TarHeelIllustrated - Trimble, Washington Taking Big Steps Forward This Summer
This offseason has been vitally important for UNC's two sophomores, and it appears they are making the most of it.
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Trimble, Washington Taking Big Steps Forward This Summer
- Thread starter andrew jones
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Just want to see some confidents from Seth this season, he was trending decent until the VA., game last season. If he has improved as much as Davis is leading us to believe, he could be a vital part of the offense and defense this upcoming season. Let's see if the normal transition from a freshman to a sophomore year will be there for him. With Washington the main things once the season begins is to whether he has put the surgeries behind him, and trust his body. Once again if Davis is being transparent that appears to be the case. Expecting a different Washington on the court this year compared to last season. This will be determine if he will even be close to the player he was before the injuries. Have to root for both of them, as stated they decided to stay, and not jump into the portal.
This team can be very good without Seth and Jalen stepping up but if these 2 fellas can play at a level anywhere near what they are/were expected to coming in then I think we are a final 4 level team. We need our soph class, we got very little from the soph class we had last season and now both are gone. I have always felt these 2 kids are big time players, didn't see much of that last season.
Jalen Washington, when he was recruited, I believe Roy actually recruited him to Carolina, recall Roy saying that Jalen was the best shooting big man in his class. Recall as well Hubert saying Jalen was one of the best shooting big men he had seen. Of course he spend most of his last season of play as well as all of the last off season rehabbing from that knee and very clearly Hubert did not want to either rush him or put him in positions where he played long stretches. It was easy to see once he started playing that his legs just were not right, had little to no bounce and was very weak, easlily moved around. It is always hit or miss on a guy returning from a knee that first year back, it is the second year back that we start to really see how much he has, that should point to this coming season.
Word is Jalen has basically lived in the weight room this off season and this off season has not been about rehab, it had been about conditioning, getting stronger, and working on skill issues like getting that jump shot even more honed it. WE had a brief clip of Jalen a little while back of his working on the court and it is hard to tell from that brief glimpse but he did look to me to be filled out more, looked thicker, it could have been the camera angle but I felt he looked more filled out and that should mean stronger. We will just have to wait and see but I keep going back to one very important thing, this kid has a 7'5" reach and LOVES the turn around jumper with a natural high release, that jumper if his body is strong may be nearly unstoppable, not many guys are going to block a 7'5" reach guys jumper. Going to go against the grain a touch in saying this but I think Jalen may be more of a 4 than a 5 and a stretch 4 at that. I think after next season Hubert will shop the portal for a center and should be able to offer solid PT if not a starting spot for the right guy. Jalen, IMO, can fill in at the 5 and Konkwo will be there and could, saying could but not will, be a guy that can hold down the 5 for us for extended minutes. Against the grain as well but Konkwo I see more in than most, I think he is a better prospect than High and I really like High as a player down the road (meaning not next season).
Seth Trimble, with the exception of his jump shot, it is all there for the kid and you could see it but things didn't come together for him. Much of this in my opinion was playing him out of position, kid is a PG, should not have had to play the 2 or the 3 but most of his minutes came at the 2 or the 3. Hard enough to play out of position but to have to do so at a position that requires you to have to be solid at your games weakest part (a 2 guard simply has to be a solid jump shooter). Seth can shoot better than we saw but the kid lost all confidence as last season progressed, if you are not confident in your jump shooting you are not going to make many of them. Watching him in the camp game, one of his jumpers was pretty ugly, looked like he split his legs going up rather than keeping them parallel. But he did take and make another one that looked OK. I know he is putting in a ton of work on those jumpers and Seth is by nature a kid that is going to go over and above to work on an aspect of his game that is a problem (gym rat), that has to pay off this coming season.
Don't know how many recall but Seth was actually projected to be a 2nd round pick in this last draft before last season began, the talent is there. The way this kid defends, just how hard he works on that end, the desire mixed with work ethic is there. I think it may take him being able to see a couple jumpers drop in a game that matters that will give his confidence the juice to pull it all together for him.
It is my strong hope that Jalen and Seth as 2 of ONLY 4 returning scholarship players that Hubert will really look to get them more minutes consistently than last season. As I shared, we need our soph class to really step up but if they do I sincerely think we have a final 4 level team, I am not sure that is true if our soph class does not step up.
Jalen Washington, when he was recruited, I believe Roy actually recruited him to Carolina, recall Roy saying that Jalen was the best shooting big man in his class. Recall as well Hubert saying Jalen was one of the best shooting big men he had seen. Of course he spend most of his last season of play as well as all of the last off season rehabbing from that knee and very clearly Hubert did not want to either rush him or put him in positions where he played long stretches. It was easy to see once he started playing that his legs just were not right, had little to no bounce and was very weak, easlily moved around. It is always hit or miss on a guy returning from a knee that first year back, it is the second year back that we start to really see how much he has, that should point to this coming season.
Word is Jalen has basically lived in the weight room this off season and this off season has not been about rehab, it had been about conditioning, getting stronger, and working on skill issues like getting that jump shot even more honed it. WE had a brief clip of Jalen a little while back of his working on the court and it is hard to tell from that brief glimpse but he did look to me to be filled out more, looked thicker, it could have been the camera angle but I felt he looked more filled out and that should mean stronger. We will just have to wait and see but I keep going back to one very important thing, this kid has a 7'5" reach and LOVES the turn around jumper with a natural high release, that jumper if his body is strong may be nearly unstoppable, not many guys are going to block a 7'5" reach guys jumper. Going to go against the grain a touch in saying this but I think Jalen may be more of a 4 than a 5 and a stretch 4 at that. I think after next season Hubert will shop the portal for a center and should be able to offer solid PT if not a starting spot for the right guy. Jalen, IMO, can fill in at the 5 and Konkwo will be there and could, saying could but not will, be a guy that can hold down the 5 for us for extended minutes. Against the grain as well but Konkwo I see more in than most, I think he is a better prospect than High and I really like High as a player down the road (meaning not next season).
Seth Trimble, with the exception of his jump shot, it is all there for the kid and you could see it but things didn't come together for him. Much of this in my opinion was playing him out of position, kid is a PG, should not have had to play the 2 or the 3 but most of his minutes came at the 2 or the 3. Hard enough to play out of position but to have to do so at a position that requires you to have to be solid at your games weakest part (a 2 guard simply has to be a solid jump shooter). Seth can shoot better than we saw but the kid lost all confidence as last season progressed, if you are not confident in your jump shooting you are not going to make many of them. Watching him in the camp game, one of his jumpers was pretty ugly, looked like he split his legs going up rather than keeping them parallel. But he did take and make another one that looked OK. I know he is putting in a ton of work on those jumpers and Seth is by nature a kid that is going to go over and above to work on an aspect of his game that is a problem (gym rat), that has to pay off this coming season.
Don't know how many recall but Seth was actually projected to be a 2nd round pick in this last draft before last season began, the talent is there. The way this kid defends, just how hard he works on that end, the desire mixed with work ethic is there. I think it may take him being able to see a couple jumpers drop in a game that matters that will give his confidence the juice to pull it all together for him.
It is my strong hope that Jalen and Seth as 2 of ONLY 4 returning scholarship players that Hubert will really look to get them more minutes consistently than last season. As I shared, we need our soph class to really step up but if they do I sincerely think we have a final 4 level team, I am not sure that is true if our soph class does not step up.
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