Stats and stuff (State game 2)...

[gary-7]

...and that's called a damned good win.

Four minutes into the game --- a game in which State had come out smokin' --- they get a double-whammy in transition when 1. Barber blatantly walked, and 2. yet they give him the bucket and a phantom foul on Berry, making it an And-1 to go up 15-8 on the way to what would balloon to an early 13 pt lead in a rowdy house full o' wuffie yahoos. Fast forward to the 8:14 mark in the half, an even worse phantom (read: invented) call gives Rowan 3 undeserved FTs and sends JB to the bench with his second foul and gives state an 8 pt lead. OK, we saw how it was gonna be (we wouldn't even see the bonus in the entire first half). So..... and this goes back to what I've been preaching: Whattaya gonna do? The correct answer is 1. play through it. We did, and came back to take a half-time lead. And 2, give back as good as you get. We did. In the second half we started playing more physical on both ends and attacked relentlessly, and guess what? The whistles started evening out and we started going to the line. That's how you win convincingly on the road in a rivalry game.

Stuff:
- I want folks to pay special attention to this one: Roy Williams coached one helluva basketball game tonight.
Moments: 1. First possession, our starting Bigs offer zero help on D then allow 3 offensive rebounds. Roy ain't havin' it. A minute-fifteen in and out go Brice and Kennedy. Damn straight. Message sent, and over the next 10 minutes we grind and claw our way back to a tie game on a Paige 3 that forces a State Timeout at the 5:14 mark. 2. At this key juncture, Roy sneaks Berry back in with 2 fouls and we clamp down, hold them scoreless and gain a 5 pt. lead by the Under-4 TO. Roy is then able to hold out JB safely or the remainder of the half. 3. Team comes out on a defensive mission in the second half and gives the physical right back at State. 4. At the 12:33 mark, Berry returns from his only blow of the second half with us holding a scrappy 8 pt lead. We proceed to reel off 5:27 of vintage Carolina basketball, a 14-5 run with almost everything coming in transition, and just like that we're up 17 and this game is in hand.

- One more Roy gem: Cat Barber came out like a man on a mission --- hitting everything. And folks, other than Nate leaving his feet one time, it wasn't anything the guys guarding him were doing wrong. It was a combination of our Bigs being useless in help-D early, and Cat just making shots. Roy solved that by first sending that aforementioned message to the Bigs, and second by rotating four different guys on Cat which eventually took the vinegar out of him. Theo did an especially good job but everyone assigned to him clamped down in the second half while it still mattered. BTW: Our second-half help-D was as good as it has been in a while.

- Quibbles: With 3:28 to go Roy inserted Nate along with Marcus and JB. That didn't go well. Honestly, while I have no problem with using three-guard lineups, I would rather us not do it with three "little guys". One of them should be a Steve Hale type who has guard skills but enough size to assume the 3-man role, like say Kenny Williams. With this team I like it way better to throw in "going small" or "going big", when in each case Theo and JJ are in together with one Big or two Bigs, respectively.

Stats:
- We didn't shoot especially well (47.1%) and poorly from 3 (4/15), and we had 16 Blown Assists with no FTs to show for them... so how did we pull this one off? Well, first was the stepped-up team-D that held State to under 40%. And second was our transition game (more to follow). We also evened out their early advantage on the Offensive boards (17-17) and out-rebounded them overall (43-36). I posted yesterday that keeping their active physical Bigs in check was vital. Yep.

- Speaking of transition --- here's where official stats are incredibly misleading: We were only credited with 9 Fast Break pts. (actually it was only 7), BUT... we scored 44 of our 80 pts off the Secondary Break! In other words we scored more than half our total without having to run our half-court offense or set plays! That comes from attacking and attacking some more, i.e., Carolina Basketball. Folks, the only reason we didn't well get into the 90s was our mediocre shooting pct. And in case you're wondering why I put so much importance in how Roy used him, 35 of those 44 came with JB at PG.

- Kudos to Justin. 17 pts and 6 boards with 2 of our made 3s. State has nobody who can guard him. Hell, the only thing that stopped Walking Buckets was foul trouble.

- Kudos to ACC Player-of-the-Year Brice Johnson with 22 and 11, including 5 offensive boards.

Again, a damned good win. We're gonna need that kind of effort and tempo and resolve (with better shooting) for the huge game in Charlottesville Saturday. We shall see....

 

[Archer2]

Nice Gary, as usual. Roy coached one hell of a game. I wasn't surprised to see Kennedy start for two reasons, he had a huge game last time we played the Fack and he knew Isaiah would probably have foul issues against their two big bruisers inside. Guess what? He still did, amassing 4 fouls in only 18 minutes. I was almost apoplectic screaming at Roy to call a TO when we got down by 13. Other than that, he coached a great game.

I loved him pulling Brice and Kennedy less than two minutes in to send a message re: boxing out. Message sent and received, indeed.

 

[gary-7]

Nice Gary, as usual. Roy coached one hell of a game. I wasn't surprised to see Kennedy start for two reasons, he had a huge game last time we played the Fack and he knew Isaiah would probably have foul issues against their two big bruisers inside. Guess what? He still did, amassing 4 fouls in only 18 minutes. I was almost apoplectic screaming at Roy to call a TO when we got down by 13. Other than that, he coached a great game.

I loved him pulling Brice and Kennedy less than two minutes in to send a message re: boxing out. Message sent and received, indeed.

He did. Hicks has a bad match-up guarding their Bigs. And I forgot to mention that after the benching Kennedy had a decent game inside, especially when he got more physical.

 

[Archer2]

And I think it would behoove Kennedy to play more physically all the time. He doesn't possess the lift to go over nor the quickness to go around defenders. IMO, he's built to initiate contact, draw fouls, and go to the FT line a lot. His game is predicated too much on finesse and not enough on power. Not quite sure why he hasn't figured this out by this stage in his career.

ETA: Theo really gave us a spark off the bench with his energy and defense on Barber. He's coming on and is going to play a key role off the bench down the stretch with his ability to slash/rebound/pass/defend..

 

[soap - new and improved]

The woofies are scrub league hockey hacks. They couldn't keep their hands and bodies off our guys. It was criminal that we were called for more fouls than they were. They shot 11 fts in the first half compared to our 2. That is ^$#%*(!)$!#$ NONSENSE!

 

[gary-7]

And I think it would behoove Kennedy to play more physically all the time. He doesn't possess the lift to go over nor the quickness to go around defenders. IMO, he's built to initiate contact, draw fouls, and go to the FT line a lot. His game is predicated too much on finesse and not enough on power. Not quite sure why he hasn't figured this out by this stage in his career.

True. And he's actually an adept shot-blocker for not having much vertical. Aggression would serve him well.

 

[gary-7]

The woofies are scrub league hockey hacks. They couldn't keep their hands and bodies off our guys. It was criminal that we were called for more fouls than they were. They shot 11 fts in the first half compared to our 2. That is ^$#%*(!)$!#$ NONSENSE!

I won't argue with you, but the key is once we got more physical then the fouls ironically started evening out. As Barney Fife would say, sometimes ya gotta fight fire with fire.

 

[Archer2]

He possesses good timing and the intelligence to pick and choose when he tries to block shots. Remarkably good shot blocker for a player with his lack of lift!

 

[Archer2]

I won't argue with you, but the key is once we got more physical then the fouls ironically started evening out. As Barney Fife would say, sometimes ya gotta fight fire with fire.

Exactly. Tentative play will often lead to being called for more fouls than aggressive play, both on offense and defense. I think that's been a key issue this year when we've been whistled for more fouls than I can remember in a long time.

 

[gobblercalls]

JB had a terrible defensive first half. He was playing too soft on a player with Barber's skill. Roy's second best coaching move in the first half was taking him out. Of course that's just my opinion for what it's worth.

 

[imajericho]

JB had a terrible defensive first half. He was playing too soft on a player with Barber's skill. Roy's second best coaching move in the first half was taking him out. Of course that's just my opinion for what it's worth.

No. He was making difficult shots.

That said. Berry's strip off barber in the fast break and bucket the other way off barber was probably the back breaking moment of the game.

 

[mikeirbyusa]

- Quibbles: With 3:28 to go Roy inserted Nate along with Marcus and JB. That didn't go well. Honestly, while I have no problem with using three-guard lineups, I would rather us not do it with three "little guys". One of them should be a Steve Hale type who has guard skills but enough size to assume the 3-man role, like say Kenny Williams. With this team I like it way better to throw in "going small" or "going big", when in each case Theo and JJ are in together with one Big or two Bigs, respectively.

When Roy put those 3 guards in I thought "smart move" figuring mooou would start fouling left and right to try to get back in it, but oddly enough they didn't. No problem with what Roy did, Gott just forgot time was running out.

 

[yrusonvus]

Good job g-man

 

[gobblercalls]

No. He was making difficult shots.

That said. Berry's strip off barber in the fast break and bucket the other way off barber was probably the back breaking moment of the game.

and that would be your opinion...

 

[goheels653]

and that would be your opinion...

I agree with his opinion here. His start was not Berry's fault. Dude was just on fire. He eventually slowed down.

 

[Steat]

With Villanova going down to Xavier, Heels can wrap up the #1 seed in the East with a victory over Virginia on Saturday. No way the Heels lose to Cuse at home. Then the big game with Duke.

 

[gary-7]

and that would be your opinion...

And his opinion is correct.

 

[gobblercalls]

I agree with his opinion here. His start was not Berry's fault. Dude was just on fire. He eventually slowed down.

and that's all good. I'm not saying I'm right and he's wrong. Did Barber slow down on his own, did he slow down because Britt was put on him, did he just get tired? I don't know. What I do know is that if somebody is lighting you up like he was lighting Berry up at some point it has to become personal. You just have to do whatever you have to do to stop him. I never said Berry played a bad game, just that the first half defensively, and really just the first 6-8 minutes, was not good defense.

 

[shun1]

Thank you.

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

 

[imajericho]

If you are playing steph curry and you are suffocating him and he is dropping 50 on you did you play bad defense or did he just play amazing offense?

I mean, I think we need to give Cat Barber credit where it is due. He was playing out of his mind at the beginning of the game.


If Lebron covers Harden and Harden gets 30 points did Lebron play bad D?

Its sort of like in football. A QB can make a great defense irrelevant if he makes every pass perfect.

A shooter can make any defense irrelevabt if he plays perfect.

Barber played good. Then he came back down to Earth.

 

[gary-7]

and that's all good. I'm not saying I'm right and he's wrong. Did Barber slow down on his own, did he slow down because Britt was put on him, did he just get tired? I don't know. What I do know is that if somebody is lighting you up like he was lighting Berry up at some point it has to become personal. You just have to do whatever you have to do to stop him. I never said Berry played a bad game, just that the first half defensively, and really just the first 6-8 minutes, was not good defense.

Barber lit up Britt and Paige as well when he was hot. I really wish folks would look a bit deeper in these situations. JB got flat hung out to dry early on screens by his teammates and got zero help on forces, and for a hot player who penetrates that is the key. Cat just couldn't miss early. .
Theo did a really nice job on him, but I will also say our help-D started functioning well by the time he switched over... not to mention Theo was the 4th guy we put on him. Bottom line is these things go deeper than the surface. JB is the best defensive player on this team and did a number on Cat in Chapel Hill. Give Barber credit for a blistering start and a big-time performance in his last home shot at UNC.

 

[gobblercalls]

If you are playing steph curry and you are suffocating him and he is dropping 50 on you did you play bad defense or did he just play amazing offense?

I mean, I think we need to give Cat Barber credit where it is due. He was playing out of his mind at the beginning of the game.


If Lebron covers Harden and Harden gets 30 points did Lebron play bad D?

Its sort of like in football. A QB can make a great defense irrelevant if he makes every pass perfect.

A shooter can make any defense irrelevabt if he plays perfect.

Barber played good. Then he came back down to Earth.

I agree with all of that, but for the first few minutes Berry was not aggressive. He was letting Barber dictate exactly what he was gonna do. He was reacting,and was a step slow doing it. Once he decided enough was enough he handled Barber pretty good. Again, I'm not throwing Berry under the bus! Not in the least. (BTW, if Harden scores 30 against Lebron 20 will probably come at the free throw line)

 

[gary-7]

- Quibbles: With 3:28 to go Roy inserted Nate along with Marcus and JB. That didn't go well. Honestly, while I have no problem with using three-guard lineups, I would rather us not do it with three "little guys". One of them should be a Steve Hale type who has guard skills but enough size to assume the 3-man role, like say Kenny Williams. With this team I like it way better to throw in "going small" or "going big", when in each case Theo and JJ are in together with one Big or two Bigs, respectively.

When Roy put those 3 guards in I thought "smart move" figuring mooou would start fouling left and right to try to get back in it, but oddly enough they didn't. No problem with what Roy did, Gott just forgot time was running out.

Hah! Yeah Mikey, I always appreciate Gott's "help".

\But seriously, that lineup has not done well for us dating back to last season. It's a fine concept but that third guard needs to be a bit more versatile in order to work. On the other hand early oi the season when Roy had KW playing the 3 on occasion that did ok.

 

[Heelicious]

Nate had a tough shooting night last night, but I just don't think he gets nearly enough credit for what he has been doing on both ends of the court recently. It's been clear for a while that he likely will never start at UNC, barring injuries, etc. He could've pouted and shrunk his game.

Instead he has approached it with a GREAT attitude, and has become a lot better on defense, and takes good shots for the most part. And is a very solid ball handler, drives well / quickly off the dribble, and is probably our best FT shooter now. A guy you want on the court at the end when protecting a lead.

This is going to sound too personal - and it isn't intended to be, because I love JB at the point, but if Cat had scored that much on Nate instead of JB, Nate would've been obliterated on this board. Which is unfair to Nate. If Cat was just red hot making tough shots, then that standard for judging defense of JB and Nate should be equal. It surely is not.

 

[Archer2]

Nate had a tough shooting night last night, but I just don't think he gets nearly enough credit for what he has been doing on both ends of the court recently. It's been clear for a while that he likely will never start at UNC, barring injuries, etc. He could've pouted and shrunk his game.

Instead he has approached it with a GREAT attitude, and has become a lot better on defense, and takes good shots for the most part. And is a very solid ball handler, drives well / quickly off the dribble, and is probably our best FT shooter now. A guy you want on the court at the end when protecting a lead.

This is going to sound too personal - and it isn't intended to be, because I love JB at the point, but if Cat had scored that much on Nate instead of JB, Nate would've been obliterated on this board. Which is unfair to Nate. If Cat was just red hot making tough shots, then that standard for judging defense of JB and Nate should be equal. It surely is not.

Couldn't agree more Heelicious, love that username BTW. Nate, much like Theo and James, is a player whose contributions are often overlooked. And I would place Kennedy in that category as well, even though he starts most of the time. They know they're not the stars of the team, yet all maintain great attitudes and contribute to the teams success. All four are constantly smiling, no sign of pouting about their roles at all. Every good team has unselfish role players who work every bit as hard as the stars of the team, yet don't get the recognition they deserve. We are very fortunate to have them.

SAAAAAAAAAAAAALUTE!!!!!

 

[TPFKAPFS]

Great report G-7. This game and the Miami game show what this team can be. Roy trusts these veteran guys to know what to do and execute it, even under stress. End of puke game we did not execute our play and ended up with a difficult shot; in these two the team executed and played with intensity-it wasn't even close!
Kennedy has been slowly regaining the necessary intensity and slowly remembering where he should be on help D. Hicks(hedges but recovers slowly and at the wrong angle) is a great energy guy and really attacks, but his help D is not much better than Meeks (doesn't hedge correctly, recovers slowly) and he fouls alot. When our Bigs fight on the boards and hustle on D-we are elite!

 

[gary-7]

Great report G-7. This game and the Miami game show what this team can be. Roy trusts these veteran guys to know what to do and execute it, even under stress. End of puke game we did not execute our play and ended up with a difficult shot; in these two the team executed and played with intensity-it wasn't even close!
Kennedy has been slowly regaining the necessary intensity and slowly remembering where he should be on help D. Hicks(hedges but recovers slowly and at the wrong angle) is a great energy guy and really attacks, but his help D is not much better than Meeks (doesn't hedge correctly, recovers slowly) and he fouls alot. When our Bigs fight on the boards and hustle on D-we are elite!

Well said, sir.

 

[HeelFan58]

Couldn't agree more Heelicious, love that username BTW. Nate, much like Theo and James, is a player whose contributions are often overlooked. And I would place Kennedy in that category as well, even though he starts most of the time. They know they're not the stars of the team, yet all maintain great attitudes and contribute to the teams success. All four are constantly smiling, no sign of pouting about their roles at all. Every good team has unselfish role players who work every bit as hard as the stars of the team, yet don't get the recognition they deserve. We are very fortunate to have them.

SAAAAAAAAAAAAALUTE!!!!!

Damn there use to be some babes on Hee-Haw!

 

[Heelicious]

Couldn't agree more Heelicious, love that username BTW. Nate, much like Theo and James, is a player whose contributions are often overlooked. And I would place Kennedy in that category as well, even though he starts most of the time. They know they're not the stars of the team, yet all maintain great attitudes and contribute to the teams success. All four are constantly smiling, no sign of pouting about their roles at all. Every good team has unselfish role players who work every bit as hard as the stars of the team, yet don't get the recognition they deserve. We are very fortunate to have them.

SAAAAAAAAAAAAALUTE!!!!!

Thanks very much, Archer. I always enjoy your posts and perspective, too.

And from a guy in Minnesota who grew up a South Dakota redneck, I enjoy the Hee Haw shout out. Guilty pleasure, but they had some pretty hot women, pretty funny humor, and decent musical talent on that show.

 

[Archer2]

Thanks very much, Archer. I always enjoy your posts and perspective, too.

And from a guy in Minnesota who grew up a South Dakota redneck, I enjoy the Hee Haw shout out. Guilty pleasure, but they had some pretty hot women, pretty funny humor, and decent musical talent on that show.

They did indeed. Used to be mandatory viewing at my house.

 

[gary-7]

Nate had a tough shooting night last night, but I just don't think he gets nearly enough credit for what he has been doing on both ends of the court recently. It's been clear for a while that he likely will never start at UNC, barring injuries, etc. He could've pouted and shrunk his game.

Instead he has approached it with a GREAT attitude, and has become a lot better on defense, and takes good shots for the most part. And is a very solid ball handler, drives well / quickly off the dribble, and is probably our best FT shooter now. A guy you want on the court at the end when protecting a lead.

This is going to sound too personal - and it isn't intended to be, because I love JB at the point, but if Cat had scored that much on Nate instead of JB, Nate would've been obliterated on this board. Which is unfair to Nate. If Cat was just red hot making tough shots, then that standard for judging defense of JB and Nate should be equal. It surely is not.

Heelicious, I will endorse most of this. You summed up the scenario well. Nate is likely playing his max role right now. The thing is, he almost lost that after last season. As I posted earlier, Roy had a come-to-Jesus post-season evaluation talk with him, and Nate got embarrassed in a couple of pick-up games. From what I was told he finally realized he wasn't as good as he thought he was and what he got by with in HS would not cut it a higher level. So Nate worked hard this summer. Good on him for that. The improvement is showing.

Specifically, Nate is quick, and fast with the ball, but he is not naturally strong nor is he explosive vertically. He was also a poor perimeter shooter as a lefty (which he began to correct last season). He put in work and got stronger in the off-season, That has helped. His biggest weaknesses though were in the things he did on court. On offense he struggled with floor balance (vital for a PG) and his on-ball D was just a mess, to the point the scouting report on him was "take him to the rack" and teams ran isolations against him as soon as he got on the floor some games.

Nate has improved markedly on both ends. He has finally embraced moving his feet on D (as opposed to crossing his feet and reaching) and is at least trying to present a more physical presence in front of his man. And on offense he is learning to be more creative with his shots (high bankers, floaters) to make up for not being able to finish consistently at the rim or through contact. And even though he had a bad shooting day weds, he is now a legit perimeter threat. Maybe more importantly he has improved his floor play on offense, not taking the ball into no-man's-land as much and maintaining better passing angles. I used to literally cringe when he ran Point --- granted it still has a ways to go, but that is much improved, and his TO ratio has edged into the acceptable range.

All that being said.... here is where I take issue. I call it straight. I'm not gonna blast Nate when someone scores on him --- only when it comes because he played bad D. Except for leaving his feet once, Nate did ok vs Barber the short time he was on him, but Cat still scored on him. Neither Nate nor Marcus nor JB did much "wrong" guarding Barber, dude was on fire. My standards for judging JB and Nate are exactly the same. The reality is that JB is simply a better basketball player and PG on both ends, and that's why he is running the show out there. Nate, as you said, decided not to put his head down, but instead make himself better and do the best he can to help the team in his role. He is doing that. Good on him.

 

[Heelicious]

Heelicious, I will endorse most of this. You summed up the scenario well. Nate is likely playing his max role right now. The thing is, he almost lost that after last season. As I posted earlier, Roy had a come-to-Jesus post-season evaluation talk with him, and Nate got embarrassed in a couple of pick-up games. From what I was told he finally realized he wasn't as good as he thought he was and what he got by with in HS would not cut it a higher level. So Nate worked hard this summer. Good on him for that. The improvement is showing.

Specifically, Nate is quick, and fast with the ball, but he is not naturally strong nor is he explosive vertically. He was also a poor perimeter shooter as a lefty (which he began to correct last season). He put in work and got stronger in the off-season, That has helped. His biggest weaknesses though were in the things he did on court. On offense he struggled with floor balance (vital for a PG) and his on-ball D was just a mess, to the point the scouting report on him was "take him to the rack" and teams ran isolations against him as soon as he got on the floor some games.

Nate has improved markedly on both ends. He has finally embraced moving his feet on D (as opposed to crossing his feet and reaching) and is at least trying to present a more physical presence in front of his man. And on offense he is learning to be more creative with his shots (high bankers, floaters) to make up for not being able to finish consistently at the rim or through contact. And even though he had a bad shooting day weds, he is now a legit perimeter threat. Maybe more importantly he has improved his floor play on offense, not taking the ball into no-man's-land as much and maintaining better passing angles. I used to literally cringe when he ran Point --- granted it still has a ways to go, but that is much improved, and his TO ratio has edged into the acceptable range.

All that being said.... here is where I take issue. I call it straight. I'm not gonna blast Nate when someone scores on him --- only when it comes because he played bad D. Except for leaving his feet once, Nate did ok vs Barber the short time he was on him, but Cat still scored on him. Neither Nate nor Marcus nor JB did much "wrong" guarding Barber, dude was on fire. My standards for judging JB and Nate are exactly the same. The reality is that JB is simply a better basketball player and PG on both ends, and that's why he is running the show out there. Nate, as you said, decided not to put his head down, but instead make himself better and do the best he can to help the team in his role. He is doing that. Good on him.

Totally fair and accurate comments, Gary. I no doubt get that JB is much better than Nate, and we are going to need max minutes we can get from JB on the floor, the rest of the way including the tourneys.

And it goes without saying you know WAY more about the detail specifics of each players skills, season-to-season mental, physical, game skills progression, regression than I do. And their game to game playI. didn't even get to view the game last night. Here's hoping for a great finish the rest of the way for both JB and Nate.

 

[DSouthr]

and that's all good. I'm not saying I'm right and he's wrong. Did Barber slow down on his own, did he slow down because Britt was put on him, did he just get tired? I don't know. What I do know is that if somebody is lighting you up like he was lighting Berry up at some point it has to become personal. You just have to do whatever you have to do to stop him. I never said Berry played a bad game, just that the first half defensively, and really just the first 6-8 minutes, was not good defense.

When a shooters gets hot it doesn't matter who is on him. Now yeah, keep throwing fresh legs on a kid that never comes out of the game and he will usually wear down. And yeah, Britt may be a half step quicker than Joel but Joel is a very tuff defender and that has never been Britt's forte, thou he has improved in that area a heck of a lot this season. Cat Barber is one of the quickest guards in the country, not sure you will find one quicker, Ulis level quicks and maybe even slightly more.

As Roy said, when Barber has a full head of steam there is not a guard in the country that is going to stay in front of him.

 

[DSouthr]

Nate had a tough shooting night last night, but I just don't think he gets nearly enough credit for what he has been doing on both ends of the court recently. It's been clear for a while that he likely will never start at UNC, barring injuries, etc. He could've pouted and shrunk his game.

Instead he has approached it with a GREAT attitude, and has become a lot better on defense, and takes good shots for the most part. And is a very solid ball handler, drives well / quickly off the dribble, and is probably our best FT shooter now. A guy you want on the court at the end when protecting a lead.

This is going to sound too personal - and it isn't intended to be, because I love JB at the point, but if Cat had scored that much on Nate instead of JB, Nate would've been obliterated on this board. Which is unfair to Nate. If Cat was just red hot making tough shots, then that standard for judging defense of JB and Nate should be equal. It surely is not.

And I will not argue other wise! I was VERY hard on Nate last season as well as the off season and the main reason I was is that he was an awful defender and awful is not nearly strong enough term. But i have talked about his remarkable turn around on the defensive end this season. Now not saying he will be on any ALL Defensive teams but no doubt his turn around as a defender is striking. And the difference simply put is he is working hard on that end, he is moving his feet rather than let any and everyone blow by him.

And I do agree folks will look harder at Britt as a defender because of sins of the past, fair or not that is going to happen because Joel is a well established defender that usually draws the harder match up guard and usually excels in the challenge. It is a bit like saying Marcus is a great shooter but Britt is streaky. Even thou Marcus has been off shooting this season, who you want to take that last second open jumper, Marcus or Nate, I know for me it would be Marcus because he has worked out well so many times in the past.

Now I would disagree concerning nate's ball handles and especially his leading the primary breaks, IMO that is a strong needs improvement area. But that area as well is improved but IMO still needs work.

 

[Bubspub88]

I don't mind seeing a guy go off like Barber did if absolutely no one else on his team is attempting to get involved. One guy is not gonna beat you. not sure how much is Cat being fed up with no help all season and how much is video for nba guys to watch but state offense had zero flow.

 

[IDUNK4HEELS]

No question playing 4 different FRESH players on Barber was the key to the comeback and win. Barber is a tremendous driver and jump shooter but everyone's legs eventually give out especially if you are averaging 38 minutes a game and look up and see a FRESH Pinson and Britt ready to dog you...

 

[HeelFan58]

No question playing 4 different FRESH players on Barber was the key to the comeback and win. Barber is a tremendous driver and jump shooter but everyone's legs eventually give out especially if you are averaging 38 minutes a game and look up and see a FRESH Pinson and Britt ready to dog you...

I wouldn't call Barber a great jump shooter (.43/.35). He is a streaky/volume shooter but when we went on our run he wasn't able to offset it at all. He does go to the line a lot and seems to get the benefit of the call when he drives. I hope to see him in the NBA next year.

 

[gary-7]

Damn there use to be some babes on Hee-Haw!

Misty Rowe, Sherry Miles, et al.... yowza.

 

[gary-7]

Totally fair and accurate comments, Gary. I no doubt get that JB is much better than Nate, and we are going to need max minutes we can get from JB on the floor, the rest of the way including the tourneys.

Amen to that, brother.

Before the season I was worried that Berry might have to deal with foul trouble because of his dogged D (even off the ball). He will try to beat his man to a spot and take a charge in a heartbeat (and those calls often go the wrong way, like at dook last season). JB will also power through on screens when he can and he ain't afraid to mix it up on the sly if somebody gets chippy. Fortunately for the most part he has been crafty enough to stay in games. I know at least until his recent foul bouts he was managing to lead the team in minutes.

Those first two calls on him Wednesday were garbage (the one vs Rowan was a complete whiff). I gave Roy big props for managing his minutes in that situation Weds (as well as the Miami game). And I'm glad Nate is playing better for sure. But the last thing we need is a zebra to ground JB in an NCAA game .