Very quick stuff (GW game)...

[gary-7]

...and this was a step backward, quite honestly.

This'll be very brief, lest I get annooyed thinking about it,.... so quickly, here 'tis:

- So... Pete had a coming-out in the first half, and then Caleb got hot. well woo-f-ing-hoo, that still doesn't make it good basketball. Granted, we FINALLY got a semblance of a transition game going to start the second half (which gave us the margin we ended up needing), but in the scheme of things that was an anomoly.

- I mean, didn't the second half of the last game teach us anythng? We do well when we play INSIDE- OUT and commit to transition. Yeah, well, so much for that tonight. Back to bad habits and nonchalent intensity.

- Not gonna talk Xs-and-Os tonight --- I realize that's a process --- but I am gonna talk about personnel usage. Sorry if anyone gets offended, but being perfectly frank, Hubert is not adapting to our roster very efficiently just yet, and tonight was a glaring example. Seat-of-the-pants sub patterns bit Roy in the pants in his later years, and I sure hope Hubert doesn't think that's somethng to emulate, but that's what it appears to be right now. All I can say is it sure as hell doesn't make sense from this vantage point.

- On that last note, I purposely recorded the game and waited to watch it so I could run things back on the fly, and in doing that the personnel stuff was pretty glaring --- and honestly, sorta obvious. After the starters, Dunn needs to play more, and sooner... period. He does what he's supposed to on both ends, but there's no chance to get a rhythm with the way he's being underused right now. On the other side of that, running Seth at Point is just a recipe for disaster. For some reason we did that for a stretch in the second half and it was painful watching what had been a working lead dwindle to low single-digits as the offense bogged down. Seth is a talented Combo who plays hard, but the 1 ain't his calling. And I still don't know WTH we're doing with Nickel. Bouncing him around sporadically isn't doing anyone any good. Roles matter --- give him one and let him play.

Anyway, that's it for this one --- bottom line is it's time to stop flailing around and time to establish an identity and a legit rotation before we run out of directional school opponents...

 

[imajericho]

A very weird game. Everyone offensively basically comes out to barely efficient besides Nance who was extremely efficient and prolific this game.

RJ missed some passes. Hustle was missing quite a bit. Bacot 2-9 for a big man versus a very undersized team is abysmal.

Leaky Black shooting like 60% from 3 this season while RJ is like 27% and Love is like 19% shows a lot. We rode 3 point shooting in our long run last year and died when it died last year.

There seems like no point for our subs to be even on the court most of the time. They are rarely given any usage in the offense. Nickel might as well not even be covered. He pretty much isn't going to get the ball. They swing away from him every possession he is on the court.

You have to actually let the subs be a part of the offense if you want to see contributions from them.

 

[Tarheel75]

Gary brother......, I feel your pain and most likely many others feel the pain as well.

Here I am at 4 am...., been up all night with a sinus headache and pissed to the max regarding the GW game.

These first 3 games this season are eerily similar to the start of those early games last season don't you think? Played down to our competition-lackadaisical play on both sides of the ball.

1. Effort & Focus
2. Energy- look sloth-like in long stretches
3. Both offensive & defensive rebounding
4. Sporadic ball movement on offense
5. Refusing to share the ball by making an additional pass to get better and wide-open shots.
6. Again, I repeat..., Armando cannot dribble and drive..., and particularly when he tries to start from above the foul line and even starting drives from the 3-point area. His game starts and finishes from the foul line in...., period.
7. They are not having fun playing-it shows. Most likely that's hard to see if you watch the games on TV. It is quite evident when viewing live in person.

You can pick any or all of the above as issues that have to be addressed. As I stated in my post of CoC game, Nance was not shooting enough and was actually hurting the offense by not taking more shots. Well..., I think we all know where we would be without his 18 points in this game. He has a very good offensive game and plays good defense; however, he needs to work on moving the ball a tad sooner and stop telegraphing his passes. He is a great passing Big Man, but the ball is getting stuck too often as he is looking for Armando who, at most times has several defenders around him. I am sure that this is an issue of deferment by Pete and as he gets more experience working in the post with Bacot, will either pass the ball on or take more shots.

As I mentioned earlier, a lot of these same issues plagued the team at the start of the season last year, and they eventually got ironed out and I think they will this season going forth. Usually, it takes a skull dragging loss or two like it did last year that forced the players to change the unsuccessful way they were playing.

I think Gary will have more to say on this after re-watching it, and to close out my post, I want to warn everyone that James Madison is next on Sunday, and they are averaging over a 100 ppg., so this team had better be ready or a skull dragging just might be in the works.

 

[39 Feet Above Sea Level]

Tar Heel Nation wasn't expecting this discombobulated start to the season and the players on
this team have LOTS of details that need to be ironed out, and soon.
I'm hopeful that Hubert and his staff will figure things out. It's not surprising that
our opponents are bringing the game to us, but it is damn sure time that Carolina
starts bringing the game to them. Figure it out Tar Heels!!

 

[Grover Thomas]

It’s all about rebounding and not getting those second chance points.

We are playing good defense.

When Mondo wakes up….and start doing his thing….we will be fine.

Also it’s now time to move Caleb to the point and put RJ at the 2. RJ wants to score so just let him be who he is at the 2.

 

[ChrisMPA]

I’m just going to be happy with being 3-0 right now. This team has a ways to go but March is a long way away

 

[Grover Thomas]

I’m just going to be happy with being 3-0 right now. This team has a ways to go but March is a long way away

We are marching towards March with Love in our hearts.

 

[Bubspub88]

Last night I saw a bunch of guys wearing the same uniform but I did not see a team. On offense they look like a poor man's NBA team - dribbling and isolation with little passing and no movement off the ball. On defense, just pathetic. Maybe they only play D if they get an NIL endorsement.

Hopefully they have stopped reading about how good they are and will start putting some effort into the games. Maybe they need a talk from some guys who came back after losing in finals to win the following season that it ain't easy. Right now this team doesn't make it past the second round in March. I do not see a leader on this team on the court. Someone needs to demand accountability.

And Hubert needs to use the bench both to punish those who are just going through the motions and to build depth. Thankfully there is a lot of time in the season but there are a disturbing number of problems right now.

The only decent stat line from box score was 18/21 from the line, everything else is just garbage. Davis has more rebounds than Nance and Black combined, 8 assists to 10 turnovers, Davis and Love 11/30 shooting. Damn good thing we did not play in the Champions Classic because it would have been another one of those 30 point beatdowns we saw too often last year no matter who we played.

 

[gobblercalls]

Hubert is gonna have to find a way to convert ego to pride. Good luck with that!

 

[dtodd4475]

A blah early in the year performance. Not unusual for teams, but not very pleasing to the eye for sure. Nance came out of his shell and took some looks, starting to form his comfort zone hopefully.

Caleb once again took control of the wheel to start the second half.

Leaky knocked down a couple 3's, will keep teams honest.

18-21 from the line, may have helped prevent a possible upset. Although never really felt in doubt.

The bench (multiple guys) got 24 minutes in the 1st half and had a combined ZERO points, ZERO assists, and ZERO rebounds. That is REALLY hard to do.

A tiny team went about even on the glass. Mando looks slower, lumbering around, while not crashing relentlessly on the glass. Still can muscle, but no zip to his movement.

Starter minutes ended up Caleb 36, Mando 36, RJ 35, LEAKY 28, foul plagued Nance 26. Second half was heavy usage once again.

Blah overall, but a win.

 

[heels05champs]

Another sloppy game with very little effort overall and too much individual play.

Dunn is way underutilized at the moment and should be the first off the bench each game. He needs more minutes and a consistent role. Same for Nickel.

I don’t know what the heck happened to the Carolina fast break and secondary break but I have been very disappointed in this staff’s commitment to enforcing it. We look more like a sloth big ten style team than the high efficiency Carolina teams of the past.

 

[Archer2]

Almost all of our problems are attitude related at this point, a “fat and happy” attitude after reading all the preseason accolades. This was foreseeable but I was hoping we had enough veteran leadership to avoid it, apparently not. Mando is MIA, both of our starting guards are playing hero ball. Waaaaaaay too much pointless dribbling, too little player and ball movement, no apparent desire to play defense or rebound. All attitude issues and it’s up to Hubert to fix them, starting with punishing lackadaisical play by sitting on the bench. Could we use a healthy Puff? Of course, I think he would help our perimeter shooting and our overall hustle. But we have plenty of talent, we just need to start playing “Carolina basketball” as Gary says. Back to the fundamentals of boxing out, better ball/player movement, sharing the ball more, playing inside/out first, commitment to the fast break, etc… What we’re seeing now isn’t Carolina basketball.

 

[Grover Thomas]

Almost all of our problems are attitude related at this point, a “fat and happy” attitude after reading all the preseason accolades. This was foreseeable but I was hoping we had enough veteran leadership to avoid it, apparently not. Mando is MIA, both of our starting guards are playing hero ball. Waaaaaaay too much pointless dribbling, too little player and ball movement, no apparent desire to play defense or rebound. All attitude issues and it’s up to Hubert to fix them, starting with punishing lackadaisical play by sitting on the bench. Could we use a healthy Puff? Of course, I think he would help our perimeter shooting and our overall hustle. But we have plenty of talent, we just need to start playing “Carolina basketball” as Gary says. Back to the fundamentals of boxing out, better ball/player movement, sharing the ball more, playing inside/out first, commitment to the fast break, etc… What we’re seeing now isn’t Carolina basketball.

Archer2 stop trying to lump Caleb “ the leader of men” Love with RJ’s dribbling exhibition. Love has played great defense in all three games.

Now back to the issue at hand. Mondo is the real issue….he’s not in shape and is being played physical by even smaller players. He just ain’t rebiunding…..we need him to rebound to initiate the break.

 

[gunslingerdick]

Almost all of our problems are attitude related at this point, a “fat and happy” attitude after reading all the preseason accolades. This was foreseeable but I was hoping we had enough veteran leadership to avoid it, apparently not. Mando is MIA, both of our starting guards are playing hero ball. Waaaaaaay too much pointless dribbling, too little player and ball movement, no apparent desire to play defense or rebound. All attitude issues and it’s up to Hubert to fix them, starting with punishing lackadaisical play by sitting on the bench. Could we use a healthy Puff? Of course, I think he would help our perimeter shooting and our overall hustle. But we have plenty of talent, we just need to start playing “Carolina basketball” as Gary says. Back to the fundamentals of boxing out, better ball/player movement, sharing the ball more, playing inside/out first, commitment to the fast break, etc… What we’re seeing now isn’t Carolina basketball.

Completely agree. This team looks to have the mentality of a team that thinks they can turn it on when they want. I do not think they are such a team. The guys are going through the motions thinking they are predestined to be in the FF where they will “get redemption” like the 2017 team. The problem is, the guys on this team don’t have the mental makeup of those leaders of the 2017 team. Theo and Joel, especially, knew that while they were on a redemption tour, they still had to put in the requisite effort to make it. This team looks as if they believe their season starts in March and they’re just doing exhibitions until then.

Bacot looks slow and timid. Clunky. Davis is thinking too much and not playing off instinct. Love and Leaky are doing Love and Leaky things but neither seem to be inspiring their teammates. Nance doesn’t really fit yet.

We need Puff. That may sound strange but if nothing else, Puff brings a grit and enthusiasm this team is sorely lacking.

Three point shooting is bad, rebounding is bad, spacing is poor, effort is weak, passing is late, drives are too manufactured.

 

[Indy_Heel]

I was telling a friend the start of the season this team has a feeling of the 09 team not the 17. I felt they would just dominate from day 1. Well after watching 3 games they are exactly like last years team. Bacot looks too lazy and the guards are playing hero ball. Too much press and too many NIL commitments causing some of this? I hope not but makes you wonder.

Part of the second half of the CofC game gave us a small glimpse of what this team should be. How many possessions did we not swing the ball or even throw it into Bacot last night? The rebounding is what is pissing me off maybe the most. One of the tallest front courts in the nation and our guards out rebound the bigs. Sometimes you can say the other team shots were bricking so bad there were long rebounds away from the basket. I’m not seeing that.

It’s almost like they don’t know how to play as #1. You already get everyone’s best shot because the name on the jersey but that goes up 10 fold as #1. I would like to see TN and Dunn get more playing time. We have seen TN can get hot. I just want to see a sense of urgency the whole game just not a few spurts here or there. Get that ball moving on Offense.

I’ll end on one positive note, my opinion the D is better at this point compared to last year. Take that for what it’s worth. Lol

 

[TPFKAPFS]

Not good enough, but a win nonetheless! I liked seeing McKoy play and the increased bench minutes. I want to see more regular rotations and a significant decrease in starter minutes. I fully expect it to happen more soon and espcially when Puff and Washington start playing. BUT bench does not get to play if it combines for a 0 stat line and doesn't play up to defensive standards! Bacot needs to figure all of it out soon and I trust Bigun to do so! Shots will start falling since I only see a few really questionable selections. I agree that I need to see way more Dunn + T Nick and far less Seth at 1. I like the energy of the Caleb or RJ, Seth, Dunn or T Nick back court though! (add Puff +Nance/Bacot and it could be special!)

 

[TarHeelFanWV]

I’ll end on one positive note, my opinion the D is better at this point compared to last year. Take that for what it’s worth. Lol

It's the exact same as last year at this point. We were 3-0 last year and struggled against Brown and CoC. I figured with who we were bringing back, along with the added depth we would dominate these smaller schools like years past. I mean we were favored by 22 last night.

I hear the players saying it's a new team but how new is it? They literally have 4 of the same starting 5 and the subs aren't getting that many minutes so I don't see how it's that new honestly.

I am beginning to wonder as some have said, was our run at the end of the year just a lucky run? I would love to have some confidence by blowing these small schools out of the water as we are predicted to do, but we can't even do that.

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

Leaky Black shooting like 60% from 3 this season while RJ is like 27% and Love is like 19% shows a lot. We rode 3 point shooting in our long run last year and died when it died last year.

Last year at this time Caleb was 4-12 from deep. Not awesome, but OK. And he improved from there. This season, so far, he's 4-21.

Last year at this time RJ was 7-12 from deep. And stayed pretty hot for a while. This season, so far, he's 4-13.

For those who may not recall, we opened against similar creampuffs last year (including Charleston) and 2 of those first 3 games were also unacceptably close.

I've been bitching that we play too many creampuffs to start this season. I've been worried that we won't be tough enough when we get to game 6 (Villanova or Iowa State, iirc).

I still worry we won't be tough enough when we hit serious competition, but it's clear that we need the next couple of creampuffs to get our act together.

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

I am beginning to wonder as some have said, was our run at the end of the year just a lucky run?

Or is Hubert the next Denny Crum? Ignore the first part of the season - might be good, might be rough - count on him having them ready at the end.

Obviously can't jump to that conclusion on a year and 3 games. But not too soon to have the thought pop to mind.

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

Not good enough, but a win nonetheless! I liked seeing McKoy play and the increased bench minutes. I want to see more regular rotations and a significant decrease in starter minutes. I fully expect it to happen more soon and espcially when Puff and Washington start playing. BUT bench does not get to play if it combines for a 0 stat line and doesn't play up to defensive standards! Bacot needs to figure all of it out soon and I trust Bigun to do so! Shots will start falling since I only see a few really questionable selections. I agree that I need to see way more Dunn + T Nick and far less Seth at 1. I like the energy of the Caleb or RJ, Seth, Dunn or T Nick back court though! (add Puff +Nance/Bacot and it could be special!)

Bench minutes by half.

Player	1st Half min	2nd Half min	Total min

Trimble	9	7	15*
Nickel	6	3	9
McCoy	0	6	6
Styles	5	0	5
Dunn	4	0	4
TOTALS	24	16	39*

*rounded, I guess.

 

[TPFKAPFS]

Yup. Definitely need to increase bench minutes + develop a solid rotation. Styles and McKoy will need to step up their effectiveness, but the others seem to have earned it IMO!

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

too many NIL commitments causing some of this?

Another non-double-double from Armando . . . in 36 minutes against a creampuff. Meanwhile, in 34 minutes, Thsiebwe scored 22 and grabbed 18 rebounds . . . against MSU!

I'm now expecting Armando to return for a 5th year. Can he make this much money overseas?

Seriously.

Sure, sure, it's only 3 games. But who's going to want him if he looks this mediocre against creampuffs? He needs to get back in gear.

Then again, will the NIL folks still pony up if he doesn't play better? How does that work?

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

Bacot looks slow and timid. Clunky. Davis is thinking too much and not playing off instinct. Love and Leaky are doing Love and Leaky things but neither seem to be inspiring their teammates. Nance doesn’t really fit yet.

We need Puff. That may sound strange but if nothing else, Puff brings a grit and enthusiasm this team is sorely lacking.

Nailed it.

How many of our starters would be on our "All Enthusiasm Team? Any?

RJ probably comes closest, but it isn't anything to write home about.

I'm picturing the energy with Puff, Trimble and Nickel on the court. Who else?

 

[DrJaaay]

As Hubert said ... "the guys aren't having fun out there". I don't think they like being "the hunted" .. at least not yet.
Caleb and RJ need to play as if they like each other (not sure what's going on with those two) ... and Mando is making a strong case for staying another year, because what I saw last night is not gonna impress any pro scouts.
Except for about 5 min in the second half, I thought Garner-Webb kicked our collective assess.

 

[TPFKAPFS]

Dunn and Washington also play with energy and to me more importantly, with joy!

 

[Grover Thomas]

Nailed it.

How many of our starters would be on our "All Enthusiasm Team? Any?

RJ probably comes closest, but it isn't anything to write home about.

I'm picturing the energy with Puff, Trimble and Nickel on the court. Who else?

RJ is depressing the play of others right now. Move him to the 2 position and watch him thrive…he wants to score

 

[Grover Thomas]

As Hubert said ... "the guys aren't having fun out there". I don't think they like being "the hunted" .. at least not yet.
Caleb and RJ need to play as if they like each other (not sure what's going on with those two) ... and Mando is making a strong case for staying another year, because what I saw last night is not gonna impress any pro scouts.
Except for about 5 min in the second half, I thought Garner-Webb kicked our collective assess.

Love is doing his part and I saw him slapping the hands of players all night…smiling will not make Bacot get in shape overnight. And smiling won’t get NBA thoughts out of RJ’s head…dude is looking to be the star of the team…..somebody told him he was.

 

[nctransplant]

From just the first 3 games all but Leaky could be back. Don't think Nance can either but 3 of the 5 at this point have not progressed but regressed.

 

[ChiShankCity]

Hubert made a good point about being the hunted. This squad has been forgotten nationally for a few years and it's easier to play with your back against the wall. It's human nature to fight harder from that position than working your tail off when you're at the top. That's what separates the greats from the could've been greats. I won't get too philosophical, but I think all of us can relate to that to some degree.

I've posted this in other threads so apologize for the redundancy.

I think the reality of this year's team will always be... They're not as mediocre as they were through the first 25 games or so last year. They're probably not as awesome as they were through the 10 games or so last year. They're probably somewhere in between. KenPom and Sagarin have them in the teens. So they're probably a projected 3-5 seed right now. And I think that's an accurate depiction. They're a 3-5 seed, but an extremely dangerous one come March because Caleb Love can be the best player in the country in any moment and Bacot can be the best big guy on the floor in any game. But Caleb can also be a negative on the floor at any moment too.

The loss of Manek is huge and he's almost irreplaceable IMO. Most of the players on this team are dudes who kind of need to dominate the ball to score. Love and RJ are definitely that. I think Bacot is kind of like that if he's not scoring off offensive rebounds. Nance was probably used to that at Northwestern. Someone like Manek who can score more points than dribbles per game is a huge miss. I think those kinds of players are becoming the most valuable commodities outside of superstar players. I might value him more than others, but it's a huge miss.

Really interested to see Caleb's efficiency this season. Part of me thinks him shooting 37% from 3 last year was a bit flukey. And if it was and he dips to the low 30's, we're going to have offensive issues all season. Without a high volume and efficient 3-point shooter like Manek, Caleb will probably have to take more hero shots.

Remember that this core (Bacot, Love, and RJ) were 8/9 seeds while playing together. Then they went on a magical run last year. IMO, it's a lot to expect for a team that's been 8/9 seeds the last two seasons, to become a #1 seed.

This team's probably going to have to be a lot better defensively because there are offensive limitations. But that's generally not how UNC teams are wired.

Also, pretty discouraging early season returns on Styles and Dunn. They continue to look like zeroes on the offensive end. Eventually a couple of bench players are going to need to become solid options. But right now, this team has 0 depth.

 

[Grover Thomas]

Hubert made a good point about being the hunted. This squad has been forgotten nationally for a few years and it's easier to play with your back against the wall. It's human nature to fight harder from that position than working your tail off when you're at the top. That's what separates the greats from the could've been greats. I won't get too philosophical, but I think all of us can relate to that to some degree.

I've posted this in other threads so apologize for the redundancy.

I think the reality of this year's team will always be... They're not as mediocre as they were through the first 25 games or so last year. They're probably not as awesome as they were through the 10 games or so last year. They're probably somewhere in between. KenPom and Sagarin have them in the teens. So they're probably a projected 3-5 seed right now. And I think that's an accurate depiction. They're a 3-5 seed, but an extremely dangerous one come March because Caleb Love can be the best player in the country in any moment and Bacot can be the best big guy on the floor in any game. But Caleb can also be a negative on the floor at any moment too.

The loss of Manek is huge and he's almost irreplaceable IMO. Most of the players on this team are dudes who kind of need to dominate the ball to score. Love and RJ are definitely that. I think Bacot is kind of like that if he's not scoring off offensive rebounds. Nance was probably used to that at Northwestern. Someone like Manek who can score more points than dribbles per game is a huge miss. I think those kinds of players are becoming the most valuable commodities outside of superstar players. I might value him more than others, but it's a huge miss.

Really interested to see Caleb's efficiency this season. Part of me thinks him shooting 37% from 3 last year was a bit flukey. And if it was and he dips to the low 30's, we're going to have offensive issues all season. Without a high volume and efficient 3-point shooter like Manek, Caleb will probably have to take more hero shots.

Remember that this core (Bacot, Love, and RJ) were 8/9 seeds while playing together. Then they went on a magical run last year. IMO, it's a lot to expect for a team that's been 8/9 seeds the last two seasons, to become a #1 seed.

This team's probably going to have to be a lot better defensively because there are offensive limitations. But that's generally not how UNC teams are wired.

Also, pretty discouraging early season returns on Styles and Dunn. They continue to look like zeroes on the offensive end. Eventually a couple of bench players are going to need to become solid options. But right now, this team has 0 depth.

All we need is Love…RJ needs Love….Mondo needs Love…you my friend need Love.

Will you just let Love in your heart today?

 

[Grover Thomas]

As Hubert said ... "the guys aren't having fun out there". I don't think they like being "the hunted" .. at least not yet.
Caleb and RJ need to play as if they like each other (not sure what's going on with those two) ... and Mando is making a strong case for staying another year, because what I saw last night is not gonna impress any pro scouts.
Except for about 5 min in the second half, I thought Garner-Webb kicked our collective assess.

I know, RJ was told he was the star of the team….but soon found out he wasn’t

 

[DSouthr]

I didn't post anything about the CoC game because it was as simple as a first half that showed us what we saw early last season, uninspired effort across the board and the second half we saw what we should see from this team. This GW game was a bit different but over all other than maybe the last 7mns or so, I felt our defense was pretty good, there was ebb and flow in this game that was in my view personnel related. The game started with Nance hitting a couple nice treys, both good open shots and he drained them, kept us tied or close early. But during that early stretch we got a lot of missed jumpers from our back court and Bacot. Watched Bacot trying to drive the lane with the dribble from out side of the foul line or driving to deep and getting in trouble, he may be trying to show he can do that but it isn't in this team best interest to have him doing that. The better quality big men we face that is going to go worse if it doesn't get mitigated. I prefer Bacot to catch the ball and be able to finish without the dribble or fake, 1 crab dribble and explode up.

Then Hubert brings Trimble in, now of course as a freshman on this team he is still trying to fit in with this group, as Nance has as well been trying to do, meaning they have been passing up things in order to get a better shot for their mates. Trimble has not been the primary ball handler when he is in and he is not being looked for on the offensive end but the stuff I see him doing defensively is really really special. I will give you 2 examples of this, first, GW guard up top takes the ball hard in to the paint, Trimble is with him over and over again step for step and each time that guard had to give the ball up and GW had to reset. This was a rinse and repeat situation GW tried constantly and Trimble stopped it from what I recall on only the one watch of the game every time they tried it. On the same look with RJ rather than Trimble, RJ trailed at least a half step and at times a full step and GW began to get the easy kick outs. When Trimble came in our lead expanded, when he sat it contracted and much of that was the defense he was playing at the point of attack.

Another example any time Trimble was in or near the lane, when the ball went in to a big and that big turned to put the ball on the floor, Trimble swiped at it, he may not have stole it but he distracted the big mans dribble and effectively stopped the dribble forcing that big to pass it out, RJ same play didn't swipe at it and the big man was allowed to dribble and finish. Keep in mind, these are things coming from a freshman in his 3rd NCAA game?

I see posters continue to bang on Trimble as our PG but he is the one guard we have that seems to want to break, run those UNC breaks at every opportunity, RJ breaks it off nearly every time. Trimble gets in to the lane basically anytime he wants to with the dribble and he is consistently looking to pass it once he has drawn the defense, other guys need to recognize that and his mates need to work for position. Watch, how often do you see us running UNC primary or secondary breaks with RJ and Caleb in together, they basically don't. Posters here clamor every game about wanting to see UNC breaking more and yet Hubert told us all in a PC that the primary and secondary breaks gave us to little so he had to go away from it. Now I took that at the time as being due to limitations of our bench, 5 guys paying a ton of minutes. But that is not a reasonable excuse now because we do have the bench depth and experience. It is a lack of running the court hard now and not rewarding your big men when they do run it hard, guards need to reward big men, it keeps them running the floor hard.

There was a stretch that began the second half where Love went off, was glad to see that because that first half was not good from him. But we have all seen it, Love is capable of exploding out of no where and that is what he did again last night in that stretch. That kid at times plays like one of if not the best players in the country and at other times you wonder just exactly WTF is he doing? After such a crazy run from him there he is near half court with the ball and no one within 10' of him and he dribbles the ball off his foot??? We seem to wait on Love's explosions of scoring, the problem with that is it tends to get his mates standing around watching Caleb, waiting on Caleb, puts us right back in to hero ball, right back in to RJ and Caleb going your turn my turn one on one, 1 is easier to defend than 5...

When Nance got in to foul trouble, we got exposed a little bit and that may continue until Puff and Washington are able to go because at least last night, McKoy is not the answer. Clearly Styles has underwhelmed so far and has done little with the chances he has had. But Puff and Washington will be nice answers to this problem when they are able to get out there at least IMO.

Yeah, IM am concerned we are not smoother offensively, especially from our starters, this does look more like the beginning of last season than I want it to and that isn't good. But this team does seem to be able to carry a better defense game to game than we did last season early. But we are not nearly as physical so far as we need to be. Would like to see Hubert hammer the very same message that turned us around last season, go in to every game LOOKING FOR A FIGHT, get mad, that is where this team has that edge to them. When Mondo gets mad he is a different and more effective player, when he is passive he isn't a ACC 1st team player.

Finally, want to talk a little about Nance, it was really good to see him work for his offense last night rather than look to defer as much as he did in the first 2 games. Looked like he dislocated a finger last night and I think that bothered him in that second half. Manek struggled early last season trying to figure out how he fit in, Garcia being in the mix didn't help that but once he figured it out and started looking for his own offense, being ready to shoot, this team found another level, his offense meshed with the others. Nance is now trying to figure that out and last night was a nice step but now his mates have to look for him like they did Manek last season and everything not defer to Bacot. Our starting guards, stop the your turn my turn nonsense, stop the dribble the ball around the horn and launch a hard shot late shot clock, and Bacot needs to pass it and reset for better position. Relying way to much on hero ball and Leaky jump shooting and I don't trust either of those.

Hubert pretty much said it in his post game, the bench is a great teaching tool sending the message to those starters, play with that effort and intensity that you must play with to win at the UNC level or watch your minutes dwindle down. I would suggest the 3 guys that really need to heed that message are RJ, Love, and Leaky (I would add Bacot if Washington were ready to go today). The games only get harder from here on out, this team is going to get a L hung on them in the next couple games if things don't get ironed out. Play hard, play smart, and play together needs to be the standard for ALL our players and that includes our starters, so far I am not seeing as much of that as we need to.

 

[TarHeelFanWV]

Love seems to be as good or better than last year. I know his 3-point % and free throw % are down but those will obviously raise. I want a guy that isnt afraid to shoot the ball and drive the ball, and so far he has been that guy!

Nance showed last night what he can bring and if that's who Nance is, we will be just fine there.

RJ has yet to take over a game and the same with Armando.. Armando is the bigger issue right now. He is projected pre-season co-player of the year nationally and poy in the ACC. He is not getting the rebounds nor is he dominating the paint. He looks to be forcing shots when he takes them. We arent making the extra passes to the open player like we did during our run last year.

We relied so heavily on our starting 5 last year and it seemed to be the key to our chemistry being so well at the end of the year. Trying to play Nickel, Trimble, Styles, Dunn, and Mccoy (not including when Washington and Puff come back) the very little minutes they are might possibly be hurting us more than helping. Those guys arent getting enough minutes to gain quality experience, nor are they playing enough or doing enough to help us. I guess they will get better as the season goes on, but we should not be relying on our freshman to win games. Our returning 4 starters should be dominating enough to allow our freshman/bench players to get quality minutes to learn and give the starters a rest.

RJ, Caleb, and Armando need to take over games.. thats all there is to it. Last season during our run, one of those guys were always dominating the game and Armando always had a double-double regardless if he was the leading scorer or not.

Oh and did I mention our defense flat out sucks.. how many open shots have we given up so far? 4 dunks in a row last night and how many 3 pointers did CoC light us up for in the first half? The 2nd half of the CoC game is the only time I have seen us play good defense so far.

 

[HoopsCoach42]

Yes...this team could be A LOT better in the Primary Break. But for those of you who keep wanting to see us run Secondary, you better dig up some Dean & Roy film, cause Secondary Break is not gonna happen with Hubert and this group. Whether good or bad, hubert does not believe in it.

 

[gunslingerdick]

Love is doing his part and I saw him slapping the hands of players all night…smiling will not make Bacot get in shape overnight. And smiling won’t get NBA thoughts out of RJ’s head…dude is looking to be the star of the team…..somebody told him he was.

Please give it a rest. We get it. You like riding Caleb’s jock. Everyone here knows and while it’s off putting and almost stalker-ish, most of us have refrained from taking you to task for it. You can be as weird about your bromance as you want.

But now you’re taking shots at other guys and absolving Caleb of all wrongdoing. Caleb is at fault too. He’s had some brainless turnovers through the first 3 games. Just not paying attention or lackadaisical play. And his shot selection is still suspect.

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

Seth is a talented Combo who plays hard, but the 1 ain't his calling.

So . . . does that make 4 of those on the team?

 

[DSouthr]

Grover, I have been pretty quiet about your bromance with Caleb, at times I wonder if maybe you are very young because at times it seems maybe you are not yet in high school, just finding UNC as your team and have bonded with Caleb as your guy. Most of us here are adults although at times we don't act like it, LOL. I consider Caleb based on how he played the last game, not how or what he did last season. In fact, how Caleb plays is drastically different within the same game, last night we saw bad Caleb and then we saw great Caleb and then it was back to bad Caleb? That is just what happened, not what I wanted to see and not what I didn't want to see, nothing more than what I saw.

Example, Caleb standing just our side of mid court, ball in his hands, no defender within 10", he dribbles it off his foot? How often do you see that from a guard in college basketball, not often at all, that is being extremely careless, something you can expect from a freshman but not a jr that has started for the last 2 seasons and started in the Natty game last season.

What I am saying is call the balls and strikes are they are rather than how you want them to be. No player is playing at the level that is above critique that points out real short comings, most will not over look the not great play from their preferred players and focus in only what they do well. So you set yourself up for issues when you spin Caleb in to the perfect player. The spotlight is always on Caleb so his mistakes are harder to miss than many others. Caleb made 7 of 17 shots last night, 5 or 6 of those came in that first 8-10mins of the second half, what about the other 30 mins or so, what about that whole first half?

As a team we took 60shots last night, between Caleb and RJ they took 30 shots, half of our shots from those 2. They shot a combined 11 for 30, that is less than 30%, as a whole the team shot 38%? We ALL know or should know that BOTH Caleb and RJ are VERY good OPEN shot makers but are far to often bad shot takers (Caleb when he is hot is a fantastic bad shot maker). We have a shot selection problem, we have had a shot selection problem since our starting back court has been at UNC. When your 2 guards are shooting less than 30% from the floor and knowing that many of our guards shots are long treys, we shot 25 treys last night and made 8. That means we had 17 missed treys that are usually LONG rebounds rather than the close at the rim rebounds that give guys Bacot easy tip ins or put backs and we ask why our rebounding numbers look off, why we don't get the offensive rebounds we are used to? LOL Those long rebounds tend to be snagged by the quicker to the spot guys and guys showing the motor to go get it. When a guy like Nance is being guarded by a guy 6'6" Nance is usually not going to be the guy quicker to the ball. When a long trey is missed, know who has the advantage to get the rebound, it is usually the shooter because he knows the angle of the miss and usually follows his shot miss, RJ does that a good bit, Caleb should do that more.

 

[DSouthr]

Hubert made a good point about being the hunted. This squad has been forgotten nationally for a few years and it's easier to play with your back against the wall. It's human nature to fight harder from that position than working your tail off when you're at the top. That's what separates the greats from the could've been greats. I won't get too philosophical, but I think all of us can relate to that to some degree.

I've posted this in other threads so apologize for the redundancy.

I think the reality of this year's team will always be... They're not as mediocre as they were through the first 25 games or so last year. They're probably not as awesome as they were through the 10 games or so last year. They're probably somewhere in between. KenPom and Sagarin have them in the teens. So they're probably a projected 3-5 seed right now. And I think that's an accurate depiction. They're a 3-5 seed, but an extremely dangerous one come March because Caleb Love can be the best player in the country in any moment and Bacot can be the best big guy on the floor in any game. But Caleb can also be a negative on the floor at any moment too.

The loss of Manek is huge and he's almost irreplaceable IMO. Most of the players on this team are dudes who kind of need to dominate the ball to score. Love and RJ are definitely that. I think Bacot is kind of like that if he's not scoring off offensive rebounds. Nance was probably used to that at Northwestern. Someone like Manek who can score more points than dribbles per game is a huge miss. I think those kinds of players are becoming the most valuable commodities outside of superstar players. I might value him more than others, but it's a huge miss.

Really interested to see Caleb's efficiency this season. Part of me thinks him shooting 37% from 3 last year was a bit flukey. And if it was and he dips to the low 30's, we're going to have offensive issues all season. Without a high volume and efficient 3-point shooter like Manek, Caleb will probably have to take more hero shots.

Remember that this core (Bacot, Love, and RJ) were 8/9 seeds while playing together. Then they went on a magical run last year. IMO, it's a lot to expect for a team that's been 8/9 seeds the last two seasons, to become a #1 seed.

This team's probably going to have to be a lot better defensively because there are offensive limitations. But that's generally not how UNC teams are wired.

Also, pretty discouraging early season returns on Styles and Dunn. They continue to look like zeroes on the offensive end. Eventually a couple of bench players are going to need to become solid options. But right now, this team has 0 depth.

There is actually a lot of this I agree with, a rare thing for Jung and I to agree. But you lost me on the lack of bench depth. I agree right now today our bench is pretty much Trimble and some Nickel but we are very close to having Puff and Washington ready to go and I think that will dramatically change the way our depth is considered. I think BOTH will be big time contributors, starter level guys that come off the bench.

 

[ChiShankCity]

There is actually a lot of this I agree with, a rare thing for Jung and I to agree. But you lost me on the lack of bench depth. I agree right now today our bench is pretty much Trimble and some Nickel but we are very close to having Puff and Washington ready to go and I think that will dramatically change the way our depth is considered. I think BOTH will be big time contributors, starter level guys that come off the bench.

I hope you're right. Have to see it before anything with Washington, but I'm just going to assume he's better than McKoy and can provide more punch off the bench.

I personally like Puff and think he has game. But over 1/2 his points last year came in 3 games (NC State 16 pts, Marquette 11 pts, Kansas 11 pts out of 75 pts for the season). Has to show it. He'll probably get more consistent minutes this season. We'll see if he can produce.

 

[Grover Thomas]

Please give it a rest. We get it. You like riding Caleb’s jock. Everyone here knows and while it’s off putting and almost stalker-ish, most of us have refrained from taking you to task for it. You can be as weird about your bromance as you want.

But now you’re taking shots at other guys and absolving Caleb of all wrongdoing. Caleb is at fault too. He’s had some brainless turnovers through the first 3 games. Just not paying attention or lackadaisical play. And his shot selection is still suspect.

Caleb is leading us in assist and not leading us in turnovers…..thank you Love