I know they were missing a lead guard but these boys can score. Good to hear. ThanksFWIW, I was told we could have beaten #10 FAU by a good bit more in the scrimmage had we not let off the gas late.
I know they were missing a lead guard but these boys can score. Good to hear. ThanksFWIW, I was told we could have beaten #10 FAU by a good bit more in the scrimmage had we not let off the gas late.
.... But when it gets down to the nut cutting, your best players play....
Lol. It wasn’t a typo and yes I’d imagine a lot would changeI would imagine a LOT changes when it gets down to nut cutting! 😆😜
Sorry, definitely not the typo police here, just gave me a locker room, sophomoric giggle. 😂
Ian will be taking his senior year Official Visit to UNC this weekend.Hey @gary-7 - any fire to the latest Ian Jackson smoke? Supposedly Pitino and Cal are still pushing hard to get him to decommit.
@gary-7 Do you think he'll continue to bring EC off the bench in favor of Woj? A) I don't understand it, and B) you know recruits see that...and that was fun.
OK, as it was your typical exhibition vs an overmatched opponent, some observations as to what this team is gonna bring:
- Any remaining questions as to approcach should be moot. We are going to run. More than half our points came in transition, including 50 (!) from the Secondary Break.
- Defensive approach --- base 21.5 (high gap with top switches) w/ some 23 and 24 flashed. General reinforcing of Dean's sideline/baseline force principles. "No middle" has been a mantra in practice. Anxiously awaiting some Scrambles.
- We only saw it a couple of times due to their offense, but watch for this moving forward: I really like the way we're attacking high ball screens this season. I call it "pushing" (some call it "icing") the screen, but basically it means forcing the dribbler hard sideline, making the screener have to chase him laterally, negating the impact. I've been wanting to see this for a while.
- Yeah, we shot the lights out in the first half, but can't count on that every night -- the long-term key is TRANSITION, TRANSITION, TRANSITION and sharing the rock. We scraped the bottom of the league last season in shooting pct and Assists --- those two things are mutally dependent. That ain't happenin this season.
- Dayyum, we are legit DEEP. Seems everyone who goes in plays with confidence and effort. That depth will allow us to run some good teams outta the gym on a good night. Buh-bye and good riddance to the iron 5 nonsense.
- Ingram is the transfer that has intrigued me most. I love having a wide-body hybrid with long arms. He's gonna be a problem.
- Boy, High just screams for PT -- so active, and he and Oko together makes for some major rim protection, huh? And any more questions about Washngton's offensive chops? Hope not. And Withers hasn't even played yet. Guys, we are DEEP on the front line.
- I like the way guys are blending seamlessly flipping between postions depending on lineup. Ryan is so much better as a 2/3 motion man than he was being on-ball so much at ND, and Woj's game ain't exactly pretty but he's a tough 2/3 glue guy.
- I also say good riddance to that awful 5-out nonsense. Love the recommitment to early entries, and the way our motion is creating space for Mando, et al, to post.
- Lebo... you can only hope to contain him! ... but seriously, he can give us meaningful minutes if needed. Nice luxury.
- Say what you want about "size", but the EC-RJ backcourt is stoopid dynamic.
- Finally, speaking of EC, folks, he is THE essential ingredient if we're gonna get to the promised land. The difference with and without him is already palpable. With Cadeau at Point we scored 48 transition points (!). With RJ at Point we scored 9. And BTW, 30 of those 48 came with RJ with him at the 2 (speaking of dynamic backcourts).
As I posted last week, EC's only achilles heel is foul trouble, and young fella needs to correct that ASAP. Again, it comes from footwork and getting over his HS tendency to ball-hawk (gotta pick yer spots). The good news is he has the BBall IQ to play with 4 fouls, but still, good teams are gonna bait him. I'll guarantee you it won't take long before opposing coaches get aload of what he means to this team and getting him off the floor will be a priority.
Anyway, fun preview of what should (thankfully) be a fun season...
Optimistically, no. The question, from what I hear, is WHEN he starts. The biggest issue right now is staying out of foul trouble, but personally I'd rather him work thru all that vs the Radfords of the world.@gary-7 Do you think he'll continue to bring EC off the bench in favor of Woj? A) I don't understand it, and B) you know recruits see that
Lots of great points here David. I think we are going to have a really good team this season because of the way Hubert has constructed this roster. The question remains, until he clearly answers it, " Can he coach it at the same level this fanbase expects and demsnds"?I think folks are sleeping on UNC this season and I think they are out of the remaining question that can not be answer until well in to the season. That question being a concern with how this team will accept coaching from this staff and the quality of that coaching. I think we have seen things in Hubert's first 2 seasons that deserve a degree of concern, for example it is fantastic that we are going back to amping the tempo and have our vaunted running game back, yet the question of why it disappeared remains. Why structure an approach that requires big time jump shooting when you do not have the jump shooters you need and not adjust to a approach that fit the talents you had? Why call so many set plays, watch them break down and we have to free lance yet not practice free lance? This is just to name 3 but there are more and that was discussed this off season. Not looking to rehash those now but offer these as examples of why there is remaining concern that can not be addressed for a while.
This is a really deep team now with the new comers and we need to effectively use that depth as a weapon. I don't think anyone could look at our front court and not realize it has been very seriously upgraded. We have watched Bacot go down with very serious ankle issues at the end of the last 2 seasons and frankly, we didn't have anyone ready or able to step in to that void, we not only do now but we have multiple guys that can. The back court, it now starts with having a solid PG rather than trying to cover the spot with converted 2s, Caleb is gone but I would offer the back court chemistry was "forced" to fit and never really did and that effected the whole team, it looks now to be round pegs in to round holes as opposed to what we have seen. Gone is Caleb and Demarco replaced by Elliot and Ryan, seems like a great trade for all concerned, at least at this point. RJ so far looks absolutely fantastic, much better than at any point prior and Bacot is still Bacot, 2 really nice talents to start with but the new comers do look much better than what we lost.
A very serious question form the last 2 seasons has been effort and intensity coming out for the opening tip, we watched far to often the other teams come out and play with more effort and intensity than we did from the opening tip. One advantage you have with a really deep line up is that your starters know, they can not come out half hearted because there are multiple big time talents on your bench ready and more than willing to step in and provide that effort and intensity. The intensity we played with vs a very out matched St Aug team was impressive, it is teams like that where some may feel we really don't need to be that intense, may feel they can slack a bit and we didn't do that, very important!
My exact same question Whiz, wish I had the answer but I don't yet...Lots of great points here David. I think we are going to have a really good team this season because of the way Hubert has constructed this roster. The question remains, until he clearly answers it, " Can he coach it at the same level this fanbase expects and demsnds"?