So why do I have HOPE for Hubert and this team?

[DSouthr]

I personally have been strongly critical of Hubert for what I considered a poor job last season, exactly what I feel, he poorly coached last season but read the title to this. After that awful excuse of a season, why would I be hopeful, even positively excited for the coming season? I want to try to explain...

Hubert basically inherited that first team, while he was an assistant coach, that was Roy's players, even the freshmen were Roy's decision to bring in. Garcia and Manek were Hubert's guys, Garcia didn't work out but Manek did. The season ending as it did created a false sense of security, returning 4 starters from a natty game team it isn't shocking that Hubert elected to try to ride the same hand. The problem was he had misfits for the offensive approach he really wants to play with. An approach that demands strong outside shooting simply is not going to work with Nance, Leaky, and Bacot all starting. Double down on that thought when you consider we really did not have knock down shooters on the bench. Puff could have been that other vital shooter we needed but Puff was not Manek, Manek had that hair trigger, was ready to shoot the instant the ball touched his hands, Puff needed more room to get his shot off but was not especially good at creating the space he needed. And really, to play the way I think Hubert wants, it just demands you have a natural PG to set it all up and we didn't, not in the starting unit anyway.

What Hubert, at least I think, is wanting to have as his offensive approach not only can work but it can actually work at a very high level with a couple of tweeks. Hubert wants solid spacing that makes it hard to double any of our guys, he wants guys taking clean open looks, and he as well wants it dumped inside to Bacot. Those open looks have to be drained and outside of RJ that did not happen consistently.

So Hubert has now brought in several guys that upgrade the ability to knock down open shots and they will get court time to do just that. It is all about structure and flow, he has got to get away from making this team robotic (and you get that from the shear number of set plays that were called, classic rookie mistake by a head coach honestly), got to stop the micro managing, got to let them play. POINT 1, spend the majority of practice working on free lance (motion offense) and little time on set plays.

Point #2 is bring back the primary and secondary breaking action, get back to Roy high octane high tempo running game. UNC should not be slow walking the ball up court unless we are up by 40 and there is a minute left in the game. Immediately after having to pull off the breaks if they are not there go directly in to the attacking motion offense, no wasted time from the attempted fast break attack to attacking from the motion offense, NO EAST WEST pounding the ball thru the floor boards, in fact strongly limit putting the ball on the floor, move the defense with passing before they have time to set. Saying for clarity, primary break leads directly in to the secondary break action if the primary is not there and the secondary leads directly in to the motion offense attack if the secondary is not there, it is bang bang bang. That is when the defense is not able to settle in, we get them scrambling and that creates wide open looks for shooters that can knock them down. Last couple seasons, way to many called off breaks, slow walking the ball up court, and wasting way to much time putting the ball on the floor to achieve nothing but a bad shot at the end. Be it Caleb taking a 40' fall away or Nance & Leaky proving yet again why they were left open, they were just the wrong type of skill sets to work in what Hubert looked to want to do.

But now we have the kind of shooters you need, guys that can knock down clean looks when their defender leaves them and we are led by an attacking PG that does not waste time going in to attack mode. We may not have the kind of stretch 4 Hubert really wants, he wants a great outside shooting 4 (you know, those NBA lotto stretch 4 guys) he has the next best thing in 4s that can consistent hit the mid range jumpers but will occasionally step to the trey and hit them at a better clip than we saw from Leaky or Nance. This bang bang bang always in attack mode approach can not only work it can be exciting and even more it is a style that can be imprinted on future UNC teams as well as lay out the blue print for the type of recruits or portal guys we bring in. Playing this way does not just allow you to play a deep bench, it forces you to, you can't play this way with a "Iron 5 or 6" for 40minutes. By getting more scoring from your 4s and getting something akin to what we got from Cam or Justin from the 3, you can be a dynamic scoring team that takes what Roy wanted to do to that next level. Roy's approach was good but he didn't get a ton of scoring out of the 4 spot consistently and I am not sure Roy's teams went as quickly from the breaks not being there to attacking directly from free lance motion. I as well think we needed to go deeper in to our bench, especially late season under Roy if for no other reason than to keep fresh legs on the floor to battle tired opponents.

See, I consider the running game to be directly linked to playing a deep bench rather than being separate issues. I consider "slow starts" to be linked as well because players know they don't have to try to save their legs for a 40min game, jump shooting directly linked because shots fall short on tired legs. Who gets that critical rebound late in the game, the fresher legged guy tends to have that advantage. How I want to see us play an attacking defense is as well linked to fresher legs just as being able to bring in guys (recruits or portalers) at playing positions that we already have a guy targeted to start at.

 

[Archer2]

I like the cut of your jib! I’d love to see your hopes come to fruition.

 

[NorCalTarheel]

I personally have been strongly critical of Hubert for what I considered a poor job last season, exactly what I feel, he poorly coached last season but read the title to this. After that awful excuse of a season, why would I be hopeful, even positively excited for the coming season? I want to try to explain...

Hubert basically inherited that first team, while he was an assistant coach, that was Roy's players, even the freshmen were Roy's decision to bring in. Garcia and Manek were Hubert's guys, Garcia didn't work out but Manek did. The season ending as it did created a false sense of security, returning 4 starters from a natty game team it isn't shocking that Hubert elected to try to ride the same hand. The problem was he had misfits for the offensive approach he really wants to play with. An approach that demands strong outside shooting simply is not going to work with Nance, Leaky, and Bacot all starting. Double down on that thought when you consider we really did not have knock down shooters on the bench. Puff could have been that other vital shooter we needed but Puff was not Manek, Manek had that hair trigger, was ready to shoot the instant the ball touched his hands, Puff needed more room to get his shot off but was not especially good at creating the space he needed. And really, to play the way I think Hubert wants, it just demands you have a natural PG to set it all up and we didn't, not in the starting unit anyway.

What Hubert, at least I think, is wanting to have as his offensive approach not only can work but it can actually work at a very high level with a couple of tweeks. Hubert wants solid spacing that makes it hard to double any of our guys, he wants guys taking clean open looks, and he as well wants it dumped inside to Bacot. Those open looks have to be drained and outside of RJ that did not happen consistently.

So Hubert has now brought in several guys that upgrade the ability to knock down open shots and they will get court time to do just that. It is all about structure and flow, he has got to get away from making this team robotic (and you get that from the shear number of set plays that were called, classic rookie mistake by a head coach honestly), got to stop the micro managing, got to let them play. POINT 1, spend the majority of practice working on free lance (motion offense) and little time on set plays.

Point #2 is bring back the primary and secondary breaking action, get back to Roy high octane high tempo running game. UNC should not be slow walking the ball up court unless we are up by 40 and there is a minute left in the game. Immediately after having to pull off the breaks if they are not there go directly in to the attacking motion offense, no wasted time from the attempted fast break attack to attacking from the motion offense, NO EAST WEST pounding the ball thru the floor boards, in fact strongly limit putting the ball on the floor, move the defense with passing before they have time to set. Saying for clarity, primary break leads directly in to the secondary break action if the primary is not there and the secondary leads directly in to the motion offense attack if the secondary is not there, it is bang bang bang. That is when the defense is not able to settle in, we get them scrambling and that creates wide open looks for shooters that can knock them down. Last couple seasons, way to many called off breaks, slow walking the ball up court, and wasting way to much time putting the ball on the floor to achieve nothing but a bad shot at the end. Be it Caleb taking a 40' fall away or Nance & Leaky proving yet again why they were left open, they were just the wrong type of skill sets to work in what Hubert looked to want to do.

But now we have the kind of shooters you need, guys that can knock down clean looks when their defender leaves them and we are led by an attacking PG that does not waste time going in to attack mode. We may not have the kind of stretch 4 Hubert really wants, he wants a great outside shooting 4 (you know, those NBA lotto stretch 4 guys) he has the next best thing in 4s that can consistent hit the mid range jumpers but will occasionally step to the trey and hit them at a better clip than we saw from Leaky or Nance. This bang bang bang always in attack mode approach can not only work it can be exciting and even more it is a style that can be imprinted on future UNC teams as well as lay out the blue print for the type of recruits or portal guys we bring in. Playing this way does not just allow you to play a deep bench, it forces you to, you can't play this way with a "Iron 5 or 6" for 40minutes. By getting more scoring from your 4s and getting something akin to what we got from Cam or Justin from the 3, you can be a dynamic scoring team that takes what Roy wanted to do to that next level. Roy's approach was good but he didn't get a ton of scoring out of the 4 spot consistently and I am not sure Roy's teams went as quickly from the breaks not being there to attacking directly from free lance motion. I as well think we needed to go deeper in to our bench, especially late season under Roy if for no other reason than to keep fresh legs on the floor to battle tired opponents.

See, I consider the running game to be directly linked to playing a deep bench rather than being separate issues. I consider "slow starts" to be linked as well because players know they don't have to try to save their legs for a 40min game, jump shooting directly linked because shots fall short on tired legs. Who gets that critical rebound late in the game, the fresher legged guy tends to have that advantage. How I want to see us play an attacking defense is as well linked to fresher legs just as being able to bring in guys (recruits or portalers) at playing positions that we already have a guy targeted to start at.

This, this and more THIS!!!!

 

[superstar57]

I personally have been strongly critical of Hubert for what I considered a poor job last season, exactly what I feel, he poorly coached last season but read the title to this. After that awful excuse of a season, why would I be hopeful, even positively excited for the coming season? I want to try to explain...

Hubert basically inherited that first team, while he was an assistant coach, that was Roy's players, even the freshmen were Roy's decision to bring in. Garcia and Manek were Hubert's guys, Garcia didn't work out but Manek did. The season ending as it did created a false sense of security, returning 4 starters from a natty game team it isn't shocking that Hubert elected to try to ride the same hand. The problem was he had misfits for the offensive approach he really wants to play with. An approach that demands strong outside shooting simply is not going to work with Nance, Leaky, and Bacot all starting. Double down on that thought when you consider we really did not have knock down shooters on the bench. Puff could have been that other vital shooter we needed but Puff was not Manek, Manek had that hair trigger, was ready to shoot the instant the ball touched his hands, Puff needed more room to get his shot off but was not especially good at creating the space he needed. And really, to play the way I think Hubert wants, it just demands you have a natural PG to set it all up and we didn't, not in the starting unit anyway.

What Hubert, at least I think, is wanting to have as his offensive approach not only can work but it can actually work at a very high level with a couple of tweeks. Hubert wants solid spacing that makes it hard to double any of our guys, he wants guys taking clean open looks, and he as well wants it dumped inside to Bacot. Those open looks have to be drained and outside of RJ that did not happen consistently.

So Hubert has now brought in several guys that upgrade the ability to knock down open shots and they will get court time to do just that. It is all about structure and flow, he has got to get away from making this team robotic (and you get that from the shear number of set plays that were called, classic rookie mistake by a head coach honestly), got to stop the micro managing, got to let them play. POINT 1, spend the majority of practice working on free lance (motion offense) and little time on set plays.

Point #2 is bring back the primary and secondary breaking action, get back to Roy high octane high tempo running game. UNC should not be slow walking the ball up court unless we are up by 40 and there is a minute left in the game. Immediately after having to pull off the breaks if they are not there go directly in to the attacking motion offense, no wasted time from the attempted fast break attack to attacking from the motion offense, NO EAST WEST pounding the ball thru the floor boards, in fact strongly limit putting the ball on the floor, move the defense with passing before they have time to set. Saying for clarity, primary break leads directly in to the secondary break action if the primary is not there and the secondary leads directly in to the motion offense attack if the secondary is not there, it is bang bang bang. That is when the defense is not able to settle in, we get them scrambling and that creates wide open looks for shooters that can knock them down. Last couple seasons, way to many called off breaks, slow walking the ball up court, and wasting way to much time putting the ball on the floor to achieve nothing but a bad shot at the end. Be it Caleb taking a 40' fall away or Nance & Leaky proving yet again why they were left open, they were just the wrong type of skill sets to work in what Hubert looked to want to do.

But now we have the kind of shooters you need, guys that can knock down clean looks when their defender leaves them and we are led by an attacking PG that does not waste time going in to attack mode. We may not have the kind of stretch 4 Hubert really wants, he wants a great outside shooting 4 (you know, those NBA lotto stretch 4 guys) he has the next best thing in 4s that can consistent hit the mid range jumpers but will occasionally step to the trey and hit them at a better clip than we saw from Leaky or Nance. This bang bang bang always in attack mode approach can not only work it can be exciting and even more it is a style that can be imprinted on future UNC teams as well as lay out the blue print for the type of recruits or portal guys we bring in. Playing this way does not just allow you to play a deep bench, it forces you to, you can't play this way with a "Iron 5 or 6" for 40minutes. By getting more scoring from your 4s and getting something akin to what we got from Cam or Justin from the 3, you can be a dynamic scoring team that takes what Roy wanted to do to that next level. Roy's approach was good but he didn't get a ton of scoring out of the 4 spot consistently and I am not sure Roy's teams went as quickly from the breaks not being there to attacking directly from free lance motion. I as well think we needed to go deeper in to our bench, especially late season under Roy if for no other reason than to keep fresh legs on the floor to battle tired opponents.

See, I consider the running game to be directly linked to playing a deep bench rather than being separate issues. I consider "slow starts" to be linked as well because players know they don't have to try to save their legs for a 40min game, jump shooting directly linked because shots fall short on tired legs. Who gets that critical rebound late in the game, the fresher legged guy tends to have that advantage. How I want to see us play an attacking defense is as well linked to fresher legs just as being able to bring in guys (recruits or portalers) at playing positions that we already have a guy targeted to start at.

I may be wrong, but you describe what FSU teams have been to me, and sometimes Miami. Where by playing fast we are saying we have better athletes than you. A whole lot of Theo Pinson and leaky Blacks always on the floor, and a Cam Johnson knocking down shots.

UNC continues to get great Point guards, and although today's PG is a scorer and just as athletic as a Wing, a solid PG still likes to have the ball. I feel sometimes when teams want to run run run, they suffer because they put there PG in a bad position because it turns everyone into a PG.

Roy's secondary break I would love to see emphasized and back in the day that was considered a running team.

I agree playing fast and using your bench deep is possible, and I have high hopes for all of our players, but honestly most of the transfers are role players, I say this because I can't think of one transfer better than Bacot or RJ. The incoming freshmen might be the next best players on our team (I say that with respect). So just how deep can we really go and still be productive on the court.

 

[DSouthr]

I may be wrong, but you describe what FSU teams have been to me, and sometimes Miami. Where by playing fast we are saying we have better athletes than you. A whole lot of Theo Pinson and leaky Blacks always on the floor, and a Cam Johnson knocking down shots.

UNC continues to get great Point guards, and although today's PG is a scorer and just as athletic as a Wing, a solid PG still likes to have the ball. I feel sometimes when teams want to run run run, they suffer because they put there PG in a bad position because it turns everyone into a PG.

Roy's secondary break I would love to see emphasized and back in the day that was considered a running team.

I agree playing fast and using your bench deep is possible, and I have high hopes for all of our players, but honestly most of the transfers are role players, I say this because I can't think of one transfer better than Bacot or RJ. The incoming freshmen might be the next best players on our team (I say that with respect). So just how deep can we really go and still be productive on the court.

What playing as I suggest actually says is that I have a better BENCH than you. The other team may well be on par with our starters, maybe even a touch ahead of them talent wise in some cases but I am able to go 4-5 deep on my bench with quality and you can not do that. Why is my bench better, because I play them, I develop them, they know they are vital and will play solid minutes rather than the token 1min to end the game. It allows me to recruit and portal in guys even if I have a big time guy at their position because kids really just want playing time ahead of anything else. Kids would rather play 15mins a game off the bench than 10mins as a starter, rather than 30min on a losing team, they want to play and they want to play on a winner and they want to be a real part of that, not a token like for example Nichel became last season.

If I am going to demand that every kid that gets in to a game leaves it all on the court, play flat out with all he has then I have to be smart enough to realize he can't do that for 40mins. Miami and FSU can not play that way they have not played that way. They may play deep but they do not pressure and attack like I am talking about on either end. FSU is known for having a lot of big men but they don't runt the court well and their defense is always a question mark. Miami is solid coached but they were fortunate to get a center that played well above expectations while running a 3 guard attack mostly for scoring reasons, they went what, 8 deep most often, I am looking at a 10 deep rotation and could go even deeper with this particular team with no one having to go over 25mins a game. It is critical to understand, if a kid has to come off your bench but he has not gotten consistently any more than token minutes he is not really able to go for long stretches, he is conditioned for maybe 5mins but his tongue is dragging at the 10min mark. You want to condition those kids on the bench for solid minutes and only way to do that is by their playing. You want your guys on the bench to be PLUGGED in to the game, not spectators that if they are called on come in cold and it take some minutes before their head is in the game at the level a starter head is. I promise you, a kid that comes off your bench and knows he may not start but he is going to get 15mins this game is way more tuned in to the game than the kid that knows all he is going to get is mop up minutes if... any at all.

Of course playing that deep a bench is possible, keep in mind, I am not talking about a hockey line deal like Calipari tried a few years back when he had an amazing collection of talent. I am talking more about running in certain combinations of players to give different looks. Run in a small ball group, run in a really big group, run in a more defensive orientated group for examples. I am not saying put guys in just to put guys in, I am saying do it for a purpose. It is a version of what we have come to accept as a norm in college football, pass rush rotation, run stop rotation, passing or running geared rotations, some guys are 3rd down specialists for example. I do not like the way basketball has been played in that it forms a version of a cast system that worships starters as more important to wins than anyone else. It is a thing that many can not get their minds wrapped around because they have not seen it.

One long standing axiom of the game is (lets take Roy for an example), everyone loved UNC under Roy playing a lot of guys off his bench EARLY season and his commitment to the running game. But everyone clamored for him to trim down his rotation late season in prep for post season play. You still want his running game approach in post season but you want him to do it with fewer players getting minutes as well as having to play post season where you get back to back games on successive days? To me that is counter intuitive, it makes more sense to me to play more guys fewer minutes so your have the legs to play tomorrow and hopefully fewer minutes translates to fewer injuries as well. The is as well a HUGE payoff in foul calls, tired players tend to reach rather than move their feet, fouls are called for that.

Transfers better than Bacot or RJ, I would suggest for both Bacot and RJ after they have just played 35mins and there is a couple minutes left that you can find a lot of transfers that have fresh legs that can out play our 2 guys. That does not mean they are better than RJ or Bacot but tired legs really struggle to keep up with fresh legs. You don't run a mile at the same pace you run a 100 meters sprint.

 

[Archer2]

What playing as I suggest actually says is that I have a better BENCH than you. The other team may well be on par with our starters, maybe even a touch ahead of them talent wise in some cases but I am able to go 4-5 deep on my bench with quality and you can not do that. Why is my bench better, because I play them, I develop them, they know they are vital and will play solid minutes rather than the token 1min to end the game. It allows me to recruit and portal in guys even if I have a big time guy at their position because kids really just want playing time ahead of anything else. Kids would rather play 15mins a game off the bench than 10mins as a starter, rather than 30min on a losing team, they want to play and they want to play on a winner and they want to be a real part of that, not a token like for example Nichel became last season.

If I am going to demand that every kid that gets in to a game leaves it all on the court, play flat out with all he has then I have to be smart enough to realize he can't do that for 40mins. Miami and FSU can not play that way they have not played that way. They may play deep but they do not pressure and attack like I am talking about on either end. FSU is known for having a lot of big men but they don't runt the court well and their defense is always a question mark. Miami is solid coached but they were fortunate to get a center that played well above expectations while running a 3 guard attack mostly for scoring reasons, they went what, 8 deep most often, I am looking at a 10 deep rotation and could go even deeper with this particular team with no one having to go over 25mins a game. It is critical to understand, if a kid has to come off your bench but he has not gotten consistently any more than token minutes he is not really able to go for long stretches, he is conditioned for maybe 5mins but his tongue is dragging at the 10min mark. You want to condition those kids on the bench for solid minutes and only way to do that is by their playing. You want your guys on the bench to be PLUGGED in to the game, not spectators that if they are called on come in cold and it take some minutes before their head is in the game at the level a starter head is. I promise you, a kid that comes off your bench and knows he may not start but he is going to get 15mins this game is way more tuned in to the game than the kid that knows all he is going to get is mop up minutes if... any at all.

Of course playing that deep a bench is possible, keep in mind, I am not talking about a hockey line deal like Calipari tried a few years back when he had an amazing collection of talent. I am talking more about running in certain combinations of players to give different looks. Run in a small ball group, run in a really big group, run in a more defensive orientated group for examples. I am not saying put guys in just to put guys in, I am saying do it for a purpose. It is a version of what we have come to accept as a norm in college football, pass rush rotation, run stop rotation, passing or running geared rotations, some guys are 3rd down specialists for example. I do not like the way basketball has been played in that it forms a version of a cast system that worships starters as more important to wins than anyone else. It is a thing that many can not get their minds wrapped around because they have not seen it.

One long standing axiom of the game is (lets take Roy for an example), everyone loved UNC under Roy playing a lot of guys off his bench EARLY season and his commitment to the running game. But everyone clamored for him to trim down his rotation late season in prep for post season play. You still want his running game approach in post season but you want him to do it with fewer players getting minutes as well as having to play post season where you get back to back games on successive days? To me that is counter intuitive, it makes more sense to me to play more guys fewer minutes so your have the legs to play tomorrow and hopefully fewer minutes translates to fewer injuries as well. The is as well a HUGE payoff in foul calls, tired players tend to reach rather than move their feet, fouls are called for that.

Transfers better than Bacot or RJ, I would suggest for both Bacot and RJ after they have just played 35mins and there is a couple minutes left that you can find a lot of transfers that have fresh legs that can out play our 2 guys. That does not mean they are better than RJ or Bacot but tired legs really struggle to keep up with fresh legs. You don't run a mile at the same pace you run a 100 meters sprint.

Dave, I agree in principle with all of that. From your lips to Hubert’s ears.

 

[superstar57]

What playing as I suggest actually says is that I have a better BENCH than you. The other team may well be on par with our starters, maybe even a touch ahead of them talent wise in some cases but I am able to go 4-5 deep on my bench with quality and you can not do that. Why is my bench better, because I play them, I develop them, they know they are vital and will play solid minutes rather than the token 1min to end the game. It allows me to recruit and portal in guys even if I have a big time guy at their position because kids really just want playing time ahead of anything else. Kids would rather play 15mins a game off the bench than 10mins as a starter, rather than 30min on a losing team, they want to play and they want to play on a winner and they want to be a real part of that, not a token like for example Nichel became last season.

If I am going to demand that every kid that gets in to a game leaves it all on the court, play flat out with all he has then I have to be smart enough to realize he can't do that for 40mins. Miami and FSU can not play that way they have not played that way. They may play deep but they do not pressure and attack like I am talking about on either end. FSU is known for having a lot of big men but they don't runt the court well and their defense is always a question mark. Miami is solid coached but they were fortunate to get a center that played well above expectations while running a 3 guard attack mostly for scoring reasons, they went what, 8 deep most often, I am looking at a 10 deep rotation and could go even deeper with this particular team with no one having to go over 25mins a game. It is critical to understand, if a kid has to come off your bench but he has not gotten consistently any more than token minutes he is not really able to go for long stretches, he is conditioned for maybe 5mins but his tongue is dragging at the 10min mark. You want to condition those kids on the bench for solid minutes and only way to do that is by their playing. You want your guys on the bench to be PLUGGED in to the game, not spectators that if they are called on come in cold and it take some minutes before their head is in the game at the level a starter head is. I promise you, a kid that comes off your bench and knows he may not start but he is going to get 15mins this game is way more tuned in to the game than the kid that knows all he is going to get is mop up minutes if... any at all.

Of course playing that deep a bench is possible, keep in mind, I am not talking about a hockey line deal like Calipari tried a few years back when he had an amazing collection of talent. I am talking more about running in certain combinations of players to give different looks. Run in a small ball group, run in a really big group, run in a more defensive orientated group for examples. I am not saying put guys in just to put guys in, I am saying do it for a purpose. It is a version of what we have come to accept as a norm in college football, pass rush rotation, run stop rotation, passing or running geared rotations, some guys are 3rd down specialists for example. I do not like the way basketball has been played in that it forms a version of a cast system that worships starters as more important to wins than anyone else. It is a thing that many can not get their minds wrapped around because they have not seen it.

One long standing axiom of the game is (lets take Roy for an example), everyone loved UNC under Roy playing a lot of guys off his bench EARLY season and his commitment to the running game. But everyone clamored for him to trim down his rotation late season in prep for post season play. You still want his running game approach in post season but you want him to do it with fewer players getting minutes as well as having to play post season where you get back to back games on successive days? To me that is counter intuitive, it makes more sense to me to play more guys fewer minutes so your have the legs to play tomorrow and hopefully fewer minutes translates to fewer injuries as well. The is as well a HUGE payoff in foul calls, tired players tend to reach rather than move their feet, fouls are called for that.

Transfers better than Bacot or RJ, I would suggest for both Bacot and RJ after they have just played 35mins and there is a couple minutes left that you can find a lot of transfers that have fresh legs that can out play our 2 guys. That does not mean they are better than RJ or Bacot but tired legs really struggle to keep up with fresh legs. You don't run a mile at the same pace you run a 100 meters sprint.

I am definitely not disagreeing in that playing our bench allows us to go full speed 40 minutes. I may be just a little more wiery on bench production. I want to play fast, but as of now besides Cadeau who I have never seen play, everyone including RJ could be a turnover machine if we went all out for 40. Make no mistake, I believe we have to play fast. I just need to see us play, and I probably would agree 100 percent. Running to just run is not what I would like to see either.

I am more into the Ty Lawson and Zeller running the floor, rather than seeing Bacot and RJ running. If that makes sense.

 

[39 Feet Above Sea Level]

Good comments people. As long as we get good shots in the flow of a speedier offense, l’m good.
Let’s not run shot clock and hoist deep threes. We have depth, for goodness sake; get everyone involved
and wear teams out.

 

[TPFKAPFS]

I don't think coaches bring in peeps or play them because they are better than your veterans. I believe they are brought in to fill holes or provide backup. If you have elite talent at 2 spots, you focus on the other 3; if you get elite talent at a spot held down by a veteran, then it is time for peeps to put on the big boy pants! If they prove to be better, they become starters and this is great! We have a bench full of versatile, interchangeable parts that fit into Hubs' preferred style! I believe this gives him the leeway to play faster AND much deeper into his bench! Practice and game play will help weed out those who can't keep up, but I fully expect to still be playing 9 deep all year!

 

[WoadBlue]

Why do you have such hope for Hubert and this team? That's easier than facing the future of the ACC after decades of little more than pretending to back football like a real Major conference while practicing faith in basketball as the savior.

 

[Bubspub88]

I am holding off my optimism until 2024. Heels have a pretty rough OOC stretch of possibly Nova, Arkansas, Tennessee, Uconn and UK. If the Heels hit a wall and really struggle does Hubert continue to play the bench and develop depth to play up tempo or does he do as he has done and shorten the rotation to keep his best players on the court as much as possible?

I want to see Roy's pace using Coach Smith's secondary break and changing up D to keep the pressure on the opponent. Hubert has said he wants to spread the floor with shooters. Shooters generally need to play with the mindset that the next ball is going in and they aren't worried that the last miss is getting them yanked.

Hubert had depth last year but never developed it. He refused to hold every player to the same standard in terms of effort and accountability. That absolutely must change if he going to be in control of the team.

Hubert has to coach as if he realizes the goal is March success and not big wins in November. UNC does not have the best starting five in basketball but they do have numbers that others are hard pressed to match.

 

[ChiShankCity]

I'm excited to see this group play. There are a lot of possibilities for lineups and player combinations. It looks like a pretty versatile group and hopefully, they'll play cohesively with a lot of effort. I am looking forward to seeing how Hubert coaches the team too.

I don't think this is a Final Four team as of now, so I'm not watching with those expectations for this group. But I think they're a good team that can be a handful against almost every team when it matters.

I like that it's a different group. Your imagination can run a little bit with this team. Hopefully they stay healthy and hungry through the entire season.

 

[alabamaheel]

I'm excited to see this group play. There are a lot of possibilities for lineups and player combinations. It looks like a pretty versatile group and hopefully, they'll play cohesively with a lot of effort. I am looking forward to seeing how Hubert coaches the team too.

I don't think this is a Final Four team as of now, so I'm not watching with those expectations for this group. But I think they're a good team that can be a handful against almost every team when it matters.

I like that it's a different group. Your imagination can run a little bit with this team. Hopefully they stay healthy and hungry through the entire season.

Good post, and it definitely explains my thoughts for this particular team. A lot, and I mean a lot can be done with this team.

 

[DaSheed]

Hubert has 2 years left to right the ship. Gonna be 1 year if this upcoming season is a repeat of last.

 

[TPFKAPFS]

Hubs is not on the hot seat! He will not be at all unless there is no improvement this year! Why don't we try to think of the many positives instead of remaining mired in problems from the past???

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

Hubert had depth last year but never developed it. He refused to hold every player to the same standard in terms of effort and accountability. That absolutely must change if he going to be in control of the team.

Both the stretch PT and the departures make clear how little confidence Hubert had in his bench. I imagine he would argue that "developing" them wouldn't have made any difference. But is that true? Hard to know, because he didn't try very hard.

Consider that we were the #1 ranked team, coming off a Runnerup finish, with only 1 meaningful roster loss.

Then consider that we were starting the season against 5 mostly creampuffs. Arguably a good time to test the bench.

But what actually happened?

Foe	P.Rank*	Double-Digit Players	Ave Starter Mins
UNC-W	202	7	32.2
Charleston	186	6	33.6
Gardner Webb	197	6	32.2
James Madison	82	7	33.6
Portland	131	6	34.6

* Early Pomeroy rankings go with the usual caveats. But only Charleston deviated significantly from their low early ranking over the rest of the season, and we beat them 102-86.

If you are wondering which benchers got double-digit minutes over this stretch, they were Seth (4 games), D'Marco (2 games) and Puff (1 game). Puff missed the first 3 games.

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

Naturally we all expect Hubert to have a MUCH BETTER BENCH this year.

Seth has a year under his belt.​

Washington is supposed to be healthy and ready to go.​

Withers was a starter last season and started around 2/3 of the time over 3 years at Louisville.​

Paxson started every game his junior and senior years at Brown​

Okonkwo didn't start last year, but he has a year under his belt at W.Virginia (plus a redshirt year).​

​

We start this season against 4 seriously creampuffy creampuffs. I'll be very disappointed if we don't have 9 or more guys getting double digit minutes every game. And not just 10 or 11 minutes, either.

 

[ChiShankCity]

Naturally we all expect Hubert to have a MUCH BETTER BENCH this year.

Seth has a year under his belt.​

Washington is supposed to be healthy and ready to go.​

Withers was a starter last season and started around 2/3 of the time over 3 years at Louisville.​

Paxson started every game his junior and senior years at Brown​

Okonkwo didn't start last year, but he has a year under his belt at W.Virginia.​

​

We start this season against 4 seriously creampuffy creampuffs. I'll be very disappointed if we don't have 9 or more guys getting double digit minutes every game. And not just 10 or 11 minutes, either.

I continue to have no idea where these maximum minutes of 30, or minimum minutes of 10 for bench guys, is coming from. It isn't based on anything logical. It's also really hard on a math level to have 10 guys play like 15 minutes in a game unless it's an noncompetitive game for the entire second half. And historically, it doesn't follow any trend from previous great UNC teams.

1981-82: The entire starting 5 averaged over 30 minutes/game. One bench player averaged over 10 minutes/game (10.3 MPG)
1992-93: Three starters averaged 28+ MPG. Eight total players averaged over 10 minutes/game
2004-05: It had the #2 overall pick on the bench. Still, 8 players averaged over 10 MPG and Felton averaged 31.7 MPG.
2008-09: Of the players who played 30 games that season... Seven averaged more than 10 MPG. Lawson/Hansbrough/Ellington played a minimum of 29.9 MPG.
2016-17: 9 players averaged over 10 MPG and a lot of that had to do with Theo and Kenny Williams being hurt during the season. And Berry and Jackson averaged over 30 MPG

So Roy's 3 title winning teams had NBA dudes off the bench (Marvin Williams, David Noel, Ed Davis, Tony Bradley), yet there was at least one starter on all those teams that played over the terrible line of 30 minutes/game. And none of those teams had 10 players getting 10+ MPG.

Look, you can say you want the bench to play more. But this request to have X number of players play a minimum or maximum of X number of minutes isn't based off anything factual. It's as if we picked some nice round numbers, or numbers that are a multiple of 5 and decided that was the number. If the bench players are good, they should play. If the bench players are given opportunities and they suck, then they probably shouldn't play when it matters.

I understand there's PTSD from last year, but all of this minimum/maximum minutes stuff doesn't make any sense. It especially doesn't make any sense considering we don't know if Seth/Washington/Wojcik/Withers/etc are going to be good or not. Sorry, but if Seth sucks and remains an offensive liability, then Cadeau and Davis will have to play more minutes. And I don't think there's anything wrong with that.

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

I continue to have no idea where these maximum minutes of 30, or minimum minutes of 10 for bench guys, is coming from. It isn't based on anything logical. It's also really hard on a math level to have 10 guys play like 15 minutes in a game unless it's an noncompetitive game for the entire second half. And historically, it doesn't follow any trend from previous great UNC teams.

1981-82: The entire starting 5 averaged over 30 minutes/game. One bench player averaged over 10 minutes/game (10.3 MPG)
1992-93: Three starters averaged 28+ MPG. Eight total players averaged over 10 minutes/game
2004-05: It had the #2 overall pick on the bench. Still, 8 players averaged over 10 MPG and Felton averaged 31.7 MPG.
2008-09: Of the players who played 30 games that season... Seven averaged more than 10 MPG. Lawson/Hansbrough/Ellington played a minimum of 29.9 MPG.
2016-17: 9 players averaged over 10 MPG and a lot of that had to do with Theo and Kenny Williams being hurt during the season. And Berry and Jackson averaged over 30 MPG

So Roy's 3 title winning teams had NBA dudes off the bench (Marvin Williams, David Noel, Ed Davis, Tony Bradley), yet there was at least one starter on all those teams that played over the terrible line of 30 minutes/game. And none of those teams had 10 players getting 10+ MPG.

Look, you can say you want the bench to play more. But this request to have X number of players play a minimum or maximum of X number of minutes isn't based off anything factual. It's as if we picked some nice round numbers, or numbers that are a multiple of 5 and decided that was the number. If the bench players are good, they should play. If the bench players are given opportunities and they suck, then they probably shouldn't play when it matters.

I understand there's PTSD from last year, but all of this minimum/maximum minutes stuff doesn't make any sense. It especially doesn't make any sense considering we don't know if Seth/Washington/Wojcik/Withers/etc are going to be good or not. Sorry, but if Seth sucks and remains an offensive liability, then Cadeau and Davis will have to play more minutes. And I don't think there's anything wrong with that.

I'm bitching that - by the numbers I showed - Hubert didn't seem to bother develop his bench last year, early on, when he could afford to play deep into the bench for long PT.

I'm not - and I don't think anyone is - trying to say a certain number of people should play a certain number of minutes. More that we didn't need to go iron man right out of the gate, if ever. Which is not to say that iron man is never appropriate (although that's worth a separate discussion, imo).

I appreciate the time and effort you put into your thoughtful response. And I especially like the info on specific teams. But I think you were, at least in part, answering a question nobody actually asked.

 

[ChiShankCity]

I'm bitching that - by the numbers I showed - Hubert didn't seem to bother develop his bench last year, early on, when he could afford to play deep into the bench for long PT.

I'm not - and I don't think anyone is - trying to say a certain number of people should play a certain number of minutes. More that we didn't need to go iron man right out of the gate, if ever. Which is not to say that iron man is never appropriate (although that's worth a separate discussion, imo).

I appreciate the time and effort you put into your thoughtful response. And I especially like the info on specific teams. But I think you were, at least in part, answering a question nobody actually asked.

I agree that (assuming everyone is practicing well) everyone should get an opportunity to show what they can/can't do. My point is there's no evidence saying we'll be any better with a more balanced amount of minutes. I do hope everyone gets an opportunity, then the rotation is made from there. If that means the rotation is 8 dudes with the starters all going 30+ minutes, that's what it needs to be. There's no guarantee that all of our assumed bench guys are any good. And I'd rather not play bad players bigger minutes just to satisfy more minutes out of our bench this year.

I'll disagree that I'm answering a question no one has asked. Several people have brought up that no starters should play 30+ minutes.

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

Roy years from Hansbrough to COVID. FWIW.

Year	W-L	30-min Players	Double-digit Players
2019	29-7	2	9
2018	26-11	3	7
2017	33-7	2	9
2016	33-7	2	8
2015	26-12	1	10
2014	24-10	2	7
2013	25-11	2	7
2012	32-6	1	8
2011	29-8	0	9
2010	20-17	1	11
2009	34-4	2	8
2008	36-3	2	8
2007	31-7	0	10
2006	23-8	2	9
2005	33-4	1	8
AVERAGE		1.53	8.53

[Not counted players who averaged double digits but played fewer than 15 games.]

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

There's no guarantee that all of our assumed bench guys are any good.

For sure. But I feel good about this squad.

We lack true superstars - unless maybe Cadeau lives up to all the hype - but I think we lack duds, too. Which is kind of unusual, I think, and reassuring. Our ceiling may be unclear, but we have a pretty high floor.

I worry a little - but not a lot - that so many of our experienced new guys come from losing traditions - Stanford (14-19), Notre Dame (11-21), and Louisville (4-28). Nance was also a promising guy who came from a losing tradition. Not blaming him for anything, just that at crunch time, he didn't have much experience snatching victory from the jaws of defeat. His great shot notwithstanding.

Not to mention that our returning guys are coming off a demoralizing season.

Everybody needs to learn (or relearn) how to win. Everybody needs to build confidence. I want to believe that Hubert has the right personality to get them on track. But we'll see.

 

[Bubspub88]

I absolutely expect at least 3 of the starters to be averaging over or near 30 minutes a game over the course of the season. My frustration is with those guys playing that many minutes in November. I would be shocked to see a team that had its starters all playing 30+ minutes the first 10 games of season have postseason success. Hubert needs to give those bench guys meaningful minutes early if he wants them to be ready and able to contribute later in the year.

 

[DSouthr]

I continue to have no idea where these maximum minutes of 30, or minimum minutes of 10 for bench guys, is coming from. It isn't based on anything logical. It's also really hard on a math level to have 10 guys play like 15 minutes in a game unless it's an noncompetitive game for the entire second half. And historically, it doesn't follow any trend from previous great UNC teams.

1981-82: The entire starting 5 averaged over 30 minutes/game. One bench player averaged over 10 minutes/game (10.3 MPG)
1992-93: Three starters averaged 28+ MPG. Eight total players averaged over 10 minutes/game
2004-05: It had the #2 overall pick on the bench. Still, 8 players averaged over 10 MPG and Felton averaged 31.7 MPG.
2008-09: Of the players who played 30 games that season... Seven averaged more than 10 MPG. Lawson/Hansbrough/Ellington played a minimum of 29.9 MPG.
2016-17: 9 players averaged over 10 MPG and a lot of that had to do with Theo and Kenny Williams being hurt during the season. And Berry and Jackson averaged over 30 MPG

So Roy's 3 title winning teams had NBA dudes off the bench (Marvin Williams, David Noel, Ed Davis, Tony Bradley), yet there was at least one starter on all those teams that played over the terrible line of 30 minutes/game. And none of those teams had 10 players getting 10+ MPG.

Look, you can say you want the bench to play more. But this request to have X number of players play a minimum or maximum of X number of minutes isn't based off anything factual. It's as if we picked some nice round numbers, or numbers that are a multiple of 5 and decided that was the number. If the bench players are good, they should play. If the bench players are given opportunities and they suck, then they probably shouldn't play when it matters.

I understand there's PTSD from last year, but all of this minimum/maximum minutes stuff doesn't make any sense. It especially doesn't make any sense considering we don't know if Seth/Washington/Wojcik/Withers/etc are going to be good or not. Sorry, but if Seth sucks and remains an offensive liability, then Cadeau and Davis will have to play more minutes. And I don't think there's anything wrong with that.

You sure went to some length to try to say fresh legs mean little?

"Look, you can say you want the bench to play more. But this request to have X number of players play a minimum or maximum of X number of minutes isn't based off anything factual." So you have the exact number of minutes players need to play and that is some how based on YOUR FACTS? You seem to be under the impression that solid benches just happen, hate to inform you that benches that are solid are actually developed, that good players coming off the bench are actually developed by playing time rather than the snap of a finger.

"I understand there's PTSD from last year, but all of this minimum/maximum minutes stuff doesn't make any sense." No, it isn't PTSD, shame on you for that analogy, it is the fact that last season simply is not acceptable for UNC basketball.

"It especially doesn't make any sense considering we don't know if Seth/Washington/Wojcik/Withers/etc are going to be good or not"? That is right, we, which actually means YOU included do NOT know how these fellas will play but I can give you a fact that is not really debatable, our bench needs to be developed and players develop by playing.

Well gosh, look at teams that had Jordan, Worthy, and Perkins or Ty, Wayne, Hansbourgh, or Ray, Maye, Marvin and McCants ect... Then you say oh look, those NBA players played a lot of minutes at UNC and they did pretty good and that some how applies to this current team? I especially love the part where you try to make the case that myself as well as others come up with an arbitrary number of minutes, my arbitrary number is 25 by the way, it is not 30 but yes it is divisible by 5, good job on your math ability there. So when I pick a number like 25 or others picking 30 we are arbitrary but your number of preferred minutes isn't? Well no, your number is not arbitrary because you didn't actually provide what number of minutes that you feel should be the high water mark, did ya? So others are wrong and yet you offer no estimate to counter. All you provide is the what if Jalen, Withers, Seth, Paxon don't play well, you offer NOTHING based on what if they do play well?

So what do I take from all that, well it seems to me that you want our starters to play huge minutes, well in to the 30s, maybe even high 30s. I assume you want us to go back to our running game or had you prefer we play a half court offense from here on out? Love to know how we play our running game and still have players play in the high 30s for minutes and some how have fresh legs for the long season and post season. And even that does not speak to having to be able to absorb injury that happens, foul trouble that happens. So you see no value in keeping players on the bench heads in the game KNOWING they are going to get solid minutes? Do you not understand that a tired player is at a physical disadvantage against a fresh player?

Now you can refer back to all the past teams you want but that ignores how the game has changed over the last couple years. You used to be able to bring in solid talent and bring them along slowly and they not get a lot of minutes but now days with the portal they will leave if the do not get playing time. So want them to develop as much they can and then leave us right when they may have been able to help in a larger role? Did you for example enjoy watching what would have been our entire recruiting class that would be Jr players this coming season all be gone, how about our incoming freshman class from last season, we now have only 2 left? Did you enjoy watching GG Jackson and Wilcher, both very highly rated commits leave before ever suiting up for us because they did not see the projected PT as reasonable? Out of all the recruits we have brought in since Hubert has been the coach, of all the guys that committed to UNC, we now have a grand total of 2 left, in fact we now have ONLY 4 scholarship guys on the team that played for us ever before and can in some way argue that we do not need to develop our players on the bench?

 

[TPFKAPFS]

We will play a deep bench from day 1, and only reduce it if peeps prove unworthy! I fully expect to see us go deep in the tourney. I think we have the perfect UNC man on the bench and he will bring us to where we should always be!

 

[ChiShankCity]

We will play a deep bench from day 1, and only reduce it if peeps prove unworthy! I fully expect to see us go deep in the tourney. I think we have the perfect UNC man on the bench and he will bring us to where we should always be!

This is basically what I want to see. Everyone gets their opportunity. Then the rotation gets tightened to the players that performed well when they got a fair opportunity.

I like our versatility and flexibility on paper. We'll see during the games if our returning players got any better. And if our transfers gain from playing with better teammates.

My overarching point is there isn't a magic number of minutes for anything. If we have a bad season and play 3 starters 32+ minutes/game, I doubt the reason for our bad season will be singularly because of that. If we have a bad season and play each starter 27 minutes/game, the reason won't be singularly because of that either. That doesn't mean I want dudes playing 34+ minutes/game, lol.

But hopefully Seth, Washington, and Okonkwo are legitimate players for us this season.

 

[TPFKAPFS]

Dang, I was just forced to like a post by SDung! This feels almost as bad as the time I briefly considered cheering for puke against Satan's All-Stars! (of course I ended up cheering for a meteor to hit the gym!)

 

[DSouthr]

I'm bitching that - by the numbers I showed - Hubert didn't seem to bother develop his bench last year, early on, when he could afford to play deep into the bench for long PT.

I'm not - and I don't think anyone is - trying to say a certain number of people should play a certain number of minutes. More that we didn't need to go iron man right out of the gate, if ever. Which is not to say that iron man is never appropriate (although that's worth a separate discussion, imo).

I appreciate the time and effort you put into your thoughtful response. And I especially like the info on specific teams. But I think you were, at least in part, answering a question nobody actually asked.

I liked your post, in fact loved it for 1 line

"Hubert didn't seem to bother develop his bench last year"...

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

We will play a deep bench from day 1, and only reduce it if peeps prove unworthy! I fully expect to see us go deep in the tourney. I think we have the perfect UNC man on the bench and he will bring us to where we should always be!

This is my hope, too.

I'd rather lose a game or 2 early because we played our bench "too much" than enter the final stretch with an undeveloped bench.

For me that willingness to gamble a bit early while giving everybody a chance could be the biggest test Hubert has to pass this coming season.

That's not to say I want to lose any games early on, you understand. Just that I want to see a strong bench so we don't lose games late in the season.

 

[TPFKAPFS]

My question is: Despite peeps clamoring for Hubs to use a deep bench and going so far as to say, they know it might lead to some unexpected losses, will peeps support our team or turn on our coach? (Not directed at anyone specifically) I know there is a large contingent who actively seek out problems and ignore things that don't fit their narratives!

I expect the same peeps who screamed that Hubs was the wrong choice will be the first to turn coat! I also expect this is the reason why so many are blind to the many positives that came from the last two seasons!

 

[DSouthr]

What I am talking about is a good bit more of a radical change, the likes of which I do not recall being done in a big time college program.

Hubert fell in to a trap, the same trap many fans fall in to actually. Caleb, for example, was left in for so many game minutes while shooting very poorly in the belief that at some point he would shoot himself hot, so that he would get his grove during crunch times. It is sort of like what K did with JJ Reddick, let him shoot till he gets hot. Caleb did hit some monster shots late in games that we all loved watching but folks seem to forget all the misses that led up to him getting hot and hitting those mega shots at the end. I look at 5-26 in the natty game and I see the 21 missed shots as a major issue, that is only one of many examples. I am not about the 21 misses and I see the kid playing what, 38mins a game for the season, last season hit less than 30% from 3 and you don't have to be a "Rocket Surgeon" to realize that tired legs was a problem. I as well know that reducing the minutes played by a kid keeps his legs fresher not just for that game but for that season most especially come post season play where you do not have as many rest days in between.

There is no scenario where a kid plays 38-40mins in a game today and is just as sharp to do it again tomorrow yet this is what fans scream for, limit your rotation at the very time rest days in between are reduced or gone come post season, where we all want to win? This applies to any college player, they are not robots that do not tire. Only way I know to combat this is to go constantly really deep using your bench in a similar way as you use your starters. I want 5 guys on the bench ready at all times to step in and we not see a drop off to a huge degree, you have to have them ready mentally and they can be if they know they are going to get solid minutes.

Look, take your typical 5 star kid now days, we all want him to play for UNC but he is looking for 30-35mins a game. But if I am demanding you to play flat out, leaving it all on the court, in other words playing at the 100meters pace rather than the mile pace, I promise you the kid will prefer 25mins to 35mins. I prefer kids to come in and play in 5-7min chunks of minutes then go sit and catch your breath. There are so many pay offs to this but the most important is having the bounce late in halves you had to start the game. I am talking about effort that tired legs can't give you and I am talking about being the total attacking teams on BOTH ends of the court, not just offense.

I am not saying put a kid in just for the sake of putting a kid in, I am saying go to combinations of players that give you the edge in aspects of the game. Have the opposing team have to figure out how to go against multiple combinations, dead ball and in comes 3 more UNC guys that hit you with yet another playing style for example you start with a shooting team look, maybe you start a small ball look but then 5mins in to the game 3 guys check in and we hit them with a more defensive team, small ball to big man ball, all looking to change the defensive pressure with an opposing PG NEVER being able to walk the ball up court, change from picking up 3/4 court to full court hard pressure and traps that feeds our up tempo with steals. That not only tires the opponents out it gets in their head, it panics them and before you know it they are pumping up bad shots and we are stretching our margin. I am talking 40mins of hell on BOTH ends of the court, the ultimate attacking game plan. Just imagine being an opposing PG, the game tips and you are having to deal with the extra quick hands of EC and 5mins later you have Seth draped all over you and giving you hard trapping full court pressure. We could have played this way LAST SEASON... And the need for great shooting (which we did not get) would have been greatly reduced.

 

[ChiShankCity]

My question is: Despite peeps clamoring for Hubs to use a deep bench and going so far as to say, they know it might lead to some unexpected losses, will peeps support our team or turn on our coach? (Not directed at anyone specifically) I know there is a large contingent who actively seek out problems and ignore things that don't fit their narratives!

I expect the same peeps who screamed that Hubs was the wrong choice will be the first to turn coat! I also expect this is the reason why so many are blind to the many positives that came from the last two seasons!

Welcome to the world of super competitive athletics.

I do agree that most fans have their minds made up about Hubert. Those who don't like him will take advantage of opportunities to pounce on him. Those who like him will be patient. But it's a results oriented business. And apart from like a 10 game stretch, the results have been pretty mediocre.

I'll be the first to admit that I don't agree with nepotism in college sports and that's what I saw when Hubert got the job here. I'm very skeptical to believe that Hubert's the best coach in the country for UNC. However, that doesn't mean he won't be extremely successful here. I've also maintained that I think coaching and relying on Caleb Love is very difficult as a head coach, so I'll wait to judge Hubert once he isn't coaching him anymore. And that's this season.

He has a couple of years of experience. He has his own players. We have to see a fair amount of progress. I don't think that's unfair at all.

 

[DSouthr]

My question is: Despite peeps clamoring for Hubs to use a deep bench and going so far as to say, they know it might lead to some unexpected losses, will peeps support our team or turn on our coach? (Not directed at anyone specifically) I know there is a large contingent who actively seek out problems and ignore things that don't fit their narratives!

I expect the same peeps who screamed that Hubs was the wrong choice will be the first to turn coat! I also expect this is the reason why so many are blind to the many positives that came from the last two seasons!

First I do believe that a lack of defensive pressure and tired legs leads to more losses that are unexpected, I want the exact opposite of that. If we get a couple of those out of no where losses that we always seem to get hit with as long as we are in constant attack mode on both ends, the effort is there then I will for sure support them. But even a win but the effort was really not good I am going to take issue with, the effort/passion/desire has got to be there, it has to be there in my view for a kid to even be on the team. YES, before it is asked, that does absolutely mean no matter who the player is from starter (including Bacot and RJ) to the last kid on the bench.

I am about how hard they play even more so than wins and losses thou I know the losses will not be nearly what we saw last season. I should NEVER hear a UNC coach say that his team was not ready to match the other teams intensity from the tip off. A starter that begins the game with lower intensity I immediately pull and he does not get back in the game for that half, you have to send a strong message that is heard loud and clear and you do not have to scream to do it.

 

[superstar57]

We have RJ, Seth, and Cadeau who can really push the ball. If we can keep a combination of those three on the court we could run all game. Seth is going to have to step up his offense if this is to work. Playing fast everyone has to be a legitimate threat to score.

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

We have RJ, Seth, and Cadeau who can really push the ball. If we can keep a combination of those three on the court we could run all game. Seth is going to have to step up his offense if this is to work. Playing fast everyone has to be a legitimate threat to score.

Roy would have those guys blazing. Can Hubert do that, too? Does he want to?

 

[DSouthr]

We have RJ, Seth, and Cadeau who can really push the ball. If we can keep a combination of those three on the court we could run all game. Seth is going to have to step up his offense if this is to work. Playing fast everyone has to be a legitimate threat to score.

Word is Seth's jump shooting has really improved. But if we are talking getting out running his scoring would come more from a real strength of his game, his athletism & ability to finish strong well above the rim.

 

[Archer2]

Word is Seth's jump shooting has really improved. But if we are talking getting out running his scoring would come more from a real strength of his game, his athletism & ability to finish strong well above the rim.

If our guys will run the court, Seth and crew will get some monster dunks.

 

[keysersosay#1]

On paper, I really Like this team. I believe it will have some growing pains early, but with some experience working together, I belive we will be quite surprised at how good they become. The players they brought in are,imo, a lot better than the players who left. Cadeau is a major difference maker... a pure point penetrator who will make everyone around him better. I love RJ...but we will see he is no Elliot. I am glad that Many are questioning this team and HD...those questions are legitimate. My sense is that come March we will be truly excited about this team...give them a little time.

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

74On paper, I really Like this team. I believe it will have some growing pains early, but with some experience working together, I belive we will be quite surprised at how good they become. The players they brought in are,imo, a lot better than the players who left. Cadeau is a major difference maker... a pure point penetrator who will make everyone around him better. I love RJ...but we will see he is no Elliot. I am glad that Many are questioning this team and HD...those questions are legitimate. My sense is that come March we will be truly excited about this team...give them a little time.

I think the surprise will be if we are NOT very good. And I think we'll see that quite early.

We have really solid, consistent, starter-level players at every position. With any luck and proper development, we'll have that quality 2-deep at most positions. And we might have 1 or 2 all-star players, but that's hard to know.

The big question isn't the players, it's the coaching. This is the year we learn a lot about Hubert and his staff.

In the chart below I went 6 deep. Obviously the averages are crude, since the numbers weren't corrected for shots taken or PT.

We're going to need to "correct" Harrison's TS%. Otherwise, the new team looks like a step up.

2023 Starter	TS%	Pts	2024 Starter	TS%	Δ TS%	Pts	Δ Pts
RJ	56.7	16.1	Elliot	--	--	--	--
Caleb	49.1	16.7	RJ	56.7	+7.6	16.1	-0.6
Leaky	50.8	7.3	Cormac	54.0	+3.2	12.3	+5.0
Pete	54.7	10.0	Harrison	48.9	-5.8	10.5	+0.5
Armando	58.7	15.9	Armando	58.7	0	15.9	0
Puff	49.5	4.1	Withers	55.4	+5.9	8.9	+5.8
AVERAGES	53.25	11.68		54.74	+1.49	12.74	+1.06

 

[dtodd4475]

There are a ton of moving pieces joining as one, in what is for a good chunk of them their final year (Cadaeu included). Seeing how they mesh with role, PT, and overall fit together will be very interesting.

Wide range of ways that can work it's way out. I'm optimistic that they will establish a core 8/9. I think Cadaeu being the floor general, with RJ and Mando as top dogs eating will form the nexus for how it ultimately plays out. Getting a comfort level with all the new pieces will be interesting to say the least.