Quick stuff (LaSalle game)...

[gary-7]

...and if you're looking for sunshine here, welp, you might hafta keep looking.

So... we rolled easily in this game largely thanks to a mystery-man who gave us 23 pts, 5 boards, 2 blocks, a dime and a steal in 21 ininutes. Thus, lemme get the few positives outta the way by starting here:

- Cade Tyson returned from the milk carton, and to his immense credit, shot and played with confidence --- and it wasn't just the 3s --- he played a strong floor game on both ends. And yes, I TOLD y'all he can play., and it's not just my eyes. Too many foiks that I trust who have seen him up close and personal clued me in for that to be wrong. If it was back in the day, Cade gets the Holly Farms chicken. Good on him...

- We pulled out 44 early and got a TO and-1. It may have come sooner but we couldn't seem to make a damn FT to set it up. With that said, they adjusted. So... y'know we have different pickup points, right? Like mix in 43 or 42 to counter and keep them off-balance?...

- Defensive cohesion and effort was better today early on, although we coasted some later, and we rebounded as a team more aggressively

- Shout-out to James Brown, who refreshingly acted like a damn BIG, getting to the blocks, posting and asking for the ball. He was thusly rewarded by EC to the tune of 6 points in 5 minutes

- Speaking of Eliot, Jeezus-H, when is someone finally gonna fire the home stat guy? 7 dimes? AYFKM? He had 10 (9 if yer being a complete tight-ass). Honestly, I couldn't blame a blue-chip PG for thinking twice about coming here for that reason alone. These things matter. Sheeesh.

- We did not attack their 3-2 Zone with any real stress. Again, where is the post/short-corner action? As with too much of what goes on lately, it's 3-pointer or squat.

- I, like many, was hoping for an actual "reset". Welp, not so much. Other than mixing in 40, it was too much of the same-old with too damn much 5-out on the other end. Soeaking of which, pretty much all we got outta the Secondary was Cade hitting some 3s. Otherwise it was benign with Bigs again making themselves tits on a boar-hog.

- Finally, as for the aforementioned international man of mystery, Hubert likes to cite the old coach cliche that "players decide who plays". Yeah well... amid the grain of truth in that lies a big ol' cop-out. Ultimately it's up to coaches to assert playing time for guys who need to get it for confidence sake and team-building. Just suppose, for example, that Cade had come in and missed his first couple of shots... would we have seen him again enough to get a rhythm? I would like to think so --- I mean, I would LIKE to think that the staff went into this game determined to get him some run --- but again, forgive me for wondering "what if"?

Anyway, look... it almost physically pains me to have to be this critical. I like this staff and I know they are capable of better --- which makes it all the more frustrating, partially because the key needed tweaks are as simple as they are obvious. Other than that, well, we held serve and got a solid W --- and (hopefully) got a key part of our rotation back from the MIA files...

 

[dtodd4475]

LaSalle was tailor made for this group as a very small team height wise itself with no real front line even for a small mid major.

With that, I take the better rebounding with a grain of salt, we can board against that sized opponent, can we against the big boys? Cade today with an equally large grain of salt. Cade has established he can flourish against that level of competition. Hopefully having a big game against that level of opponent can get some confidence for him. Still has to show he can play with the big boys, couldn't last year or this year yet, fingers crossed he can.

This one, just from the roster makeup screamed no contest even before the tip. Won handily, get ready for Florida.

 

[gary-7]

LaSalle was tailor made for this group as a very small team height wise itself with no real front line even for a small mid major.

With that, I take the better rebounding with a grain of salt, we can board against that sized opponent, can we against the big boys? Cade today with an equally large grain of salt. Cade has established he can flourish against that level of competition. Hopefully having a big game against that level of opponent can get some confidence for him. Still has to show he can play with the big boys, couldn't last year or this year yet, fingers crossed he can.

This one, just from the roster makeup screamed no contest even before the tip. Won handily, get ready for Florida.

Cade can play.

 

[dtodd4475]

Cade can play.

I hope it translates, could sure use it

 

[DSouthr]

Had heck of a time finding a good box core from this game, finally found a good one.

1) RJ shot 4-11, 2-6 from 3, had 5 assists, 5 boards. 13 total pts in his 27mins.

2) Seth 4-7, 0-3 from 3, 8 boards, 4 assists, 2 steals for his 10pts in 29mins

3) Cadeau 7 assist, 1 turn over, for his 4pts in 24mins

4) Cap Jack - 7 boards, 3 assists, 2 steals for 5pts in 24mins

5) Drake 6 boards and 7pts for his 19mins

6) Lubin 10pts, did not miss a shot from the field, 5 boards in his 20mins

7) J Wash, 4 boards, a block and 3pts in his 8 mins

8) James Brown 6pts in his 5mins, nothing else on the box line for him?

9) Claude, 5 boards, 3pts, 4-4 from free throw line in his 7mins

10) Jwit - 7pts, 1 single board, 2 blocks and a steal in his 12mins

11) Cade Tyson finally shows up for 9-14 shots, 5 of 10 from 3, 5 boards, a block, and a couple steals in 21mins in the game he will tell his grand kids about! '"I would have scored more but coach had me sit out the second half we were up by so much" LOL

 

[DSouthr]

LaSalle was tailor made for this group as a very small team height wise itself with no real front line even for a small mid major.

With that, I take the better rebounding with a grain of salt, we can board against that sized opponent, can we against the big boys? Cade today with an equally large grain of salt. Cade has established he can flourish against that level of competition. Hopefully having a big game against that level of opponent can get some confidence for him. Still has to show he can play with the big boys, couldn't last year or this year yet, fingers crossed he can.

This one, just from the roster makeup screamed no contest even before the tip. Won handily, get ready for Florida.

Exactly how I saw it...

 

[JovialMuse]

Hard not to feel pretty pessimistic about how this season is likely going to go from here on out. This was one of the few opportunities to make major adjustments and it seems not many at all were made. With so much talent on the roster, it's hard to believe we're likely looking at yet another season of, "will they make the tournament?" questions and just hoping Dayton remains a Q1 win. Because it seems unlikely they're going beat Florida and UCLA is tough too...and the ACC is again down. Hate being a debby downer but aside from last season and a hot streak in 2022 it's been a really rough road with this staff...

 

[NathanFielder]

Good to see Cade make some shots today. I’d imagine today was a bit of an outlier game for him but hopefully it gives him some confidence where he can provide something positive against good teams. Cade’s a really important piece to this puzzle. I really believe that. I hope this is a positive sign for him going forward.

I think it’s important for this team to play well and win by margin regardless who it’s against. They need some good vibes and some confidence. I’m not going to call them soft but I’ve seen one bad play lead to another lead to another this season so I’m not sure this is a “next play” mentality team. They’ve said that they’ve been tight and stressed. Not the best sign IMO but if that’s the type of team they are, then these performances matter to me.

Always interested to see Hubert’s rotation in big games like Florida and UCLA. He’s basically cut off the rotation at 8 and Tyson has played in the marquee games away from home. He did play a lot against Alabama but part of that were in garbage time minutes. So it will be interesting to see who Hubert trusts.

And I haven’t followed the bracketology at all but Florida and UCLA are basically must wins unless UNC wins like 15 games in conference right? If they go 0/2 against Florida and UCLA, then they probably have to win the ACC regular season title?

Anyway focus on the next game. I do think this team’s best basketball is ahead of them. But it really needs to happen at Florida.

Oh, and let’s make those FTs!

 

[DSouthr]

Some things I liked about this game, some I didn't. I do like that we got James Brown some minutes, I think he can help us in certain situations. Claude played hard but he must have taken the Shaq "how to hit free throws or die trying" course? Jalen is now down to 8mins a game??? Trust me, I have a lot more to say about that but I need to chill out my thoughts on that right now. Lubin, may be the most steady guy on this team not named Seth.

RJ is still in a funk but he does hit the boards and is looking to help in other ways, nice assists and only 11 shots, I am not mad at that. Seth was just a jack of all trades, very little of what he does is not seen in a box score but he is a factor that concerns the other teams every time he steps on the court. Cadeau has regressed back to last year with his jump shooting confidence, his confidence level seems to be overly fragile, I had hoped to see him mature past that. His passing was very solid, 1 TO is fantastic from him.

Tyson, good to see him get his confidence rolling, this team was tailor made for him but he cashed it in and deserves the kudos, he may meet his future wife tonight! LOL

Good to see we didn't wait till we were down 20 to get them in some court pressure and defensively in the first half we played well against an over matched team. Kind of eased back a little in that second half, didn't love that. I did like the scoring balance, the free throw shooting was not good. WE had 22 assists on 36 made shots, really good. For me this was somewhere between a C+ and B- game from us.

 

[trimbornunc86]

Solid win against an inferior opponent. Nothing more than that. Was great to see Cade play. Would it kill Hubert to give brown more minutes!??? I don’t think it can be understated just how big this week is. At absolute bare minimum you need to split and more then likely you need to win both to feel better about making the tourney

 

[NathanFielder]

Dayton beat Marquette so that’s good for UNC.

 

[heelmanwilm]

Hard not to feel pretty pessimistic about how this season is likely going to go from here on out. This was one of the few opportunities to make major adjustments and it seems not many at all were made. With so much talent on the roster, it's hard to believe we're likely looking at yet another season of, "will they make the tournament?" questions and just hoping Dayton remains a Q1 win. Because it seems unlikely they're going beat Florida and UCLA is tough too...and the ACC is again down. Hate being a debby downer but aside from last season and a hot streak in 2022 it's been a really rough road with this staff...

“So much talent on the roster”

Well I’ll say it. At some point you have to decide that maybe there isn’t all that talent but more like players just aren’t as good as advertised. Speed, quickness, athleticism, effort….just aren’t there. You don’t have to be an expert to see that. Unc has missed on some recruits. A lot of recruits. Both by not getting some and evidently miss evaluating some we did get. I’m not gonna name names and get certain people all butt hurt but that box score speaks for itself. Fuking lasalle no less. A game where we desperately needed to right the ship against an inferior opponent and look good for a change. Instead….mehhh. Just mehhhh. That’s unc bball last few years….mehhh.

 

[RP12]

Maybe the failure to get big man commits is that the coach doesn’t seem to know how to use them.

Lots of positivity in the coverage of this one but I didn’t see the fundamental change needed to get the season back on track.

 

[gary-7]

I hope it translates, could sure use it

I mean, being realistic nobody expects him to pop 23 in 20 on a ranked team, BUT, it was widely expected around the Dome after Fall practice that he would start.

OK, so Seth stepped up and grabbed the starting 3, but that's hardly a reason to relegate Cade to (essentially) Blue Steel, and jerk him out after a minute or 2 if he missed a shot. That's just bad personnel management.

Fact is, Cade can play. He may not be an explosive athlete but he gives us a legit deep threat that has to be accounted for --- and with RJ scufflin' that's especially important --- and he is long with a high BBall IQ. There was a reason he was considered such a coveted transfer get. Not using him as a regular part of our rotation was just flat ill-conceived.

 

[gary-7]

Hard not to feel pretty pessimistic about how this season is likely going to go from here on out. This was one of the few opportunities to make major adjustments and it seems not many at all were made. With so much talent on the roster, it's hard to believe we're likely looking at yet another season of, "will they make the tournament?" questions and just hoping Dayton remains a Q1 win. Because it seems unlikely they're going beat Florida and UCLA is tough too...and the ACC is again down. Hate being a debby downer but aside from last season and a hot streak in 2022 it's been a really rough road with this staff...

Well, Dayton did upset Marquette today, so there's that...

 

[dtodd4475]

I mean, being realistic nobody expects him to pop 23 in 20 on a ranked team, BUT, it was widely expected around the Dome after Fall practice that he would start.

OK, so Seth stepped up and grabbed the starting 3, but that's hardly a reason to relegate Cade to (essentially) Blue Steel, and jerk him out after a minute or 2 if he missed a shot. That's just bad personnel management.

Fact is, Cade can play. He may not be an explosive athlete but he gives us a legit deep threat that has to be accounted for --- and with RJ scufflin' that's especially important --- and he is long with a high BBall IQ. There was a reason he was considered such a coveted transfer get. Not using him as a regular part of our rotation was just flat ill-conceived.

I hope so, my doubts pre season was his very poor outings against the few power 4 teams he faced last year, and he struggled against Drake the most athletic team in the MVC. Looked overmatched early this year. Not saying he can't at this level, but he hasn’t yet, hopefully he can, that would be a major plus.

This game didn't do much for me to be convinced yet though. Next two games will be a much better read, at least for me.