A little over 3 years ago I posted on here with much enthusiasm that Roy had signed a "core class" --- 3 guys who would form a nucleus for Championship runs, and if the ball bounced right, would actually get one (that last part just took one longer than it should have 
).
Back in the early 2000s UNC had done that previously with Felton, McCants and May. The only issue then was having someone who could coach em up ---- thankfully, along came Roy Williams. Well, Ol' Roy landed him another one with Berry, Pinson and Jackson. These guys were not only your 5* Burger Boy players, they had something special, and importantly. none were coming in OAD.
I had heard about Jackson's "Walking Buckets" rep of channeling George Gervin from a friend who coached against him in AAU, and he has right... and JJ has grown into a legit All-American. And ironically, Theo is the one I had heard the least about, but film showed why Roy loved him. I can tell ya, we don't have this Natty without our Swiss Army Knife getting healthy. Moreover, I also posted that Roy had picked up the "next great Carolina PG" in JB. I still just SMH at the idea that some scoffed. Seeing him once live in AAU was all it took to ace my eye-test, and looking up film just validated his status as an AAU legend, regularly taking highly touted PGs to school. So, now we sit celebrating after year 3, and JB has led this PG-oriented team to what?... 2 ACC Regular Season titles, an ACCT title (winning the Everett Case Award), 2 Final Fours w/ 2 Championship game appearances (first player since Bill Walton to score 20+ twice), and now a Natty (with MOP thrown in for good measure).
Obviously, 3 players can't do it alone --- they need other good players --- and Roy always finds other good players. Hell, we started 5 Burger Boys this season as upperclassmen! But it takes that core to give a team its soul, and these 3 Juniors have it in abundance. JB mentioned how much better the team chemistry was for these last 2 seasons than it was initially. That's the foundation for being cabable of fighting through adversity --- and the foundation for redemption.
So..... where we they go from here?
Buckets is gone, and should be. He answered all the questions and has played himself into a late Lotto or mid-1st-Rounder. I expect he'll declare and hire an agent. Theo will probablly test the waters and return. The question mark is JB. No doubt he'll also likely test, and no one could blame him for leaving with his jersey in the rafters. Hopefully the numbers game in this particular draft will dissuade him. Personally, I'll choose to be encouraged by this tidbit from last night's locker room interview:
“That means a lot to me. Big May told me to leave my legacy tonight. I think I did that. To be up there in the rafters, when I walk out in the gym, I look up there every day and I try to see who’s up there. There’s so many great guys up there. It’s an honor and a blessing to be able to get my name up there because every time I come back and visit the gym – even though I’ve got one more year left – to see my name up there will be something that will be an awesome feeling.”
We shall see. I'm not liking some of what I'm hearing concerning Tony, but... all I know for sure is that if Dog does come back, we'll manage to be pretty doggone good again.
).Back in the early 2000s UNC had done that previously with Felton, McCants and May. The only issue then was having someone who could coach em up ---- thankfully, along came Roy Williams. Well, Ol' Roy landed him another one with Berry, Pinson and Jackson. These guys were not only your 5* Burger Boy players, they had something special, and importantly. none were coming in OAD.
I had heard about Jackson's "Walking Buckets" rep of channeling George Gervin from a friend who coached against him in AAU, and he has right... and JJ has grown into a legit All-American. And ironically, Theo is the one I had heard the least about, but film showed why Roy loved him. I can tell ya, we don't have this Natty without our Swiss Army Knife getting healthy. Moreover, I also posted that Roy had picked up the "next great Carolina PG" in JB. I still just SMH at the idea that some scoffed. Seeing him once live in AAU was all it took to ace my eye-test, and looking up film just validated his status as an AAU legend, regularly taking highly touted PGs to school. So, now we sit celebrating after year 3, and JB has led this PG-oriented team to what?... 2 ACC Regular Season titles, an ACCT title (winning the Everett Case Award), 2 Final Fours w/ 2 Championship game appearances (first player since Bill Walton to score 20+ twice), and now a Natty (with MOP thrown in for good measure).
Obviously, 3 players can't do it alone --- they need other good players --- and Roy always finds other good players. Hell, we started 5 Burger Boys this season as upperclassmen! But it takes that core to give a team its soul, and these 3 Juniors have it in abundance. JB mentioned how much better the team chemistry was for these last 2 seasons than it was initially. That's the foundation for being cabable of fighting through adversity --- and the foundation for redemption.
So..... where we they go from here?
Buckets is gone, and should be. He answered all the questions and has played himself into a late Lotto or mid-1st-Rounder. I expect he'll declare and hire an agent. Theo will probablly test the waters and return. The question mark is JB. No doubt he'll also likely test, and no one could blame him for leaving with his jersey in the rafters. Hopefully the numbers game in this particular draft will dissuade him. Personally, I'll choose to be encouraged by this tidbit from last night's locker room interview:
“That means a lot to me. Big May told me to leave my legacy tonight. I think I did that. To be up there in the rafters, when I walk out in the gym, I look up there every day and I try to see who’s up there. There’s so many great guys up there. It’s an honor and a blessing to be able to get my name up there because every time I come back and visit the gym – even though I’ve got one more year left – to see my name up there will be something that will be an awesome feeling.”
We shall see. I'm not liking some of what I'm hearing concerning Tony, but... all I know for sure is that if Dog does come back, we'll manage to be pretty doggone good again.
