Honestly, I am still pissed about that first half (let me issue a trigger warning right now because I am likely to piss off every single one of you with this post), very glad we came back and won for sure. But this team has this habit of digging first half holes and at times being able to come back from them but not always. They just seem unable to come out at the opening tip ready to play or ready to match the intensity of the other team. There are only a 2 or 3 things I can think of that can explain why that is and frankly, none of them are good and none of them are found on winning teams. At half time I posted here that this team does not deserve to be in the post season and considering that first half shiat show, I was not wrong? Please tell me why we can play a second half like we did and be so feckless in a first half (BTW, not by any means the first time we have seen that shiat the bed in the first half bull)
They came back, played a solid second half, why, because that starting line up for that second half reflected guys more willing to work their butts off, I would have started Sharpe as well. Kessler has had good minutes and has struggled at times but for that kid it was and still is all about the fact he needs court time to be able to mentally get in to the game. There is not one single reason, on the heels of this game that Kessler does not start our next game and frankly I would have both he and Sharpe starting, likely from this point thru the rest of this season.
Bacot started this season off battling, it was impressive, he earned his rite to start but that seems to have faded to a degree that I do feel both Kessler and Sharpe have passed him up. But Brooks, from what I see, deserves to be our 4th big man based on effort, based on work. I believe Brooks is a chemistry issue, maybe not as much a locker room problem as Ed Davis was but how he plays does not mix well with the rest of this team. It isn't a lack of ability that irks me, it is his work out put just is not consistently hard this season and it surprises me because it was consistently hard work from him for his first 3 seasons with us. I see very poor leadership from the guy as a senior, those pre-season platitudes did him no favors at all and I think he believed those pre-season hypes to much, those honors were not just going to be given to him post season, they would have always had to be earned and he has not, he hasn't earned ACC 3rd team and at this point I don't think he has earned the rite to even be a starter.
Bacot, while I do see him as solid, has to lose the NBA early entry mindset, this kid is a 4yr guy, he is a cup of coffee in the G-league away from playing in Europe after 4yrs at UNC. Brooks, don't even waste time drinking the G-league coffee, just study a foreign language so you can order dinner as a pro.
Love, really, why is there still any discussion at all of this kid being able to leave after this season and the NBA being a real option? Kid has a huge upside, I think one day he could be a big timer, I would suggest that as a junior he could well be all NCAA but right now he is not a point guard, I do think he can become one but he isn't one right now, nor is RJ. So we are playing without a real pg right now, playing with a starting front court that is being out played by their replacements coming off the bench and a wing that can't shoot? There you have why we are getting in to these big first half holes.
Now you may not like what I have said here but can you deny this FSU game changed when we got guys in the game that worked their tails off? Kessler does need to add some bulk but tell me, did you see a series where that kid was not giving everything he had , rare to see Sharpe not give everything he has. Front court guys that work that hard all the sudden your back court guys look so much better?
Example, now it was a great pass from Leaky, very risky but it was a great pass to Kessler for the finish jam. But guess what the key to that was, it actually wasn't the pass thou it may have been one of the best passes I have ever seen? The KEY was the FACT that Kessler defended and then ran the floor hard, how often have you see that from our starting front court? Darn near every time I have seen Kessler get on the court this season (I can not think of a time I did not see this) what stands out is how hard Kessler works, kid is 7ft and constantly goes to the floor for loose balls, that is impressive! Against FSU, if he was not blocking shots he was altering them, was that true of our starters?
So Roy, it is that time of the season, time for hard choices to be made, the dawgs eat this time of the season and we have to feed the real dawgs not the ones that think they are dawgs or think they deserve to be dawgs but the real dawgs. The dawgs on this team are Kessler and Sharpe for sure, Ant is a dawg but I agree he has to come off the bench, Walton has some dawg in him, Caleb is not solid fundamentally but kid has dawg in him (RJ does as well but he does need to come off the bench). And frankly, Leaky has dawg in him at times, those times do need to be more consistent but he is the best option available for now thou next season I do expect Puff to make a real challenge for that wing spot. Bacot does at times have some dawg but he just does not bring it as consistently as the 2 frosh do.
Now, I think I have pretty much pissed everyone off because I have thrown shade at a great come back win for us, sorry but I am still pissed at that first half because at this time of the year and vs one of if not the best team in the ACC this season, you just do not come out and half ass it for a half, to many games have been played to still see that BS...