Stats and stuff (Radford game)...

[gary-7]

...and given today's opponent I accepted an invitation to go to the Marquette-UGA game (hey, free transportation, booster club food and primo seats). Hoped I would get to heckle Wojo, but our seats were behind the GA bench, not theirs. And the little bastard's team shot lights out and won. Oh well.

Anyway tried to watch our game too thru a balky internet stream but gave up and was relegated to the ESPN game run, so I'll just catch the replay later. Obviously I noticed Kenny's offensive coming-out party with 19 and 5/6 3s --- VERY heartening to see --- and on the other end my stomach almost came up thru my danged throat when I saw the notification on my phone that JB went down ... Sheesh. Please let that be minor!

So... interested to hear, what other "stuff" did everyone see? Go....

 

[imajericho]

Seventh can run the offense at the scoring pace of JB. It is ugly at times, but it can happen. He turns it over too much right now but he is a freshman out of chemistry right now.

 

[RoseHeel]

Roy on JB:



Roy sounds a bit positive, so that's encouraging. I didn't see when he went down though.

On a very high note, the sharpshooting K. Williams we were told about in his high school years just made himself known in spectacular fashion. Hope to see more of what we saw tonight from him!

 

[carolinablue34]

JB's injury doesn't appear to be serious. Ankles can be bothersome but I think he will be ready for Kentucky.

 

[Ozheelfan]

There were a few posters sceptical about KW's shooting after last season.... kinda "believe it when I see it"

Well, now we've seen it, so start believing!

 

[coryfly]

Yeah, Berry walked off the court so that's a good sign. Ankles hurt like hell but the only time I had severe ligament damage I couldn't walk off like he did so hopefully that is a good sign. Kenny was great, the bigs were ok but struggled a little more than I thought they would, Jackson played well but didn't shoot well from outside, Britt was Britt, Seventh is a scoring PG and still doesn't quite 'get' the offense but will get there IMO. Maye doesn't look the same as he did before the injury to me.

Still gave up too many ORs with certain frontcourt combos.

 

[Butterbutt44]

Not gonna lose my mind about Kenny just yet. Was a horrible team we played and he was wide open on most of his looks. Theo is still clearly my starter when he comes back.

Having said that, between Kenny and Britt it ain't close who should be starting and getting more minutes. Still don't believe Roy went w Britt Wednesday vs IU.

 

[gary-7]

Yeah, Berry walked off the court so that's a good sign. Ankles hurt like hell but the only time I had severe ligament damage I couldn't walk off like he did so hopefully that is a good sign. Kenny was great, the bigs were ok but struggled a little more than I thought they would, Jackson played well but didn't shoot well from outside, Britt was Britt, Seventh is a scoring PG and still doesn't quite 'get' the offense but will get there IMO. Maye doesn't look the same as he did before the injury to me.

Still gave up too many ORs with certain frontcourt combos.

FTs are still an issue. We need to get that team number up over 70%. Kennedy (1/5) and Tony (4/8) were the big culprits today.

Just watched the replay and I was just concerned with one specific stat --- Secondary Break pts. These more often than not don't show up in the transition pts you see listed, but they are key to our system, and we haven't been scoring enough off the early-possession iterations we use. Today, in addition to the listed 12 Fast Break points, we got 31 more off the Secondary Break. That's more like what we're looking for.

 

[2DDIMOND]

Not gonna lose my mind about Kenny just yet. Was a horrible team we played and he was wide open on most of his looks. Theo is still clearly my starter when he comes back.

Having said that, between Kenny and Britt it ain't close who should be starting and getting more minutes. Still don't believe Roy went w Britt Wednesday vs IU.

Please read Adam Lucas' latest article, the last paragraph in particular.

 

[DSouthr]

Well, we did what we were suppose to do, we won by 45, even with Luke playing some minutes! LOL I think we all held our collective breath when Joel went down but fortunately looks like he will be fine, low ankle sprain. Kenny really got us off early, Rad wanted to double off him and he showed them very early that is not a good plan. Could not help but recall the many times I was told this summer that kenny was 1-13 shooting treys last season, had to smile. Our big men have to work on free throws, Hicks is money but Meeks and Tony are not and Tony seems to be especially struggling there. He is a lil stiff legged and does not put a lot of arch on his free throws. Considering that both those fellas will get to the line a lot this has to get cleaned up.

My man of mystery, Meeks, he is really becoming a force down low, don't think I have seen him pinned under the basket and pump faking 5 or 6 times this season, he is setting up in position to have a little more room to operate and he is using his size and strength well to establish position and to finish with. Rad was not size enough to really challenge him.

Just glanced at the box score, saw 7th with 5 TO, that kinda ugly, couple of those were the not on the same page variety where 7th thought a guy was going to do one thing and did another, errors of commission are better than errors of omission.

Guy that earned a shout out IMO yesterday was 7th Woods and thou he is still very clearly proving he is a freshman with little experience as a PG, he still gets lost defensively, he still trys a pass that isn't there, I felt like he played his best game for us so far in his young career yesterday. He pushed the ball, yeah a lil to deep a couple times but he nailed a nice jumper or 2, had a nice finish in the paint in a crowd, and really nice strip and flush. He came in when Joel went down and IMO showed a glimpse of things to come.

Maybe it is just me but I would like to see Hicks get more offensively involved earlier, run some plays for him, he seems to have to go get what ever comes his way. Tony got a double double I believe but I sense him hitting that freshman wall a lil bit. He had a huge length advantage yesterday but he doesn't seem to me to be playing as relaxed as he was earlier, seems to be pressing a lil bit. We are coming in to exam time and have been on the road a lot and this is about the time we see that wall sneak up on freshmen.

This was not IMO Nate's best game, got taken hard to the hole a couple times, struggled to stay in front and cut off the drives, a guy like Fox for Ky will eat him alive if he allows that. Not loving our high pick defense over the last few games, maybe nit picking in a 45pt win but there are things we need to work on. Over all we shot the ball really well so we getting our legs back.

 

[acarter0277]

FTs are still an issue. We need to get that team number up over 70%. Kennedy (1/5) and Tony (4/8) were the big culprits today.

Just watched the replay and I was just concerned with one specific stat --- Secondary Break pts. These more often than not don't show up in the transition pts you see listed, but they are key to our system, and we haven't been scoring enough off the early-possession iterations we use. Today, in addition to the listed 12 Fast Break points, we got 31 more off the Secondary Break. That's more like what we're looking for.

I thought that our Secondary points were down because we looked so reliant on the 3 this year, but we are only averaging about 1 more 3PA per game this year than last. I guess we were just that efficient in the Secondary Break last year.

 

[Butterbutt44]

Please read Adam Lucas' latest article, the last paragraph in particular.

I did read it. I understand what Roys doing but I have to say if I was a player in that situation(Nate and Kenny) I would find it a bit frustrating. Seems to me to be sort of pointless. Let one of em start and that way they both can find their roles and be more comfortable.

I still don't pretend to get why Roy feels the need to switch back and forth and the reasons given seem a bit.. odd. But hey if both Nate and Kenny are good with it then I guess it doesn't matter.

 

[Butterbutt44]

Well, we did what we were suppose to do, we won by 45, even with Luke playing some minutes! LOL I think we all held our collective breath when Joel went down but fortunately looks like he will be fine, low ankle sprain. Kenny really got us off early, Rad wanted to double off him and he showed them very early that is not a good plan. Could not help but recall the many times I was told this summer that kenny was 1-13 shooting treys last season, had to smile. Our big men have to work on free throws, Hicks is money but Meeks and Tony are not and Tony seems to be especially struggling there. He is a lil stiff legged and does not put a lot of arch on his free throws. Considering that both those fellas will get to the line a lot this has to get cleaned up.

You do realize we were playing Radford right? And it wasn't like he was exactly tearing it up out there.

NO personal attacks

 

[Archer2]

It's called competition. Roy was asked why he was rotating the starters at SG. He said both Nate and Kenny have had their moments, in practice and in games. But neither has definitively separated himself and claimed the spot outright. He said that when that occurs, he will make that decision.

Another thing to remember, who starts isn't as important as who's in the game when the game is on the line, crunch time minutes. A lot of coaches, from my experience, use starting a game as a reward for excelling in practice. Every kid loves to hear his name called as he walks out onto the court to start a game. But I'd certainly rather be on the court in a tie game, with 2 minutes to play, IOW winning time.

Roy is building depth and confidence right now. You never know when an injury will necessitate a change in roles/PT, as evidenced by Joel's tweaked ankle last evening. And though it was painful to see 7th throwing the ball over the court and getting all loosey goosey with his dribble, he's learning with every minute of PT he gets. As are guys like Tony, Brandon, and Luke. That will reap dividends down the road.

 

[gary-7]

I thought that our Secondary points were down because we looked so reliant on the 3 this year, but we are only averaging about 1 more 3PA per game this year than last. I guess we were just that efficient in the Secondary Break last year.

Coach, from what I've seen one difference is last season we were actually more confident in taking the pull-up 3 off pitch-aheads, reversals or kick-outs in the Secondary (Marcus and JB playing together made a difference). Kenny stepping up Sunday revitalized that. If you remember his first 3 came from that flip from Berry attacking in transition, and as usual in those situations KW was wide slap open. And as you know, we also like to use the Secondary off made shot when possible and that requires a confident 2-Guard (JB and JJ aren't shy). I complained after the Indy game about KW passing up open 3 looks, and it was often in those situations (perhaps Roy got on him about it?). The collateral benefit of having all three perimeter guys willing and able to take the transition 3 is defenders get more reluctant to collapse on the post dumps, which are the gut plays of transition.

The other factor I think that has hindered us this season is allowing too many offensive rebounds --- not controlling the defensive glass has put a bump in our transition game.

 

[Archer2]

Think you're spot on re: our secondary break, Gary. If Kenny can step into those open treys with confidence and make them, it takes us to another level by opening up the floor. Spacing is soooooooo much better when you have 2-3 guys who can consistently knock down the three. And I'm cautiously optimistic that will be the case for us this year. I know one thing, Kenny has a beautiful looking stroke.

 

[gary-7]

Think you're spot on re: our secondary break, Gary. If Kenny can step into those open treys with confidence and make them, it takes us to another level by opening up the floor. Spacing is soooooooo much better when you have 2-3 guys who can consistently knock down the three. And I'm cautiously optimistic that will be the case for us this year. I know one thing, Kenny has a beautiful looking stroke.

Yessir... and given the fact that our Wings went thru respective shooting slumps last season, we could have been downright scary. The encouraging thing is our 3-pt pct is already up this season, JJ's arc change has helped his shot and JB is well, a more advanced JB. If we get what we need from the 2-hole that is going to be awfully hard to defend .

 

[Archer2]

Indeed, Gary. And I love the way Kenny defends and helps out on the boards. I believe it was WWJD who said Roy may bring Theo off the bench for a while as he gets acclimated to playing again, using him as a high energy guy who can play multiple positions. Regardless, I think Kenny is showing why Roy and some of you are so high on him and he's going to merit a lot of PT. I love Nate but I think he's better suited to come off the bench in a support role. Were it me deciding, and obviously it's not, Kenny would be my starter at this point.

 

[coryfly]

Both are going to come off the bench when Theo is back so both need to come off the bench now. I think that is the reason more than anything else.

 

[acarter0277]

Coach, from what I've seen one difference is last season we were actually more confident in taking the pull-up 3 off pitch-aheads, reversals or kick-outs in the Secondary (Marcus and JB playing together made a difference). Kenny stepping up Sunday revitalized that. If you remember his first 3 came from that flip from Berry attacking in transition, and as usual in those situations KW was wide slap open. And as you know, we also like to use the Secondary off made shot when possible and that requires a confident 2-Guard (JB and JJ aren't shy). I complained after the Indy game about KW passing up open 3 looks, and it was often in those situations (perhaps Roy got on him about it?). The collateral benefit of having all three perimeter guys willing and able to take the transition 3 is defenders get more reluctant to collapse on the post dumps, which are the gut plays of transition.

The other factor I think that has hindered us this season is allowing too many offensive rebounds --- not controlling the defensive glass has put a bump in our transition game.

Yes...definitely a lot easier to run if you're not taking it out of the other team's net every possession.

 

[Ozheelfan]

Change of topic - though still on Radford.

Anyone else notice the lack of touches for Isaiah, esp in the first half?
When he did get the ball, and seemingly had a play called for him, he did well.
Sure, KW had the hot hand, but UNC ball is so much inside out and yet against Radford it seemed much more outside in.

This was also highlighted when KW went to the bench. JB, Justin and Nate all threw up some less than spectacular long distance heaves leaving Isaiah out of the offense.
If you take Kenny's 5-6 out of the 3pt stat line you get 4-14 for the rest of the team. Maybe some of those deep attempts could have gone inside to Isaiah.

Kennedy did nicely with the guys getting the ball to him down low, but there just seemed to be less opportunity for Isaiah.

 

[soap - new and improved]

Radford looked to be packing the paint on defense.

 

[gary-7]

Change of topic - though still on Radford.

Anyone else notice the lack of touches for Isaiah, esp in the first half?
When he did get the ball, and seemingly had a play called for him, he did well.
Sure, KW had the hot hand, but UNC ball is so much inside out and yet against Radford it seemed much more outside in.

This was also highlighted when KW went to the bench. JB, Justin and Nate all threw up some less than spectacular long distance heaves leaving Isaiah out of the offense.
If you take Kenny's 5-6 out of the 3pt stat line you get 4-14 for the rest of the team. Maybe some of those deep attempts could have gone inside to Isaiah.

Kennedy did nicely with the guys getting the ball to him down low, but there just seemed to be less opportunity for Isaiah.

One thing I noticed recently is that teams are working harder to deny Hicks the ball away from the block, since he has the face-up game. I think some hi-lo from Meeks might open up some entries. Also, they're challenging JB and JJ on the perimeter but sloughing off our 2-men. Hopefully KW served notice that can be dangerous. Also, Isiah can work on his post-up availability. He doesn't seal quite as well as Brice or Kennedy on the block.

 

[gary-7]

Radford looked to be packing the paint on defense.

Yes. They were helping off from the wing to prevent entry passes. Kenny made em pay.

 

[Ozheelfan]

One thing I noticed recently is that teams are working harder to deny Hicks the ball away from the block, since he has the face-up game. I think some hi-lo from Meeks might open up some entries. Also, they're challenging JB and JJ on the perimeter but sloughing off our 2-men. Hopefully KW served notice that can be dangerous. Also, Isiah can work on his post-up availability. He doesn't seal quite as well as Brice or Kennedy on the block.

Thanks Gary.

It's funny, whilst we'd all like to see Kennedy play a bit of high post, he's so good when he gets into 'his spot' down low - his baby hook and left turn spin/kiss off the glass are almost unstoppable... not to mention his baseline fade-away!
And, he's been doing less of the crouch-down-low, head into the defenders balls move (which invariably results in a block or turnover) but it still rears it's head every now and again.

I agree, Isaiah has a really good face-up game, but I remember last year he had a pretty good spin move to the bucket too.

I also note, he's still down on his rebound numbers. A guy with his reach and hops should be crashing the offensive boards better (Hell, Meeks is feasting on these)

Can only hope KW keeps shooting like he did and there'll be a little more room in the paint for Hicks.

 

[TPFKAPFS]

Hicks rebound numbers are a mystery. It is like he has little feel for where the ball is coming off. This is hard to teach.

 

[DSouthr]

Change of topic - though still on Radford.

Anyone else notice the lack of touches for Isaiah, esp in the first half?
When he did get the ball, and seemingly had a play called for him, he did well.
Sure, KW had the hot hand, but UNC ball is so much inside out and yet against Radford it seemed much more outside in.

This was also highlighted when KW went to the bench. JB, Justin and Nate all threw up some less than spectacular long distance heaves leaving Isaiah out of the offense.
If you take Kenny's 5-6 out of the 3pt stat line you get 4-14 for the rest of the team. Maybe some of those deep attempts could have gone inside to Isaiah.

Kennedy did nicely with the guys getting the ball to him down low, but there just seemed to be less opportunity for Isaiah.

On Hicks, you darn tootin I have noticed that and it really concerns me! Simply put we have to get Hicks more involved, run some screens for him, look for him in scoring position more. As gary mentions defenses are paying him more attention this season but Oz you make the great point we do not look for him as much as we should. Now gary does bring an additional good point, Hicks does not set up as solid as Meeks has been or in some cases Tony, what gets over looked is that many times it is Hicks setting the screen that allows meeks or Tony to gain that position to set up, maybe they could work for him as well? Most of what Hicks gets seems to be stuff he goes and gets, when we actually run something for him he has been extremely efficient but we just don't look for him enough.

And one other point you make well is that we at times fall in to taking to many treys, outside of Kenny and maybe 7th, the rest of our back court relies a little to much on the 3 ball, take the open looks in rythem but look for what UNC basketball is based on and that is getting our front court guys good finish-able looks. To me Hicks should get 12-15 shots a game, he is by far our best big man free throw shooter but he isn't going to the line if he does not get the touches.