84
- Cadeau either a woefully inaccurate pass to Davis' feet or the ball was deflected. RJ gets tied up. Possession arrow UNC.
- Cadeau dribbles into size and length and turns the ball over.
- Good defensive sequence. I think a better player than Withers is able to stay in bounds and keep possession, but good possession on D.
- Great individual defense by RJ in the mid-post. Florida offensive rebound and a layup. Florida leads by 2.
- Well executed set that finds RJ with a wide ass open 3 from the right wing. He bricks it with about 40 seconds left

I would've fouled and extended the game. You haven't been able to rebound so I extend the game myself. But I don't want to play the results.
- Good initial defense. Can't secure the offensive rebound. Makes 2 FT. Florida leads by 2.
- Florida player doesn't know the score and fouls up 4.
- Cadeau misses the front end of a 1-and-1 ending an opportunity to win the game.

So in the last 2 minutes, you don't get a single defensive rebound despite playing good initial defense. Cadeau has a really inaccurate pass/deflected pass that leads to a tie up, that leads to his eventual turnover. Cadeau misses the front end of a 1-and-1.

It's always within the details. And the details have been lacking all season. And I don't takeaway from this game that UNC necessarily played well. Certain players played well. RJ played well, Seth played well in the 2nd half, Jackson played well. Cade didn't hurt the team when he was on the floor, but he has to make some shots.

This was a winnable game against a team that was giving you the game in the 2nd half. This is the type of game that good/great teams steal despite being thoroughly outplayed in the first half. So improvement? Sure, but not nearly good enough. And it's in the details IMO.

The main positive I took away from the game is UNC turned them over. That's something UNC has been terrible at all season and Florida has been really good at protecting the ball. Hopefully that's a trend going forward because I don't think UNC can depend on their initial halfcourt defense the rest of the season. They're not built that way. And as we can see, offensive rebounding will be a problem on both ends. Florida had 6 offensive rebounds on 16 missed FG's in the first half.

 

[NathanFielder]

What is our blueprint? I just can’t understand what the staff is trying to do on offense and it looks like they don’t know either.

With Dean and Roy, you basically knew the framework and what you could expect to see each year. With Hubert, I have no idea of what they’re trying to do with their system.

While I don't think Hubert's done the best job this season and he may have some talent evaluation issues... Their blueprint didn't include RJ Davis playing like an honorable all ACC player instead of a ACC POY. It probably included Cade Tyson providing you something offensively in these big games. And from everything you heard from the coaching staff, they believed in Washington to be a starting caliber ACC big man.

When those 3 things don't go your way, does the blueprint matter? Hubert's tried a lot of stuff this season. We may not agree with all of it.

Roy had blueprints but when Larry Drew II was his PG, it didn't matter what system and his basketball beliefs were. When Demond Hubert was his starting 5, his blueprint didn't matter.

The big picture question for this team is do you think the solutions are on this roster. If they aren't, this team is going to have this kind of a season. Where are the solutions? I tend to think the solutions aren't on this roster. Different question of whether this team's skills are being utilized correctly or not.

I do think a big part of it is RJ has missed a ton of open 3s. Cade has missed a ton of open 3s. Cadeau missed a wide open layup late in a close game in Maui. And for a team that has pretty thin margins, those things will help prevent you from winning games against close teams.

 

[NathanFielder]

4. Those saying Tyson can't play are swiftly losing credibility!

Todd Golden specifically said after the game that they were focused on Tyson and RJ's 3PT shooting.

He's an important player to this team whether people like that or not. I don't know if he's any good against quality opponents. But right now, he's like 1 of 3 players on this team where you absolutely have to respect their shot. For a guard dominant team, the guards need as much space to operate.

 

[DSouthr]

So, I have seen this movie before and isn't that the problem with a great movie that when you have seen it before the ending is no longer a surprise? Come out unable to match the intensity of the opponents for the first half, go into the locker room at the half down yet again by double digits, and then begin to match the intensity of the opponents, only to see a couple things go wrong and lose it in the last 2mins? ?

Great that we have won the second half against top 5 programs this season (vs Kansas, Auburn, Bama, and last night), it shows that we can play with those guys. But the way we have lost to everyone of those teams because they blitzed us in the first half show just how small our margin of error is. It begs the question, can this team sustain 40mins o the way they have played against the best teams in the country so far for a full 40mins? So far the answer is no and the result is the losses we have. It comes down to 1 thing, we simply do not have the bigs to protect the paint on 1 end and give us easy scoring ops on the other.

They out rebounded us 46-36, they had 14 assists on 30 made shots (close to the 50% you look for) we had 10 assists on 33 made shots (shows we played more 1 on 1 ball). We had 10 TOs, they had 17, actually very good from our end. We were 5-28 from 3, they were 11 of 32. Did we even make a trey in the first half?

BTW, I absolutely HATE the female color commentator for this game, simply by far the worst I have ever seen or been subject to having to hear, get a clue ESPN, can we please get Theo to take her place like today! Seth scores and she calls him Cadeau, claims UNC has 5 guards on the court when Jalen and Tyson are in the game, and at 6.2 seconds left she is wanting Cadeau to intentionally miss the back end of a 1 & 1, point made moot by Cadeau missing the front end but still, 6.2 seconds left? And I will say it, I do NOT like women calling the men's games, not ashamed at all to admit that!

I am not going down the the refs were bad for this game, I mean we shot 19 free throws to the 27 but we missed multiple front ends of 1 & 1s as well. The one alls that does stick in my head was a foul called on Tyson. What was the kid supposed to do, his arms and hands were straight up, he did not initiate any contact, the other player jumped in to him, all Tyson did was stand there with his arms up.

We got back in to this game on a lot of one on one play, specifically from RJ and Jack but that can't be the game plan moving forward. WE did at least seem to try to get the ball inside more and that did seem to get RJ some cleaner looks in that second half. A real key was our back courts defensive effort that started that second half and Lubin. Those guys were hair on fire defensively for that stretch but that is hard to sustain for long periods when you are giving up so much length and weight/strength in your front court.

Lets take a step back however, we have 4 losses now (not counting MSU) to what in my view are ALL top 10 programs this season, all teams that we had a severe size match up problem at basically EVERY position on the court and they fight back to make it close at the end, these players have more fight in them than they get credit for but the physical mismatches they are having to play thru is hard to watch. I actually think as is we are a top 20-25 team, we can be beaten by lesser teams, GT threw scare in to us but vs teams we do not have as much physical size mismatch we can play well. Because this season's ACC simply is not very good, I do think, no I expect us to have a nice run thru the ACC. I do think we end up #2 in the ACC, no worse than 3, drop out in the quarter finals of the ACCT, and make it to the second round of the NCAAT before we go home as a 4 or 5 seed. That is better than I sense a LOT of our fans feel we do, I do not expect the changes I would like to see that could make us better than that, disappointed to say that.

 

[TPFKAPFS]

Since I have cheered for the Tar Heels for almost 60 years now, I too have seen this movie! I have seen a team start a season uncertain about lineups, roles, and execution. I have seen them start out with little identity and little trust in themselves and their teammates. AND I have seen them find their stride, find their joy, and play to their potential to close the season! (this part is the only part that is directed at D for clarity!)

This is what I expect and I refuse to pretend that I can out coach peeps who coach D1 schools like many would assert! I guess you can coach well enough to guarantee that once your called sets work exactly as planned, peeps will hit their freaking shots! I guess peeps on here can decide for themselves when peeps will display maximum effort.

I get really tired of peeps who are unable or unwilling to actually attempt to be constructive. Stop pretending you are Family if all you can say is fire the coach!

I expect a significant change in our team and I am hopeful they will click and realize that the second half team is merely the best side of us and not an aberration!

 

[NathanFielder]

And Drake Powell probably shouldn't be starting at the 4. I think Lubin is the best you can do at this team at the 5. By process of elimination, maybe you start Washington because UNC's starts sucked when Withers was a starter too. But Powell is a true wing. He hopefully will develop into a guy who can play the 2 and some 4 5-years down the line, but that won't be when he's at UNC. Right now, he's a true wing and should probably used in that role.

But the reality... There's not a lot of answers on this roster.

 

[NathanFielder]

I get really tired of peeps who are unable or unwilling to actually attempt to be constructive. Stop pretending you are Family if all you can say is fire the coach!

Big picture hope is that Hubert is the right person for the job.

If he isn't though, I hope the "family" stuff doesn't get in the way of making difficult but objective and unemotional decisions at the right time. Unemotional is something that's not usually connected with family decisions and oftentimes, objective gets thrown out the window too. But if Hubert isn't the right person for this job, this should be more of a business decision.

Unnecessarily firing coaches is really bad.

Necessary firings that happen a year too early... IMO is usually a good thing.

Necessary firings that happen a year too late... IMO can be absolutely disastrous. (Trust me on this, I'm a Chicago Bears fan, lol)

 

[gunslingerdick]

 

[ACokeForRoy]

And Drake Powell probably shouldn't be starting at the 4. I think Lubin is the best you can do at this team at the 5. By process of elimination, maybe you start Washington because UNC's starts sucked when Withers was a starter too. But Powell is a true wing. He hopefully will develop into a guy who can play the 2 and some 4 5-years down the line, but that won't be when he's at UNC. Right now, he's a true wing and should probably used in that role.

But the reality... There's not a lot of answers on this roster.

I also believe Lubin should be start at the 5 with Washington at the 4. I think it takes some of the pressure off Washington. This lineup worked last night and Hubert aborted that mission.

 

[notashelbyfan]

Since I have cheered for the Tar Heels for almost 60 years now, I too have seen this movie! I have seen a team start a season uncertain about lineups, roles, and execution. I have seen them start out with little identity and little trust in themselves and their teammates. AND I have seen them find their stride, find their joy, and play to their potential to close the season! (this part is the only part that is directed at D for clarity!)

This is what I expect and I refuse to pretend that I can out coach peeps who coach D1 schools like many would assert! I guess you can coach well enough to guarantee that once your called sets work exactly as planned, peeps will hit their freaking shots! I guess peeps on here can decide for themselves when peeps will display maximum effort.

I get really tired of peeps who are unable or unwilling to actually attempt to be constructive. Stop pretending you are Family if all you can say is fire the coach!

I expect a significant change in our team and I am hopeful they will click and realize that the second half team is merely the best side of us and not an aberration!

Because you don't like the coach or the hire doesn't make you or the coach any less family.

People here including me was saying that this was exactly what was going to happen if he was hired. They did Hubert a HUGE disservice by hiring him for this job without some head coaching experience under his belt.

Now when he is fired and it's coming weather it be after this year or after his 6th year he is going to labeled, as he can't coach when he was put in an impossible position with a job that needed a seasoned coach to handle it.

I'm not sure what he is capable of but if you can't win and more importantly recruit at UNC basketball that's an issue. He has an advantage in recruiting that only about 5 coaches in the country have with the name, history, and brand and he sucks at it.

When the team can show you times in the game when they look great but revert back to crap, and start every game slow with no fire or drive that's coaching spin it anyway you want.

 

[Bubspub88]

UNC has very little margin of error to beat D1 teams. Kansas, Auburn and Bama are deserving of the top 10 and just better talent. Mich St and Florida are games where the talent difference was not as big but this roster just has some holes. And Hubert has not shown he can scheme to mask those problems.

I hate the damn bubble.

 

[DSouthr]

Size is a factor but when you see how they played in the 2nd half and how much better it was you have got to wonder why not start that way? If they start with that fire you don't get down my 10 12 or 15 points have have to dig out of a hole.

We have coaching issues this is his 4th season and it's the same story every year, and now since there is only one of Roy's player left on the roster we are starting to figure out not only can he not coach but he can't recruit either.

When you go in to half time ahead by strong double digits, 2 interesting things tend to happen. First the team ahead tends to feel like "we got this" and all of the sudden the intensity you had that got you that big lead wanes a bit and the team that is down comes out in near desperation mode, fighting with everything they have to fight with and at some point begins to believe and the team that led at the half begins to realize, we could lose?