Very quick stuff (uk game)...

[gary-7]

...and sorry, but this wasn't just "one of those nights".

I was gonna wait and let this settle in before I posted anything, but I changed my mind. It ain't gonna get any better 3 hours, 3 days or even 3 weeks from now --- so here it is.
This was as ugly an outing as I have ever seen --- even uglier than the Tennessee game. In fact, it's not an exaggeration to say this was a brand-damaging loss. And this one sticks to EVERYBODY.

First, the players:
- IIRC, last season Bacot talked about how uk had "punked" us the previous season, and thus we went out and showed em what was up. Welp, I got news for ya, guys: Y'all got worse than punked tonight. Y'all got Ned-Beatty-on-a-canoe-trip punked. Just for one example, I've watched Wheeler play live at least a dozen times over the past couple years, and he shouldn't score 26 alone in an damned empty gym. Just push his drives at the proper angle then block his little scoop shots. But ya see, it ain't about any numbers, it's about effort and toughness.

- In general, we should all know that uk will push, shove, undercut and go over your back, and if ya stand around hoping the ref will bail you out, then yeah, you're gonna get punked. You better play with effort, and on Roy's scale of 1-to-Tyler Hansbrough, well, we were in negaitve numbers today. So to our Bigs, I'd just ask, do you think for a second that Psycho, or Kennedy Meeks, or Brice Johnson would let them bully us like that inside??? To our Guards, do you think that little shit Wheeler would even sniff those drives against Joel Berry? Do you Wings think Theo Pinson or Kenny Williams would stand around and let them track every loose ball rebound or run lazily under every screen?

Second, the coaching staff:
- Whether or not anyone wants to hear this, ultimately a "performance" like this also rests squarely on the staff. Pretty much everything I've been complaining and/or warning about in these posts reared their ugly heads. We've been playing a soft brand of basketball and have only sporadically valued sound and vital fundamentals like, say... oh, I dunno, BLOCKING OUT AND REBOUNDING. I would also mention transition, but how the hell are ya supposed to do that without securing the ball on a missed shot? Oh, and how many layups did we give up in transition "defense"? On the other end, we've got Bigs trying to be 3s, and as I warned, our questionable shot-selection becomes rather glaring when they don't go in. And back to fundamentals, our screens are lazy, our "cuts" are slow, and Lord, some of those passes........

- Even assuming max effort, our approach right now is not the best for this roster. This roster is not built for straight Man defense for 40 minutes. It just isn't. And you finally run a half-hearted trap down 30? Yes, I said out loud the words behind the acronym AYFKM??? And speaking of the roster, those here who have complained about the early short rotation, it is a valid point, and one that shows itself when you're looking for someone off the bench to step into the fire.

Finally, while I fully understand the rationale for Hubert's approach in general, all I can to him is --- as in poker --- "scared money" is "dead money". I've been Hubert's biggest advocate and we have a bench full of UNC legacy on this staff, which should be a good thing. Frankly, at this point, it's coming up short. So to the guys on the staff, meet me at Camera 3: You have in your collective memory banks the archives of Roy Williams and the guy who invented most of the modern game, Dean E. Smith. In other words, STOP TRYING TO RE-INVENT THE WHEEL. And now would be a good time to heed that.

Welp... that's all I've got that's fit to print...

 

[Old_School59]

...and sorry, but this wasn't just "one of those nights".

I was gonna wait and let this settle in before I posted anything, but I changed my mind. It ain't gonna get any better 3 hours, 3 days or even 3 weeks from now --- so here it is.
This was as ugly an outing as I have ever seen --- even uglier than the Tennessee game. In fact, it's not an exaggeration to say this was a brand-damaging loss. And this one sticks to EVERYBODY.

First, the players:
- IIRC, last season Bacot talked about how uk had "punked" us the previous season, and thus we went out and showed em what was up. Welp, I got news for ya, guys: Y'all got worse than punked tonight. Y'all got Ned-Beatty-on-a-canoe-trip punked. Just for one example, I've watched Wheeler play live at least a dozen times over the past couple years, and he shouldn't score 26 alone in an damned empty gym. Just push his drives at the proper angle then block his little scoop shots. But ya see, it ain't about any numbers, it's about effort and toughness.

- In general, we should all know that uk will push, shove, undercut and go over your back, and if ya stand around hoping the ref will bail you out, then yeah, you're gonna get punked. You better play with effort, and on Roy's scale of 1-to-Tyler Hansbrough, well, we were in negaitve numbers today. So to our Bigs, I'd just ask, do you think for a second that Psycho, or Kennedy Meeks, or Brice Johnson would let them bully us like that inside??? To our Guards, do you think that little shit Wheeler would even sniff those drives against Joel Berry? Do you Wings think Theo Pinson or Kenny Williams would stand around and let them track every loose ball rebound or run lazily under every screen?

Second, the coaching staff:
- Whether or not anyone wants to hear this, ultimately a "performance" like this also rests squarely on the staff. Pretty much everything I've been complaining and/or warning about in these posts reared their ugly heads. We've been playing a soft brand of basketball and have only sporadically valued sound and vital fundamentals like, say... oh, I dunno, BLOCKING OUT AND REBOUNDING. I would also mention transition, but how the hell are ya supposed to do that without securing the ball on a missed shot? Oh, and how many layups did we give up in transition "defense"? On the other end, we've got Bigs trying to be 3s, and as I warned, our questionable shot-selection becomes rather glaring when they don't go in. And back to fundamentals, our screens are lazy, our "cuts" are slow, and Lord, some of those passes........

- Even assuming max effort, our approach right now is not the best for this roster. This roster is not built for straight Man defense for 40 minutes. It just isn't. And you finally run a half-hearted trap down 30? Yes, I said out loud the words behind the acronym AYFKM??? And speaking of the roster, those here who have complained about the early short rotation, it is a valid point, and one that shows itself when you're looking for someone off the bench to step into the fire.

Finally, while I fully understand the rationale for Hubert's approach in general, all I can to him is --- as in poker --- "scared money" is "dead money". I've been Hubert's biggest advocate and we have a bench full of UNC legacy on this staff, which should be a good thing. Frankly, at this point, it's coming up short. So to the guys on the staff, meet me at Camera 3: You have in your collective memory banks the archives of Roy Williams and the guy who invented most of the modern game, Dean E. Smith. In other words, STOP TRYING TO RE-INVENT THE WHEEL. And now would be a good time to heed that.

Welp... that's all I've got that's fit to print...

Good post and I would add that the HC is responsible for making all the final decisions on who what and where a team goes according to its philosophy. This isn’t on the staff, this is all on the HC. And it’s not looking good at all. I would call this the Les Robinson look at this point in time. Hoping for better things ahead, but preparing for the inevitable.

 

[imajericho]

Finally a Gary post I agree with entirely. This team barely scraped by bad competition with otherworldly 3 point shooting not on swinging to the open man looks but based on step back contested 3s and 5 foot behind the arc 3s. If we hit those at 30% instead of 40% this year we might have a losing record right now.

I am not sure we are a tournament team. We can't defend inside. Garcia and Bacot get toasted by good bigs. There is zero rim protection on a driver if he gets past the first line. There is absolutely zero sharing the ball for the open look on breakaways. Or swinging the pass quickly on the perimeter to find openings.

Anyone who presses us defensively or offensively causes us to break down almost immediately.

This system was supposed to open up lanes for driving, and we don't even drive that much. We have regressed Walton to the point of being almost unplayable also. Idk what's going on, but this just isn't Carolina basketball at all.

 

[midline]

UNC has had a defensive issue for a few years now. It was first truly exposed by TAMU in that embarrassing blowout in Charlotte 3 or 4 years ago. A total lack of lateral quickness on the defensive end. This is about the 4th year in a row where UNC seems helpless to stop penetration. Kentucky was a quicker team and took advantage of that. But the more troubling aspect of today's game was what appeared to be just a lackadaisical effort, both on the boards and on defense, while Kentucky played with their hair on fire. Kentucky seemed to get every long rebound and played with much more effort and enthusiasm. Sometimes you have games like that where simply nothing works. But this has been more of a normal trend over the last few years with UNC basketball. I was hoping that maybe the team had tuned Roy out for some reason and that Hubert being a new voice would turn those things around. Unfortunately, I haven't seen that to this point. And I am.not sure who is the leader on this team, or if there even is one. Love reminds me a lot of Anthony when he was here. If we win, great. But he has his mind on the NBA. Same for Davis to a lesser degree, but don't think he has the skills to play there. And we don't have a warrior down low. Bacot could be, but he isn't. I keep hoping this thing will work out and get UNC back to where it was accustomed to being in years gone by. But we aren't witnessing a blip on the radar. This is about a four year run of what UNC basketball has become. I trust Hubert can dig it out of the doldrums. We will see

 

[Tarheel75]

Not much of anything to add to this debacle.

1. Burn the Black Uniforms
2. Hubert stated after the Tennesse game that he would never coach a team again that did not show effort...., well..., Hubert?
3. Got handled in every facet of the game on both sides of the ball.
4. If the team is not completely and totally embarrassed with the efforts put forth, this will be the longest and most unwatchable season in UNC history. (That would include 2002).
5. I just cannot wrap my mind around the cavalier style of play this team has displayed this entire season to date. Just mindboggling to watch.
6. So, so much work to do, we are much better than what we saw today, and Hubert and his staff better get busy finding some answers to a multiplicity of issues.

I'm through now.

 

[NCAAUCoach]

It was beyond pitiful. Not good ball movement and horrific chemistry. Should be embarrassed to wear the UNC jersey (not just the ugly black one).

 

[King Coach]

Spot on Gary! Why not go to a zone if the Man coverage is not working? Trapping when you are 30 points down made us look even worse.

However this was the fork in the road game. I have said from the beginning that SACRIFICES
Will have to be made on this team for us to have any success. This is also the fork in the road game for HD. He have to be honest with himself now. The two point guard shit….scrap it. The no Defense playing….Soft stretch 4 shit…scrap it. The inside but ball don’t come out shit.….scrap it.

Get back to our roots!

 

[CarolinaMagic]

North Carolina basketball where a zone defense is prohibited and not even taught. Guys making millions of dollars and they tell anyone who will listen that we can't play zone defense. Well I've got news for you we can't play man to man defense either. UK can't shoot so for 40 minutes let's let them make layup after layup. You guys haven't seen anything yet. We're going to get worse as a program before we get better. I may be in the minority but I think our 2022 recruiting class blows. No true point guard,no center that can come in and play,another slow footed defender and a player coming off 2 knee surgeries. Dook running circles around us in recruiting.

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

Anyone who presses us defensively or offensively causes us to break down almost immediately.

This system was supposed to open up lanes for driving, and we don't even drive that much.

Two good points.

 

[DaSheed]

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

I'm beginning to get the idea of what it might be like to root for teams like Furman or Charleston. You know you aren't going to beat the "good" teams, but once you accept that, you can still enjoy watching your guys play.

I started watching my recording of this game from the beginning when it was in the middle of the 2nd half in real life. I knew we were losing by too big a score for any plausible comeback to work.

Surprisingly, I didn't hate it.

In fact, if the score hadn't been on the screen, I wouldn't have thought the loss was by that huge a margin. They seemed to be playing better than the score said they were playing. Which, let's face it, is the kind of solace you need to be able to fall back on when you are rooting for a lesser team.

So, on the one hand, I hate feeling like a fan of a 2nd rate team. On the other hand, I'm surprisingly not as angry as most posters who probably started watching the game thinking we had a good shot at winning.

Just lower your expectations, my brothers.

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

I think the thing that bothered me most was the ease with which Wheeler blew past RJ and Caleb (and anyone else who got in his way).

Look, I expected RJ to have trouble with him. And he did. But so did Caleb, when he was guarding him.

What I didn't expect was that we didn't adjust.

Maybe we couldn't adjust by swapping some better defender into the role. But does that mean that we couldn't do anything after Wheeler blew by, to make his shot harder?

Is that the name of our D? If he gets by the primary defender, just let him score?

That philosophy is a tough way to win games.

 

[TarHeelFanWV]

Is our defense really that bad? Wheeler hasn’t scored hardly any for 3 games in a row and then blows by our highly rated guards. Sad.

Love could’ve easily blocked Wheelers shot from behind on the one where he had to chase him down. Instead he chose to not even try to do anything.

 

[al would]

I am not sure we are a tournament team.

I am.

Sometimes bad is bad and that was as bad as it gets.

And I'm with 75, burn those black uniforms. That had to be the worst game I've ever seen from a UNC bball team effort wise.

 

[imajericho]

I am.

Sometimes bad is bad and that was as bad as it gets.

And I'm with 75, burn those black uniforms. That had to be the worst game I've ever seen from a UNC bball team effort wise.

Gonna be hard. We don't have really any good wins and the ACC is so down and weak this year that losing more than a few might be a death knell to getting a bid.

 

[Archer2]

Gonna be hard. We don't have really any good wins and the ACC is so down and weak this year that losing more than a few might be a death knell to getting a bid.

Believe he was implying he was sure we aren’t a tournament team. Don’t have anything to add to what has been said above. Just a horrible game, effort wise, execution wise, and coaching wise. I’m glad I was unable to watch that embarrassing debacle.

 

[tarheel0910]

Gonna be hard. We don't have really any good wins and the ACC is so down and weak this year that losing more than a few might be a death knell to getting a bid.

The ACC being so bad is what will keep us in it. It's basically a bunch of mid major teams and we're good enough to win most of those. The committee is going to give the ACC wiggle room because of history, so unless this loss breaks us we should make it. Seeding, however, is a different story.

 

[heels05champs]

The ACC being so bad is what will keep us in it. It's basically a bunch of mid major teams and we're good enough to win most of those. The committee is going to give the ACC wiggle room because of history, so unless this loss breaks us we should make it. Seeding, however, is a different story.

Even if we do make it we’re almost certainly a first weekend exit which is hard to get excited about but would be consistent with recent tourney appearances.

 

[DaSheed]

Post game comments from Hubert and players:

 

[tarheel0910]

Even if we do make it we’re almost certainly a first weekend exit which is hard to get excited about but would be consistent with recent tourney appearances.

Yeah, I'm not saying we would actually win a game. Just that we would make it. If we don't make it, then it's going to be hard for Hubert to recover.

 

[strummingram]

it's going to be hard for Hubert to recover.

Get used to that.

 

[TarHeelMark]

So, Hubert doesn't feel like he has to coach effort? While I agree with that, he can put some dudes on the bench that aren't giving effort. And then leave them there for the rest of the game.

 

[gobblercalls]

I expected the coach to take ownership of this debacle. I didn't see him do it.
That game was the worst display of garbage in a UNC uniform I have seen in 62 years. It might be the worst I've seen in all of college basketball for a team with even close to this much talent. There are 4 McDonald All Americans on that team. Every starter was at least a top 60ish player in the senior year high school class. Talent is not an issue. When a team comes out that flat and unprepared the coach has to own it. Blame for lack of effort from the whole team belongs to the coach. Lack of execution belongs to the coach. Lack of toughness or grit falls on the coach. Hubert Davis better look in the mirror, and better do it real quick, because I don't believe UNC is going to accept this type of display for very long.

 

[39 Feet Above Sea Level]

For this alum and 44 year fan of Carolina athletics, our overall lack of toughness is an extremely tough pill to swallow.
Defense especially requires effort and focus.
You have to hustle, move your feet, position yourself in ways that aggravate and challenge the dribbler,
driver, passer, shooter. I never saw our guys angry last night. The coaches made no adjustments that changed
Kentucky's momentum. Every player that was on the court and every coach needs to own that loss and
use it as motivation; otherwise, more bad results are on the way.
I feel so sorry for the Carolina fans in attendance; all that wasted ca$h on a holiday trip to watch your
favorite team in a marquee game on national TV and they only had about 30 seconds to cheer
before the outcome became obvious.

 

[DSouthr]

This was an historic bad game and we played as bad as the score indicated. WE could not hit wide open shots, could not sniff a rebound at times, and we defended like statues. WE let a team that just is not that good look like a NBA all star team while we barely played at a YMCA level. I had a feeling in my gut yesterday that just would not go away of discomfort with this game. And while there was not a single player that I can say played well, no matter what the box score says, there are 2 guys that really stuck out to me.

RJ, Wheeler just man handled him, just owned him. Not that RJ is a defensive ace to begin with but Wheeler just got in his head and it was down hill from there. I screamed for Roy to pull him and park him on the bench.

The other guy, no matter what the box score says was Bacot. When Oscar was on the floor he dominated Bacot, he couldn't box Oscar out, he could not hinder his shot, Bacot cost himself some money yesterday, Bacot's scoring came when Oscar went to the bench with that second foul. NBA scouts watching that game watched those 2, bacot and Oscar and no doubt Oscar rose in their estimation, Bacot may have been eliminated from many of their lists, at least for the drafts 2 rounds. Garcia didn't exactly help his I want to be a first round selection in the next draft case either, nor did Caleb but this was a big time game that featured 2 well respected big men and only 1 of them played like the NBA may be in his future and it was not Bacot.

There are 3 teams that Tar Heels just can't play this way against, duke, NC St, and Ky. You have to have enough pride that those 3 teams ALWAYS get your best effort, maybe not always your best game but they MUST get your best effort and to lose like that to one of those 3 yesterday doubles the hurt.

 

[Bruce Young]

I'm beginning to get the idea of what it might be like to root for teams like Furman or Charleston. You know you aren't going to beat the "good" teams, but once you accept that, you can still enjoy watching your guys play.

I started watching my recording of this game from the beginning when it was in the middle of the 2nd half in real life. I knew we were losing by too big a score for any plausible comeback to work.

Surprisingly, I didn't hate it.

In fact, if the score hadn't been on the screen, I wouldn't have thought the loss was by that huge a margin. They seemed to be playing better than the score said they were playing. Which, let's face it, is the kind of solace you need to be able to fall back on when you are rooting for a lesser team.

So, on the one hand, I hate feeling like a fan of a 2nd rate team. On the other hand, I'm surprisingly not as angry as most posters who probably started watching the game thinking we had a good shot at winning.

Just lower your expectations, my brothers.

Just lower your expectations has got to be the most IGNORANT statement I've seen in quite a while. Must be an NC State fan. They definitely know how it feels to lower your expectations

 

[Travis2262]

This is Carolina. Every year should be final four expectations. Oh how the mighty have fallen.

 

[King Coach]

This was an historic bad game and we played as bad as the score indicated. WE could not hit wide open shots, could not sniff a rebound at times, and we defended like statues. WE let a team that just is not that good look like a NBA all star team while we barely played at a YMCA level. I had a feeling in my gut yesterday that just would not go away of discomfort with this game. And while there was not a single player that I can say played well, no matter what the box score says, there are 2 guys that really stuck out to me.

RJ, Wheeler just man handled him, just owned him. Not that RJ is a defensive ace to begin with but Wheeler just got in his head and it was down hill from there. I screamed for Roy to pull him and park him on the bench.

The other guy, no matter what the box score says was Bacot. When Oscar was on the floor he dominated Bacot, he couldn't box Oscar out, he could not hinder his shot, Bacot cost himself some money yesterday, Bacot's scoring came when Oscar went to the bench with that second foul. NBA scouts watching that game watched those 2, bacot and Oscar and no doubt Oscar rose in their estimation, Bacot may have been eliminated from many of their lists, at least for the drafts 2 rounds. Garcia didn't exactly help his I want to be a first round selection in the next draft case either, nor did Caleb but this was a big time game that featured 2 well respected big men and only 1 of them played like the NBA may be in his future and it was not Bacot.

There are 3 teams that Tar Heels just can't play this way against, duke, NC St, and Ky. You have to have enough pride that those 3 teams ALWAYS get your best effort, maybe not always your best game but they MUST get your best effort and to lose like that to one of those 3 yesterday doubles the hurt.

Amen brother…..I was screaming box out, rim protection please and a whole lot of other shit too. Bacot can’t be happy after he watch the film….yes he scored points but didn’t defend worth of shit.

 

[King Coach]

For this alum and 44 year fan of Carolina athletics, our overall lack of toughness is an extremely tough pill to swallow.
Defense especially requires effort and focus.
You have to hustle, move your feet, position yourself in ways that aggravate and challenge the dribbler,
driver, passer, shooter. I never saw our guys angry last night. The coaches made no adjustments that changed
Kentucky's momentum. Every player that was on the court and every coach needs to own that loss and
use it as motivation; otherwise, more bad results are on the way.
I feel so sorry for the Carolina fans in attendance; all that wasted ca$h on a holiday trip to watch your
favorite team in a marquee game on national TV and they only had about 30 seconds to cheer
before the outcome became obvious.

You nailed it! The coaches should feel ashame ….ecspecially the head coach…no adjustments whatsoever. I keep saying that if you can’t stay in front of your man…play zone or double that guard and get the ball out of his hands. Hell this is not a good defensive team. Quick guards will kill us every time. Just make the damn adjustments and don’t keep saying play harder play tougher.

 

[King Coach]

I expected the coach to take ownership of this debacle. I didn't see him do it.
That game was the worst display of garbage in a UNC uniform I have seen in 62 years. It might be the worst I've seen in all of college basketball for a team with even close to this much talent. There are 4 McDonald All Americans on that team. Every starter was at least a top 60ish player in the senior year high school class. Talent is not an issue. When a team comes out that flat and unprepared the coach has to own it. Blame for lack of effort from the whole team belongs to the coach. Lack of execution belongs to the coach. Lack of toughness or grit falls on the coach. Hubert Davis better look in the mirror, and better do it real quick, because I don't believe UNC is going to accept this type of display for very long.

Thank you brother for speaking the truth….the coach blamed it on the players lack of effort and toughness…..I don’t want that to be his scapegoat for every loss. He has got to look in the mirror.

 

[King Coach]

Post game comments from Hubert and players:

View embedded media

View embedded media

Now the players are just repeating HD excuses. What damn game plan did they have?

 

[King Coach]

I think the thing that bothered me most was the ease with which Wheeler blew past RJ and Caleb (and anyone else who got in his way).

Look, I expected RJ to have trouble with him. And he did. But so did Caleb, when he was guarding him.

What I didn't expect was that we didn't adjust.

Maybe we couldn't adjust by swapping some better defender into the role. But does that mean that we couldn't do anything after Wheeler blew by, to make his shot harder?

Is that the name of our D? If he gets by the primary defender, just let him score?

That philosophy is a tough way to win games.

Yes this is it. We have no rim protector and the coach makes no adjustments

 

[dtodd4475]

Two of the deficiencies in a skill set/trait were on full display. 1) The guards were locked up as it pertained to getting into any natural flow, it was reminesant of how Hagen locked our guards up in the CBS game a couple of years ago. Dominated on ball dee with RJ and/or Caleb.

2) Other then Mando, our bigs want zero part of banging down low. Manek was forced to last year at Oklahoma some, and was abused in that role. He is a big body, but he hates it, and will revert to the Vlade Divac flop at 1st contact instead of holding position, moving bodies, banging for boards. Dawson is slight of build and does not mix it up physically for prolonged possessions.

Kentucky struggled as badly as a team at ND a week ago, Wheeler playing downhill is a problem, he beat everyone who guarded him to that point against us. Not only finishing with his quick crafty scoops, but he is excellent dishing in that scenario. An adjustment to zoning him off made him God awful at ND, he cannot shoot a lick. Yesterday was like allowing King Rice back in the day to light a team up. Never should happen with his limitations.

 

[GoNtheDistance]

...and sorry, but this wasn't just "one of those nights".

I was gonna wait and let this settle in before I posted anything, but I changed my mind. It ain't gonna get any better 3 hours, 3 days or even 3 weeks from now --- so here it is.
This was as ugly an outing as I have ever seen --- even uglier than the Tennessee game. In fact, it's not an exaggeration to say this was a brand-damaging loss. And this one sticks to EVERYBODY.

First, the players:
- IIRC, last season Bacot talked about how uk had "punked" us the previous season, and thus we went out and showed em what was up. Welp, I got news for ya, guys: Y'all got worse than punked tonight. Y'all got Ned-Beatty-on-a-canoe-trip punked. Just for one example, I've watched Wheeler play live at least a dozen times over the past couple years, and he shouldn't score 26 alone in an damned empty gym. Just push his drives at the proper angle then block his little scoop shots. But ya see, it ain't about any numbers, it's about effort and toughness.

- In general, we should all know that uk will push, shove, undercut and go over your back, and if ya stand around hoping the ref will bail you out, then yeah, you're gonna get punked. You better play with effort, and on Roy's scale of 1-to-Tyler Hansbrough, well, we were in negaitve numbers today. So to our Bigs, I'd just ask, do you think for a second that Psycho, or Kennedy Meeks, or Brice Johnson would let them bully us like that inside??? To our Guards, do you think that little shit Wheeler would even sniff those drives against Joel Berry? Do you Wings think Theo Pinson or Kenny Williams would stand around and let them track every loose ball rebound or run lazily under every screen?

Second, the coaching staff:
- Whether or not anyone wants to hear this, ultimately a "performance" like this also rests squarely on the staff. Pretty much everything I've been complaining and/or warning about in these posts reared their ugly heads. We've been playing a soft brand of basketball and have only sporadically valued sound and vital fundamentals like, say... oh, I dunno, BLOCKING OUT AND REBOUNDING. I would also mention transition, but how the hell are ya supposed to do that without securing the ball on a missed shot? Oh, and how many layups did we give up in transition "defense"? On the other end, we've got Bigs trying to be 3s, and as I warned, our questionable shot-selection becomes rather glaring when they don't go in. And back to fundamentals, our screens are lazy, our "cuts" are slow, and Lord, some of those passes........

- Even assuming max effort, our approach right now is not the best for this roster. This roster is not built for straight Man defense for 40 minutes. It just isn't. And you finally run a half-hearted trap down 30? Yes, I said out loud the words behind the acronym AYFKM??? And speaking of the roster, those here who have complained about the early short rotation, it is a valid point, and one that shows itself when you're looking for someone off the bench to step into the fire.

Finally, while I fully understand the rationale for Hubert's approach in general, all I can to him is --- as in poker --- "scared money" is "dead money". I've been Hubert's biggest advocate and we have a bench full of UNC legacy on this staff, which should be a good thing. Frankly, at this point, it's coming up short. So to the guys on the staff, meet me at Camera 3: You have in your collective memory banks the archives of Roy Williams and the guy who invented most of the modern game, Dean E. Smith. In other words, STOP TRYING TO RE-INVENT THE WHEEL. And now would be a good time to heed that.

Welp... that's all I've got that's fit to print...

i agree with everything in here. spot on gary.

 

[notashelbyfan]

Well Roy groomed him!

He can coach game experience as a head coach don't matter!

As I said for 5 years when talks of this experiment started, this is not the place for on the job training.

One thing we can count on Dook is in for the same show next year. He'll they might scrap there choice of replace coach after watching us crash and burn.

It seems harsh there is NEVER an excuse for a UNC team to lose by 30 to anyone much less Kentucky!

 

[gary-7]

Spot on Gary! Why not go to a zone if the Man coverage is not working? Trapping when you are 30 points down made us look even worse.

However this was the fork in the road game. I have said from the beginning that SACRIFICES
Will have to be made on this team for us to have any success. This is also the fork in the road game for HD. He have to be honest with himself now. The two point guard shit….scrap it. The no Defense playing….Soft stretch 4 shit…scrap it. The inside but ball don’t come out shit.….scrap it.

Get back to our roots!

Amen to all that.

 

[gary-7]

So, Hubert doesn't feel like he has to coach effort? While I agree with that, he can put some dudes on the bench that aren't giving effort. And then leave them there for the rest of the game.

I agree, Mark. When we melted into that suckathon in the second half I sure as hell would've brought in Styles for extended minutes. At least then someone would get on the boards.

 

[NCAAUCoach]

There should be a certain swagger and pride that comes with wearing a certain jersey, and UNC should most definitely be one of those brands. Kentucky is another. Kentucky dominated from the layup line to the airplane. There simply is no excuse not to compete, which is what happened.

This team does not move the ball well. It’s so cumbersome. Kentucky moved the ball well, had good spacing and played with swagger. It was as one-sided of a game as I’ve seen our guys in (on the wrong side) in a long time.

You simply cannot have a game without effort or pride. Kentucky is a premium brand, one of the all-time great names/brands in college basketball and we came out flat like we were playing a mid major.

I blame the players, but I blame the coaching staff for allowing the guys to continue to get minutes with that level of effort. Play the guys who bust their butts in practice to make the guys who play….better.

 

[TarHeelMark]

I agree, Mark. When we melted into that suckathon in the second half I sure as hell would've brought in Styles for extended minutes. At least then someone would get on the boards.

Yep, After that first 4 minutes or so of the 2nd went from 11pt deficit to 20-ish, that was the perfect time for Hubert to sit some guys down. It's not like we were coming back with what we were doing, so you gotta try something else. Just frustrating to watch that.

 

[gauchoheel]

Is our defense really that bad?

Yes. Yes it is. 96th in Kenpom. Hubert has fixed the offense, but the defense is as bad as the 2020 team.