This Is Who We Are...

[ChiShankCity]

So to people that think I'm just a troll and pick and choose opportunistic moments to post... That's fine. I'm not going to defend how knowledgable about basketball I am, how much I care about UNC basketball, my playing career... Because none of that is really relevant and no matter what I type, people's opinions aren't going to change. Those that think I'm a troll will think I'm a troll. Those that think I'm a knowledgable poster will think the same. Those that think I'm just a stat head who still lives in his parent's basement will think the same.

Timing has a lot to do with my posts. I work weekdays and have work to do at home past work hours (like many others). I have weekends off and those are the chances I have to watch the game as hard as I'd like to. I watch the game more casually while doing work on weekdays. While I think I watch the games focused enough to understand what I've seen, that's probably a reason I depend on statistics more than most. While I think statistics can measure how good a team is and ultimately project how well a team will perform in the future, since I can't really watch each play during the weekdays, I depend on box score and advanced metrics to get an idea about the team.

So back to timing... It turns out we've lose 3-of-4 games on weekends, when I've been more available to post here.

I think I would post more during losses compared to wins naturally, but a lot of it has to do with timing.
________

As for potential solutions. Everyone here knows I like small lineups and I think we should utilize it more. I may think JJ has more to offer than he does in reality. The reality maybe he's a 12pts/4rbs player when Paige is in the lineup. But I think he can be a better rebounder and would benefit from playing the 4 on occasion but the numbers don't indicate that.

We probably will have to play more zone and in natural situation compared to playing it when we're in foul trouble. While people may disagree that "this is who we are"... I think we can all agree on this. Foul prone is what our bigs are... They always have been, they always will be.

Brice:
Freshman: 5.9 fouls committed/40 min
Sophomore: 5.8
Junior: 4.8
Senior: 4.2

Kennedy:
Freshman: 4.2
Sophomore: 4.5
Junior: 4.8

Isiah:
Freshman: 5.6
Sophomore: 6.8
Junior: 6.0

Joel:
Freshman: 5.0
Sophomore: 6.3
Junior: 5.5
Senior: 5.7

Maye:
Freshman: 6.9

So you have to protect them. That means auto-bench at 2 fouls in the first half. That means zone. All our bigs are going to pick up at least 1 bad/dumb foul per game.

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

So to people that think I'm just a troll and pick and choose opportunistic moments to post...

Ignore them. Some people just look for excuses to attack. If you say anything critical - no matter how true or well reasoned - they knee-jerk the personal attack. Sometimes they do that even when you haven't said anything critical.

Welcome to the internet.

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

We probably will have to play more zone and in natural situation compared to playing it when we're in foul trouble. While people may disagree that "this is who we are"... I think we can all agree on this. Foul prone is what our bigs are... They always have been, they always will be.

I have often thought this.

I would love to see how Jim Boeheim would coach these guys on D. Would it be better? I have no idea. But I suspect it might. Or some sort of John Chaney match-up zone. It's been a long time but I still remember how difficult those Temple teams were to play in his day. Would that be true today?

But the conventional wisdom is that Roy doesn't like zone. And while he will sometimes use it, it's nothing special and we don't play it often enough to make it a useful weapon.

Unfortunately, I doubt we could get good enough at it starting this late. Teaching it would take away from the other skills we need to improve without necessarily allowing us to get good at it.

 

[ChiShankCity]

Ignore them. Some people just look for excuses to attack. If you say anything critical - no matter how true or well reasoned - they knee-jerk the personal attack. Sometimes they do that even when you haven't said anything critical.

Welcome to the internet.

I don't care what everyone thinks of me. This is a message board. If someone doesn't like what I post, they're free to ignore it.

 

[r_u_worthy]

Well, the Heels have what, 8 conference games left. 6-2 or 7-1 gets the conference regular season title and a #1 seed. This team is more than capable of that even with the remaining schedule. All of the better teams in the big conferences have gone through stretches like this and came out of them on fire. I fully expect this will be the case with UNC. Yes, this is who we are: a pretty doggone good team who just took a couple of good shots on the jaw. I think they will respond just like a veteran team should respond: Get your legs under you and finish strong!

Yeah, I know... I'm one of the overly optimistic guys...

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

Yes, this is who we are: a pretty doggone good team who just took a couple of good shots on the jaw. I think they will respond just like a veteran team should respond: Get your legs under you and finish strong!

Yeah, I know... I'm one of the overly optimistic guys...

That's what we all hope.

We knew this was going to be a tough 10-game home stretch - with only 1 easy game in the batch. Perfectly reasonable to think we'd lose 2-3 games. We just didn't expect to lose the first 2. That doesn't leave us much room for error the rest of the way.

OTOH, if this points up our remaining flaws, having them pointed out this early gives us time to fix them.

If we assume that Marcus is back, we have reason to think that we'll be fine once Justin, Kennedy and Theo - or even any 2 of them - get back in gear.

But we also need a plan B, if they don't. What is our plan B? Obviously Isaiah can be asked to do more. Who else? Unfortunately, my sense is that the other guys are already giving pretty much what they have.

 

[coryfly]

I don't think there is a plan B for several of your key guys not playing very well. I don't think anyone has a plan B for that. That is why I am not for sitting Justin at all. He is going to be an important part of this team going forward. We need him. Eventually he is going to deliver. I do believe that.

 

[Heelicious]

That's true, but these are the caliber teams we'll play in March and to not play all that well is concerning. Beating the crap out of Georgia Tech doesn't mean much. Also, we haven't played all that well in any of our conference games, maybe aside from @ FSU.

...and Syracuse..... but that seems like a long time ago.

 

[Heelicious]

I would start Theo, IMO he gives us more energy, he has this way of getting involved in the game really early on and I understand, sometimes that is not as good a thing as it is at other times. BUt I think this team needs guys to begin the game to set an emotional tone and Theo IMO can do that. I think Jackson's head is blown up to the point that he is fading in to the back ground of the game more so than emotionally effecting it. Jackson is not the most emotional guy out there in the first place but we can not have our starting wing disappear and Theo just does not disappear. Lots of stuff good and bad bad we can say about Theo but no one can say he disappears in a game.

Start Theo and take some of the pressure off of Jackson to star right out of the gate and let him win that starting role back.

Maybe you can't go with a 3 PG lineup, but I think the line kinda blurs regarding what Nate and Marcus are. I know Nate is small to be considered a 3, but in the very limited minutes he's gotten recently (and maybe its my limited, selective memory?) he seems to be shooting, and driving aggressive to the rim, and playing decent defense, and PUSHING the ball on the break, about as well as anyone after Marcus and Berry.... much better than Justin Jackson at this point. And Justin is one of my favorites on this team. But he sure isn't earning the minutes he's getting right now (and yes I know that Nate was hurt last night - I hope we get him back soon).

He could be our Melvin Scott / Bobby Frasor sort of guy on this team

 

[gary-7]

I know what everyone is going to say... Here comes Jung being negative after a loss... He never has anything good to say about the team... Low hanging fruit....

But here's the thing...

I think this is who we are... We're just a year older.

We've questioned the same things about this team for 3 years. The main ray of hope for me is Brice is a stud and works his ass off (almost tries too hard at times). Everything else though is inconsistent with the hope of Berry, Jackson and Paige being consistently good.

Here are the positives though:
- I think today's fouling is a fluke. We've been really good at not fouling all year.
- Paige found his shot hopefully tonight. Everyone knows how essential 3pt offense is for us.

But the problems with toughness and playing under pressure have been problems consistently with this core and isn't going to go away.

I think they are who they have been for 3 years.

I'll respond to this as politely as I can: You really should have stopped with "jung being negative after a loss."

 

[mikeirbyusa]

We missed Britt more than many thought we would. Theo gave us nothing.

 

[CrazyHeel]

Theo flat out sucks. He can't dribble, he can't shoot, he's just a turnover machine. Justin has shown very little other than toury ball last year, and both of those guys came in with all that hype. I'd say what is being seen is what they are. Neither have shown me alot. Justin got hot at the end of last year, his shooting stunk before those 6-8 games. Just call em like I see em. jmho.

 

[thaUNCshow]

Who is telling Meeks that he is ready for the NBA....I keep seeing people say he is gone after this year....Where is he going?...I mean really.....

He's 6'9, gets about 6 inches off the ground, and can't space the floor. The only below the rim post player thats had much success in the last 10 years is Zach Randolph and his skillset and footwork is lightyears ahead of Meeks. If he really is leaving after this year I hope he's able to speak Italian or Spanish

 

[strummingram]

We missed Britt more than many thought we would. Theo gave us nothing.

Britt's absence can not be overstated.

 

[DSouthr]

I am not a huge fan of going to a 3 guard line up, flash back to the last few mins vs Wisky that ended our season last year for a look at why. If you have a couple starters that are not getting it done as a coach you have to send a message, you either do that in practice or you do it with your game rotations.

Now I see questions of you can't start Issiah because we need Issiah to come in when Brice goes out but there is no rule that says you have to replace them both at the same time? See folks feeling that Theo is not playing well so what do we gain by starting him over Jackson, don't look now guys but Jackson isn't playing well either. Do nothing get what you have been getting or shake things up and send the message. Huge difference between not playing a guy like Jackson and bringing him off the bench, I am not saying don't play him, I am saying send the message by not starting him. Toughness is not accepting that and working your butt off to get your starters role back. lets see who has toughness...

It isn't as if Theo starting has not already happened, he started when Marcus was out early season, and he actually played much better. One of the real issues I see is it does not strike me that we communicate real well out on the court and specifically I mean with our front court. Jackson is by nature a bit on the quiet side and that is fine in most circumstances but ya have to talk when you are in a game. Say what ya will about Theo but you can never say he doesn't communicate.

I think it is important to set an emotional tone for the game early and as emotional as we see Brice get from time to time Theo IMO surpasses that. I am not suggesting Theo is playing great, I am simply saying Jackson needs to be sent a strong message and him not starting sends that message loud and clear. I am not as concerned with Jackson's shots not dropping as I am that he is not defending nor rebounding like he has in the past. One area of your game is not working like it is suppose to OK but you can not let the rest of your game be dictated by that one aspect.

I am talking about alertness, Focus, and hard work and saying I do not see that to the extent they either can or should be putting out there right now. For what ever reason I see a couple guys not giving that and it is effecting the whole team on the floor. You have to get your mind lost in the game itself, no time or room for anything else, you just go out and play the game that you have played your whole life and like you have been taught and don't worry about NBA drafts or expectations or anything else.

 

[mikeirbyusa]

Theo's biggest problem is he missed the whole dern off season recovering from his injury! We have a laid back JJ-Hicks-Brice-Meeks-Big Joel NOT communicating on D like they need to. All GREAT guys but man they GOT to be more vocal. If we could get Brice to be as vocal on D as he has been on Dunks we would have something special!

Still a lot of great ball to be played, hopefully we can keep everybody healthy for the stretch run. I still like our chances.

 

[Archer2]

The lack of communication on the interior puzzles me. We're experienced enough to know how important it is. Sheed was trying to make this point at a game earlier this year. Roy said something to the effect of "the only person I hear talking is Sheed." Our basketball IQ isn't what it should be, based on our experience level.

 

[DSouthr]

So to people that think I'm just a troll and pick and choose opportunistic moments to post... That's fine. I'm not going to defend how knowledgable about basketball I am, how much I care about UNC basketball, my playing career... Because none of that is really relevant and no matter what I type, people's opinions aren't going to change. Those that think I'm a troll will think I'm a troll. Those that think I'm a knowledgable poster will think the same. Those that think I'm just a stat head who still lives in his parent's basement will think the same.

Timing has a lot to do with my posts. I work weekdays and have work to do at home past work hours (like many others). I have weekends off and those are the chances I have to watch the game as hard as I'd like to. I watch the game more casually while doing work on weekdays. While I think I watch the games focused enough to understand what I've seen, that's probably a reason I depend on statistics more than most. While I think statistics can measure how good a team is and ultimately project how well a team will perform in the future, since I can't really watch each play during the weekdays, I depend on box score and advanced metrics to get an idea about the team.

So back to timing... It turns out we've lose 3-of-4 games on weekends, when I've been more available to post here.

I think I would post more during losses compared to wins naturally, but a lot of it has to do with timing.
________

As for potential solutions. Everyone here knows I like small lineups and I think we should utilize it more. I may think JJ has more to offer than he does in reality. The reality maybe he's a 12pts/4rbs player when Paige is in the lineup. But I think he can be a better rebounder and would benefit from playing the 4 on occasion but the numbers don't indicate that.

We probably will have to play more zone and in natural situation compared to playing it when we're in foul trouble. While people may disagree that "this is who we are"... I think we can all agree on this. Foul prone is what our bigs are... They always have been, they always will be.

Brice:
Freshman: 5.9 fouls committed/40 min
Sophomore: 5.8
Junior: 4.8
Senior: 4.2

Kennedy:
Freshman: 4.2
Sophomore: 4.5
Junior: 4.8

Isiah:
Freshman: 5.6
Sophomore: 6.8
Junior: 6.0

Joel:
Freshman: 5.0
Sophomore: 6.3
Junior: 5.5
Senior: 5.7

Maye:
Freshman: 6.9

So you have to protect them. That means auto-bench at 2 fouls in the first half. That means zone. All our bigs are going to pick up at least 1 bad/dumb foul per game.

So you do not watch games or comment on games played during the week because you have a job? OK, I suspect most here do have jobs, I know I sure do, but OK. But as I have told you so many times, you rely on stats but stats do not tell you the whole story of the game, they tell only part of the story, the difference is what happened that drove those stats. Exactly why I have told you so many times to get out of the stat book and watch the game as it is played. I could care less about stats because I watch the games, I see what happens that produce those stats.

I think most already know our bigs have a foul issue but I didn't learn that from the box scores, I learned that by watching then get called for the foul. Jackson ball is more talented than what he has shown but one thing that is never really discussed about Jackson and JMM had the very same problem, is that Jackson played HS ball in a private school league, he was pretty much all the time the most talented kid on the court. Heck, he may have been the best talent on the court had he grew up and played in the NY public school system but he didn't. I at times wonder if he ever really learned to play with that toughness edge that you see a lot of inner city kids play with, that edge that says you will not beat me. Want to see what I am talking about watch Rawle Adkins play some time but heck, even Theo plays with that mindset, Theo is not refined right now but there is a huge difference in attitude, backing down is not in Theo's make up and at times that gets him in trouble by trying to do to much. Do I take a guy that trys to do to much or one that does do enough? LOL

I get the sense that things have always come a bit easy for Jackson, it is extra hard for someone like that to really push themselves to milk that last drop of ability out of the talent they were born with. Not dissing on the kid but he has to find that next level, he has to get that get in your face you will not beat me, you do not belong on the same court as me mindset working. You tell a real player he is not good enough to start and he will prove that he is, it is the fight in the dawg, not his size. Jackson and Meeks need to show the fight in the dawg, I see the fight in the other 3 starters. I have seen Meeks and Jackson both get mad on the court, I love when they get mad because all the sudden the fight in the dawg shows up. It needs to be there ALL the time, not SOME of the time. That is the message that taking them out of the starting line up sends, the question is how will they respond, like a fighter that gets up off the canvas to knock out his opponent or by staying down and giving up?

It isnt about what either of these good kids can do, it is about how bad do they want it, That is what the NBA is about, how bad do you want it.

 

[DSouthr]

The lack of communication on the interior puzzles me. We're experienced enough to know how important it is. Sheed was trying to make this point at a game earlier this year. Roy said something to the effect of "the only person I hear talking is Sheed." Our basketball IQ isn't what it should be, based on our experience level.

Yeah Archer, I think by nature we may have a collection of bigs that just stay more in to themseves, not to be read as greedy but more as soft spoken. Joel James actually tries to talk but Brice seems to talk less when his offense is not rolling, Hicks doesn't seen to talk a ton out there and Jackson is pretty quiet by nature. On the other hand Theo does not shut up, I don't know if you can stop him from "communicating". LOL

I felt we lost that ND game because our bigs were just not talking to each other, their rotations were really bad at points, at times as if they were all doing their own thing. That is a problem with the man D Roy wants to play most of the time and a real reason I wish he would use a lot more zone. I think our bigs to often lose sight of the ball, turn their heads and force someone to cover and IMO we do not rebound in space real well. I think a zone would really help a lot of that.

Another issue I saw vs ND, saw a lot of it vs Lville as well, our bigs need to do a better job of setting interior screens and rolling off to additional screens. Our bigs trend to go to the paint and set up and I want to see much more cross screening movement to free up those easier looks. When our bigs are setting those cross screens, screening the switches, we spring guys for a ton of easy looks, we were text book with that vs FSU but it has waned way to munch in the last month.

 

[Archer2]

Couldn't agree more with your entire post Dave. I think more zone is in order, would love to see Roy use it more often.

 

[coryfly]

To be honest, it is also not exactly accurate to say 'this is who we are' when we still have a number of guys who are simply not playing well. That sort of implies that is who we will be the entire year. I think that is a little overly pessimistic. We certainly have the potential to be much, much better if the guys who have struggled only get back to playing decent ball, much less start playing well. The good thing about this team is the guys who have been struggling (like JJ and Theo) are easy guys to pull for. They care and play hard but are just struggling. It will change but even if it doesn't no one should fail to cheer for them and appreciate they are the ones busting it for our entertainment.

 

[gunslingerdick]

Why did Nate miss the game? I never heard.

Roy and the officials lost that game for us. We played like shit and deserved to lose. But we could have hung on for the win if Roy wasn't dicking around with the substitution patterns and if we had gotten close to a fair shake by the refs. 38 FTs for ND did us in...and they made most of them too. We couldn't overcome that on a day when Roy was like a kid with a new chemistry set.

 

[BillyL]

Nate hurt his back in the Louisville game. Didn't practice full speed this past week. Roy said he would only use Nate in an absolute emergency.

 

[gunslingerdick]

Nate hurt his back in the Louisville game. Didn't practice full speed this past week. Roy said he would only use Nate in an absolute emergency.

Thanks. Hopefully it's not something that lingers. We clearly missed him on Saturday. It was apparent. Hopefully more of our fans will respect Nate's contributions a little more now.

 

[BillyL]

Thanks. Hopefully it's not something that lingers. We clearly missed him on Saturday. It was apparent. Hopefully more of our fans will respect Nate's contributions a little more now.

One could only hope . .

 

[GoNtheDistance]

there are always going to be the folks on this board that will bash you if you aren't ultra positive every single time Jung, your insight was spot on whether certain folks want to take the goggles off to see it.

one thing that I keep seeing on the board, including this thread from time to time is our lack of reality around Theo Pinson is and what he is capable of. Theo is a high energy player, very athletic, active on the glass, competitive defender on the ball, you will never question his effort=all great things and very beneficial to our team. Theo is also a marginal shooter, erratic with the basketball at times as he tries to force a pass or make a play that is high risk/high reward, he's also prone to completely lose his man on defense, etc. That is the reality of Theo Pinson. I continue to see folks on here who act like he's going to acquire this Wayne Ellington/Donald Williams shooting touch, mixed with a Jackie Manuel motor on defense. Theo is exactly who he is which is fine but lets quit making excuses for him and others or trying to justify our thought around him being something he isn't. I also see the same with Justin Jackson on this board sometimes.

 

[32TheEnigma]

Send Theo out starting and tell him to play a Jackie Manuel role. Put it on Berry and Paige shoulders to score from the perimeter with the first unit and bring Jackson off as the off the bench scorer. You have to get his confidence back and the current expectations seem to just be crushing it. Hicks needs to move in front of Meeks too. Hicks didn't even play that well last night but his were mental errors not physical ones. Can be corrected in film room.

When we play dook, Roy is going to have no choice but to shake the lineup up. He's going to have to have alot of Pinson and JJ in at the same time. The combo of Berry and Paige is going to be too small to gaurd Allan and Kennard.

 

[Upper Plains Heel]

To be honest, it is also not exactly accurate to say 'this is who we are' when we still have a number of guys who are simply not playing well. That sort of implies that is who we will be the entire year. I think that is a little overly pessimistic. We certainly have the potential to be much, much better if the guys who have struggled only get back to playing decent ball, much less start playing well. The good thing about this team is the guys who have been struggling (like JJ and Theo) are easy guys to pull for. They care and play hard but are just struggling. It will change but even if it doesn't no one should fail to cheer for them and appreciate they are the ones busting it for our entertainment.

What if the "potential" you talk about isn't there? What if guys like Theo and Justin are/were overhyped and they never get better? What if this is as good as they will be in college? Have you considered that possibility?

People get caught up in hype and potential. Sometimes guys just aren't that good.

Entertainment? They are also getting a free education and the chance to develop their game and get noticed by NBA scouts. They aren't doing this for free.

 

[Spacegrass]

When we play dook, Roy is going to have no choice but to shake the lineup up. He's going to have to have alot of Pinson and JJ in at the same time. The combo of Berry and Paige is going to be too small to gaurd Allan and Kennard.

Agreed. But Jefferson should be back by then. So I think the traditional 2 big lineup will be used more by K.

 

[gary-7]

When we play dook, Roy is going to have no choice but to shake the lineup up. He's going to have to have alot of Pinson and JJ in at the same time. The combo of Berry and Paige is going to be too small to gaurd Allan and Kennard.

Seriously? Good Lord.
dook should be asking who's gonna guard Berry and Paige... or guard anybody for that matter.

 

[Heelicious]

Seriously? Good Lord.
dook should be asking who's gonna guard Berry and Paige... or guard anybody for that matter.

Gary - I watched a few minutes of Dook vs. GT this week. GT was lifeless, nearly dead, in a silent, sleepy 1/4 full arena. GT has little to no talent.... and GT was playing with almost no cohesiveness and drive.... and they were staying right with Dook. They (Dook) just look really out of sync, and frankly not that good or coordinated regarding having a game plan and looking like they play like a unit with a strategy. They 100% live and die on Allen's 3 point shooting

Which is to say - if we are worried about them, or if we happened to somehow lose to this Dook team twice this year, we should not go to the NCAA tourney. Period. I'd say we should sweep them this year, but there are all sorts of screw-over we and other teams can and have incurred in HIS

 

[coryfly]

What if the "potential" you talk about isn't there? What if guys like Theo and Justin are/were overhyped and they never get better? What if this is as good as they will be in college? Have you considered that possibility?

People get caught up in hype and potential. Sometimes guys just aren't that good.

Entertainment? They are also getting a free education and the chance to develop their game and get noticed by NBA scouts. They aren't doing this for free.

I don't think it not being there is an option when we've seen it. It isn't like I'm talking about them being better than we've seen. I'm talking about them simply being as good as they were. So there is no possibility to consider regarding their potential when they have already displayed it. So I don't really know what you are looking for here. It doesn't make sense to say the ability that they have already displayed at this level may not be there. It is there. We know it.

Yeah, they are getting an education. They are playing basketball. That is what they are doing. I'm sure they are concerned about all of that. I am talking about you. You are getting entertainment out of it.

 

[gary-7]

Gary - I watched a few minutes of Dook vs. GT this week. GT was lifeless, nearly dead, in a silent, sleepy 1/4 full arena. GT has little to no talent.... and GT was playing with almost no cohesiveness and drive.... and they were staying right with Dook. They (Dook) just look really out of sync, and frankly not that good or coordinated regarding having a game plan and looking like they play like a unit with a strategy. They 100% live and die on Allen's 3 point shooting

Which is to say - if we are worried about them, or if we happened to somehow lose to this Dook team twice this year, we should not go to the NCAA tourney. Period. I'd say we should sweep them this year, but there are all sorts of screw-over we and other teams can and have incurred in HIS

Yes, we should --- but then it's an anything-can-happen rivalry as you mention.
We know what we're getting --- guard their kick-outs, keep Plumlee off the offensive glass and hope the zebras don't bail out too many of their head-flailing drives.

 

[DSouthr]

What if the "potential" you talk about isn't there? What if guys like Theo and Justin are/were overhyped and they never get better? What if this is as good as they will be in college? Have you considered that possibility?

People get caught up in hype and potential. Sometimes guys just aren't that good.

Entertainment? They are also getting a free education and the chance to develop their game and get noticed by NBA scouts. They aren't doing this for free.

Clearly the players could not match up to their incoming hype, I don't blame the players for that however, I blame those heaping on the hype. Folks set their expectations on a kid before they see him play, they believe the hype and as soon as it is clear the hype was not accurate automatically they blame the kid. There are some things the kid can control, for example how hard he works to improve, amping up his motor as much as he can. But I think it is unfair for example to expect a kid to play with a Hansbourgh type of motor, what folks don't seem to realize is Tyler's ability to play with such a hot motor was in itself a talent not many have. Not every kid has the drive or the steadfast mind set to never back down we saw in George Lynch.

But I don't have to have a brand new tweeked out Porche to drive 100mph either, a Ford Focus will do that if you hold your foot on the gas long enough. When I talk about Meeks for example, my issue is not that I need him to have the aggression on the court of George Lynch, but I can not like watching him slow foot from the high post screen hedge back down 2 steps behind the rolling screener who caught the ball and is about to jam it.

Justin was absolutely over hyped, he is not a great 3pt shooter thou I do think he can be a solid 3pt shooter for a 6/7" wing. Theo, if you thought the kid was a solid jump shooter all I can tell ya is you should have watched more than a few clips of his games, his jumper is and has always been broke. I honestly do not know how much of that can be fixed but I do know he seems to have the hand eye cordination a good jump shooter needs, the feel if you prefer. ALL he shoots with right now is feel because his form changes on every shot he takes. That can be helped, it is never going to be Donald Williams.

Tell ya what I do know about Theo however, the kid does have that heart of a warrior, he has that George Lynch certain something extra. You may not see that as much as I do right now but as I have said several times and as Mikey reminds in this thread, this is not much more than an extention of Theo's freshman season because he did not have that off season to be able to work on his game, he spent the off season in a cast. Theo was just beginning to get decent PT as a freshman when that injury took him down, honestly, I almost want to say Theo is hitting the wall that we see freshmen hit. I promise each and every one here, if we get to see Theo as a senior and I think we will, you will be very happy he is a Tar Heel !!!

 

[Archer2]

I don't think it not being there is an option when we've seen it. It isn't like I'm talking about them being better than we've seen. I'm talking about them simply being as good as they were. So there is no possibility to consider regarding their potential when they have already displayed it. So I don't really know what you are looking for here. It doesn't make sense to say the ability that they have already displayed at this level may not be there. It is there. We know it.

Yeah, they are getting an education. They are playing basketball. That is what they are doing. I'm sure they are concerned about all of that. I am talking about you. You are getting entertainment out of it.

Exactly Cory. If JJ/Kennedy/Theo/Marcus play close to the level they've already achieved at UNC, we're going to be fine. I think we're about to step up our game another notch.

 

[Steat]

Wow, you think the world had ending reading some of your comments.

The Heels are still ranked in the Top 10 and have 3 of the next 4 at home. Win the next 4 and the Heels are back in the Top 5.

Let's see what they are made of.

 

[Upper Plains Heel]

there are always going to be the folks on this board that will bash you if you aren't ultra positive every single time Jung, your insight was spot on whether certain folks want to take the goggles off to see it.

one thing that I keep seeing on the board, including this thread from time to time is our lack of reality around Theo Pinson is and what he is capable of. Theo is a high energy player, very athletic, active on the glass, competitive defender on the ball, you will never question his effort=all great things and very beneficial to our team. Theo is also a marginal shooter, erratic with the basketball at times as he tries to force a pass or make a play that is high risk/high reward, he's also prone to completely lose his man on defense, etc. That is the reality of Theo Pinson. I continue to see folks on here who act like he's going to acquire this Wayne Ellington/Donald Williams shooting touch, mixed with a Jackie Manuel motor on defense. Theo is exactly who he is which is fine but lets quit making excuses for him and others or trying to justify our thought around him being something he isn't. I also see the same with Justin Jackson on this board sometimes.

Just like the pe

I don't think it not being there is an option when we've seen it. It isn't like I'm talking about them being better than we've seen. I'm talking about them simply being as good as they were. So there is no possibility to consider regarding their potential when they have already displayed it. So I don't really know what you are looking for here. It doesn't make sense to say the ability that they have already displayed at this level may not be there. It is there. We know it.

Yeah, they are getting an education. They are playing basketball. That is what they are doing. I'm sure they are concerned about all of that. I am talking about you. You are getting entertainment out of it.

What if those times that "we've seen it" were the exception and not the rule. Players play out of their mind from time to time. ALL players have done it.

You can figure out what you have when you play decent competition. Theo and Justin have not been good against our best competition. Can they turn it around? Time will tell. We all hope that they do.

 

[Spacegrass]

Seriously? Good Lord.
dook should be asking who's gonna guard Berry and Paige... or guard anybody for that matter.

You worry about your own problems not others in moments like these. If it becomes an up and down shooting game odds favor the dookies.

 

[gary-7]

You worry about your own problems not others in moments like these. If it becomes an up and down shooting game odds favor the dookies.

I doubt what you alluded to will be a problem.

 

[mikeirbyusa]

Brice just got his 2nd foul.