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Thoughts on Marcus

Well, for the first few games this season Marcus was out with that injury, I did notice when he finally was able to play he seemed to take harder shots than I was used to him taking, long treys with defenders on him hard. He hit a lot of them that first few games back but to me they were long and rushed, I noted to myself can he really hit those kind of shots now cause that is the kind of shots Curry takes. He started missing them, taking bad shots usually does end up that way. But I think missing those got in his head a little bit. His shot was rushed and he was falling away a lot in order to get it off and not get blocked.

Keep in mind, no team, even as deep in that slump as Marcus was in, no team gave him easy looks, they knew, if Marcus gets hot he can kill it so they continued to harass him all over the court, you in a slump, it is in your head, and the defenses still key on stopping you from getting clean looks. It all added up to the results we saw.

The other thing I would add is that Marcus playing at the 2 was typically guarded by longer defenders than he was when he was at the PG position. When he was hot in past seasons it didn't matter who was guarding him but when you are in a slump a longer defender on you is just another problem to over come.
 
Marcus struggled with his shot. That's it.

Don't just use the word "struggles" because that assumes it was his entire game. His defense was phenomenal and did other things on the offensive end even as his shot didn't fall.

I loved what Marcus did for us this season.
 
Just lost some confidence on his shot. Went in with major hyper after his great sophmore season and I think it affected his confidence. Still made the amazing 3 at the end of the finals. If we go to OT and win... he is probably remembered as an all time clutch great. However, that didn't happen unfortunately.
 
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My thoughts on Marcus are all good ones. Kid played his butt off, in spite of his shooting slump. He also made some amazing shots, too! He made one absolutely phenomenal shot as his last shot in his college career. regardless of that game's outcome, that will always be remembered. Without that shot, the Jenkins shot is never made and never needed.

I also think that his slump came from playing the SG position and dealing with his injury. The ONLY thing I find myself being critical of Marcus about is that he had some head-scratcher turnovers throughout the season that puzzled me.
 
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One of my all time favorite UNC players. Seems like a tremendous person as well. I see a coaching career down the road whatever happens in the next phase of his career.
 
It's simple, imho. He shoots better with the ball in his hands as pg. Shooting is very mental. Paige is a great passer, driver, scorer and shooter but you take away having him run the point, having the ball in his hand more in charge of the flow of the offense, and he doesn't perform as well. If you notice during the tournament, when Roy had him handling the ball more at the top of the key especially when Berry was out for a bit, Paige came alive more.
 
What do you guys think was the cause of Marcus' struggles this year?

CC
Man..I'm from Marion, Iowa and Marcus such a well liked/respected young man in the area--he gave another great speech last weekend at the Barnstorming Event--all the current high school players said they wanted to be like him when they were young kids--he's such a class act--Just hope they don't get hurt playing in these exhibitions, you can't get much better than Marcus (and I'll throw Brice in too because he turned out to be one of my all time favorites as well) I'm proud to be a Tar Heel! More proud of these two quality young men.
 
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Bad shots. He had a 3-4 game stretch where he was taking bad shots too often. After that the misses carried over into his good shots. Once Marcus realized to let the others help carry the load he started playing better. A guards best friend in Roy's system is a consistent inside presence.
 
Bad shot selection. Tried to force his way into the flow of the game quite a bit. However, down the stretch he was tremendous offensively.
 
I certainly agree with the mental side but I kinda feel like he needed the pressure to thrive.
How many games did he have a quite first half only to put the team on his back in the second half?
He has his best game of the season (FSU) and the reaction is "Oh BTW - Marcus had 30 points". It's almost like the need, the pressure shifted to Brice at that point. He had some good games after that but nothing consistent until he came on in the Tourney. The final game was pretty much the Marcus I will remember. Forgetful first half then in the second with nothing working inside for Brice, Marcus puts the team on his back at crunch time and almost wills the team to a win.

CC
 
Marcus measured a maximum vertical of 39.5. Brice was 38 but only tipped the scales at 209 instead of his listed 230.
 
No question in my mind that the pressure of performing every game as the go to player and the team leader wore on him both mentally and physically...No one will ever say anything bad about the youngster because he gave the University 4 years of his life of blood, sweat and heart...Wish Carolina got a player like him every year...
 
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Marcus measured a maximum vertical of 39.5. Brice was 38 but only tipped the scales at 209 instead of his listed 230.

Brice's 230lbs was media guide weight. They say the camera adds 10lbs and I think the media guide tends to add double that! Brice didn't play at 230lbs this season any more than Dean have 3 7ft guys on his roster in the past. There is a creative touch added to heights & weights for the media...That has always been the norm.
 
Struggled all the way to the finals. SMH.

I do understand the thread so I will give my 2cents "He did not have a POY season" because he was playing of position. As a PG I really believe he would have been better than JB and prolly a 3rd team All American (Surely would have been better than Melo Trimble, but not Kris Dunn).

As a PG you get a total feel of the game as a SG on last years team he was asked to expand the court to open up the middle for our obvious advantage down low, so some of those shots we thought were bad were actually necessary to show a treat from outside.

Anyway, playing out of position was the "struggle" IMHO.
 
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