Will the heels be better off with Paige at the sg spot...

[gary-7]

Oh, I absolutely agree gary, by having JP at the 2 and as you offer, Jackson had not got his confidence in place, it made us much easier to defend. You basicaly dared who ever our off guard was other than Marcus to take shots, you face guarded marcus and helped off of JP or Britt and many times Jackson.

That ment opponents could drop guards down to pester our front court guys, have guards in more a rebounding position, and tire marcus out running off picks and lessen him as a defender on the other end. Things really complicated when Brice resorted to so many fall away jumpers considering that meeks was still for th emost part a below the rim guy and Hicks was pretty much mostly a stick back guy or catch & dunk. Point being our floor balance was really poor until we brought in a PG not just able to defend and handle the ball as well as find the assist but also showed later season the ability to knock down those open looks. When we had that other guy that had to be respected for his jumper it took heat off Marcus and it limited how much guards could drop down to help defend our front court guys.

In fairness, britt hitting shots helped a ton as well, he demanded to be guarded or splash the jump shot to. The problem with nate was he tended to give back at least as much on the defensive end as he gave us on the offensive end. While Joel did prove he was a freshman at times, he IMO was by far our best back court defender (amoung our PG canidates) not named JP or Theo.

If we can get Jackson hitting consistently his jumpers, Joel hit enough that he can not be left alone, it amps up our offense big time, it gives our front court guys more room to operate and not worry about a guard dropping down & stripping them. It gives us back to front court balance.

Dave, I'm gonna add one last note to this thread. If there was any doubt about the realities of our guard situation that should have been settled at the first dook game in Durham. With Paige saddled with foul trouble we took control of that game in the most hostile (and smelly) environment imaginable with Joel Berry running the show --- and for long periods without any help from Marcus. That whole "Berry's a Freshman" thing should have been done and done right then and there. What we witnessed was them playing like a Carolina team with everyone (including JP) playing their roles. Why? Because our best true PG was in charge.

Now, as you mentioned. Britt deserves props for doing a credible fill-in job in stretches at the 2 (keep that thought).

But here's the rub: We come to down to crunch time and dook is making their predictable desperate run. Here is where Roy had one of those aforementioned WTF moments (that sadly presaged the Wisky game). Trying to protect his lead Roy brings back Britt to join Barry and Paige and goes three-guards (made sense --- best handlers, FT shooters, etc), BUT... he inexplicably turns over the PG duties to Nate! Again, WTF? Joel had spent most of the game running the show like a machine, and now he puts the rock in the hands of the weakest of the three Points on the floor? The results were as bad as they were predictable. The offense totally stalled and that brought dook back into striking distance. Now granted, dook needed a horrible phantom foul call to give a Jones an undeserved FT (sound familiar, Koenig?) as well as an uncharacteristic FT miss by Nate to get it to OT, but the point is (no pun intended) that had Roy left JB in charge, dook has no chance of stealing that game.

There were three take-aways from that debacle:
1. Our offense depends on excellent PG play, no matter who else is on the floor
2. Joel Berry is our best pure PG. Period.
3. Ironically, Nate is more effective as a back-up 2 than as a 1
...and every dadgummed one of these points played out in front of our eyes the rest of the season, and sadly bit us in the ass after the under-8 in the Wisconsin game.

Game. Set. Match.

 

[BillyL]

Yep, Joel Berry is the greatest PG ever at UNC that never started a game. Period. So much better he is than a senior PG that has started every game (barring injury) in his UNC career.

If, only Berry was that good, then Roy may have chosen to go with a Berry-Paige backcourt instead of opting for Paige-Tokoto. But, he wasn't . . so instead, he went with Marcus and JP, and likely it was for a very good reason. Roy has always said that its the practices that decide who starts the games. Those weeklong 2 hour plus practices reveal far more than just a few minutes on court during a game. Practices that most are not privy to . .

 

[imajericho]

Actually, I understand, his jump shot is broke. But I watch how he moves, I am especially looking at him as a defender and the way he just effects the game with his motor. Right now he isn't a great ball handler and that jump shot is butt ugly. But I have watched a lot of kids come & go, I see special in him. I watched this kid come in as a freshman and dominate the game with nothing but his motor and his in your face shear will to not be beaten. You don't see that a lot, saw it in Tyler, saw it in Lynch, I see it in Theo.

Shot 50/40/90 as a HS senior. Can't be too broke.

 

[imajericho]

Yep, Joel Berry is the greatest PG ever at UNC that never started a game. Period. So much better he is than a senior PG that has started every game (barring injury) in his UNC career.

If, only Berry was that good, then Roy may have chosen to go with a Berry-Paige backcourt instead of opting for Paige-Tokoto. But, he wasn't . . so instead, he went with Marcus and JP, and likely it was for a very good reason. Roy has always said that its the practices that decide who starts the games. Those weeklong 2 hour plus practices reveal far more than just a few minutes on court during a game. Practices that most are not privy to . .

Roy Williams caters to upperclassmen. Always has. It is rare a freshman starts for him.

 

[BillyL]

All 3 of our freshmen came out of the gate last year slower than most of us expected. I do hope all 3 make improvements of a great magnitude for this upcoming season. I will have lower expectations for Theo this year because of his summer rehab. I now worry that he may be one of those players that are always fighting an injury of some sort. If, he can stay healthy, I am hoping for big contributions from him by the start of our ACC season.

 

[gary-7]

Yep, Joel Berry is the greatest PG ever at UNC that never started a game. Period. So much better he is than a senior PG that has started every game (barring injury) in his UNC career.

If, only Berry was that good, then Roy may have chosen to go with a Berry-Paige backcourt instead of opting for Paige-Tokoto. But, he wasn't . . so instead, he went with Marcus and JP, and likely it was for a very good reason. Roy has always said that its the practices that decide who starts the games. Those weeklong 2 hour plus practices reveal far more than just a few minutes on court during a game. Practices that most are not privy to . .

Wait a minute, Billy... you're coming at ME about what practices reveal?
Well alrighty then....
Lemme put it this way: That means little compared to what a coach has just witnessed right slap in front of God and everybody IN THE GAME for the past 30+ minutes... especially when the kid had just pulled it off in THE most hostile environment in college basketball... in THE biggest rivalry in college basketball... not to mention the fact that the other kid the coach suddenly hands the PG duties to down the stretch has never pulled that off in a year-and-a-half of trying (thus the WTF moment).
BTW: just for the record, obviously I never said anyone was the "best PG ever". Get real. What I DID say was that Joel Berry is the best pure PG on this team... and that is 100% true.

 

[mikeirbyusa]

Roy Williams caters to upperclassmen. Always has. It is rare a freshman starts for him.

Need a list?

 

[Ford_corners]

Need a list?

Wait a minute, Billy... you're coming at ME about what practices reveal?
Well alrighty then....
Lemme put it this way: That means little compared to what a coach has just witnessed right slap in front of God and everybody IN THE GAME for the past 30+ minutes... especially when the kid had just pulled it off in THE most hostile environment in college basketball... in THE biggest rivalry in college basketball... not to mention the fact that the other kid the coach suddenly hands the PG duties to down the stretch has never pulled that off in a year-and-a-half of trying (thus the WTF moment).
BTW: just for the record, obviously I never said anyone was the "best PG ever". Get real. What I DID say was that Joel Berry is the best pure PG on this team... and that is 100% true.

That last line is right on the money; offensive pace and efficiency were noticeably better when JB had the keys! Guys got the ball in the right spots on time to be most effective with him at the PG spot. Nobody is saying he the 2nd coming of Phil but the team was better when he had the helm. Pretty straight forward and the numbers shared previously bear that out!

 

[Archer2]

I anticipate that it will take Theo a while to get back into shape. Unless Kenny Williams just plays out of his mind from day one, I'll be very surprised if Joel doesn't start. I hope we're not still having this debate a month into the season.