Because they are similar players. Both are ball dominant guys. Jackson has the higher upside, which was my original point. Davis coming back for year 5 hurt Jackson. Jackson is taller and is more efficient with his volume of shots. When RJ is in people just stand around as they know he’s going to chuck more often than pass.
RJ Davis coming back wasn’t a good idea
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You play both. RJ is our best player and Jackson could become the 2nd best or best. Look at last season, people didn't just stand around when RJ ran the point with Trimble at the 2 for large stretches. Plus, you don't have to rely on a traditional pg situation when you have 3 guards on the court, RJ, Jackson and Trimble, and Cadeau if not starting would still get a lot ot pt.
I get our bigs are not as skilled as we would like. At the end of the day we will never get a big to commit again if your idea of running a play for them is a pick and roll. I can only recall one time this year that we threw the ball in the post. (Lubin spun baseline and dunked it.) I still believe Washington has something to offer this team, but it won’t be catching the ball rolling to the basket.
Now to the point Ian got us back in the game and Rj damn near gave it away. Rj coming back took valuable NIL money which could’ve been spent on a big. I still hold out hope that we will get see 5 straight minutes of EC, IJ, DP, Withers, and wash.
Now to the point Ian got us back in the game and Rj damn near gave it away. Rj coming back took valuable NIL money which could’ve been spent on a big. I still hold out hope that we will get see 5 straight minutes of EC, IJ, DP, Withers, and wash.
U do realize that most of Ian’s points come from everyone else standing around watching lol. I do agree he needs more pt but not for RJ.
Lastly this is college it has nothing to do with the NBA….
Again, I don’t think we use our bigs properly… having withers stand in the corner minimizes his size and athletic ability. He’s a slasher and Washington is a post player. If you watched at all you would realize we stopped throwing the ball into the post the moment Hubert took over as coach. You have to do what’s best with your personnel. Hubert keeps trying to fit a square peg, in a round hole.
I said they are similar players. The team and ball moved much better when RJ had his hand wrapped and we went on the run. Much better.
I don’t disagree with you about nba and college but the bigs we recruit might. You said we’d not get them to play here by running the pnr but that’s literally what they want to learn. At least the ones good enough to play in the league. And yes I think hd tries to make guys something they are not but I also can look at this team and see the lack of talent for what we’ve been accustomed to seeing here. Which may be his fault too lol. Idk
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We also played much better when EC was on the bench earlier. Both of those stretches had two things in common….Ian Jackson. The first time when RJ went to the bench EC had three tos but Ian was scorching his man. Not on defense though lol. The second stretch was literally Ian and Seth finally drove with finishing in mind and also hit a three. Zero to do with either pg and in spite of EC being reckless actually. We need them all so it doesn’t matter who sits or plays with who. We won’t win squat without RJ or EC. We just need better from both.
And btw idk what withers is. Honestly, we’ve seen him slash some but it mostly ends up with a turnover or a dribble fumble off his own leg. Man id love to believe he can do it but he’s not gotten it done so far. Makes me crazy seeing him make a play that says wow, only to foul or turn it over the next four plays he’s in there. I want all of them to succeed. He’s just not done it. The reason we had a chance and got it done last night is imo because he played very little.
Hey coach don’t know if you saw my post from last night but I’d actually like to see EC RJ Seth Ian and Powell. The last several minutes was close to that with j wash instead of Powell and it did fairly well. We’d be small for sure but that’s our best five on offense and would be a tough out for any defense. IMO
I yelled at him during this play. I think he acknowledged to Drake after the play of his mistake.
Coach, lets explore what may and/or should have happened had RJ NOT come back?
First, we would be down 1 guard that is a partime PG and full time shooting guard now. We as well would have been able to keep the what, around 2mil it took to get RJ to come back. With that the dominos would begin to flip. Would we bring in another guard, very doubtful. I think the clear change initially would be Seth starts at the 2 backed up by Jack. Because Seth moves to the 2, very likely Drake starts at the 3 backed up by Tyson.
I think then, as we actually did, we go shopping for a big man, keep in mind, while fans did not know our staff knew that High was not going to be able to play for us this season, no Bacot so we absolutely had to have help in our front court. I seriously doubt we would have got Lubin, we took him honestly in near desperation. If we took the NIL that we paid RJ added to the NIL we paid to get Lubin, as well as the NIL we offered a guy like Omouryi, would that have impacted that kid enough to come to us? How about Oyensa from Ky, maybe if we did miss on Omouryi? Point being we were in a much stronger NIL position for a big man, does even the kid that ended up with Calipari (Aidoo) look at us harder when we are ready to spend more? Does a guy like Kalbrenna (sp) look at us and feel maybe with that kind of money I may enter that portal? I mean, you are talking around 5mil available to spend for a big man? Lot of folks, admit I was not one of them but many wanted Hawkins, we could have easy afforded him.
Would you feel better about our team right now if we had any of those big men? That is the question you are asking coach.
Arguments for RJ not coming back....
From his point of view:
From the team's point of view:
Arguments for RJ to come back....
From his point of view:
From Hubert's point of view:
From his point of view:
What more can he learn here? Especially at PG (where EC will start).
If he wants to keep learning at this level, learn from a different top coach.
Maybe (probably?) more NIL from another school.
Unclear if this year's team will be very good.
From the team's point of view:
Make room for Seth, Elliot and Ian to develop with plenty of PT.
Back court log jam.
Free up NIL so we get a top post player.
Arguments for RJ to come back....
From his point of view:
Good NIL (I would hope).
Comfort zone.
Records to break.
UNC is a great place and part of his life. Enjoy it while you can.
From Hubert's point of view:
Hubert probably begged him (in case Elliot, Seth or Ian weren't good enough).
Hubert probably begged him (as a player transfers would want to play alongside).
JMOWhat really made RJ not needed was something we didn't necessarily know.....Seth could score and be more complete of a player. With Seth being able to do that (with Jackson being who he is), RJ isn't needed. It just hurts Jackon's development. It also hurts recruiting as keeping a more talented (higher upside) guy on the bench behind someone older makes guys think about coming to UNC. Why come and sit when you can go elsewhere and play?
The flip side, of course, is that if you let or encourage RJ to move on . . . what if you still can't land a top-quality big, and what if Seth doesn't improve, and what if the freshmen need another year, and so on.
Imagine this team without RJ if Seth is meh and Jackson and Powell are slow to develop.
Ouch.
Begging RJ to stay - if that's what happened - was the smart move at the time.
If and a huge if those guys pan out then I see your point and agree. The major problem I have is Ian is one and done. Plays good for half a year and figures it out but with no real good experience to play with him. Helps in the long run to get more quality players if Ian does good, but what is gained, another one and done? I hate nil and the portal. Give it to me now. I want it now. No development. Glad Seth came back and has shown improvement galore.
My thing is, we have seen RJ‘s limitations for four years, starting a sub 6 foot shooting guard will never be the answer for championship winning team in today’s game. There is a reason why Duke allowed roach to transfer, Proctor gives them a higher ceiling.
Our best bet is running the offense through Jackson. I believe and stand by that. RJ today at ND had 7 assists and less than 10 shots. That’s what we need.
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We need RJ to return to form. Not to become a role player.
We barely beat a very bad team on a fluke shot at the end. I don't think that's really what we need.
We barely beat a very bad team on a fluke shot at the end. I don't think that's really what we need.
We don’t need him chucking 30 shots a game. We need him to have a have a basketball IQ.
He doesn’t chuck 30 shots and he does have one of the best iqs on the team. We do need him to hit more of his shots just like we need EC to make more of his like yesterday, especially if we want to win anything this year. Lack of bigs is killing them.
And btw we don’t beat any good teams with the way we played yesterday. You liked RJ shooting it less and that’s fine but we beat a bad nd team with a desperation shot from a sub career 25% 3point shooter.
So far this season RJ has been far from our best player, Seth has been and last 3 games Jack has been our most efficient scorer. Seth combines excellent defense with solid offensive production game after game.
I agree
I get it guys, I do, RJ shot the ball really well last season but this season he simply isn't. This season he is our largest shot taker but most inefficient player. RJ is a role player, he should be a role player, every guy on this team should be a role player, play their role. One of the major problems is guys trying to play a larger role than they should. Right now I strongly question if RJ is really deserving of his starting role considering how well Jack has been playing of late.
Yesterday for example, RJ shot 3-9 from the field, 0-3 from trey and Burton killed him? Not saying he should not play solid minutes but I do not think he has earned his starters role so far this season. Just my opinion.
I blame a lot of that on Hubert. He still doesn’t have a clear rotation. Our bigs are terrible, yes. Agreed. But, Jackson > RJ and should be the alpha.
With the exception of Seth for RJ I think we could have started what is potentially our best 5 against ND. I think I posted that a couple weeks ago somewhere. You have a true pg, a very athletic 2g that's a defensive stopper, A 3 & 4 that can both catch, create and shoot and a 5 that is capable of playing both lane or stretch. jmo
Coach, that is where I am going to have to strong disagree, I don't blame this staff for some of it, don't blame them for a lot of it, I blame them for ALL of it. I do because you must have a solid frame work for how you want to play on both ends and then you tweek based on the players you have. Other than wanting the tempo up what is our basic frame work? It seems to me it is basically let's speed up and play street ball, we will take turns driving to finish at the rim? John Calipari would be proud of our offensive attack, that is NOT a compliment! On the defensive end what is it, we will switch a lot and hope they miss a wide shot?
It is a freakin joke...
Al, forgive me cause I am on Vodoo Ranger #3 which is absolutely 1 to many! LOL
I think either Cadeau or RJ have to come off the bench and as I have said would not hurt my feelings if both did, I have shared why, please see those posts for the reasons. I am a touch more inclined for Cadeau to start his being the ONLY real PG we have now and when he is not giving away TOs and his not pouting over something he gives us some brilliant offensive play.
But, if we are going to have to play a half court game, which we always have to when RJ is at the point, I don't know that RJ gives us any more offensively as a PG than Seth could. Seth would give us much better size and does not take bad shots and doesn't commit the silly TOs. And on the defensive end, really, it isn't even a close call, is it?
You are forgiven. My 5 are EC/pg since he's the only one, Seth/2 (much more athletic and plus defender), IJ / wing/3 and Drake 4 because Seth, Jack and Drake can create and demand respect as both drivers and shooters and can draw multiple defenders which opens other opportunities and Wash at the 5. I'm not gonna dog on RJ anymore but by no metric other than past seasons and seniority is he deserving of starting or getting much more than 15mpg atm. My entire premise is based on putting your best athletes on the floor and let them break down the defenses with athleticism which would allow EC to showcase the very reason he was recruited. jmo
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Sounds great but your best athletes aren’t always your best basketball players. I’m sure you know that though. And my argument isn’t for RJ or any player to start and never will be. Your best players always play the most minutes. Now if that happens it’s up to the coach or the powers that be. Not one person on this board has been in a practice, meeting, or locker room for the heels this year(if so then being on this board has done you no good lol). Meaning, they see stuff we don’t. They hear stuff we don’t, and lastly they know stuff we claim to know, but don’t. You think the whole coaching staff hates EC, and just give him less minutes? Play RJ because he’s a fifth year guy? lol dream on. They know what he can do because they’ve seen it. Over dribble 💯, take some forced shots 💯. Other facts, he’s missed a ton of shots this year so far but he hasn’t changed a thing. Hes always done it. They aren’t falling for sure but look how he’s impacted the game by taking care of the ball, not being in foul trouble, and definitely assisting more. Two of which Elliot could still learn to do.
Play him off the bench fine. Play him 15 minutes fine. Who in the crap do you bring in when EC has three fouls and is throwing a tantrum on the floor and pulling his hair out? Our deep bench players?
You talk as if this athletic five would change our season around and we magically start out rebounding people again, or shooting from deep in the top 50 some time soon, or become a top 50 defense? You did watch our “#1 pgs” defense against the uber athletic nd team didn’t you? lol
Put them on the floor. Hd gonna change his coaching all of a sudden? Don’t hold your breath.
No, I think the entire offensive scheme, whatever it is, is not conducive to a good point guard performing .. well .. as a pg. And not having your pg be your primary ball handler is not conducive to good pg play either. Once again my overall biggest beef with this team is the way the coaches, or coach, is using the players he has in an offensive or defensive scheme that suits their abilities. They are currently dysfunctional and that's on hubcap.
