Please Stop Bashing Kennedy

[What Would Jesus Do?]

I wish people would stop including Meeks in their bashing (see the Tony Bradley thread, for example). He played a good game for us against Ga Tech. Arguably the most productive guy on the floor for us. And he usually does play a good game for us.

We all wish Kennedy had a stronger motor. But this is his 4th year and we should probably accept that he just isn't a high motor guy.

That said, he's pretty consistently good. He's a solid foundation player that the rest of the team can count on.

He's one of the nation's best rebounders. And even if you want to say he pads his offensive rebound numbers by rebounding a lot of his own misses, that doesn't explain why he's also among the nation's best in defensive rebounds.

He's gotten his fouling under control and, unlike last year, he gets fouled a good bit more than he commits fouls.

He's averaging nearly a double-double (12.5 and 9.5).

We should not just be cutting him some slack, we should be appreciating what he gives us.

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

Pomeroy rates him #14 in the nation on offensive rebounding, #46 on defensive rebounding.

He's the 4th best offensive rebounder in the ACC - after Louisville's Johnson, Clemson's Djitte and Wake's Collins).

He's the 3rd best defensive rebounder in the ACC - after Wake's Collins and Duke's Jefferson.

Pomeroy doesn't do a combined rebounding ranking, but that looks to me like he's 2nd best in the ACC behind Collins, since Collins is the only ACC player ahead of him on both measures.

 

[Butterbutt44]

I dont bash Kennedy simply because at this point, similar to Britt, he is what he is. I am expecting a slow fade into mediocrity throughout ACC play, as this has been his M.O. his whole career here. If he bucks that trend I will be pleasantly surprised but I certainly am not expecting it. He has games where he looks like a polished, savvy excellent post player. Then others where I dont even recognize him. Like the others in this strange senior class, consistency seems to be a word they are allergic to. I should say-for the benefit of the emotionally fragile on this board-that I do salute Kennedy for the weight loss and the hard work he put in. We all can learn from such an inspirational story.

Unfortunately seeing as Tony isnt getting a lot of minutes and Hicks is a veritable No-show in certain games, we cant afford him to fade this year at all. Brice Johnson isnt walking through that door. He single handedly covered up any flaws in our frontcourt last year. Im almost thinking when Theo comes back a smaller lineup may benefit us more at times.

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

I dont bash Kennedy simply because at this point, similar to Britt, he is what he is. I am expecting a slow fade into mediocrity throughout ACC play, as this has been his M.O. his whole career here. If he bucks that trend I will be pleasantly surprised but I certainly am not expecting it. He has games where he looks like a polished, savvy excellent post player. Then others where I dont even recognize him. Like the others in this strange senior class, consistency seems to be a word they are allergic to. I should say-for the benefit of the emotionally fragile on this board-that I do salute Kennedy for the weight loss and the hard work he put in. We all can learn from such an inspirational story.

Unfortunately seeing as Tony isnt getting a lot of minutes and Hicks is a veritable No-show in certain games, we cant afford him to fade this year at all. Brice Johnson isnt walking through that door. He single handedly covered up any flaws in our frontcourt last year. Im almost thinking when Theo comes back a smaller lineup may benefit us more at times.

As you suggest, the big challenge for Kennedy is to avoid injury or whatever it was that slowed him down sometime in the middle of the season the last 2 years. He was just starting to recover at the end of last season.

If he can just stay healthy, stay focused, and continue to build on what he's done so far, he will not only be a huge asset for us, but may even find a modest welcome at the next level.

I'm not expecting to see a Sean May style of breakout, but I am sort of hoping for something like that. Hey, it can happen.

Dig deep Kennedy.

 

[smooth as butter]

Kennedy Is playing well.I like his game.

 

[coryfly]

I didn't think he played all that well in our last game (rebounded well in the first half though). That's ok though. Overall, I think he has been really good for the Heels. Honestly, I wish he would shot more jumpers and less layups tbh. Again, he has been a fun player to watch over the years IMO.

 

[Ozheelfan]

I didn't think he played all that well in our last game (rebounded well in the first half though). That's ok though. Overall, I think he has been really good for the Heels. Honestly, I wish he would shot more jumpers and less layups tbh. Again, he has been a fun player to watch over the years IMO.

I tend to disagree Cory, Kennedy was the Heels best front court player against GT (though that's not saying much!)
Agree about the jumpers... it'd get him away from under the hoop too.

 

[soap - new and improved]

If I get to meet any of the players who have come to UNC over the past number of years I will personally thank them for their hard work, dedication, and fearlessness in committing to UNC while we have been under the dark cloud of this interminable NCAA witch hunt!

Since I may never get the chance to converse with any of them, I will do it right here, right now.

Thank you all Guys, each and every one! Love my Tar Heels!!

 

[DSouthr]

I tend to disagree Cory, Kennedy was the Heels best front court player against GT (though that's not saying much!)
Agree about the jumpers... it'd get him away from under the hoop too.

I agree Oz, Meeks had 14 rebounds, that in itself says he put in work. But noticed several times he was isolated on lammers, guys longer than Meeks that can put the ball on the floor, pretty consistently forced lammers in to fade away jumpers from 10+ feet. You force those kind of shots, even thou lammers hit some of them, you did your job. It would have been nice to see us hassle him when he put the ball on the floor by a guard looking to strip him.

Yeah, meeks only scored 7 but that was against a defense that was packed tight in the paint, designed to limit easy catch and finishes from our big men. I really would have liked to see us go to a zone because GT did not have a lot of shooters, they were driving our pressure and getting to the rim way to easy with good floor spacing.

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

I really would have liked to see us go to a zone because GT did not have a lot of shooters, they were driving our pressure and getting to the rim way to easy with good floor spacing.

Going zone is like calling timeouts. It's on the menu, but rarely ordered.

I have often thought we could do very well with box-and-1 or triangle-and-2 defenses, or with something more like the zone John Chaney used to use (not that I can remember it well enough to describe it - but it sure seemed effective).

We always seem to have a couple of really good defenders on the team. So that would seem to make sense.

Then again, Roy invests a lot of effort teaching the Dean-derived defensive schemes. So I can understand why he wouldn't want to confuse players with other schemes.

 

[DSouthr]

Going zone is like calling timeouts. It's on the menu, but rarely ordered.

I have often thought we could do very well with box-and-1 or triangle-and-2 defenses, or with something more like the zone John Chaney used to use (not that I can remember it well enough to describe it - but it sure seemed effective).

We always seem to have a couple of really good defenders on the team. So that would seem to make sense.

Then again, Roy invests a lot of effort teaching the Dean-derived defensive schemes. So I can understand why he wouldn't want to confuse players with other schemes.

Yeah but Roy's hate for using a zone is not Dean like. That is maybe the one area that drives me crazy with Roy more than anything else. Teams game plan the way we play man so they come in with a way to attack us. One of the real advantages Dean gave his teams was switching defenses to force opponents to have to recognize and then attack, it made them have to think rather than just react and play. You had to prep for multiple switching zones as well as man to play Dean's teams, you could not just settle in to a single type of defense to attack.

I think it is a thing that does limit Roy's teams, I mean if you play zone, let's say a 2/3, would that mean you would have a better understanding of it and that lead to a better feel for how to defeat it? I love Roy as our coach but his view on his teams playing zone is just not a thing I will ever really agree on. But hey, just my opinion and I am not in the college basketball hall of fame! LOL

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

Yeah but Roy's hate for using a zone is not Dean like. That is maybe the one area that drives me crazy with Roy more than anything else. Teams game plan the way we play man so they come in with a way to attack us. One of the real advantages Dean gave his teams was switching defenses to force opponents to have to recognize and then attack, it made them have to think rather than just react and play. You had to prep for multiple switching zones as well as man to play Dean's teams, you could not just settle in to a single type of defense to attack.

I think it is a thing that does limit Roy's teams, I mean if you play zone, let's say a 2/3, would that mean you would have a better understanding of it and that lead to a better feel for how to defeat it? I love Roy as our coach but his view on his teams playing zone is just not a thing I will ever really agree on. But hey, just my opinion and I am not in the college basketball hall of fame! LOL

Oh yeah. Much as I like Roy, he doesn't have Dean's gift when it comes to tactics. Then again, almost nobody does.

Part of the fun of the pre-clock and long-clock days was watching Dean evolve strategies in real time.

That said, with a 30-second clock and the 3-point shot, things have changed from those good old days.

 

[morgousky]

Oh yeah. Much as I like Roy, he doesn't have Dean's gift when it comes to tactics. Then again, almost nobody does.

Part of the fun of the pre-clock and long-clock days was watching Dean evolve strategies in real time.

That said, with a 30-second clock and the 3-point shot, things have changed from those good old days.

Now that's something I must disagree on. College basketball was a dying product with the stall ball and no shot clock. Just a terrible product. To me it was bush league. That's just my opinion.

Roy has a much better product than Dean had. Just watch the UK / UNC Game this year. That's how this game was meant to be played. Roy and Cal have the best style although differently executed. It's why I say Rupp didn't invent the game, but he perfected it. Very revolutionary. The game is meant to be played, not stand at one end of a court and hope the clock runs out.

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

Now that's something I must disagree on. College basketball was a dying product with the stall ball and no shot clock. Just a terrible product. To me it was bush league. That's just my opinion.

Hard to sell, I will agree. But I loved watching those chess matches.

Different strokes. Some people want movies that are all car chase. Some don't.