Quick stuff (WF game - ACCT)...

[gary-7]

...and folks, that was one high-character win.

I'l pull no punches with that, getting past Groover's sorry crew was a damn chore. As I warned, Wake played as if their lives depended on it, and credit to their effort, but some of that was downright dirty, and relatively little of that junk was called. It took Hubert raising holy hell to even get them to look at their guy's Grayson Allen imitation. Good grief.

- Ok... In contrast we came out flat, and just like a movie we've seen before, we FINALLY went 44, which sped them up and got our blood finally flowing, and the effort picked up. Lord kows we needed it, as we were laying bricks and not FINISHING! And I'll say straight-up, it drove me crazy that Hubert didn't scramble more after that --- Wake HATES being sped up --- and we were making ourselves sitting ducks for their drives.

- speaking of that, Sallis was killing us, as our Help was late and half-assed. EC was the only guy who stayed in front of him on his own, but those possessions were necessarily limited. and speaking of Help, you know Hildreath is gonna put his head down and bull his way in. Good news was we finally got some strong stops in crunch time. Lubin, who had been late all game, stepped up with a huge block, and Lord knows he took an uncalled pounding on the offensive end, so good on him for coming up with two big put-backs! Considering the "physicality", he and Wash comported themselves well.

- RJ kept us in it early with some timely 3s, despite being blitzed early and often.

- Speaking of inside stuff, we were eschewing the "out" from inside-out, so passing up kick-out ops when the lane was clogged. So yeah, put all that together and we were very fortunate to keep the game manageable.

- We could've very easily folded when Covington made that awful chickensh** "double foul" call on EC (who didn't do a damned thing wrong), because sure enough, our offense then ground to a several-minute halt. Somehow we gritted it out on the other end, and following the under-4 kudos to Hubert for using offense/defense substitutions to keep Eliot in the game with 4, and buddy, it paid off bigtime. The offense then resucitated and we took it home.

- Finally, more kudos to the staff down the stretch --- some sweet called actions, especially using that deke motion to Eliot, then bringing RJ backside up from the downscreen action for a huge 3, and yeah, that oop to Lubin was ice-water, baby. And sure, Withers wasn;t gonna repeat Wednesday, but he sure as hell hit a big-time 3 when we needed it, and as mentioned, Lubin cleaned up his last miss off another nice called action.

Anyway, I'm off to defend a trivia title and catch some more hoops, so I'll leave it at that. I also need to clean my ears out after listening to Cory's mindless yammering, and he can once again GFH. So... let's keep it going...

 

[TarHeelMark]

I hate to go to the refs sucked, but good gawd those refs sucked. They let that game get out of hand. Reid was mugging everyone. Hell, he even fouled one of his one players on a rebound when none of our guys were available. Doh!
And that double foul was BS, when Hilbreath had his elbows up into EC's throat. It should've been a flagrant on that dude.

Nonetheless, the Heels closed on an 11-2 run. Something they weren't doing for most of the season. Not sure if we can flush the dookies tomorrow, but they've certainly played well enough the last 8 games to be one of the 37 at large teams.

Survive and advance!

 

[gkss]

...and folks, that was one high-character win.

I'l pull no punches with that, getting past Groover's sorry crew was a damn chore. As I warned, Wake played as if their lives depended on it, and credit to their effort, but some of that was downright dirty, and relatively little of that junk was called. It took Hubert raising holy hell to even get them to look at their guy's Grayson Allen imitation. Good grief.

- Ok... In contrast we came out flat, and just like a movie we've seen before, we FINALLY went 44, which sped them up and got our blood finally flowing, and the effort picked up. Lord kows we needed it, as we were laying bricks and not FINISHING! And I'll say straight-up, it drove me crazy that Hubert didn't scramble more after that --- Wake HATES being sped up --- and we were making ourselves sitting ducks for their drives.

- speaking of that, Sallis was killing us, as our Help was late and half-assed. EC was the only guy who stayed in front of him on his own, but those possessions were necessarily limited. and speaking of Help, you kow Hildreath is gonna put his head down and bull hi was in. Good news was we finally got some strong stops in crunch time. Lubin, who had been late all game, stepped up with a huge block, and Lord knows he took an uncalled pounding on the offensive end, so good on him for coming up with two big put-backs! Considering the "physicality", he and Wash comported themselves well.

- RJ kept us in it early with some timely 3s, despite being blitzed early an often.

- Speaking of inside stuff, we were eschewing the "out" from inside-out, so passing up kick-out ops when the lane was clogged. So yeah, put all that together and we were very fortunate to keep the game manageable.

- We could've very easily folded when Covington made that awful chickensh** "double foul" call on EC (who didn't do a damned thing wrong), because sure enough, our offense then ground to a several-minute halt. Somehow we gritted it out on the other end, and following the under-4 kudos to Hubert for using offense/defense substitutions to keep Eliot in the game with 4, and buddy, it paid off bigtime. The offense then resucitated and we took it home.

- Finally, more kudos to the staff down the stretch --- some sweet called actions, especially using that deke motion to Eliot, then bringing RJ backside up from the downscreen action for a huge 3, and yeah, that oop to Lubin was ice-water, baby. And sure, Withers wasn;t gonna repeat Wednesday, but he sure as hell hit a big-time 3 when we needed it, and as mentioned, Lubin cleaned up his last miss off another nice called action.

Anyway, I'm off to defend a trivia title and catch some more hoops, so I'll leave it at that. I also need to clean my ears out after listening to Cory's mindless yammering, and he can once again GFH. So... let's keep it going...

Thanks gary-7. I’ll add that we could use more production from Powell and Jackson tomorrow night. I was proud of how the kids finished the game. We’re in! Let’s play free tomorrow night and finish Duke off this time!

 

[Burnout189]

I hate to go to the refs sucked, but good gawd those refs sucked. They let that game get out of hand. Reid was mugging everyone. Hell, he even fouled one of his one players on a rebound when none of our guys were available. Doh!
And that double foul was BS, when Hilbreath had his elbows up into EC's throat. It should've been a flagrant on that dude.

Nonetheless, the Heels closed on an 11-2 run. Something they weren't doing for most of the season. Not sure if we can flush the dookies tomorrow, but they've certainly played well enough the last 8 games to be one of the 37 at large teams.

Survive and advance!

In this case blaming the refs is warranted. They were Baylor level bad when we played them in the tournament.

 

[dtodd4475]

I hustled out of work to the local watering hole to catch the last two minutes. HUGE WIN !!!

Boxscore says THANK YOU RJ !!!! We are a challenged make your shot team, seems like RJ once again stepped up when seats on the struggle bus was strapped in.

Wake 2 -22 from 3. UNC respectable 8-22 with RJ's 5-6.

I did catch Drake stealing the in bound pass, his length is why he is so coveted for the next level as a work in progress offensively. So much potential !!!

Play competitively tomorrow and avoiding Dayton is possible. Get after it fellas !!!!!

 

[dtodd4475]

Thanks gary-7. I’ll add that we could use more production from Powell and Jackson tomorrow night. I was proud of how the kids finished the game. We’re in! Let’s play free tomorrow night and finish Duke off this time!

Cap Jack is a slight concern. He seems out of sync. They will need him.

 

[Kool1234567]

...and folks, that was one high-character win.

I'l pull no punches with that, getting past Groover's sorry crew was a damn chore. As I warned, Wake played as if their lives depended on it, and credit to their effort, but some of that was downright dirty, and relatively little of that junk was called. It took Hubert raising holy hell to even get them to look at their guy's Grayson Allen imitation. Good grief.

- Ok... In contrast we came out flat, and just like a movie we've seen before, we FINALLY went 44, which sped them up and got our blood finally flowing, and the effort picked up. Lord kows we needed it, as we were laying bricks and not FINISHING! And I'll say straight-up, it drove me crazy that Hubert didn't scramble more after that --- Wake HATES being sped up --- and we were making ourselves sitting ducks for their drives.

- speaking of that, Sallis was killing us, as our Help was late and half-assed. EC was the only guy who stayed in front of him on his own, but those possessions were necessarily limited. and speaking of Help, you know Hildreath is gonna put his head down and bull his way in. Good news was we finally got some strong stops in crunch time. Lubin, who had been late all game, stepped up with a huge block, and Lord knows he took an uncalled pounding on the offensive end, so good on him for coming up with two big put-backs! Considering the "physicality", he and Wash comported themselves well.

- RJ kept us in it early with some timely 3s, despite being blitzed early and often.

- Speaking of inside stuff, we were eschewing the "out" from inside-out, so passing up kick-out ops when the lane was clogged. So yeah, put all that together and we were very fortunate to keep the game manageable.

- We could've very easily folded when Covington made that awful chickensh** "double foul" call on EC (who didn't do a damned thing wrong), because sure enough, our offense then ground to a several-minute halt. Somehow we gritted it out on the other end, and following the under-4 kudos to Hubert for using offense/defense substitutions to keep Eliot in the game with 4, and buddy, it paid off bigtime. The offense then resucitated and we took it home.

- Finally, more kudos to the staff down the stretch --- some sweet called actions, especially using that deke motion to Eliot, then bringing RJ backside up from the downscreen action for a huge 3, and yeah, that oop to Lubin was ice-water, baby. And sure, Withers wasn;t gonna repeat Wednesday, but he sure as hell hit a big-time 3 when we needed it, and as mentioned, Lubin cleaned up his last miss off another nice called action.

Anyway, I'm off to defend a trivia title and catch some more hoops, so I'll leave it at that. I also need to clean my ears out after listening to Cory's mindless yammering, and he can once again GFH. So... let's keep it going...

2 down 2 to go…On to dook….

 

[tcb22]

If we sign 10% of the players we offer we could have a top 10 class. I’m surprised to see so many offers go out in such a short period, and we’re not close to being done.

With the scholarship limit going to 105 we have more room to swing and miss, and our whiff rate will certainly drop under BB. Really glad we’re not going to live and die with the portal long term, or so it seems.

Cap Jack is a slight concern. He seems out of sync. They will need him.

I think he and Trimble are somewhat off their games. Trimble seems to be forcing his drives and hesitating on open shots. Jackson is just barely missing very difficult shots. We need them both to step up and they are due for the duke rematch.

 

[NathanFielder]

Cap Jack is a slight concern. He seems out of sync. They will need him.

Definitely is playing as erratically as he was to start the season. And he’s kind of a one dimensional player. If he isn’t scoring, he doesn’t do a whole lot else.

Both Wake and UNC run so much static half court offense. UNC ran a couple of beauties late when they needed it most.

But doesn’t matter. This time of year, it’s more about executing what you do well. And hunting for matchups.

Huge opportunity against Duke probably without one of the best players in the country. Hopefully they rise to the opportunity.

 

[Goheels83]

Lubin deserves a lot of credit the way he’s played the last 10 games or so!

 

[39 Feet Above Sea Level]

Excellent comments up and down the line. We stepped up just in time and thank
goodness. The officiating was frighteningly horrible, as if no crew of stripes could be
this f\/cking bad; Cory (3-7 vs Carolina from his 92-95
UVA career, so you know why he’s bitter) couldn’t let us know quite often enough that RJ’s
career and our season were hanging in the balance every time the bricklaying (9% from 3 point land)
Deacs tightened the screws on our offense, and we suffered some Dry Gulch droughts that were
maddening.

Nevertheless, here we are. Good enough for the NCAAT? Good enough for the third time is the charm? 🤔
BTW, if Cooper is in a boot, what is the over/under of camera shots of the bench-riding Anointed One?
And/or his potty-mouthed mama?

 

[TarHeelMark]

BTW, if Cooper is in a boot, what is the over/under of camera shots of the bench-riding Anointed One?

Haha. Maybe we get to see him mining for nuggets like lyin' zion a few years ago.

 

[gary-7]

Excellent comments up and down the line. We stepped up just in time and thank
goodness. The officiating was frighteningly horrible, as if no crew of stripes could be
this f\/cking bad; Cory (3-7 vs Carolina from his 92-95
UVA career, so you know why he’s bitter) couldn’t let us know quite often enough that RJ’s
career and our season were hanging in the balance every time the bricklaying (9% from 3 point land)
Deacs tightened the screws on our offense, and we suffered some Dry Gulch droughts that were
maddening.

Nevertheless, here we are. Good enough for the NCAAT? Good enough for the third time is the charm? 🤔
BTW, if Cooper is in a boot, what is the over/under of camera shots of the bench-riding Annointed One?
And/or his potty-mouthed mama?

OMG, ESPN couldn't resist even during our game. But hey... they got 1 shot of RJ's mom, so I guess we should be satisfied, huh?

 

[TarHeelMark]

I muted tv as soon as Corey came on. Even though Tar Heel radio network was 2 or 3 seconds ahead of the TV broadcast, I'm better with that than listening to that dipshit.

 

[gary-7]

In this case blaming the refs is warranted. They were Baylor level bad when we played them in the tournament.

Yep. Hell, even Adam Lucas raked them over the coals:
"Hubert Davis (who got the 100th win of his UNC career) had to point out a flagrant one foul on Juke Harris, which the officials then detected after reviewing the monitor. A few seconds later, after Lubin was assaulted going to the rim with no call, Eric Lewis decided to call a technical foul on the Carolina bench. This entire two minutes was an abysmal advertisement for ACC basketball, a league that used to be the best in the country. It will be fascinating to see if any of the officials from this quarterfinal advance to later ACC Tournament games."

 

[Indy_Heel]

I think he and Trimble are somewhat off their games. Trimble seems to be forcing his drives and hesitating on open shots. Jackson is just barely missing very difficult shots. We need them both to step up and they are due for the duke rematch.

Trimble forces too many drives, he has all season. This year UNC could have a fast break 3 on 1 and if he has the ball he’s not giving it up. So frustrating. Give it up to get it back for an easier shot .

 

[Indy_Heel]

Lubin deserves a lot of credit the way he’s played the last 10 games or so!

I swear over that span he’s almost average 2 put back dunks per game and all during a critical stretches it seems

 

[strummingram]

I muted tv as soon as Corey came on. Even though Tar Heel radio network was 2 or 3 seconds ahead of the TV broadcast, I'm better with that than listening to that dipshit.

That's how I "watch" all of them. I listen to Jones and Zeller and watch it happen after they call it. Today, I couldn't take the video because of the refs. I went for a walk and only listened to the last 6-7 minutes. It felt like being in 7th grade again!

 

[KeeLo]

That's how I "watch" all of them. I listen to Jones and Zeller and watch it happen after they call it. Today, I couldn't take the video because of the refs. I went for a walk and only listened to the last 6-7 minutes. It felt like being in 7th grade again!

Zeller and Hansbrough are pretty good with their color commentary, imo. Maybe one day they'll approach Montross level, but I'm sure they'll be content merely chasing that plateau.

 

[TarHeelMark]

Zeller and Hansbrough are pretty good with their color commentary, imo. Maybe one day they'll approach Montross level, but I'm sure they'll be content merely chasing that plateau.

Eric was really good. Dang I miss that dude.

 

[DSouthr]

I don't know about anyone else but the intensity level I felt in this game was thru the roof! Bad start from taking bad shots, our guys seemed really tight for this one. The refs seemed to not just allow but to incite a overtly physical game. Now typically, I prefer a more physical game to the it's a foul if you breath on them, as long as it is consistent and equal on both sides, it darn sure was not consistent. There really should be a review board for refs that look at every game and deal with refs for allowing such things to occur, maybe lease the refs from yesterday to the WWE?

I have been critical of a lot of things I have seen from this team this season but the one criticism I have not used it that they lack heart. This team battles, it may be over matched at times but they battle with what they have to battle with, yesterday was a battle to the final buzzer.

One thing that bugs me about comments I read on here, not just this game, talking all season, is that fans seem to set in with a single opinion, narrative, and rather than see the individual game for what it was the goal at times seems more like let me find ways to build up my preset narrative. Me, I try to share without a narrative, yeah, have my couple favorite guys in Seth and Jalen but honestly, if they play poorly I do try to say that. I have seen the narrative all season, FIRE HUBERT. I don't know how any UNC fan could have watched that game yesterday and still feel, we need to fire the coach? I can for sure understand it after some of our games this season but yesterday I was very pleased at the job our coach did.

On to the dukies...again...

 

[2DDIMOND]

Trimble forces too many drives, he has all season. This year UNC could have a fast break 3 on 1 and if he has the ball he’s not giving it up. So frustrating. Give it up to get it back for an easier shot .

There was one in particular late in the game when it was a one possession game where he could’ve dished to Drake (who filled the lane on Trimble’s right) and it probably would have been a finish with an and 1.

 

[RP12]

I don't know about anyone else but the intensity level I felt in this game was thru the roof! Bad start from taking bad shots, our guys seemed really tight for this one. The refs seemed to not just allow but to incite a overtly physical game. Now typically, I prefer a more physical game to the it's a foul if you breath on them, as long as it is consistent and equal on both sides, it darn sure was not consistent. There really should be a review board for refs that look at every game and deal with refs for allowing such things to occur, maybe lease the refs from yesterday to the WWE?

I have been critical of a lot of things I have seen from this team this season but the one criticism I have not used it that they lack heart. This team battles, it may be over matched at times but they battle with what they have to battle with, yesterday was a battle to the final buzzer.

One thing that bugs me about comments I read on here, not just this game, talking all season, is that fans seem to set in with a single opinion, narrative, and rather than see the individual game for what it was the goal at times seems more like let me find ways to build up my preset narrative. Me, I try to share without a narrative, yeah, have my couple favorite guys in Seth and Jalen but honestly, if they play poorly I do try to say that. I have seen the narrative all season, FIRE HUBERT. I don't know how any UNC fan could have watched that game yesterday and still feel, we need to fire the coach? I can for sure understand it after some of our games this season but yesterday I was very pleased at the job our coach did.

On to the dukies...again...

D not to sideline the thread but on the HD front do you think he’s a top 20 coach in the country? I don’t think he’s near that or even top 5 in an awful ACC. I’d offer he has far more minus games in terms of coaching than plus ones, this season or all 4 combined. I’m glad they won and hope they keep winning but I think the body of work is plenty to judge already, and I believe the longer he’s at the helm the longer the program will perform below its potential.

 

[DSouthr]

D not to sideline the thread but on the HD front do you think he’s a top 20 coach in the country? I don’t think he’s near that or even top 5 in an awful ACC. I’d offer he has far more minus games in terms of coaching than plus ones, this season or all 4 combined. I’m glad they won and hope they keep winning but I think the body of work is plenty to judge already, and I believe the longer he’s at the helm the longer the program will perform below its potential.

I don't know is my honest answer. Can he become a top coach, I think maybe yes in time.

I think I have been pretty fair on this topic, when I didn't like what I have seen from Hubert as a coach I have spoken to it, at times very critical, maybe even to the point of saying more critical than sharing those things that I strongly agree with. There are some things that I strongly do not agree with that Hubert seems to very strongly believe, example the need he seems to have for a stretch 4.

What I do know is that Hubert should not have been hired as our coach, I just do not agree that a first time head coach should be put in a pressure cooker job like ours, not after watching what it did to Matt. Specific to Hubert, he blew the portal and in doing so this team has been in a hole at the tip in nearly every game it has played this season due to the severe lack of size. I watched last season, when Hubert did have talented long big men (maybe better said big man, singular, Bacot) to work with and went in to the NCAAT as the $1 over all seed as well as the hottest team going in. So wen he has guys that can match up in size and bench players he trusts, his teams are top 20, right now this team may not be ranked top 20 but since that Clemson game has played like a top 20 team, does he get credit for that?

Now RP, please follow me on this, if the state of UNC basketball right now as the same as it was in this pre-season, I would be about 75% on the side of we need a new coach, frankly I was edging to that very position up to the day it was announced UNC was hiring a GM for basketball, at that point my thoughts began to change. Because I envision the GM and front office staff he brings works directly in to the very things Hubert needs help with, specifically Hubert being able to have a solid look at all the players in the portal that may fill our needs, not just the limited few he knows from coaching against or past recruiting. The GM should be able to hand Hubert a short list of guys that are very get able for us, so that we have a real strong shot with those guys. I think the GM as well wil lead to some real help on fitting players with concepts of playing styles that I believe would modify some things before we had to go thru them as we did this season. I as well believe that maybe it is a better plan to get the GM and his staff in place with Hubert, let's get the kinks worked out with that with Hubert in place. Maybe that works out in a way that is more like season before the one just finished. IN other words back to being regular season ACC champs, high NCAAT seeding, big time talent leaving and big time talent coming in to replace them. Then if Hubert does not continue to develop as a coach it will be time to replace him but that new coach will have a much more attractive lure with a front office in place and talent.

So is Hubert a top 20 coach in the country, I don't know but I do think there is a chance he can be and I am willing to see when he has a full bag of tools helping him. Yesterday he sure looked like a darn good coach, I want to see if he can grow from that.