Very quick stuff (Wake game)...

[montana_heel]

I can take missing shots. Especially if they are quality shots. But turnovers above the free throw line are almost always 2 points the other way. We can be so lackadaisical with passes to the wing.

Not sure how much turnovers were due to Wake versus the d being played. Think they are loose with the ball. Thank goodness they are or we lose that game.

I think our 2 biggest issues are stopping dribble penetration and careless turnovers.

Maybe concerted whole game effort to pass the ball inside would be third.

 

[tarwhiz]

That was as bad a offensive night as Caleb can have, I was curious how he would respond in the 2nd half while struggling. He certainly contributed in other ways, played hard in other areas, eliminated the turnovers, was good to see.

RJ was a bit passive in the 1st half, he was smokin' and seeking looks in the 2nd. When we shoot the 3 we are a different animal. Tonight it was RJ and Leaky giving that dimension to compliment Mando working inside.

The small ball 3 guard lineup was key, with creating turnovers being huge. If Nance is down for extended time, we may see much more of it. McCoy played hard, but they put him in the wash defensively, got the matchup they wanted with him and attacked him pretty easily. He gives little offensively. Puff gets muscled very easily with extended minutes at the 4. Mr. Washington hopefully is ready for more minutes.


ND does little inside, I do think the upcoming matchup gives a variety of solid options for that role though. Needed the win badly against Wake, have to get rollin' now and build some momentum.

I think Washington will be Bacots primary backup on Sat, as we will probably continue the small lineup vs ND. Next week vs Virginia, that will not work. Hopefully Nance is back at the 4 or if not, Washington and Nickel get time at the 4 vs the Cavs.

 

[TPFKAPFS]

Who put in and stayed with the 3-G lineup?
Who motivated RJ to the point of career status?
Who called the strategic press, timeout, scramble D, etc.?
Who responded move for move with the opposing coach? (Personnel and strategy)
Who weathered the loss of a starter and another starter's shooting touch?
Who convinced a notoriously hard to sway player to play the defense of his life AND take joy in that as a contribution?
Who didn't choose to play 2 players with clear defensive liabilities in a 1 score game? (They will be a regulars soon!)
Who just beat the arse of a tough team?
Who managed the emotions of a team that suffered a devastating loss even though they played well enough to win?
Who has his team showing a tremendous individual and collective growth curve?
Who took his very first team that was proven dysfunctional, to the final game?

The same coach that doesn't know how to call set plays, can't manage a rotation, doesn't realize one of his starters needs to be benched, is way too nice, never holds his players accountable, refuses to bash his team or players in public, and commits the egregious sin of positivity (which is clearly the same as lying)!

How about a different perspective?

Great team win and wonderful orchestration by a budding elite coach!
Well done Tar Heels; we believe in you!

 

[gunslingerdick]

Who has his team showing a tremendous individual and collective growth curve?

I think I got all the others right but this one stumped me. Who is it?

 

[al would]

I and most others feel ya pain. As it stands, we are just going to have to ride it out
and hope Caleb shakes off the bad play on both sides of the ball. He can play defense and he can quit on defense, that's plain to see. What makes his engine run wide open is when he is making shots. Let's hope for the best where he is concerned.

With all due respect, hope is not a legitimate bball strategy. Love has been stinking it up all year and has been completely disengaged, with few exceptions, the entire season. His shot selection and results just plain suck. His attitude just plain sucks. His "defense" in general just plain sucks. If anyone on this forum thinks Love is the key to this team's success then you have no business posting what you consider an intelligent bball thought.
Wanna a reality check just look to Rasheed Wallace. Ball don't lie and Love's play is wtf it is. Until he gets his head out of his ass he needs some pine time and Seth and RJ need to get better acquainted on the court together. jmo

 

[xtarheelx]

My biggest concern is why the team must suffer while Love "shoots" his way back? While the issue may be in his head, the real problem is his shot selection and turnovers. That makes me disappointed in Hubert. When Love keeps committing turnovers and poor shot selection he needs to come out.

Amen to that. Caleb has peaked. What you see is what you get. Inconsistency. If he gets drafted, no nba team will tolerate that kind of inconsistency. That doesn’t win chips.
numbers dont lie. plus/minus, turnovers, shooting percentage.

 

[Tarheel75]

With all due respect, hope is not a legitimate bball strategy. Love has been stinking it up all year and has been completely disengaged, with few exceptions, the entire season. His shot selection and results just plain suck. His attitude just plain sucks. His "defense" in general just plain sucks. If anyone on this forum thinks Love is the key to this team's success then you have no business posting what you consider an intelligent bball thought.
Wanna a reality check just look to Rasheed Wallace. Ball don't lie and Love's play is wtf it is. Until he gets his head out of his ass he needs some pine time and Seth and RJ need to get better acquainted on the court together. jmo

Well, maybe I should have said "faith" instead of hope. Faith is the assured expectation of things HOPED for, the evident demonstration of realities not beheld.

Maybe I have faith in the staff's ability to get Caleb through this very rough period in his play. Although criticism of Caleb's play is certainly warranted, being overly judgmental after a "win" doesn't make you, me, or anyone else an intelligent fan. It shows a lack of recognition of how team sports are a continuous effort to improve all throughout a season. Win or lose, how a team progresses from beginning to the end of a season is the true measure of success.

Of course, we all want to win every game, but that is just not likely to happen again due to the evolution of the game and the parity we see in college basketball. We should get a lot of pleasure out of watching team growth as well as individual growth and not be overly critical of players even if it seems warranted.

 

[FlaTarHeel]

Remember that TV Teddy was the only referee that I can recall that K tried to get the league office not to assign him to any of their games. Can you believe that? Also, Teddy will also have my respect for being one official of very few, who would not brook a second argument about a situation that had already been discussed from K and called more technicals on K than any referee in the last 45+ years.

I did not, thanks TH75

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

Puff, geez, I think Puff is a great kid and I know he is capable of giving this team a lot more than he has. But I watch him play and I have to ask myself, do I see any improvement in his game over last season, do I see any development? Honestly, not so sure I do and that for me is a concern, a concern that started before this season began, when they took height and weights for the players, Puff I believe actually lost about 5lbs? A kid that clearly needed to get stronger and add some bulk comes in to this season having lost 5lbs? Puff has struggled this season, has had some nice flashes but the consistency in my eyes is not there and it needs to be there.

I sort of think that weight loss was Puff saying "I'm NOT playing PF!" And he shouldn't. He has great energy, is good on D and has a few moves on offense. But if he doesn't start looking more like his brother from a scoring perspective, he's going to lose minutes, not gain them. It's already happening. I hope he can get there.

 

[imajericho]

While Trimble's defensive pressure is good and can cause problems, Trimble tends to foul too much also when applying such pressure. Thus it isn't feasible for a full game. That said, I also noticed that against respectable competition that Trimble does hound them and speed them up immensely, but a lot of times the player is hounded into going faster towards the basket and is still able to finish over Trimble.

I think Trimbles ball pressure is a good thing. I don't think it always works, and in a year or two he will be insane defensively. Right now I think it can be a double edged sword at times.

Love defended a lot better last year. But, to be fair, RJ and Love couldn't guard and stay in front of anyone at the beginning of last season, and one of the most undernoticed things in our big run was how much the perimeter defense from Love and Davis improved as the season ticked upwards. They went from being blown past every possession to almost never getting beat off the dribble.

Hopefully Love can kick back to that level because with his length and athleticism, he is a handful to shoot over if he can stay in front of his opponent. He has been getting burned due to laziness and poor IQ, not by being an inferior athlete.

 

[TPFKAPFS]

Slinger: you almost made me spit out my coffee.

Puff is confusing to me. He seemed to be trending toward being a serious contributor at the end of last year, but now he seems to be sliding backwards. I know his health has been spotty, he fouls a lot mainly due to being a step slow in his reaction time or being out of position, and he is having trouble finding his shooting touch. I wonder if he is having a crisis of confidence and "thinking" too much on the court! Caleb found a way to contribute when his shot went south. I remember that Leaky finally got out of his own head and his impact is soaring! Maybe these are examples Puff can follow! I am really rooting for this fine young man!

 

[imajericho]

Slinger: you almost made me spit out my coffee.

Puff is confusing to me. He seemed to be trending toward being a serious contributor at the end of last year, but now he seems to be sliding backwards. I know his health has been spotty, he fouls a lot mainly due to being a step slow in his reaction time or being out of position, and he is having trouble finding his shooting touch. I wonder if he is having a crisis of confidence and "thinking" too much on the court! Caleb found a way to contribute when his shot went south. I remember that Leaky finally got out of his own head and his impact is soaring! Maybe these are examples Puff can follow! I am really rooting for this fine young man!

I'm sure bringing in Nance ahead of him didn't sit well with him.

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

I'm sure bringing in Nance ahead of him didn't sit well with him.

I don't see Nance as much of a competitor for Puff's PT - because I don't see Puff as a PF.

Obviously Nance reduces the number of minutes available overall, but I don't think they were minutes Puff would have gotten, unless maybe Leaky would have moved to PF if we hadn't gotten Nance. In that case, I would have expected Puff to pick up most of Leaky's minutes at SF. In that case, yeah, Pete is a problem for Puff.

If Caleb is in a slump, and if Hubert doesn't want to go small, why not try Puff at SG? He's actually shooting better than we may think. His TS% is 52.7 - better than Caleb (49.8) or Dunn (52.0) - and he's shooting .375 from deep - 2nd best on the team behind Leaky.

Now of course Puff hasn't taken many shots, so who knows what to read into those decent numbers? But unless you play him, how will we find out?

As for him not being quick enough, I don't see that. But maybe my eye isn't good. He looks quicker than most of our guys to me. And unless he's making bad fouls, I don't care much about that either. I mean, so what if he fouls out? You weren't going to play him anyway, so whatever he gives before fouling out is a bonus.

 

[TPFKAPFS]

Piling up fouls also impacts the whole team. We would have one less player to work with; the other team will get free throws earlier; it can give an opponent a confidence boost by letting him see a ball go through the hoop OR letting him feel he is contributing to team success, especially if our D has disrupted his rhythm; it can give the other team a rest break when we have them on the ropes; and it restricts our ability to play our most aggressive D. I am happy that my eye test seems to be off with regard to his shooting %, but I clearly see a young man who is being impacted by something. I bet he snaps back and becomes that energizer bunny who fills the stat sheet again soon!

 

[gunslingerdick]

Puff has regressed. He just doesn't offer much outside of hustle. He's an average rebounder and defender that tries hard. I applaud that and it can set the tone for a team. But if we need a lot of minutes from Puff, we're in trouble.

We have an odd roster right now.

 

[al would]

Of course, we all want to win every game, but that is just not likely to happen again due to the evolution of the game and the parity we see in college basketball. We should get a lot of pleasure out of watching team growth as well as individual growth and not be overly critical of players even if it seems warranted.

Agree 100% and getting pleasure in annual team development is one of the reasons I watch college ball and not the NBA. But by the same token I get a lot of displeasure when there is a noticeable regression y/y especially with a fairly veteran returning core 4 and it is additionally concerning when it's an attitude/effort thing. I get the fact that shots won't always go in but it's the consistently bad attitude from some players that really t's me off and the seeming tolerance of it by some coaches.

 

[TarHeelMark]

We have an odd roster right now.

It really is. The mashup of Roy's kids, with Hubert's recruits and some portal pickups... just doesn't mesh consistently. Let's hope (have some faith?) that the occasional glimpses of high-level play will increase as the season progresses.

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

Piling up fouls also impacts the whole team. We would have one less player to work with; the other team will get free throws earlier; it can give an opponent a confidence boost by letting him see a ball go through the hoop OR letting him feel he is contributing to team success, especially if our D has disrupted his rhythm; it can give the other team a rest break when we have them on the ropes; and it restricts our ability to play our most aggressive D. I am happy that my eye test seems to be off with regard to his shooting %, but I clearly see a young man who is being impacted by something. I bet he snaps back and becomes that energizer bunny who fills the stat sheet again soon!

Good points.

 

[Tarheel75]

oaching staffpearAgree 100% and getting pleasure in annual team development is one of the reasons I watch college ball and not the NBA. But by the same token I get a lot of displeasure when there is a noticeable regression y/y especially with a fairly veteran returning core 4 and it is additionally concerning when it's an attitude thing. I get the fact that shots won't always go in but it's the consistently bad attitude from some players that really t's me off and the seeming tolerance of it by some coaches.

Another reason to be cautious AW. While it may appear to be "bad attitudes" you think your observing, it may very well be something quite different than that. I have watched every game in person this year and it has never struck me that any of our players are afflicted with a "bad attitude". However, I have noticed that there is several who will "sulk" if their shots are not falling or they are not getting the scoring opportunities that they think they should get. This happens on most all teams and is not singular to ours. That's why I mentioned the "hope" that this will improve.

Also, we all need to understand that certain players issues and situations are not always handled best by the coaching staff, but by their teammates. That's what happened last year, and may happen this year, I don't know for sure. I understand the frustrations that some players present to the followers of Carolina BB, I too have some, but I have the advantage over most in that I played the game and have witnessed firsthand that, at times, things are not what they appear to be, so I can be a little more understanding and lenient with my praise or criticisms, and I would like to think that since we are not at all sure of cause and effect, we should strive to be a little more level headed in our judgments of players, whoever they be.

 

[heels05champs]

I'm sure bringing in Nance ahead of him didn't sit well with him.

Leaky coming back for his 12th season is what blocked Puff’s chance at major minutes.

 

[TPFKAPFS]

I don't think Puff has regressed. I think he is a tweener that isn't really suited to the position where we have a need. He isn't a 4 and he isn't a 2. He is a natural 3 and we have a person already there who is pivotal to our success. I think he will need to find his niche in small ball (not 3G) with: 2 of RJ, Seth, Caleb (1 & 2); Puff (3); Leaky (4); Bacot or Washington (5) OR some big ball 2/3 (He and Leaky will be candidates for the 2/3). Look at Leaky and his hesitance, slow footedness; bad body language in the past for your template! Leaky was not suited for the multiple roles he was given and his game suffered. Our new additions and different coaching philosophy allowed him to focus on one primary job and voila!

 

[Tarheel75]

Leaky coming back for his 12th season is what blocked Puff’s chance at major minutes.

 

[DSouthr]

Another reason to be cautious AW. While it may appear to be "bad attitudes" you think your observing, it may very well be something quite different than that. I have watched every game in person this year and it has never struck me that any of our players are afflicted with a "bad attitude". However, I have noticed that there is several who will "sulk" if their shots are not falling or they are not getting the scoring opportunities that they think they should get. This happens on most all teams and is not singular to ours. That's why I mentioned the "hope" that this will improve.

Also, we all need to understand that certain players issues and situations are not always handled best by the coaching staff, but by their teammates. That's what happened last year, and may happen this year, I don't know for sure. I understand the frustrations that some players present to the followers of Carolina BB, I too have some, but I have the advantage over most in that I played the game and have witnessed firsthand that, at times, things are not what they appear to be, so I can be a little more understanding and lenient with my praise or criticisms, and I would like to think that since we are not at all sure of cause and effect, we should strive to be a little more level headed in our judgments of players, whoever they be.

OK, so I* agree with most of this, from all I have been told and from all that I see, I very STRONGLY disagree that the label fixed to some of our players as bad attitude just is not accurate, stop trying to read a players body language because you do not know the reason for what you see as sulking or Lazy, or that they just don't care. Let's look at the poster child for this Caleb Love!

Now yes, I have been very hard on Caleb, I have explained why so in other posts so no need for me to repeat that. Caleb is a very emotional player, it is that emotion that feeds his game, rather than rationality, rather than skills. When his emotions are high he is one of the most difficult players in the country to stop, when his emotions are down every aspect of his play suffers and there just is no switch where he can turn that off and on. That is a prime reason I say you can not leave him in the game when his emotions dip, you have to bring him to the bench and park him next to one of the coaches to calm him down and help him refocus. Caleb will miss a shot or 2 and folks will watch his body language, kid is pissed at himself and he just struggles to over come being pissed at himself.

People look at Caleb and they think he doesn't care, I can assure anyone that has ever had that thought cross their mind, it is totally wrong, kid cares, kid cares more than any of us here do, than most of us could ever imagine. What I see a lot in him is a kid that gets confused when things don't go as he expects, a confused player most of the time looks like a kid with a bad attitude but confused is not bad attitude at all. Caleb doesn't understand why things go wrong when they do, it confuses him and when that happens nothing goes right for him.

What I do know about Caleb is that he is harder on himself than anyone else would ever be, he takes so many shots not for his own stats but because he honestly believes that if he hits this huge shot he will help his team win, he takes those shots for the team, not for himself, that is his thinking, it isn't greedy, it is actually the opposite. Problem is the result looks like greedy, the result looks like sulking, the results look like he is lazy, the results do not look like you think they should. When I am critical of Caleb, it is 100% of the time due to my not liking the results. Caleb is actually a really good kid and he works hard before, during, and after practice, he isn't lazy. Just he lives in his own head to much in a negative way.

Larry Drew was a bad attitude, Caleb is nothing like Drew, Hubert has already shown us how he handles guys with bad attitudes, they go back to Minnisota and take care of their sick relatives and you never see them play for UNC again. Being hard on yourself is one thing, I think we all experience that, for a fact I do, but when it becomes extreme (yet again an issue I struggle with at times) it becomes a situation of mental health that may need to be addressed for many more reasons than just basketball.

 

[Bubspub88]

Any conf win is nice and can't afford to drop one at home. That said, I was disappointed that the Heels could not extend that first half lead to a comfortable margin. And how many times do you let Wake score on the exact same in-bounds play?

 

[al would]

Another reason to be cautious AW. While it may appear to be "bad attitudes" you think your observing, it may very well be something quite different than that. I have watched every game in person this year and it has never struck me that any of our players are afflicted with a "bad attitude".

Has it struck that there, at times, may be a serious lack of effort on the part of some? Or the shot selection of some might be questionable and ill advised? I've never had the pleasure of watching a UNC game in person but the TV cam coverage is really good these days and has a way of getting close shots of eyes and facial expressions up close. As a former player, and knowledgeable of old school UNC bball (in your opinion), do you not see some serious flaws with this group (coaches included) and their execution and effort on both the offensive and defensive play a majority of the time? Asking for a friend.

 

[Ozheelfan]

Another reason to be cautious AW. While it may appear to be "bad attitudes" you think your observing, it may very well be something quite different than that. I have watched every game in person this year and it has never struck me that any of our players are afflicted with a "bad attitude". However, I have noticed that there is several who will "sulk" if their shots are not falling or they are not getting the scoring opportunities that they think they should get. This happens on most all teams and is not singular to ours. That's why I mentioned the "hope" that this will improve.

Also, we all need to understand that certain players issues and situations are not always handled best by the coaching staff, but by their teammates. That's what happened last year, and may happen this year, I don't know for sure. I understand the frustrations that some players present to the followers of Carolina BB, I too have some, but I have the advantage over most in that I played the game and have witnessed firsthand that, at times, things are not what they appear to be, so I can be a little more understanding and lenient with my praise or criticisms, and I would like to think that since we are not at all sure of cause and effect, we should strive to be a little more level headed in our judgments of players, whoever they be.

OK, just watched the first half.... didn't see it the other day.

I don't believe Caleb suffers from an attitude problem, nor does he lack effort (most of the time) but in this half it was glaringly obvious that he's not being held accountable for his miscues.

This is a coaching issue, and ties in with what Randolph Childress said in the commentary - he'd never seen a player in the history of UNC to have the green light as does Caleb Love.

Caleb first sat after a time out at 10:45.... in the preceding 3 minutes he'd committed at least 2 turnovers of his own and left McKoy hanging out to dry with a terrible pass which resulted in a turnover. He had also made several wild shots and had dribbled into no-mans land, disrupting any offensive flow. He was replaced by Trimble who played excellent defense for the next 3 minutes.

Caleb then came back in and for 2 minutes into the under 4 time out he committed more turnovers, made rushed, early-clock shots and again stagnated the offense. The worst part about his wild shots and turnovers was that they led to transition baskets for Wake.... a nice lead was very quickly eroded.... But after the time out he was back in the game!

This makes absolutely no sense to the regular fan, especially when Trimble, McKoy and Johnson had played excellent team ball in their brief stints on the court. Nickel was sitting there courtside, possibly wondering what he had to do to get into the game while one player almost single-handedly ensured it was a close game going into the half.

The key to the second half against Wake was when Hubert finally put his best defending guard on Wake's fastest and most effective offensive guard.

Trimble shut down Appleby and that is the story of the game. Had that not happened, I am afraid the story might have been how Caleb lost UNC another one.

It just seems, for this 'outsider' that Caleb is being given way too much rope and has begun to hang himself with it... 38min vs Wake (20 too many) And the staff seem unwilling to hold him accountable for mistakes. If he ever hopes to earn a dime for playing basketball he needs to be taught the consequences of his actions.

As I said on a thread the other week, Caleb has the most pro potential among the upper classmen, but he doesn't seem to be rising to the occasion as the top dog of the team. I believe if given a chance, he'll excel when put in a situation where he has to fight for time (likely in the G-League next year)

But right now, Hubert is doing him no favours giving him court time which he isn't earning.

 

[Tarheel75]

Has it struck that there, at times, may be a serious lack of effort on the part of some? Or the shot selection of some might be questionable and ill advised? I've never had the pleasure of watching a UNC game in person but the TV cam coverage is really good these days and has a way of getting close shots of eyes and facial expressions up close. As a former player, and knowledgeable of old school UNC bball (in your opinion), do you not see some serious flaws with this group (coaches included) and their execution and effort on both the offensive and defensive play a majority of the time? Asking for a friend.

Chuckle....

Here's what you tell your friend....

If you have read my posts in certain summaries after a game, you have to recall that I have beat the drum of FOCUS & EFFORT on more than a few occasions and that shot selection seems to be an issue with several players and not just Caleb, but RJ, Styles, and Nickel at times. It appears that you want to focus your displeasure on Caleb, and to be honest, I have also at times. Caleb is certainly an enigmatic player and has shown that he can shoot you in and out of games and it is exasperating to watch for most all.

I hate that you have not been able to see a game in person, as it would definitely change your perspective on games, as all you can see on TV is what the camera shows to you, and I respectfully disagree that TV gives you any insight as to the attitudes of players by reading their eyes or facial expressions at certain times.
Reading eyes and faces is somewhat like eyewitness testimony of several witnesses, as one will see it one way, while another one sees it differently.

You miss the interactions of the coaches with players, and you can see reactions of players both on and off the court up close and personal. While there are issues that need to be addressed with both players and coaches, please remember that Hubert is in his 2nd year coaching a major Div 1 program and has to gain experience at times through the "School of Hard Knocks".

This was true of Coach Smith as well and he would tell us after a loss more than once that he lost this game due to coaching mistake(s) that he made and if we would just give him time, he would rectify those mistakes and he would be a better coach and we would be a better team. Hubert deserves the same opportunities don't you think? His record from last year to this year, is far and above what DES did in his first few years. And don't use talent level as an argument against what I stated above, as talent is relative to the time period played in.

Contrary to some opinions, coach Smith's early teams had talent relative to the times and comparable to today's talent. It simply took him some time to learn how to use that talent effectively and he freely admitted that his coaching the first 3 years was not very good. Remember the student body hanging him in effigy?

Does the team and staff have some disconcerting issues...? Yes. What to do about it? Give them both time and ride the highs and the lows until they get it ironed out. What if they don't get it ironed out? What to do then? Each fan will have to determine that, but for me, I'm in win or lose and that doesn't make me a better fan than any on this site, it's just that I have seen so much over the years, that I am not taken aback and lose my fandom when things are not perfect as more than a few on this board demand perfection and get ridiculously upset with either the players or staff when we don't win every game for them like we should in order to keep them as Carolina fans.

 

[2DDIMOND]

Chuckle....

Here's what you tell your friend....

If you have read my posts in certain summaries after a game, you have to recall that I have beat the drum of FOCUS & EFFORT on more than a few occasions and that shot selection seems to be an issue with several players and not just Caleb, but RJ, Styles, and Nickel at times. It appears that you want to focus your displeasure on Caleb, and to be honest, I have also at times. Caleb is certainly an enigmatic player and has shown that he can shoot you in and out of games and it is exasperating to watch for most all.

I hate that you have not been able to see a game in person, as it would definitely change your perspective on games, as all you can see on TV is what the camera shows to you, and I respectfully disagree that TV gives you any insight as to the attitudes of players by reading their eyes or facial expressions at certain times.
Reading eyes and faces is somewhat like eyewitness testimony of several witnesses, as one will see it one way, while another one sees it differently.

You miss the interactions of the coaches with players, and you can see reactions of players both on and off the court up close and personal. While there are issues that need to be addressed with both players and coaches, please remember that Hubert is in his 2nd year coaching a major Div 1 program and has to gain experience at times through the "School of Hard Knocks".

This was true of Coach Smith as well and he would tell us after a loss more than once that he lost this game due to coaching mistake(s) that he made and if we would just give him time, he would rectify those mistakes and he would be a better coach and we would be a better team. Hubert deserves the same opportunities don't you think? His record from last year to this year, is far and above what DES did in his first few years. And don't use talent level as an argument against what I stated above, as talent is relative to the time period played in.

Contrary to some opinions, coach Smith's early teams had talent relative to the times and comparable to today's talent. It simply took him some time to learn how to use that talent effectively and he freely admitted that his coaching the first 3 years was not very good. Remember the student body hanging him in effigy?

Does the team and staff have some disconcerting issues...? Yes. What to do about it? Give them both time and ride the highs and the lows until they get it ironed out. What if they don't get it ironed out? What to do then? Each fan will have to determine that, but for me, I'm in win or lose and that doesn't make me a better fan than any on this site, it's just that I have seen so much over the years, that I am not taken aback and lose my fandom when things are not perfect as more than a few on this board demand perfection and get ridiculously upset with either the players or staff when we don't win every game for them like we should in order to keep them as Carolina fans.

Possibly the best post ever on this site.

It’s great to have the perspective of a former player, & in particular, one that played for the greatest coach of all time!

People down the road think they have the GOAT, they’re wrong! They have the WOAT (winningest), we have the GOAT (greatest).