LOL, I honestly did not understand what you were saying in this post, I get it now! NicKel not NicHel, thanks LOL
Nickel to announce today!
- Thread starter ACokeForRoy
- Start date
You're entitled to your opinion, wrong tho it is.
I was thinking that a comparison with the 2012 class might be interesting. That was Marcus' class for those who may have forgotten. Here's the whole list (with the 2022 player in paren for comparison):
Marcus Paige (Seth Trimble)
JP Tokoto (Tyler Nickel)
Brice Johnson (Jalen Washington)
Joel James (Will Shaver)
As for the 2017 class, I certainly hope 2022 is much better or we and Hubert could be facing some unhappy times. Here's that class:
Jalek Felton
Garrison Brooks
Brandon Huffman
Andrew Platek
Sterling Manley
We did get 2 good players out of that class. One starter. But out of 5 recruits, that's not great. We'll need a better hit rate in the current class.
If Seth and Jalen are anywhere close to Marcus and Brice I will be happy.You're entitled to your opinion, wrong tho it is.
I was thinking that a comparison with the 2012 class might be interesting. That was Marcus' class for those who may have forgotten. Here's the whole list (with the 2022 player in paren for comparison):
Marcus Paige (Seth Trimble)
JP Tokoto (Tyler Nickel)
Brice Johnson (Jalen Washington)
Joel James (Will Shaver)
As for the 2017 class, I certainly hope 2022 is much better or we and Hubert could be facing some unhappy times. Here's that class:
Jalek Felton
Garrison Brooks
Brandon Huffman
Andrew Platek
Sterling Manley
We did get 2 good players out of that class. One starter. But out of 5 recruits, that's not great. We'll need a better hit rate in the current class.
If Tyler and Will are anywhere close to JP and Joel I will be sad.
On paper but it does not often work out the same way so I kinda want us to slow our roll just a bit on this class. I think they will be really good for us in time but lets not set the bar so high that they can not reach it early on.
Trimble, love the athletism, do think he has more "basketball" skill than his brother did. You guys are not going to like me saying this but right now I see him as a bit of a "upper middle class man's" (meaning an upgrade but not as huge an upgrade) version of 7th Woods. OK, before we blow a gasket, BOTH extremely athletic, both prefer to slash to the rim as opposed to jump shoot, Trimble I think is a good bit better jump shooter. Neither are what I consider classic PGs but Trimble is more of the shooting threat while 7th seemed to want to pass a bit more, both I would suggest are PGs in training as opposed to natural PG. I think Trimble handles the ball a bit better. Now 7th was a guy a lot of folks gave the Platek treatment to, but his development was stunted by a lot of injury and that seemed to me to have drained his confidence, a issue I think he still struggles with. If he remains injury free, I do think Trimble can do a fine job for us. I suspect he backs up RJ his first season, maybe for 2 seasons depending on RJ's progression (which I am high on). Thing I like most about this kid is that he stays in attack mode and a PG with that mindset tends to get his team mates in to attack mode.
Will Shaver, big kid 6'10" 245, ready to bang body, like that. He is coming to UNC in Jan (I think) and will practice with the team, gain valuable experience and learn Hubert's system earlier than the rest of the freshmen. But to me the most important aspect is that he will be able then to work with our S/C coaches, our nutritionists, and get his stamina conditioning level up ( he needs that badly IMO). LIke that he can put in all that work against Bacot and Garcia, really hope doing that will bring out a bit more aggression & confidence in his game, have him more in attack mode. Has a cute little face up game, I think a touch better range than Bacot had coming to UNC as well as a bit more range than Bacot has so far shown. But Bacot attacks the rebounds with more aggression for now and I think has better feet, would suggest Bacot for now is a quicker leaper. I can see a bit of Bacot in his game so working with Bacot should bring even more of that out. Just not right now sold we see him have a great freshman season but that depends on how much he is able to use the head start he will get coming in so early. He will have been able to acclimate to classes and exams so that will not hamper him when he is eligible to play.
Jalen Washington, some suggest that he has not fully recovered from his injury, that he is struggling with the mental aspect of coming back from that injury and tat can be the hardest part, getting back to the point you are not afraid of another injury. He is a long 6'8-9" but needs to add some bulk and strength (weighs around 190lbs now and really needs to add at least 10lbs before he plays. His injury really clouds things up, he was a top 10 kid before that, if he can get his head straight then no reason to think he can't play like a top 10 kid. I would suggest we are getting a bit of a Garcia in him and maybe a touch more.
Tyler Nickel (thanks Tom) good jump shooter that has a aggressive confident nature about him on the court, as with Trimble, this kid stays in attack mode and will at times seek out contact, he does not shy away from it for sure. Going to have to dial that back a little bit else he attack when there isn't really a lane for him, the ACC does not give you openings that last long. Nickel is that long wing that is a really good jump shooter out to NBA trey range, that 6'7-8" guy? Does that remind anyone of a couple guys named Cam & Justin? Yet Nickel has a more ready body and likes the contact. Has a nice little fade away he uses, has a stop & pop and will challenge those inside the paint to risk fouling him so you can not play him exclusively as a jump shooter. But he is going in to a position that already has a lot of talent and a good bit more experience and I suspect it will take the kid a while to adjust. The big question with him is I don't think he has great feet so he will have to learn to get better defensive position but the competitor in him tells me he will put in a lot of work as a defender just because he hates losing at anything so much. I think it will be his soph season before we really start to see his game coming on, could be late freshman season but safer bet is as a soph. Could he be a young Brady Manek?
I didn't realize he had been injured, but was worried about his slide down the ratings. I guess that explains it. Do you know the nature of the injury? We've lost some good prospects in recent years when they never came back from injuries - or had their progress badly disrupted. I hope he's 100% long before he gets here.
ACL in Nov of 2019.
your shortest post in 19 years!! (jk!!)
I think I saw that he enrolled at Siena? If so, he should get a chance to get his minutes.
Same conference as Monmouth. Where, let's not forget, Walker Miller will play this season.
Siena is usually in the top tier of the MAAC. They were regular season champs for the last 2 seasons. Which also happen to be the only 2 seasons under Siena's new coach. Off to a good start.
Might be a perfect fit. I hope he does well. (Ditto for Walker, of course.)
The article I saw said Plate was still waiting for some sort of clearance, so hadn't joined the team yet. But they didn't make it sound like a problem.
He is a kid from my area. Great kid, valedictorian type top 3 in class. Huge talent was top 5 nationally as a freshman/ sophomore, who had ACL and other leg issues after. He stayed off and rehabbed and showed out upon his return for Mean Streets in AAU.
He is not as explosive as his "younger" version but much more of a smooth shooter, rounded scorer. He has taken the latter part of the summer off nationally,as planned, which explains his dip.
I know what you mean but physically he was a superstar - it's just too bad his bball ability was better.
D: Love the write up and agree with it 100%. Don't see it as disagreeing with what I wrote, however! I said this class is the foundation for "sustained" excellence. This doesn't mean they will come in a tear the ACC up, I meant they will fill our needs perfectly AND stay long enough to keep contributing to teams that win more each year! I am much higher on Trimble apparently, but I don't think Shaver will see much action the first year! All will get the chance to prove it in practice and I believe all of them will be significant contributors before they leave!
That was a good one in all honesty "D".
Awesome.
My concern TP is folks tend to place their expectations of a kid way to high as freshmen (not aimed at you or anyone else in particular), so high that the kid just can not reach. The result is a fan base gets down on a kid, writes him off simply because he didn't come in and play like a lotto pick as a freshman. I prefer the Danny Green treatment, the least expected from his class but I think is the most successful player from that class. Kerwin Walton, last year at this time Kerwin was seen by this fan base as "the other guy" in our freshman class, really little expectations were placed on him and yet I could suggest he was maybe the most productive freshman we had, he became a absolute starter. While Caleb by contrast, had the expectation bar set way to high, Caleb struggled and fans turned on him as being some what of a bust, he wasn't, the expectations for him were to high and he was not as far on the developmental curve as some freshmen may be. Caleb is going to be a great player for us, Kerwin will continue to be a great player for us my point is only about expectations that set to high can be a problem for a kid.
Shaver, clearly the expectations are not set to high for him, good thing IMO. I see him more as a career back up guy right now but who knows, he will be in a GREAT position to earn a starting role if Bacot and Garcia do leave after this season as they are expected to do. He is fortunate in that the door to his PT looks for now to be wide open, many players barely see that door cracked a tiny bit. The difference IMO is how hot his internal fire blazes, how hard is he willing to push himself, and can he be confident enough to make the most of his opportunity when it is still to be had.
LOL, MY "new normal" is the same as my "old normal" !!!"D" is back to normal!
And I appreciate it!!
For those on here who like and are good at critiquing someone’s game could you please do so for Tyler Nickel? Nickel seems extremely confident and aggressive. I think he really needs to work on his fundamentals especially dribbling and recognizing cutters and double teams. Not that it matters but I do believe that by the final high school rankings come out next year that Washington and Seth will be five stars. Seth will be right on the cusp. Also Nickel and Shaver will be four stars. I really think people are sleeping on Shaver. I think he is a fringe top 80 to 100 player
I've not seen Nickel play in person although he's not far from me and I will try to see him this coming high school basketball season. But from I've seen, there's a lot I like but a lot I don't like.
What I like:
He's crafty. He scores from weird angles. He uses the board frequently. He plays hard and seems to thrive off contact although the level of competition for his high school team doesn't often have guys his size and skill. Great form on the jumper when he's set but can make shots even when his form isn't good in a rushed shot or off balance, etc. Very confident. He promises to shoot when he's hot and when he's not, he promises to shoot until he is.
What I don't like:
His handle is loose and suspect. Doesn't project as a good defender at college level. Not swift laterally. Not a great rebounder. Too many Dirk Nowitski style fadeaway shots - even when not needed. He promises to shoot when he's hot and when he's not, he promises to shoot until he is.
As for the rest of our class, I think Seth and Washington both have a chance to climb into the top 25 (5 star). I actually think Trimble is underrated. And I don't know why. His athleticism is unparalleled at the PG spot for his class. But he's not all athlete. He understands the PG position and commands a team well. Played well against the best competition over the summer. Washington may not be healthy enough to climb back into the top 25 and I don't want him to push himself to get there. I'd rather him take it slow and earn his accolades at Carolina. And I too think Shaver is going to eventually be a good player. I think he's a 20 mpg kind of guy for us by the time he graduates.
Thanks Gunslingerdick for your assessment on our recruits. By the way my name is Chad for you and others on our Tar Heel Family’s message board. It’s extremely enlightening and interesting to hear your thoughts on this topic. J really do like our class a lot and while everyone is gushing over dooks class which on paper is very good I think in the long run that ours will be better. With that said I do wish we would have hit on Whitmore. I really thought he was ours to lose but I guess his official visit didn’t go as well as planned. It will also be interesting to see which of the trio of players in Love, Garcia and Bacot go or stay after this year. I really think only one of them will go pro with the new NIL in place.
Chad, I will be absolutely shocked if Caleb plays past this coming season, not nearly as shocked if Bacot or Garcia come back. I do know for now neither are thinking in terms of another season at UNC but it is going to take a NBA team to be ready to take them for that to actually happen. WE can spin it any way we want but the fact that both Bacot and Garcia will play for us this season happens because NBA teams were not thrilled with them or ready to make them that offer.
Bacot is seen a a really good college player but he is not the measurable walking mismatch for the NBA, not seen as a scorer, and not seen as a defender outside the paint. Not certain he can change that perception enough to be a first round guy, maybe but still TBD. Garcia does have the ability to jump shoot out to the NBA trey, but I think he really needs to fill out his frame more to handle the physicality of NBA big men. I could see both more having to come back more than wanting to come back and I do think that was very much the case for both after last season. Caleb by contrast does have very good measurables for his position and if he can excel in the style Hubert is wanting to play, which should play directly in to his strengths then yeah, no brainer he is gone. No doubt the NIL deals make it easier for a kid that isn't ready for the NBA to accept coming back.
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