Very brief stuff (Clemson game)....

[gary-7]

...and we just flat sucked.

Look, I was afraid that going without a game this weekend would quell the momentum we seemed to be gaining but I ain't gonna pretend I saw this bad of a performance coming. So, this will be very brief, as I stopped even making notes after a while because, welp... it was the same things over and over. and don't expect anythng positive below because any of that was blunted by team suckage. Anyway...

- Any time you go to Clemson we can expect them to come out aggressive and mugging anything that moves in the paint. Thing is, as bad as the zebras were gonna be, we rarely gave em a chance to be better --- we just took the mugging. And come on, 1 (one!) offensive rebound in the first half? And then when we got to the line... ugh. Some of those FT attempts never even had a chance to go in.

- Speaking of aggression, Clemmy just got their asses whupped by the dookies, so you gotta KNOW they were gonna be extra tenacious for this one. And although we eventually got some defensive mojo going, our offensive execution was mostly just blah. Let's just say it wasn't anything special Clemson was doing that caused our TOs --- most were just awful/lazy passes.

- Speaking of passes, we made a nice comeback by going to more Hi-Lo entries (which prevented them from clogging the lane) but geez, ya hafta realize when you go to the well too often and they're overplaying every pass. But no, we kept trying to force it in.

- Nonetheless, we did fight back and had it within 4 for what seemed like forever, but then the execution would go south on offense. And good grief, can we actually try not fumbling away run-outs and loose balls? And oh yeah... those ugly FTs.

Anyway, not much more to say, except to hope it's not a regression --- just a bad night. Seems it only took a week to forget how to execute and get after it. I would suggest the guys rediscover some of that before Saturday... 😕

 

[uncfanatic]

Clemson is a bad team. Bad loss tonight.

 

[DeuceManJones]

It was embarrassing.

 

[CarolinaMagic]

Until Roy finds at least 3 players that can knock down shots from the outside the pathetic play will continue. Carolina isn't winning anything of significance without outside shooting. It's that simple.

 

[strummingram]

Clemson is a bad team. Bad loss tonight.

Clemson is NOT a "bad team" at all.

Until Roy finds at least 3 players that can knock down shots from the outside the pathetic play will continue. Carolina isn't winning anything of significance without outside shooting. It's that simple.

We have players that can do that. But... TURNOVERS kill this team. Turnovers always kill a team's ability to win games. When UNC has a lot of turnovers, they usually lose. And, the FT's were terrible, too!

It was a bad game, period. But, Clemson is a good team, and the guys played poorly. But, they are getting better.

 

[notashelbyfan]

Until Roy finds at least 3 players that can knock down shots from the outside the pathetic play will continue. Carolina isn't winning anything of significance without outside shooting. It's that simple.

You can't shoot much less make an outside shot if you you don't have the ball because you turned it over!

We have ball security issues!

 

[notashelbyfan]

8,8,9 wins!
20 ass whipping!

 

[Indy_Heel]

This team acts like it has no player leadership. It looked like no one wanted to be there and went through the motions. It would be nice to see one player step up and get into people asses for lazy as play. Won’t be Brooks because he’s usually too busy pouting when things don’t go right. I have never seen so many 3 pt shots that had no chance of going in. I think at one time there 4 threes in a row that either air balled or missed the rim completely and bricked off the back board. Has Brooks every hit a 3 that wasn’t the end of a shot clock prayer. Stop shooting them! I guess I’m too spoiled with UNC basketball over the years and can’t take the same stupid mental errors and laziness the last two years.

 

[UNC&ME]

Don't have the talent to play fast...no mismatches or advantages against the good/experienced teams

 

[JimmyinVA]

poor passing, poor ball handling, i.e. no point guard.

 

[Bubspub88]

Last night may have been the worst performance I have ever seen from a UNC team. No starter scored in double figures, every player (except Kessler) had at least 1 turnover, 39/29/52% shooting. Bacot with as many fouls as points and rebounds COMBINED. February typically shows how strong a team is mentally, and this team was awful. Missed ft's mean you practice as much as they do just means your mind is not in the game. Execution was just pathetic. If I was Roy I would give starter jerseys to the last 5 guys on the bench today and see who wanted to earn theirs back.

UNC made a statement last night, and that statement was "we do not play Carolina basketball." What I saw was a game that nothing positive happened. I can handle losing to a better team, or getting beat when a team plays out of their mind, but wearing that jersey and playing with zero focus and energy is not acceptable. I'd rather lose with a walk-on busting his ass out there and just not being as talented than having a burger AA act like he's not in the game.

 

[Tarheel75]

Thanks Gary for your analysis.

I had to miss watching this game, so I recorded it to watch later.

I'm not going to watch it. Don't need to. Just looking at the box score tells all.

The team had some good practices prior to this game and the coaching staff thought that the guys would be ok. Well, apparently not.

Guys...., I concur with most of you..., this was a turd of a game, and we failed in almost all of the important areas that results in winning any contest.

However..., I have seen this movie too many times over the years, even with Roy's really good teams. Coming off an extended layoff even with the better teams and practicing well, they laid some really big eggs, and I betcha most of you can recall some of those in the past that were real headscratchers.

When you have as many TO's as FG's it's suicide for most any game. Couple that with a FT% that is below 50 % for the last 3 games, and evidently lackadaisical play on both offense and defense, not taking your competition seriously ( also known as not respecting your opponent ) you can get your collective arses handed to you. I think that maybe all of those proceedings took place? Perhaps after watching Clemson get boat-raced by dook, they believed that this game would be an easy take and were put on their heels ( no pun intended ) by Clemson and remained there the entire game.

To those that think Clemson is a bad team, think again. They are not a bad team at all and have some good talent that, at times, are not coached very well.

Bottom line in my opinion...., the team thought that they would waltz in, pummel Clemson, and leave, and met up with a team that was pissed off and embarrassed with their play in their previous game and got taught a valuable lesson in competing.....,
NEVER TAKE YOUR OPPONENT LIGHTLY or FOR GRANTED.

 

[CarolinaMagic]

Watching Leaky Black catch the ball behind the 3 point line with his man staying in the lane to help on the bigs is absolutely infuriating. Nobody gets within 5 feet of him on the offensive end. Go watch the replay and see how many wide open shots he has but never takes the shot. Plain and simple its 4 on 5 on the offensive end of the floor.

 

[dadika13]

Clemson is a bad team. Bad loss tonight.

No they are not.

 

[dadika13]

It was a bad game, period. But, Clemson is a good team, and the guys played poorly. But, they are getting better.

Yeah - this sums up how I feel also. Losing an ACC road game to a good team isn't going to kill you.

 

[39 Feet Above Sea Level]

In our last 50 games, we are 25-25. That's not representative of the kind of Carolina hoops that most of us are accustomed to and it speaks volumes of how truly underwhelming we are. Better get off to a good start on Saturday so we can salvage this season. Five and four years ago we played title games, for crying out loud.

 

[djones1975]

That was . . . .not good.
Turnovers, FT's and toughness.
It seems when we turn the ball over, we can't get into any flow. We just can't recover. We are missing a consistent back up point guard for when our Freshman are off.
Free throws? Make-um.
Toughness gets me grumbling at the TV. Our bigs should be able to finish with contact. Our guards should be able to drive and not be looking to pass every time. Once in a while, I would not mind one of our players contesting a dunk with a hard foul. Brooks should never be allowed to shoot a fade away. I'll chip in to have Hansbrough come teach some of our bigs how to rebound, finish through contact, and for goodness sake, make a free throw.
I imagine no one really cares what I write, and there are not really any big insights here, but I just needed to vent.

 

[strummingram]

The team has no on-court leadership. Turnovers are the most glaring problem.

 

[TarHeelMark]

I'm not going to watch it.

Wise choice.

 

[Tarheelsman71]

When the ball lands on the floor between 3 Heels and it almost bounces a second time before somebody grabs it...we have problems. and that happened at least 3 times. Effort isnt something that can be coached. You either have a fire to play the game or you are just going through the motions. Dook is likely to shoot us out of the gym by 10 minutes into the game. Sad.

 

[TarHeelMark]

Turnovers are the most glaring problem.

And so many of them just look like guys trying to unload the ball, with no thought or purpose. Infuriating to say the least.

 

[Spaceytoyz]

The Possession in which four guys standing 5 feet from each other all handing the ball off until Love shot a deep 3 pretty much tells it all..

 

[Spaceytoyz]

Hunter Tyson Lives where I do I have seen him play numerous times, and No time did I think he was athletic enough to Play against this type talent..

 

[uncfootball-]

Team was playing better the last few games but was still lacking point guard play. Clemson game went back to everyone looking clueless.

 

[Indy_Heel]

When the ball lands on the floor between 3 Heels and it almost bounces a second time before somebody grabs it...we have problems. and that happened at least 3 times. Effort isnt something that can be coached. You either have a fire to play the game or you are just going through the motions. Dook is likely to shoot us out of the gym by 10 minutes into the game. Sad.

I saw that and was pissed. That attitude right there is the reason for almost every loss this year. Everyone seems to be waiting for someone else to make a play. When we are playing good/decent all three guys would have gone after that ball.

 

[oreodogg18]

I've been a North Carolina basketball fan for 57-59 years. Last year and this year isn't Carolina Basketball.. Shooting, ball-handling, and leadership on the court to say the least is and has been lacking. Would someone step-up and take command on the court. Hustle and stop acting like you just going through the motions. I LOVE my HEELS !!!! It hurts to see this going on in North Carolina Basketball.

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

So . . . Clemson is 3-1 against us over the last 4 games.

Embarrassing.

We're also 1-3 against Duke in recent games.

Which isn't as bad as being on a 6-game losing streak to Virginia.

Wait, what team are we talking about? I thought this was UNC.

When I noticed, several Clemson defenders were playing good, in-your-grill defense. Several of our guys seem to get rattled by that. I suspect they don't see much in-your-grill D in practice. Maybe they should.

 

[CarolinaMagic]

Hunter Tyson Lives where I do I have seen him play numerous times, and No time did I think he was athletic enough to Play against this type talent..

He had 10 to 15 fouls easily. I've seen less contact at a WWE event. He started out every defensive possession with a two hand push in the back. When our bigs did get the ball he was a complete hatchet.

 

[al would]

I've had bowel movements that took more effort than that ish show last night ... and both mine and theirs showed the same result ... jmho

 

[dtodd4475]

The margin for error is SOOOO slim when you cannot be a threat from 3. We garner zero respect for scoring from the perimeter. Makes for an easy dee night when you lay off all but 1 guy outside 15 feet.

 

[DSouthr]

After several games in a row where we progressed game by game we regressed vs Clemson, that was disappointing.

Very clear why we lost this game, we defended well enough to win but 50 points is not going to win many games, 50 points is in the neighborhood of what a solid UNC team could be looked at to score in a single half, it was our game total? Really poor passing that resulted in way to many TOs...AGAIN! Poor ball handling...AGAIN? It was a lot of really poor angles for the passes, telegraphed allowing the defense to double when the ball did go inside with poor spacing. Was there any big to big passing, when the doubles came did you see a catch and a quick pass out of the double to an open man? Did you notice our attacking the offensive boards with the furor we did in our last string of games, I sure didn't. The only attacking big I saw was Sharpe who ended up with a lot of easy ops just being physical. Bacot and Brooks reverted to looking to avoid contact.

It just seemed like we had to real offensive plan to attack smartly, it was more when we did finally decide to get the ball inside it was from a really poor angle and resulted in either a TO or putting the big man in a difficult spot to finish with no real outlet geared to burn a double. Just calling it as I saw it, have to look at coaching on this one, not the staffs best night from the aspect of how to attack Clemson's defense. Free throws, didn't anyone shoot a free throw since the Pitt game, sure didn't look like it.

Well, enough of that, didn't really want to think about this game much more, it is now on to duke but we better play with a heck of a lot more focus and grit or duke will drill us and that is not a great duke team. I fully expect duke to come out blazing against us, we better match their passion, we better set the tone for the game in our favor very early in and not allow them to gain confidence. Going to be strange to see a UNC vs duke game without thousands of screaming fans creating that amazing atmosphere, not having that IMO has altered how a lot of these teams are playing, it is more workman like than passionate without those screaming fans in the stands going nuts. Players are having to create that passion themselves and looks to me like they are struggling with that more than most realize.

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

Can somebody talk specifically about Bacot?

Some might argue that he has been our best player this season, but he was MIA against Clemson. How come?

I mean I realize people can have bad games for no obvious reason. But usually there's a reason.

Was he timid because of fouls? Was he under the weather or injured? Was Clemson doing something specific that flustered him?

If it was the fouling thing, why would that make him timid? We have a boatload of bigs. Wouldn't the team be better off with Armando fouling out on aggressive play than Armando being timid?

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

Really poor passing that resulted in way to many TOs...AGAIN! Poor ball handling...AGAIN?

What should Roy do to fix this?

 

[Bubspub88]

Box score is interesting.
UNC got 19 shots from Brooks, Sharpe and Bacot combined, and attempted 19 3's. When your strength is inside and perimeter shooting is a weakness that is a formula for disaster.

UNC's starting 5 had ONE offensive rebound. That stat along with the fact that no starter scored double figures is pathetic.

UNC has as many turnovers as made fg's. It doesn't matter if the game plan was brilliant or ridiculous, we threw it away too much to run it. Davis was only player with more assists than turnovers.

I never played anywhere ACC level but it just amazes me to see guys on the floor going through the motions and not giving 100%. I considered floor burns a badge of honor and took it personally if anyone else got to a loose ball first. This team lacks that "it" factor that UNC used to have that intimidated the other team. I want to see a return to when you could see before tip the UNC players knew they would win and the opponent looked nervous.

 

[DSouthr]

What should Roy do to fix this?

Great question, I would offer 2 suggestions, first is give the passer better targets to pass the ball to. Just as the scorer needs an angle to get the ball to the rim, the passer needs a clear target from a solid angle. Our bigs don't consistently work hard to get solid position timed such that the ball and a passer are in position to get it down clean to the big man that is in position to finish. That does not exclusively apply to our big men BTW. Several times this season we have seen a guy with the ball get in to trouble and either get no help (someone coming to the ball) or slow help, you got to help your mate when he gets caught in a troubled spot.

Second, have a purpose, have a plan for your pass and communicate. You see far to much, a big will flash open in the post, that is when the ball should get to him but it either doesn't at all or it is slow getting to him and by then the defense has set. We consistently seem a step off with our timing, just slow enough to gum things up. Eyes up, everyone looking for the same thing, communicate! Oh and BTW, what the heck is up with all the one handed passing nonsense, a basketball is not shaped like a football...

In football you either throw to an open receiver or you throw a receiver open but you NEVER throw in to double and triple coverage. Look at the passer in a basketball game like a QB throwing a pass, you have a short window to throw the ball in to a open receiver before ACC defenses adjust. If you wait to long the solution is EASY, don't throw that pass, in football the QB may get hammered if he doesn't throw that pass, that is not the case in basketball. Our problem has been, we throw the pass anyway and far to often the results are not good.

BTW, if they did what I just shared they very likely would not only see us winning much more consistently but they would discover that mush easier scoring ops would present themselves within the flow of the offense rather than settling for all this forced up nonsense.

I don't see us as a solid screening team, sure would be nice to have some of our bigs but not just limited to our bigs, able to come off screens for clean passing lanes and spots to finish off the catch. I have noticed what gary calls bumper car offense or some similar term when talking about how some of our opponents play on the offensive end. Personally, I would LOVE for us to screen much more, talking set a screen, roll off set another, roll to a open area. I think you have to do that when you are not a great outside shooting team and need to pound the ball inside because the lane gets so clogged up.

Will toss in a 3rd suggestion, would be nice if our PGs would develop more of a passing mindset, more of I want to lead the nation in assists way of thinking. Our PGs are both shoot first guys who look at an assist as an after thought. Got a news flash for both of them, if you really want to not just get to the NBA but have a solid NBA career and the amazing contract numbers that go along with that, neither are scorers to the extent that they will be more than end of the NBA bench or G-league. But what can get you in to a NBA teams starting line up and bring those head spinning numbers is becoming a big time assist guy that gets them to notice ya! Being that big time assist guy gets the mega stars wanting to play with you. How about wanting to be more of a Chris Paul or a John Wall in a time where everyone wants to shoot but assists artists are harder to find?

Telling ya right now, Ed Cota or Kendal Marshal as our starting PG right now, I sincerely believe we would be undefeated, neither of those fellas were big time assist guys, heck King Rice as our PG would maybe have us undefeated. LOSE the "hero ball" mindset!!!

 

[Bubspub88]

Telling ya right now, Ed Cota or Kendal Marshal as our starting PG right now, I sincerely believe we would be undefeated, neither of those fellas were big time assist guys, heck King Rice as our PG would maybe have us undefeated. LOSE the "hero ball" mindset!!!

Assuming this is a typo and you meant to say the opposite. I posted after first or second game that Kendal should be the perfect guy to teach the freshmen how to run point on this team. He didn't have Lawson's blazing speed but court vision and awareness unmatched. For whatever reason that hasn't happened.

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

in football the QB may get hammered if he doesn't throw that pass, that is not the case in basketball.

Ha! Maybe we need a rule change.

I remember watching a charity exhibition basketball game eons ago between the Philadelphia 76ers and Eagles where the Eagles QB Sonny Jurgenson tackled one of the Sixers. (Yes, Sonny was the Eagles QB before he was the Redskins QB. Damn I'm old.)

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

Assuming this is a typo and you meant to say the opposite. I posted after first or second game that Kendal should be the perfect guy to teach the freshmen how to run point on this team. He didn't have Lawson's blazing speed but court vision and awareness unmatched. For whatever reason that hasn't happened.

One difference with those PGs was their teammates learned to expect the ball. That hasn't happened between either Caleb or RJ and our current bigs.

It also helps when you have bigs who will run hard to the basket and can reel in the long pass. Zeller was among the best at that as a senior and Henson was no slouch. I can imagine some of our bigs being as good, but they aren't now, and they aren't going to have much shot at getting good until our PGs start delivering the ball better.

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

Great question, I would offer 2 suggestions, first is give the passer better targets to pass the ball to. Just as the scorer needs an angle to get the ball to the rim, the passer needs a clear target from a solid angle. Our bigs don't consistently work hard to get solid position timed such that the ball and a passer are in position to get it down clean to the big man that is in position to finish. That does not exclusively apply to our big men BTW. ... Second, have a purpose, have a plan for your pass and communicate.

You remind me of something I have wondered about. I'm always seeing our bigs go to a spot near the basket and raise their hand. What does that mean?

If it just means "Here I am" or "I'm at my spot and ready" then that's good for the PG to know. But I often think the guy giving that signal is trying to say "I'm open, get me the ball." Which is a problem because often the player is nowhere close to being truly open.

 

[gauchoheel]

If we don't win a tournament game this year that's 3 tourney wins in the last 4 years. Other than the Doherty years that hasn't happened since the 60's. This wasn't a terrible loss but this team is in real danger, we don't have a ton of room for error.