Stats and stuff (Wake game)...

[gary-7]

...and do what ya gotta do.

stats
- FT shooting finally showed up (except for a couple of key late misses) 79.2%, although a few more trips to the line would've definitely been in order.

- 22 Assists on 33 made FGs.

- Despite the tempo never getting to our liking we scored 93. 51.6% FG shooting and decent 3-pt shooting 8/18 helps a lot. Also, all five starters in double figures.

- 8 Fast Break and 16 Secondary Break pts.

- Despite being forced to play small a lot, we won the rebounding battle 41-34, thanks to blue collar work by Kennedy and a sneaky-strong contribution from JJ.

- Buckets had a good statistical night (19 and 8) but forced too many drives. KW had played an almost flawless game until he missed a snowbird instead of dunking for an and-1, then missed 2 key FTs. Made up by draining two later.

- HUGE shout-out to big Kennedy Meeks, who was a grown-ass man in the trenches, especially late. 18 Pts, 11 Boards and 3 Steals. Also, he was credited with 3 Blocks but I can add at least 2 to that number.

- and of course our nasty dog with a vintage Joel Berry line - 18 Pts, 7 Dimes, 3 Boards and 2 Steals (not 1).

stuff
- First thing I'm gonna say is I hope Tony is all right. Poor kid could barely walk to the locker room.

- Theo desperately needs to see the ball go thru the basket. Can't let it get in his head. He's so valuable and vital to our aspirations.

- I kept hoping for tempo, but we could only get it going sporadically. We had some good sequences, but the defensive energy just wasn't what we needed to force the action. I would've like to have seen Roy scramble some against these guys but we didn't... even once. Great switch-up late though, surprising Wake with a Point Zone which caused a TO and run-out, but unfortunately that was Kenny's aforementioned bad sequence at the line. Otherwise when we did run there were some picture-book Carolina breaks. The Meeks-to-Berry-to-Williams-to-Berry gem would've had Dean grinning .

- I figured we'd see a lotta Zone from Wake and apparently Roy did too. You could tell we had worked on Zone-O, particularly attacking the "short-corner' (as we did so well last season). That stresses a Zone from below and it paid off with some key dump-and-dunks. We still need to be careful with bad forces, but it was a step in the right direction.

- After what I thought was a pretty well-officiated first half, in a stretch starting just before the Under-16 in the second boy did we get the full Mike Eades treatment. Fortunately we played through it and never let Wake taste a tie or a lead... and psychologically that is so important on the road. Speaking of which, JB got away with a travel on a key late drive-and-dish, which I suspect was a make-up for Wake's Big getting away with a Hammer-time shuffle on the block in the previous possession.

- Finally, I've watched Wake a couple of times and they can be offensively challenged when it counts but not tonight. Geez, ya hafta tip your hat to them because they made shot after shot down the stretch and just would not let us pull away. I figured going in we would get their best shot and we did. Wake is no easy out.

Another road win in the ACC, folks. Ain't nuthin' wrong with that! Time to gear up for Saturday...

 

[mikeirbyusa]

Eades is our Kryptonite.

 

[Prof C]

Otherwise when we did run there were some picture-book Carolina breaks. The Meeks-to-Berry-to-Williams-to-Berry gem would've had Dean grinning .

The Meeks to Jackson to Williams to Hicks jam was a beauty as well. Brought back some good memories of what Carolina basketball is all about.

As for a terrible memory, I thought we would be doomed by the curse of Childress in the second half when he went on his run. I would've lost it if he broke someone's ankles while draining a 3.

Thanks for the post-game wrap-up once again gary.

 

[gary-7]

The Meeks to Jackson to Williams to Hicks jam was a beauty as well. Brought back some good memories of what Carolina basketball is all about.

Yes it was, as was Kennedy finishing the trail down the lane on the Secondary.

 

[soap - new and improved]

I was at the game. Down pretty low. The reffing in the second half was horrifically bad, and the single biggest factor that kept Wake in the game. Not sure of the exact count, but before the Deacs started fouling on purpose I am pretty sure in the SECOND HALF ALONE the fouls were at 14+ called against UNC and 6 called against Wake. And I am here to tell you we got fouled plenty with no calls and Wake got a lot of BS phantom gifts. It got so bad my Wake buddy was starting to get a bit embarrassed by it. Close here if not exact, Wake was shooting 1 and 1 with nearly 15 minutes to play and shooting Double bonus from around the 11 to 12 minute mark. We didn't get into the 1 and 1 until about 45 sec left in the game. Absolute and unmitigated GARBAGE!

I am also pretty sure Wake got gifted several key possessions on an uncalled over and back off a rebound tip out, and an incorrect "up and down" call that went against Jackson. Roy got Hot over that one.

No surprise to any of this, Eades is a UNC hater and Comer not far behind him. Those guys should be fired........ From a Cannon!

 

[gauchoheel]

Thanks Gary! Very nice win.

Loved most of the shooting, and that Kenny pulled the trigger a couple of times after passing up a wide open 3 early. Meeks was a beast on the boards as is typical, and just needs to be more selective with his shots and look for shooters. Seventh played 7 minutes without a turnover! I liked that.

My nit from a season long trend that continued in this game: too many turnovers off of in-bounds and outlets. This game we had 3 or 4. The ball that bounced off of JJ in the final minute obviously, plus Kennedy's forced pass off a rebound that was picked, and Joel's travel when the guy cut in front of him and he had nowhere to go. That's 3 lost possessions that all led to layups, so really a 9-10 point swing.

I get that we want to push pace but you have to control the ball first. Those turnovers were all inexcusable.

Oh, and Joel also needs to put his hands up and close out on 3's. Twice he just watched his guy and both times they drained it. Unlike Meeks' hops this is totally fixable.

 

[Archer2]

We definitely need to continue to work on our zone offense, because we're going to see a lot of zones. Also, I've never seen us struggle to inbound the ball like we have this year. Kennedy called a TO because he was afraid of getting a 5 second call and after the TO, we still threw the ball away trying to get it in bounds. We must improve on that, a play that is normally taken for granted. I'm sure Roy will have them working on that this week.

An interesting note from the other board. UNC is 2-1 on the road in the ACC, the rest of the conference is 1-16 on the road in the conference. Road wins are going to be hard to come by this year so any road victory is a good one.

 

[Tru Blu Tar Heel]

Funny you talk about attacking the zone. I was watching with my two sons (14 and 11, the older of which I coach an AAU team for and the younger was just DEMOLISHED in a rec league game last night because of pressure and inability to crack the 2/3 zone)

Cue up the pass to Maye in the short corner and the immediate dump to Meeks rim running for the dunk. I guarantee you that I played, rewinded, played again, rewinded, etc...a dozen times trying to beat it into their heads how to beat a zone.

 

[Archer2]

I'd like to see our perimeter guys keep one hand up while on defense. Don't know if they still teach that but that's what we were taught, one hand up and one down when close to your man. It allowed you to get a hand in their face quicker and reduced the time they had to get off a shot.

 

[DeanFor President]

It seemed like every time they drove the ball in the second half they got a whistle on us, regardless of whether there was any contact or not.

 

[DSouthr]

This was a strange game, we had stretches of beautiful play and then we melted down, seemed to get rattled, regathered and finish solid? 3 guys, seemed to follow that pattern as much if not more than the team itself.

1) Jackson, missed some shots early and didn't seem right, then hit a key shot or 2 and then Wilkerbin "blocked" his his runner, sure looked like he got all wrist and no ball but hey. Justin seemed to let that get in his head a little and was shakey for a stint but then he hits that back breaker trey and drops a couple of big foul shots that were difference making.

2) Hicks, I felt his 2 free throws down the stretch were huge, took it from a 3pt lead with Wake having all the MO to a 4pt lead. That is one of those situations that you just know the game may hinge on these free throws and they way things were going it was not looking great for us. Hicks steps to the line and nails them both, that was HUGE and for the THE turning point.

3) Meeks, got his shots blocked what seemed like 3 or 4 times but that kid just kept battling. With Tony out for the second half, Luke in foul trouble, Hicks goes from 1 first half foul to a quick 3, Meeks had to step up and he sure did. Kinda hard to believe that as strong as he played going to the boards that he did not get to the foul line even once?

I felt like the refs changed their whistle during the game, I felt they were bad across the board but don't change the whistle during the game. Joel gets 2 phatom fouls and yet you don't call Wilki for grabbing Justin's wrist on that runner? Not saying it was slanted, Collins couldn't walk on the court and not get whistled, but you don't call tick tack one minute and let it go the next. You have to let kids adjust to your whistle and I felt it effected us maybe more when Wake cut our lead in that second half. The home team as well as the team way behind usually get more benefit of the whistles, so I am not fussing about them other than it seemed to change mid game.

Kenny stepped up huge with some really needed jump shooting (and a coupel big time free throws after missing 2 big ones), was not his or Joel's best defensive game, not for lack of effort but at times they gave a little to much room to heated up shooters. I thought Theo played really well in every aspect other than scoring the ball. Hated he missed that left handed lay in, his passing was especially sharpe, his passing and ball handles seem to me to be at least where they were late last season. If anything I would have liked to see him more in that second half but Roy is still managing his PT, as he should, Theo got 17mins last night. I felt 7th came in and really played well making this now back to back solid stints for 7th, good on ya young man!

Give Wake credit, they fought, they were near dead and buried after Theo rebound and sweet assist to meeks to seal the first half, those kid battled hard in front of their fans in that second half, hit some hard shots, cut our 19pt lead down to one but didn't have the steam to get over that final hump. Away wins are really hard to come by so far this ACC conference season no matter who they come against or how close the game ends up.

 

[shane023]

I don't want to make this about the refs, but how many free throws did Wake shoot in the second half? Yes they made some shots, but the number of free throws allowed them to creep back in to the game and kept the final in doubt until the final seconds.

As a side, really nice game from Kennedy Meeks.

 

[Steat]

 

[gauchoheel]

I don't want to make this about the refs, but how many free throws did Wake shoot in the second half? Yes they made some shots, but the number of free throws allowed them to creep back in to the game and kept the final in doubt until the final seconds.

As a side, really nice game from Kennedy Meeks.

I have to say I think most of the fouls were legit though. We got lazy on defense and just kept hacking at them.

 

[gobblercalls]

I have to say I think most of the fouls were legit though. We got lazy on defense and just kept hacking at them.

Wake's fouls that were NOT called were just as legit!

 

[soap - new and improved]

Wake's fouls that were NOT called were just as legit!

This is a big part of it. Wake was shooting the 1 and 1 at the 14:21 mark. They were getting double bonus at 11:47. We did not get into 1 and 1 until 41 seconds to play. Garbage! This is a MASSIVE advantage for a team that shoots FTs well, and was handcuffing us on defense as well.

2nd half Heels offense was on my end and seats were great. We got fouled plenty with VERY few calls.

To put things in perspective, we were called for greater than a foul per minute average in the first 10 minutes of the second half. Meanwhile Wake was hyper aggressive on defense with less than half our fouls called in that time span. The totals only started getting closer after Wake HAD to foul purposely in order to lengthen the game.

This is just the kind of Ref Garbage that has cost us games in the past, and then we see a board meltdown and our players and coaches thrown under the bus by those who cannot accept that refs can and do influence outcomes, and heavily at times.

 

[imajericho]

Jesus you guys complain about the refs literally every god damn game.

 

[Sk1310]

Jesus you guys complain about the refs literally every god damn game.

Why does it bother you so much?

 

[gobblercalls]

Jesus you guys complain about the refs literally every god damn game.

I'm not sure how stating an opinion is automatically interpreted as complaining, but I am sure that with your limited vocabulary I have no more interest in your opinion.

 

[DSouthr]

As a Tar Heel, there were several calls I did not like, frankly there are several calls against us in pretty much every game that I do not like that go against us. We as fans are geared to not like the calls that go against us, I am just being honest. Joel IMO got hit with 2 phantom fouls, Meeks by all that is right should have had a few trips to the line as opposed to not a single foul shot. I for darn sure didn't like Mitigu standing straight up like "what did I do" when you just gave Tony a concussion from a elbow strike and a chest plow. Now that is me as a Tar Heel fan but I gurantee ya Wake fans didn't like Collins getting his 2nd or 3rd fouls, I felt they were proper. But who I want to benefit clouds my judgement and clouds all fans judgement. I realize that on one level and rail against it on another. I try to stay away from blaming the out come of a game on the refs because I realize I am not a neutral party to the discussion as as such I can not look at it fairly.

I realize gary, and maybe a few more got a bit put off by what I said about refs after last weekend but I am not trying to throw shade at any of you that talk about the refs more than I wish we would. But my words were not intended to upset anyone, no way I would on purpose throw shade at my bud gary (well unless he decided to throw a stick of parkay up his anal cavity , just trying to be honest in what I feel and that can at times be in conflict to folks that I respect. It isn't the poster, it may be at times the posters opinion that I do not agree with but there is nothing at all wrong with not agreeing with someone's opinion all the time, I don't even agree with myself 100% of the time, how could I agree with anyone else more than I agree with myself? LOL

 

[gary-7]

This is a big part of it. Wake was shooting the 1 and 1 at the 14:21 mark. They were getting double bonus at 11:47. We did not get into 1 and 1 until 41 seconds to play. Garbage! This is a MASSIVE advantage for a team that shoots FTs well, and was handcuffing us on defense as well.

That was the issue. We earned many of our fouls but Eades & Co swallowed the whistle on the other end and that changed the game. It started with their guy grabbing Jackson on a fast break layup --- and I'm not talking about momentary contact, it was a full wrist grab, easy to see, and then he pulled JJ's arm down right in front of the zebra. A fair ref just does not miss that call, and worse yet he gave Wake the ball, and it went down hill from there. As a result, as you said, we barely got in the bonus and we're having to shoot crucial FTs in 1-and-1s instead of 2 shots.

 

[imajericho]

Why does it bother you so much?

Because I would like to think fellow fans of the damn team I like aren't such crybabies. You all sound like you are entitled to every damn game having double the free throws of the other team.

 

[gauchoheel]

Yeah I have to say I think complaining about the refs most games is nonsensical. They aren't going to get every call right ever, for either team. The idea that they are objectively biased against the Heels for entire seasons is just flat wrong.

When you start pointing out multiple games where the refs tilted the game in our favor I'll accept pointing out multiple games where we complain about the calls. Otherwise it's just biased fandom, as literally every single fanbase thinks the refs are out to get them. It's just not true, and I expect better from our fans.

The refs were fine this game. Yes they missed a couple calls (for both teams) but we hacked Wake the whole second half and they deserved to shoot a lot of free throws.

 

[coryfly]

I'm rewatching the game and I have changed my mind. The refs were terrrible. Just awful. Not against us or for us either, just terrible. The first foul of the second half which got their big guy in trouble was garbage. Kenny just ran into his leg and tripped. The dude was just standing still not even in the play. Then the next trip down they call Meeks for just boxing out. He wasn't even being physical or anything. So they saddled Wake's best big with two fouls (the first one I referenced and the double foul) that were just terrible calls. That just isn't acceptable. I did not think the officiating hurt us as I did not think it was biased or anything. It was just incompetent at times for both teams though. Watching it a second time where you know what is coming and so look for it makes it worse.

 

[gary-7]

Yeah I have to say I think complaining about the refs most games is nonsensical. They aren't going to get every call right ever, for either team. The idea that they are objectively biased against the Heels for entire seasons is just flat wrong.

When you start pointing out multiple games where the refs tilted the game in our favor I'll accept pointing out multiple games where we complain about the calls. Otherwise it's just biased fandom, as literally every single fanbase thinks the refs are out to get them. It's just not true, and I expect better from our fans.

The refs were fine this game. Yes they missed a couple calls (for both teams) but we hacked Wake the whole second half and they deserved to shoot a lot of free throws.

They weren't fine. They swallowed the whistle on our end in the second half and it helped bring Wake back into the game. Pointing out that simple fact has nothing to do with biased fandom.

 

[gauchoheel]

They weren't fine. They swallowed the whistle on our end in the second half and it helped bring Wake back into the game. Pointing out that simple fact has nothing to do with biased fandom.

Your point in isolation makes sense. But if we are making it the majority of the time, and almost never turning things around and saying the refs clearly benefited us in the game, that is a great example of bias.

 

[mikeirbyusa]

Good as he played IN CLOSE for Meeks to shoot ZERO foul shots should tell you all you need to know about those Zebras.

 

[shun1]

!!!!!!!!!!!! SMILE !!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Heelicious]

Good as he played IN CLOSE for Meeks to shoot ZERO foul shots should tell you all you need to know about those Zebras.

Well - while Meeks in whole had a very good game, the fact that he doesn't go up really strong and aggressive (its just not his style or game, and its not going to change).... instead of being sort of soft finesse finisher, double pumps, waiting for someone to come block his shot......means he is WAY less likely to get calls that are fouls.

Sort of same with Hicks kind of looking around for the refs, with a guilty look, expecting the foul call even if he didn't foul the guy, just because he comes to expect getting whistled just for being in the neighborhood. Unfortunate, but I do believe these things under their own control, lead to Hicks and Meeks not getting totally fair treatment.

 

[imajericho]

When Meeks takes the ball into the lane and starts dunking it over people I will expect the foul calls to flood in. Or at least draw contact like Hansbrough did (the guy with the most fts in ncaa history i think).

When he continues to shy away from contact and try to spin away for a slight fade or go around for a layup, I expect little.

Kentucky showed you with the Harrisoms exactly how to get foul calls. Dribble into the defender on a drive who you have a step on. Draw contactm. As long as you try to avoid the defender, you are less likely to draw a foul.

 

[gauchoheel]

When Meeks takes the ball into the lane and starts dunking it over people I will expect the foul calls to flood in. Or at least draw contact like Hansbrough did (the guy with the most fts in ncaa history i think).

When he continues to shy away from contact and try to spin away for a slight fade or go around for a layup, I expect little.

Kentucky showed you with the Harrisoms exactly how to get foul calls. Dribble into the defender on a drive who you have a step on. Draw contactm. As long as you try to avoid the defender, you are less likely to draw a foul.

Exactly. Unfortunately on this team we have very few perimeter guys that draw fouls. Joel doesn't all that much, JJ drives but pulls floaters or fading layups, and Kenny almost never drives. Seventh does but he doesn't play enough (or make his FT's). Meeks is physical but goes up soft, and Hicks has lacked the aggressiveness I thought he showed last year. Tony is about the only guy consistently going up strong, but then he can't really make free throws.