Theme stuff:
Credit: Let's start off by giving credit where it's due: Ga Tech had a week and a half off, and they obviously spent it preparing for UNC. Their game plan was excellent. After we ran them outta their own gym last year, this time they took care of the ball vs our pressure (only 9 forced TOs) and caused us problems on the other end by studying and anticipating our patterns and movement principles in our transition game. At least 6 of our TOs were a direct result of that. Gregory, for all his staff and personnel issues, is a damned good basketball coach and he had his guys ready. As well as I know the Carolina system, that is sure as hell the way I would play us if I had his bunch. Also, their Bigs shot well inside and they shot 7/15 from 3... and many of those were highly contested.
Continuity: Roy did something odd by inexplicably subbing out Berry right before the under-16 --- he normally goes at least to the under-12 or longer --- at a time we were just starting to wake up and click and JB had been playing well (EDIT: Roy said they were concerned because JB took a blow to the head on the missed block-charge call). The whole thing just seemed to throw the team out of rhythm. Nate didn't seem mentally ready and JB struggled when he returned. We proceeded to dig ourselves a hole we just started to crawl out of by halftime. I know it sounds silly to some, but these things matter.
Calls: The officiating was once again just awful, especially in the first half. Objectively 3 of Brices' fouls were totally invented, and there were several others. Now though... for those of you who complained about Roy not working the zebras, he sure as hell did today. Roy was all over Clarence Armstrong at halftime with good reason --- flat gave him the treatment --- and the calls were more even in the second half.
Accountability: At points late in the first half, Roy pulled Maye for poor post D technique, Berry for being careless with the ball, and Marcus for lazy D on #2 (Williams went in for D over the final 1:49)
Turning Point: With 6:19 to go and the score GT 67 - UNC 65, Roy went back to his starting backcourt, and we finally woke up and proceeded to reel off 6:19 of Carolina Basketball. We got in their grilles, manned up on the glass, set screens, attacked the rim, and nailed shots, including JB's cold-blooded 3 off beautiful team spacing and a sweet dime by Marcus. When the smoke cleared after that closing 21-11 run (that's 3.3 PPM folks), the final result: UNC 86 - GT 78.
Other stuff:
- Hicks is getting better and better at Post-D --- working hard off the ball --- on the other hand Luke has some work to do in that phase (not unusual for true Freshmen).
- Theo couldn't stay on the damned floor for committing silly fouls
- Marcus steadied the flow more than once by creating his shot.
- And Big Joel might have quietly had his best game --- caught the ball, finished in the paint, and came up big on D down the stretch with Brice in trouble --- 11 and 5 on 5/6 shooting in 21 minutes.
- And Brice? Kudos to the big fella for helping his team despite a HOSING by the zebras --- 15 and 11 while limited to 26 minutes!
- Joel Berry is a tough-ass, cold-blooded dog when it counts. Suffered through a rough stretch with the ball (Tech got him 3 times with the aforementioned anticipation in transition), but essentially took control of the game for us in that last 6:19, during which JB scored 11 of our last 21, including the big 3 to finally give us a lead we wouldn't relinquish, followed by an old-fashioned 3-point-play right down their backs, and 6/7 FTs. BTW he also had a blocked shot he didn't get credit for that caused an air-ball 3. Finished with 4 total Assists but also had 5 more blown.
Good numbers: 11 FB points, 32 Secondary Break (that's half our points), 51% FGs, 24/29 FTs (yessir!)
Bad numbers: 2/12 from 3 ('nuff said)
Credit: Let's start off by giving credit where it's due: Ga Tech had a week and a half off, and they obviously spent it preparing for UNC. Their game plan was excellent. After we ran them outta their own gym last year, this time they took care of the ball vs our pressure (only 9 forced TOs) and caused us problems on the other end by studying and anticipating our patterns and movement principles in our transition game. At least 6 of our TOs were a direct result of that. Gregory, for all his staff and personnel issues, is a damned good basketball coach and he had his guys ready. As well as I know the Carolina system, that is sure as hell the way I would play us if I had his bunch. Also, their Bigs shot well inside and they shot 7/15 from 3... and many of those were highly contested.
Continuity: Roy did something odd by inexplicably subbing out Berry right before the under-16 --- he normally goes at least to the under-12 or longer --- at a time we were just starting to wake up and click and JB had been playing well (EDIT: Roy said they were concerned because JB took a blow to the head on the missed block-charge call). The whole thing just seemed to throw the team out of rhythm. Nate didn't seem mentally ready and JB struggled when he returned. We proceeded to dig ourselves a hole we just started to crawl out of by halftime. I know it sounds silly to some, but these things matter.
Calls: The officiating was once again just awful, especially in the first half. Objectively 3 of Brices' fouls were totally invented, and there were several others. Now though... for those of you who complained about Roy not working the zebras, he sure as hell did today. Roy was all over Clarence Armstrong at halftime with good reason --- flat gave him the treatment --- and the calls were more even in the second half.
Accountability: At points late in the first half, Roy pulled Maye for poor post D technique, Berry for being careless with the ball, and Marcus for lazy D on #2 (Williams went in for D over the final 1:49)
Turning Point: With 6:19 to go and the score GT 67 - UNC 65, Roy went back to his starting backcourt, and we finally woke up and proceeded to reel off 6:19 of Carolina Basketball. We got in their grilles, manned up on the glass, set screens, attacked the rim, and nailed shots, including JB's cold-blooded 3 off beautiful team spacing and a sweet dime by Marcus. When the smoke cleared after that closing 21-11 run (that's 3.3 PPM folks), the final result: UNC 86 - GT 78.
Other stuff:
- Hicks is getting better and better at Post-D --- working hard off the ball --- on the other hand Luke has some work to do in that phase (not unusual for true Freshmen).
- Theo couldn't stay on the damned floor for committing silly fouls
- Marcus steadied the flow more than once by creating his shot.
- And Big Joel might have quietly had his best game --- caught the ball, finished in the paint, and came up big on D down the stretch with Brice in trouble --- 11 and 5 on 5/6 shooting in 21 minutes.
- And Brice? Kudos to the big fella for helping his team despite a HOSING by the zebras --- 15 and 11 while limited to 26 minutes!
- Joel Berry is a tough-ass, cold-blooded dog when it counts. Suffered through a rough stretch with the ball (Tech got him 3 times with the aforementioned anticipation in transition), but essentially took control of the game for us in that last 6:19, during which JB scored 11 of our last 21, including the big 3 to finally give us a lead we wouldn't relinquish, followed by an old-fashioned 3-point-play right down their backs, and 6/7 FTs. BTW he also had a blocked shot he didn't get credit for that caused an air-ball 3. Finished with 4 total Assists but also had 5 more blown.
Good numbers: 11 FB points, 32 Secondary Break (that's half our points), 51% FGs, 24/29 FTs (yessir!)
Bad numbers: 2/12 from 3 ('nuff said)
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