Quick stuff (State game)...

[gary-7]

...and we're gettin' there.

- We got exactly what many of us anticipated: Keatts trying to ugly-up the game and keep us out of transition. They were often successful with that, especially in the 1st half (when the zebra crew enabled it) as they fouled our rebounders and grabbed our outlet guys. They were also able to iso and use clock.

- we aided and abetted their efforts with uncharacteristic poor shooting, and for a while fell into their briar patch by forcing shots or not pitching ahead consistently. RJ in particular got frustrated and lost patience and we weren't strong enough with the rock.

- Here comes the good news: We kept everything in hand by continuing our commitment to defense,... and other than a few blown off-ball coverages, continued it throughout.

- Speaking of D, I'm gonna give a special shout-out to young Mr. Cadeau, who not only avoided foul trouble, absolutely STONED what looked to be layup drives no less than FOUR times in the first half to help keep everything in line.

- also, a nice job of our guys compensating for losing Mando for long stretches (that flagrant call was theatrical BS from a guy who had been throwing cheapies around). JWash hung in there despite being banged around and Ingram decided to take up the rebounding slack.

- We also adjusted to the Burns iso with a variety of doubles when he started way too far out, and then flat wore him out on the other end --- more on that below

- RJ got past his early forces and being fouled often with ZERO trips to the line, still managing 16 on a night with only two double-figure scorers.

- amazingly, we got to the line all of TWO times in the first half, and when they called a travel on Mando when he got tripped on our first Secondary, welp... here we go again. HOWEVER, perhaps there was another half-time lecture, and y'all saw what happened when we actually got some calls on the constant contact.

- The bad news was we had an awful FT shooting night. That's usually deadly in tough road games, so that speaks well to the number we did on the wuffies in the 2nd half.

- Back to RJ, I have noticed in recent weeks more than one ACC team (including us) have been using Tony's "flair cuts" off screen action at the foul line-extended that makes UVA's Guards such a pain. We did that a couple of times early in the 2nd half to get RJ going and boy, did that set up the coup-de-gras. Once we baited them into chasing RJ off that early action, we started slipping EC up to take the hand-off and put fat-boy into a 20ft ball-screen, then EC and Mando took them to school on P&Rs. IIRC, we ran that action on 4 straight possessions and they didn't defend it once --- game over for all intents and purposes.

- Moment: Cadeau made a hotly contested drive and somehow got up an impossible lob to the rim, but JWash didn't go to the rack for what would have been a dunk --- that comes from still learning to play with a savant PG, and that comes with consistent minutes with him on the floor. 33 minutes tonight and over 20 of those with RJ precurses what we can be,

- Finally, on that note, on a "physical" night when we didn't get to 70, we nonetheless managed a sneaky 33 transition points,. That, along with the sweet X-and-O adjustment mentioned above, was all she wrote, folks.

Anyway, always good to keep things in order and State in their place --- especially AT their place. If we keep playing with this sort of defensive intensity and guys get used to playing together, and eso=pecially with our shiny new PG, well... we might just get there yet...

 

[Canadian_Heel]

...and we're gettin' there.

- We got exactly what many of us anticipated: Keatts trying to ugly-up the game and keep us out of transition. They were often successful with that, especially in the 1st half (when the zebra crew enabled it) as they fouled our rebounders and grabbed our outlet guys. They were also able to iso and use clock.

- we aided and abetted their efforts with uncharacteristic poor shooting, and for a while fell into their briar patch by forcing shots or not pitching ahead consistently. RJ in particular got frustrated and lost patience and we weren't strong enough with the rock.

- Here comes the good news: We kept everything in hand by continuing our commitment to defense,... and other than a few blown off-ball coverages, continued it throughout.

- Speaking of D, I'm gonna give a special shout-out to young Mr. Cadeau, who not only avoided foul trouble, absolutely STONED what looked to be layup drives no less than FOUR times in the first half to help keep everything in line.

- also, a nice job of our guys compensating for losing Mando for long stretches (that flagrant call was theatrical BS from a guy who had been throwing cheapies around). JWash hung in there despite being banged around and Ingram decided to take up the rebounding slack.

- We also adjusted to the Burns iso with a variety of doubles when he started way too far out, and then flat wore him out on the other end --- more on that below

- RJ got past his early forces and being fouled often with ZERO trips to the line, still managing 16 on a night with only two double-figure scorers.

- amazingly, we got to the line all of TWO times in the first half, and when they called a travel on Mando when he got tripped on our first Secondary, welp... here we go again. HOWEVER, perhaps there was another half-time lecture, and y'all saw what happened when we actually got some calls on the constant contact.

- The bad news was we had an awful FT shooting night. That's usually deadly in tough road games, so that speaks well to the number we did on the wuffies in the 2nd half.

- Back to RJ, I have noticed in recent weeks more than one ACC team (including us) have been using Tony's "flair cuts" off screen action at the foul line-extended that makes UVA's Guards such a pain. We did that a couple of times early in the 2nd half to get RJ going and boy, did that set up the coup-de-gras. Once we baited them into chasing RJ off that early action, we started slipping EC up to take the hand-off and put fat-boy into a 20ft ball-screen, then EC and Mando took them to school on P&Rs. IIRC, we ran that action on 4 straight possessions and they didn't defend it once --- game over for all intents and purposes.

- Moment: Cadeau made a hotly contested drive and somehow got up an impossible lob to the rim, but JWash didn't go to the rack for what would have been a dunk --- that comes from still learning to play with a savant PG, and that comes with consistent minutes with him on the floor. 33 minutes tonight and over 20 of those with RJ precurses what we can be,

- Finally, on that note, on a "physical" night when we didn't get to 70, we nonetheless managed a sneaky 33 transition points,. That, along with the sweet X-and-O adjustment mentioned above, was all she wrote, folks.

Anyway, always good to keep things in order and State in their place --- especially AT their place. If we keep playing with this sort of defensive intensity and guys get used to playing together, and eso=pecially with our shiny new PG, well... we might just get there yet...

I didn’t get the chance to watch so thanks for the Cole’s notes. I’ve really enjoyed the commitment to defence this season. Roy will have a great sleep tonight, F*** the Wuffies.

 

[Indy_Heel]

Missing too many layups. As much as I complain about Bacot missing layups, his D has been great. Bacot I thought did a good job on 30. I thought 30 would destroy Washington when Bacot went out with foul trouble but he held his own for the most part. When Washington was in UNC doubled 30. I believe that really threw them off as 30 would pass the ball out very quickly and seemed to get their offense out of whack.

The flagrant foul was total joke.

 

[Heels5150]

Thx Gary! Another great conference road win! EC had an exceptional game and he would have gotten 10 plus assists if guys either moved with him or hit their open looks. Armando has got to stop playing frustrated and get back to playing aggressively and play with a chip on his shoulder. He mentally and physically takes himself out of games by playing frustrated and then he makes mistakes. It amazes me that both Armando and RJ don’t get those senior calls by the refs. Both players in every single game gets absolutely hammered and no fouls are called. I agree our free throws were not near up to par and after we went up 67-50 with a little over 4 minutes left we didn’t score again. Can someone explain to me why Cormac was not given a turnover in the box score when he clearly got a rebound and threw it to the moo u guy in the first half? EC was so fun to watch and that wrap around anticipated pass to Bacot for the dunk was an absolute thing of beauty. IMO That was one of the best plays of the year. This team is starting to gel but I still don’t think they are near what their ceiling can be especially on offense. A few more things 1) the flagrant on Bacot was ridiculous. If anything it should have been a flop 2) we are throwing the ball inbounds with 6 seconds left on the shot clock and we aren’t aware of it and we get a shot clock violation?? That is inexcusable. THAT’S ANOTHER REASON THAT YOU HUDDLE! You call your play and you tell everyone ok we got 6 seconds left on the shot clock. 3) Hubert for the love of God please stop calling timeout to run a play right before halftime. Yes it has worked on a few occasions but our success rate with that since Hubert has been coach is at 4.8%. At times I do see how that can help but not in every game and not to RJ every single time becausw opposing teams know this as well. Ingram is a joy to watch and the kid gives it his all on every play. He is definitely a Tar Heel. Hopefully this gives EC more confidence and we can look back to this game where the light bulb went on and stayed on. Once again if he plays aggressively like this it puts us on another tier. Great win! Can’t stand moo u! GDTBATH

 

[dtodd4475]

That was an excellent win. Game 3 of 3 road games in a hostile environment, not shooting it great, and still pull away to win comfortably. Well done!

Cadeau was the MVP, cool as a cucumber today, under control offensively and defensively. On offense running the show creating while protecting the rock, changing pace mid dribble, he looked very comfortable. On dee he relaxed a bit, did not try to contest with his arms and made the opponent score over a vertical contest. What do ya know, no foul trouble.

Ingram 19 boards, c'mon now, 19. Dude has a motor, one tough hombre.

Trimble was huge out in space attacking on breaks, and fighting around screens keeping constant pressure on dee. The team dee has been lights out. Hubert was clever with sending doubles on Burns from different areas. The big fella fatigues and although a good passer, he was kept guessing and did not excel in that area tonight.

The bench stepped up with solid minutes, battled. They were a big factor.

There seemed to be a collective confidence and will to grab control mid 2nd half, when the opportunity presented itself. That is a very nice trait that hopefully is developing. Great road trip, 3 for 3.

 

[gauchoheel]

3 great road wins. Extraordinarily impressive!

Defense has been very good; Bacot improving. One thing of note: we're getting a bit lucky on opponent shooting. It's just not possible to hold opponents to ~10% from 3 in the long term. That'll come back to earth and we'll give up more points, but the two point defense was impressive as well.

I think against more athletic teams we need to try to generate more turnovers. Against a team like State though the defensive scheme made perfect sense. Team is coming together.

 

[Ozheelfan]

Thanks for the write-up Gary.... had to read it before I got a chance to watch the game so I kinda knew what to look for.

I think the Tar Heel fans are going to have to accept that opponents seem to think they'll win by playing a rugby/BBall hybrid.... at least that's what it seems from the last 3 games. That said, the team has weathered the blows and responded excellently with rock solid defense and great team ball.

Hubert's in-game coaching seems to have taken a massive leap this year - the adjustments we've enjoyed on both offense and defence in the last 4 games have been timely and clever. I will agree with 5150 though - there's a little bit of over-coaching with the end-of-half time-out calls..... just let them run and play.

I love how Seth is playing, but I'm worried about his approach to contested open-court lay-ups in the last few games - it's almost as if he's taking off too far out and manufacturing difficult shots instead of taking an extra step before the gather to go up and make an easier shot. The result recently has been him getting clobbered and sent hurtling to the floor or basket support. I'd like to see him stay in one piece.

Ingram is a dynamo, but so is Cormac. Almost every game he's there in the paint contesting rebounds that he has no place getting a hand to - he is super tough and both he and Ingram have been terrific portal pick-ups.

Nice to see JWash holding his own and Zayden still getting burn. Hubert is investing in the future with those two guys.

3-0 for the road swing - who would have thunk it!

 

[sdingeldein]

Thanks for the write up. In the post game PC HD went down the list of players with a great analysis of all of them. This team is a lot of fun. And as Cormac said after the game it is a blessing to watch a team that is as together as they are on and off the court. Before the 3 game swing I said I'd be happy with 2-1 and ecstatic with 3-0. Now up to #8 on AdJ Defense on KenPom.

 

[TarHeelFanWV]

Man, Ingram has a high motor and does everything. He plays with a ton of emotion and hustle


And Elliot is growing up!

 

[39 Feet Above Sea Level]

Peeps, great comments. With Elliot’s incremental improvements and hoops IQ, we are beginning to see
how seriously good we can be when WE control the tempo. This team’s chemistry is exciting to watch.
They play for each other and the variety of skill sets they demonstrate make them tough to defend at
the same time that we have the best defensive attitude that we have shown since Joel and company.
Hats off to HD and staff! GDTBATH!

 

[TarHeelMark]

The flagrant foul was total joke.

Exactly!

BTW, I don't think I've ever seen refs go back and review a non-call and turn it into a foul AFTER a whole sequence on the other end. And it was because the fans were booing after flopsy hit the deck. If a common foul had been called WHEN it occurred, ok... but after we scored? That's total BS.

 

[TarHeelMark]

We held state to 4 points over the last 8+ minutes until they got a couple FTs with 5 seconds left. We held Clemson scoreless over the last 5 minutes.

This team has got some toughness that is impressive.

 

[strummingram]

Winning games is a lot more fun than losing.

 

[Indy_Heel]

Exactly!

BTW, I don't think I've ever seen refs go back and review a non-call and turn it into a foul AFTER a whole sequence on the other end. And it was because the fans were booing after flopsy hit the deck. If a common foul had been called WHEN it occurred, ok... but after we scored? That's total BS.

They are not allowed to go back and review for a common foul. They are allowed to go back and review for a Flagrant. Which a Flagrant foul assessed is a foul added to your total. I see reviews all the time for Flagrants. I know I had the Carolina Blue glasses on but that was a flop from the get go. Holding Bacot then once Bacot pushes him off his arms go up in the air and he jumps back. One thing I will say is Bacot does do some dumb stuff away from the ball that could lead to a flagrant. He gets frustrated with no calls. But almost every game he does something and I’m like WTF use your head.

 

[Bubspub88]

Not a pretty win but glad to have it. Heels are now 5-3 in quad 1 games, bad news is that the conference may not offer many more chances for them. 4-0 in conference with 3 road wins (in places we have not always done so well) is impressive.

UNC won even with Bacot essentially MIA, bad FT shooting and RJ struggling much of the game. 6 weeks ago the Heels probably lose by 15 in that scenario. I am hoping that teams will give up the bully ball strategy and actually try to beat Carolina playing basketball. It would be so nice to watch a real basketball game sometime soon.

Fingers crossed that Cadeau has turned the corner and understands how he needs to play to stay on the court. Nice effort by Washington against Burns - that dude is BIG and plays bigger. Trimble had some really nice moments and Ingram channeled Sean May to own the glass.

With all the top 10 upsets the last few days it was refreshing to not be one of them for a change.

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

We may be in the process of seeing Cadeau turn the corner. Often you have to look back to realize "so and so turned the corner in the middle of January," but I feel like we can see it happening right now for EC.

We are also developing a solid 8-man rotation with improvements from Seth and the 2 JWs. I'm no longer worried when any of those 3 come in, even for long stretches. Plus a couple more (High and Wojcik) don't embarrass themselves if we need them to play.

I almost never complain about the refs, but their calls after the ludicrous flagrant against Armando were unequal. In the first half they were "letting them play," as they say - a hands-off approach that usually rewards the harder-hitting team and hurts the more finesse team. Since we are often the more finesse team, that isn't to our advantage, but if they call it the same way at both ends, I'm OK with that. After the flagrant, they started calling it closer, but not even-handedly.

That said, we are becoming a more rugged team than many recent UNC squads. Might just be our personnel this season, but I'm hoping it's something Hubert is working on.

Feeling pretty good about this team. Top to bottom.

 

[TarHeelTroy]

3 straight road wins holding all three opponents under 60 points. Nice!

Need to cut down on the unforced turnovers

State sucks. Bye now!

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

Nice to see us wearing the other team down, again. Roy used to use our depth very effectively as a 6th man, but we lost that when Hubert went iron man. Possibly the most encouraging thing about this season is that Hubert is using his bench. It's paying off.

 

[strummingram]

Need to cut down on the unforced turnovers

That's my only gripe, too... thus far... the unforced turnovers.

 

[TPFKAPFS]

It is time to recognize we are NOT a finesse team but it is nice peeps still think we are! Hubs has established a solid 10 man rotation and this is also a great thing! We can play fast and high scoring; slow grinding; bully ball-bring whatever you can and we will beat you at your game! I love Hubs calling the use it or lose it TO to end the half. I love us organizing the troops and ensuring we always take the last shot. Whether the play works or not is not as important to me as ensuring the ball is in our hands to end the half. At least twice in the last 4 games, we had the perfect play but the refs didn't have the cajones to make a freakin' call! And RJ pretty much won one of them on this play. EC is swiftly becoming the problem we all thought he would be! He is learning so quickly that opponents can't use the same tactics in the 2nd half that they used in the 1st and this is an issue for them! Mando might not have scored as much as we want, but he defended a freakin' mountain and , along with his peers, had that beast gasping for breath so much in the 2nd he couldn't even wolf to the crowd!

Flagrant was one of the worst calls ever! But not surprising considering who was running the crew!

UT never should have been ahead of us and now they won't be-say hello to the top 5 peeps!

I predicted 3-0 and I am ecstatic that our team is growing into a contender!

 

[FlaTarHeel]

...and we're gettin' there.



- RJ in particular got frustrated and lost patience and we weren't strong enough with the rock.

- Speaking of D, I'm gonna give a special shout-out to young Mr. Cadeau, who not only avoided foul trouble, absolutely STONED what looked to be layup drives no less than FOUR times in the first half to help keep everything in line.



- We also adjusted to the Burns iso with a variety of doubles when he started way too far out, and then flat wore him out on the other end --- more on that below



- amazingly, we got to the line all of TWO times in the first half, and when they called a travel on Mando when he got tripped on our first Secondary, welp... here we go again.

HOWEVER, perhaps there was another half-time lecture, and y'all saw what happened when we actually got some calls on the constant contact.


- Once we baited them into chasing RJ off that early action, we started slipping EC up to take the hand-off and put fat-boy into a 20ft ball-screen, then EC and Mando took them to school on P&Rs. IIRC, we ran that action on 4 straight possessions and they didn't defend it once --- game over for all intents and purposes.

1. If we keep the ball in the hands of EC I like our chances more and more
2. Forcing bad shots will do that
3. People will look at his foul count but that kid is one the best freshman defenders we have ever had. His footwork is amazing and he's strong enough to hold off bugger guys trying to back him down.
4. The 2nd half double teaming may be the best adjustment HD made this season. Kudos to him. 👍
5. Pat Driscoll called a foul and that crooked dook loving a$$hat John Gaffney came over and changed it to a travel.
6. Once again the calls turned our way the 2nd half. Surprisingly we have benefitted a few times this year by that. Pleasantly surprised I will admit and give those guys credit because you and I both will call them out.
7. EC dropped some dimes on those pick-n-rolls ala Kendall Marshall/Ed Cota. Truly beautiful and truly the Carolina Way......Only question is why are we not running that set more often?

 

[39 Feet Above Sea Level]

Regarding Mando; agreed, he sometimes does make a cringeworthy play, but hey:
We have watched teams BEAT on him for five years. I, for one, find it remarkable that he keeps his
cool after getting hosed again and again ad nauseum. KEEP BRINGING IT # 5.

 

[DSouthr]

Big time power wins to finish the hat trick of 3 road wins in very hostile to UNC gyms and all 3 looked oddly similar. 3 teams that did all they could to keep us from running, 3 teams that wanted to play physical against us, and all 3 handed double digit losses for their effort. We won all 3 based on our defensive work, that is a sing of a very good team, that can win the high scoring affair but can as well win the low scoring games with defense. The really cool part is it is team defense rather than Leaky and hope the others don't get torched to bad.

As much as I want to give the game ball to Cadeau, who played his best game for us in a while, could well be his best 40min game, I loved his first half vs Tenn... I have to give it to Ingram and those 19 boards, how do you not? The kid went to battle and he battled for every one of his 35mins in that game, it was a monster effort on his part! Cadeau, first, finished with a total of 1 single foul that is head turning but it got to the point where it looked like he could blow past any defender they put on him and finish with yet another easy lay up. Most of the game really but especially that second half, kid was totally under control and controlled the game, what 6 dimes vs 2 TOs, take that any day with his 11pts.

The wuffs went over and over to big fella and Bacot seemed to pick him up nearly every time in that first half, Bacot worked his butt off to defend it but simply couldn't, it clearly got in to Bacot's head and the big dancing bear was not shy about talking to Bacot either. That flagrant was total BS, yeah, the refs did miss what should have been a foul call on Bacot and they saw that on the replay but to give the flagrant on what was actually Middlebrook using his arm to restrict Bacot from running up court and gave the acting job flop that the refs totally bought in to, BS. There was a play in that second half where Bacot caught a shot to his head that was MUCH worse than the Flagrant they called on him and no whistle and no review. But Jalen came in, did get blown by for a easy reverse lay in early but that kid locked up on the bear and did a heck of a job. The difference and I think it came from the bench telling Jalen to deny the catch rather than allow the catch and defend the back down as Bacot tried to do. That made the bear work harder for position to get spots where he could get the ball for that back down and Hubert added in 1 more adjustment, he sent the double, Ingram a lot but also sent strippers to take away his dribble and force him to pass thru a double and many times a trapping double, he could not handle that. Really solid and effective adjustments from Hubert.

Jump shooting wise, we were ice cold, that first half, we missed wide open looks, we missed bunnies, we missed from the foul line, we missed everything, not because of their defense, we just missed wide open shots. When RJ has time to tie his shoes before he takes the shot and no one around him and he misses that, you know, we have a bad shooting night coming.

That second half, we would go up by 5-7 and they would cut it right back down to 2, then we would go back up by 5-7, when we finally broke thru to a double digit lead the wuffs caved, you could see it on their faces yet our defense never let up. Offense as we saw last night can come & go but defense travels and defense just traveled with us these last 3 games. The reduced amount of switching tweeks Hubert has made are solid, we now don't switch just to be switching so we are not getting in as many bad matchups, still had some bad matchups last night but the wuffs didn't seem to see them. Weird, as close as this game actually was for most of it, I never one time got that feeling that we could lose? This team has what this team lacked last season, togetherness and HEART!

 

[DSouthr]

1. If we keep the ball in the hands of EC I like our chances more and more
2. Forcing bad shots will do that
3. People will look at his foul count but that kid is one the best freshman defenders we have ever had. His footwork is amazing and he's strong enough to hold off bugger guys trying to back him down.
4. The 2nd half double teaming may be the best adjustment HD made this season. Kudos to him. 👍
5. Pat Driscoll called a foul and that crooked dook loving a$$hat John Gaffney came over and changed it to a travel.
6. Once again the calls turned our way the 2nd half. Surprisingly we have benefitted a few times this year by that. Pleasantly surprised I will admit and give those guys credit because you and I both will call them out.
7. EC dropped some dimes on those pick-n-rolls ala Kendall Marshall/Ed Cota. Truly beautiful and truly the Carolina Way......Only question is why are we not running that set more often?

I am not one to be critial of spelling or wording mistakes but ya may want to re-read your point #3 and re-word that, I mean "bugger guys" looking to back him down, hits me as maybe you saying something very different (as in don't drop the soap) ? LOL 🤣

 

[IDUNK4HEELS]

I am really surprised that nobody has mentioned the extended minutes Withers played last night and his defense on Burns when both Washington and Bacot got into serious foul trouble…

 

[2DDIMOND]

I am not one to be critial of spelling or wording mistakes but ya may want to re-read your point #3 and re-word that, I mean "bugger guys" looking to back him down, hits me as maybe you saying something very different (as in don't drop the soap) ? LOL 🤣

Pot, meet kettle.

 

[NorCalTarheel]

Regarding Mando; agreed, he sometimes does make a cringeworthy play, but hey:
We have watched teams BEAT on him for five years. I, for one, find it remarkable that he keeps his
cool after getting hosed again and again ad nauseum. KEEP BRINGING IT # 5.

This!!! It's like Bacot gets the Shaq treatment (no, I am not comparing Bacot to Shaq!). They beat him to death and then call fouls on him when he plays with the same toughness of those beating on him.

 

[gary-7]

I am really surprised that nobody has mentioned the extended minutes Withers played last night and his defense on Burns when both Washington and Bacot got into serious foul trouble…

Depth is a good thing.

 

[djones1975]

I am excited that we can win games like this. I feel like we dodged a bullet though. We turned the ball over early and state could not buy a bucket. They shot 2 of 21 from 3. (Similar to Clemson shooting 1 of 18). I hope that a lot of that is our renewed defense, but I feel like they missed a number of open shots. These are games we would lose last year for sure. I don't feel like this team has put it together for a full game. If/when they do, they will be great.

For this team: The ceiling is the roof.

 

[TPFKAPFS]

Disagree most vehemently! Not "luck", but "work!" Peeps are missing because we are in their freakin' grills! By the time they get what appears to be an open look, they are surprised and resort to rushing because they know the heat is coming! 2nd half legs are so tired peeps are missing everything short! Our depth is wearing peeps down physically and our intense D is working on their mental game! Hubs has us right where we need to be and you know our shooting will only go up from here while that D keeps beasting!

 

[DSouthr]

Disagree most vehemently! Not "luck", but "work!" Peeps are missing because we are in their freakin' grills! By the time they get what appears to be an open look, they are surprised and resort to rushing because they know the heat is coming! 2nd half legs are so tired peeps are missing everything short! Our depth is wearing peeps down physically and our intense D is working on their mental game! Hubs has us right where we need to be and you know our shooting will only go up from here while that D keeps beasting!

Exactly TP, I've been hammering that very thing for so long now USE THAT BENCH not just for now but thru every game we play this season. Folks want them to run a high tempo running game full of a lot of UNC breaks. They want them to defend hard, want them to move their feet, they want to mix in press and traps, that want them to make jump shots. Fans want these kids to play flat out wide open and not take time off while they play, want the to constantly be in attacking mode, fans want all those things, I know of only one way for that to happen and that is by going hard and deep in to your bench.

It could not be more clear, play a short bench, play that darn "Iron 5" nonsense and you will play mostly half court at a much slower pace over all and your defense will suffer. Really, it is one or the other, which do you want? LOL It blows me away every year I see fans calling for our coach to "tighten up" his rotations, code for don't use your bench as much. It was freakin using that deep bench that got us here and you really want that changed? Every game is a war of attrition on 2 fronts, first do you have the ability to withstand the loss of a starter by fouls or injury to one or more of your starters? The second is does your team have the legs to finish halves both early as well as late season? You build your bench early season so that you can rely on it late.

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

Disagree most vehemently! Not "luck", but "work!" Peeps are missing because we are in their freakin' grills! By the time they get what appears to be an open look, they are surprised and resort to rushing because they know the heat is coming! 2nd half legs are so tired peeps are missing everything short! Our depth is wearing peeps down physically and our intense D is working on their mental game! Hubs has us right where we need to be and you know our shooting will only go up from here while that D keeps beasting!

We're even getting to see some full court press - something several of us always hope to see more of.

How much of this is our coaching staff getting good? For me, at least, they're starting to erase last year's misgivings.

I notice that Pomeroy currently projects a 17-3 conference record. One game ahead of Duke. I'll take that. That's 25-6 for the regular season.

Lunardi has us as a 2 seed - behind Purdue, Houston, Arizona and UConn. Guess I can't argue with that . . . yet. Duke is a 3 seed. Unfortunately, he only has 3 ACC teams making the cutoff. Miami and UVa are on the wrong side of the bubble.

 

[TPFKAPFS]

Lunardi giveth and he taketh away lol. I would bet it is closer to 5-6 than 3 from our conference this year. Our coaches have shown a growth curve as steep as oir players! I love the presses and traps too and I hope we keep the 10 (possibly add an 11th) man rotation all the way into April! Peeps who want a short rotation confuse me!

 

[gary-7]

Peeps, great comments. With Elliot’s incremental improvements and hoops IQ, we are beginning to see
how seriously good we can be when WE control the tempo. This team’s chemistry is exciting to watch.
They play for each other and the variety of skill sets they demonstrate make them tough to defend at
the same time that we have the best defensive attitude that we have shown since Joel and company.
Hats off to HD and staff! GDTBATH!

BTW, addendum to my OP:
I now have it on good authority that it was Hubert hinself who drew up the high screen and flair action that Cadeau used to seal the game.

 

[dtodd4475]

Lunardi giveth and he taketh away lol. I would bet it is closer to 5-6 than 3 from our conference this year. Our coaches have shown a growth curve as steep as oir players! I love the presses and traps too and I hope we keep the 10 (possibly add an 11th) man rotation all the way into April! Peeps who want a short rotation confuse me!

Just curious, who is this 10 man "rotation" you are speaking of? I view rotational guys as regular solid minute players. Are you considering High and Wojcik as rotation guys with their current usage?

I see us as using a 8 man rotation almost exclusively lately, with High & Wojcik getting a spot minute or 3 on occasion, if and when fouls or circumstances dictate in a particular game here and there? Am I missing something, with the "rotation"?

 

[DSouthr]

I consider a rotation player as a guy that gets in to every game even if it is only for a minute or 2. I consider both Paxon and High just that and would not upset me to see Konkwo at least get in to every game. There are 8 that I would like to see at least 10mins a game from.

 

[gary-7]

Just curious, who is this 10 man "rotation" you are speaking of? I view rotational guys as regular solid minute players. Are you considering High and Wojcik as rotation guys with their current usage?

I see us as using a 8 man rotation almost exclusively lately, with High & Wojcik getting a spot minute or 3 on occasion, if and when fouls or circumstances dictate in a particular game here and there? Am I missing something, with the "rotation"?

They are rotation players. High is on the edge of that but Woj has played in every game and is a regular rotation guy, so we are going 9-10 deep on any given night.

 

[dtodd4475]

They are rotation players. High is on the edge of that but Woj has played in every game and is a regular rotation guy, so we are going 9-10 deep on any given night.

OK, I see them as spot minute guys, which I always qualified differently then my rotation guys. Was just curious to see how others define a "rotation" player, I see it differs, as I always saw it differently while scouting an opponents roster, or game prepping with my own roster.

 

[gary-7]

OK, I see them as spot minute guys, which I always qualified differently then my rotation guys. Was just curious to see how others define a "rotation" player, I see it differs, as I always saw it differently while scouting an opponents roster, or game prepping with my own roster.

You could put High in that "spot" category, but Woj has been a starter and has since just fallen a bit behind Cormac and Seth in the wing rotation. With that said, he could also easily come in and give us a 20 minute game.

 

[dtodd4475]

You could put High in that "spot" category, but Woj has been a starter and has since just fallen a bit behind Cormac and Seth in the wing rotation. With that said, he could also easily come in and give us a 20 minute game.

Hmm, at the start of the year he was, which surprised me, when Hubert tinkered with combinations. That is when I and others said, "I could be wrong, but I do not think he will be a rotational guy by the time the conference kicks in, and Hubert establishes a rotation.

And from how I think of rotational guys, that is what has happened. Getting 2 minutes being the norm at this point. I think he can get an occasional 8 to 10 minute outing once in a blue moon, but 20? Not unless it's a non competitive blowout type matchup, or only if we lose one of our "rotational" guys in my opinion.

I think Hubert has found his 8, and only a spot minute or 3 is left for numbers 9 and 10. Be ready if needed type guys, ya never know when, and both are good options for that "break in case of emergency" plug in. Keep them ready in practice and a few stolen spot minutes when possible for that.