As I have shared, I am really concerned for the coming season, I think more than most seem to be. I am not saying we can't win big but I will say I have major concerns, concerns that I have talked about. So what do we need to see for us to win to the standard of UNC basketball?
On offense: First off we need to rip and run, we need to run opposing teams in to the dirt, red hot tempo, pushing everything, no walking the ball up and that requires playing a very deep rotation, I think a rotation of at least 9 if not 10 guys getting regular minutes. The argument against that is that it could challenge continuity and it could frankly. But we have a crap load of very talented depth, especially in our back court. You just DON"T NOT PLAY guys like Seth, Drake, Ian; to waste those guys would almost be criminal. I want to see constant pressure on both ends, turn defense in to offense.
But when we do go into half court on offense, with Bacot no longer there to dominate the paint then we need to make good use out of Jalen's ability to jump shoot, he drags big man defenders outside of the paint and opens up really wide driving lanes for EC and RJ. Tyson has to hit jump shots, Drake and Jack need to create but not be selfish, no Caleb shooting till ya get hot, shot selection is vital. Mix in some small ball as well as a defensive orientated look, we have the guys for that. RJ and Tyson I think will be knock down 3pt shooters, Jack and Drake, as well as Seth more mid-range drivers with length, very different looks that keep defenses off balance. Force opponents to go to their bench to counter our different looks and pace, force them to change rather than we needing to change.
Defense: Glaring concern is the 5 spot, can Jalen BOTH improve as well as hold up to big minutes? Someone has to step up behind him, be it Lubin, High, Claude, JWit, who will it be, hard call. We may have to go smaller at the 5 than we want, we will have to go smaller over all (2 smallish starting guards and shorter reserves for the 5). This is an area that pumping up the tempo is critical, speed and quickness can neutralize most size disadvantages, we have to attack defensively. Don't let opposing guards walk the ball up against us, switch token to hard press, to trapping full court pressure. Rotating in fresh legs (do you get my theme here with deep bench use) mentally and physically wear down the opposing teams starters, force them into bad shots as the clocks ticks down. While we are small at the starting 1 & 2 as well as reserves for the 5 when Jalen sits, we have really good length as well as defensive mind sets off the bench at the 2 and 3 and Tyson as a starter is a size advantage for us in most games.
What do YOU think?
On offense: First off we need to rip and run, we need to run opposing teams in to the dirt, red hot tempo, pushing everything, no walking the ball up and that requires playing a very deep rotation, I think a rotation of at least 9 if not 10 guys getting regular minutes. The argument against that is that it could challenge continuity and it could frankly. But we have a crap load of very talented depth, especially in our back court. You just DON"T NOT PLAY guys like Seth, Drake, Ian; to waste those guys would almost be criminal. I want to see constant pressure on both ends, turn defense in to offense.
But when we do go into half court on offense, with Bacot no longer there to dominate the paint then we need to make good use out of Jalen's ability to jump shoot, he drags big man defenders outside of the paint and opens up really wide driving lanes for EC and RJ. Tyson has to hit jump shots, Drake and Jack need to create but not be selfish, no Caleb shooting till ya get hot, shot selection is vital. Mix in some small ball as well as a defensive orientated look, we have the guys for that. RJ and Tyson I think will be knock down 3pt shooters, Jack and Drake, as well as Seth more mid-range drivers with length, very different looks that keep defenses off balance. Force opponents to go to their bench to counter our different looks and pace, force them to change rather than we needing to change.
Defense: Glaring concern is the 5 spot, can Jalen BOTH improve as well as hold up to big minutes? Someone has to step up behind him, be it Lubin, High, Claude, JWit, who will it be, hard call. We may have to go smaller at the 5 than we want, we will have to go smaller over all (2 smallish starting guards and shorter reserves for the 5). This is an area that pumping up the tempo is critical, speed and quickness can neutralize most size disadvantages, we have to attack defensively. Don't let opposing guards walk the ball up against us, switch token to hard press, to trapping full court pressure. Rotating in fresh legs (do you get my theme here with deep bench use) mentally and physically wear down the opposing teams starters, force them into bad shots as the clocks ticks down. While we are small at the starting 1 & 2 as well as reserves for the 5 when Jalen sits, we have really good length as well as defensive mind sets off the bench at the 2 and 3 and Tyson as a starter is a size advantage for us in most games.
What do YOU think?