Stats and stuff (Davidson game)

[gary-7]

Folks, I'm gonna call this one the "Chemistry" edition. Back in my "This Season's Team" post I previewed what I thought was coming in terms of better chemistry (btw, I got some more good stuff from my source this weekend, but I'll save that for later), and chemistry was in the air tonight. Roy talked about it pregame, Jason Capel raved about it on TV, and y'all watched it for yourselves. Davidson ain't no joke, yet we took them apart ---kicked butt, took names and told their mommas about it.

The Good:
Transition, transition, and more transition. That was "pretty" Carolina basketball (as my late Aunt used to call it).
D-up, clean the boards, outlet pass, fill the lanes, pitch ahead. Somewhere Dean was smiling. The official stat guys tend to muck up transition numbers with us, but here's the deal:
26 Fast Break points, and 41 points off the Secondary Break.
Folks, that's 67 outta 98 points coming from transition! Day-yum!
We didn't have to run much half-court offense

Experience: We so thoroughly dismantled Davidson from the get-go that there were a lot more extra minutes to go around than Roy could have hoped for: 10 guys in double figure minutes, and nobody played more than 26.

Defense: Our best team-defensive game thus far, and against an explosive scoring team. Played high screens better and challenged most of their 3-balls (held them to 8-for-31 from deep).
At this point I have to make a special commendation: Joel Berry did an absolute number on their best player, Jack Gibbs. Gibbs has already gone for 40 this season. He had to work his butt off to end up with 19 in 36 minutes, but by my count only got 5 of his points tonight on Berry (Gibbs was JB's main assignment), and Berry was directly responsible for 4 of Gibbs' 5 TOs. That's two weeks in a row a prominent opposing PG has had trouble hanging onto the ball

Spreading the wealth: Brice was a beast at times. Nate had his best offensive outing as a Heel --- gave back a few on defense but he played a good, efficient ballgame. Big Joel had a nice second half, and Theo just keeps contributing well in all areas.

Roles: Tonight we saw it. The starting lineup is a no-brainer and will be a nightmare for opponents. We have depth up front and Theo is the ultimate energy-guy off the bench. There have been times where it has looked like Britt might struggle to accept his role, but you could see him embrace it tonight and he gave us the kind of contribution we'll need from him. Good on ya, Nate!
The net result of our chemistry was there was little team drop-off when Roy subbed tonight, and he was able to do so often. With Berry at PG we were running hot at 2.51 PPM, and the fact that there was so little drop-off speaks well for how well we played as a team.

Misc Notes: I SO want to see Kenny Williams hit his first real college 3-pointer --- I have a feeling that will light up his confidence. He did a lot of nice things tonight and has a big ceiling IMO. Marcus got his first minutes at PG, logging a short stint with Williams, and a shorter one with Pinson. Also, congrats to Spencer Dalton on his first official Tar Heel points!

The Bad.
Not much, but although ball screen D was better, our Bigs didn't always defend smartly when they got caught in isolations away from the hoop. Teams are likely gonna try to spread things to get their stretch guys 1-on-1 with our Bigs. Gotta move our feet better in those situations.

 

[DSouthr]

Folks, I'm gonna call this one the "Chemistry" edition. Back in my "This Season's Team" post I previewed what I thought was coming in terms of better chemistry (btw, I got some more good stuff from my source this weekend, but I'll save that for later), and chemistry was in the air tonight. Roy talked about it pregame, Jason Capel raved about it on TV, and y'all watched it for yourselves. Davidson ain't no joke, yet we took them apart ---kicked butt, took names and told their mommas about it.

The Good:
Transition, transition, and more transition. That was "pretty" Carolina basketball (as my late Aunt used to call it).
D-up, clean the boards, outlet pass, fill the lanes, pitch ahead. Somewhere Dean was smiling. The official stat guys tend to muck up transition numbers with us, but here's the deal:
26 Fast Break points, and 41 points off the Secondary Break.
Folks, that's 67 outta 98 points coming from transition! Day-yum!
We didn't have to run much half-court offense

Experience: We so thoroughly dismantled Davidson from the get-go that there were a lot more extra minutes to go around than Roy could have hoped for: 10 guys in double figure minutes, and nobody played more than 26.

Defense: Our best team-defensive game thus far, and against an explosive scoring team. Played high screens better and challenged most of their 3-balls (held them to 8-for-31 from deep).
At this point I have to make a special commendation: Joel Berry did an absolute number on their best player, Jack Gibbs. Gibbs has already gone for 40 this season. He had to work his butt off to end up with 19 in 36 minutes, but by my count only got 5 of his points tonight on Berry (Gibbs was JB's main assignment), and Berry was directly responsible for 4 of Gibbs' 5 TOs. That's two weeks in a row a prominent opposing PG has had trouble hanging onto the ball

Spreading the wealth: Brice was a beast at times. Nate had his best offensive outing as a Heel --- gave back a few on defense but he played a good, efficient ballgame. Big Joel had a nice second half, and Theo just keeps contributing well in all areas.

Roles: Tonight we saw it. The starting lineup is a no-brainer and will be a nightmare for opponents. We have depth up front and Theo is the ultimate energy-guy off the bench. There have been times where it has looked like Britt might struggle to accept his role, but you could see him embrace it tonight and he gave us the kind of contribution we'll need from him. Good on ya, Nate!
The net result of our chemistry was there was little team drop-off when Roy subbed tonight, and he was able to do so often. With Berry at PG we were running hot at 2.51 PPM, and the fact that there was so little drop-off speaks well for how well we played as a team.

Misc Notes: I SO want to see Kenny Williams hit his first real college 3-pointer --- I have a feeling that will light up his confidence. He did a lot of nice things tonight and has a big ceiling IMO. Marcus got his first minutes at PG, logging a short stint with Williams, and a shorter one with Pinson. Also, congrats to Spencer Dalton on his first official Tar Heel points!

The Bad.
Not much, but although ball screen D was better, our Bigs didn't always defend smartly when they got caught in isolations away from the hoop. Teams are likely gonna try to spread things to get their stretch guys 1-on-1 with our Bigs. Gotta move our feet better in those situations.

First the bad, because my list of bad it really small. I felt Luke struggled to defend when he was isolated, Kenny seems to have his head a little messed up, I agree, love to see him knock down a couple jumpers to get his confidence going. Yet again, about 10 sec from entering the game big Joel picks up a illegal screen foul. Finally, how was it again that HIcks didn't pick up a travel call on that play where he drove the basket on one side and still had the ball coming back out about half way up the lane? LOL

But the good was all over the place, complete domination on both ends of the court of a really good davidson team, a team undefeated until last night. Loved the scoring but Davidson was over matched inside, they have a lot of those 6'8-9" 220-240lb guys but they do not jump well nor are they quick to the ball. Our bigs either out strengthed them or played over them combine that to excellent passing and our hitting outside jump shots, hard for any team in the country to beat us, we saw our A game last, I have yet to see a better team than what I saw from us last night (this season).

PLease talk about that offensive explosion, it deserves to be talked about but for me this game was about how we defended. How our entire team, be they starters or those coming off the bench, we defended, we ran them in to the ground and we defended not just hard & smart but physically. After we defended we then owned the glass, the rebound belonged to Meeks, really blocked out well and once he sealed his man he went and got that rebound time after time.

But on a night we defended so well, for me there were 3 guys whose work on the defensive end just was steller, please go back and watch what they were doing off the ball, Berry, Marcus, and Theo! AS good as Marcus is as a offensive weapon, his defense has been just as good in these 2 games since he has been back. You can clearly see he is able to move much easier than he was last season, kid is flying to the ball and workin those puppies. Joel berry, now he does not have to leave his man as much and when he does it isn't nearly as far for him to be able to recover back, it is night & day the way Joel defends with marcus in there. Gibbs is in Trimbles class as a PG and in back to back games to draw such talents to have to defend would get the best of most any player but Joel stuck to Gibbs like fly paper, just hawking and harassing, shooting the passing lanes, stropping and off for another break opp. Kid is a heck of a mix between being physically able to hold his position and speed to hang with the opponents and now his back court mate Marcus is talking to him, the communication out there is really strong between those 2. Earlier this season some where concerned about Joel as a defender, I hope those concerns can be put to bed now and it be seen that it was not as much Joel as it was some of his mates were hanging him out.

But the guy I want to talk about has also had some folks asking in a concerned way about his defense,, Theo Pinson. I hope folks can now see the difference between Theo as a 2 and Theo as a wing, he was the Theo that I have been waiting for on the defensive end last night, absolutely smothering. Kid rotates to help and then back to his man, don't even think about driving on him he is arms, legs, and attitude. On 3 different occasions I can recall off the top of my head, Davidson tried to drive but Theo recovered back to his man and turned the ball back out top, on one after giving help to the left foul line extended and he recovers back to the deep right corner and turns the play back out, it is a little thing that few will even have noticed but it was text book on how Roy wants it done.

Just a wonderful powerful win, not against a sister of the poor, against a good Davidson team that were not just handed their first defeat last night but one that was a show of domination. I have seen players have great individual games this season, but I have not seen a team play more as a team in any game this season than what we saw last night. I don't know there would be a team in the country able to hang with us and keep it within single digits when we play like we did on both ends last night. These last 2 games may have been the best 2 games in a row we have played since our last natty and that IMO is huge for what this team can do this season.

 

[acarter0277]

Folks, I'm gonna call this one the "Chemistry" edition. Back in my "This Season's Team" post I previewed what I thought was coming in terms of better chemistry (btw, I got some more good stuff from my source this weekend, but I'll save that for later), and chemistry was in the air tonight. Roy talked about it pregame, Jason Capel raved about it on TV, and y'all watched it for yourselves. Davidson ain't no joke, yet we took them apart ---kicked butt, took names and told their mommas about it.

The Good:
Transition, transition, and more transition. That was "pretty" Carolina basketball (as my late Aunt used to call it).
D-up, clean the boards, outlet pass, fill the lanes, pitch ahead. Somewhere Dean was smiling. The official stat guys tend to muck up transition numbers with us, but here's the deal:
26 Fast Break points, and 41 points off the Secondary Break.
Folks, that's 67 outta 98 points coming from transition! Day-yum!
We didn't have to run much half-court offense

Experience: We so thoroughly dismantled Davidson from the get-go that there were a lot more extra minutes to go around than Roy could have hoped for: 10 guys in double figure minutes, and nobody played more than 26.

Defense: Our best team-defensive game thus far, and against an explosive scoring team. Played high screens better and challenged most of their 3-balls (held them to 8-for-31 from deep).
At this point I have to make a special commendation: Joel Berry did an absolute number on their best player, Jack Gibbs. Gibbs has already gone for 40 this season. He had to work his butt off to end up with 19 in 36 minutes, but by my count only got 5 of his points tonight on Berry (Gibbs was JB's main assignment), and Berry was directly responsible for 4 of Gibbs' 5 TOs. That's two weeks in a row a prominent opposing PG has had trouble hanging onto the ball

Spreading the wealth: Brice was a beast at times. Nate had his best offensive outing as a Heel --- gave back a few on defense but he played a good, efficient ballgame. Big Joel had a nice second half, and Theo just keeps contributing well in all areas.

Roles: Tonight we saw it. The starting lineup is a no-brainer and will be a nightmare for opponents. We have depth up front and Theo is the ultimate energy-guy off the bench. There have been times where it has looked like Britt might struggle to accept his role, but you could see him embrace it tonight and he gave us the kind of contribution we'll need from him. Good on ya, Nate!
The net result of our chemistry was there was little team drop-off when Roy subbed tonight, and he was able to do so often. With Berry at PG we were running hot at 2.51 PPM, and the fact that there was so little drop-off speaks well for how well we played as a team.

Misc Notes: I SO want to see Kenny Williams hit his first real college 3-pointer --- I have a feeling that will light up his confidence. He did a lot of nice things tonight and has a big ceiling IMO. Marcus got his first minutes at PG, logging a short stint with Williams, and a shorter one with Pinson. Also, congrats to Spencer Dalton on his first official Tar Heel points!

The Bad.
Not much, but although ball screen D was better, our Bigs didn't always defend smartly when they got caught in isolations away from the hoop. Teams are likely gonna try to spread things to get their stretch guys 1-on-1 with our Bigs. Gotta move our feet better in those situations.

As someone that gets to see and watch Davidson a lot, I've never seen someone disrupt their motion offense as much as Carolina did yesterday. I've seen Davidson just pick teams apart, and Carolina would just not allow it. If this team will will have that kind of buy in on the defensive end of the floor on a nightly basis, you could see a dominant March/April run like the 2009 team had. This team is GOOD. It was fun to watch.

 

[Spacegrass]

I knew we would put up 90 this game but I was expecting us to give up in that 75-85 point range this game. With the 5 day break coming off the big win against Maryland didn't expect the defense to be sharp. Davidson didn't shoot it great but the defense was legit.

 

[shun1]

Hi gary-7. Thank you for all the effort you put in to keep us informed on the on going development of our UNC TAR HEELS.

!!!!!!!!!!!! GO ROY & STAFF !!!!!!!!!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!! GO TAR HEELS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[gary-7]

it is night & day the way Joel defends with marcus in there. Gibbs is in Trimbles class as a PG and in back to back games to draw such talents to have to defend would get the best of most any player but Joel stuck to Gibbs like fly paper, just hawking and harassing, shooting the passing lanes, stropping and off for another break opp. Kid is a heck of a mix between being physically able to hold his position and speed to hang with the opponents and now his back court mate Marcus is talking to him, the communication out there is really strong between those 2. Earlier this season some where concerned about Joel as a defender, I hope those concerns can be put to bed now and it be seen that it was not as much Joel as it was some of his mates were hanging him out.

But the guy I want to talk about has also had some folks asking in a concerned way about his defense,, Theo Pinson. I hope folks can now see the difference between Theo as a 2 and Theo as a wing, he was the Theo that I have been waiting for on the defensive end last night, absolutely smothering. Kid rotates to help and then back to his man, don't even think about driving on him he is arms, legs, and attitude. On 3 different occasions I can recall off the top of my head, Davidson tried to drive but Theo recovered back to his man and turned the ball back out top, on one after giving help to the left foul line extended and he recovers back to the deep right corner and turns the play back out, it is a little thing that few will even have noticed but it was text book on how Roy wants it done.
.

Great points, Dave.
I will put it a bit more bluntly: Any concerns about JB's defense was simply misinformed. His only problem before was getting hung out to dry by his comrades. Amazing how that changed with A) Marcus back, and B) everyone playing in their proper positions. We've forced 13 TOs in the last two games from two top-notch PGs and JB was personally responsible for most of them... 'nuff said.

 

[gary-7]

As someone that gets to see and watch Davidson a lot, I've never seen someone disrupt their motion offense as much as Carolina did yesterday. I've seen Davidson just pick teams apart, and Carolina would just not allow it. If this team will will have that kind of buy in on the defensive end of the floor on a nightly basis, you could see a dominant March/April run like the 2009 team had. This team is GOOD. It was fun to watch.

Coach, that may be what impressed me the most. My eyes were focusing on our reactions to their constant motion and at times it was a thing of beauty. Communication was excellent, and the hi-low switches Davidson forces you into (which can be so problematic) were usually seamless ---.and watching JB and Marcus work together and how they maintain gap integrity and anticipate motion was special.

 

[coryfly]

Berry shooting the way he has alongside what we know Marcus does from outside is pretty lethal. Obviously a great job by Berry on Gibbs. I liked the way Roy kind of switched between having our bigs low as a focus and moving them around to clear space for driving as well. It isn't like this is anything new but last night the recognition seemed to be there by our drivers more and they took advantage of it. I was surprised and obviously impressed with how easy that game was.

 

[TPFKAPFS]

i was one of many that mentioned that JB was not staying in front of his man. He wasn't! I also pointed out that some of it was because of the bigs not hedging correctly or consistently. What I didn't know was how much of a difference MP made to the overall team D. He has made rotations much easier/shorter and exposed the work that Britt needs to do on D. Britt has excepted his role on O, and should continue to get better on D. Every time I think I have a handle on MP's greatness, he shows me something more! JB and MP are the best back court in the NCAA to me and they are bringing the rest of the team with them. KM and BJ seem to have figured out the necessary level of consistent effort and they are figuring out the perimeter D. Theo is a do-it-all that brings so much energy when he enters! I love Hicks's awkward athleticism and energy too.

This team is scary and I'm thrilled to be a Tar Heel!

 

[goheels653]

Gary (and anyone else with coaching experience), what do you guys see going on (in the details) with Hicks at this point? Candidly, I think he's been consistently solid with flashes of explosiveness, but I haven't seen him take a huge step forward that I really hoped we'd see this season. I keep assuming one day he is just going to bust out as a dominant force, but it doesn't feel like he's really changed much at all since last year.

 

[DSouthr]

i was one of many that mentioned that JB was not staying in front of his man. He wasn't! I also pointed out that some of it was because of the bigs not hedging correctly or consistently. What I didn't know was how much of a difference MP made to the overall team D. He has made rotations much easier/shorter and exposed the work that Britt needs to do on D. Britt has excepted his role on O, and should continue to get better on D. Every time I think I have a handle on MP's greatness, he shows me something more! JB and MP are the best back court in the NCAA to me and they are bringing the rest of the team with them. KM and BJ seem to have figured out the necessary level of consistent effort and they are figuring out the perimeter D. Theo is a do-it-all that brings so much energy when he enters! I love Hicks's awkward athleticism and energy too.

This team is scary and I'm thrilled to be a Tar Heel!

Yeah, it is cause & effect that had Joel struggle to stay in front. Always ask, was it a mental mistake, caught off balance or was he forced off and trying to recover. Not all the time but much of the time it looked like Joel was the problem it really wasn't him as much as one of his mates dropping their assignment. Joel was schooled really well prior to coming to UNC and he loves to defend, he was known as a bull dawg defender prior to college.

Hard to over state the value of communication between back court guys, even if you do not see the communication between Joel & Marcus you can for sure see the results of it.

 

[Steat]

Gary (and anyone else with coaching experience), what do you guys see going on (in the details) with Hicks at this point? Candidly, I think he's been consistently solid with flashes of explosiveness, but I haven't seen him take a huge step forward that I really hoped we'd see this season. I keep assuming one day he is just going to bust out as a dominant force, but it doesn't feel like he's really changed much at all since last year.

To round out his game Hicks needs to develop a 10-15 foot jumper, something that Brice has finally mastered. Notice that Hicks just bullies his way inside for off balance, short contested jump shots.

 

[gary-7]

Gary (and anyone else with coaching experience), what do you guys see going on (in the details) with Hicks at this point? Candidly, I think he's been consistently solid with flashes of explosiveness, but I haven't seen him take a huge step forward that I really hoped we'd see this season. I keep assuming one day he is just going to bust out as a dominant force, but it doesn't feel like he's really changed much at all since last year.

Hicks has actually made big strides in his offensive repertoire. He worked with David West and ran pickup with PJ Hairston and friends this summer. His aggression to the rack and finishing is markedly better and he has developed a sweet face-up jumper that we just haven't seen much in games yet. I still notice he gets himself out of position on the other end on defensive assignments and block-outs, which has affected his PT a bit.
Personally, I hope that A) he continues to improve, and B) he returns next season --- we're gonna need him badly,

 

[goheels653]

To Steat - I feel like Brice has always been able to knock it down from 10-15 feet. Ability to put the ball in the basket has never been his issue. I agree that Hicks could use that skill, and yes, it does feel like his go-to move is put the head down and bully his way to the rim. He's not too bad at it all things considered, but it seems out of place in Roy's scheme to me, and pretty low-percentage. I agree Gary, I hope he continues to improve and returns next season.

 

[gary-7]

Yeah, it is cause & effect that had Joel struggle to stay in front. Always ask, was it a mental mistake, caught off balance or was he forced off and trying to recover. Not all the time but much of the time it looked like Joel was the problem it really wasn't him as much as one of his mates dropping their assignment. Joel was schooled really well prior to coming to UNC and he loves to defend, he was known as a bull dawg defender prior to college.
Hard to over state the value of communication between back court guys, even if you do not see the communication between Joel & Marcus you can for sure see the results of it.

Precisely. JB is strong, quick and smart with long arms for his size and active sneaky hands. It's ironic that you only get credit for steals if you end up with the ball --- fair enough, he gets his share of those, but watch how many balls he gets his hands on, deflects to a teammate, or knocks it OB off the dribbler's leg (which he did twice Sunday). And he is very good at lurking and suddenly jumping the passing lane at the right time --- we all saw the spectacular steal & layup, but on another one the passer got spooked and threw it OB for a TO. Don't overlook the subtle ones that don't show up on the official stat sheet.

And as for communication, damn straight Marcus being back has helped that a bunch. Those two "tough little nuts" work well off each other on BOTH ends. Where we still need improvement is the communication from BEHIND, i.e., our Bigs keeping our Guards informed of what they're about to run into. If that gets right, watch out!