RJ Davis this Coming Season

[What Would Jesus Do?]

Everybody expects RJ to start at SG. Either immediately or as soon as Cadeau gets his college legs.

Everyone understands that, at 6'0 (maybe), D may be a challenge there. And while he never lacked for effort on D, and while he improved each year, it was never his strong suit. Compared to Caleb, he gives up a lot of height.

OTOH, he has decent handles, and that translates into excellent handles when he moves to SG.

And then there's the question of who plays point when Cadeau is on the bench. Is it RJ or Seth?

All that said, my main question about RJ is whether playing off the ball will improve or hurt his scoring.

We didn't get to see him in catch-and-shoot mode very much in his first 3 seasons. Mostly it was him with the ball - taking a step back, or a step sideways, or just lofting it.

As the primary ball handler RJ had the

2nd best 3pt percentage among starters (after Walton) as a frosh​

2nd best 3pt percentage among starters (after Manek) as a soph​

Best 3pt percentage among starters as a junior​

He didn't take the most shots - that was always Caleb. But he has always hit them at a decent clip. Mainly with the ball in his hands

He did, in fact, play off the ball a little this last season. But nobody got him the ball when he was open on the sidelines any time I was looking, so who knows if that will be a plus for him?

I have no idea whether this change will work to make RJ an even better shooter . . . or not.

What do you think?

 

[gunslingerdick]

I have to assume that Cadeau is going to make everyone better, including RJ. Right? That’s the assumption we’re all making.

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

I have to assume that Cadeau is going to make everyone better, including RJ. Right? That’s the assumption we’re all making.

Cadeau looks good at getting the ball to people. Assuming he can do that at this level, who benefits the most? I'm thinking Armando. Maybe Ingram or Withers, too.

Who will Hubert tell Cadeau to look for most? I'm thinking Armando. Maybe Ingram or Withers, too.

I worry that Cadeau will be passing to RJ and Cormac mainly when he needs an outlet, and not so much looking to see when they are in scoring position, because they will be his 3rd, 4th or 5th choices - with himself possibly 3rd or 4th.

That could be totally wrong, of course. But it's pretty clear that Hubert wanted RJ to punch the ball into Armando as the 1st, 2nd and maybe 3rd options last season. Caleb, too, to a lesser extent. Caleb would usually look for Armando before lofting one of his 497 shots last season. Everyone else was a last minute afterthought or bailout. A little hyperbole there, but not that much.

Will Hubert change? I worry that HD will still strongly prioritize getting the ball inside to Armando, yet again. And why not? Armando is a beast, and Cadeau may be the guy who can get that done. But if that leaves RJ and Cormac standing around on the perimeter watching the game along with fans, that could be a problem - for them and the team.

Of course Armando won't be on the floor all the time. Nor will Cadeau. When they're not, maybe guys like RJ and Cormac will have nice opportunities. If RJ is the backup PG, that's more touches for him. If not, then who knows?

 

[JimmyinVA]

I have to assume that Cadeau is going to make everyone better, including RJ. Right? That’s the assumption we’re all making.

any true point guard helps his teammates elevate their game, almost by definition.

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

any true point guard helps his teammates elevate their game, almost by definition.

That may be true in general, but Kendall definitely helped Zeller and Henson more than Bullock and Barnes.

 

[JimmyinVA]

That may be true in general, but Kendall definitely helped Zeller and Henson more than Bullock and Barnes.

kendall helped all his teammates fulfill their potential. while we're on the topic, it's not just point guards. how about the brilliant passing of larry bird, and remember wilt chamberlain with the sixers, hitting greer and cunningham on the perimeter to win the nba title? (i think wilt lead the league in assists that year). and i have to mention carolina players scoring off those great picks by j.r. reid!

 

[DSouthr]

Cadeau is our starting PG day 1 and RJ starts at the 2. But consider what Cadeau is, what he does, he is a pass first PG, when he drives most of the time he is looking to draw defenders to himself and set up the pass. How does the effect RJ, well when Cadeau drives who helps out on Cadeau, there will be times that RJ's man pulls off and help stop Cadeau, leaves RJ wide open. Cadeau is really basketball smart, he recognizes who is coming to double him, he plays with his head up so he can see, seems to have excellent peripheral vision to be able to both see, feel, and just know where the help defenders are coming from and when they help off RJ, RJ has a wide open clean look jumper and I have seen enough to know RJ hits a solid % of those. The stage is really well set for RJ to have a spectacular season and not have to do as much as he did last season.

My greatest concern about RJ for this coming season is that I don't want him to try to do to much, let Cadeau run this thing and you feast on great scoring ops, I think it is literally that simple.

 

[Heels5150]

If guys move without the ball then the whole team should flourish with Cadeau. Players should have their heads on a swivel. Lol, That really has been lost the last few years minus Brady Manek. We just didn’t have that type of PG on our roster. An exceptional true PG. Guys will also run more because they know that they will receive the ball. With Cadeau drawing people to him RJ will really benefit by his play. If Hubert uses these players correctly then they should be night and day different then last years team. The roster that we currently have has a lot of very High IQ, unselfish and talented players on it. Also, we need to start setting and dictating the games tempo. We were reacting instead of attacking them. Imo Wojcik is going to surprise a lot of people in a back up role. Motion, secondary break and aggressive defense should be a great recipe for this team to maximize their potential going into this season. ( actually every season) It should be interesting to see how different our offensive efficiency will be after this year compared to last years. From what I’ve heard this summer the team has been working very hard and are genuinely having a lot of fun together. GDTBATH

 

[dtodd4475]

With Caleb's and RJ's sketchy overall metrics one thing they both rated very well on in their sophmore season was catch and shoot scenarios.

RJ is a good shooter in my opinion, with his size he needs to create more space on his step backs and it makes a difficult shot that much more difficult. I'm thinking more in rhythm catch and shoot opportunities with a distributing point will be right up his alley.

The defense will be a concern, they went at him physically already. Cadeau may take on some of the 2 guards while RJ checks the point at times?

 

[Psychward4]

I'm assuming Bacot is working on passing out of the double-team, which he should because he'll see a lot of those this season. So let's don't assume that once the ball goes in to Mando it won't ever find anyone else.

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

I'm assuming Bacot is working on passing out of the double-team

That would be good.

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

With Caleb's and RJ's sketchy overall metrics one thing they both rated very well on in their sophmore season was catch and shoot scenarios.

Is there a site that shows those stats? Or could you share the stats directly?

I could be way off, but my sense is that RJ was rarely in true catch-and-shoot situations. I would expect him to be deadly in those, but it doesn't always work out that way.

Which is to say that I would love to see Cadeau get the ball to RJ when he's open and set. But I worry that RJ may not get a lot of touches if the first 3 rules of Hubert's offense are get the ball to Armando, get the ball to Armando, and get the ball to Armando.

 

[JimmyinVA]

If guys move without the ball then the whole team should flourish with Cadeau....

do guys get good passes because they move without the ball, or do guys move without the ball because they know they'll get good passes? the answer, of course, is both. what we had with last year's catastrophe was selfishness -- why pass to a guy who's standing flat footed? and why move without the ball when you're not getting a pass anyway in a selfish shoot-first offense?

 

[dtodd4475]

Is there a site that shows those stats? Or could you share the stats directly?

I could be way off, but my sense is that RJ was rarely in true catch-and-shoot situations. I would expect him to be deadly in those, but it doesn't always work out that way.

Which is to say that I would love to see Cadeau get the ball to RJ when he's open and set. But I worry that RJ may not get a lot of touches if the first 3 rules of Hubert's offense are get the ball to Armando, get the ball to Armando, and get the ball to Armando.

I will try to look it up. The article was from their sophomore campaign before the NCAA's. Spoke about Caleb & RJ's strength in catch and shoot, top 15 or so % in the nation.

I also agree that neither seemed to get many catch and shoot this past season, mostly step backs. But from the naked eye they didn't seem to get or excel in the area last year. Maybe that % is a of less opportunities? I do hope with RJ off the ball more those type looks increase, and I'm confident in him knocking down a good % on those type.

 

[tarwhiz]

Cadeau looks good at getting the ball to people. Assuming he can do that at this level, who benefits the most? I'm thinking Armando. Maybe Ingram or Withers, too.

Who will Hubert tell Cadeau to look for most? I'm thinking Armando. Maybe Ingram or Withers, too.

I worry that Cadeau will be passing to RJ and Cormac mainly when he needs an outlet, and not so much looking to see when they are in scoring position, because they will be his 3rd, 4th or 5th choices - with himself possibly 3rd or 4th.

That could be totally wrong, of course. But it's pretty clear that Hubert wanted RJ to punch the ball into Armando as the 1st, 2nd and maybe 3rd options last season. Caleb, too, to a lesser extent. Caleb would usually look for Armando before lofting one of his 497 shots last season. Everyone else was a last minute afterthought or bailout. A little hyperbole there, but not that much.

Will Hubert change? I worry that HD will still strongly prioritize getting the ball inside to Armando, yet again. And why not? Armando is a beast, and Cadeau may be the guy who can get that done. But if that leaves RJ and Cormac standing around on the perimeter watching the game along with fans, that could be a problem - for them and the team.

Of course Armando won't be on the floor all the time. Nor will Cadeau. When they're not, maybe guys like RJ and Cormac will have nice opportunities. If RJ is the backup PG, that's more touches for him. If not, then who knows?

I will say this, a great pg does not limit himself to 1st option, 2nd option ect.....He passes instinctively and immediately upon seeing the floor in front of him.
Cadeau will, as effectively as any pg we have had will be able to differentiate between a post pass to Mando, a backdoor cut pass to Withers and a kickout to Ryan, Ingram and R.J. and we will be able to make the correct pass more often than not.
I don't know that R.J. will get more shots than he had last season, but I am comfortable those will be cleaner looks this season. I think R.J shots North of 40% from 3 and avera20 plus per game this season.

 

[DSouthr]

In a pod cast some what recently, AJ discussed RJ's shooting both with as well as without his fingers being taped together, if I recall correctly RJ was shooting right around 50% when his fingers were not taped together. Now I think most if not all here would agree or expect RJ to get cleaner looks this coming season than he got last season, no one helped create open looks for RJ last season. This coming season not only will RJ not have to worry about creating for everyone else such that he can be focused on just creating for himself but he has Cadeau that will be actively looking to create ops for him as well. That just defines out to me as RJ getting a LOT of cleaner looks than he has had since coming to UNC.

Now if RJ can hit 50% on harder looks when his digits are not taped together then what can he do when the looks are not so hard? Not saying we should expect RJ to hit 50% of his treys and take a lot of them but I am suggesting maybe high 30s or low 40s should not be a over estimation of what we may expect.

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

I think R.J shots North of 40% from 3 and avera20 plus per game this season.

Your words to God's ear.

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

In a pod cast some what recently, AJ discussed RJ's shooting both with as well as without his fingers being taped together, if I recall correctly RJ was shooting right around 50% when his fingers were not taped together.

I remember that video.

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

no one helped create open looks for RJ last season.

Excellent point.

I just hope you're right that Cadeau will be doing that for RJ this season. My worry is that he won't, and that RJ will become an afterthought. Which would be bad for the team and for RJ.

As I have said a few times since our roster settled down, I can't wait.

 

[DSouthr]

WW, what I would offer is that there will be a learning curve, I think more for RJ than Cadeau actually. RJ is going to have to learn to move without the ball and he is going to have to learn to move in coordination to the swing of the ball or in to a passing lane for Cadeau to find him. They are going to have to develop some 2 man game, my defender leaves me to help on you I will be here as an option within your passing lane back, I call out if a defender gets in to this passing lane that you may not see, communication is key.

Cadeau and I don't think you will find an expert that will disagree with me on this, will find the open guy, he isn't as much looking for 1 specific guy he is looking for the OPEN guy that is in a position that guy can finish from. Meaning, he isn't going to force something to Bacot if it isn't there, he is going to slip it to Withers on the other side if withers man is helping elsewhere. That is just what this kid does, it is his nature, it is his natural God given ability to see his team mates and to realize where pressure is coming from. He takes it a step further in that he can see a developing opportunity to pass it to a team mate BEFORE it actually opens up, like a football QB passing a receiver open or throwing to a spot where his receiver will be open even if he isn't yet.

This kid is a LOT stronger than he looks, watch for example how hard his dribble is with his head always up the ball rarely gets to his knees on his dribble. Yet he has total control over it and he consistently keeps his solid base and balance even when he changes direction. Telling you right now, he is not going to be able to be guarded 1 on 1, his combination of great balance, strength, and quickness just is not going to be guarded 1 on 1 and God forbid when he gets a screen that gives him yet another half step. Teams will have no choice but to switch on him when he gets a screen, no one is going to be able to go under and catch back up to him, just to quick. I really want to see Cadeau running a pick & roll with either Bacot or Withers, the crowd will explode!

 

[ChiShankCity]

RJ:
Before December 1 last year:
15.1 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 3.3 apg
44.3 2PT%, 28.9 3PT%, 93% FT%

RJ Davis 2022-23 Game Log | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com

2022-23 Game Log for RJ Davis

www.sports-reference.com

After December 1 last year:
16.4 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 3.2 apg
51.5 2PT%, 38.2% 3PT%, 86.2 FT%

RJ Davis 2022-23 Game Log | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com

2022-23 Game Log for RJ Davis

www.sports-reference.com

I personally expect his per game numbers to be pretty similar. We’ll see but he might play a couple of minutes less per game but his per 40 numbers maybe higher.

If Cadeau is really good and if we did upgrade at the 3, 4, and the bench, then I think he’ll be as efficient as he was after December 1 last year.

I don’t think he’s 50/40/90 good. He shoots too many 3’s to reach that. But 45/38/88 is pretty good.