Quick stuff (GaTech game)...

[gary-7]

...and that was just f***ing awful.

Welp, wanna create an upset for an inferior team?... easy, just self-inflict by making every aspect of the game f***ing awful:

- shooting of W I D E - O P E N 3s --- awful

- finishing around the rim thru contact --- awful

- converting EASY bunnies --- awful

- securing loose balls and contested rebounds --- awful

- FT shooting (when we actually got the chance) --- awful

- dictating our tempo --- awful

- and of course it takes opponents playing out of their minds. For example, I've probably seen Sturdivant play live 5 or 6 times over the years and you could leave that jabronie in the gym by himself and he couldn't make that damn many shots --- I suppose that banked heave 3 was par for tonight's course. Nothing you can do about that...

- and, oh dear Lord... after an (at least somewhat) evenly called first half, that crew did an absolute number on us in the second. Tech fouls a LOT, and on both ends, with constant shoves and grabs, as well as offensive push-offs, and yet they sat with 3 team fouls past the under-8, all the while a complete f*** job was coming our way, particularly aimed at our PG.

- and about that: Granted, Eliot shouldn't have given that zebra a chance to call the last one (son, we've GOT to have you on the floor!), but make no mistake, at least 3 of those calls were complete BS, guarding a driver who was blatantly trying to initiate contact the whole way. Here's the thing, EC had a terrific defensive first half, allowing only one made shot (on a switch miss-match) and stoning guys over and over while disrupting passes for TOs. But they kept going at him. Folks, there is a reason for that: Coaches who scout us know what I know, i.e., that #2 is the catalyst that makes this team nearly impossible to deal with (he was +12 in his limited minutes, BTW). Once he was in trouble and then gone we played too much of the game at TECH's tempo.

- Only by finally going to 44 did we speed them up and somehow manage to claw back into a game we had all but lost. I would've like to have seen that sooner. The other positive that got us back in was character and fight, especially from RJ Davis. Little guy did not deserve what happened at the end.

- and finally, there it was. When I saw our set for the last shot I knew exactly what we had called --- get RJ down-hill into a Mando high post hand-off. PERFECT call for that time and score. He was either gonna get a close shot, or a foul, or both. With RJ's proficiency at the floater the only way to prevent that was a foul, and yessir, I'll take Mr. Davis at the line down one with FTs for the win ANY time. We sure as HELL got the foul --- what we DIDN'T get was (what should have been) an EASY call. Hell, as soon as I saw their guy body-block him (not a "bump") I yelled "YES!"... but then there was no whistle. Make no mistake: THAT was just f***ing awful.

Anyway, I don't subscribe to the value of losing a game like this. The only possible good I can imagine is if the guys take a good long look at what we are LEAVING on the floor far too often these days. I shudder to watch the replay at all the misses and giveaways --- hopefully they will shudder as well in the film room. In EC's (ugh) only 21 minutes he had 5 dimes BUT we failed to convert on 7 more (!)... ALL good looks or layups. And hell, when JWash FLUSHED a putback in the first half, for a minute there I thought we actually meant business at the rim tonight... but that didn't carry over. Seth at least got more determined after his initial bunny miss, but Harrison, Mando and Cormac had rough nights. Guys, it's time to stop finessing at the rack. We need all our grown-ass men to play like it Saturday.....

 

[KinstonNC]

Bacot play scared…he prefers timid layups, 6ft baby hooks, and bunch of weak-weak shidd. Ryan Young gone take his lunch money Sat. Freaking Ryan Young!!!

 

[dtodd4475]

Terrible shooting night from 3 and the free throw line. They struggle at both, but shot well from 3 and lights out from the line.

Mando has never been a "high flyer" but he seems to be getting even less lift when he goes to score around the bucket.

A little thing, but in what ended up being a 1 point game, in his 1 minute High inexplicably and obviously goaltends the final layup in the 1st half, that had little to no chance of going in.

The last play was a work of art. RJ free and clear going downhill, plenty of good options. I was hoping for the in rhythm, stepping into the shot, clean 16/17 foot look. He opted to attack the big running late to help and contend. Clear foul, refs swallow the whistle and no reward for a perfectly ran final set.

"Some times it beez like that".

 

[ChiShankCity]

UNC-Ga Tech was a 74-possession game. We've been averaging 71 possessions/game. Anyways......

I hate that this was such a wasted opportunity. Take care of business here, beat Duke on Saturday, and you have a stranglehold on the ACC regular season title.

I feel we have a good idea of what this team is good at and what their limitations could be. So the loss doesn't change that for me. The rest of the regular season is more of not letting one loss become two losses in a row, then snowballing to 3 losses in a row. And most importantly, staying healthy.

I've given up on Cormac Ryan being the 3rd consistent 3PT shooting threat this year. I think we just lucked into an inconsistent shooting season from him. I don't think his shot preparation does him any favors. He missed a couple of opportunities to shot fake and drive tonight. He did shoot 31.6% from 3 as a freshman and attempted 6+/game that season. So this was in play for this season. I think he'll have good shooting nights, but he'll also have really bad ones.

I don't know if it's all injury with Harrison Ingram, but his efficiency has really nosedived since the New Year.
8 games (not counting today. Sports-Reference hasn't updated today):
37.0% FG, 38.8% 2PT FG, 34.4% 3PT FG, 47.4% FT
And that isn't counting today's 3-14 FG, 1-7 2PT FG, 2-7 3PT FG, 0-1 FT
Fortunately, he's been shooting it well enough from 3 to offset an alarmingly low 2PT shooting percentage. Again, I don't know if it's all injury but his efficiency is reverting back to his FR/SO seasons. He's still contributing massively in other areas. So don't attack this, lol. This is just a concern about his inefficiency over a pretty extended stretch of games.

This loss doesn't change the way I view UNC a whole lot.

I came into the season thinking we needed 3 consistent shooters who took a fair amount of 3's. I still feel that way and it looks like we're one short for sure. Hopefully, Ryan goes on a tear and proves me wrong, but I feel he's going to be an inconsistent shooter the rest of the season.

Oh, and please don't play Wojcik and Withers together unless you absolutely have to... Which should be never.

Georgia Tech also had a 27% 3PT shooter go 3/5 from 3 in the first half and they had a banked 3 in the second half. Sometimes randomness/variance doesn't go your way.

 

[notashelbyfan]

That's about as bad as we could have possibly played and RJ should have had 2 free-throws at the end of the game to win it on the road. I think we will be fine, and anyone that expected us to run the table is crazy anyway.

Also a loss before the Dook game might help get then heads back down to normal size to take care of business Saturday.

 

[DaveChapelle]

Bacot play scared…he prefers timid layups, 6ft baby hooks, and bunch of weak-weak shidd. Ryan Young gone take his lunch money Sat. Freaking Ryan Young!!!

Saving this quote

 

[TarHeelFanWV]

RJ did his thing but nobody else did squat.. i thought for sure Bacot would feast against this team, especially when their center got hurt!! Bacot still didn't do jack!! So much for bacot doing all the dirty work.. where was that at tonight?? He goes up WEAK! And he misses so many rebounds. No good screens were set tonight. ZERO blocked shots as a team.. poor free throw shooting which costed us the game. Who's gonna step up other than RJ when we need it most??

 

[gary-7]

RJ did his thing but nobody else did squat.. i thought for sure Bacot would feast against this team, especially when their center got hurt!! Bacot still didn't do jack!! So much for bacot doing all the dirty work.. where was that at tonight?? He goes up WEAK! And he misses so many rebounds. No good screens were set tonight. ZERO blocked shots as a team.. poor free throw shooting which costed us the game. Who's gonna step up other than RJ when we need it most??

The guy who got hurt is not their Center (although he has been their best player recently), so that had no impact on Mando one way or another. And in fairness, there were several good screens tonight. Also, EC did way more than squat as did JWash and Seth. The issues were enumerated in the OP.

 

[TarHeelFanWV]

The guy who got hurt is not their Center (although he has been their best player recently), so that had no impact on Mando one way or another. And in fairness, there were several good screens tonight. Also, EC did way more than squat as did JWash and Seth. The issues were enumerated in the OP.

Ndongo is still their leading shot blocker and rebounder.. that is more chances for Bacot to score and rebound. Yet it didnt help him at all.

 

[gary-7]

Ndongo is still their leading shot blocker and rebounder.. that is more chances for Bacot to score and rebound. Yet it didnt help him at all.

As I said, he has been their best player but not the guy Mando will guard or go against.

 

[39 Feet Above Sea Level]

There’s no solace in losing a game like that; so many errors, bad bounces, incorrect foul calls, missed
opportunities.
And there is a bottom line, free throws. We didn’t get many and didn’t make enough of those.
Review your mistakes, practice hard, and get ready for Saturday.

 

[KinstonNC]

Terrible shooting night from 3 and the free throw line. They struggle at both, but shot well from 3 and lights out from the line.

Mando has never been a "high flyer" but he seems to be getting even less lift when he goes to score around the bucket.

A little thing, but in what ended up being a 1 point game, in his 1 minute High inexplicably and obviously goaltends the final layup in the 1st half, that had little to no chance of going in.

The last play was a work of art. RJ free and clear going downhill, plenty of good options. I was hoping for the in rhythm, stepping into the shot, clean 16/17 foot look. He opted to attack the big running late to help and contend. Clear foul, refs swallow the whistle and no reward for a perfectly ran final set.

"Some times it beez like that".

I’m glad someone attack the bigs cause Bacot sure didn’t.

 

[gauchoheel]

Bacot does deserve to get called out in this game. Even Hubert screamed at him and benched him for ~5 minutes for Washington due to the lack of hustle.

Ingram's 2-pt percentage is fading fast. Is he just a spot-up shooter offensively? Things are getting a little stagnant there outside of our guards. Ryan gets a lot of movement shots off curls/fades but he isn't hitting them and Armando rarely looks like his dominant offensive self from prior years these days.

I'm still thinking Hubert is playing Wojcik/High to keep them invested but an extra point or two could've won us this one. I really think they shouldn't play against Duke; we need to win that game and may not have points to spare. Their play this year hasn't merited getting time in competitive games.

ETA: oh yeah, and 10 first half turnovers? With our guards, how does that happen? Come on y'all.

 

[KinstonNC]

Saving this quote

Yes imo, the center position is what lost this game. Not EC the freshman, not Ryan or Ingrim bad shooting nights happens. Nor was it the staff. I thought Hubert did a really gd job coaching- benching a nowhere to be found 6year senior was one of them.

 

[DaveChapelle]

Cool story. I'm saving your quote specifically bc you said "Ryan Young gone take his lunch money Sat. Freaking Ryan Young!!!" We shall revisit it on Saturday.

 

[sdingeldein]

Nice analysis of ALL the reasons we lost. I don't know that I've ever seen a player pick up 5 fouls in 7:42 of PT. If anyone doubts that we are at our best with EC out there, this game should prove it beyond a reasonable doubt. On the positive side, I was happy to see J Wash play aggressively. I am a bit concerned about the pattern of getting up 10+ and putting the second line players in and losing that momentum. We've been doing that for a few games, playing the first half to get to the second, and it has been a set up for a game like last night to lose.

 

[heels05champs]

As was discussed in the game thread, the bench usage squandered a big lead and momentum in the last five minutes of the first half. This set the temp going into halftime and allowed a terrible team to believe they could win.

We let them dictate tempo and ran way too much half-court offense with Hubert calling set plays. Cormac and Harrison need to stop launching long shots on a night when it’s obvious they’re cold. And Bacot needs to find some fire in himself. Hubert ripped him and rightfully so. The effort was poor and not acceptable.

 

[QA112]

Ga Tech is always a a difficult place to play for the Heels. UNC was off kilter, open shots didn't fall, fouls were ignored, and Tech was hot. Bacot was stunted and Ingram and Ryan couldn't find the net. Tech ran three plays, two where either Rj or Cadeau were rubbed off and couldn't recover and one where Bacot was simply moved out of position from where he is comfortable/effective. This was trap game and UNC fell in it. Hopefully the taste of this loss inspires UNC for the rest of the season.

 

[KinstonNC]

To be clear I like the new role that Bacot has been playing lately, when all systems are clicking, it’s the perfect marriage. But there comes a time when Monster Bacot must at least poke his head out and last night was that time. I thought JWash monstered-up, he damn near tore down the rim!

 

[Bubspub88]

I never expected to go 20-0 in conference and undefeated on the road. GT may be better than their record but this is game the Heels should have won by double digits. UNC looked like the November version we saw, 5 guys in the same uniform but not playing as a team. What scares me is that what GT did can be duplicated by others - attack EC with the dribble and take advantage when Bacot switches onto a guard. Roach and Proctor can easily put UNC in those same situations on Saturday.

I knew at some point Carolina would lose (and will likely drop another conference game, maybe two). Ironically in another thread about the dook-Clemson game I posted that I expected RJ to get the same whistle on that drive - guess I should not specified "at home".

I do not think UNC can play much worse, they were outplayed in every facet of the game. Honestly I was scared of carrying a long win streak into the dook game, and if my choice is a loss at GT or to dook at home,... That's no-brainer.

I do wish the game had been played on Monday night - there is definitely more than 3 days' worth of film study from that crap show last night. I guess the silver lining is that as bas as UNC played and as above their averages as GT shot the ball, Carolina still has a chance to win if the ref has the guts to make that call. Who would have thought Teddy would miss a chance for some TV time??

 

[TarHeelFanWV]

As I said, he has been their best player but not the guy Mando will guard or go against.

Have you heard of help side defense or crashing the boards?? He can still affect Armando if he was in the game.. Armando shouldve ate all night long.. Nobody else besides RJ had double figures. Awful team effort.

 

[TarHeelFanWV]

I never expected to go 20-0 in conference either.. But I never expected a loss to GT.. Just because they beat Puke, does that make it ok for us? We are supposed to be better than Puke!!

I did however expect 1 loss from Duke, 1 loss from Miami, and maybe 1 from Virginia.. I expected to win all the others at this point honestly, with how we have been playing.

Armando's role had been fine until last night (everything seems fine when you're winning).. When all others are cold (Cormac and Ingram specifically) and our team is struggling as a whole, he should have manned up and feasted. He was hardly ever getting double-teamed at the beginning of the game. Nobody on that team SHOULD be capable of stopping him. As a 5th year senior, all-time double-double leader, and all-time rebounding leader, there comes a time when you must realize you have to dominate and go outside of your role.

Speaking more on Bacot, is it just me or does JWash sometimes look better!? Last night JWash was aggressive and absolutely tore the rim off. He was fighting for rebounds as well. Much more effort than what Bacot was giving. I was a huge Bacot fan until recently. I don't see the motor when its needed the most.

 

[KinstonNC]

Have you heard of help side defense or crashing the boards?? He can still affect Armando if he was in the game.. Armando shouldve ate all night long.. Nobody else besides RJ had double figures. Awful team effort.

I agree, Armando should’ve have had his way from start to finish! Why shoot side-ways hook shots when your defender is in deep foul trouble!?!?

 

[Kool1234567]

Are we worried moving forward that teams are going to start backing off EC not allowing him to drive and dare him to shoot the ball…I don’t care if he misses them he has to start taking some of those looks…

 

[TarHeelFanWV]

Are we worried moving forward that teams are going to start backing off EC not allowing him to drive and dare him to shoot the ball…I don’t care if he misses them he has to start taking some of those looks…

I am.. teams with athletic big men are going to block those shots Cadeau takes when driving just like last night.. He has to create a jump shot to help us become elite.. As I said the other day, Cadeau's role would be fine if Armando was still averaging double-doubles every game. With Armando being this "doing all the dirty work" and not helping us score or rebound much, Cadeau or someone else besides RJ is going to have to step up. I dont see where Armando's new role is helping in situations like last night.. He didn't open up the lane for Cadeau that much. Every time Cadeau drove to the rim it was swatted out of there. Hell, we didnt know how to break their stupid zone defense. We struggled mightily with that.

Look, when you win, it's easy to say everyone's role is perfect (because its working). When you lose, you see the flaws. I never expect freshman Cadeau to take over games or win games alone. You should rely on the guy who's been doing it for 5 years now. Armando Bacot. You're telling me RJ and Bacot should not have single-handedly abused GT? I think someone else said it on here, or maybe it was on a YouTube comment, but we have to develop JWash. He has a jump shot, he can knock down the 3, and he hustles. He looked much better than Bacot last night in very limited time.

 

[KinstonNC]

Are we worried moving forward that teams are going to start backing off EC not allowing him to drive and dare him to shoot the ball…I don’t care if he misses them he has to start taking some of those looks…

Yes that part of his game must improve for UNC to level up; I do think that will happen. And if AB is not going to bring it when needed shift his minutes to Mr JWash! I actually thought it was a major downshift when he was replaced with Bacot.

 

[TarHeelFanWV]

And I am fine with the loss. I think we needed it honestly. I think we were getting too comfortable and thinking we could win every game even if we play like crap. We needed a wake up call to make us realize if you dont play your best, this is the result.

However, if you can lose to GT, you can lose to anyone. I am afraid we have a lot more losses coming up. I predict 8 or 9 losses before March Madness. Last night's loss definitely hurt us and will drop us to a 2 seed at least. We will need to beat Duke twice and hope Miami and Virginia catch fire and we beat them to build our resume. The ACC is viewed as very weak so any loss really hurts.

 

[KinstonNC]

And I am fine with the loss. I think we needed it honestly. I think we were getting too comfortable and thinking we could win every game even if we play like crap. We needed a wake up call to make us realize if you dont play your best, this is the result.

However, if you can lose to GT, you can lose to anyone. I am afraid we have a lot more losses coming up. I predict 8 or 9 losses before March Madness. Last night's loss definitely hurt us and will drop us to a 2 seed at least. We will need to beat Duke twice and hope Miami and Virginia catch fire and we beat them to build our resume. The ACC is viewed as very weak so any loss really hurts.

I agree, losses will come. But to do something special in March you have to be willing to fall on the sword when the loses occur…like JWash! That kid was geared-up for battle!! Guess who wasn’t?

 

[Kool1234567]

And I am fine with the loss. I think we needed it honestly. I think we were getting too comfortable and thinking we could win every game even if we play like crap. We needed a wake up call to make us realize if you dont play your best, this is the result.

However, if you can lose to GT, you can lose to anyone. I am afraid we have a lot more losses coming up. I predict 8 or 9 losses before March Madness. Last night's loss definitely hurt us and will drop us to a 2 seed at least. We will need to beat Duke twice and hope Miami and Virginia catch fire and we beat them to build our resume. The ACC is viewed as very weak so any loss really hurts.

8 or 9 loses we might not make the NCAA Tournament…That’s .500 ball the rest of the way…That would be very bad…

 

[TarHeelFanWV]

8 or 9 loses we might not make the NCAA Tournament…That’s .500 ball the rest of the way…That would be very bad…

We would make the tournament because we have enough quad 1 wins and if we beat Duke once, that will be another quad 1 win.. As I previously stated, I would not be shocked to drop 1 against Duke, 1 against Miami, Clemson at home, @ Virginia, and 1 in the ACC tournament. That is 8 losses total.

I would love to only lose 1 more the rest of the way, but I do not see that happening.

 

[Kool1234567]

We would make the tournament because we have enough quad 1 wins and if we beat Duke once, that will be another quad 1 win.. As I previously stated, I would not be shocked to drop 1 against Duke, 1 against Miami, Clemson at home, @ Virginia, and 1 in the ACC tournament. That is 8 losses total.

I would love to only lose 1 more the rest of the way, but I do not see that happening.

Looking like a 8 seed then…Nah I don’t see that…

 

[TarHeelFanWV]

Looking like a 8 seed then…Nah I don’t see that…

Wouldnt be an 8 seed with 5 quad 1 wins. More like a 4 seed with 8 losses and 5 quad 1 wins.

Alabama is projected as a 3 seed right now and they have 6 losses. They have 3 quad 1 wins.

We lost 7 games in 17 when we won the title and were a 1 seed that year.

 

[TarHeelTroy]

I'm not bothered by the loss, but if we don't come out strong and beat puke on Saturday and we see some of the same "trends" continue, then I will be concerned.

 

[KinstonNC]

I agree with you but I much rather it had happen to FSU or Wake…two ACC teams with legitimate chances to make the field in March. GT lost does nothing but hurt everyone. Oh well. Next game!

 

[gkss]

Poor shooting nights occur. We had one last night. On these occasions, It would help if we had more of a scoring option in the low post. Bacot is effective when he establishes post position early and either is strong to the hole, or passes out of a double to shooters ready to shoot.

 

[RP12]

If you can’t enjoy this season it might be time to find other things to watch on TV.

Winning while not playing your best and hopefully peaking in March/April is ideal. This is a great group who along with the staff have brought back a lot of Carolina basketball on and off the court.

 

[imajericho]

Wouldnt be an 8 seed with 5 quad 1 wins. More like a 4 seed with 8 losses and 5 quad 1 wins.

Alabama is projected as a 3 seed right now and they have 6 losses. They have 3 quad 1 wins.

We lost 7 games in 17 when we won the title and were a 1 seed that year.

Whats a Quad 1 win now might not be later, especially if your net anchor sinks (unc or duke).

 

[KinstonNC]

Of course this is all opinionated and I don’t think anyone is not enjoying the season. This team can really do something special this year! However sometimes a gd kick in the arsh is what’s needed to right the ship. Shooting sucked last night! The missed call on RJ was beyond ridiculous! I love me some Armando! And the fact that he publicly gave RJ the torch is special but he still must keep his eye on the hen house or else this will not end well. Jmo.

 

[ChiShankCity]

Ingram's 2-pt percentage is fading fast. Is he just a spot-up shooter offensively? Things are getting a little stagnant there outside of our guards. Ryan gets a lot of movement shots off curls/fades but he isn't hitting them and Armando rarely looks like his dominant offensive self from prior years these days.

Georgia Tech was especially bad, so hopefully, that was an outlier and might skew his numbers a bit. But in terms of his efficiency, he's been one of the least efficient players in college basketball during conference play.

Unfortunately, this has been his pattern his first two years in conference play because he was never a really efficient player.

Conference Play:

	Field Goal %	2PT FG %	3PT FG%	FT %
This season	34.0	36.5	30.2	51.9
Sophomore	40.7	47.4	29.6	54.2
Freshman	36.5	39.5	32.2	58.9

The 2PT inefficiency isn't a gigantic surprise to me. He isn't an explosive athlete in the half court. And he doesn't have an advanced layup game to finish consistently at the rim for a below-the-rim player.

Hopefully, some of this is flukey and I doubt he'll have a game quite like Georgia Tech again. But we're seeing some a fair bit of regression since he was a 50%+ 2PT shooter and 40%+ 3PT shooter in non-conference play.

 

[TarHeelFanWV]

Whats a Quad 1 win now might not be later, especially if your net anchor sinks (unc or duke).

Thats true too. Thats why I said I hope Miami and Virginia can continue to win, or maybe Wake.. Doesnt help Miami just lost last night AGAIN. I am hoping @ Virginia can turn into another quad 1 win.

The NET is kind of stupid really. It can help or hurt you.. If you beat a top team early in the year and their whole lineup gets hurt and they end up losing their games and end up no longer a quad 1 win.. Why is that your fault that their whole team got hurt? They were still a great team when you played them. You should be rewarded for that.. Just my opinion.