Well what do you all think?

[imajericho]

The good news is we are winning ball games as expected despite Paige and Jackson slumping.

If they both come alive, we should be in good shape.

However, question is... can we win the championship if they both continue slumping???

 

[Ozheelfan]

I think I watched Marcus hit 3 from beyond the arc today...... hoping that was the corner and it's been turned.
As for Justin, he's pushing a bit on offense, but still making some great hustle plays. The shot will drop for him too.
Can the Heels win with both slumping? It'll be hard.
Will both continue to slump? I think not.

 

[Bubspub88]

I do not think they win with both struggling but I think neither will continue much longer. Both have been playing too long at a high level to all of a sudden become average players. Kind of like a coach who has been successful does not forget how to do his job all of a sudden. Both are in a system suited to their style of play. The good new is that UNC is continuing to win despite sub par performance from the guys who in October were the most important players on the team

 

[mikeirbyusa]

Saw some things yesterday that made me smile!

Marcus-enjoyed playing again!

Jackson-Drove to the hoop and DUNKED with authority! And also hit his floater.

Theo-Came alive with scoring again. His D has been good but O non existent.

I like our chances against anybody in all of college basketball.

 

[UNCbeliever]

Not a chance. If we can't shoot the three nor defend the three, then we may be embarrassed in the early rounds by any Harold Arceneaux type player

 

[keysersosay#1]

Positive look forward by the new generation of Heels fan

( that is SARCASM for those who are clueless)

 

[DSouthr]

I think part of the problem is the way the schedule has worked, this team IMO needs to play more than once a week, the more they play the better they seem to play. Now we are going in to a quick turn around game Sat to Mon and will have to build off this game in order to beat Lville. If you are not shooting the ball real well, a week between games is a long time to think about it and thinking about a slump is about the worst thing you can do. So maybe a quick turn around game is what the doctor ordered.

I think monday may be a nail biter, we have them at their place and they will be stinging from their loss, I expect their intensity level to be really up, we will have to match that and that concerns me because our intensity level has seemed to dip a little bit to me, could be the competition we have played, it is hard to get amped up to play BC.

 

[dlew71]

indeed perhaps the pressure of better teams / tougher schedule will amp up the mental state of this group and they will be focused to a point where this team will finally gel in all phases including outside shooting from the 2&3 positions

that said i am still pleasantly surprised with the ability of this group to win by double digits and score in the high 80's when struggling to score at the 2&3 positions in this offense

what a great problem to have - Coach is really earning his money this year - really really want this group to take it all this year for themselves / the staff / the program and the fans of course

 

[Archer2]

Saw some things yesterday that made me smile!

Marcus-enjoyed playing again!

Jackson-Drove to the hoop and DUNKED with authority! And also hit his floater.

Theo-Came alive with scoring again. His D has been good but O non existent.

I like our chances against anybody in all of college basketball.

That sigh of relief when Marcus made his first trey was priceless. He and Justin have continued to make positive contributions even as their shots weren't falling. But there's no doubt we need scoring from them as well, some of which needs to come from the perimeter in order to keep defenses honest. I have every confidence their shot will come around.

The entire bench played very well yesterday, especially Theo and Nate:
35 points
11 boards
12 assists
4 turnovers

Not many teams' benches are capable of this kind of production. And while it was against a pretty weak BC team, it's impressive nonetheless. And while we've been playing some of the weaker teàms in the league, those very same teams have been beating some ranked teams. How many teams would be winning with the injuries we've had and two of our best scorers in prolonged shooting slumps? Not very many in my estimation.

Roy was as animated as I've seen him in a while. Methinks he knows this team could be special. Bilas has said repeatedly that he thinks we're the best overall team and that we've got a fifth gear that we haven't seen yet. I agree.

 

[DSouthr]

Some team we will face in the next 3 games is in for a load of trouble, we may drop one before it happens but this team is going to put it all together some time in the next 3 games or so and we will explode on someone. You can see it almost as if we are priming the pump, Marcus is going to get off and our Brice/Hicks duo are going to follow suite and we will push 100 on on some team and IMO some well respected and maybe even top 25 ranked team. Closest we have come to this was at FSU, the team I would love to see it happen against is Uva. Would love to see us have things rolling by that 1st duke game and roll them those dukies like they were BC.

 

[Archer2]

I concur Dave. We've been playing fundamentally sound ball, even as 2-3 of our guys have lost their shooting touch. We've rebounded well, shared the ball while limiting TO's, made a high percentage of our FT's, and generally played solid defense. When our shots start to fall a little more frequently, and they will because we're getting good looks, our game will go to a different level.

 

[DSouthr]

I concur Dave. We've been playing fundamentally sound ball, even as 2-3 of our guys have lost their shooting touch. We've rebounded well, shared the ball while limiting TO's, made a high percentage of our FT's, and generally played solid defense. When our shots start to fall a little more frequently, and they will because we're getting good looks, our game will go to a different level.

You nailed it archer, we are playing solid defense and defense tends to be carried with you, offense doesn't always get carried with you game to game. But the other part of it as you nailed is we are getting and taking good shots, good shots in time will fall. WE do not take near the numbers of bad shots we have taken in the last couple years, Take good shots, play solid defense, limit your turn overs, and hit your free throws, a certain hall of fame coach taught that to another certain hall of fame coach and it has worked out real well for the Carolina faithful.

 

[Spaceytoyz]

If you know you are in a slump then shooting the ball in a route of BC or Wake is a good chance to get out of it, but the next games are tougher, Share the ball and don't work on your own slump ,play team ball and see if it comes naturally..

 

[adwood81]

The good news is we are winning ball games as expected despite Paige and Jackson slumping.

If they both come alive, we should be in good shape.

However, question is... can we win the championship if they both continue slumping???

I think we have beaten every league team we have played thus far. You can only play the schedule as it unfolds. We have not played some of the upper tier teams but the 8 games we have won are by teams that have beaten VA, Pitt, Miami, dook and the Heels have survived them all. We beat Syracuse on a night when not many teams would have. I guess we have to play out the string and go where we go and do what we do.

 

[Steat]

I predicted a 12-0 start back on the "12 -0" thread and not turning back now. Some thought 8-0 was nuts. Not turning back now. Heels by 5 with clutch foul shooting down the stretch.

 

[shun1]

!!!!!!!!!!!! GO TAR HEELS !!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[mikeirbyusa]

Share the ball and don't work on your own slump ,play team ball and see if it comes naturally..

That is one thing I LOVE about this team! All are very un-selfish and play as a TEAM.

 

[Archer2]

If you know you are in a slump then shooting the ball in a route of BC or Wake is a good chance to get out of it, but the next games are tougher, Share the ball and don't work on your own slump ,play team ball and see if it comes naturally..

I think playing unselfish team ball is our biggest asset Space. I think that's what:s allowed us to continue to win with subpar shooting from Marcus and Justin, two of our best natural scorers.

We're tops in the country in offensive efficiency because we share the ball so well, ergo the fact that we have six guys averaging double digits in scoring.

Just a very close, tight knit, unselfish group of guys. Love this team!

 

[dadika13]

We're 19-2 and we've played close to our best basketball in really only 1 game (MD). I'm really curious if Roy can get these guys to peak at the right time as he did in 05, 09, and 12. No other guy I'd want for the challenge.