My random thoughts after watching the game and skimming this thread (tl;dr version: GFY):
- As many of you have already said, our defense against the drive-and-kick was terrible. That works against a lot of teams, but the one thing K does is recruit guys who can flat out shoot the ball. Kennard and Allen killed us. And honestly, many of their shots were well defended. All you can do is tip your hat.
- Luke played a pretty good game, especially on the offensive end of the floor. He has a really good stroke and I'm comfortable with him shooting anywhere from 21 feet in.
- Loved the energy we got from off the bench (think
@TarHeelNation11 mentioned this in-game). We got solid minutes from Pinson obviously, but Bradley, Woods, and Robinson all made contributions. Those guys were all in for a long stretch at the end of the first half and actually stopped a min-run by dook and reclaimed the lead.
- Why did Berry only play 32 minutes? I had the volume down (trying to listen to the radio broadcast). He didn't have his greatest game, but we're better with him on the floor. He needs to be playing 36-38 with breaks coming before TV timeouts IMO.
- My word, Tatum is an embarrassment. He's obviously very skilled, but the way he carries himself on the court and the decisions he makes are cringe-worthy. I haven't watched much of dook this season but have read the criticisms about him auditioning for the NBA. That's no joke. He cost them a couple possessions in the second half with horrible shots.
- Re: streaming the game, my ESPN feed on Sling TV was easily a full minute behind the network broadcast. I've never had that kind of delay before. I switched over to the network broadcast and muted the TV. I listened to the radio broadcast instead, which was actually about 10 seconds behind the network broadcast. That's pretty typical, I've found.
- The ACC's network coverage of the game was terrible. They kept cutting away to the benches, to the crowd, etc. while the effing game was going on. Missed lots of game action as a result. They'd cut back to the game and somebody had just scored but you had no idea what happened based on video alone. That's just piss-poor production quality.
- The older I get, the less I care about this particular game. It's still a loss and it still hurts and it still hurts a little more than losing to Miami or Georgia Tech. But I'm not despondent about it. It is, after all, worth just as many losses as either of those two games. We know what we need to do and this team has all the components to finish the regular season strong. I still think UNC is a no-brainer top 10 team and has a realistic shot of another Final Four appearance.
ETA: Cheez and crackers, what was up with the free throws?!
