Stats and stuff (Davidson game)...

[gary-7]

...and if there was ever any doubt whom our most vital player is on both ends of the floor, well, there shouldn't have been (hint: he was wearing a suit and a boot).

Stats:
There's not much good, so I'll start with that:
- Team 27/34 FTs (79.4%). Ironically what had been an achilles heel probably won us this dadgummed game, truth be told.

- Justin was heat-checking and that was a good thing. He dominated as he should. Davidson has no one who can guard him and JJ stepped up. 27 and 8 including 7 3-balls.

- Luke Maye (10 pts, 6 Boards, 3 Steals) and Stilman White (6 pts, 6-6 FTs, 0 TOs and danged good defense). Also a sneaky-good floor game from BRob and hit his only 3 attempt.

The bad:
- shooting under 38% against a team we were physically superior to? Yikes.

- A lotta sloppy passing (more on that below) and 18 Blown Assists that weren't due to fouls

- Gibbs just did what he wanted --- at least until the last 2 minutes (more on that below). Granted he threw in some junk, but good grief. No way he should score 30 on us, nor should Aldridge score 22 --- granted he feasted on our "small" lineup, but still.

Stuff (and it's more about stuff this time):
- I wish I had one of those telestrators to draw concentric circles around video of our offense tonight compared to what it usually is. Spacing was generally terrible. Bad spacing accounted for a lot of the aforementioned sloppy passing, allowed Davidson to get their hands on too many balls and allowed them to help on what should have been open looks.

- Speaking of which, McKillup had them selling out on hard doubles on post entries (sometimes even anticipating the pass). Instead of making them pay we weren't able to find the open man.The reason? Again, mostly spacing.

- Kenny Williams. For the love of all that's holy, son, stop passing up open looks! For a shooter of your calibre, a catch-and-step-in 3 is basically a 60% shot. You passed up 5 of those tonight.

- Good move by Roy to mass sub about 5 and a half minutes in and down 10-3. Sparked by scrambling and some good defensive efforts by 7th, Stilman and Luke we went on a quick and vital 12-3 run to restore order.

- Also, a timely and long-overdue defensive adjustment, switching KW onto Gibbs for the last 2 minutes which shut down his spree. The fact that they were in striking distance that late is another matter.

- Finally, and I'm not gonna sugar-coat this part, our PG play was just not good at all. And it starts with spacing and floor balance. There are certain places you just don't take the ball unless you can do something with it and both Nate and 7th did that from the Point over and over. We probed too deep on the Secondary and allowed transition scores from Davidson on some misses as a result. I feel for 7th. He's a fish out of water there and taking some lumps. Nate, on the other hand, knows better. Hopefully he'll play more like a senior on Sunday. We will need him to play well if JB can't go.

Well, as many here opined, Davidson would not be a pushover --- they weren't. However, the game shouldn't have been in doubt with under 2 minutes to go --- it was. Still, we got the W. Learn from it and move forward...

 

[goheels653]

Said this on another thread, but I don't know why anyone expected us to dominate without Berry. The 10-15 point range we led by the majority of the game was honestly pretty solid considering our lack of spacing and flow on offense without Berry. Big picture, I don't like this team's reliance on the 3 lately, but with Berry out last night it was big that Jackson was on fire (obviously). Otherwise, I didn't like that we let them back in the game late, but was pleased with the close out to put them away again.

On Britt, I've always been inclined to like the kid. Poor showing last night filling in for Berry at the point, but maybe we saw the reason Roy doesn't give Britt many/any minutes at the point when Berry is healthy. Maybe he played so poorly last night because he was dog tired from chasing Gibbs and otherwise out of position on offense. Regardless, Roy felt like we were better off with him and Stillman running the point than our day to day back up point guard (Woods) for the most part, which again just tells us how important Berry is, as if that was in question. Anyways, give Britt a break... it could've been worse, and would've been worse had Woods been given 30 minutes at the point spot. Woods is showing better flashes of his skill and athleticism the last couple of games, but he's clearly not ready to lead the team at the most important position in the Carolina system.

 

[coryfly]

I think the defensive effort was part of it. Anyone who has had to try and dog a great player before understands that can impact you on the other end. It wasn't all of it but was part of it. I like Britt much better as an off guard even though his size hurts him there but he simply has to play some point with Berry out. He just needs Phil Jackson's rule about dribbling. Hold the ball no more than a couple of seconds. You should be doing something with it by then.

 

[RP12]

I would still have preferred Woods to see more minutes at PG than Britt last night. He isn't ready but neither is Britt, and I think the bigs would've been more involved comparatively. We would've had the few crazy plays with Woods, but didn't we anyway?

This is not meant to bash Britt, who like many have said is much more able to contribute playing primarily off the ball.

 

[Heelicious]

Britt took his fair share of abuse here, including from me. He earned it IMO.

What do people think about Meeks game? or last two games against meaningful opponents? I think he has regressed. He has a handful of plays each game it seems where he gets totally stuffed or outrebounded or posterized by guys 4+ inches shorter and 50 pounds lighter than him. And he again was basically a no-show regarding getting good post position, receiving the ball and scoring.

When he puts the ball on the floor, its a guaranteed steal, turnover, leading to a break the other way.

The fact that he can't get one inch of lift when needed is such a liability. I really fear what will happen when he gets up against very good bigs (UK, Duke).

He's got above average shooting touch from 10-15 feet, and can use the glass well. We need him to play - I just wish Roy would camp him in the high post. He doesn't have the skills or the grit to be a low block factor IMO. Shameful how much he gets owned down there.

 

[coryfly]

Britt has had some really good moments for us in some big games in the past. I think he will again as well. People tend to only remember the bad with the players they don't like and the good with those they do. He struggled some but we will need him at some point and he will probably deliver.

 

[Spaceytoyz]

Britt should break in to the Smith center steal that game tape and burn it..

 

[dadika13]

I won a healthy amount of money on Davidson +16 last night. Vegas was nuts thinking we'd blow them out.

 

[al would]

The part about the spacing in the first five minutes, or rather the entire first part of the game when the 1rst team was in, was spot on. Spacing was terrible, therefore passing angles were terrible and our guys were simply forcing, or trying to force passes where they should never have been thrown. 2nd team coming in had much better spacing and it paid off. Nate just didn't look comfy or confident in much of anything he did and Seventh just needs to quit trying to force things so much. That said .. any win is a good win and it's a good thing we were not playing a better opponent but give Davidson their due, they are a scrappy team and McKillop is a good coach.

 

[gary-7]

Britt has had some really good moments for us in some big games in the past. I think he will again as well. People tend to only remember the bad with the players they don't like and the good with those they do. He struggled some but we will need him at some point and he will probably deliver.

I really think Nate will take a pride-check, bow up and play better Sunday. He's taken some of his own lumps since he's been here and generally works to get better from them.

One other point though, as @RP12 said, Nate does better for us off the ball. The one thing I wish we'd have seen more of last night was Stilman running Point when he was in. With all due respect to Adam, in his 15 minutes Stilman only played PG on two possessions (late in his first-half run with 7th)... and I think (but can't swear to it) that Roy called for both of those from the bench --- and we scored easily on both possessions.

Roy pretty much put the 7th PG experiment on hold in the second half once things tightened up, and while Stilman did quite well in the Marcus Paige ball-handling-2-Guard role, I believe we would have been better off with him running the show when he was in and letting Nate slide to the 2 (where he's gotten more comfortable) when they're in together. If JB can't go Sunday I really hope we see that. And I'd also like to see some Stilman/Kenny backcourt minutes.

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

I've liked and defended Nate for 3 years but let's be honest: he doesn't look as good this year. He isn't playing as well as previously and he just doesn't look as involved or committed as in past seasons.

Checking his stats over the years tends to support this impression. Stat by stat, this is his 2nd best season or 3rd best season. And even his worst season on a few things (2-pt%, FT% and TS%). Sure, it's early yet. But that's not encouraging. Especially since Nate has always been one of the players who was most ready to go early in the season.

Is it because he lost the battle with Joel to start at PG (and with Theo to start at SG)? Is it because he's even being pushed aside to give Seventh more minutes? These are simple truths and I'm sure Nate understands them. But that doesn't mean he isn't disappointed. And disappointment takes its toll. No, I'm not saying that he looks like JP or he who shall not be named. But he doesn't look like the Nate I'm used to seeing.

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

I really think Nate will take a pride-check, bow up and play better Sunday. He's taken some of his own lumps since he's been here and generally works to get better from them.

One other point though, as @RP12 said, Nate does better for us off the ball. The one thing I wish we'd have seen more of last night was Stilman running Point when he was in. With all due respect to Adam, in his 15 minutes Stilman only played PG on two possessions (late in his first-half run with 7th)... and I think (but can't swear to it) that Roy called for both of those from the bench --- and we scored easily on both possessions.

Roy pretty much put the 7th PG experiment on hold in the second half once things tightened up, and while Stilman did quite well in the Marcus Paige ball-handling-2-Guard role, I believe we would have been better off with him running the show when he was in and letting Nate slide to the 2 (where he's gotten more comfortable) when they're in together. If JB can't go Sunday I really hope we see that. And I'd also like to see some Stilman/Kenny backcourt minutes.

I enjoyed seeing Stilman have a good game. Last year it looked like he wasn't working too hard at being a serious contributor. But this year he looks good. A shame for him that this team is loaded with once and future PGs. He could start for a few ACC teams and be a solid #2 for several more.

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

I wish someone would explain why it seems so darned hard to get the ball inside - even against short teams.

Most of the game it seemed I was looking at just ONE of our bigs (usually Kennedy or Tony and I don't know where Isaiah was), not too close to the basket, asking for the ball but well-covered.

So we went into the pass-pass-stop-and-look-around-pass-stop-pass-bad-shot mode. What kind of offense is that? Sometimes the pass would find Justin and we'd score, but what if Justin had a less excellent game?

 

[UNC71-00]

The refs screwed us in this one.

 

[gary-7]

I wish someone would explain why it seems so darned hard to get the ball inside - even against short teams.

Most of the game it seemed I was looking at just ONE of our bigs (usually Kennedy or Tony and I don't know where Isaiah was), not too close to the basket, asking for the ball but well-covered.

So we went into the pass-pass-stop-and-look-around-pass-stop-pass-bad-shot mode. What kind of offense is that? Sometimes the pass would find Justin and we'd score, but what if Justin had a less excellent game?

Granted, our Bigs needed to be more active, but a lot was spacing and ball movement on the perimeter. We weren't getting the proverbial "pass-that-leads-to-the-pass" as much as usual.

 

[gary-7]

I enjoyed seeing Stilman have a good game. Last year it looked like he wasn't working too hard at being a serious contributor. But this year he looks good. A shame for him that this team is loaded with once and future PGs. He could start for a few ACC teams and be a solid #2 for several more.

A quick note on Stilman: Folks forget he was a solid back-up PG behind Butter as a freshman, played in every game I believe and sported something like a 5/1 Assist/TO ratio, and of course was solid when forced to start in the NCAAs. If not for the Mormon Mission he would have been a big-minute part of our rotation going forward.

After he got back, as you said, things were crowded, and he had a hard time getting back into playing shape with an early ankle injury and then last season a stress-fracture of some sort. He's healthy now, and he's a far more confident shooter than was as a frosh. He can knock down the 3-ball and he's deadly from the FT line and of course he still takes care of the rock. He knows the system backwards and forwards and he's what now?... 24? Grown-ass man.

Most importantly, Stilman is a natural PG. He has the instincts, understands spacing, is a good passer, plays solid man-up defense (and heady team-D), and the ball doesn't stick to his hands. The guys on the team will tell you, Stilman is no scrub --- he can flat play. As Justin said last night, it's just a matter of him getting his chance.

 

[DSouthr]

I am very disappointed this morning, that is good, I was pissed last night so I have mellowed a lot! I don't care that the game was closer than expected, a win is a win.But 31 minutes of my eyes bleeding watching Nate Britt as our PG...

Nate has always struck me as being way to casual with the ball, you can hide that some at the 2 but not at the point. Nate may be a great kid but this is about his play, not what kind of kid he is. At the point he pounds the ball way to much, does not seem to play with that sense of urgency, nothing crisp and guys seem to tend to settle in to positions and movement slows. I was really disappointed that 7th didn't get more of a run last night, he got what, 11mins and nate got 31...WTH...

I saw a metric, can not guarantee its accuracy but it passed my eye test, we were +12 with 7th at the point, we were -7 with nate. Considering that 7th was playing mostly with the starters, that is especially troubling.

 

[gary-7]

I am very disappointed this morning, that is good, I was pissed last night so I have mellowed a lot! I don't care that the game was closer than expected, a win is a win.But 31 minutes of my eyes bleeding watching Nate Britt as our PG...

Nate has always struck me as being way to casual with the ball, you can hide that some at the 2 but not at the point. Nate may be a great kid but this is about his play, not what kind of kid he is. At the point he pounds the ball way to much, does not seem to play with that sense of urgency, nothing crisp and guys seem to tend to settle in to positions and movement slows. I was really disappointed that 7th didn't get more of a run last night, he got what, 11mins and nate got 31...WTH...

I saw a metric, can not guarantee its accuracy but it passed my eye test, we were +12 with 7th at the point, we were -7 with nate. Considering that 7th was playing mostly with the starters, that is especially troubling.

In fairness Dave 7th's +/- was helped by playing with the subs on their good runs and his abbreviated minutes. He was just lost offensively at Point.

 

[DSouthr]

In fairness Dave 7th's +/- was helped by playing with the subs on their good runs and his abbreviated minutes. He was just lost offensively at Point.

Gary my friend, 31 min of Nate as our PG, lost does not begin to explain that, I would rather see the freshman make freshman mistakes than a senior make freshman mistakes.

 

[RyanJamesIII]

I only watched about 5 mins of the game but Maye looked pretty solid. Had 5 quick points.

 

[gary-7]

Gary my friend, 31 min of Nate as our PG, lost does not begin to explain that, I would rather see the freshman make freshman mistakes than a senior make freshman mistakes.

...or maybe trust the other senior who doesn't make those mistakes with the keys while the leader-dog heals up.

 

[al would]

...or maybe trust the other senior who doesn't make those mistakes with the keys while the leader-dog heals up.

Absolutely !! I remember Stillman being a fairly decent point guard and making a positive impact in the games he played in back when I was in college .. and now that I'm almost ready to retire he's still doing a great job !! When playing point at UNC sometimes experience is a WHOLE LOT BETTER than raw talent . Now that's funny right there .. don't care who ya' are

 

[gary-7]

Absolutely !! I remember Stillman being a fairly decent point guard and making a positive impact in the games he played in back when I was in college .. and now that I'm almost ready to retire he's still doing a great job !! When playing point at UNC sometimes experience is a WHOLE LOT BETTER than raw talent . Now that's funny right there .. don't care who ya' are

...maybe he can pick up a Social Security check with his diploma when he leaves

 

[toophly1124]

I think Stilman needs burn even when Berry gets back. I really like how comfortable he is in the offense. He doesn't seem to force bad shots And he hits his free throws.

 

[UNC71-00]

I think Stilman needs burn even when Berry gets back. I really like how comfortable he is in the offense. He doesn't seem to force bad shots And he hits his free throws.

Yep- I agree with this

 

[Hark_The_Sound_2010]

People tend to only remember the bad with the players they don't like and the good with those they do.

I agree with this. I'll never forgive Nate for single handedly losing us that Wisconsin sweet 16 game a couple years ago, and I now see him through that lens. On the other hand, I love Hicks and probably give him a longer leash than I should on some of his ill advised fouls.

 

[UNC71-00]

I agree with this. I'll never forgive Nate for single handedly losing us that Wisconsin sweet 16 game a couple years ago, and I now see him through that lens. On the other hand, I love Hicks and probably give him a longer leash than I should on some of his ill advised fouls.

I do the same thing with poasters.

 

[acarter0277]

...and if there was ever any doubt whom our most vital player is on both ends of the floor, well, there shouldn't have been (hint: he was wearing a suit and a boot).

Stats:
There's not much good, so I'll start with that:
- Team 27/34 FTs (79.4%). Ironically what had been an achilles heel probably won us this dadgummed game, truth be told.

- Justin was heat-checking and that was a good thing. He dominated as he should. Davidson has no one who can guard him and JJ stepped up. 27 and 8 including 7 3-balls.

- Luke Maye (10 pts, 6 Boards, 3 Steals) and Stilman White (6 pts, 6-6 FTs, 0 TOs and danged good defense). Also a sneaky-good floor game from BRob and hit his only 3 attempt.

The bad:
- shooting under 38% against a team we were physically superior to? Yikes.

- A lotta sloppy passing (more on that below) and 18 Blown Assists that weren't due to fouls

- Gibbs just did what he wanted --- at least until the last 2 minutes (more on that below). Granted he threw in some junk, but good grief. No way he should score 30 on us, nor should Aldridge score 22 --- granted he feasted on our "small" lineup, but still.

Stuff (and it's more about stuff this time):
- I wish I had one of those telestrators to draw concentric circles around video of our offense tonight compared to what it usually is. Spacing was generally terrible. Bad spacing accounted for a lot of the aforementioned sloppy passing, allowed Davidson to get their hands on too many balls and allowed them to help on what should have been open looks.

- Speaking of which, McKillup had them selling out on hard doubles on post entries (sometimes even anticipating the pass). Instead of making them pay we weren't able to find the open man.The reason? Again, mostly spacing.

- Kenny Williams. For the love of all that's holy, son, stop passing up open looks! For a shooter of your calibre, a catch-and-step-in 3 is basically a 60% shot. You passed up 5 of those tonight.

- Good move by Roy to mass sub about 5 and a half minutes in and down 10-3. Sparked by scrambling and some good defensive efforts by 7th, Stilman and Luke we went on a quick and vital 12-3 run to restore order.

- Also, a timely and long-overdue defensive adjustment, switching KW onto Gibbs for the last 2 minutes which shut down his spree. The fact that they were in striking distance that late is another matter.

- Finally, and I'm not gonna sugar-coat this part, our PG play was just not good at all. And it starts with spacing and floor balance. There are certain places you just don't take the ball unless you can do something with it and both Nate and 7th did that from the Point over and over. We probed too deep on the Secondary and allowed transition scores from Davidson on some misses as a result. I feel for 7th. He's a fish out of water there and taking some lumps. Nate, on the other hand, knows better. Hopefully he'll play more like a senior on Sunday. We will need him to play well if JB can't go.

Well, as many here opined, Davidson would not be a pushover --- they weren't. However, the game shouldn't have been in doubt with under 2 minutes to go --- it was. Still, we got the W. Learn from it and move forward...

I told my buddy that I was watching the game with that, when I saw Nate was starting, I hoped Roy put Kenny on Gibbs and Nate on #3. But obviously that didn't happen. Gibbs is stout and strong, and even when Nate was in good defensive position, Gibbs was able to bully his way into getting separation.

Bottom line is that our bigs HAVE to play better. Opposing teams got a good blueprint of how to attack our bigs with the way Davidson doubled them last night. None of our bigs handled it well.

 

[gary-7]

I told my buddy that I was watching the game with that, when I saw Nate was starting, I hoped Roy put Kenny on Gibbs and Nate on #3. But obviously that didn't happen. Gibbs is stout and strong, and even when Nate was in good defensive position, Gibbs was able to bully his way into getting separation.

Bottom line is that our bigs HAVE to play better. Opposing teams got a good blueprint of how to attack our bigs with the way Davidson doubled them last night. None of our bigs handled it well.

Agree and agree.
On the first part, I really thought Roy would make the adjustment at the least to start the second half, since by then it was clear Nate couldn't do anything with Gibbs. On the other hand Kenny got himself in trouble thanks to that useless foul on the first possession so that could have been a deterrent.
And on the second part, hell, Davidson was telegraphing their doubles but our Bigs were just taking their sweet time reacting --- that backside flash ain't gonna be there long. Plus, as mentioned the perimeter spacing was too bunched up to get many clean kick-outs or quick reversals.

 

[Archer2]

...or maybe trust the other senior who doesn't make those mistakes with the keys while the leader-dog heals up.

My thought exactly. I prefer Stilman over Nate at the point.

 

[Heelicious]

I told my buddy that I was watching the game with that, when I saw Nate was starting, I hoped Roy put Kenny on Gibbs and Nate on #3. But obviously that didn't happen. Gibbs is stout and strong, and even when Nate was in good defensive position, Gibbs was able to bully his way into getting separation.

Bottom line is that our bigs HAVE to play better. Opposing teams got a good blueprint of how to attack our bigs with the way Davidson doubled them last night. None of our bigs handled it well.

I wonder why Bradley didn't get much playing time second half. I don't recall seeing him at all in that half, at least not late. Maybe his size and inability to chase on the perimeter kept him out.

 

[gary-7]

I wonder why Bradley didn't get much playing time second half. I don't recall seeing him at all in that half, at least not late. Maybe his size and inability to chase on the perimeter kept him out.

Yep, and their stretch guy was a match-up issue.

 

[dadika13]

Yep, and their stretch guy was a match-up issue.

I get that, but Tony also would have been a match up issue on the other end for them.

Puzzling why he didn't give one of our best players more run.

 

[Archer2]

Yep, and Tony has hit the wall a little bit. All of you who thought he was going to be a OAD are mistaken. He is what he is, a solid Freshman who will have very good games and very average games, depending on his confidence level.

 

[mikeirbyusa]

Nate did have 6 Dimes. And chased after one of the NCAAs leading scorers. Still like/appreciate him.

 

[Archer2]

Nate did have 6 Dimes. And chased after one of the NCAAs leading scorers. Still like/appreciate him.

As do I. Like all players, he has his limitations. He just needs to recognize what they are and adjust his game accordingly. Not the easiest thing to do for a guy who probably thought he would be starting by his Junior year. To his credit, he has accepted his lesser role and been a good team player, something many players in his situation aren't able to do.

All these kids come out of high school with great expectations. When they don't come to fruition, many times the player sulks and causes turmoil, or transfers. Nate has been the consumate team player. For that alone, I salute him.

 

[coryfly]

Last night I charted the first half, just watching Nate on Gibbs and nothing else. He was really good on him. There were a ton of times where he forced him to give the ball up or contested his shot. Maybe his D got worse in the second half (haven't gotten there yet) but I feel those who feel his defense in the first was awful are just looking to be critical of him for whatever reason.

 

[Archer2]

Gibbs is a load to defend, Cory. I think we can all agree on that. Getting Joel, and hopefully Theo, back healthy will mean the world to our defense. By the end of the year, I think we'll be about as good defensively as any other team we'll face, again predicated on Theo and Joel being healthy.

 

[TPFKAPFS]

Without any data analysis, I thought our D on Gibbs was pretty good. As predicted he got his number but had to throw up a lot of shots to get them. This is turning into a UNC strategy, to force the opponents go-to guy to try to put the team on his back, then switch defenders so he becomes even more uncomfortable. You start the 2nd half with what appears is the same ol' since they have thought about how to beat it AND then the switch when they have little time to adjust! Brilliant!

I am disappointed in our Bigs' response to the double since this is basic bball! Spacing and simple poise was all we needed to fix this dadgum it!

 

[Butterbutt44]

Nate was brutal the other night in almost every aspect. Need him to play better, but I've come to accept he's inconsistent and since he's a senior he is what he is. Theo will be needed desperately before this seasons over.