The Upside -UNC

[SWC75]

- We were playing a pre-season #1 team that is healthy again and gave them all they could handle. As JB says, there’s just not that much difference between teams anymore. That’s on the downside when we are playing most teams but games like this prove we don’t have to be afraid of anybody: we just have to find a way to win these games.

- The Heels were out-rebounding teams by +10.7 per game. Everyone hit the boards and we outrebounded the Heels 35-33. People complain about our rebounding but it’s only been unacceptably bad in two games: Wisconsin and Pitt.

- Trevor Cooney loves the smell of pine tar. Last year in the Dean Dome he scored 28 points on them. This year in the Carrier Dome he scored 27 more. I think this was his best all-around game., even better than that Notre Dame game he had a couple of years ago. Trevor was aggressive and confident throughout. He not only hit 5 threes but he drove to the basket to score 5 more field goals and also helped us on the board with 5x rebounds. He kept the ball moving and got people organized more than Gbinije, who was fighting off double teams all night. Trevor made them pay, but they accepted the price and stayed on Michael the whole night. I guess it worked.

- Mal Richardson hit 4 of 10 three pointers. He’s now 14 of 23 from the arc, (.608) in the last three games. This is the shooter we thought we were getting when he was recruited.

- Tyler Roberson was 5 for 5 from the field, scored 13 points and pulled down 7 rebo9duns. He’s now making the 15 footer the defenses gave him all last year. He’s also playing with abandon, rather than doing everything mechanically.

- DaJuan Coleman played aggressively and managed to stay in the game for 27 minutes, even thought the refs seemed to enjoy calling him for fouls, especially down the stretch. But he scored 5 points, had 7 rebounds, passed for 2 assists and had a block.

10-7 (0-4) with 14+ to go…and only 7 more wins needed to guarantee our 46th consecutive winning season!

LET’S GO ORANGE!

 

[pfister1]

There were positives. Roberson looked aggressive on offense in the first half. He took shots without hesitating and seemingly thinking before shooting and even had a nice drive to the basket. He was a beast on the boards in the first half...now lets see that version of Roberson for 40 minutes every game. Coleman actually contributed something more than just taking up space...definitely something to build on.

Cooney obviously had a terrific game. He won't play that well every game, but he doesn't have to...... to see him go strong to the hoop and actually finish was very encouraging. Mal looked good as well. All very positive!!

G is in a funk and has been throughout much of ACC play. I didnn't expect him to continue to shoot 55% from 3 for the season, but he needs to get back up to 35-40% on a go forward. JB also needs to figure out a way to take some of the pressure of increased defensive attention off of him. Lydon needs to be a factor, not a star just a factor.

We may have lost, but after this game I again began to feel a little more positive about the way the team was playing, first time I could say that in a number of games. Not a moral victory.....but feeling like I saw some things that I hadn't seen before that we might be able to build on.

This isn't going to be a tournament caliber team all season, but I would settle for a team that works hard and puts it together at the end for a run in the ACC tournament, even if we were to fall short.

 

[rrlbees]

Maybe I missed it but I didn't see G being double teamed. Nobody ever really gets "double teamed". I did see him being hounded much like Cooney is. He was also trapped sometimes like others were also depending on where on the court they were. But he didn't have 2 guys chasing him around nor guarding him. I did notice that at some point between #2 and #5 they flip flopped who was covering G and who was covering Cooney.

 

[Cusefan0307]

In terms of strategy on defense, very rarely do teams double any of our players, but whenever Mike or Trevor have the ball coming off screens they are consistently "iced" by the screeners man. Teams have done this all year to us.

The icing of the ball handler blocks out driving lanes and prevents our guards from getting open jumpers coming off screens. With our front court being inconsistent at best we will continue to see this as the year goes on until Roberson or Lydon show us they can make teams pay.

 

[bballbeadle]

What I loved was the ENERGY in the Dome again! The players of course feed off this. My daughter and I were hoarse from shrieking and my Tarheel friend who attended the game was blown away by the fans and atmosphere. We haven't done that since the Duke game two years ago.