Oh Drew 2. Larry Drew did ok by me this year. He did what he had to do and he did it in the face of adversity quite a few times. As the most scrutinized position in basketball and at UNC, Drew held his own against the naysayers time and time again. It looked like it took him most of the season, but towards the end of the year, he asserted himself as a strong point guard. No, he is not Ty Lawson, but he was needed to run the team and he did a decent job of it. Sure, he needs to improve, but he was the quarterback of a young, weak offensive team. Next year, surrounding him with more talent will only improve his ability.
What I didn’t like:
1. Assertiveness. He didn’t always have the urgency, the mojo, the swagger. He seemed a little to laid back to run the point. He did get better, but teams can often read the point guards language and if the point guard isn’t able to focus or get his team focused, you end up with a record like UNC had this year.
2. Shot selection. Sometimes, he just tried to pull one out or win it all in one shot. He didn’t shoot a lot, but sometimes, he was way off the mark.
What I liked:
1. Holding his head up. Who didn’t crucify Drew at some point this year? I know I did by saying that Kendall Marshall would probably be starting next year. Drew was dissected at the point guard spot and though he knew people didn’t think he was doing a good job, he listened to his coach and kept playing and towards the end of the season, people seemed to change their mind a bit.
2. Improvement. What I wanted Drew to improve on last year – his shooting percentage and his assist to turnover ratio – both improved, especially the shooting percentage. His regular field goals need to improve still as he only shot 40%, but his 3 point percentage was respectable, which it needed to be in order for defenses to not load the paint with defenders. Although his assist-to-turnover ratio wasn’t awesome, it did improve throughout the year.
Drew II has committed to North Carolina, amidst transfer rumors and fans being upset at him. I am also committed to Larry Drew. He isn’t the worst PG in UNC history (insert Adam Boone), but he is who he is – a pass first, verily dependable option.
Showing posts with label Larry Drew II. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Larry Drew II. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Monday, April 5, 2010
Addition by Subtration
One of the biggest offseason questions will be whether or not Ed Davis does go pro. At the beginning of this year, I would have said that was a bad idea, but that’s when I thought Ed Davis was going to be an 18 and 11 guy every night. Since Davis was not like that and then was injured, I’m not convinced he would be willing to stick around and risk another injury. Most mock drafts have him as a top 10 pick. In fact, I can’t think of one that doesn’t have him as a top 10 pick.
If Davis did leave, I don’t think it would be the end of the world. In fact, I think this team would be better for a few reasons:
1) I don’t think Davis is a true team player. He doesn’t strike me as a team oriented guy. Not to say that he is a selfish guy who demands the ball all the time, but that fact that he doesn’t seem to put a lot of work into his game and that can hurt team chemistry because people see that he doesn’t work very hard and is still getting playing time. Ed Davis is a talent, but it seems like he is Ty Lawson as a freshman, where Lawson was not allowed to start because he kept messing around. Ed Davis is not a trickster like Lawson, but he just seems to not put the effort in, similar to how Lawson was, when he just got by on talent and not being a complete player.
2) If Davis leaves, I think that would open the door for Tyler Zeller to emerge as a main threat on offense. Zeller is obviously more offensive minded than Davis, but with John Henson on the weak side, Zeller could probably get away with more than he normally could because of Henson’s shot blocking ability. I was very impressed with Zeller as he came back from injury and really picked up where he left off. He was good for 9 points and 5 boards a night, which is good as your 6th man and I think if he starts, those numbers are only going to go up with more minutes and shot opportunities.
3. With Davis gone, the line-up would probably be Zeller at center, Henson at the power forward, Harrison Barnes at the other forward, with Will Graves, Dexter Strickland, Larry Drew II, or Kendall Marshall in the backcourt (which will probably remain a question mark until we get closer to the season. But the front court would still be strong with the 2 above bigs and the Wear twins playing the backup role. I believe if we needed to go small, Barnes could slide over to the 4 because of his height.
This is all speculation at this point, but if Davis does opt for the NBA, I don’t consider it a huge loss and the pieces will fall back into place soon enough. My honest hope is that he does go pro, but we’ll see what happens.
If Davis did leave, I don’t think it would be the end of the world. In fact, I think this team would be better for a few reasons:
1) I don’t think Davis is a true team player. He doesn’t strike me as a team oriented guy. Not to say that he is a selfish guy who demands the ball all the time, but that fact that he doesn’t seem to put a lot of work into his game and that can hurt team chemistry because people see that he doesn’t work very hard and is still getting playing time. Ed Davis is a talent, but it seems like he is Ty Lawson as a freshman, where Lawson was not allowed to start because he kept messing around. Ed Davis is not a trickster like Lawson, but he just seems to not put the effort in, similar to how Lawson was, when he just got by on talent and not being a complete player.
2) If Davis leaves, I think that would open the door for Tyler Zeller to emerge as a main threat on offense. Zeller is obviously more offensive minded than Davis, but with John Henson on the weak side, Zeller could probably get away with more than he normally could because of Henson’s shot blocking ability. I was very impressed with Zeller as he came back from injury and really picked up where he left off. He was good for 9 points and 5 boards a night, which is good as your 6th man and I think if he starts, those numbers are only going to go up with more minutes and shot opportunities.
3. With Davis gone, the line-up would probably be Zeller at center, Henson at the power forward, Harrison Barnes at the other forward, with Will Graves, Dexter Strickland, Larry Drew II, or Kendall Marshall in the backcourt (which will probably remain a question mark until we get closer to the season. But the front court would still be strong with the 2 above bigs and the Wear twins playing the backup role. I believe if we needed to go small, Barnes could slide over to the 4 because of his height.
This is all speculation at this point, but if Davis does opt for the NBA, I don’t consider it a huge loss and the pieces will fall back into place soon enough. My honest hope is that he does go pro, but we’ll see what happens.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Point Guard of the Future?
In watching the Duke/UNC game, I couldn't help notice how many unforced errors there were in the game (shocking, I know). But it seemed a good majority of the turnovers came from the point guard, Larry Drew II.I like Larry Drew II and think he has done a serviceable job as the point guard for this year's team, but I'm not sure if he isn't just the second coming of Quentin Thomas. Many times this season, we have seen Drew drive the lane and try to have an amazing pass, but only for the rock to end up in the hands of the opposing team, which is why I question him as the point guard of next year's team.
I'll be honest, I don't pay close attention to recruits until they arrive on campus, but with the struggles this year's team has had, it's hard not to focus on next year's class a bit more than in the past. UNC is bringing in Kendall Marshall, a 6'3" PG, who is rated a 4 star recruit and is the 32nd ranked player in his class, but the the 9th overall PG.
For comparison's sake, Larry Drew II was the 71st rated player, and the 10th overall PG in his class.
In reading about Marshall, he is said to be the best passer in the class, according to ESPNU. Here is what rivals says about Marshall:
With a superb basketball IQ, Marshall plays with surprising poise and at a deceptive pace. He sets up for a burst that is just fast enough to beat his man and controlled enough for him to read the situation with precision. The leftly also has a more-than-reliable jumper and has a knack for delivering the pass with timing whether it is off his penetration in the half court or a
pass up the court in transition. Improving his explosiveness and improving on the defensive side of the ball are his next challenges.
Here's what Rivals said about Drew during his senior year of high school:
With a good mind for the game, Drew has a knack for running a team and finding an open man. Perhaps the best thing he does, however is shoot the ball from behind the arc. His foot speed and overall athleticism is an area for concern as a high-major prospect although.
Now, on paper it appears that Drew is the better shooter, which is most likely accurate and Marshall is faster and a better passer. But next year, Drew will have 2 years under Roy Williams' system, but the turnovers can be such a team-killer, especially when you are a team that's built for making runs.
I don't know who will start next year, but I posted this to pose the question of what could possibly happen next year. Personally, I like a pass-first point guard and while Drew has shown that at times, I'm not sure it translates as well as Marshall's game could in the UNC system. We'll see what happens. It could be worth noting that this situation could play out similar to Bobby Frasor and Ty Lawson during Lawson's freshman year. That year Frasor started the first 6 games and then Coach Williams took the reigns off of Lawson and the rest is ACC Player of the Year history.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Eye of the Tigers
I didn't know if we were up to Clemson this time around. Something felt off to me and low and behold, we have a blow-out loss to Clemson. I didn't get to watch the game and that makes me glad because I think I would have been pretty upset watching the turnover machine that is North Carolina.
I thought of an analogy today about this year's team. I would consider them to be Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde this year. Dr. Jekyll would be the North Carolina team that was present against Michigan State and the second half versus Va Tech. The Mr. Hyde version is the one we have seen a good portion of the season and unfortunately, seems to be taking over Jekyll's play.
Coach Williams blamed the loss on himself in his postgame quotes, saying he did a poor job of coaching. Sure, he could have done things better, but he's not the one out there who can't pass the ball inbounds or throws it over somebody's head. 26 Turnovers. 26! 17 from the starters - the experienced players! I think it's getting inexcusable now and something has to change.
Adam Lucas wrote in his postgame article about the team lacking focus. If you read the post-game comments, the message is similar from the players. I think this statement from a freshman, Dexter Strickland, stood out to me the most:
"It's thinking too much. It's being scared to make a mistake. When you play cautious you're more likely to make a mistake."
I played soccer in college and I remember when I started worrying about making mistakes, that's when I made the most mistakes or played the most cautious. When I didn't think about everything that I could be doing and just tried to make a play is when I had the most success. I'm not saying that Williams should throw caution out the door and let the horses loose, but somebody needs to step up and bit and take some leadership. We have seen a bit of this factor or just going out and making something out of nothing from Dexter Strickland some, but he does still make freshman mistakes and cause turnovers. I think this could be the perfect situation to throw John Henson into so that he can become a better player.
In doing this, North Carolina might establish itself a go-to scorer, someone who gets the last shot because as of right now, the guy who gets the last shot on the team for me is probably Larry Drew II or Strickland, but only because of their ability to break people down off the dribble. I'm not saying this should turn into chaos, but it is something to think about. Make the players stop thinking and start doing. If I had an answer for this situation, I'm sure a lot of coaches would ask me how, but I don't. This season that was filled with potential and hype is suddenly shrinking and becoming a harsh reality. Boo reality, boo!
I thought of an analogy today about this year's team. I would consider them to be Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde this year. Dr. Jekyll would be the North Carolina team that was present against Michigan State and the second half versus Va Tech. The Mr. Hyde version is the one we have seen a good portion of the season and unfortunately, seems to be taking over Jekyll's play.
Coach Williams blamed the loss on himself in his postgame quotes, saying he did a poor job of coaching. Sure, he could have done things better, but he's not the one out there who can't pass the ball inbounds or throws it over somebody's head. 26 Turnovers. 26! 17 from the starters - the experienced players! I think it's getting inexcusable now and something has to change.
Adam Lucas wrote in his postgame article about the team lacking focus. If you read the post-game comments, the message is similar from the players. I think this statement from a freshman, Dexter Strickland, stood out to me the most:
"It's thinking too much. It's being scared to make a mistake. When you play cautious you're more likely to make a mistake."
I played soccer in college and I remember when I started worrying about making mistakes, that's when I made the most mistakes or played the most cautious. When I didn't think about everything that I could be doing and just tried to make a play is when I had the most success. I'm not saying that Williams should throw caution out the door and let the horses loose, but somebody needs to step up and bit and take some leadership. We have seen a bit of this factor or just going out and making something out of nothing from Dexter Strickland some, but he does still make freshman mistakes and cause turnovers. I think this could be the perfect situation to throw John Henson into so that he can become a better player.
In doing this, North Carolina might establish itself a go-to scorer, someone who gets the last shot because as of right now, the guy who gets the last shot on the team for me is probably Larry Drew II or Strickland, but only because of their ability to break people down off the dribble. I'm not saying this should turn into chaos, but it is something to think about. Make the players stop thinking and start doing. If I had an answer for this situation, I'm sure a lot of coaches would ask me how, but I don't. This season that was filled with potential and hype is suddenly shrinking and becoming a harsh reality. Boo reality, boo!
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Execution
We lack it. Hardcore. Very hardcore. Marcus Ginyard and Will Graves certainly would have helped in the C of C game, but they were held out and though the hill was a little steeper to climb, North Carolina should not have lost this game. But they did and there is no use crying over it now. It's a loss and we can get over it and move on. It is however a little tough because we exepcted so much more from this team by now.
We thought Ed Davis would be awesome and he has been. That dunk he threw down after the little pump fake was pretty nasty. Marcus Ginyard was supposed to be David Noel II and he hasn't been quite that good. He has been better than the Marcus of old, at least on the offensive end, but I'm not quite sold on defense. But I would have rather taken his defense on Goudelock than Deon Thompson, but obviously that's not how the basketball world wanted it. Larry Drew II has been better than most expected, but still has mental lapses and bad judgement and John, Henson, who was supposed to be Kevin Durant, has done nothing but block shots. We were over-hyped to begin with, and it's coming into play now. I wouldn't say we were losing to College of Charlestown over-hyped, but that's why they play the game.
What this loss comes down to is a lack of leadership and execution. Coach Williams pinned the leadership aspect on himself and maybe part of that is true, but the team was down two upperclassman starters. Logic dictates that someone else speaks up or steps up. From the execution side of the argument, they are a young team and are trying to worry about the right plays and defensive sets, let alone late game clock management. They simply haven't practiced it much and when looking at this game on the schedule, the coaches probably figured they wouldn't need to worry about practicing these types of situations right now against this caliber of a team. Well, lesson learned.
I'm not blaming this on any one individual, but the team and I'm just not sure what to think anymore. The lofty expectations seemed achievable and some of these goals are still out there, but I hope these young players know that in ACC play, you have to bring it every night or you're going to walk out of the gym with the C of C loss feeling a lot. Go Heels! Please!
We thought Ed Davis would be awesome and he has been. That dunk he threw down after the little pump fake was pretty nasty. Marcus Ginyard was supposed to be David Noel II and he hasn't been quite that good. He has been better than the Marcus of old, at least on the offensive end, but I'm not quite sold on defense. But I would have rather taken his defense on Goudelock than Deon Thompson, but obviously that's not how the basketball world wanted it. Larry Drew II has been better than most expected, but still has mental lapses and bad judgement and John, Henson, who was supposed to be Kevin Durant, has done nothing but block shots. We were over-hyped to begin with, and it's coming into play now. I wouldn't say we were losing to College of Charlestown over-hyped, but that's why they play the game.
What this loss comes down to is a lack of leadership and execution. Coach Williams pinned the leadership aspect on himself and maybe part of that is true, but the team was down two upperclassman starters. Logic dictates that someone else speaks up or steps up. From the execution side of the argument, they are a young team and are trying to worry about the right plays and defensive sets, let alone late game clock management. They simply haven't practiced it much and when looking at this game on the schedule, the coaches probably figured they wouldn't need to worry about practicing these types of situations right now against this caliber of a team. Well, lesson learned.
I'm not blaming this on any one individual, but the team and I'm just not sure what to think anymore. The lofty expectations seemed achievable and some of these goals are still out there, but I hope these young players know that in ACC play, you have to bring it every night or you're going to walk out of the gym with the C of C loss feeling a lot. Go Heels! Please!
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Hooked by the Horns
Golly. Gee. Whiz. I waited awhile to let this one set in and talk about it on here because I was greatly disappointed, but now that emotions have settled down, I can better rationalize this game.
Let's look at some of the positives from this game. UNC was down by 17 before battling back to get it to 4. Once again, we have battled back after putting ourselves in a whole, which they also did against Kentucky. So, it's nice to see this team not give up, even against a mostly burnt-orange crowd.
Second positive is the fact that Ed Davis is such a beast. I was very impressed with his ability to control his body while in the air and then finish the play with a bucket, with some contact sometimes. The same could be said about Tyler Zeller, as combined, the two sophomores were 16-21 from the field. It's nice to see them be effective when they get the ball. This will be a good front court next year if Davis stays and while Zeller may not be a super strong defender, I believe he will get better and you might be surprised that he is averaging just under a block per game.
A final positive is that Dexter Strickland knows when the team needs someone to just make something happen. Yes, he did force a shot before the end of the first half and that caused Texas to get two baskets in the last 15 seconds, but he sometimes just lowers his head and barrels his way to the hoop. He had a few nice drives where he just drove hard and finished. I also really liked him in the backcourt with Larry Drew II. I thought that was a very effective backcourt while they were in the game together.
Now for some negatives. I know the argument has been made that our big men have the tendency to be soft and sometimes I think that argument is valid. For the life of me, I'm not sure why Deon Thompson thought he was Michael Jordan circa 1998, trying all these fade aways and runner-like shots in the lane, but he's 6'9," 245. He should not be fading away from contact, but rather going into the contact. Ed Davis did well for his weight, but seemed like his hands lacked a bit.
Another negative is Marcus Ginyard. Early in the second half, I was really questioning him as the 5th year senior leader. Then he did hit a few shots to help widdle away at the lead, but his lack of defense is what amazed me. This is Marcus, the shutdown man, who seemed to struggle greatly. His lateral movement seemed slow. Part of this could be his foot is causing him pain, because he was probably going into the game, but I must say I was disappointed with his effort. He had a number of careless turnovers and I just hope that if some of this is related to his foot, that he can take a few of these easier holiday games off and rest his foot up.
A final negative is the defense and I'm going to include the rebounding on this section too. I have never seen a team score so many points against UNC in the manner that Texas did. They scored 103 points and only shot 41% and that's because they had 26 offensive rebounds and I have no idea how many second chance points, but I thought it was just ridiculous how often Texas ended up with the ball down in the paint after a missed shot. I know Dexter Pittman is a big boy, but there is no excuse for not putting a body on him. I was always taught that if you can get your butt on a guy, you do it and it seemed like North Carolina was content to try and outjump Texas on the boards. I hope Tyler Hansbrough comes back to Chapel Hill this summer and teaches the Heels how to box out because if they continue to do what they did against Texas, it will be a long season.
Now Texas is #2 in the land for a reason and they are a good team. They showed that yesterday, but I think if North Carolina can correct some of these mistakes, they could easily be a good team. Roy said that this Texas team could be the best Texas team Rick Barnes has had, so obviously, this team is good because Texas has had Final Four teams under Rick Barnes. The schedule has been tough, Coach Williams himself has said he was a little over ambitious in scheduling all these games with this young team, but hopefully in the long run, it makes the Heels better. At least we can say that we have played people, which is usually what some of these experts say when UNC rattles off 15 games in a row at the beginning of the season.
A final thought and I will leave you. This is North Carolina's 3rd loss on the year. Last year, the Heels' third loss did not come until February 21nd against Maryland. The year before was against Kansas on April 5th. In 2006-2007, the third loss was on February 3rd against North Carolina State. and in 2005-2006 was on January 14th, versus Miami. I would say this year's Heels have more talent that the 05-06 Heels, but they didn't have the schedule that this year's squad has. The season is far from over and it could be possible that the worse of the schedule is over. Yes, ACC play is tough, but there aren't 5 teams in the ACC ranked in the top 18 in the country. Anyone can admit, we have been pretty spoiled over the last few years and this year is just a bit frustrating because of the success that the past Heels teams have had. We'll be ok, I promise.
Let's look at some of the positives from this game. UNC was down by 17 before battling back to get it to 4. Once again, we have battled back after putting ourselves in a whole, which they also did against Kentucky. So, it's nice to see this team not give up, even against a mostly burnt-orange crowd.
Second positive is the fact that Ed Davis is such a beast. I was very impressed with his ability to control his body while in the air and then finish the play with a bucket, with some contact sometimes. The same could be said about Tyler Zeller, as combined, the two sophomores were 16-21 from the field. It's nice to see them be effective when they get the ball. This will be a good front court next year if Davis stays and while Zeller may not be a super strong defender, I believe he will get better and you might be surprised that he is averaging just under a block per game.
A final positive is that Dexter Strickland knows when the team needs someone to just make something happen. Yes, he did force a shot before the end of the first half and that caused Texas to get two baskets in the last 15 seconds, but he sometimes just lowers his head and barrels his way to the hoop. He had a few nice drives where he just drove hard and finished. I also really liked him in the backcourt with Larry Drew II. I thought that was a very effective backcourt while they were in the game together.
Now for some negatives. I know the argument has been made that our big men have the tendency to be soft and sometimes I think that argument is valid. For the life of me, I'm not sure why Deon Thompson thought he was Michael Jordan circa 1998, trying all these fade aways and runner-like shots in the lane, but he's 6'9," 245. He should not be fading away from contact, but rather going into the contact. Ed Davis did well for his weight, but seemed like his hands lacked a bit.
Another negative is Marcus Ginyard. Early in the second half, I was really questioning him as the 5th year senior leader. Then he did hit a few shots to help widdle away at the lead, but his lack of defense is what amazed me. This is Marcus, the shutdown man, who seemed to struggle greatly. His lateral movement seemed slow. Part of this could be his foot is causing him pain, because he was probably going into the game, but I must say I was disappointed with his effort. He had a number of careless turnovers and I just hope that if some of this is related to his foot, that he can take a few of these easier holiday games off and rest his foot up.
A final negative is the defense and I'm going to include the rebounding on this section too. I have never seen a team score so many points against UNC in the manner that Texas did. They scored 103 points and only shot 41% and that's because they had 26 offensive rebounds and I have no idea how many second chance points, but I thought it was just ridiculous how often Texas ended up with the ball down in the paint after a missed shot. I know Dexter Pittman is a big boy, but there is no excuse for not putting a body on him. I was always taught that if you can get your butt on a guy, you do it and it seemed like North Carolina was content to try and outjump Texas on the boards. I hope Tyler Hansbrough comes back to Chapel Hill this summer and teaches the Heels how to box out because if they continue to do what they did against Texas, it will be a long season.
Now Texas is #2 in the land for a reason and they are a good team. They showed that yesterday, but I think if North Carolina can correct some of these mistakes, they could easily be a good team. Roy said that this Texas team could be the best Texas team Rick Barnes has had, so obviously, this team is good because Texas has had Final Four teams under Rick Barnes. The schedule has been tough, Coach Williams himself has said he was a little over ambitious in scheduling all these games with this young team, but hopefully in the long run, it makes the Heels better. At least we can say that we have played people, which is usually what some of these experts say when UNC rattles off 15 games in a row at the beginning of the season.
A final thought and I will leave you. This is North Carolina's 3rd loss on the year. Last year, the Heels' third loss did not come until February 21nd against Maryland. The year before was against Kansas on April 5th. In 2006-2007, the third loss was on February 3rd against North Carolina State. and in 2005-2006 was on January 14th, versus Miami. I would say this year's Heels have more talent that the 05-06 Heels, but they didn't have the schedule that this year's squad has. The season is far from over and it could be possible that the worse of the schedule is over. Yes, ACC play is tough, but there aren't 5 teams in the ACC ranked in the top 18 in the country. Anyone can admit, we have been pretty spoiled over the last few years and this year is just a bit frustrating because of the success that the past Heels teams have had. We'll be ok, I promise.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Challenge Answered
Well, I was proven wrong and boy, am I happy to be wrong! This was easily the statement game of the young season.
I look at this game as a tale of two halves and two teams: potential team vs inexperienced team. The first half was amazing and proves that this team can hang with anyone in the country. Michigan State was picked to win the Big Ten and was supposed to be one of the front runners for the national title in April. But after a Dexter Strickland dagger at the end of the half, there stood the young Heels up 16 points, proving that North Carolina has the potential and ability to play with anyone. This game was especially encouraging with some big games looming against Kentucky and Texas. Neither one of these is a guaranteed win, because we have the second half to talk about.
The second half represented the inexperienced team. I say inexperienced because of the silly mistakes like not getting back on transition defense, missing free throws, and Deon Thompson for three?!?! Part of this inexperienced is the fact that MUS is a good team as noted above and you knew they would make a run at some point and North Carolina could not shoot 64% for the whole game. The whole half wasn't awful, just a little sloppy because UNC started off strong, pushing the lead up to 19 points before the sloppiness began.
Things I didn't like:
1. Transition defense. I can't recall a team beating North Carolina down the court for easy buckets. Sure, a team will get an occasional basket, but MSU was doing more times in this game than I can recall all last year.
2. Turnovers. Yes, shocking, but it wasn't the number of turnovers, but it was the fact that of the 17 turnovers, 14 were from the starters, the more experienced of the team, but also Michigan State had 15 steals off of those 17 turnovers. I can handle the turnovers, but lets not give up the ball off steals.
Things I liked:
1. Freshman domination. If the freshman were waiting to show up, they picked a good time. I was very pleased with all of them. Even if Dexter Strickland was the only one who scored over two points, they all contributed in some way, with John Henson blocking 4 shots - all coming out of nowhere, and The Wear Twins chipping in with solid defense. Dexter Strickland was awesome. He was aggressive, poised, and played some solid defense.
2. Super Sophomores. The freshman were good, but the sophomores were outstanding. Larry Drew II, in his last two games has almost made me forget about Ty Lawson. Ok, not quite, but he has been pretty Ty Lawson-like. He is shooting the ball with confidence and finding open teammates for easy buckets. Ed Davis played how every major broadcaster thought he would and showed more of his potential and why he was projected as a top 5 pick in the draft. I still think Deon Thompson is the man for this team, but Ed Davis is a pretty good sidekick.
Overall, great game for the Heels and we see what they can be. Hopefully, they can keep up the pace.
I look at this game as a tale of two halves and two teams: potential team vs inexperienced team. The first half was amazing and proves that this team can hang with anyone in the country. Michigan State was picked to win the Big Ten and was supposed to be one of the front runners for the national title in April. But after a Dexter Strickland dagger at the end of the half, there stood the young Heels up 16 points, proving that North Carolina has the potential and ability to play with anyone. This game was especially encouraging with some big games looming against Kentucky and Texas. Neither one of these is a guaranteed win, because we have the second half to talk about.
The second half represented the inexperienced team. I say inexperienced because of the silly mistakes like not getting back on transition defense, missing free throws, and Deon Thompson for three?!?! Part of this inexperienced is the fact that MUS is a good team as noted above and you knew they would make a run at some point and North Carolina could not shoot 64% for the whole game. The whole half wasn't awful, just a little sloppy because UNC started off strong, pushing the lead up to 19 points before the sloppiness began.
Things I didn't like:
1. Transition defense. I can't recall a team beating North Carolina down the court for easy buckets. Sure, a team will get an occasional basket, but MSU was doing more times in this game than I can recall all last year.
2. Turnovers. Yes, shocking, but it wasn't the number of turnovers, but it was the fact that of the 17 turnovers, 14 were from the starters, the more experienced of the team, but also Michigan State had 15 steals off of those 17 turnovers. I can handle the turnovers, but lets not give up the ball off steals.
Things I liked:
1. Freshman domination. If the freshman were waiting to show up, they picked a good time. I was very pleased with all of them. Even if Dexter Strickland was the only one who scored over two points, they all contributed in some way, with John Henson blocking 4 shots - all coming out of nowhere, and The Wear Twins chipping in with solid defense. Dexter Strickland was awesome. He was aggressive, poised, and played some solid defense.
2. Super Sophomores. The freshman were good, but the sophomores were outstanding. Larry Drew II, in his last two games has almost made me forget about Ty Lawson. Ok, not quite, but he has been pretty Ty Lawson-like. He is shooting the ball with confidence and finding open teammates for easy buckets. Ed Davis played how every major broadcaster thought he would and showed more of his potential and why he was projected as a top 5 pick in the draft. I still think Deon Thompson is the man for this team, but Ed Davis is a pretty good sidekick.
Overall, great game for the Heels and we see what they can be. Hopefully, they can keep up the pace.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Well, That Was Easy
Maybe Isaiah Thomas should have kept pleading to play Ohio State. Honestly, though it didn’t matter who they played, they were going to lose. This game turned out like a lot of us thought it would, with the Heels blowing out FIU, Deon Thompson doing a lot of the heavy lifting, and some careless turnovers by the team.If this game were mid-season, I might be upset, but I’d like to think that I’m a little more mature than that. 26 turnovers are very unlikeable, but 4 were from the end of the bench in the last few minutes. Not to say that 22 is all that much better, but first, this team has only had 16 practices together, with an apparently new offense; 5 of these players are freshman, playing in their first college game on the grandest stage in college basketball.
I think there are a lot of positives to this game: first, it was a win, which is always a good thing. Secondly, I thought the defense played very well. 10 Steals and 8 blocks are pretty good, even against a weaker team. Half of those blocks came from Ed Davis and opponents will definitely be wary when they drive the lane with him in the game. Although there were no major scoring threats on the other team, I thought the perimeter defense was solid as well, especially considering the fact that the big guys had to shuffle their feet a bit guarding some smaller, quicker players.
Things I liked:
1. Deon Thompson. I thought he had a great game and if he can a consistent force for this year’s team, then we are talking All-ACC first team and possibly player of the year because I’m still not sold on Kyle Singler winning it. Roy said he didn’t need to be Tyler Hansbrough, but it didn’t look too much different. I’d like to see him finish with contact a bit more, but we’ll see. I am also pleased with his free throws because that has been a weak point for him in the past. Isaiah Thomas said that Thompson was as good as any big man in the NBA right now. I wouldn’t go that far, but he looked sharp and I hope it continues.
2. Larry Drew II. Pretty good game from the Ty Lawson clone. Actually, he wasn’t even close to Lawson and that’s fine because he doesn’t need to be. I think a good statement game for him to show that he can fill the point guard shoes. He hit a three pointer to prove that he can and had some nice dishes and only 2 turnovers. I especially liked his little drive and dish to Thompson in the second half and the little scoop layup he had. Pretty snazzy stuff.
3. Throw backs uniforms. I can’t say that they looked that good in the 50’s, but I think they look pretty nice in the modern day style. Really wouldn’t mind seeing them again in the future.
4. Bench play. Specifically, the 2 sophomores off the bench, Justin Watts and Tyler Zeller. I was blown away by how well Watts played and he looked as if he had improved quite a bit from his first year. His dunk in garbage time was pretty sick too, but he played very well and hope he can continue and give the backcourt a little boost every once in awhile.
Things I didn’t like:
1. Turnovers. As I said earlier, if this were mid-season, I would be a bit more upset, but I’m not. I would like to see the Heels limit the turnovers more, but it could have been worse – somehow.
2. 3 point shooting. I know, the two biggest question marks coming into this season, but this was the number of three pointers taken. The Heels were really sinking them at the beginning, but then cooled off quite a bit. Let’s not fall in love with the 3 ball early because nobody has proven they can deliver.
Overall, not bad for the Heels. Lots of room for potential improvement, especially with some big games looming in the next 2 months. Welcome back Marcus Ginyard. You did a fine David Noel impression.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Check This
Holy lots of information. I was checking out some of the Tar Heel sites today and came across this one from Tar Heel Fan Blog. It's from some observers who watch practice after Roy's Coaching Clinic and there is a ton of analysis about the current Tar Heel team. I'll post the whole piece below and then have some comments about it.
A work in progress.
Those are the words from Roy Williams himself. After spending two practices watching the Tar Heels, I would agree. Let’s just say that it’s a good thing the Final Four isn’t any time soon. This team has a chance to be very, very good. Up front, they’re huge. And they all run. And they all handle the ball extremely well. And…….you get the picture. I’ll elaborate more on the personnel in a bit, but the strength of this year’s team will be the 6 guys in the front court. If those six play well, UNC could have a terrific year.
Going in to this season, there are some assumptions I think we’re all making. First, shooting the ball will be a problem. Second, it’s unclear how effective Larry Drew will be as the starting point guard. Third, while Deon Thompson has shown nice promise as a low post threat, the Tar Heels will have to develop a true replacement for Tyler Hansbrough on offense. Fourth, despite their youth the Heels look to be a good defensive team.
Before going in to specifics, here a few overall observations. Marcus Ginyard looks good. Defensively, he’s everywhere. He’s tone, he’s lost a little weight, and he can really guard the ball. The five rookies are all no-nonsense guys. They all take basketball seriously and it shows. Roy Williams is catering to Will Graves (I’ll elaborate in a bit). Larry Drew has the tools to be a top-flight point guard, but his experience level is so low that his maturation may take a while (like, the whole season).
So, after a sort of pessimistic start to this email let’s talk about some things UNC will be good at this year. Rebounding should be a major plus for the Heels. The Big 6 and Ginyard will be a formidable board group (these six consist of Deon Thompson, Ed Davis, Tyler Zeller, and freshmen John Henson, David Wear, and Travis Wear). More importantly, the Tar Heel coaching staff is emphasizing crashing the glass. During the sessions of the clinic on Saturday, both Roy and C.B. McGrath talked about how critical rebounding will be to UNC’s success. The other clear advantage Carolina will have over virtually every team it plays this year may come as a surprise. The Heels should be the best ball-handling team on the floor every night. Typically a young team will kick the ball all over the gym for a while. In 2005, I was almost depressed leaving the clinic weekend after watching Bobby Frasor, Danny Green, Hansbrough, and Ginyard throw the ball in to the third row for two days. Thankfully I didn’t have to suffer through the same thing this year.
Ok, let’s dive in to some specifics. The best place to start is with the new offense that Roy is installing. Let me say that again. The University of North Carolina Men ’s basketball team is going to use an offense it has never used in my lifetime (or before, I imagine). The genesis of this new offense came a few weeks ago during the staff’s annual retreat. Each year the basketball staff gets out of the office just before practice starts to discuss the upcoming season. This year’s retreat focused on trying to figure out what to do with all the new bodies. Answer: They have no idea (this is almost the exact quote from Roy ). But, one thing that came out of the retreat was the realization that there are no proven low post scorers on this team. Sure, Ed Davis could be awesome. And Deon Thompson could come on big-time. Tyler Zeller may be improved too. But none of those guys is Hansbrough. It was the most glaring issue I saw in the two practices – a slew of big guys who can’t finish in traffic. Hansbrough made his living carrying people to the bucket, and then to the foul line. To paraphrase a line from Rick Pitino, Tyler Hansbrough ain’t walking through that door. Somehow, some way, Carolina is going to have to get consistent production from it’s stable of big guys.
Roy and his staff figure the best way to do that is to play to the strength of its post players. Without question, the greatest strength of this group is their ability to handle the basketball. So, when you have good ball-handling post guys what do you do? You let them handle the ball. And that’s exactly what Roy is going to do with the new offense. Instead of trying to slam the ball in to the post to players that aren’t able to finish with defenders draped all over them, he’s going to bring those big guys out away from the basket. In the new offense – which is still driven by Carolina ’s age-old motion offense principles – the post guys will start at the foul line extended. The three perimeter players will be in roughly the same places they have been. The goal is to open up the lane to allow cutters and drivers. This should create fantastic passing opportunities for UNC’s big folks. In particular, the Wears, Zeller and Henson are superb passers. Henson and the Wears are equally as good off the dribble too. Frankly, it was stunning to see the Wears handle the ball like guards. Those are two big dudes, but they can really handle the rock. They aren’t going to blow past any guards or win any Cousy awards, but I doubt there are any big guys in the country who pass and dribble as effectively as they do.
A hidden benefit of the new “open” offense (that’s its name) is the offensive rebounding advantage it should give the Heels. It’s one thing for the defense to check out a guy in limited space near or under the goal. It’s an entirely different thing for a defensive big to have to guard away from the bucket and then turn to box out 15 feet from where the ball will end up. Most big guys will just turn and follow the ball, giving no thought to putting a body on Carolina ’s bigs. For Davis , Henson, and the Wears (especially the Wears) that will be trouble for the opposition.
Another plus for the new offense centers on the ability of UNC’s big guys to knock down the mid-range jumper. Henson, Zeller, and David Wear are extremely good shooters near the foul line. In fact, David Wear could be a huge threat from 3 if he’s left alone. That big boy can really shoot. If he’s open, he’s gonna knock down a slew of 3’s. As you can probably tell, I’m a big fan of this type of offense. Larry Drew should thrive. He won’t have to be depended on to feed the post. Instead, he can concentrate on what he does best – drive and dish. If Drew had to run a set play each time down it would be a long year for all of us. Clearly, Roy has figured that out too.
It’s not a definite (according to Roy ) that the Heels will stick with this new offense. But, my gut is that he likes it enough already to keep it. They worked on it both days in practice and the players very much like being able to operate with increased space through the lane. So what wonderful things will this offense bring? I would get used to seeing lots of face-up jumpers by post guys, lots of drive-and-dish buckets, and (hopefully) lots of follow slams. What you aren’t likely to see too much of is what we’ve been used to during Roy’s tenure in Chapel Hill – traditional post baskets from a traditional post feed, and early three-point shots created by the secondary break.
The elephant in the room, of course, is the whole “can they shoot?” question. The answer to that depends on who’s shooting and where they’re shooting from. Just to eliminate the suspense – this is a poor perimeter shooting squad. There is no way to candy-coat it – they just can’t shoot. The Heels went about 30 minutes of practice time – both days – without making a jump shot of any kind. Ugly is a word that comes to mind. I guess the best way to say it is that this team is, and will continue to be, offensively challenged at times. The one guy who can shoot is a bit of a head-case – Will Graves. But as with Rasheed Wallace, Vince Carter, Rashad McCants, and Danny Green, the Heels have managed to win a lot of games with head-cases. Unfortunately, Graves is no where near the player those guys were. Yet, amazingly, Roy has him in the starting lineup right now. I have to be honest – I don’t get it. Graves looks improved, but not that much improved. But Roy talked at some length about not giving up on players. He said that while most days he feels like “punching Will Graves in the face with his ring”, he isn’t going to give up on him. Roy even went as far as to say he’s trying to give Graves more confidence. Well, I would think making Graves a starter would accomplish that in spades. The reality, though, is that Graves is not a starter. He just doesn’t bring enough to the table. Defensively, he’s a liability. He doesn’t rebound well (and he should given his size and strength), he doesn’t handle the ball well, and he lacks the savvy of most of the other players. The one thing he can do, and do well at times, is shoot the 3. But he’s no Danny or Wayne. He’s a good reserve to have, but a starter? I don’t think so.
Aside from watching the new offense, two other things were fantastic to watch. First, this could be a special team defensively. To be fair, some of the poor shooting I saw was the result of some good defense. Guys are there on every catch, there were very few blow-bys, and most of the rotations were sound. Given the fact that these were practices 7 and 8, it was remarkable that they would be so sound defensively. Sure, there is a ton of teaching going on and they don’t do everything perfectly on every pass or drive. But, they get after it. After what we’ve seen the last three years, it was refreshing to see a team really go hard on defense. Even Roy had to comment on the lack of defense in previous seasons, specifically last year. When asked by a high school coach how you motivate players, Roy used last year’s gang as an example of needing the players to believe in the importance of what you’re teaching in order for the motivation to kick in. According to Roy , he could sense that his guys just didn’t think they needed to play much D last year. No matter how much he talked about it, they just “stunk”…..until the NCAA tournament. Then, the motivation kicked in and defense mattered. Consequently, Carolina obliterated the field. This year I doubt Roy will have to cajole his team in to playing defense. Last year’s team was the most efficient offensive group I’ve seen in more than 30 years of watching Carolina basketball. This year’s team? Not so much. So…I bet Roy has their attention when he preaches defense. Given what I saw this weekend, I know he does.
Second, I was blown away by just how smart the rookies are. All five of them possess well above average basketball IQ. The best example of this is the lack of making the same mistake repeatedly. I’ll reference the ’05-‘06 group again. That year, they all made the same mistake time after time (after time after time….and they was a fairly smart bunch). This year, all Roy had to do was make the correction and keep moving. There is no way to overstate just how valuable this will be to the Heels as the year progresses. I watched the rookies get on the floor as a group and run through six options of the secondary break, and do it flawlessly. To be able to do this during the FIRST week of practice is incredible. To underscore this a bit more, after the first practice of the year Dexter Strickland came up to Roy and asked how he did and what he needed to work on. Roy was caught off guard, “I’m worried about whether he’ll have his pants on the right way, and he’s asking me what he needs to work on”. I promise you, Ty Lawson and Danny Green weren’t thinking about what they needed to work on after their first practices.
With that, here are player break-downs (beginning with the starters):
Larry Drew – He’s improved, that much is clear. But he’s not a good shooter. He’ll make a few 3’s, but he won’t make many. I think his biggest issue right now is his need to show that he’s the man. If he’ll just blend in he’ll be fine. He showed good ability to get in the lane, and he can finish. As I mentioned above, his best asset is his knack for getting in to the lane and finding the right guy at the right time. I was pleased with one thing: He didn’t turn it over much, and never above the key (where it almost always leads to a layup on the other end). Larry’s real value will come with the pressure he can put on the other team’s guards. He still struggles a bit off the ball, but on the ball he can be a menace.
Marcus Ginyard – Marcus is the same old Marcus. This is both good and bad. Defensively, he’s a beast. He’s good off the ball, he’s a terror when he’s guarding you, and he crashes the glass with authority. I’d be shocked if he isn’t the defensive player of the year in the ACC. Offensively he’s got a ways to go, sadly. He really has no jumper. You can tell he’s worked on it, but you can also tell he’s not all that confident in it. He is, however, a much improved ball-handler. Not that he was ever bad, but he is much more comfortable with the ball in his hands than he ever has been. Technically, he’s the third point guard. But I would not be shocked to see him at PG in late game situations.
Will Graves – (Shaking my head). Part of me understands what Roy is doing here. The Heels need a three point threat, they need an experienced perimeter player, and Graves is one of the few Tar Heels that can score with a defender hanging on him. But..but..but….Graves is just not the answer. Henson or Leslie McDonald are much better options. What scares me is that historically Roy doesn’t change his lineup once the season begins. If Graves starts the first game there is a better than 50-50 chance he’ll be there all year. That worries me.
Deon Thompson – Two good practices. Deon has picked it up a great deal on the glass. And that is no small feat given who he’s competing against for every rebound. He’s in fantastic shape, and his hands have improved too. He still has trouble scoring in traffic, but he has no trouble operating one-on-one away from the basket. The new offense suits him.
Tyler Zeller – You’re reading this correctly – Zeller instead of Davis .. I think this one is temporary. Davis is not in great shape right now, and he had two lackluster practices. Zeller was equally unimpressive too. He is bigger and stronger though, which is a big plus for him. And he can shoot (one of the few Heels that can). But Davis is better, and the whole world knows it. From what I could tell, Roy is sending Ed a subtle message.
Ed Davis – So, how do you follow-up a stellar NCAA tournament that culminated in a clutch title performance? By being demoted. Again, this is going to be temporary. Davis has a better face-up game now, and he’s just as imposing as a shot-blocker as he was last year. By all accounts, Ed has never been a great practice guy. But when the lights come on he’s a monster. Still, he’ll need to pick it up a bit over the next week or so.
John Henson – Big-time player. I could go through a bunch of “Wow” moments with Henson, but there are two that stand out. On two separate occasions he was matched up with a true guard and had to defend them on the perimeter (Ginyard and Graves ). Each time, Henson stripped them both. Stunning, very stunning. Henson is a playmaker, pure and simple. He’ll block a shot, make a steal, attack the glass, or make a fantastic hi-lo feed to create and easy basket. His skill set is wide. If he doesn’t start over Will Graves I’ll be disappointed. Based on what I saw, he’s already earned it. If he does, no one will be able to handle him – he’s a 6’9 guy with the reach of a 7’1 guy, and the skills of a 6’3 guy. Big-time player indeed.
Dexter Strickland – Dex was moving slow. And that’s to be expected. He’s the back-up point guard and he’s trying to learn a lot. Still, he’s a big-time player too. The thing with Strickland – and I noticed this last year when I saw him play in high school – is that he just doesn’t screw up. He doesn’t turn it over, he doesn’t take bad shots, and he doesn’t get beat on defense. And athletically he’s in the near-freak range. His speed, quickness, and “want to” make him a superior defender even as a freshman. His shot can be good, but I’m not sure he’ll be ready to fire until he can get a little more comfortable mentally. Given how smart he is, though, my money says he gets comfortable pretty quick.
Leslie McDonald – Along with the Wears, McDonald was the nicest surprise. Leslie is Marcus Ginyard with solid offensive skills. He can shoot it decently, he can slash with effectiveness, and does a nice job of finishing in traffic. Defensively he can play too. He’s built like Jackie Manuel, and at times I thought Jackie was running around out on the floor. He’s going to get minutes at the 2 and 3. I like this guy a lot.
David and Travis Wear – I debated on whether to separate these guys in this section. No need – they play almost exactly alike. Which is to say, they’re both really good. I can’t get over how skilled they are with the ball in their hands. At 6’9, you’d think they would not be comfortable on the perimeter. Not so. They are going create a bunch of matchup problems for just about every team UNC plays. David is the better shooter, Travis is the better defender. Both of them are willing to bang. If a team wants to press the Heels, there is no doubt these guys will be in the game.
Justin Watts – Justin has really improved. He has a decent shot and he’s not afraid to stick his nose in on defense and on the glass. For a 12th man, Watts is fantastic.
Normally I wouldn’t mention the walk-ons too much. But I have to say, this year’s group is exceptional. Marc Campbell is now a senior and he’s not bad. He has good quickness and knows exactly what to do. The star of this group is a guy they call T.P. (settle down…it’s not that funny). This dude is fast, fast, fast. He had several moments where you had to check his number to make sure it wasn’t Strickland or Drew. If he’s in at the end of some blow-outs he’s going to get some steals and run-outs. With Campbell , Watts , and T.P, the last 2-3 minutes of the run-away wins are going to be fun. Those three guys can flat-out play, and there are two other guys who are pretty good too. I’d say that this is the best group of walk-ons I’ve ever seen at UNC in all my years of going to this clinic.
Time to sum up. This year’s team thinks it can be good. In fact, Roy was all over them during the two days. He wouldn’t be that way if he wasn’t convinced that they could be good too. The Heels must find a way to create offense from defense. The good news is that this shouldn’t be a problem. The perimeter defenders are awfully good. More importantly, with Zeller, Henson, and Davis protecting the basket, the opposition will have a hard time getting easy baskets in the half-court. Some teams may think this is the year to run with the Carolina . That would be a mistake.
Ultimately, UNC is going to see a bunch of zone. Both practices included zone offense segments, which is early for Roy . The Heels don’t need to knock down a bunch of 3’s, but they need one or two a half to go down. Otherwise, the lane will be full of defenders. “Open” will help, but not as much as a timely 3 here and there.
The schedule is not kind to UNC early. There are a ton of tough games right out of the gate. If the Heels can survive and get to January, they’ll be very difficult to beat. As long as Larry Drew is not exposed, and assuming they figure out how to make a jump shot, it’s not far-fetched to believe the Tar Heels could wind up in Indy. Again, the post players will carry this team. If that group will rebound and defend, things will be fine. Best case, 27-4 in the regular season. Worst case, 23-8. Somewhere in between is likely. If you really want to be an optimist, if the Heels manage to make four or five 3’s a game (they averaged just under 7 a game last year, Kenny I had this one wrong), they’ll lose very rarely.
Settle in quick. The season starts two weeks from Monday. Hallelujah.
Yeah, like I said a lot of information. First thought is why is Graves starting over Henson? When I come across situations where I think Roy does not know what he is doing, I remind myself that the guy has won nearly 600 games and has two championship rings. I have won ZERO games and ZERO championships. I really would like Henson to start, but what I like and what Roy likes are obviously different things and I know Williams has his reason for doing so. One fact to keep in mind is that this was early on in the practice schedule, so maybe Williams wanted experience (be it little). Another thought is that Graves would do better over starting rather than coming off the bench. I feel this is just an excuse for players. I know Rashad McCants used it before when playing for North Carolina, but that's my opinion. Even one more thought is the fact that Graves could theoretically stretch the defense farther out and open up more space for the bigs down low, but with the new offense that seems to be in place, I'm not sure if that matters as much.
Secondly, the offense may struggle finding shooters, but isn't one of the traits of a Roy Williams-coached team is the fast break? Plus, if the defense is better, they should be able to force more turnovers, thus leading to easy buckets, right?
Thirdly, if the rookies have as smart of an IQ as the writer stated they did, then hopefully the learning curve throughout the season will be slimmer. I am especially impressed with the Wear twins because I didn't think they would see a lot of minutes - not to say that they are going to get 15 minutes per game, but I really didn't think they would see the floor much at all, and figured one of them could possibly red-shirt because of the plethera of bigs, but it seems they can contribute, so please, let the contributions come forth.
Fourthly, hallelujiah, the season starts Monday and we will see what happens.
A work in progress.
Those are the words from Roy Williams himself. After spending two practices watching the Tar Heels, I would agree. Let’s just say that it’s a good thing the Final Four isn’t any time soon. This team has a chance to be very, very good. Up front, they’re huge. And they all run. And they all handle the ball extremely well. And…….you get the picture. I’ll elaborate more on the personnel in a bit, but the strength of this year’s team will be the 6 guys in the front court. If those six play well, UNC could have a terrific year.
Going in to this season, there are some assumptions I think we’re all making. First, shooting the ball will be a problem. Second, it’s unclear how effective Larry Drew will be as the starting point guard. Third, while Deon Thompson has shown nice promise as a low post threat, the Tar Heels will have to develop a true replacement for Tyler Hansbrough on offense. Fourth, despite their youth the Heels look to be a good defensive team.
Before going in to specifics, here a few overall observations. Marcus Ginyard looks good. Defensively, he’s everywhere. He’s tone, he’s lost a little weight, and he can really guard the ball. The five rookies are all no-nonsense guys. They all take basketball seriously and it shows. Roy Williams is catering to Will Graves (I’ll elaborate in a bit). Larry Drew has the tools to be a top-flight point guard, but his experience level is so low that his maturation may take a while (like, the whole season).
So, after a sort of pessimistic start to this email let’s talk about some things UNC will be good at this year. Rebounding should be a major plus for the Heels. The Big 6 and Ginyard will be a formidable board group (these six consist of Deon Thompson, Ed Davis, Tyler Zeller, and freshmen John Henson, David Wear, and Travis Wear). More importantly, the Tar Heel coaching staff is emphasizing crashing the glass. During the sessions of the clinic on Saturday, both Roy and C.B. McGrath talked about how critical rebounding will be to UNC’s success. The other clear advantage Carolina will have over virtually every team it plays this year may come as a surprise. The Heels should be the best ball-handling team on the floor every night. Typically a young team will kick the ball all over the gym for a while. In 2005, I was almost depressed leaving the clinic weekend after watching Bobby Frasor, Danny Green, Hansbrough, and Ginyard throw the ball in to the third row for two days. Thankfully I didn’t have to suffer through the same thing this year.
Ok, let’s dive in to some specifics. The best place to start is with the new offense that Roy is installing. Let me say that again. The University of North Carolina Men ’s basketball team is going to use an offense it has never used in my lifetime (or before, I imagine). The genesis of this new offense came a few weeks ago during the staff’s annual retreat. Each year the basketball staff gets out of the office just before practice starts to discuss the upcoming season. This year’s retreat focused on trying to figure out what to do with all the new bodies. Answer: They have no idea (this is almost the exact quote from Roy ). But, one thing that came out of the retreat was the realization that there are no proven low post scorers on this team. Sure, Ed Davis could be awesome. And Deon Thompson could come on big-time. Tyler Zeller may be improved too. But none of those guys is Hansbrough. It was the most glaring issue I saw in the two practices – a slew of big guys who can’t finish in traffic. Hansbrough made his living carrying people to the bucket, and then to the foul line. To paraphrase a line from Rick Pitino, Tyler Hansbrough ain’t walking through that door. Somehow, some way, Carolina is going to have to get consistent production from it’s stable of big guys.
Roy and his staff figure the best way to do that is to play to the strength of its post players. Without question, the greatest strength of this group is their ability to handle the basketball. So, when you have good ball-handling post guys what do you do? You let them handle the ball. And that’s exactly what Roy is going to do with the new offense. Instead of trying to slam the ball in to the post to players that aren’t able to finish with defenders draped all over them, he’s going to bring those big guys out away from the basket. In the new offense – which is still driven by Carolina ’s age-old motion offense principles – the post guys will start at the foul line extended. The three perimeter players will be in roughly the same places they have been. The goal is to open up the lane to allow cutters and drivers. This should create fantastic passing opportunities for UNC’s big folks. In particular, the Wears, Zeller and Henson are superb passers. Henson and the Wears are equally as good off the dribble too. Frankly, it was stunning to see the Wears handle the ball like guards. Those are two big dudes, but they can really handle the rock. They aren’t going to blow past any guards or win any Cousy awards, but I doubt there are any big guys in the country who pass and dribble as effectively as they do.
A hidden benefit of the new “open” offense (that’s its name) is the offensive rebounding advantage it should give the Heels. It’s one thing for the defense to check out a guy in limited space near or under the goal. It’s an entirely different thing for a defensive big to have to guard away from the bucket and then turn to box out 15 feet from where the ball will end up. Most big guys will just turn and follow the ball, giving no thought to putting a body on Carolina ’s bigs. For Davis , Henson, and the Wears (especially the Wears) that will be trouble for the opposition.
Another plus for the new offense centers on the ability of UNC’s big guys to knock down the mid-range jumper. Henson, Zeller, and David Wear are extremely good shooters near the foul line. In fact, David Wear could be a huge threat from 3 if he’s left alone. That big boy can really shoot. If he’s open, he’s gonna knock down a slew of 3’s. As you can probably tell, I’m a big fan of this type of offense. Larry Drew should thrive. He won’t have to be depended on to feed the post. Instead, he can concentrate on what he does best – drive and dish. If Drew had to run a set play each time down it would be a long year for all of us. Clearly, Roy has figured that out too.
It’s not a definite (according to Roy ) that the Heels will stick with this new offense. But, my gut is that he likes it enough already to keep it. They worked on it both days in practice and the players very much like being able to operate with increased space through the lane. So what wonderful things will this offense bring? I would get used to seeing lots of face-up jumpers by post guys, lots of drive-and-dish buckets, and (hopefully) lots of follow slams. What you aren’t likely to see too much of is what we’ve been used to during Roy’s tenure in Chapel Hill – traditional post baskets from a traditional post feed, and early three-point shots created by the secondary break.
The elephant in the room, of course, is the whole “can they shoot?” question. The answer to that depends on who’s shooting and where they’re shooting from. Just to eliminate the suspense – this is a poor perimeter shooting squad. There is no way to candy-coat it – they just can’t shoot. The Heels went about 30 minutes of practice time – both days – without making a jump shot of any kind. Ugly is a word that comes to mind. I guess the best way to say it is that this team is, and will continue to be, offensively challenged at times. The one guy who can shoot is a bit of a head-case – Will Graves. But as with Rasheed Wallace, Vince Carter, Rashad McCants, and Danny Green, the Heels have managed to win a lot of games with head-cases. Unfortunately, Graves is no where near the player those guys were. Yet, amazingly, Roy has him in the starting lineup right now. I have to be honest – I don’t get it. Graves looks improved, but not that much improved. But Roy talked at some length about not giving up on players. He said that while most days he feels like “punching Will Graves in the face with his ring”, he isn’t going to give up on him. Roy even went as far as to say he’s trying to give Graves more confidence. Well, I would think making Graves a starter would accomplish that in spades. The reality, though, is that Graves is not a starter. He just doesn’t bring enough to the table. Defensively, he’s a liability. He doesn’t rebound well (and he should given his size and strength), he doesn’t handle the ball well, and he lacks the savvy of most of the other players. The one thing he can do, and do well at times, is shoot the 3. But he’s no Danny or Wayne. He’s a good reserve to have, but a starter? I don’t think so.
Aside from watching the new offense, two other things were fantastic to watch. First, this could be a special team defensively. To be fair, some of the poor shooting I saw was the result of some good defense. Guys are there on every catch, there were very few blow-bys, and most of the rotations were sound. Given the fact that these were practices 7 and 8, it was remarkable that they would be so sound defensively. Sure, there is a ton of teaching going on and they don’t do everything perfectly on every pass or drive. But, they get after it. After what we’ve seen the last three years, it was refreshing to see a team really go hard on defense. Even Roy had to comment on the lack of defense in previous seasons, specifically last year. When asked by a high school coach how you motivate players, Roy used last year’s gang as an example of needing the players to believe in the importance of what you’re teaching in order for the motivation to kick in. According to Roy , he could sense that his guys just didn’t think they needed to play much D last year. No matter how much he talked about it, they just “stunk”…..until the NCAA tournament. Then, the motivation kicked in and defense mattered. Consequently, Carolina obliterated the field. This year I doubt Roy will have to cajole his team in to playing defense. Last year’s team was the most efficient offensive group I’ve seen in more than 30 years of watching Carolina basketball. This year’s team? Not so much. So…I bet Roy has their attention when he preaches defense. Given what I saw this weekend, I know he does.
Second, I was blown away by just how smart the rookies are. All five of them possess well above average basketball IQ. The best example of this is the lack of making the same mistake repeatedly. I’ll reference the ’05-‘06 group again. That year, they all made the same mistake time after time (after time after time….and they was a fairly smart bunch). This year, all Roy had to do was make the correction and keep moving. There is no way to overstate just how valuable this will be to the Heels as the year progresses. I watched the rookies get on the floor as a group and run through six options of the secondary break, and do it flawlessly. To be able to do this during the FIRST week of practice is incredible. To underscore this a bit more, after the first practice of the year Dexter Strickland came up to Roy and asked how he did and what he needed to work on. Roy was caught off guard, “I’m worried about whether he’ll have his pants on the right way, and he’s asking me what he needs to work on”. I promise you, Ty Lawson and Danny Green weren’t thinking about what they needed to work on after their first practices.
With that, here are player break-downs (beginning with the starters):
Larry Drew – He’s improved, that much is clear. But he’s not a good shooter. He’ll make a few 3’s, but he won’t make many. I think his biggest issue right now is his need to show that he’s the man. If he’ll just blend in he’ll be fine. He showed good ability to get in the lane, and he can finish. As I mentioned above, his best asset is his knack for getting in to the lane and finding the right guy at the right time. I was pleased with one thing: He didn’t turn it over much, and never above the key (where it almost always leads to a layup on the other end). Larry’s real value will come with the pressure he can put on the other team’s guards. He still struggles a bit off the ball, but on the ball he can be a menace.
Marcus Ginyard – Marcus is the same old Marcus. This is both good and bad. Defensively, he’s a beast. He’s good off the ball, he’s a terror when he’s guarding you, and he crashes the glass with authority. I’d be shocked if he isn’t the defensive player of the year in the ACC. Offensively he’s got a ways to go, sadly. He really has no jumper. You can tell he’s worked on it, but you can also tell he’s not all that confident in it. He is, however, a much improved ball-handler. Not that he was ever bad, but he is much more comfortable with the ball in his hands than he ever has been. Technically, he’s the third point guard. But I would not be shocked to see him at PG in late game situations.
Will Graves – (Shaking my head). Part of me understands what Roy is doing here. The Heels need a three point threat, they need an experienced perimeter player, and Graves is one of the few Tar Heels that can score with a defender hanging on him. But..but..but….Graves is just not the answer. Henson or Leslie McDonald are much better options. What scares me is that historically Roy doesn’t change his lineup once the season begins. If Graves starts the first game there is a better than 50-50 chance he’ll be there all year. That worries me.
Deon Thompson – Two good practices. Deon has picked it up a great deal on the glass. And that is no small feat given who he’s competing against for every rebound. He’s in fantastic shape, and his hands have improved too. He still has trouble scoring in traffic, but he has no trouble operating one-on-one away from the basket. The new offense suits him.
Tyler Zeller – You’re reading this correctly – Zeller instead of Davis .. I think this one is temporary. Davis is not in great shape right now, and he had two lackluster practices. Zeller was equally unimpressive too. He is bigger and stronger though, which is a big plus for him. And he can shoot (one of the few Heels that can). But Davis is better, and the whole world knows it. From what I could tell, Roy is sending Ed a subtle message.
Ed Davis – So, how do you follow-up a stellar NCAA tournament that culminated in a clutch title performance? By being demoted. Again, this is going to be temporary. Davis has a better face-up game now, and he’s just as imposing as a shot-blocker as he was last year. By all accounts, Ed has never been a great practice guy. But when the lights come on he’s a monster. Still, he’ll need to pick it up a bit over the next week or so.
John Henson – Big-time player. I could go through a bunch of “Wow” moments with Henson, but there are two that stand out. On two separate occasions he was matched up with a true guard and had to defend them on the perimeter (Ginyard and Graves ). Each time, Henson stripped them both. Stunning, very stunning. Henson is a playmaker, pure and simple. He’ll block a shot, make a steal, attack the glass, or make a fantastic hi-lo feed to create and easy basket. His skill set is wide. If he doesn’t start over Will Graves I’ll be disappointed. Based on what I saw, he’s already earned it. If he does, no one will be able to handle him – he’s a 6’9 guy with the reach of a 7’1 guy, and the skills of a 6’3 guy. Big-time player indeed.
Dexter Strickland – Dex was moving slow. And that’s to be expected. He’s the back-up point guard and he’s trying to learn a lot. Still, he’s a big-time player too. The thing with Strickland – and I noticed this last year when I saw him play in high school – is that he just doesn’t screw up. He doesn’t turn it over, he doesn’t take bad shots, and he doesn’t get beat on defense. And athletically he’s in the near-freak range. His speed, quickness, and “want to” make him a superior defender even as a freshman. His shot can be good, but I’m not sure he’ll be ready to fire until he can get a little more comfortable mentally. Given how smart he is, though, my money says he gets comfortable pretty quick.
Leslie McDonald – Along with the Wears, McDonald was the nicest surprise. Leslie is Marcus Ginyard with solid offensive skills. He can shoot it decently, he can slash with effectiveness, and does a nice job of finishing in traffic. Defensively he can play too. He’s built like Jackie Manuel, and at times I thought Jackie was running around out on the floor. He’s going to get minutes at the 2 and 3. I like this guy a lot.
David and Travis Wear – I debated on whether to separate these guys in this section. No need – they play almost exactly alike. Which is to say, they’re both really good. I can’t get over how skilled they are with the ball in their hands. At 6’9, you’d think they would not be comfortable on the perimeter. Not so. They are going create a bunch of matchup problems for just about every team UNC plays. David is the better shooter, Travis is the better defender. Both of them are willing to bang. If a team wants to press the Heels, there is no doubt these guys will be in the game.
Justin Watts – Justin has really improved. He has a decent shot and he’s not afraid to stick his nose in on defense and on the glass. For a 12th man, Watts is fantastic.
Normally I wouldn’t mention the walk-ons too much. But I have to say, this year’s group is exceptional. Marc Campbell is now a senior and he’s not bad. He has good quickness and knows exactly what to do. The star of this group is a guy they call T.P. (settle down…it’s not that funny). This dude is fast, fast, fast. He had several moments where you had to check his number to make sure it wasn’t Strickland or Drew. If he’s in at the end of some blow-outs he’s going to get some steals and run-outs. With Campbell , Watts , and T.P, the last 2-3 minutes of the run-away wins are going to be fun. Those three guys can flat-out play, and there are two other guys who are pretty good too. I’d say that this is the best group of walk-ons I’ve ever seen at UNC in all my years of going to this clinic.
Time to sum up. This year’s team thinks it can be good. In fact, Roy was all over them during the two days. He wouldn’t be that way if he wasn’t convinced that they could be good too. The Heels must find a way to create offense from defense. The good news is that this shouldn’t be a problem. The perimeter defenders are awfully good. More importantly, with Zeller, Henson, and Davis protecting the basket, the opposition will have a hard time getting easy baskets in the half-court. Some teams may think this is the year to run with the Carolina . That would be a mistake.
Ultimately, UNC is going to see a bunch of zone. Both practices included zone offense segments, which is early for Roy . The Heels don’t need to knock down a bunch of 3’s, but they need one or two a half to go down. Otherwise, the lane will be full of defenders. “Open” will help, but not as much as a timely 3 here and there.
The schedule is not kind to UNC early. There are a ton of tough games right out of the gate. If the Heels can survive and get to January, they’ll be very difficult to beat. As long as Larry Drew is not exposed, and assuming they figure out how to make a jump shot, it’s not far-fetched to believe the Tar Heels could wind up in Indy. Again, the post players will carry this team. If that group will rebound and defend, things will be fine. Best case, 27-4 in the regular season. Worst case, 23-8. Somewhere in between is likely. If you really want to be an optimist, if the Heels manage to make four or five 3’s a game (they averaged just under 7 a game last year, Kenny I had this one wrong), they’ll lose very rarely.
Settle in quick. The season starts two weeks from Monday. Hallelujah.
Yeah, like I said a lot of information. First thought is why is Graves starting over Henson? When I come across situations where I think Roy does not know what he is doing, I remind myself that the guy has won nearly 600 games and has two championship rings. I have won ZERO games and ZERO championships. I really would like Henson to start, but what I like and what Roy likes are obviously different things and I know Williams has his reason for doing so. One fact to keep in mind is that this was early on in the practice schedule, so maybe Williams wanted experience (be it little). Another thought is that Graves would do better over starting rather than coming off the bench. I feel this is just an excuse for players. I know Rashad McCants used it before when playing for North Carolina, but that's my opinion. Even one more thought is the fact that Graves could theoretically stretch the defense farther out and open up more space for the bigs down low, but with the new offense that seems to be in place, I'm not sure if that matters as much.
Secondly, the offense may struggle finding shooters, but isn't one of the traits of a Roy Williams-coached team is the fast break? Plus, if the defense is better, they should be able to force more turnovers, thus leading to easy buckets, right?
Thirdly, if the rookies have as smart of an IQ as the writer stated they did, then hopefully the learning curve throughout the season will be slimmer. I am especially impressed with the Wear twins because I didn't think they would see a lot of minutes - not to say that they are going to get 15 minutes per game, but I really didn't think they would see the floor much at all, and figured one of them could possibly red-shirt because of the plethera of bigs, but it seems they can contribute, so please, let the contributions come forth.
Fourthly, hallelujiah, the season starts Monday and we will see what happens.
Monday, October 12, 2009
Are You Hungy?
For more Tar Heel pre-season? It's hard to believe that Late Night with Roy Williams is on Friday, the 16th. I know I am eagerly waiting for it and I know the players have been working on their new skits for the evening of festivities via their Twitter pages. But we have more pre-season previews. One from Tar Heel Blue and the other from the FayObserver.
The one from Tar Heel Blue is quite lengthy, so I would encourage you to read it for yourself. It talks about the returning upper-classman and some of what Roy expects them to do. He did say that Marcus Ginyard would be starting at shooting guard, but would be expected to play up to four different positions. There is also a little preview about the freshman, with John Henson sticking out in my mind because Williams said he would probably be at the 3 spot and would be expected to block a lot of shots. Williams also said that this team could be one of the best shotblocking teams he has ever had. Scary!
The other piece from the Observer is all about Drew. Larry Drew knows he is under a bit of pressure, but understands his role and knows he doesn't have to be the man, but just play in the system and pick his spots. I have full faith in him, as does Roy Williams or he would have probably pushed more for a point guard in the offseason.
The article from the Observer did bring up a great point that I know I have found myself wrapped up in and maybe you have too. I often compare this upcoming team to the 05-06 team, but we expect this year's team to make a run to the Final Four. Lots of expectations for this team, but the 05-06 team didn't have any expectations. I remember Bracketology on ESPN had that team as a 9 seed in the tournament. UNC was picked 6th in the ACC. I'm not saying they can't make a substantial run towards the Final Four, but as Drew proved this past year and many others, on a team that relies on freshman, there will be some ups and downs all season. The 05-06 team might have been fun to watch, but the time they played Duke at UNC was one of those inexperienced games for the freshmen. That team ended up losing 8 games and the year after was torturous as a fan because, again, a team relied on so many young players, that the season had ups and downs and we ended up choking in the Elite 8, plus had enough close loses to last me for quite awhile. So be forewarned, it could be a bit of a struggle this year for this team. I am in no way saying it will be, but it could be. But my predictions are at least an Elite 8 appearance and #1 in the ACC. Go Heels!
The one from Tar Heel Blue is quite lengthy, so I would encourage you to read it for yourself. It talks about the returning upper-classman and some of what Roy expects them to do. He did say that Marcus Ginyard would be starting at shooting guard, but would be expected to play up to four different positions. There is also a little preview about the freshman, with John Henson sticking out in my mind because Williams said he would probably be at the 3 spot and would be expected to block a lot of shots. Williams also said that this team could be one of the best shotblocking teams he has ever had. Scary!
The other piece from the Observer is all about Drew. Larry Drew knows he is under a bit of pressure, but understands his role and knows he doesn't have to be the man, but just play in the system and pick his spots. I have full faith in him, as does Roy Williams or he would have probably pushed more for a point guard in the offseason.
The article from the Observer did bring up a great point that I know I have found myself wrapped up in and maybe you have too. I often compare this upcoming team to the 05-06 team, but we expect this year's team to make a run to the Final Four. Lots of expectations for this team, but the 05-06 team didn't have any expectations. I remember Bracketology on ESPN had that team as a 9 seed in the tournament. UNC was picked 6th in the ACC. I'm not saying they can't make a substantial run towards the Final Four, but as Drew proved this past year and many others, on a team that relies on freshman, there will be some ups and downs all season. The 05-06 team might have been fun to watch, but the time they played Duke at UNC was one of those inexperienced games for the freshmen. That team ended up losing 8 games and the year after was torturous as a fan because, again, a team relied on so many young players, that the season had ups and downs and we ended up choking in the Elite 8, plus had enough close loses to last me for quite awhile. So be forewarned, it could be a bit of a struggle this year for this team. I am in no way saying it will be, but it could be. But my predictions are at least an Elite 8 appearance and #1 in the ACC. Go Heels!
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Pre-season Goodies
Sorry, no Twitter updates today, but we are getting closer to the college basketball season and that means preview time around the main sports sites on the World Wide Web.
First up on the agenda is from Fox Sports with an ACC preview. This article touches on a few Tar Heel topics, such as the incoming freshman class, and one of the main story lines of Larry Drew taking over the reigns to the Roy Williams-coached talent train. They say that Drew has plenty of talent around him, but not sure about his talent. My only thought is that it is true about the talent around him, but I think he has enough talent and obviously Coach Williams has enough faith in him to let him lead, so I'm not worried.
Fox Sports also says that North Carolina will finish first in the ACC, which is my feeling as well. They also have no Tar Heel on the ACC first team, which I'm not sure will happen and I find it outrageous that FS is picking Kyle Singler to be Player of the Year. I'm not sure about that and that may be a more default pick then anything else because there doesn't seem to be an outright favorite to win this year.
North Carolina also is highlighted with the three top non-conference games, with the games against Kentucky (with the all-time wins record on the line?), Michigan State, and Texas. Yeah, a big-named schedule this year, plus through in the ACC.
The other pre-season blurb is from Sportsline with their top 26 (yeah, I know), with the Heels coming in at #5. This is what is says:
It seems crazy that a program could lose Tyler Hansbrough, Ty Lawson, Wayne Ellington and Danny Green and still be ranked in the top five. But this is UNC under Roy Williams, and the cupboard is never bare. The only concern is at point guard, where Larry Drew is the option, but only by default.
This is all a credit to Roy Williams ability to recruit. I have full faith in him as a coach and recruiter and realize that the only way UNC could go 8-20 anytime soon would have to be with Williams taking a leave of absence or we have to play only walk-ons for the year. Again the Larry Drew issue comes up, but I've already addressed it, so I won't waste your time by having you read it again.
First up on the agenda is from Fox Sports with an ACC preview. This article touches on a few Tar Heel topics, such as the incoming freshman class, and one of the main story lines of Larry Drew taking over the reigns to the Roy Williams-coached talent train. They say that Drew has plenty of talent around him, but not sure about his talent. My only thought is that it is true about the talent around him, but I think he has enough talent and obviously Coach Williams has enough faith in him to let him lead, so I'm not worried.
Fox Sports also says that North Carolina will finish first in the ACC, which is my feeling as well. They also have no Tar Heel on the ACC first team, which I'm not sure will happen and I find it outrageous that FS is picking Kyle Singler to be Player of the Year. I'm not sure about that and that may be a more default pick then anything else because there doesn't seem to be an outright favorite to win this year.
North Carolina also is highlighted with the three top non-conference games, with the games against Kentucky (with the all-time wins record on the line?), Michigan State, and Texas. Yeah, a big-named schedule this year, plus through in the ACC.
The other pre-season blurb is from Sportsline with their top 26 (yeah, I know), with the Heels coming in at #5. This is what is says:
It seems crazy that a program could lose Tyler Hansbrough, Ty Lawson, Wayne Ellington and Danny Green and still be ranked in the top five. But this is UNC under Roy Williams, and the cupboard is never bare. The only concern is at point guard, where Larry Drew is the option, but only by default.
This is all a credit to Roy Williams ability to recruit. I have full faith in him as a coach and recruiter and realize that the only way UNC could go 8-20 anytime soon would have to be with Williams taking a leave of absence or we have to play only walk-ons for the year. Again the Larry Drew issue comes up, but I've already addressed it, so I won't waste your time by having you read it again.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Tar Heel Tid-Bits
Just some random articles and my thoughts on them.*Dick Vitale put out his top 40 for the 09-10 season. UNC comes in at #8 and Vitale says that they will reload. Yes, UNC will most likely only have to reload now because they are in good shape. I know people have always said that Roy Williams is a great recruiter and a good coach, but I think he is an excellent recruiter and an excellent coach.
*Andy Katz put out his top 25 and has North Carolina at #5. He says this might be too high, but that a Roy Williams coached team doesn't often disappoint. I agree and think that this will be a good year.
*NBA Draft.net is an interesting website. I read it because it does a lot of scouting for me, but I find some of their material ridiculous. Nevertheless, they also produced a top 25 list and they included a projected starting line-up for next year's team. Interesting to note that they do not have Larry Drew II in the starting line-up, but rather, Leslie McDonald and Dexter Strickland, at SG and PG respectively. The only way I see that happening is if Drew gets injured or gets suspended for some very odd reason. I know Williams started Ty Lawson as a freshman for most of that season, but Lawson was a speed demon and I think Ol' Roy was looking at the big picture that Lawson would be better than Bobby Frasor in the future.
This time though, I think Roy will go with experience. I'm not saying that Strickland won't see some time at point, but I do not see him starting unless something crazy happens.
*That NBA Draft.net article got me thinking more about the starting lineup for the upcoming season. I have thought about this before, but I'm just not sure what is going to happen. Maybe there won't be a solid 34 game lineup all the time; maybe Coach Williams will mix it up somewhat. Maybe the 6 starters makes a comeback? I'm not really sure, but here is the lineup that I think will happen:
C - Ed Davis
PF - Deon Thompson
SF - Marcus Ginyard
SG - Leslie McDonald
PG - Larry Drew II
Here's a line-up that I would like to see at some point in the season:
C - Ed Davis
PF - Deon Thompson
SF - John Henson
SG - Marcus Ginyard
PG - Larry Drew II
Not a huge change, but it definitely makes the Heels talllllllll, with 3 players at 6'8" or taller. I'm really excited about Henson's potential this year. Rumor on the streets is that he is one of the three best players Williams has every recruited. That just sounds amazing for fans and awful for foes! Henson was a shooting guard as a junior because he was only 6'4" and then he grew 6 more inches, so he's got the height of a big man and the handles of a guard. I've heard people compare him to Kevin Durant. If he is anything like Kevin Durant was as a freshman then that would be stupendous! I'm going to like Henson; I just hope he sticks around for a while.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Top 5 Most Important Players Continued
So here are the rest of the top 5:
3. Deon Thompson is who I think is the third most important player for this upcoming season. In the first 12 games of this past season, Deon averaged 14.6 points per game. Now some games were with Tyler Hansbrough and some where not, but that's still a good amount for him to put up. In all 12 games, he scored in double figures, whereas in the last half of the season, he only averaged 8.8 points per game and only scored in double figures in 10 out of the last 26 games. Now a few things to consider here. 1. Deon Thompson was the fifth option on the floor as a starter. 2. Thompson also had the last 2 ACC players of the year on his team. 3. Deon is Deon and sometimes gets down on himself. This year, Deon needs to be the man for this team. I'm not sure if he would be the leading scorer or not on this team, but he needs to be up there because he has two years of starting experience and we all know what he is capable of this. Those first 12 games of last season were awesome to watch; Thompson was abusing people (Remember that dunk he had on Harongody in Maui?). Simple put, Deon Thompson needs to do the things he has shown he can do all season. He cannot be up and down; it is his turn to shine. I strongly believe that Deon can average 15 and 8 for this team, but he has to show it.
2. Larry Drew II is not Raymond Felton or Ty Lawson and right now, he doesn't need to be. He needs to be Larry Drew II. If he can play in his role and not force the issue, but play Roy Williams style and be the floor leader, not necessarily, the team leader, UNC will be successful. What I like about Drew is that he is a pass first guy and I always appreciate that as a fan. Ed Cota was one of my favorite players because he was a pass first (and often pass second) point guard. Now Lawson and Felton are more scorers, but they have had plenty of assists as well. Drew did not shoot well this past year, but from what Roy Williams has said, Drew has improved. But again, he does not have to be a scorer for this team to be successful. If he can limit turnovers and run the offense, he will be fine for us this year. I would also like to see Drew on the defensive end this year because from what I have heard, he's a good defender, but it's hard to see that in 2-3 minute spurts like he received this past year. That won't be an issue this year.
I'll reveal #1 later. It probably won't be a huge shocker, but you still keep reading, right?
3. Deon Thompson is who I think is the third most important player for this upcoming season. In the first 12 games of this past season, Deon averaged 14.6 points per game. Now some games were with Tyler Hansbrough and some where not, but that's still a good amount for him to put up. In all 12 games, he scored in double figures, whereas in the last half of the season, he only averaged 8.8 points per game and only scored in double figures in 10 out of the last 26 games. Now a few things to consider here. 1. Deon Thompson was the fifth option on the floor as a starter. 2. Thompson also had the last 2 ACC players of the year on his team. 3. Deon is Deon and sometimes gets down on himself. This year, Deon needs to be the man for this team. I'm not sure if he would be the leading scorer or not on this team, but he needs to be up there because he has two years of starting experience and we all know what he is capable of this. Those first 12 games of last season were awesome to watch; Thompson was abusing people (Remember that dunk he had on Harongody in Maui?). Simple put, Deon Thompson needs to do the things he has shown he can do all season. He cannot be up and down; it is his turn to shine. I strongly believe that Deon can average 15 and 8 for this team, but he has to show it.
2. Larry Drew II is not Raymond Felton or Ty Lawson and right now, he doesn't need to be. He needs to be Larry Drew II. If he can play in his role and not force the issue, but play Roy Williams style and be the floor leader, not necessarily, the team leader, UNC will be successful. What I like about Drew is that he is a pass first guy and I always appreciate that as a fan. Ed Cota was one of my favorite players because he was a pass first (and often pass second) point guard. Now Lawson and Felton are more scorers, but they have had plenty of assists as well. Drew did not shoot well this past year, but from what Roy Williams has said, Drew has improved. But again, he does not have to be a scorer for this team to be successful. If he can limit turnovers and run the offense, he will be fine for us this year. I would also like to see Drew on the defensive end this year because from what I have heard, he's a good defender, but it's hard to see that in 2-3 minute spurts like he received this past year. That won't be an issue this year.
I'll reveal #1 later. It probably won't be a huge shocker, but you still keep reading, right?
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Top 5 Most Important Players
So I have thought and thought and thought about this and I really still don't know. I know my top two are set in stone and there is no way I'm going to change it. Probably my top three are not going to change. So here it is.
5. Leslie McDonald/Dexter Strickland. Yes, I put two players here because one of them will be starting at shooting guard, most likely, and both of them will be given some ball handling responsibilities because Larry Drew cannot play 40 minutes. Also both of these players are important because they will be needed to fill in the void from behind the arc, left by the draftees and graduates. It's very important they these two guards can handle the ball well enough to not have Larry Drew playing 37 minutes a game, mainly because I don't think Drew could handle that many minutes over the course of the season, and shoot the ball well. If these two could hit at 33% or around there, that would be awesome. I thought about throwing Will Graves in here at #5, because he's such a wild card, but I'm thinking that Graves could be the Danny Green spark plug off the bench this upcoming year.
4. Ed Davis. So I put who the scouts have as the best player on the Tar Heels roster at #4. Yes, yes I did. Because I think there are three other players who are more important that Davis, maybe not necessarily better than Davis. But Davis will be important. I think his defensive presence is going to be more important than his offensive presence, but I will take both. His ability to block and alter shots is something that North Carolina has lacked the last few years and he can turn them around. His rebounding is automatic-Sam Perkins style. If Davis goes out and gets 12 and 9, with 2 blocks, I'd be happy, but I think he'll do better than that.
I will reveal the other three over the next few days.
5. Leslie McDonald/Dexter Strickland. Yes, I put two players here because one of them will be starting at shooting guard, most likely, and both of them will be given some ball handling responsibilities because Larry Drew cannot play 40 minutes. Also both of these players are important because they will be needed to fill in the void from behind the arc, left by the draftees and graduates. It's very important they these two guards can handle the ball well enough to not have Larry Drew playing 37 minutes a game, mainly because I don't think Drew could handle that many minutes over the course of the season, and shoot the ball well. If these two could hit at 33% or around there, that would be awesome. I thought about throwing Will Graves in here at #5, because he's such a wild card, but I'm thinking that Graves could be the Danny Green spark plug off the bench this upcoming year.
4. Ed Davis. So I put who the scouts have as the best player on the Tar Heels roster at #4. Yes, yes I did. Because I think there are three other players who are more important that Davis, maybe not necessarily better than Davis. But Davis will be important. I think his defensive presence is going to be more important than his offensive presence, but I will take both. His ability to block and alter shots is something that North Carolina has lacked the last few years and he can turn them around. His rebounding is automatic-Sam Perkins style. If Davis goes out and gets 12 and 9, with 2 blocks, I'd be happy, but I think he'll do better than that.
I will reveal the other three over the next few days.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Repeat?
Well, with the absence of college basketball comes the hype of the next season. Personally, I'm so bored without college basketball. I hate this time of year because there is no good basketball on. I do not like staying up to all hours of the night watching the NBA players dribble down the shot clock and then throw up a shot. Yes, they are good players, but when a playoff tournament comes down to a seven game series, and then another one, and then another one, I'm not going to watch.
So Andy Katz comes through for me with an article about North Carolina. He seems to be thinking repeat. Ok, not quite, but he says if UNC has any chance to repeat, they need good play from Larry Drew II, Ed Davis, and Marcus Ginyard. I'd go a step farther and say we need good play from everyone, but yes, he is correct that those three players are going to be keys to next year's team.
If you ask me if North Carolina will repeat next year (go ahead and ask), I will say that I do not think they will. There are just too many variables to a season. What would happen if Ed Davis got hurt, or perhaps more importantly Larry Drew? Face it, we are a little thin at point guard. We can't afford a sprained ankle or a bad toe for anyone.
Here's what Roy has said about Drew:
"I just think he's good, and I think he's a quarterback first," said Williams of Drew. "I think he tries to get people the ball, and he's going to be fine defensively. He can do a lot better job on how important he takes care of the ball because he's following a guy who's probably the best I've had doing that. Larry has got to be able to push it at a fast pace and still not turn it over."
I believe this is an accurate statement, if Drew can keep the turnovers down, he should be fine. I was impressed with the way he played in the ACC tournament. He's not the scorer that Lawson is, but he doesn't have to be. He needs to get people involved and that's what I like in a point guard is a pass-first point guard. He didn't get a ton of time this year playing behind Lawson, but he will next year and that will increase his confidence. He is the starting point guard next year, because there is no way in high Heaven we are getting John Wall (For the record, I don't want him anymore anyway).
With Davis, everyone and my own mother knows what Davis can do next year and will have to do. He made a good decision and will not have any regrets with another year.
Ginyard is going to be huge next year because if he had played this year and graduated, we're talking about Will Graves being our main perimeter weapon. Here's what Roy said about Ginyard:
"Let's put it this way, if I didn't have Marcus on the perimeter, I'd be scared to death -- and you can put that in capital letters … SCARED TO DEATH," Williams said. "He can play the 2, that's his natural position, and he can play the 3 and he can play the 1 in a pinch for us, and he's been there and he's been in involved in big games and tough practices. He can get those guys to understand what's going on."
Yeah, I have to agree with Williams about being scared to death, as mentioned above, Will Graves would be the main perimeter weapon. This sounds an awful lot like David Noel, which has also been mentioned before about Ginyard. I think he's going to have a lot of fun with this group.
I'm gonna throw out a wild card here and say that Will Graves will play a big role for next year's team as well. We've seen flashes of what he could be - a decent defender and a good shooter - now we need to see it consistently.
I'm looking forward to the title defense. I said earlier that I didn't think North Carolina could repeat, but it certainly doesn't mean they won't. I think they should win the ACC regular season. My feelings are mixed on the ACC tournament, and in the NCAA tournament, I believe the Sweet 16 is possible, but so is the Final Four. You never know and we won't know until we start watching this team. How many days is it before Late Night?
So Andy Katz comes through for me with an article about North Carolina. He seems to be thinking repeat. Ok, not quite, but he says if UNC has any chance to repeat, they need good play from Larry Drew II, Ed Davis, and Marcus Ginyard. I'd go a step farther and say we need good play from everyone, but yes, he is correct that those three players are going to be keys to next year's team.
If you ask me if North Carolina will repeat next year (go ahead and ask), I will say that I do not think they will. There are just too many variables to a season. What would happen if Ed Davis got hurt, or perhaps more importantly Larry Drew? Face it, we are a little thin at point guard. We can't afford a sprained ankle or a bad toe for anyone.
Here's what Roy has said about Drew:
"I just think he's good, and I think he's a quarterback first," said Williams of Drew. "I think he tries to get people the ball, and he's going to be fine defensively. He can do a lot better job on how important he takes care of the ball because he's following a guy who's probably the best I've had doing that. Larry has got to be able to push it at a fast pace and still not turn it over."
I believe this is an accurate statement, if Drew can keep the turnovers down, he should be fine. I was impressed with the way he played in the ACC tournament. He's not the scorer that Lawson is, but he doesn't have to be. He needs to get people involved and that's what I like in a point guard is a pass-first point guard. He didn't get a ton of time this year playing behind Lawson, but he will next year and that will increase his confidence. He is the starting point guard next year, because there is no way in high Heaven we are getting John Wall (For the record, I don't want him anymore anyway).
With Davis, everyone and my own mother knows what Davis can do next year and will have to do. He made a good decision and will not have any regrets with another year.
Ginyard is going to be huge next year because if he had played this year and graduated, we're talking about Will Graves being our main perimeter weapon. Here's what Roy said about Ginyard:
"Let's put it this way, if I didn't have Marcus on the perimeter, I'd be scared to death -- and you can put that in capital letters … SCARED TO DEATH," Williams said. "He can play the 2, that's his natural position, and he can play the 3 and he can play the 1 in a pinch for us, and he's been there and he's been in involved in big games and tough practices. He can get those guys to understand what's going on."
Yeah, I have to agree with Williams about being scared to death, as mentioned above, Will Graves would be the main perimeter weapon. This sounds an awful lot like David Noel, which has also been mentioned before about Ginyard. I think he's going to have a lot of fun with this group.
I'm gonna throw out a wild card here and say that Will Graves will play a big role for next year's team as well. We've seen flashes of what he could be - a decent defender and a good shooter - now we need to see it consistently.
I'm looking forward to the title defense. I said earlier that I didn't think North Carolina could repeat, but it certainly doesn't mean they won't. I think they should win the ACC regular season. My feelings are mixed on the ACC tournament, and in the NCAA tournament, I believe the Sweet 16 is possible, but so is the Final Four. You never know and we won't know until we start watching this team. How many days is it before Late Night?
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Season in Review: Larry Drew II
Maybe it’s ironic that Larry Drew took Q’s number 11, because sometimes, he played like Q did his freshman year. I understand the PG position at UNC is the toughest position to play because the PG is the leader on the court. I also understand that Ty Lawson was a special player who was a good player as a point guard (not necessarily a good leader) and he is the second freshman to take over a Roy Williams-coached UNC team (Bobby Frasor was the other). So coming into the season, I expected big things from Drew. I heard some talking heads say he was close to as fast as Lawson.Please don’t think I’m being super critical of Drew yet, because I do like Larry Drew. Playing those games without Ty Lawson showed me of what he could be in the future. I have decided to break all the players down like I do games: Things I don’t like and things I like.
Things I don’t like:
1. Decision making. Sometimes he forced. Sometimes he made a horrible pass. I know the game is rushed and different pace in the ACC, but some seemed like careless mistakes. Some of it might be pressure to do well and increase playing time, etc…but he did have a year to learn under Lawson. I’m confident he will improve by the time his career is done.
2. Shot selection. Sometimes he had no business taking some shots. Some were forced. Some were 3’s that he shouldn’t be taking, but this should improve too.
Things I like:
1. Passing ability. During the ACC tournament, I thought he played well and gave me a reason to have hope that he could be a good player. He has low turnovers and average assist numbers. He had quite a few nice dump offs to Ed Davis in the ACC tournament
2. Aggressiveness. This relates to his shot selection. He was aggressive in taking it to the hole quite a number of times throughout the season, but some of the shots he flipped up were like….whoa! But Drew is aggressive and looks for his shot sometimes. I think he’s a smart player, who just needs some experience.
3. Stats. If you look at his stats, they are not jaw-dropping. But he did have more assists than turnovers and seems to be a pretty good rebounding guard. If he could pick up his shooting percentages, that would be awesome.
I compared Larry Drew to Quentin Thomas because that’s who he reminds me of. Q struggled his first year and then had some injuries, but I think we can all say that we liked Q at the end of his career. I think their games are very similar in the fact that they can both pass well and look to get others involved, as well as their timely baskets. I’m a little hesitant to hand over the reigns to Drew next year (but I’m not the coach and have never seen him practice) because of some of the cons listed above. I’m almost hoping that this John Wall recruiting works in UNC’s favor, but I know the player that Larry Drew can become and know he will improve him game – that’s what college basketball is for.
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Oh It's the End of the World...
It's really not, but I did have to convince myself for a while there too. Let's face facts: ACC Player of the Year did not play, Danny Green has not been Danny Green over the last 2 games, Bobby Frasor has not played consistent point guard in almost 2 years, and Larry Drew is just a freshman running the one of the nation's top teams. Those are just North Carolina facts.Let's face facts about FSU: Toney Douglas was 2nd in the ACC in PPG and in Player of the Year voting. The 'Noles also shot 67% in the second half, which wasn't neccessarily bad defense, it was just an amazing performance.
It's really not the end of the world. Yes, I would have liked to have won the ACC tournament, but as the years have gone by, I tend to agree with Roy: the season represents a whole year's worth of good play. The tournament only merits 3-4 good days of play. And now that Duke is in the final, it makes this loss feel worse because they really have no business being there. But let's look at the positives from this game.
*Our defense did a good job. Yes, FSU shot 67% in the 2nd half, but they were on fire. They forced 14 turnovers and had 11 steals. They were out-rebounded, but only be 1 (34-35), but with Toney Douglas being the main player, we only had a few people to run after him with Ty being out. So Bobby, Larry, and anyone else that covered him did a pretty good job.
*Ed Davis and Larry Drew looked pretty good over the last 2 games. Davis had several sweet dunks and I get so excited thinking about what he's going to do over the next few years. Drew has not been impressing me lately, but over the last two games, I think he has gained more confidence, which will only pay off in the long run. He still has a tendency to go to far in the paint or to force some things and even some of his passes were erratic even though they got to their intended target, but I feel better about him than I did 2 weeks ago.
*We shot 37% and still had a shot to tie it. In three of the four losses this season, this has been the same story. We have shot poorly, but still were in the game enough to at least go to OT. This means that the defense is keeping us in the game, even if the offense is struggling.
*Tyler Hansbrough is still pretty good. Remember when Lawson went down last year? That was when Tyler Hansbrough really went off to claim NPOY because he took over games and I think he averaged 27 and 12, or close to those numbers. I was thinking he could do the same thing and carry us in the tournament, but alas, it was not meant to be.
*Our players tried hard and will still feel this loss. In most of the post game comments, the players were disappointed, but realized that this now means that every game could be their last. But it will also serve as motivation. Here's a few of the comments:
Hansbrough: "We understand we lose now, it's over."
Lawson: “We wanted to win this tournament real bad, because we want to win every game. But they didn’t want my toe to flare up, so he decided to sit me out this game. Our big goal is to win the [NCAA] championship, so that might have played a little bit into it.”
Frasor was asked if he could accept this loss. "Live with as in accept it? No. We didn't play the way we wanted to play. We didn't get contributions from everyone. Danny's had a rough couple of games, and he usually plays better. We'll watch film and learn from it. The ultimate goal starts next weekend, and that’s what we have our eye on.”
Green: "We've got six games left."
Yes, it would have been nice to win the ACC tournament, but I would gladly take a National Championship over the ACC championship. We didn't have a ton to lose, at least from a fan's perspective because we will be a number 1 seed in the tournament. I believe this loss will help over the next few weeks. The Heels have looked committed on defense since the Maryland game and know that it is all business from here on out. Remember we ran the table in 05 after we lost in the semi-finals. We can do this! Believe!
Three side notes from this blogger. 1) Ty Lawson will be playing in the NCAA tournament, which I think everyone and their mother knew. I'm pretty confident we could have won the first game without him and even the second, depending on the draw. 2) One team I do not want to face in the tournament is Pittsburgh. 3) Uche Echefu is a senior from FSU. I remember he was a late signer and he was deciding between UNC and FSU and I was hoping he would sign with UNC because it was just after the mass exodus of 05 and we were looking at Hansbrough, David Noel, Mike Copeland, and Byron Sanders as our big men. Well, he probably would have done well under Coach Williams, but we didn't miss much. A career 7.2 PPG scorer and 4.7 RPG, but to his credit, he hits his free throws and can shoot the three. But I wouldn't say we've missed much.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
To Play or Not to Play
That is the question hounding Roy Williams and Ty Lawson at the current moment. Will he? Won't he? Should he? Can he? The answer is that no one knows. My feelings are that I would like to win the ACC Tournament, but if that jeopardizes the NCAA tournament, then I say, shut down Lawson and put him in a padded room for the next week. The injury sounds bigger than I first thought, when I declared that Ty Lawson would play against Duke (which he totally dominated). Something about ligaments and already been broken. Doesn't sound to good and will probably need some off-season surgery (maybe affected his draft decision?).
At first, I didn't think we had to win the ACC tournament to win the NCAA tournament, because we didn't in 05. But over the last 5 years, the only National Champion, not to win their own conference tournament is North Carolina (Kansas, Florida twice, UCONN) if we got back to the start of the decade, only Duke and Michigan State are the only other teams to win both their conference tournament and the NCAA tournament (Syracuse and Maryland were the other national champions). So 3 out of 8 teams have done it. But the numbers say that it is better to be hot and stay hot.
I think there are some pros and cons to this whole Lawson situation. I'll start with the pros first:
-Larry Drew would get some experience if Ty can't go. Larry Drew will be needed if the toe bothers Ty in the NCAA tournament or in foul trouble. Drew appears to lack confidence and reminds me quite a bit of Q Thomas his freshman year. Remember in 05 against Villanova? Felton fouled out and we could either go with Thomas or Melvin Scott at the point. HMMM. Same thing could happen this year and Drew would greatly benefit.
-If Ty Lawson can't play and we lose either the quarter finals or semi-finals, the team gets extra rest. They are banged up, I'm sure and an extra day or two can make the difference.
Con:
-Ty Lawson plays, but after the 3rd game, his toe is killing him and he's done for the year. Yeah, that would be real great.
-Ty Lawson doesn't play, UNC loses early and then has no confidence and loses in the Sweet 16 or Elite 8. Ohhh my heart would break/shatter/be crushed/stop beating.
-With Ty Lawson not playing, the bench becomes, Davis, Zeller, and Drew or Frasor, whichever one Roy starts with. So we're left with one guard to sub for our three other guards. Super.
Obviously, some of these are a little extreme, but this is March and anything can happen. My feeling - Let Ty sit and whatever happens, happens. Do I think UNC could win the ACC without Ty Lawson? Sure. They would be reduced to a half-court team because they are missing the V-6 of the V-8 engine, but they can win. But I would rather think of the big picture.
At first, I didn't think we had to win the ACC tournament to win the NCAA tournament, because we didn't in 05. But over the last 5 years, the only National Champion, not to win their own conference tournament is North Carolina (Kansas, Florida twice, UCONN) if we got back to the start of the decade, only Duke and Michigan State are the only other teams to win both their conference tournament and the NCAA tournament (Syracuse and Maryland were the other national champions). So 3 out of 8 teams have done it. But the numbers say that it is better to be hot and stay hot.
I think there are some pros and cons to this whole Lawson situation. I'll start with the pros first:
-Larry Drew would get some experience if Ty can't go. Larry Drew will be needed if the toe bothers Ty in the NCAA tournament or in foul trouble. Drew appears to lack confidence and reminds me quite a bit of Q Thomas his freshman year. Remember in 05 against Villanova? Felton fouled out and we could either go with Thomas or Melvin Scott at the point. HMMM. Same thing could happen this year and Drew would greatly benefit.
-If Ty Lawson can't play and we lose either the quarter finals or semi-finals, the team gets extra rest. They are banged up, I'm sure and an extra day or two can make the difference.
Con:
-Ty Lawson plays, but after the 3rd game, his toe is killing him and he's done for the year. Yeah, that would be real great.
-Ty Lawson doesn't play, UNC loses early and then has no confidence and loses in the Sweet 16 or Elite 8. Ohhh my heart would break/shatter/be crushed/stop beating.
-With Ty Lawson not playing, the bench becomes, Davis, Zeller, and Drew or Frasor, whichever one Roy starts with. So we're left with one guard to sub for our three other guards. Super.
Obviously, some of these are a little extreme, but this is March and anything can happen. My feeling - Let Ty sit and whatever happens, happens. Do I think UNC could win the ACC without Ty Lawson? Sure. They would be reduced to a half-court team because they are missing the V-6 of the V-8 engine, but they can win. But I would rather think of the big picture.
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