So dern proud of that youngen! 
THEO!!!
- Thread starter mikeirbyusa
- Start date
We saw why so many of us think he is so key. The plays he made are the ones that bring so much to the team.
I wrote on the game thread.... there was a 2-3 min stretch when Theo injected some much needed attitude: Dunk, defense, three pointer... he was doing it all.... oh yeah and talking, clapping etc!
He put the T in team today .. very athletic .. very high energy player and adds another dimension to this years team. Great to see him be so aggressive on the dunk and great to see him knock down that 3 .. and his FT shooting looked very smooth. Also made some really good defensive plays .. and our defense today was friggin awesome !!
Great win against a good team !
Great win against a good team !
We get out and play much faster tempo with him. He can grab the rebound and start the break on his own. Vision is special as he sees the plays before they happen. Guarding 7 footers in the post out of necessity shows his versatility. Love this kid.
Theo adds a different dimension to this team .. he gets boards, he can drive and dish, he can drive and finish, he can defend almost any position and he can handle the ball. He is an opposing coaches nightmare because of his versatility and athleticism ! His free throw shooting looked very good today and if he can get his jumpers to drop consistently he can make his stock for the league rise BIG TIME !! Would love to see him cutting down the nets in the last game .. a true UNC bball family member for sure.
Yep. Amazes me how some on here a few weeks ago tried to downplay what he means to this machine.
Pretty much confirmed everything peeps who really know UNC bball were saying! He is a difference maker on the court and seems to just do what is needed every time. The out of this world dunk doesn't even compare to his battle with Man Mountain in the post!
12 points, 10 boards, 3 assists, a steal, and much needed energy and defense in 24 minutes. He takes us to another level.
I LOVE ME SOME THEO PINSON!!!!! A 5* humble (and he is a great kid) Mickey D that has ALL the goods! Love that young man for everything he's about as a Tar Heel!!
Theo needed this today. At one point in the first half, he got the ball at the arc, wide open, and didn't even glance at the basket... Like he had lost all confidence in himself and the ability to make a shot. The dunk, the 3, and the alley to Hicks... I think those things gave him his "swag" back. Oh, and he converted his free throws. Theo deserved to be the player of the game.
You guys have read me discuss why I felt we needed Theo more coming off the bench more than being a starter for us, that I prefer kenny to start at the 2. Now I have explained why many times and I don't want to give the same explaination this time, want to take a different slant on this.
I ABSOLUTELY LOVE the energy Theo injects our second unit with when he walks on the floor. You saw it yesterday just in the emotion he displays and while I would never down play that if he did start, his bringing that alpha mindset to our bench is IMO as if not more important than he bringing as a starter would be. Joel is kinda of that guy with the starters but when Theo was out we didn't have that same energy and raw emotion with our second unit and at ties that was sorely needed. We got nice hustle off our bench with guys like Luke, Brob, Nate just not that emotional alpha dawg mentality that Theo infects this team with.
With Theo we don't have that emotional drop off when our starters sit, at times our bench plays with even more emotion that our starters with Theo leading the way. When you don't have that drop off when your starters sit, HUGE advantage, it grinds your opponents down and it keeps grinding on them for 40mins.
What I watched yesterday was a team that ain't broke and if it ain't broke it does not need any fixin!
I ABSOLUTELY LOVE the energy Theo injects our second unit with when he walks on the floor. You saw it yesterday just in the emotion he displays and while I would never down play that if he did start, his bringing that alpha mindset to our bench is IMO as if not more important than he bringing as a starter would be. Joel is kinda of that guy with the starters but when Theo was out we didn't have that same energy and raw emotion with our second unit and at ties that was sorely needed. We got nice hustle off our bench with guys like Luke, Brob, Nate just not that emotional alpha dawg mentality that Theo infects this team with.
With Theo we don't have that emotional drop off when our starters sit, at times our bench plays with even more emotion that our starters with Theo leading the way. When you don't have that drop off when your starters sit, HUGE advantage, it grinds your opponents down and it keeps grinding on them for 40mins.
What I watched yesterday was a team that ain't broke and if it ain't broke it does not need any fixin!
Sure looked 100% to me. Well, maybe 99%. I think pre-injury Theo would have had even more lift on that nifty dunk.
Now we can get back to the original debate - which was whether he should start at SG or play starter minutes coming off the bench to play multiple roles.
So far he has come off the bench to play multiple roles. And yesterday he got up to starter level minutes.
Will Theo still be coming off the bench in March? Or even February? Roy said that he would have started at SG if he hadn't been injured. But is that still what should happen? Kenny has been doing a good job for us. Which way maximizes the talent?
Now we can get back to the original debate - which was whether he should start at SG or play starter minutes coming off the bench to play multiple roles.
So far he has come off the bench to play multiple roles. And yesterday he got up to starter level minutes.
Will Theo still be coming off the bench in March? Or even February? Roy said that he would have started at SG if he hadn't been injured. But is that still what should happen? Kenny has been doing a good job for us. Which way maximizes the talent?
I don't think Roy is going to mess with the starting lineup at this point. My guess is Theo comes off the bench and gets around 20 minutes a game.
All things being normal Theo's starting, but given where we are and that things seem to be working I doubt Roy changes it up as long as it is working
I thought starter role was earned during practice. Does this change at start of ACC season? BTW, I trust Roy to start the right person, just asking for clarification on the best practice performance=starters question.
Historically the unwritten rule is all positions are open and can be earned in practice. The starters are the best performers all week. In reality this is more of a deciding factor early in the season and then Roy seems to evaluate team needs; chemistry; player's mentality; D; team and player efficiency; and other factors to decide what maximizes potential team success! Positions can be lost in practice as well.
I agree that TP would have started without the injury AND I agree that he will probably keep coming off the bench from now on because it is working! However, this does not have anything to do with whether KW would have been the best choice at the beginning. It is successful because our team dynamic adjusted to our situation. TP starting would have caused an entirely different team dynamic to develop. In any case, I really love what I'm seeing on the court and I hope Roy doesn't mess with it!
I agree that TP would have started without the injury AND I agree that he will probably keep coming off the bench from now on because it is working! However, this does not have anything to do with whether KW would have been the best choice at the beginning. It is successful because our team dynamic adjusted to our situation. TP starting would have caused an entirely different team dynamic to develop. In any case, I really love what I'm seeing on the court and I hope Roy doesn't mess with it!
Agreed he is much better facilitator of offense compared to the Britt and Woods.
While I hated that Theo got hurt, we may actually become a better team over all because of it. Per Roy, it was a closer than expect call between Theo/Nate/Kenny who would start at the 2 but Theo had edged it out and would have game 1 started had he not hurt that foot. But in his not being available it put kenny in the position and he has run with it. I could not be more pleased with what I see from kenny as our starter other than I would like to see him shoot with a bit more confidence, he is actually a better shooter than he has shown this season. But I LOVE what I watch him do defensively, love how hard he works, love how he just seems to thrive playing beside Joel.
Now with Theo back, we have a better version of kenny than we would have had and Theo is playing in a role we have seen him excel in before. Now, even if Roy puts Theo in at the 2 as a starter we still have a more developed kenny than we may have had. This is the kind of thing that takes a really good team and moves it to that next level. Theo being out also gave Luke a bit more time to develop as well.
Even this concussion to Tony may ion the end prove out to be good for us as a team. Tony, IMO was hitting a little bit of that freshman wall, a break away from the pressure cooker is not always a bad thing, can be a thing that lets him re-gather a little bit and come back re-freshed. Season before last, Joel was not our starter and then he got a little injury followed by catching the flu. It took him out of practice and games for a short while but when he came back it was as if a light switched on and Joel Berry became a real factor for us, that little bit of down time allowed him to re-gather and maybe this wil apply to Tony as well.
I want to see some more minutes with Theo and 7th on the court at the same time. I figure having 2 serious threats to drive will work synergistically.
Joel
7th
Theo
Justin
Isaiah
Everybody on that team can drive, with enough outside shooting to keep the D honest.
Can I have 5 minutes a half of that, please?
I think this quote from Sean May when asked about Theo's return is spot on.
"From the basketball standpoint, I think Theo puts everybody back in their natural positions. Justin is just a three, instead of having to play the three and four. Isaiah is just a four, instead of having to play the four and five. Nate Britt can be more of a backup point guard. The other thing that it does is it allows us to have four guys at any point that can bring the ball up the floor. That’s dangerous and that’s what allows us to get out quicker and get to our pace that we love to play… He’s done a phenomenal job. He’s still got to improve defensively. He’s going to take some time just with him having the time that he was off. He’s been a great spark for us.”
"From the basketball standpoint, I think Theo puts everybody back in their natural positions. Justin is just a three, instead of having to play the three and four. Isaiah is just a four, instead of having to play the four and five. Nate Britt can be more of a backup point guard. The other thing that it does is it allows us to have four guys at any point that can bring the ball up the floor. That’s dangerous and that’s what allows us to get out quicker and get to our pace that we love to play… He’s done a phenomenal job. He’s still got to improve defensively. He’s going to take some time just with him having the time that he was off. He’s been a great spark for us.”
Ponder this for a moment. Pinson is averaging five points, six rebounds, and four assists, in his four games back. But look at the effect he's had on Isaiah's game.
Isaiah was averaging 12 points per game, on 61% shooting before Theo's return. He was only getting to the line three times a game. In the last four games since Theo's return, Isaiah is averaging 17 points on 68% shooting. His FT attempts have doubled, from 3 to 6 per game. And for a big who can make FT's at an 80% clip, that is big. Theo was very good at throwing the lob to Brice last year and it appears he's and Isaiah are developing that same chemistry.
We really did miss Theo's versatility. With his ability to defend four spots, his passing, and his energy, he is invaluable to this team.
Isaiah was averaging 12 points per game, on 61% shooting before Theo's return. He was only getting to the line three times a game. In the last four games since Theo's return, Isaiah is averaging 17 points on 68% shooting. His FT attempts have doubled, from 3 to 6 per game. And for a big who can make FT's at an 80% clip, that is big. Theo was very good at throwing the lob to Brice last year and it appears he's and Isaiah are developing that same chemistry.
We really did miss Theo's versatility. With his ability to defend four spots, his passing, and his energy, he is invaluable to this team.
