No more! After the dook loss lots of people and media were saying this team lacked toughness and mentally weak. Not saying I disagreed. However I believed that game helped them turn the corner. Once again the refs let UV play their "tough" defense. How does Gill not foul out every game. Not sure why he is always allowed to ride our guards when he does a hard hedge with no call... Sorry for the soap box moment. Back to the topic, you don't dominate defensively the last three games without being mentally tough. It was nice seeing them stay patient this tourney and work the offense. Even when teams were trying to push them out of their comfort level.
Mentally weak and lacking toughness
- Thread starter Indy_Heel
- Start date
Why would you wanted the game to be officiated any other way than last night? I love that they let the teams play and there were not a ton of stoppages.
The fact that the refs called very few fouls, and with the Heels grinding through all that physicality is the perfect pre-NCAA test for us. How many times have we been pushed around in the big dance in games where they "let them play", and the Heels didn't respond well? I have more confidence that this team is gonna be ready for that mess now.
I think what this team lacked was that killer instinct, that ability to once you have the opponent down to step on his throat and remove all doubt. The duke game for example, we had that game, we didn't play all that poorly but we seemed to come off the gas with a lil over 2 mins left and duke came back. We has solid leads late second half against ND and came off the gas, same vs NI early season. This team seemed at times to feel the game was over, let off the gas to early and all the sudden the other team has life.
What we showed from that duke game all the way thru this ACCT was that killer instinct, we did not come off the gas from the time we stepped out the plane in DC till the final buzzer went off last night. That defense was withering, it took all 3 teams out of what they were used to doing and they melted down the stretch at crunch time.
That is what I think we were missing and that is what I think we learned from that first duke game, don't let up until that final buzzer has gone off, smother them, don't let them breathe, take any life left in them away, LEAVE NO DOUBT of who the better team was!!!
The Heels have been kicking ass for a minute now but another poster pointed out the jump ball that Justin Jackson wouldn't let go of and that's the moment that I said, "Damn, these boys may just have it after all." I've never seen the kid play with so much passion. I know that he is still quiet on the court but you can see his confidence pouring out now I feel like.
Team is clicking on all cylinders right now. Great timing!
Team is clicking on all cylinders right now. Great timing!
Now THAT, I'll agree with. You'll never see me hope for a poorly officiated and/or swallow-the-whistle game... but when it happens --- which it inevitably does --- ya gotta be ready to play through it.
Seriously I thought it was a tough played game, but that UVA wasn't hacking but just playing tough defense. The refs missed a few calls (mainly that one out of bounds call with about 5:30 to play) but even Roy said in his press conference that has only possibly disagreed with like 2 calls the entire game.
Not so much the calls as the lack thereof. Bump doubles, undercuts, hockey check hedges and travels galore... but other than that......
Yeah, I don't think I've ever seen another team hedge as HARD as UVA did. They really pushed and hip checked the hell out of our guys with those hedges. Refs should call the first few of those early on and put an end to that crap.
Funny thing about that. Thats supposed to be one of the first axioms refs are taught --- nip it in the bud ---even before the supposed altered rule emphases (of which checking on hedges was supposed to be one)
