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Platek To UNC

gunslingerdick said:
I'm not saying you're wrong because I don't know enough about the kid to really have an opinion. But if I recall correctly, Bobby was ranked in the 30s or 40s. Platek is ranked between 175 and 200. That's a giant leap. So if he's a better shooter than Bobby and he's as athletic as Bobby, then why on God's green earth is he ranked so low? Not ever class is created the same. I get that. But I think it's logical to say that a guy ranked around 200 in any class is not the same talent as a guy ranked in the 40s of any class. And sure, he'll probably rise in the rankings. But even if he were to be ranked at 100 or higher, the question remains.

I'm glad we got a commitment. But IMO, this kind of kid should round out a recruiting class. Not be a priority. If he can turn into Wes Miller 2.0, I'll be content.
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Quick answer? Profile.
Bobby was a coach's kid (who was advanced skill-wise early on) from Chicago who made his mark pretty early.in the process and got himself known by the analysts. He was seen as a can't-miss prospect because of his head, his versatility (true Combo) and his athleticism and was also considered to be a potential knock-down shooter. As the late Skip Proesser famously lamented when Roy got him, "Everybody wanted Frasor". Bobby showed how good he was by starting at PG from Day-1 here and doing it very well. His stroke though didn't improve as I hoped --- it was too long and somewhat inconsistent..

By contrast, Andrew as I understand it bounced around under the radar as just a high-volume shooter. But as he rounded his game and got some local notice IIRC he reclassified back to go to a higher-profile private school and prove he wasn't a one-trick pony. Unlike Bobby, he had to fight for profile in other words, and leading his very under-manned AAU team to qualify for Peach Jam was a feat in itself. Worked though --- caught Roy's eye.

Caution: Do not, I repeat do NOT stereotype him. Don't compare him to Wes. Don't get me wrong --- I loved Wes. He was undersized-but-cat-quick, a tenacious defender and could shoot from Greensboro. But as Clint said, Andrew has good size (actually may be more 6'4 than 6'3), is sturdily built with a decent vertical and strong enough to get on the boards from the 2 hole. I'm a hard sell and it took all of three minutes watching live for me to see what Roy apparently saw. Has Bobby-like size and athleticism, is Ellington-like smooth in his movements, has Berry-like court-awareness. What really impressed me as a coach was his vision and anticipation. As an AAU coach friend put it, "his shoulders are already square by the time the ball gets to him". And in a game I watched in Atlanta when his team's second best player who was playing Point went down, Andrew stepped in and ran Point flawlessly --- much better than the other guy actually.

We got a steal here, Dick, and a great fit for our needs. Now let's go get a Biggun or two... :cool:
 
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Tom79 said:
Agreed 'slinger, he is no savior but he is a complimentary piece. A four year kid that can shoot well over 40% from distance "rounds out" things for me. Wouldn't he be the kid at Davidson that would light us up? Just sayin'... ;)
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Yes. He is the type of kid that attends a smaller school and goes for 38 against us. But I'm hoping that's not part of the equation when we recruit someone.

I'm glad we got a shooter. He does indeed address a need. But doesn't BRob also address that same need? Weren't we hopeful that Williams addressed that need? I'm not saying we wouldn't want him at all. But that offer came early. It just kind of surprises me that we'd offer him when we did - before maybe looking at some better talent. I mean, when did we offer Justin Watts? Or Mike Copeland? Granted, Platek is a better talent than Copeland and probably Watts too. But it still seems like an early reach.
 
gunslingerdick said:
But it still seems like an early reach.
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IMO absolutely 100% no.

If Roy reels in Randolph as a combo-Wing to join Andrew (and Kenny Williams coming back and BRob in his second season) there's gonna be some deadly scoring on the perimeter from '17 on. And even if JB leaves there's a kid named Felton coming to run the show. Me likey.
 
Yeah, I like this kid a lot. And the fact that he's not afraid to come to UNC where we're loaded at the wing positions tells me a lot about his competitive spirit and his confidence. We may very well see BRob playing mostly SF after next year and 7th may eventually be playing PG. So I'm thrilled to land Platek, a very good perimeter shooter who addresses a glaring need for us.
 
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Archer and Gary
Although I agree with you I recommend you both save your breath (or typing fingers). This isn't really about Platek, his game, or his ranking. It's about Roy. Like some politicians, there is nothing he can do that will not be criticized. Had we instead of Andrew, just signed Carter, Bamba, Knox, and Washington the same posters would be beachin' about the lack of a dead-eye 3 point shooter in the 2017 class.
Everyone is entitled to their opinion and to voice it, but after a while its pretty clear what motivates the constant criticism and it ain't the love of Carolina basketball.
 
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Bottomline, we are not Duke. They always have 3-4 guys that can shoot lights out. UNC has had problems getting shooters. This kid will be a four year 3-point specialist. Don't forget that the Heels will play Cuse 2-3 times a year and this kid can bust a zone. With penetrators like Woods and Felton kickbacks to Platek for 3 will be automatic. No brainer folks....
 
If you give me the option of making it to the NCAA final and Platek having a bad game verses not making it to an NCAA final I'll take Platek having a bad game in the final every time. The reason being that other players may offset Platek having a bad game. If you don't make the Final game, no one remembers what you did....
 
gunslingerdick said:
Yes. He is the type of kid that attends a smaller school and goes for 38 against us. But I'm hoping that's not part of the equation when we recruit someone.

I'm glad we got a shooter. He does indeed address a need. But doesn't BRob also address that same need? Weren't we hopeful that Williams addressed that need? I'm not saying we wouldn't want him at all. But that offer came early. It just kind of surprises me that we'd offer him when we did - before maybe looking at some better talent. I mean, when did we offer Justin Watts? Or Mike Copeland? Granted, Platek is a better talent than Copeland and probably Watts too. But it still seems like an early reach.
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Slinger, I think we will see the kid rise strong in the rankings after this summer. There are a lot of reasons why a kid can be a player but not get the ranking that really deserves. Small town and weak competition, wrong AAU team, others that get the pop in that state. Thing is the kid has people's attention now and he is playing like a top 50 kid.

I get where ya coming from thinking we are reaching for a kid outside of the top 150 but this kid is already deserving of being in the top 50, even in this rather strong class. Now gary watches him and he comes away thinking we got another Bobby, I got to see that, I have not got to that point yet. I see a kid shoot near 40% in EYBL and that is solid, I don't expect that because he did that in EYBL this summer that he will do that in college. BRob shot well over 40% last year in high school, I am not expecting that next season playing for us, way different level of competition, Kenny has a really pretty stroke but many UNC fans right now don't see him as a knock down shooter because he was only 1-9 on treys last season.

So I want to temper back some of the expectations for this kid if I can, way to early to invoke Dante or even Bobby before the knee injury. I absolutely do think he can get there, just as I do believe Shea Rush will be more than a mop up guy for us before he is done at UNC. I just would hesitate to have folks expecting this is a kid that will come in and be a knock down jump shooter day 1 when I think we are looking at a kid that is more likely a Jr before we see him as a guy that is one of our key players. We just have a ton of talent at the 2.

It is a bit odd, years before last the knock on UNC was that we were a poor jump shooting team, especially so outside of Marcus and a lot of truth in that. JP, a very poor jump shooter was our starting 2 guard, we were what, in the 200's percentile as a shooting team and worst than that beyond the arch? And yet now, with Marcus graduated, it is beginning to look like we could either this coming season or the one after become one of the best outside shooting teams in the country because everyone we already have in our back court as well as the guys already committed came shoot the ball well past the trey.

Even more odd is the fact that duke used to be the team that got little front their front court guys and relied on multiple outside shooters to knock down treys. It was UNC that pounded the ball inside so our bigs could finish and we had the bigs to finish. And now look, duke does not even have a PG on their entire roster for next season, there scoring will come from slashing and dumping to their front court guys. And look at us, limited front court scoring that is proven and a ton of guys that can knock down outside shots as well as slash to the rim and finish. It is as if we have switched roles?
 
Not gonna say much, just gonna say not sure about this signing.

Hopefully, Roy knows what he is doing because we are starting to look redundant with supposed shooters.

Pinson shot 40% from 3 in his senior year. It did not translate to NCAA.

Kenny Williams shot pretty high % in HS also.

Didn't translate. Just not sure recruiting a guy solely for 3 point shooting is the greatest idea.

But we will see. I hope it was a good use of a scholarship.
 
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HeLooks2MuchLikeDave said:
Yeah, I don't think that's true. Not only did everybody not want Frasor, but Skip Prosser didn't even want Frasor. At least, not bad enough to give him an offer.
http://247sports.com/Recruitment/Bobby-Frasor-68631/RecruitInterests
https://n.rivals.com/content/prospects/maple/22354

He couldn't even get an offer from Illinois, where he wanted to play
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It is true and it is what he said. And by this time the summer before his senior year Bobby had committed to us .
 
Steat said:
If you give me the option of making it to the NCAA final and Platek having a bad game verses not making it to an NCAA final I'll take Platek having a bad game in the final every time. The reason being that other players may offset Platek having a bad game. If you don't make the Final game, no one remembers what you did....
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Absolutely agree. I'd rather go to the final than not go to the final 100 times out of 100.

The question that remains to be seen is if Platek is skilled enough to help push UNC to a title game, and I guess also, whether UNC needs him to be skilled enough in order to make the title game. Both of those will be answered in due time, I suppose.
 
imajericho said:
Not gonna say much, just gonna say not sure about this signing.

Hopefully, Roy knows what he is doing because we are starting to look redundant with supposed shooters.

Pinson shot 40% from 3 in his senior year. It did not translate to NCAA.

Kenny Williams shot pretty high % in HS also.

Didn't translate. Just not sure recruiting a guy solely for 3 point shooting is the greatest idea.

But we will see. I hope it was a good use of a scholarship.
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You don't think KW's shooting is gonna translate? OK....
 
imajericho said:
Not gonna say much, just gonna say not sure about this signing.

Hopefully, Roy knows what he is doing because we are starting to look redundant with supposed shooters.

Pinson shot 40% from 3 in his senior year. It did not translate to NCAA.

Kenny Williams shot pretty high % in HS also.

Didn't translate. Just not sure recruiting a guy solely for 3 point shooting is the greatest idea.

But we will see. I hope it was a good use of a scholarship.
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I get where you're coming from Jericho but I still like this offer. In today's college game, many teams have three good perimeter shooters and most have at least two who can drain the trey consistently. It seems we've struggled recently to find anyone who can do that.

Theo has never been know to be a real good perimeter shooter, even though he shot the trey well his senior year. His form, much like Dexter Strickland's, just isn't conducive to long range accuracy. So he wasn't expected to shoot the trey very well and he hasn't so far.

Kenny Williams shot 42%, 33%, and 36% on treys for his high school career, for an overall average of 38%. That equates to 57% from two point range, very respectable numbers. And while he struggled mightily last year, albeit on a very limited number of attempts, his shooting motion indicates he's a much better shooter than he showed last year.

BRob shot 37% from long distance during his high school career, including 42% last year. He has very good form on his jumper as well and has the length to get his shot off against college defenders. I expect both to be solid 3-pt shooters.

The point being, between those two and Platek, we should have solid 3-pt shooting for the for the next 3-4 years, even after Joel and JJ leave. And that's something every really good team needs.
 
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One of the keys is playing time. Williams just didn't play that much last year. I'm convinced that if he would have played more he would have a shot a better percentage. Williams has an opportunity to step up this year and make a name for himself. I see him getting 10-15 minutes this year and he needs to knock some long range jumpers down. Time to deliver....
 
gary-7 said:
You don't think KW's shooting is gonna translate? OK....
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I do not know. It hasn't so far. Not even close.

And, I am aware not a lot of attempts and freshman jitters.

He, however, was drastically off mark on a lot of his attempts though.

Not saying he won't translate. I am just saying I am not sure I want to shove in my hand banking on a 3 point shot to translate.

Platek being given this early offer means he views him higher than many other targets. Which would include Matt Coleman.

I really hope what Roy sees in him is spot on is all.
 
Steat said:
If you give me the option of making it to the NCAA final and Platek having a bad game verses not making it to an NCAA final I'll take Platek having a bad game in the final every time. The reason being that other players may offset Platek having a bad game. If you don't make the Final game, no one remembers what you did....
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For the record, it was the FF when Dante had his meltdown. But I get your point and I wasn't really looking for a response. I think pretty much anyone would agree that getting to the final and laying an egg is better than not getting there at all. It's just that when I hear Dante's name, the first thing I think of is how he shit the bed in that Arkansas game. He did have 9 assists in that game so he wasn't a complete disaster. But if he just makes 2-3 more shots, we probably win that game despite Stackhouse's ankle injury.

Archer2 said:
Something like 2 for 12 if memory serves. That FF loss hurts me more than any other because it was my favorite UNC team.
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Yep, that's right there with Dante. But what's worse, Shammond did it twice. Against Zona in 97 he went 1-13. Then he went 2-12 in '98 against Utah.
 
gunslingerdick said:
For the record, it was the FF when Dante had his meltdown. But I get your point and I wasn't really looking for a response. I think pretty much anyone would agree that getting to the final and laying an egg is better than not getting there at all. It's just that when I hear Dante's name, the first thing I think of is how he shit the bed in that Arkansas game. He did have 9 assists in that game so he wasn't a complete disaster. But if he just makes 2-3 more shots, we probably win that game despite Stackhouse's ankle injury.



Yep, that's right there with Dante. But what's worse, Shammond did it twice. Against Zona in 97 he went 1-13. Then he went 2-12 in '98 against Utah.
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Yep, and those were my favorite Tar Heel teams to watch. I have to admit that I'll always think of Shammond as a bit of a choker after those two games.
 
Archer2 said:
Yep, and those were my favorite Tar Heel teams to watch. I have to admit that I'll always think of Shammond as a bit of a choker after those two games.
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Anyone remember which game Shammond was sent to the locker room for not following instructions . . ? I could be off here, but, it was a Tourney game IIRC . .
 
Steat said:
One of the keys is playing time. Williams just didn't play that much last year. I'm convinced that if he would have played more he would have a shot a better percentage. Williams has an opportunity to step up this year and make a name for himself. I see him getting 10-15 minutes this year and he needs to knock some long range jumpers down. Time to deliver....
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Yeah, to nicely say what my mom used to love to say, time to "pee or get off the pot"! LOL

Seriously, I don't so much look at what % a kid shoots in high school from the trey, I am more concerned with the form they shoot with because form tends to translate. You look at Theo's shooting form, I could care less what % of treys he hit in high school, he is not a 30% shooter from beyond the arch in college with that poor shooting form. That is another example of why I am not the stat kind of guy, I am more watch the player type of guy, how he moves, how he competes, and form on a jumper.

I don't care what kenny shot in HS nor do I care what he shot last season, Kenny Williams can shoot the basketball and he can shoot it outstanding! I have heard some things about practice all last season and thou Kenny is not just a shooter, you do not have to worry about this kid or ask can he shoot it, he can and at a very high level. Roy absolutely LOVES the kid and raves about him in practice last season and would have got him more PT but he felt he had to stay with Marcus so he could break out of that slump.

I really believe that before or about the time of the ACC slate, Kenny will either be our starting 2 guard or at least playing starter minutes and if it is not him it will be 7th Woods. I do think Roy is likely to start nate early and may stay with him as a starter but kenny and 7th will eat a lot of those minutes away from him as the season moves forward. No diss toward nate but as a defender I do think Kenny and 7th can be more solid (more length and a passion to defend) and I think they can bring more scoring, just IMO.
 
Nate Watson , I think.

  1. Junathaen♎️ ‏@TheNate156 3h3 hours ago
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Platek interview today.... Very bright kid

Had narrowed his final list to 6... others were Butler, Indiana, Miami, Stanford and Princeton

We are going to be very glad we have this young man on our team. I Love his attitude, especially the part about challenging himself to play with the BEST in the country.

his teammate apparently is going to Maryland BTW

http://www.tarheeltimes.com/article77540.aspx
 
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gunslingerdick said:
For the record, it was the FF when Dante had his meltdown. But I get your point and I wasn't really looking for a response. I think pretty much anyone would agree that getting to the final and laying an egg is better than not getting there at all. It's just that when I hear Dante's name, the first thing I think of is how he shit the bed in that Arkansas game. He did have 9 assists in that game so he wasn't a complete disaster. But if he just makes 2-3 more shots, we probably win that game despite Stackhouse's ankle injury.
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What's even more maddening is how well he shot all the rest of that season. Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't Dante lead the ACC in 3 pt shooting?
 
I think Kenny Williams whole deal last year was confidence and rhythm! He didn't get a lot of PT bc of Paige and others (mostly Paige) I think with more pt this year he will build confidence and we will see a better shooting %.. I hunk he will be a very good PLAYER for us (not just a good shooter)
 
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gary-7 said:
What's even more maddening is how well he shot all the rest of that season. Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't Dante lead the ACC in 3 pt shooting?
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Not sure which year (I'll look later) but if IIRC Dante shot the highest 3 point average EVER by any Tar Heel one year.


Yep, Dante outshot 'em ALL.

HIGHEST THREE-POINT PCT
. — SEASON (
min. 50 made)
.496
Dante Calabria, 1994-95 (66 of 13


http://www.goheels.com/fls/3350/pdf/MBB2016/UNCRecordBook2016.pdf?SPID=12965
 
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With Felton and Woods driving to the basket who cares what Platek's vertical is, as long as he is the knock down shooter he is advertised to be. With his height it should help with defense. I am excited because he is a nice fit to what we already have coming.
 
CarolinaBlue5 said:
I think Kenny Williams whole deal last year was confidence and rhythm! He didn't get a lot of PT bc of Paige and others (mostly Paige) I think with more pt this year he will build confidence and we will see a better shooting %.. I hunk he will be a very good PLAYER for us (not just a good shooter)
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I would add that I think KW took the idea of coming in and giving max effort on defense to the extreme, to the point where he wasn't looking for a shot from 3 in the first half of the season at least. That may have set him back a bit in getting a rhythm but I love what it showed me about the kid.
 
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Thank You Mr Platek! Welcome aboard--for those that took over the original topic--I'd take Platek over Frasor all day and with the young wing shooters/athletes on this team we just need a couple big men to go with these guys! Welcome to the Hill, Mr Platek!
 
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