Quick stuff (VaTech game)...

[gary-7]

...and this was an absolute gem of scouting.

I've watched VaTech a few times and they STRUGGLE defending the post, which is why they are so danged grabby and handsy before the ball gets down there. Once we saw how they were gonna approach it, the staff was ready and it was an obvious practice point this week. On a day of meh 3-point shooting, this was won the old-fashioned way.

- Any time we saw Mando in a post before help was available we redirected to it, sometimes even in the Secondary. And in the second half we ran 3 different post-entry actions, all of which worked --- the old-school, iso wing entry, the backside baseline Flex-cut off ball reversal, and the quick P&R slip off the high up-screen to the Point (we coulda had even more on that one with some clean catches --- ALWAYS be looking when #2 has the rock),

- On that note, Mando looked way more spry today and flat took it to em, and was ready for kick-outs off doubles!

- We really had to toughen up after halftime. After a nicely called 1st half, it was predictable the foul numbers would go the other way, and they did. Their grabs caused more than one of our TO's and made it difficult to pull away.

- Speaking of tough, with so much of their attention on Mando, Ingram hit the boards like a grown-ass man and mostly finished strong on put-backs, using his width to clear space and going up strong.

- We missed some mismatches inherent in their 3-Guard lineup (a few times Withers had a Guard on him), but on the other end we were, except for unconscious #2 and Nickel (of course), able to contain their aggressive shooters. EC, RJ, Cormac, Seth and Woj all played hard D to make them work for most everything --- especially in the second half when we held them to 1/12 from deep.

- Also, there were a couple of times in the second half when our perimeter guys gave up fouls to protect Mando from getting #4 --- the subtle things that win games.

- Huge alpha play by RJ. With our continuity immediately stalled when EC went out late, RJ took on a perimter double and created a late-clock 3 just when we needed it most. And speaking of huge, Cormac's dagger 3 closed out any comeback chances.

- finally, our young Mr. Cadeau's next step of maturation into this level is to contain frustration, even when it's deserved. The last frustration foul (after being mugged like a Running Back vs a goal-line defense) was case-in-point. With a few exceptions, RJ is a good example to follow there. The little guy has taken more than his share of poundings over the years, but eventually realized that discretion is the better part of valor for a player so valuable. EC should follow suit. We survived it today (due to the reasons mentioned above) but Eliot was +19 in 23 minutes today --- we need ya on the floor, young fella!

Anyway, fun to watch a nice win utilizing old-school Carolina inside-out basketball! Now we have a week to prep for our nightmare arena --- time to change the narrative in Charlottesville, dadgummit!...

 

[dtodd4475]

Bully ball at it's finest in the paint. Dominated the glass, Mando ate at will with point blank buckets.

With the interior dominance RJ was able to dial back his high volume shooting while getting his 20, Cormac's stroke was solid from beyond the arc, and Seth back with energy and some very nice entry passes.

Got a cushion and maintained it answering the mini runs cutting it down to 6-7 each time. Solid win. Long week off. Time for the stretch run, let's get 'em.

 

[FlaTarHeel]

- ALWAYS be looking when #2 has the rock)

- We survived it today (due to the reasons mentioned above) but Eliot was +19 in 23 minutes today --- we need ya on the floor, young fella!

Case in point👇

 

[al would]

G's summary is pretty good. Some other thoughts ..

VT's weaknesses are UNC's strenghts for the most part because there was no answer for Mando .. their coach obviously didn't learn much from the Cuse game. Bottom line is VT has no defense (big surprise).

EC is still on a learning curve but at least he's learning even though I though he made quite a few questionable plays and it didn't seem UNC got a lot of fluid transition points. Could be wrong but I was per-occupied a bit while the game was on.

Actually think Tyler Nickel may be a good college player before he's done and he's probably an upgrade over Paxson but hubs would prolly still have him rotting on the bench like he did last year but he does have a nice shot and he did have some defensive chops that bothered us. First time I've seen him play since his departure and I see why he was recruited. To bad the transfer portal has f'd up college bball.

Missed anything aggressive to the rack by Seth .. maybe he's still not 100% back.

Still love Jwash but he really needs some lower body strength .. upper too, to move his defenders around but man does he have a sweet shooting stroke and an affinity for aggressiveness to the rack ala old school UNC bigs !! Love that !!

This long break will help .. and hopefully hubs will back off a bit and let the guys just do some shoot arounds and lite work along with some ice tubs and physical therapy because they still looked tired and it's $$ time now until the last game. GO HEELS !!!

 

[gary-7]

Still love Jwash but he really needs some lower body strength .. upper too, to move his defenders around but man does he have a sweet shooting stroke and an affinity for aggressiveness to the rack ala old school UNC bigs !! Love that !!

Yep, big off-season coming now that he's healthy. Build that strength for D. Big guy already has the purest shooting stroke on the roster. Meanwhile, keep giving 100% and productive minutes.

 

[imajericho]

Need cadeau to limit his turnovers and increase his 3 point ability if we want a deep run.

I think everyone played pretty well. Cadeau directed a lot of stuff with hockey assists. RJ continues to be great despite his running floater not connecting much as of late. Bacot handled things well today. Ingram continues to do the little things. Cormac was on from 3.

We still gave up too many points, which luckily we were able to outdo on offense, but we can't keep relying on our offense to win games. Need a bit more solid defense too. Need to work on tightening that up a little, as well. Great win though. Hopefully we can keep a streak going now.

 

[gauchoheel]

Nice win. Ingram with a monster game on the boards. He continues to slip a little offensively. I think he may be here for his senior season. Not really seeing the offensive play from him, but I could be wrong. Mostly spot ups and put backs.

Nice bounce back game from Ryan and Bacot. Don't know what got into Ryan at Syracuse. Hopefully Bacot can carry it over against UVA.

Don't think Cadeau's +/- had too much to do with him. He had some nifty passes but gave it back with bad turnovers. Trimble and RJ both matched his assist output, but without the sloppy plays. He needs to play smarter, has had a couple of these games in recent weeks and continues with the closeout fouls on shooters. Trimble outplayed him today. Can't have that many mistakes from our lead guards in big games.

Winning against UVA would be really big for this team and continuing the momentum. Seems like a team we'd match up well against defensively (not sure who they'd be able to beat us with unless Beekman just shoots over top of our guards, but he's typically a bit more passive). Can we score against them?

 

[imajericho]

Nice win. Ingram with a monster game on the boards. He continues to slip a little offensively. I think he may be here for his senior season. Not really seeing the offensive play from him, but I could be wrong. Mostly spot ups and put backs.

Nice bounce back game from Ryan and Bacot. Don't know what got into Ryan at Syracuse. Hopefully Bacot can carry it over against UVA.

Don't think Cadeau's +/- had too much to do with him. He had some nifty passes but gave it back with bad turnovers. Trimble and RJ both matched his assist output, but without the sloppy plays. He needs to play smarter, has had a couple of these games in recent weeks and continues with the closeout fouls on shooters. Trimble outplayed him today. Can't have that many mistakes from our lead guards in big games.

Winning against UVA would be really big for this team and continuing the momentum. Seems like a team we'd match up well against defensively (not sure who they'd be able to beat us with unless Beekman just shoots over top of our guards, but he's typically a bit more passive). Can we score against them?

+/- is misleading. I think just a couple games ago Cadeau was -26 or something in the first half alone. The announcers mentioned it in that game.

 

[heels05champs]

This makes several recent games where our defense has appeared to take a step back. These guys need to find their January defense again and lock down. It’ll be needed against uva because they sure as heck will bring the defense. First to 60 wins?

 

[tcb22]

" First to 60 wins?" This could take awhile

 

[reggaeheel]

 

[gary-7]

Nice win. Ingram with a monster game on the boards. He continues to slip a little offensively. I think he may be here for his senior season. Not really seeing the offensive play from him, but I could be wrong. Mostly spot ups and put backs.

Nice bounce back game from Ryan and Bacot. Don't know what got into Ryan at Syracuse. Hopefully Bacot can carry it over against UVA.

Don't think Cadeau's +/- had too much to do with him. He had some nifty passes but gave it back with bad turnovers. Trimble and RJ both matched his assist output, but without the sloppy plays. He needs to play smarter, has had a couple of these games in recent weeks and continues with the closeout fouls on shooters. Trimble outplayed him today. Can't have that many mistakes from our lead guards in big games.

Winning against UVA would be really big for this team and continuing the momentum. Seems like a team we'd match up well against defensively (not sure who they'd be able to beat us with unless Beekman just shoots over top of our guards, but he's typically a bit more passive). Can we score against them?

While yes, +/- per se can be be misleading, it was not in this case. The plain and inescapable fact is that the team simply functions better with EC at the helm. The ball moves and doesn't stick to one side, he dribbles with a purpose that moves the defense (as opposed to just pounding the ball), transition functions at a higher level, passes get delivered on time and where guys can do something with them and we simply get better shots. TBH, there's a glaring difference when he goes to the bench. He also plays very good defense when he can avoid the whistles.

 

[DSouthr]

OK, so for me this game was never really in doubt, we scored at will, Bacot was a grown man against boys in the paint, Ingram was as well. BUT they played with their food, they needed to gobble their food up and look for seconds. At the half we had a 11pt lead, which should have been over 20, we win by 15 meaning we won the second half by 4pts. Every big VT had was in foul trouble, Potite was reduced to watching, he must have lost his red cape but I swear I heard OLAY thru my TV? LOL I b elieve it was Seth in that second half were Seth drove from the right corner and Potite picked him up and rather than even give token defense he actually backed away and allowed the lay in? LOL

Ingram got us started, I think it was 5-0 them up when Ingram took over for a few minutes and got us to the working margin we had all day. 17 boards by Ingram, those rebounding stats for Ingram this season are eye popping, he absolutely attacks the boards with a vengeance I have rarely seen from a UNC player. Bacot just dominated, VT just could not match his size or his polish. I couldn't help but laugh, VT puts in this big ole white guy that moved like Frankenstein, when he checked you could see Bacot's eyes light up, Bacot immediately attacked that guy and had to be laughing going back down court. Suffice it to say that guy didn't last long! LOL

I did like the shot distribution in this game, among our starters, the lowest number of shots taken was 11 and the most was Bacot's 16 shots and for this game bacot should have got the most shots. 18 assists vs 35 made shots is just over the 50% we look for, solid. Ryan shot 4-11 so over 30% is better but still has to improve, 4-11 should not be looked at as a good shooting night for a known shooter when the looks are so clean. Cadeau was 2pts away from all 5 starters being in double figures, love the wealth being spread around. RJ seems to be doing a really nice job picking his spots. Cadeau well, the 4 dimes were nice but those 5 TOs are just not acceptable, 3 of them unforced???Got to be WAY STRONGER with the ball vs UVa because their defense is not a joke.

Very good to see Hubert use the bench in BOTH Halves, felt our bench played pretty well. 15pts off our bench is not bad. I could not help laughing when JWit blew that easy dunk. The thought struck me that blown dunk is actually a capsulation of JWit's season with us so far, so eager to do something great that he blows it up, shoots himself in the foot. If he can just get to the point where he let the game come to him, like Ingram does, the ability is there, loved the trailing break big time block at the rim. JWash gave us 10mins and 7pts. I tend to think of JWash and JWit as a pairing but actually they are 2 very opposite players. One is to eager to the point of forcing things that are not there and the other needs to look for his offense more than he does. One is about the most inefficient player we have and the other is our most efficient shooter by a mile. One thing for sure, when JWash gets the ball deep in the paint he knows what to do with it, no cute lil finess deal there, he flushes it! Seth, looked like he was still a half step slower than before that upper body injury, said he was still not 100%, he was really shy to create offense, he still does not trust his jump shot.

Game ball to Bacot and honorable mention to those 17 boards for Ingram! They just really needed to get thru this game and they did, now we have an open date & time to rest some and work on some things that need to get cleaned up on both ends.

 

[IDUNK4HEELS]

Nobody mentioned it but kudos for Ryan’s defense who was in the Hokies leading scorer Hunter Cattoor all afternoon and made the Tech sharpshooter look pretty bad. I realize most people only look at stats but defense is also important and I am sure his teammates and Coaches appreciated his efforts…

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

@gary-7 - You seem to be much more positive lately toward Hubert and his staff's ability to actually coach. Is that a correct impression?

 

[DSouthr]

Nice win. Ingram with a monster game on the boards. He continues to slip a little offensively. I think he may be here for his senior season. Not really seeing the offensive play from him, but I could be wrong. Mostly spot ups and put backs.

Nice bounce back game from Ryan and Bacot. Don't know what got into Ryan at Syracuse. Hopefully Bacot can carry it over against UVA.

Don't think Cadeau's +/- had too much to do with him. He had some nifty passes but gave it back with bad turnovers. Trimble and RJ both matched his assist output, but without the sloppy plays. He needs to play smarter, has had a couple of these games in recent weeks and continues with the closeout fouls on shooters. Trimble outplayed him today. Can't have that many mistakes from our lead guards in big games.

Winning against UVA would be really big for this team and continuing the momentum. Seems like a team we'd match up well against defensively (not sure who they'd be able to beat us with unless Beekman just shoots over top of our guards, but he's typically a bit more passive). Can we score against them?

Did you realize that Ingram being a bit off offensively and Ryan having a nice bounce back game yet they were both the very same 4-11 from the field? Not saying you are wrong but I just thought that was interesting. Ingram, to me is more of a facilitator, a bit like Theo in that respect, even when he backs a guy down he seems to be actively looking to draw the double and pass to the open guy unless he gets the size advantage, he punishes smaller defenders.

Cadeau with 5 TOs vs 4 assists, sorry but that is just not ball strong, it is very freshman like. Seth had 4 assist and no TOs in 22mins, RJ had 5 assists with 2 TOs. As a team we had a total of 9 TOs, 5 were Cadeau in 23mins of playing time. The other thing that just has to be handled is this deal of him defending the jump shooter, he has been called on that way to many times now. Shooter goes up, by rule you MUST give that shooter room to land, if you don't it is one of the more properly called fouls there is and it is out in front of the refs, they are not usually going to miss it, especially if you are known to not give that space. I have watched Cadeau do this over and over and each time he disputes the call, he kicks his own legs out and makes the case the shooter kicked out his leg, no son, your foot ended up under the jump shooters landing spot, that is a foul and that should be a foul, that has caused way to many ankle sprains, that is how K used to teach his guards to defend. It needs to stop!!!

Beekman, wow, that kid is fantastic on both ends of the court, Tony has him a good one there, one of the best over all players in the country in my opinion. That UVa team will defend hard, we all know that we are going to have to be strong with the ball and make solid but quick decisions. I have always felt the key to beating Tony's pac-man defense was with combination passing and a lot of ball fakes because their defense moves on the pass rather than the catch, selling ball fakes can cause them to react if it is sold strong.

BY combination passes I mean a pass that sets up the assist, like the swing swing splash or the old Laker triangle. Those move a defense rather than just allow it to shift, they want you to do a lot of dribbling because they do not have to do anything other than their natural shifting. WE are pounding the ball to much in the half court.

 

[TPFKAPFS]

I honestly can't fathom how anyone can continue to question our staff? You have to have an agenda to still think they can't lead us to the promised land! They already vaulted us back to #1 in the ACC and the 5th overall seed in the entire NCAA! They recruited, developed, and schemed to bring out the best in all of our players! They have proven capable of making both on the fly adjustments and proper preparation before games! I am proud of our team and coaches, and I am so excited to as we continue to get better each game!

Go Tar Heels! It is so good to be the king.....again!

 

[Kool1234567]

Did you realize that Ingram being a bit off offensively and Ryan having a nice bounce back game yet they were both the very same 4-11 from the field? Not saying you are wrong but I just thought that was interesting. Ingram, to me is more of a facilitator, a bit like Theo in that respect, even when he backs a guy down he seems to be actively looking to draw the double and pass to the open guy unless he gets the size advantage, he punishes smaller defenders.

Cadeau with 5 TOs vs 4 assists, sorry but that is just not ball strong, it is very freshman like. Seth had 4 assist and no TOs in 22mins, RJ had 5 assists with 2 TOs. As a team we had a total of 9 TOs, 5 were Cadeau in 23mins of playing time. The other thing that just has to be handled is this deal of him defending the jump shooter, he has been called on that way to many times now. Shooter goes up, by rule you MUST give that shooter room to land, if you don't it is one of the more properly called fouls there is and it is out in front of the refs, they are not usually going to miss it, especially if you are known to not give that space. I have watched Cadeau do this over and over and each time he disputes the call, he kicks his own legs out and makes the case the shooter kicked out his leg, no son, your foot ended up under the jump shooters landing spot, that is a foul and that should be a foul, that has caused way to many ankle sprains, that is how K used to teach his guards to defend. It needs to stop!!!

Beekman, wow, that kid is fantastic on both ends of the court, Tony has him a good one there, one of the best over all players in the country in my opinion. That UVa team will defend hard, we all know that we are going to have to be strong with the ball and make solid but quick decisions. I have always felt the key to beating Tony's pac-man defense was with combination passing and a lot of ball fakes because their defense moves on the pass rather than the catch, selling ball fakes can cause them to react if it is sold strong.

BY combination passes I mean a pass that sets up the assist, like the swing swing splash or the old Laker triangle. Those move a defense rather than just allow it to shift, they want you to do a lot of dribbling because they do not have to do anything other than their natural shifting. WE are pounding the ball to much in the half court.

Also might be a reason EC was on the bench to end the game…Kid is still learning…Much needed rest this week before UVA…Good to see Ryan getting that shot back and Coach Davis using the bench…Really just beat them up inside…

I said before need to run the table at home and steal this game at UVA…Who knows what will happen at HIS…

 

[TPFKAPFS]

EC got a schooling in this game! He didn't react well to the physical, borderline dirty, play of their guards. Peeps have said he had too many unforced TOs, but I disagree with the premise. He did have way too many TOs. but few of them were unforced! They bodied, checked, and reached all night and it was allowed. Great players adjust within the game, and he didn't get there in time! The great news is he is so incredibly smart, I know he will react properly the next time! I would bet right now that UVA will not be able to frustrate him, and they will pay the price for the attempt! His shooting is looking way more natural, and he no longer seems to be aiming his shots! His confidence seems to be growing too and he doesn't hesitate when his shot is the best choice! Transforming frustration into focus is a skill that can move the needle from good to great! I see him learning this skill quickly!

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

The other thing that just has to be handled is this deal of him defending the jump shooter, he has been called on that way to many times now. Shooter goes up, by rule you MUST give that shooter room to land flop.

FIFY

As I've said before, if they are going to call it that way, you have to play them to call it that way. But some of those calls have been BS and should have been called flops, not fouls.

 

[DSouthr]

FIFY

As I've said before, if they are going to call it that way, you have to play them to call it that way. But some of those calls have been BS and should have been called flops, not fouls.

LOL, but the main point, I think we agree actually, the players has to adjust to the RISK of the whistle and Cadeau has to know by now, they gonna call you on that, it doesn't matter if Cadeau, you me, or anyone likes it, you just don't take on the risk when we need what you do so much.

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

If I jump into you as I release my shot, do you have to give me room to come down? Should we teach players to jump into defenders and then flop?

If the issue is risk of injury, the distance of the shot shouldn't matter. Why, then, are these calls seeming only made for 3-point shots and never for short-range jumpers?

Don't get me wrong, I absolutely agree with the principle of not undercutting people when they are in the air. Shooting or not. And, again, we have to adjust to the way the calls are being made. But too many of these are BS calls.

 

[alabamaheel]

If I jump into you as I release my shot, do you have to give me room to come down? Should we teach players to jump into defenders and then flop?

If the issue is risk of injury, the distance of the shot shouldn't matter. Why, then, are these calls seeming only made for 3-point shots and never for short-range jumpers?

Don't get me wrong, I absolutely agree with the principle of not undercutting people when they are in the air. Shooting or not. And, again, we have to adjust to the way the calls are being made. But too many of these are BS calls.

People don’t have to close out on short range jumpers. It’s a foul in every league. Got to leave room for them to land. His foul yesterday was stupid on his part. You know the definition of insanity is doing something over and over but expecting different results. He has gotten the wrong end on a few calls this year but every one of his landing fouls are legit. Just because he throws both hands up every time doesn’t mean he’s clean with the body.

 

[gary-7]

@gary-7 - You seem to be much more positive lately toward Hubert and his staff's ability to actually coach. Is that a correct impression?

I don't recall ever being the opposite (?). Scheming, scouting and game-planning have always been a staff strength --- after all, they finagled us into an unlikely FF without a PG.

Things went south last season when opponents scouted our shenanigans and we were stuck with a dysfunctional backcourt and an ill-conceived "Unfortunate Offensive Experiment" (as I dubbed it) of 5-out garbage.

But that has been thankfully flushed. You are witnessing it, and it starts with the recommitment to Carolina transition and less reliance on set plays, which in turn has upped our TEMPO to Dean/Roy levels when we're in business. That, combined with a return to inside-out offense. And, make no mistake, the more we commit to our bonafide shiny new PG, the closer the Carolina basketball renaissance is to fruition.

As we move forward I would still like to see more optimized personnel usage, being a bit more multiple on defense and not playing "not-to-lose" by taking the foot off the gas too soon, but that is part of Hubert's maturation on the sidelines.

 

[dtodd4475]

People don’t have to close out on short range jumpers. It’s a foul in every league. Got to leave room for them to land. His foul yesterday was stupid on his part. You know the definition of insanity is doing something over and over but expecting different results. He has gotten the wrong end on a few calls this year but every one of his landing fouls are legit. Just because he throws both hands up every time doesn’t mean he’s clean with the body.

I listened to Pat Bev on a podcast cast the other day. Not a huge fan of his, but he is elite defensively. He broke down how he contests jump shots/pull ups timing pulling his hand back, as you have to know your opponents follow through if you are not going to get the ball first, it is a foul everytime otherwise. He studies follow through of his opponents on tape, arm and body.

Elliot is a freshman and will improve on that with time, his contests leave him in easy foul draw positions far to often for savy scorers. Both with his body and his arm contests.

 

[DSouthr]

If I jump into you as I release my shot, do you have to give me room to come down? Should we teach players to jump into defenders and then flop?

If the issue is risk of injury, the distance of the shot shouldn't matter. Why, then, are these calls seeming only made for 3-point shots and never for short-range jumpers?

Don't get me wrong, I absolutely agree with the principle of not undercutting people when they are in the air. Shooting or not. And, again, we have to adjust to the way the calls are being made. But too many of these are BS calls.

It doesn't matter if we think the shooter jumped in to create the contact, all that matters is how do the refs call it. How often do you see a jump shooter go up for a shot, just your run of the mill jump shot and the shooter get called for the foul? KI have seen shooters called for it when they dramatically jump in to a defender, seen them called when they clearly struck their leg out to draw the contact but neither were the case with Cadeau. You simply do not risk it.

Look, Cadeau was trying to block the jump shot, you tell me, from this point on for the rest of Cadeau's playing days how many blocked jump shots do you think he will get on your garden variety jump shot when Cadeau is closing out? VERY VERY FEW if any, blocking the shot should not be the purpose, obscuring the shooters vision should be the purpose, getting a hand in his face to make it harder for him to see the basket is what Dean taught. It is a HIGH risk very very low reward play other wise.

On longer jump shots the shooter's momentum tends to be slightly forward, meaning when they land they will tend to land slightly forward and the refs are granting that space to land, I think rightfully so and I am not a guy that sides with the refs often. I just do not like to see kid hurt and there were to many ankle and foot injuries due to that. At the end of the day it doesn't matter what the rules say, what matters is how the refs call it. When the refs blow a whistle on you for a foul you can argue it 1,000 times, how many of those arguments will you win... ZERO, ZIP, NADA! What compounds it is when they have called you for it once they will begin to look for you doing it, it is a useless risk. It is a maturity issue and it needs to get cleaned up.

 

[alabamaheel]

I listened to Pat Bev on a podcast cast the other day. Not a huge fan of his, but he is elite defensively. He broke down how he contests jump shots/pull ups timing pulling his hand back, as you have to know your opponents follow through if you are not going to get the ball first, it is a foul everytime otherwise. He studies follow through of his opponents on tape, arm and body.

Elliot is a freshman and will improve on that with time, his contests leave him in easy foul draw positions far to often for savy scorers. Both with his body and his arm contests.

I think he will too. Hopefully this year he can tame the urge to get too close, but definitely not his edge! I like it.

 

[DSouthr]

I don't recall ever being the opposite (?). Scheming, scouting and game-planning have always been a staff strenth --- after all, they finagled us into an unlikely FF without a PG.

Things went south last season when opponents scouted our shenanigans and we were stuck with a dysfunctional backcourt and an ill-conceived "Unfortunate Offensive Experiment" (as I dubbed it) of 5-out garbage.

But that has been thankfully flushed. You are witnessing it, and it starts with the recommitment to Carolina transition and less reliance on set plays, which in turn has upped our TEMPO to Dean/Roy levels when we're in business. That, combined with a return to inside-out offense. And, make no mistake, the more we commit to our bonafide shiny new PG, the closer the Carolina basketball renaissance is to fruition.

As we move forward I would still like to see more optimized personnel usage, being a bit more multiple on defense and not playing "not-to-lose" by taking the foot off the gas too soon, but that is part of Hubert's maturation on the sidelines.

I am extremely more confident in Hubert's approach today than I was at any point last season for sure but I have felt us slipping back to some of the nonsense I didn't like last season. I DO NOT like all the set plays being called, for gosh sakes let them play Hubert, take the blinders off and let them play! I highly suspect, our practices are more on executing our set plays than they are working of free lance precepts, was a MAJOR PROBLEM last season and they very rarely worked on free lance in practice last season, from the players own mouths when asked. Feels like we are slipping right back in to that. Teams know our set plays, at times it looks like they know them better than we do, we are not the greatest when it comes to execution of sets, that was where Dean was the master, everyone know his sets but he and Gut were excellent teachers and their players executed many times to near perfection, we don't have teachers like Dean and Gut now.

I think, given by what I see from Hubert, his dream team would be 5 Ingrams in the starting line up, 5 guys that can play "positionless" basketball for 40mins. The 5 out or the switch all 5 stuff may work in the NBA when you have 6'9" point guards and 7ft solid 3pt shooters but those guys are rare in college, that dog don't hunt.

We have slipped in pushing the tempo, even with Cadeau we are ending up in to much half court offense. I may complain about Ingram bounding the ball and taking on his own for the break but at least he is looking to get the tempo up, looking to get us running. That was much more the focus earlier season than it has become, need to get back to that. AS we get back to that our bench has to get more minutes to keep those legs fresh.

Defensively, I am ok with switching 1-3 and 4-5 but I am not going to have my center 40" away from the basket trying to guard the opposing teams PG, that to me is just dumb, not a fan of my PG having to battle the other teams center in the deep paint either! Hubert made a solid change after that Ky game, the deal was you only switch if you have no choice, if your man has you beat, we went on a nice roll of wins. But since that duke game we seem to be back to switching 1-3 and at times 1-4 even when not needed and since we have seen teams score more on us and taken 2 losses.

 

[gauchoheel]

While yes, +/- per se can be be misleading, it was not in this case. The plain and inescapable fact is that the team simply functions better with EC at the helm. The ball moves and doesn't stick to one side, he dribbles with a purpose that moves the defense (as opposed to just pounding the ball), transition functions at a higher level, passes get delivered on time and where guys can do something with them and we simply get better shots. TBH, there's a glaring difference when he goes to the bench. He also plays very good defense when he can avoid the whistles.

And how about the 5 turnovers? You didn't mention that. Considering Trimble had 4 assists himself, did Cadeau contribute 5 extra buckets beyond his assists?

I like some things about Cadeau's defense, but he's still getting beat over the top and fouling too much. I don't think he's better than Trimble on that end.

 

[gauchoheel]

If I jump into you as I release my shot, do you have to give me room to come down? Should we teach players to jump into defenders and then flop?

If the issue is risk of injury, the distance of the shot shouldn't matter. Why, then, are these calls seeming only made for 3-point shots and never for short-range jumpers?

Don't get me wrong, I absolutely agree with the principle of not undercutting people when they are in the air. Shooting or not. And, again, we have to adjust to the way the calls are being made. But too many of these are BS calls.

To me Cadeau is clearly getting into shooter's landing spots. Some of them have been BS but he's also being too aggressive. He must have 2-3x the fouls on jumpers as anyone else on the team; that's not a coincidence.

 

[DSouthr]

And how about the 5 turnovers? You didn't mention that. Considering Trimble had 4 assists himself, did Cadeau contribute 5 extra buckets beyond his assists?

I like some things about Cadeau's defense, but he's still getting beat over the top and fouling too much. I don't think he's better than Trimble on that end.

LOL, man you had me scrolling back up to see who said that when you said "I like some things about Cadeau's defense, but he's still getting beat over the top and fouling too much. I don't think he's better than Trimble on that end."

I was about to get fired up dude! LOL I don't know that I have ever seen a better guard defender as a freshman than Seth was last season, I don't know that there is a better guard defender in the country right now than Seth, no Cadeau is not even the same area code as Seth defensively. LOL

No, the problem with Cadeau is simply that he is a freshman PG at UNC that could have been playing high school ball right now had he not reclassed. The kid is a worker gym rat, his game will mature and most of those silly mistakes will go away. I really hope folks will consider this next season with Jack and Drake, they simply will make mistakes to guys, have patience with them as you know you should with any freshman. Fans to often give up on a kid if he doesn't come in guns blazing and play great but when the kid does what freshmen always do and makes a mistake they give up on him and I don't like that.

 

[al would]

As we move forward I would still like to see more optimized personnel usage, being a bit more multiple on defense and not playing "not-to-lose" by taking the foot off the gas too soon, but that is part of Hubert's maturation on the sidelines.

!00% spot on !! You would think if he was born and bred in this system he wouldn't have to mature in to it !! But it is what it is and frustrating as hell most of the time for us old timers. UNC used to be famous for the "Blue Team" and then it morphed to this "blue steel" bs that fng turned to blue rust over the last few seasons. Hope springs eternal.

 

[gary-7]

I am extremely more confident in Hubert's approach today than I was at any point last season for sure but I have felt us slipping back to some of the nonsense I didn't like last season. I DO NOT like all the set plays being called, for gosh sakes let them play Hubert, take the blinders off and let them play! I highly suspect, our practices are more on executing our set plays than they are working of free lance precepts, was a MAJOR PROBLEM last season and they very rarely worked on free lance in practice last season, from the players own mouths when asked. Feels like we are slipping right back in to that. Teams know our set plays, at times it looks like they know them better than we do, we are not the greatest when it comes to execution of sets, that was where Dean was the master, everyone know his sets but he and Gut were excellent teachers and their players executed many times to near perfection, we don't have teachers like Dean and Gut now.

I think, given by what I see from Hubert, his dream team would be 5 Ingrams in the starting line up, 5 guys that can play "positionless" basketball for 40mins. The 5 out or the switch all 5 stuff may work in the NBA when you have 6'9" point guards and 7ft solid 3pt shooters but those guys are rare in college, that dog don't hunt.

We have slipped in pushing the tempo, even with Cadeau we are ending up in to much half court offense. I may complain about Ingram bounding the ball and taking on his own for the break but at least he is looking to get the tempo up, looking to get us running. That was much more the focus earlier season than it has become, need to get back to that. AS we get back to that our bench has to get more minutes to keep those legs fresh.

Defensively, I am ok with switching 1-3 and 4-5 but I am not going to have my center 40" away from the basket trying to guard the opposing teams PG, that to me is just dumb, not a fan of my PG having to battle the other teams center in the deep paint either! Hubert made a solid change after that Ky game, the deal was you only switch if you have no choice, if your man has you beat, we went on a nice roll of wins. But since that duke game we seem to be back to switching 1-3 and at times 1-4 even when not needed and since we have seen teams score more on us and taken 2 losses.

As you probably know, I also cringe at up/down switches (even though Mando usually does a good job), and I like as much transition as I can get. With that said, VaTech made a point of getting back on defense, which they can do better than most due to their small lineup.

 

[gary-7]

And how about the 5 turnovers? You didn't mention that. Considering Trimble had 4 assists himself, did Cadeau contribute 5 extra buckets beyond his assists?

I like some things about Cadeau's defense, but he's still getting beat over the top and fouling too much. I don't think he's better than Trimble on that end.

As someone else pointed out, there were "physical" causes of all but one of his TOs beyond his control, and they aren't the kind that kill what we're doing (unlike Cormac's Tuesday). And it's not a matter of baskets compared to TOs, it's how he impacts the flow as our FLOOR GENERAL, and frankly, I can't imagine it could be any more apparent to the eye-test --- but hey, If you'd like a reminder of what it's like to NOT have him, just rewatch last season (if you can stomach it).

As for Seth, he has indeed become a solid "+" defender, but I'm not sure what that has to do with Eliot? They play different positions with very different responsibilities, and EC has a LOT more pressure on him as the primary ball-handler. As for Cadeau on that end, he has defended well as a Frosh in his own right, despite the combination of his mistreatment by the refs and fouls from inexperience and/or emotion (as mentioned in my OP). And I'm not sure where you're getting the beat over the top thing.

 

[FlaTarHeel]

As we move forward I would still like to see more optimized personnel usage, being a bit more multiple on defense and not playing "not-to-lose" by taking the foot off the gas too soon, but that is part of Hubert's maturation on the sidelines.

And we have the depth to do this. #UseItOrLoseIt

 

[gary-7]

!00% spot on !! You would think if he was born and bred in this system he wouldn't have to mature in to it !! But it is what it is and frustrating as hell most of the time for us old timers. UNC used to be famous for the "Blue Team" and then it morphed to this "blue steel" bs that fng turned to blue rust over the last few seasons. Hope springs eternal.

Well, there's quite the difference when you're the head man, and it's a tendency of many (if not most) HCs to want to exercise more control as the game nears the end. And let's be fair, after that mess he was trying to wrangle last season with no real PG, it can be hard to let go.

So, while I have been on record wanting to keep the tempo going longer, it's a work-in-progress to trust your guys. Just as a hypothetical, if EC comes back next season, I would imagine Hubert will put the sort of trust in him down the stretch that Roy put in Joel. I'd like to see some more of that a bit sooner.

 

[FlaTarHeel]

I am extremely more confident in Hubert's approach today than I was at any point last season for sure but I have felt us slipping back to some of the nonsense I didn't like last season. I DO NOT like all the set plays being called, for gosh sakes let them play Hubert, take the blinders off and let them play! I highly suspect, our practices are more on executing our set plays than they are working of free lance precepts, was a MAJOR PROBLEM last season and they very rarely worked on free lance in practice last season, from the players own mouths when asked. Feels like we are slipping right back in to that. Teams know our set plays, at times it looks like they know them better than we do, we are not the greatest when it comes to execution of sets, that was where Dean was the master, everyone know his sets but he and Gut were excellent teachers and their players executed many times to near perfection, we don't have teachers like Dean and Gut now.

I think, given by what I see from Hubert, his dream team would be 5 Ingrams in the starting line up, 5 guys that can play "positionless" basketball for 40mins. The 5 out or the switch all 5 stuff may work in the NBA when you have 6'9" point guards and 7ft solid 3pt shooters but those guys are rare in college, that dog don't hunt.

We have slipped in pushing the tempo, even with Cadeau we are ending up in to much half court offense. I may complain about Ingram bounding the ball and taking on his own for the break but at least he is looking to get the tempo up, looking to get us running. That was much more the focus earlier season than it has become, need to get back to that. AS we get back to that our bench has to get more minutes to keep those legs fresh.

Defensively, I am ok with switching 1-3 and 4-5 but I am not going to have my center 40" away from the basket trying to guard the opposing teams PG, that to me is just dumb, not a fan of my PG having to battle the other teams center in the deep paint either! Hubert made a solid change after that Ky game, the deal was you only switch if you have no choice, if your man has you beat, we went on a nice roll of wins. But since that duke game we seem to be back to switching 1-3 and at times 1-4 even when not needed and since we have seen teams score more on us and taken 2 losses.

John Henson said it best last season. Hubert is trying to run an NBA system, but doesn't have enough pros to run that system

 

[notashelbyfan]

This makes several recent games where our defense has appeared to take a step back. These guys need to find their January defense again and lock down. It’ll be needed against uva because they sure as heck will bring the defense. First to 60 wins?

IMO the defense has been average at best all year teams just missed open looks during the win streak, now they are not missing and it looks different.

 

[TPFKAPFS]

Hubert Davis is doing a masterful job! I don't remember DES or Roy going on too many 10-0 runs yet we all find fault constantly. It would be weird if not for the fact that is is from The same peeps who didn't want him as coach! I'm fine with being #1 in the ACC and being in the running for a 1 seed. I'm fine with calling timeouts to end halfs or games and get your freshman PG settled and focused. I love how he tweaks sets to deal with the other team or to get peeps back in their comfort zones! Bacot proves Hubs sees what is needed and always finds the right buttons.

 

[al would]

I'm fine with calling timeouts to end halfs or games and get your freshman PG settled and focused.

Seems this year the coach is calling halftime and game ending timeouts to remove his freshman PG to be settled and focused on the bench .. and I am not a fan of that crock.