Theo...

[What Would Jesus Do?]

Who I think it will be or who I want it to be? I will give both:

Who I think will start the season :Hicks, Meeks, Justin, Nate, Joel

What I prefer is Hicks, Meeks, Justin, Kenny (I believe we will see this season that Kenny and Joel are the 2 best shooters on the team, just my opinion), and Joel

Now it would not be shocked to see Theo start at the 2 but I will be shocked if he shoots well enough to keep that role as a 2. I just think Roy goes with his senior to start at the 2, Roy loves him some seniors. What I prefer could change, Tony could come out the gate strong so maybe him over Meeks is a better deal, have to see. Maybe it is 7th or BRob that comes out the gate strong at the 2 and Kenny struggles. We need to see how that plays out, Nate could begin games and other guys get more minutes.

Partly depends on what kind of team and strategy Roy has in mind to open the games. Some years we have seen teams where the objective was to kick them in the teeth as hard as you can to break open the game early. Other teams, there's been a more conservative make-no-mistakes strategy early in the game.

I don't know if we have the raw power to be a kick-em-in-the-teeth team. But if so, I would expect Theo to start at the 2. If not, Nate may be the best bet. Nate isn't Marcus, but his scoring clip (ppm) is closer to Marcus' than Theo's is. With ordinary improvements by most players, Nate could well be the safe starter who could either play a lot of minutes or turn things over to others, depending on how the game goes.

 

[imajericho]

Theo>JP at everything AND plays for THE TEAM.

JP was a way better dunker.

 

[DSouthr]

Partly depends on what kind of team and strategy Roy has in mind to open the games. Some years we have seen teams where the objective was to kick them in the teeth as hard as you can to break open the game early. Other teams, there's been a more conservative make-no-mistakes strategy early in the game.

I don't know if we have the raw power to be a kick-em-in-the-teeth team. But if so, I would expect Theo to start at the 2. If not, Nate may be the best bet. Nate isn't Marcus, but his scoring clip (ppm) is closer to Marcus' than Theo's is. With ordinary improvements by most players, Nate could well be the safe starter who could either play a lot of minutes or turn things over to others, depending on how the game goes.

We see it with Roy, he tinkers with his line ups early and then settles in to his rotations until very late season when he tightens up his rotations. What we do depends on the player mix we have, when you have guys like Tyler, may, Zeller, Henson, Brice, you feed the beast. But when you don't then you have to look elsewhere.

Roy got stuck with a lack of shooters, that reached its apex season before last, we were one of the worst jump shooting teams in the country and we were not getting 5 star big men to hide our outside shooting woes. I think you can see, by the shear volume of shooters that we now have as well as those on the way committed to us, Roy does not want to be without shooters any more. Now up to this point does anyone argue differently, if you do by all means share it and we can talk but I don't see many if any that will argue what I just said.

So I ask you, Roy has these well respected shooters, are they window dressing, is he doing it because the Rams clubbers told him they wanted him to waste scholarships on guys he is not going to play? Count em folks, we have 4 guys NOT NAMED JOEL that were recruited as jump shooters, combo guards, some can move over to the point at times and others are more true shooting guards. Not one of those 4 guys are likely to be dare you to shoot guys, like JP or Jackie were, or kendal as a freshman. 1/3rd of your allowed scholarships are today on our roster and folks are clamoring for us to move a poor jump shooting wing over as our starting SHOOTING guard? Let that soak in for a minute, think about that reasonably. Now you can argue that maybe we should not have all those 2 guards but we do and Roy will have to make the best of it. Now me, I am that guy that ain't got a clue, I am that guy that believes Roy brought in those shooters to play, that Roy brought in those shooters to shoot, I am that nut job that looks at the word shooting guard and can not get past the word SHOOTING. Yeah, I am that guy...

I am that guy, the one that watched Theo play the 3 and the 4 last season and loved it, I am the fool that didn't enjoy those wild tosses toward the basket by a falling away wing from 30 feet out, yeah, that would be this fool. I'm the mentally impaired guy that that actually listened to Roy sharing how well a guy like kenny shot the ball in practice and I am the guy that does not know enough about this game to actually believe that a shooter playing about a minute a game is not enough time for him to get in to the flow of the game and settle in as a shooter. I am that dumb arse that that actually really likes the fact that I watched kenny pass up good but tuff shots and get the ball to a more open team mate. I am the speechifying nonsense talker that that actually believes that the reason we didn't see kenny on the court more last season was because we had Marcus and nate was more a 2 than a 1, clearly in the way Roy played him so much at the 2 and so little at the point and could bring kenny along slower.

I am even that brain dead kook that lives across town from where 7th Woods played HS ball that actually is as excited today that we have this kid on our roster as I was the day he committed. And yeah, idiot me feels BRob shooting WELL OVER 40% FROM TREY, while NOT AVERAGING a TRIPLE DOUBLE ;-), bodes well for him as a shooter in college.

And for the record, this dummy does not want to see Theo play the PG or center positions either, so go ahead and rake me over the coals for that to.

Yeah, rekon I am that guy...There will be a lot more folks like me come January, there usually are...

 

[DSouthr]

Theo is 6'6", listed at 205lbs but may be a little more with this off season in the weight room, would not be surprised if he were not 210-215 by now. Theo has really long arms or his height, allow him to play above his listed height, as we saw with Henson for example. George Lynch was 6'7" and 218lbs and was our power forward. WE all want PJ Washington don't we, PJ is listed at 6'7" and 200lbs. If you factor in reach, Theo could actually be longer than George or PJ, at very least it is a close call. We ALL LOVE Theo's game, we may differ where his best game is position wise.

But what if we started Theo at the 4, we ALL watched him play that position and play it really well last season. Roy started PJ Harrison as a 6'4" power forward, what was Noel 6'6-7"? All this discussion of Theo at the 2 because Marcus graduated but what if we started him at the 4 and sat either Meeks or Hicks? Yall worried about Hicks foul issues right, could protect those foul issues same way we did last season with him coming off the bench?

Yep, that is our small ball look and yep, we have seen it not just work but do so really well. It not only is IMO much smarter than Theo at the 2 but it is what we watched Roy do after Marcus came back from that early season injury last season. It was such a broke idea that we got all the way to the natty game and we used this look a LOT near end of the season and all the way thru the NCAAT.

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

Theo is 6'6", listed at 205lbs but may be a little more with this off season in the weight room, would not be surprised if he were not 210-215 by now. Theo has really long arms or his height, allow him to play above his listed height, as we saw with Henson for example. George Lynch was 6'7" and 218lbs and was our power forward. WE all want PJ Washington don't we, PJ is listed at 6'7" and 200lbs. If you factor in reach, Theo could actually be longer than George or PJ, at very least it is a close call. We ALL LOVE Theo's game, we may differ where his best game is position wise.

But what if we started Theo at the 4, we ALL watched him play that position and play it really well last season. Roy started PJ Harrison as a 6'4" power forward, what was Noel 6'6-7"? All this discussion of Theo at the 2 because Marcus graduated but what if we started him at the 4 and sat either Meeks or Hicks? Yall worried about Hicks foul issues right, could protect those foul issues same way we did last season with him coming off the bench?

Yep, that is our small ball look and yep, we have seen it not just work but do so really well. It not only is IMO much smarter than Theo at the 2 but it is what we watched Roy do after Marcus came back from that early season injury last season. It was such a broke idea that we got all the way to the natty game and we used this look a LOT near end of the season and all the way thru the NCAAT.

I simply disagree about playing Theo at the 4. Sure, we got away with it in specific situations against specific teams for a short number of minutes. But that's a long way from meaning that's the best use of Theo's talent. Or Isaiah's talent, for that matter (or Kennedy's depending on who gets consigned to the bench).

Sure, Theo a the 4 may happen again this season in certain situations, but it's not the way to build the best day-in-day-out team, imo.

Yes, one big reason why Theo should be considered at SG is because Marcus is gone.

No, that doesn't mean Theo will prove to be the best choice for SG. But it's a perfectly good reason to make him our default choice for that starting position in the beginning of the season.

Let's face it, Theo is a very athletic guy with a broad skill set. The ONLY things he lacks to make him the obvious choice at SG are a reliable outside shot and an occasional loss of focus. He needs to fix those. With any luck, he has already fixed them. If he does fix them, it's hard to see how anyone else on this team is a better choice to fill that vacated starting position.

You are certainly correct that Roy seems to be committed to transforming UNC into a better shooting team. And I agree that Roy wouldn't sign them if he didn't intend to end up with at least a couple of starters or big-minutes guys from those recruits. But that doesn't mean it will happen this year - or that any of them are good enough to push Theo aside.

It's possible, of course, that Theo has not fixed his shooting or mental lapses. In which case, does that mean he should NOT be our starting SG? Not necessarily.

For his entire UNC career, he has been the energy guy, the defensive specialist, the multi-position jack of all trades. But here's the thing. Has that been good for Theo's development? I'm not sure it has been. Sure, he can do that. But has it kept him from becoming good at ONE role or position? I suspect it has. Which is to say that part of my reason for hoping that Theo will be our starting SG - and will play almost exclusively at that position - is because I think that may be what he needs to make that great leap forward.

It might be true that he would be helped even more if he could start at SF and play exclusively at SF for 30 minutes per game. But that position is filled.

Then again, it is frequently said that the wings are pretty interchangeable in Roy's system. So maybe that doesn't matter.

 

[DSouthr]

I simply disagree about playing Theo at the 4. Sure, we got away with it in specific situations against specific teams for a short number of minutes. But that's a long way from meaning that's the best use of Theo's talent. Or Isaiah's talent, for that matter (or Kennedy's depending on who gets consigned to the bench).

Sure, Theo a the 4 may happen again this season in certain situations, but it's not the way to build the best day-in-day-out team, imo.

Yes, one big reason why Theo should be considered at SG is because Marcus is gone.

No, that doesn't mean Theo will prove to be the best choice for SG. But it's a perfectly good reason to make him our default choice for that starting position in the beginning of the season.

Let's face it, Theo is a very athletic guy with a broad skill set. The ONLY things he lacks to make him the obvious choice at SG are a reliable outside shot and an occasional loss of focus. He needs to fix those. With any luck, he has already fixed them. If he does fix them, it's hard to see how anyone else on this team is a better choice to fill that vacated starting position.

You are certainly correct that Roy seems to be committed to transforming UNC into a better shooting team. And I agree that Roy wouldn't sign them if he didn't intend to end up with at least a couple of starters or big-minutes guys from those recruits. But that doesn't mean it will happen this year - or that any of them are good enough to push Theo aside.

It's possible, of course, that Theo has not fixed his shooting or mental lapses. In which case, does that mean he should NOT be our starting SG? Not necessarily.

For his entire UNC career, he has been the energy guy, the defensive specialist, the multi-position jack of all trades. But here's the thing. Has that been good for Theo's development? I'm not sure it has been. Sure, he can do that. But has it kept him from becoming good at ONE role or position? I suspect it has. Which is to say that part of my reason for hoping that Theo will be our starting SG - and will play almost exclusively at that position - is because I think that may be what he needs to make that great leap forward.

It might be true that he would be helped even more if he could start at SF and play exclusively at SF for 30 minutes per game. But that position is filled.

Then again, it is frequently said that the wings are pretty interchangeable in Roy's system. So maybe that doesn't matter.

Good reply and I would not prefer us to start the game with small ball, just tossed that out there as another option to get Theo as a starter. No need for me to re-hash my concerns with Theo at the 2, pretty well established by now. I do love Theo at the 4 in small ball, love it because I saw it work really well. We went to it virtually every game late season and all the way thru the NCAAT, it was not just something we pulled out for a specific team or 2.

Me, I feel good about stuff that I have seen work well and I am not a fan of those things I see that do not work well. For example, I like 2 guards dropping down to play the wing more than I like wings trying to be 2 guards, especially weaker jump shooting wings. You get typically a 3rd deadly shooter when 2s drop down to the 3.

I like a wing that is long that is able to play at the 4 because that wing should be able to take that defending 4 out in space and have the advantage putting the ball on the floor. But absolutely if that 6'6" wing is having to check a 6'11" 230lb power forward it is a problem. But I did love our ability to switch on defense with Theo as a 4, that was really good stuff between he and Justin.

What concerns me is assuming a kid can dramatically improve an area he has shown to be very weak in, as is the case with Theo as a jump shooter. I would be fine & dandy with Theo at the 2 if we had a dominating front court that could provide us with great scoring, it just don't see that on this particular UNC team. If it is there for this team it has not shown itself yet. So our back court will have to produce a lot of scoring and Joel is not going to be able to do that by himself nor will Theo find it as easy to facilitate when a 2 guard defender does not have to worry about him shooting, that can play him for the drive and have the quickness advantage.

Wanted to add "Then again, it is frequently said that the wings are pretty interchangeable in Roy's system. So maybe that doesn't matter"

^ It is usually our wings exchanging with our 4s, thus the reason you saw Hicks and Brice picking up so many body check fouls on driving wings.We really don't like to switch off wing to 2 unless we have a long 2 and kenny is a long 2 that moves his feet well and works on defense, he could switch on to a wing IMO better than Marcus could. Marcus had to stay tight in the wings jock and many times still was not able to slow him. That was a heck of a job Marcus did on Brogden last season but he worked hard to leverage under him and moved his feet to keep Brogden from picking up momentum. Brogden was a big 2 physically.

 

[Spacegrass]

Playing Theo at the 4 is a situational scenario. Not something that will happena majority of the time.