Post-Maui stuff...

[DSouthr]

LOL, there is death, taxes, and Jung/Nate calling for UNC to shoot more treys! In this life, those 3 things you can depend on! LOL

 

[DSouthr]

As maybe the only person here who watches equal amounts of college basketball and the NBA, there's really nothing that UNC does that mimicks a modern NBA offense. NBA offenses are usually triggered through a skilled big guy or a wing. NBA teams are very rarely absolutely dependent on their PG1 like UNC has been for the last 20 years or so. UNC's bigs aren't skilled enough to pass or handle (at least they haven't shown it on tape) and their wing is 6'3".

I know the counter will be "SMALL BALL" or "TOO MANY THREES". UNC isn't even shooting that many 3's. They rank 279th in the country in 3PT rate. And of course UNC will play small ball. The bigs aren't good, lol. 47% of the Boston Celtics' points have been scored on 3s.

And on a personnel level, there isn't one NBA team that would trot out 6'1", 6'0", and 6'3" as their starting 1-3 today. They know they would get demolished. This isn't anything like an NBA team.

I've even seen more freelance this year out of UNC than last year and it's been a freaking disaster. Hubert's sets are not really like NBA sets either. Hubert has really static, college-like sets. Mark Pope runs NBA and European type sets where the action isn't static and the movement has a lot of misdirection in it. Hubert runs much more college type sets likely because it's easier to run at this level.

I think this is rapidly becoming a "playing the results" analysis. If UNC is playing well and winning a lot... Clearly it's because they're playing UNC basketball! If not, clearly they're playing too much like an NBA team!

Despite all that, UNC's offense is top 10 nationally in offensive efficiency. So clearly running the secondary break probably wouldn't make this already fairly elite offense that much better. The offense hasn't been a problem for the most part. And that's considering UNC isn't shooting nearly as many 3s as it should be factoring in their personnel.

And of course this team will struggle defensively. They're really freaking small and they have really limited bigs. They're right now like 60th in the country in defensive efficiency. If you had all the UNC run-and-jump and multiple defenses that you could possibly dream of, what do you think they would be defensively? Maybe top 40? That's certainly better, but it's nowhere near where it needs to be if you think this is a Final Four caliber team. In the NBA, when a team has a really tiny backcourt, they immediately acquire a rim protector big. UNC has a really tiny backcourt and 0 consistent rim protection.

It's just a lazy connection. And made by those who don't watch the NBA. UNC doesn't play like an NBA team. In fact, if they did, more of you would be pissed off because UNC would never shoot a 2, lol.

TLDR:
The coach should be a schemer and not a scheme. I think it's moronic to think this personnel group can run the traditional UNC offense with any consistency. I also think it's moronic that Hubert's sets are as static as they are for this personnel group. Your scheme has to fit your personnel group. So the coach has 2 options. Number one, he adjusts his scheme to fit his personnel group. Or number two, he recruits exclusively to his scheme.

LOL, in a funny way you did hit on a lot of the problem but not in how you intended. Sure you can play the way the NBA does when and ONLY WHEN, you have the talent the NBA does to play it with. When you try to play like the NBA does with college level talent the bed gets real wet. The point folks are making is that UNC nor any NCAA program for that matter, has the across the board talent that every NBA team has.

Hubert is trying to play "position-less" basketball with players that not able to play "position-less", see 5 out, see switching all 5 as 2 examples. But yeah, they should just shoot more treys right? LOL

 

[DSouthr]

My $0.02, Hubert may be a good coach but he is not adaptive. When he came on board I seem to recall him saying that he wanted to play 4 around 1. I took that to mean he was looking have a traditional post and 4 shooters surrounding. That works IF you can get a true stretch 4 who can guard an opposing big. We got Manek and then Ingram for that role in the portal but doesn't seem like any have been recruited for that slot. If they were they sat so much first year they transferred.

This season UNC has a very limited frontcourt, both in terms of size and talent. The result is that the 3 best players are all guards with two being undersized. The best freshmen are also best suited to play the 2/3 slots. If Hubert wants to play a certain style he needs to recruit that way. This is where the NIL/portal nightmare is biting the Heels. Ideally Washington would be that stretch big but he needs a big who can be the physical force inside to do so.

In my opinion this roster is built to play small and FAST. They need to push tempo to create enough extra possessions to offset the half court set weaknesses. I do not mean Arkansas or UNLV of the 90's full court defense but the defense needs to be aggressive and try to force turnovers or at least take an opponent out of their comfort zone.

Whoever you blame for the current roster it ain't going to change. The staff needs to create a game plan that emphasizes the talent on the roster, not continue to use the same style they did when Bacot was in the middle and there were consistent shooters spacing the floor.

I am just so grateful Cadeau did not go to dook. Put him on the court running an offense with that talent would be scary.

I have felt for a very long time that JWash is more of a 4 than a 5, kind of in the Jawad like mold where JWit seems more a under sized 5 than a 4, even thou he has hit some treys this season. I would switch those 2 guys positions and bring Lubin in to back up both spots. I would like to see a few more minutes from James Brown, I saw something in the few minutes he has played so far, there could be a player hiding behind all that lack of experience.

 

[NathanFielder]

LOL, in a funny way you did hit on a lot of the problem but not in how you intended. Sure you can play the way the NBA does when and ONLY WHEN, you have the talent the NBA does to play it with. When you try to play like the NBA does with college level talent the bed gets real wet. The point folks are making is that UNC nor any NCAA program for that matter, has the across the board talent that every NBA team has.

Hubert is trying to play "position-less" basketball with players that not able to play "position-less", see 5 out, see switching all 5 as 2 examples. But yeah, they should just shoot more treys right? LOL

It's just not true. Mark Pope runs a "5-out" or pro style spread offense without NBA guys and he's had an offense that works due to player movement and misdirection. And maybe it's only a coincidence that Kentucky is a good 3PT shooting team and happens to take 43% of their shots from 3. Hmmmm, what a novel concept. Kentucky has more size in the perimeter and that gives them flexibility. But they're not really close to NBA players.

And I'm not saying anything about Hubert's defense. I've never been a fan of how UNC has defended ball screens dating back to the Tyler Hansbrough years. I'm focusing more on the offensive criticism focused on this team because they don't play a traditional UNC style offense.

While this team obviously has a starting lineup issue, I'm not even all that concerned with the offense production. The offense has been good for the most part. I do absolutely think they should be shooting more 3s. This team is shooting almost 38% from 3 and their highest volume shooter has been abysmal. At least 2/5 of this team's shots should be 3s. That's their strength offensively whether people want it to be or not.

Also, I don't think this team is all that good to begin with. When you're not good, you're going to usually have to find more offense from 3 and the FT line to neutralize your disadvantages. So yes, to me, that means shooting more 3s. Especially if you can't offensive rebound, which team has shown a complete inability to offensive rebound through the beginning of the season.

 

[al would]

The best freshmen are also best suited to play the 2/3 slots.

Hard to argue with that but I continue to make the argument for Seth at the 2, Jack on the wing w/Drake at the 4 on at least an experimental basis. And I think Wash as a stretch 5 might work to open up the middle for drives and kick outs but wtf do I know. That's also a better defensive line-up which wouldn't take much with what we've seen so far. At least there is a ton more athleticism on the floor with that group.