Very quick stuff (Cuse game 2)...

[gary-7]

...and that just can't keep happening.

I'm not gonna bother being diplomatic. This was self-inflicted badness.

- Our Zone Offense is the best in the business, that is IF WE ACTUALLY RUN IT. We did for a while and thusly, acted like we were gonna take control... but THEN acted we'd never seen it before and f***ed up the end of the half to dig a hole Honestly, the biggest catalyst was poor personnel usage. The dreaded backcourt thing happened again, but moreover, our Zone Continuity is triggered from the wings and requires understanding of angles and patience. AP especially, and Leaky know how to run the wing, but it goes down hill from there. Also, a Zone gets weaker with each pass so there's no need to force it. We saw it run to perfection often in the first meeting, in fact. Tonight we got squirrelly. And in general, Cuse's length at the top of their Zone isn't a good matchup for RJ, and right now if Kerwin isn't making shots he just can't be on the floor. I mean, just good night nurse on the defensive end.

- If you're wearing a Carolina uniform and walk into a gym and see THAT officiating crew?... Well, ya better put on your big-boy pants and be ready to finish thru hard contact, and hold onto the damned rebounds because you're gonna get hacked, poked and gouged and maybe 1/3 of it will get called. Ayers has swallowed so many whistles that he probably only tweets when he farts, Luckie should've been forcibly retired YEARS ago, and Armstrong is just, well... there. And y'all saw it, they lost control of the game and a rugby scrum broke out... and we got out-scrapped over and over. And speaking of that, I dunno how we got credit for 50+ rebounds because it seemed like we lost as many as we got --- of course, there WAS that failing-to-finish thing rearing its ugly head again, so there's that...

- and don't even talk to me about the late comeback, because 1) we should never have been in that position in the first place (see above), and 2) we scrambled what?... friggin ONCE before that? Good grief. They are NOT a good ball-handling team and don't even have a legit PG (hell, half the time they let their 4-man bring it up if there's any pressure at all), so why let em work half-court without traps?

Anyway, that was just awful. Sure, Cuse is tough up there, but we have matchups in our favor IF we just use our personnel in a logical manner for the opponent, and be tough enough to cash in. Sorry, but that just didn't happen tonight. And thus, there goes the double bye for the ACCT...

 

[bobcrane14]

It seems that the officiating crew should have been to the benefit of UNC. Sharpe, Bacot and Brooks should be stronger than their strongest man. Bacot played well

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

Kerwin seems to have hit that freshman wall over the last 3 games. 6 of 29 (5 of 24 from deep).

Having him as a threat helped earlier. Not having him as a threat recently means others need to step up.

 

[FlaTarHeel]

- If you're wearing a Carolina uniform and walk into a gym and see THAT officiating crew?... Well, ya better put on your big-boy pants and be ready to finish thru hard contact, and hold onto the damned rebounds because you're gonna get hacked, poked and gouged and maybe 1/3 of it will get called. Ayers has swallowed so many whistles that he probably only tweets when he farts, Luckie should've been forcibly retired YEARS ago, and Armstrong is just, well... there. And y'all saw it, they lost control of the game and a rugby scrum broke out... and we got out-scrapped over and over.

1. Walton is a freshman and I have tried to give the kid the benefit of the doubt, but you are spot on, he can't be on the floor if he can't make 2-3 shots from downtown. Tonight may have been his worst defensive game of the year. Wow

2. Mid way through the 2nd half when Lucky didn't give crybaby junior a call, crybaby senior went after him and killed the run we were on. He was treated like a rented mule the rest of the game. That so-called trip, flop, 3 point play against Caleb made me get up and walk outside to keep from cussing in front of my elderly mother. Effin ridiculous. GAME OVER!

3. How many elbows did Guerrier land tonight that just happen to be accidental?

 

[FlaTarHeel]

It seems that the officiating crew should have been to the benefit of UNC. Sharpe, Bacot and Brooks should be stronger than their strongest man. Bacot played well

You're a tool Ichabod

 

[alabamaheel]

Y’all keep y’all about Waltons defense like everyone else was stellar. SMH

 

[dtodd4475]

I didn't get a chance to watch the game, but from looking at the boxscore 20 turnovers and 4 for 20 from 3point land seems like a very familiar stat line for this season's "L's".

 

[gary-7]

Y’all keep y’all about Waltons defense like everyone else was stellar. SMH

Come on, brother. Even compared to a few other less-than-stellar outings, his was pretty egregious.

 

[bobcrane14]

I was hoping that Lebo would play the final five minutes, and maybe make a few threes

 

[notashelbyfan]

Have you ever seen a well officiated game?

We stink when we stink because we turn the ball over and can't hit free throws!

It really is that simple!

 

[notashelbyfan]

I didn't get a chance to watch the game, but from looking at the boxscore 20 turnovers and 4 for 20 from 3point land seems like a very familiar stat line for this season's "L's".

Don't forget free throws!

 

[CURRY2WOODYR80]

Obviously I'm not at practice, but I'd love to see what Lebo can do, you know he's been well coached and has looked good in very limited action, at least offensively.

 

[FranktheHeel]

That was a disheartening one to put it nicely.

I think our best opportunity to win the game was to put them away going into the half as we were up 9 with 7 to go. But, that opportunity passed and Buddy Boeheim got going leading the charge into the half with 11 unanswered points. I really would’ve thought that same philosophy vs Buddy in the second half of the first meeting would’ve carried over, but our guys kept overhelping and had trouble getting back to him when things broke down.

The great start to the second half had me saying oh great, now we’re getting going but it was fools gold because as we saw the turnover bug caught us again. The turnovers are still baffling, especially this late into the season, also the amount of them and then being in the live ball variety. Even the bigs tonight had a ton of turnovers!

Can someone please explain why we struggled so much in just getting that first initial pass to the FT line (our teams have carved that up like clockwork the last 5+ years and even in our first meeting the bigs did a nice job of the big to big passing)? What adjustment should’ve been made?

Looking back, this team has only put together one stretch of good back to back performances with the win at home vs State and then Pitt on the road at the end of January, that's worrisome going into tourny play. I was really hoping for 6-8 point win tonight setting up a good chance for a double bye and essentially locking up an NCAA tourny berth with a Q1 win, but nothing has come easy for this group and I think even Coach may be baffled by it as well.

I am really disappointed in the guys who have played a lot for us over the last few years- Garrison, Leaky and Armando in how they are not able to get the team to come together when things are going haywire. I hope someone on next years team step up and takes that role.

I had some worry before this game about a possible 8/9 seed and having to play one of those #1 seeds in the second round, but at the rate things may be trending we may play our way into a 10 or 11 which I guess isn’t the worst thing, but the more you drop the harder that first game is and I’d hate to see Coach’s streak of winning the first one end.

I’ll try to give a few positives, seeing the way things have gone this year, I wouldn’t be surprised to see us control Duke from start to finish. Good to see Armando have one of those very good January performances he had, I think there needs to be even more of an effort to get him the ball during the week in practice, even more then I'm sure Coach has already harped on.

And let's make a trade for the Heels not getting a double bye, they beat Duke and then win the 1st two of the ACCT to at least get to Friday.

 

[dtodd4475]

I think your current seeding may be a bit optimistic. I think we are already sitting at a 10-12 seeding. If we play our way out of anything it will be out of the entire tournament or into a play-in game at best. Duke finale is HUGE now. If it is another "L" we will need to win a minimum of 1 in the ACC tourney to get an invite.

Have to get a win against Duke, or our win or go home games start with the ACC tournament.

 

[Tom79]

Roy commented that we didn't move well as a team and he mentioned switching up bigs to see if that helped movement. And it didn't.
Armando had an interesting point as did Caleb, 'Mando basically saying we didn't come out to win and Caleb said we were "dry". The team can feel when they are flat and it sure isn't any fun.
Go get back to work. Game saturday.

 

[CarolinaMagic]

Our bigs have gotten little to no respect from the officials all season. Yet Buddy Boeheim flops all over and gets every call.

 

[midline]

Officials have a certain style, and you have to be prepared for it. Yea, little Junior was pushing off blatantly most of the second half. Especially when Caleb was on him. But with the size UNC has, that style of officiating should have played into UNCs favor. But it didn't. Syracuse was by far the tougher team and out hustled UNC for loose balls all night long. Interior passing was an issue after the first few minutes of the game. Too many passes at bad angles. And I agree with posters above. If Walton isn't on, he has no business on the court. He is a game changer one way or the other. And when he isn't on, it helps the other team. Somebody above mentioned wanting to see Lebo. Please. With UNCs shooting woes this season if he could play you would have seen him by this point. He is here as a legacy. He isn't his father. One step forward, two steps back with this crowd just like it has been all season. So it might come down to Duke being the rubber game for which team is on which side of the bubble. They found some fight in the 2nd half against FSU. They better figure out how to find it again. I guess making it to the tourney is a worthy goal, but with this team's makeup the best one could probably hope for is to get to the round of 32.

 

[Lewis&Miller]

Just some interesting stats that are befuddling but like most stats add up in the end. We outrebounded them by 20 but had only 2 more fg attempts. 'Cuse blocked 9 shots, we blocked 1. They had 15 steals(what), we had 6. We hit 4 threes and half of those were luck(a dud off the back rim from RJ and Plateks corner 3 that was short but goal tended). It was ugly after some early fools gold.

Syracuse was prepared. Numerous blocks on Kerwins 3s and creating turnovers on the attempt to feed the post. Our inexperienced group never could figure out how to execute what Roy was "telling" them to do. Too short a turnaround to prepare didn't help.

 

[39 Feet Above Sea Level]

Silver lining: At least now we probably won't have Roger Ayres and
Jamie (if he's reffing your game you are very un) Luckie officiating on Saturday.

 

[TarHeelMark]

More than anything, these FRICKIN' turnovers have got to be reduced.

Our bigs shot a combined 59%, however they had 12 of the 20 turnovers. IF they cut their number of TO's in half and get up a shot... that's potentially 3 - 4 more baskets. They have to be stronger with the ball in spite of all the constant poking and prodding from the 🍊.

And why the heck did Kessler only get 11 minutes?

 

[tarheel0910]

Walton is a shooter, so he needs to be on the court. I'm almost positive that he won't make a single shot while sitting on the bench which means he won't break out of his slump. What he really needs to do is take more midrange shots. He's just as good at that as he is hitting a three.

His value isn't just shooting though, he also helps with giving the bigs some room to work, because he actually has to be defended. His man can't just leave him to help down low. We can bitch all we want about his defense, but Roy's not a guy who wins games with defense. He wins games with offense and the sweet spot for him is 80 points. We aren't getting that with Walton on the bench.

 

[alabamaheel]

Come on, brother. Even compared to a few other less-than-stellar outings, his was pretty egregious.

Oh I don’t disagree Gary but several guys were horrible last night. My problem with the situation is they all got bullied and moved around some. Walton is a freshman along with Love. A couple of the others are veterans, and should already know how to handle themselves and not get pushed around. They should know better by now.

 

[Tarheel75]

Fair observation points Gary, thanks.

I don't have much to add other than the same ole same ole inconsistent play that we have witnessed for 24 games.

I thought we should have trapped more as was mentioned, and Roy's substitution patterns were atrocious and I felt like the guys were again not focused, particularly on defense. Why and how do you leave the hot hand #35 all alone to go double team other players who do not have the ball? He was basically the only deep threat they had and we choose to lose him on defense? Why in the hell can you not put a man on him and STAY with him, and just screw the help side defending, it was not needed anyway.

I lay that at Roy's feet. He complained about not defending the kid and how we left him wide open for shots in the post game PC. Why not try this Roy: tell the one you want defending him that he goes wherever #35 goes and do not leave him. I cannot recall him using the line up that was so effective in the comeback against FSU, did anyone? Maybe he did and I just didn't see it, whatever, nothing seemed to wake up the sleepwalking our guys performed from about 12 minutes in the 1st half to about 2 1/2 minutes left. Geez man.

You know something, was it not satisfying and fun to watch our guys growth from the start of a season and on into NCAA play over the years? As I have said on so many occasions this season, this team is HARD to watch due to the constant regression and roller coaster play of this particular team. I am so frustrated with this group that I am just about to the point of: Let's get this over with and move on to next year.

Given the engrained Jekyll & Hyde nature of this team, we should absolutely flatten the dookies on Saturday, but..., for some reason...., I don't feel comfortable about it, how about you?

 

[jeans15]

Turnovers

Unforced ones are holding us back.

 

[Bubspub88]

Attacking a zone takes discipline and patience - UNC's backcourt has neither. Bigs started aggressive but then became somewhat gun shy. Roy has been attacking that zone the same way since he returned to Chapel Hill. Last night there was little execution of the zone offense after first 10 minutes. Turnovers are KILLING this team. They are not good enough to give away possessions.

FT % dropped from 90% to 64% - that is 100% on players and shows their lack of focus. Too many guys still think they can win because they are more athletic and just won't admit that this ain't AAU ball. A guy from CBS during FSU game I think said Sharpe was probably first round (could be lottery next season if he returned) and Love would definitely draw interest if he came out. No wonder the nba has such a crappy product now.

I think this team has 5 games left. Honestly I will not be disappointed when the season ends.

 

[Heelicious]

Turnovers

Unforced ones are holding us back.

There are so many atrocious ones to choose from in each game, but usually one or two in each game that stand out to me as enormously ugly unforced brain freeze, soul crushing ones.

In Marquette it was when both Brooks and Love were asleep, head up their ___ when Brooks runs into Love dribbling, with no defender within 10 feet. How is that possible.

Last night someone threw an inbounds pass from under Heels basket, to about midcourt - to only a Cuse guy, again with no Heel offense guy within 15 feet of him. For a breakaway dunk uncontested for the Cuse guy. He had to be like "did that just happen?"

Where in the h was the inbounder throwing the ball? That isn't even a 50-50 play for who gets it. It was a 100 - 0 play. It should have gone down as an assist to their team. Again, just soul crushing, when on so many plays it is like we are the first pass in the other team's fast break, the way we turn over unforced turnovers in live ball action.

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

Have you ever seen a well officiated game?

We stink when we stink because we turn the ball over and can't hit free throws!

It really is that simple!

That can't be right.

Don't you know it's ALWAYS the refs' fault?

I wonder if there are any good studies on this. It seems a simple truism that fans see more bad calls against their own players. And it's probably true that the more diehard a fan you are, the more you think the reffing in a losing effort has been really bad.

Sounds like a good dissertation topic.

 

[Tribgrywubb68]

It’s mostly just an excuse. The call on Caleb when boeheims son tripped and fell over himself and threw in that prayer was pretty awful but other than that Unc played extremely soft against a physically overmatched team.

 

[DrJaaay]

This team could be (and has been at times) so good. To have Kerwin go 1-10 (and 0 for 7 from three) and only lose by 2 points is hard to fathom. However, this year we have found ways to lose games. Agreed that it's very frustrating ... I'm sure Roy has aged about 10 years over the last two seasons. Oh well. Beat dook! Go Heels!

 

[gary-7]

Have you ever seen a well officiated game?

We stink when we stink because we turn the ball over and can't hit free throws!

It really is that simple!

Dude, if you can't do any better than that, then maybe just don't.

 

[gary-7]

Given the engrained Jekyll & Hyde nature of this team, we should absolutely flatten the dookies on Saturday, but..., for some reason...., I don't feel comfortable about it, how about you?

Sadly, I don't. Let's hope it means as much to the guys as it should... and we stop trying to force square pegs.

 

[gary-7]

That can't be right.

Don't you know it's ALWAYS the refs' fault?

I wonder if there are any good studies on this. It seems a simple truism that fans see more bad calls against their own players. And it's probably true that the more diehard a fan you are, the more you think the reffing in a losing effort has been really bad.

Sounds like a good dissertation topic.

I really wish like hell some here would learn to read... or at least stop reading selectively. Then again, given who the poster above was who made the snide crack, good luck with any reading comprehension.

Literally nobody said the refs "lost" the game. What I DID say (which is 100% true) is that this crew would give an opponent the license to mug, and that OUR GUYS had better be ready to play thru contact. That is part of the game --- no matter what passive-aggressive sniping some choose to perpetrate on a message board--- and I also said our guys failed to be tough enough to deal with the officiating environment with which they were presented, again, something that is part of any given game.

 

[bobcrane14]

Please explain why I am wrong or tell me if I am. correct. Earlier in this thread, I was called " Ichabod" for saying that a loose whistle should benefit UNC because of the strength of Bacot Sharpe and Brooks. Bacot flourished with 18 points and 15 rebounds

 

[Tribgrywubb68]

Please explain why I am wrong or tell me if I am. correct. Earlier in this thread, I was called " Ichabod" for saying that a loose whistle should benefit UNC because of the strength of Bacot Sharpe and Brooks. Bacot flourished with 18 points and 15 rebounds

seems like some of these guys can dish it out but can’t take it. Apparently they really really hate having their beliefs or opinions questioned.

 

[bobcrane14]

seems like some of these guys can dish it out but can’t take it. Apparently they really really hate having their beliefs or opinions questioned.

Thank you. I'm just asking. A lot of fouls down low were not called. Both ways. The only bad calls that come to mind were Boeheim getting bailed out in the lane and Brooks retrieving a save from Platek at the baseline that I thought went out of bounds. Anyway, perhaps the many no-calls were advantageous to Syracuse. Feel free to comment

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

I really wish like hell some here would learn to read... or at least stop reading selectively. Then again, given who the poster above was who made the snide crack, good luck with any reading comprehension.

Literally nobody said the refs "lost" the game. What I DID say (which is 100% true) is that this crew would give an opponent the license to mug, and that OUR GUYS had better be ready to play thru contact. That is part of the game --- no matter what passive-aggressive sniping some choose to perpetrate on a message board--- and I also said our guys failed to be tough enough to deal with the officiating environment with which they were presented, again, something that is part of any given game.

Somebody is triggered early these days.

Why do I say that? When you resort to "literally nobody said..." statements to justify getting bent out of shape, you might just be triggered. Talk about being passive-aggressive....

Allow me to illustrate why that's a bad tactic.

Literally nobody said that your game analyses are worthless.

 

[Tribgrywubb68]

Thank you. I'm just asking. A lot of fouls down low were not called. Both ways. The only bad calls that come to mind were Boeheim getting bailed out in the lane and Brooks retrieving a save from Platek at the baseline that I thought went out of bounds. Anyway, perhaps the many no-calls were advantageous to Syracuse. Feel free to comment

i don’t think it was that egregious one way or the other. The refs weren’t great but they were bad both ways. In other words not enough to even comment on, unless your really biased. Which is fine on a Unc fan board, but also shouldn’t be above scrutiny.

bottom line is Unc had no one to blame but themselves for whatever that performance was last night.

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

Sadly, I don't. Let's hope it means as much to the guys as it should... and we stop trying to force square pegs.

We already beat them once. No need to get worried about them. Partying hard Friday night should be sufficient preparation.

I mean Friday is Cinco de Marzo, after all.

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

i don’t think it was that egregious one way or the other. The refs weren’t great but they were bad both ways. In other words not enough to even comment on, unless your really biased. Which is fine on a Unc fan board, but also shouldn’t be above scrutiny.

bottom line is Unc had no one to blame but themselves for whatever that performance was last night.

We beat them by 6 on our court when we had only 11 TOs and shot 78.3% from he line.

On their court, if our TOs and FTs revert to our averages, we probably lose. Which they did (TOs = 20; FTs = 63.6%).

I know I predicted we'd beat them in the contest, but that was my heart talking. I keep wanting to think we have "really" turned the corner.

 

[gary-7]

Somebody is triggered early these days.

Why do I say that? When you resort to "literally nobody said..." statements to justify getting bent out of shape, you might just be triggered. Talk about being passive-aggressive....

Allow me to illustrate why that's a bad tactic.

Literally nobody said that your game analyses are worthless.

And I wasn't directing that at you specifically. Again, reading.