...and I got to see this one in person, and lemme start by reiterating that anyone who wants to replace the Dean Dome has f***ing rocks in their head. I mean, seriously?...
OK, to the game. Not gonna delve too much into the usual stuff, as this was a chance to have a "reset" game --- thus, I'll concentrate on whether or not we accomplished anything to that end. I posted a thread a few days ago --- one that predictably went off the rails --- about what we needed to see, and unfortunately, that mostly came up short. But let's go over a few points:
- In the aforementioned thread I noted that UNC leads NCAA D1 in 2nd half scoring, while ranking 81st during the 1st half. Welp--- more of the same tonight: 40 - 57. Sheesh.
- RJ seemed to rediscover his outside stroke, so Lord knows let's hope that carries over.
- Ian and Drake acquitted themselves well, but there was too much one-on-one that might not hunt in confernce. What I really liked though was their confidence shooting off the catch.
- With Seth out Tyson got a lot of run. Wouldn't ya know his shot would be off tonight, BUT... he played well and needs to continue to get minutes.
- Our defense tonight was like "we'll turn it up when we think we need it". When the effort was there we locked down a possession, but mostly it wasn't --- and nobody seemed to think it was a good idea to guard #2.
- We did rediscover getting our Bigs actual scoring ops, but it was mostly limited to lobs and PnRs (in both of which Eliot was just sick). The bad news is I only noted two regular entry passes. That needs to increase.
- Speaking of EC, neat double-double of 12 and 12 in the score book --- 12 and 13 in the real world (he got jacked out of yet another dime at home --- what else is f***ing new?)
- Finally, I went to the game with some relatives who live in Chapel Hill, and Sat night at dinner they were asking me to explain why the Heels have been struggling offensively, so I drew up our foibles on a dinner napkin, and during the game my cousin was saying "OMG, that's exactly what you were talking about" as we mucked up yet another Secondary opportunity. And then, sure enough, the one time our 4-man (Tyson) actually went to the ball-side block as God and Dean intended, we got a lay-up. Gee... how'd that happen?
Anyway, nice to see an easy win and perhaps some renewed shooting confidence from RJ. However, other than the Secondary, what concerns me is that watching live (with great seats) brought out even clearer what I've been seeing on the screen --- that there's a lack of "buy-in" as to much of the offensive scheme, and that's not on the players as much as it is on the scheme. I mean, you can immediately tell the difference in their effort and execution depending on what is called --- and that's not good. Back to that thread --- when we played "vertical", the good came out --- the "horizontal" stuff, not so much. Personally, I vote for more good...
OK, to the game. Not gonna delve too much into the usual stuff, as this was a chance to have a "reset" game --- thus, I'll concentrate on whether or not we accomplished anything to that end. I posted a thread a few days ago --- one that predictably went off the rails --- about what we needed to see, and unfortunately, that mostly came up short. But let's go over a few points:
- In the aforementioned thread I noted that UNC leads NCAA D1 in 2nd half scoring, while ranking 81st during the 1st half. Welp--- more of the same tonight: 40 - 57. Sheesh.
- RJ seemed to rediscover his outside stroke, so Lord knows let's hope that carries over.
- Ian and Drake acquitted themselves well, but there was too much one-on-one that might not hunt in confernce. What I really liked though was their confidence shooting off the catch.
- With Seth out Tyson got a lot of run. Wouldn't ya know his shot would be off tonight, BUT... he played well and needs to continue to get minutes.
- Our defense tonight was like "we'll turn it up when we think we need it". When the effort was there we locked down a possession, but mostly it wasn't --- and nobody seemed to think it was a good idea to guard #2.
- We did rediscover getting our Bigs actual scoring ops, but it was mostly limited to lobs and PnRs (in both of which Eliot was just sick). The bad news is I only noted two regular entry passes. That needs to increase.
- Speaking of EC, neat double-double of 12 and 12 in the score book --- 12 and 13 in the real world (he got jacked out of yet another dime at home --- what else is f***ing new?)
- Finally, I went to the game with some relatives who live in Chapel Hill, and Sat night at dinner they were asking me to explain why the Heels have been struggling offensively, so I drew up our foibles on a dinner napkin, and during the game my cousin was saying "OMG, that's exactly what you were talking about" as we mucked up yet another Secondary opportunity. And then, sure enough, the one time our 4-man (Tyson) actually went to the ball-side block as God and Dean intended, we got a lay-up. Gee... how'd that happen?
Anyway, nice to see an easy win and perhaps some renewed shooting confidence from RJ. However, other than the Secondary, what concerns me is that watching live (with great seats) brought out even clearer what I've been seeing on the screen --- that there's a lack of "buy-in" as to much of the offensive scheme, and that's not on the players as much as it is on the scheme. I mean, you can immediately tell the difference in their effort and execution depending on what is called --- and that's not good. Back to that thread --- when we played "vertical", the good came out --- the "horizontal" stuff, not so much. Personally, I vote for more good...
