Meeks

[Archer2]

Some will defend some till the bitter end, why is it not ok for us to just have a dud from time to time!

Meeks brings nothing to the table other than a warm body, I see that Roy is doing all he can to limit his minutes, but we don't have to pretend like he is one of the greatest players to every live just because the jersey says Carolina on the front!

I don't see a single poster saying anything close to "he is one of the greatest players to ever live". I don't even see anybody saying he's a very good player. But to say "James would eat Meeks for lunch" or "James is a much better player" is ignoring the facts.

Meeks: 10 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 57% FG, 21 MPG

James: 2.4 PPG, 1.4 RPG, 47%FG, 9 MPG

Kennedy is what he is, a pretty good college player with significant limitations. But he contributes to the team. If Isaiah could stay out of foul trouble so that he could play 30 MPG, I think we'd all be happy, including Roy. Much like Brice prior to this year, he hasn't learned how to do that yet.

Ideally, Isaiah would be starting and Kennedy/Joel would be providing depth off the bench. I think we'd see much more of that if Isaiah weren't extremely prone to commit silly fouls.

 

[DSouthr]

I think it is time we really looked at exactly what we have with Meeks.

The good: he is a good team member, not a problem child in the locker room, his mates seem to love him and he his mates. He is a skilled passing big man, great outlet passer off a defensive rebound with the size to carve out room, he has great hands to catch even difficult passes. he has the size to set really nasty screens and block outs, Has good timing on blocked shots, has a lot of PT under his belt so should be be confused on assignments. 6'9" 260lbs and physically strong. Has a solid mid range jumper when he decides to use it.

The Bad: for 6'9" & 260lbs he has T-rex arms combined with the inability to jump over the Cary phone book, has improved, used to not be able to jump over the Dunn phone book. Tends to set up to deep in the paint and does not seem to like to finish or try to finish thru contact. Tends to go straight up while deep in the paint making his shot way to easy to block and does not make the defender pay for the block by drawing the foul. Maybe the weakest foul shooter of our players that get regular minutes. A lot of his offensive rebounds are his own missed shots. Brings the ball down and makes himself smaller than his size. Does not move his feet well, struggles to recover back down off the high screen, not consistent between hedge & show on the top screen. If he hedges he does not hold it long enough for the chase guard to recover or effectively redirect the ball handler and if he shows tends to hold that to long to recover back to the rolling screener. gets caught in no mans land way to much forcing help to cover.

Something just is not right with Meeks, I do not know what it is but we have all seen him play really well in games but those games seem to always be games prior to New years day, it has been a pattern for all 3 of his seasons with us. maybe it is some sickness, maybe it is yet another injury that will not go away, it is almost like one of those high ankle sprains that seem to never go away until the season is over. Maybe the knee contusion is lingering and he is just playing thru it, maybe there is some medical issue that saps his energy level that we do not know about. But something just seems off with him and I don't have enough information to understand it, really wish I did, because it could allow me to not think in terms of a lazy player.

 

[ROYALWITCHEESE]

He's fine. When he hesitates and pump fakes? Bad news. When he is deliberate and just makes his move? Solid. Hang in there KM. Just board and defend and we will be fine.

 

[Archer2]

Kennedy: 11 minutes, 4 points, 6 boards, 1 assist

Joel: 7 minutes, 1 block, 0 points, 0 boards

Granted, Kennedy did take 9 shots in 11 minutes, which is bothersome. REALLY wish Roy would move Kennedy out to the FT line. I have much more confidence in him making a shot from there than finishing through contact down low and it would open up the lane for slashers.

 

[heelman5]

Amazing how some posters can throw players under the bus up here and others of us get our post deleted if we say a player is in a shooting slump. Keep your head up KM.

 

[gteeitup]

meeks is a role player that should continue to get limited minutes.

and if he's still hurt/injured then he shouldn't be playing at all.

told some this when the "bone bruise" was diagnosed...that almost always, especially in athletes, leads to microfracture surgery.

 

[BillyL]

I don't see a single poster saying anything close to "he is one of the greatest players to ever live". I don't even see anybody saying he's a very good player. But to say "James would eat Meeks for lunch" or "James is a much better player" is ignoring the facts.

Meeks: 10 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 57% FG, 21 MPG

James: 2.4 PPG, 1.4 RPG, 47%FG, 9 MPG

Kennedy is what he is, a pretty good college player with significant limitations. But he contributes to the team. If Isaiah could stay out of foul trouble so that he could play 30 MPG, I think we'd all be happy, including Roy. Much like Brice prior to this year, he hasn't learned how to do that yet.

Ideally, Isaiah would be starting and Kennedy/Joel would be providing depth off the bench. I think we'd see much more of that if Isaiah weren't extremely prone to commit silly fouls.

I think if you go back and tabulate Kennedy's stats since he has returned from his injury absence, you'd be looking at a different set of numbers, Scott.

If, someone wants to go back and record/average KM's stats since he returned it would be nice to see, as I'm betting its much different than what his current stats would indicate.

Kennedy at one time was our leading shot blocker at almost or exceeding 3 per game. He now is at just 1.3 blocks per game. As I have posted before, Kennedy's stats were mostly accrued before his injury.

Joel may not eat Kennedy for lunch (indeed that may be a little harsh), but, he would win the head-to-head battle should they play against each other. KM would have a hard time scoring and would likely foul out trying to guard Joel . .

jmhho


Per Andrew Carter twitter.

Brice Johnson on frustration with Meeks "There was a couple plays where he just didn't jump. He was right there under the basket."

 

[BillyL]

Amazing how some posters can throw players under the bus up here and others of us get our post deleted if we say a player is in a shooting slump. Keep your head up KM.

No need to throw anyone under the bus when they've conveniently laid down in front of it on their own.

I agree with the 'keep your head up, KM' . .

Posts being deleted for saying someone is in a shooting slump . . ? The mods don't go that far . . if, it did happen there must have been something else included in that post they didn't like.

 

[Archer2]

I think we're all frustrated with Kennedy, Billy. He's an enigma, just seems like he's disengaged much of the time. For someone with pro aspirations, it's illogical to see him play so lackadaisically. I think his confidence is waning more and more every day.

I completely agree that his stats are skewed by his play earlier in the season. Not sure why he seems to regress as each season unfolds. Unless he's having health issues, I'm at a loss to explain it.

 

[bleeduncblue]

I think we're all frustrated with Kennedy, Billy. He's an enigma, just seems like he's disengaged much of the time. For someone with pro aspirations, it's illogical to see him play so lackadaisically. I think his confidence is waning more and more every day.

I completely agree that his stats are skewed by his play earlier in the season. Not sure why he seems to regress as each season unfolds. Unless he's having health issues, I'm at a loss to explain it.

It's lack of confidence and residual fear from the injury .....and other stuff.

 

[notashelbyfan]

@BillyL what did Brice say about meeks I missed it?

 

[notashelbyfan]

It's lack of confidence and residual fear from the injury .....and other stuff.

That sound like a dose of putting "me before team" and a pipe dream for him at least of big checks and "the league" and that my friends is a major issue for the Heels we don't need that crap!

 

[Hark_The_Sound_2010]

Brice Johnson on frustration with Meeks "There was a couple plays where he just didn't jump. He was right there under the basket."

Wonder if we'll see Brice called out for not being a good fan since he said something negative about Kennedy.

 

[TarHeelTroy]

@BillyL what did Brice say about meeks I missed it?

 

[BillyL]

@BillyL what did Brice say about meeks I missed it?

Per Andrew Carter twitter.

Brice Johnson on frustration with Meeks "There was a couple plays where he just didn't jump. He was right there under the basket."

 

[notashelbyfan]

Per Andrew Carter twitter.

Brice Johnson on frustration with Meeks "There was a couple plays where he just didn't jump. He was right there under the basket."

I think that says it all why does he get any mins!

 

[jah420]

Roy said it in his press conference yesterday when asked why Kennedy doesn't jump sometimes...

"he pump faked about 17 times, and spins, and there's three guys there guarding him, he shoots it and they play paddy cake with it.... You gotta explode up, its a game of explosion, a game around the rim and you can't play two feet below the rim and be effective inside. I got a feeling Kennedy will be really really good for us in 48 hours."

I think this perfectly sums up what this thread is about and some of the frustration by fans and even his team. I don't think people are trying to throw him under the bus, but just wondering why he can be so ineffective at times and coach pretty much summed it up there. Like I said in my post earlier, he need to go strong to the bucket off a quick move and forget the pump fakes. He also has not been using his good short range jumper, so hopefully he will go to that a little more. We don't need Kennedy to be a huge scorer for us. Just grab boards, pass out of the post, and take the easy buckets that come to you on the glass or open jumpers off dribble penetration. As someone else mentioned, we are going to need him in a big game in this tournament at the right moment.

 

[trestyles]

For those who defend Meek. Defend Brice and Roy comments about Meeks.

 

[vbrs]

I really hate to see threads like this. Meeks is on the UNC basketball team and puts forth a great deal of effort in practice and in games. We should not be attacking him like this. He is a valuable member of this team. He averages 10 points and 6 rebounds a game. Is he our best big guy? No. I think both Brice and Hicks are more valuable at this point. But we need depth at the post and Meeks is our best man for that. Also, I believe that his injury is playing a role in the way he is playing right now. On the bright side, he surely will not try and go to the NBA. We will definitely need him next year and I think he will play a lot better then.

 

[notashelbyfan]

I really hate to see threads like this. Meeks is on the UNC basketball team and puts forth a great deal of effort in practice

Dude it's not like someone is asking him to run a 4.3 40 or go for 25 and 15 every night and calling it lack of effort when he don't, we just want to see him leave his feet from time to time!

Damn is it to much to ask a basketball player to jump, and not like jump out of an airplane but just jump leave the floor just 12 inches!

 

[TARRRRRHEEEEEELS]

Damn I hope this doesn't create any tension or make Kennedy play even worse.

 

[Bur-Heel]

We need another twitter rant from him!!..he played very well the next game after that !!

 

[BillyL]

Damn I hope this doesn't create any tension or make Kennedy play even worse.

I don't think it will. This group of guys are some of Roy's best ever, they pull for one another and its pretty evident to me that these guys are tight. Criticism coming from Brice as the leader of our team is one thing, had Luke said something, then yeah there may be some probs . .

We need another twitter rant from him!!..he played very well the next game after that !!

Yep, KM played like he was mad about something that night . .

Justin Jackson responded the same way after social media started chirping IIRC.

 

[Spaceytoyz]

Meeks will have a solid game in the next game or so, He is still scared of that injury you can see that..

 

[mikeirbyusa]

11 min 6 boards-Meeks
21min 4 boards-Hicks

 

[mikeirbyusa]

For those who defend Meek. Defend Brice and Roy comments about Meeks.

You think Roy & Brice wouldn't defend Meeks too?

 

[Hark_The_Sound_2010]

^ Yep - rebounds was about the only place Meeks outperformed Hicks. I attribute that more to the fact that Isaiah plays a little farther from the basket (where we all wish Meeks would play) whereas Meeks plays closer to the basket and is in better position for boards.

I'll take Hicks 12 points on 4-7 shooting with a block over Meeks 4 points on 2-9 shooting with no defensive stats (steals/blocks).

 

[BillyL]

Did Isaiah Hicks' slam dunk from the free throw line count as a missed FG or FT . . ?

I'll bet the guys will have fun with that highlight reel when reviewing last night's game.

 

[trestyles]

11 min 6 boards-Meeks
21min 4 boards-Hicks

You count the ones he miss too as well?

 

[BillyL]

You count the ones he miss too as well?

Those are known as 'Blown Rebounds' . . . . look for that particular stat in Gary-7's Stats 'n Stuff threads.

 

[tarheel0910]

Those are known as 'Blown Rebounds' . . . . look for that particular stat in Gary-7's Stats 'n Stuff threads.

Well, that didn't take long.

 

[Archer2]

The numbers support the contention that Kennedy is struggling down the stretch, for whatever reason(s).

From Rivals:

Season averages:
MPG 23
PPG 12.2
RPG 6.5
APG 1.3
FG% 57.3

Last 10 games:
MPG 18.3
PPG 6.8
RPG 5.6
APG 1.0
FG% 47.6

His numbers are down across the board. Rebounding isn't down much, considering he's averaging almost 5 MPG less. But his FG% is down almost 10 points. Can't help but wonder if he's not completely healthy.

Considering his struggles, I'm impressed that he seems to remain very upbeat. I don't get the impression he's mailing it in, I just think his confidence is faltering. If we make the FF, he'll have a big game somewhere along the way.

 

[BillyL]

Thanks for putting those numbers together, Scott . .

How many games has it been since KM returned . . ?

 

[Archer2]

Is this the same Meeks that was better as a sophomore than Okafor as a freshmen?

Classy post.

 

[Archer2]

Thanks for putting those numbers together, Scott . .

How many games has it been since KM returned . . ?

I believe he missed seven games and returned for the first Cuse game on 1/9/16. That would be 19 games including yesterday's game. Let me look at the stats prior to his injury.

 

[mikeirbyusa]

Classy post.

His last.....................

 

[Archer2]

The numbers support the contention that Kennedy is struggling down the stretch, for whatever reason(s).

From Rivals:

Season averages:
MPG 23
PPG 12.2
RPG 6.5
APG 1.3
FG% 57.3

Last 10 games:
MPG 18.3
PPG 6.8
RPG 5.6
APG 1.0
FG% 47.6

ETA: his numbers prior to his injury, admittedly against lesser comp except for UT and Temple.

MPG 24.4
PPG 12.3
RPG 7.4
APG 1.3
FG% 59.4

Could be injury related. There's a premium article on the front page which discusses his struggles.

 

[keysersosay#1]

I said it a few weeks ago and believe it even more now.... The young man is still not recovered from his injury ...you can see it when he runs up the court.... Just has NO speed or power... can only do a jog of sort.

I like the young man and he is a disappointment in a way... BUT I have a feeling he will have a good game tomorrow and also will be very valuable going forward

 

[Archer2]

We certainly need positive minutes from him Keyser. I believe we'll get them.

 

[bleeduncblue]

Thank you Roy for parking Meeks on the bench tonight and letting Hicks do his thing. Critical decision in this win!!