That is the best description I can give of the Tar Heels right now. I am a huge Heels fan, but it is really frustrating to watch a team as talented as they are play as soft as they do. There is only 1 player on the team who seems to have a "streak" in them and that is Ed Davis. I know it is too early to judge this team, but these are just some of my observations so far.
Ed Davis is very good, but he cannot be the only player on the team who plays with an edge. Every team we play is going to amped for the chance to knock us down so we better be ready for some physical games.
Deon Thompson is a senior who just cannot be the focal point of a team. He is a compliment player with finess skills that will not translate to crunch time victories. Deon needs to play with more emotion, but it just is not his way.
Tyler Zeller is a 7' skill player who has some of the worst hands I have ever seen. Tyler has GOT to get stronger with the ball. If we lose Davis and Thompson after this season, then I assume Zeller starts in the post next year and he just has not got his post game in form yet. I think he has worlds of potential because he plays fast and has good defensive presence, but we will need him to be able to go inside and work teams over in the paint.
Marcus Ginyard looks good to me. I think he will be the most consistent presence for the team this year maybe aside from Davis. I hope he continues to shoot the ball well and keep teams a little more honest on the perimeter. His defense is as good as we will have.
Larry Drew is trying his best to manage the team, but he cannot and will not be a Lawson/Felton presence because it just is not what he can do. He has been WAY too careless with many passes so far this year. He has to run this team with more control and let the plays develop insteaad of forcing them. He seems to have a good handle with the ball, but just way too many poor decisions on passes.
William Graves is still sort of an wild card as I think he could really become more of a leader with his game, but I also think he is a McCants type when it comes to his attitude. He seems to be somewhat aloof when it comes to gametime. He makes a couple of shots and then becomes wallpaper. He may have to step up and really assert himself for this team to have the success they want this year.
John Henson is a player without a position at this point. This kid is not a 1 and done player because he will never develop into the type of player he can be while being a facilitator from the wing on offense and a help defender on defense. He has taken a couple of shots from the outside so far this year and I think he has a good chance to develop into a nightmare matchup for any team, but not yet. He has a lot of upside, but he needs more minutes and more chances to showcase himself and build his confidence. I like him a lot.
Dexter Strickland may be one of the keys for this year. He has a chance to grow up as much as any player because I think you can tell he has a game that will really take off once he starts realizing that he can do some things on the court in college. He seems to be holding back a little, but that is understandable. He seemed a little shaky last night, but true freshman rarely take off from game one. We desperately need a player on this team who can create their own shot off the dribble and I believe Strickland may be our only player who can do that at this point.
The Wear twins have been very good in my opinion. With limited minutes, I think they have shown a hustle and tenacity that will help them get more time and really start to grow. They play very fundamental games and I think they will be outstanding contributors to UNC over the coming years. I look forward to seeing them drive opposing teams crazy for the next few years.
Leslie McDonald has really not had a chance to make a significant impression on me along with Justin Watts. McDonald is going to be very good, but I need to see him with more regularity to form any opinion. Watts is a role player that will play a few minutes here and a few there.
Overall - this team has a lot of size and defensively will dominate in the paint, but the offensive side of the ball is going to be a work in progress because we are not strong with the ball. We are not handling it well, we are not holding on to it well, and we are not finishing around the rim as well as we can with some of our supporting players. I think our perimeter play is below average and our point guard play has got to improve to get where we want to be.
I am not being critical of this team. I am being honest. I am actually glad that these kids can now fade into the college basketball background a little and maybe some of the pressure will be off and they can grow up and gain some confidence. The start of December will be hectic as we will be playing tough teams. I definitely think we will beat some of them because we are a very talented team, but in order to succeed in the ACC, we need to fix some of the turnover issues and the strength with which we play. I am going to enjoy watching these kids grow up and hopefully meet some of their lofty expectations.
Great post. I agree with most of what you said and think that you hit it on the nose with some of these players. It is unfortunate for Strickland, McDonald and Henson that they must grow up while we depend on them. It will speed up the maturation process, but if they could learn from seasoned vets then it would be far better. Imagine Strickland getting to learn from Lawson or McDonald getting to learn from Ellington.
Zeller has to play less on the preimeter and more down low. He has to be more physical in nature and play with a chip on his shoulder. He has the talent to take over a game and the size to be an absolute nightmare, but his mentality won't allow it. A 7' footer shooting a 12' jump shot? Sounds great for the pro game, but in college he should be backing guys down, holding his position and destroying them in the paint. Also notice that he is not a rebounder? His reach is almost 9' when he holds his hands up in the air, but he is almost never in the right position to get the rebound. That is why everyone is so looking forward to next year. We have all of these guys coming back except for Thompson and Ginyard, along with Barnes, Marshall, and Bullock. I know that we shouldn't write this team off yet, but it is understandable to look ahead to getting all of these guys with another year of experience in them.
UNC is very weak this year. They had a hard time beating OSU who should not even be ranked. I am glad cuse crushed the heels. Ky wildcats will send the heels to hell.
I like your post. I don't have time to get to every major player like you did, but I have some input. I think you're right about Davis. He is the one with that "streak" in him. In years past we used to say our strategy was to "feed the monster", Hansbrough. Just get the ball to Hansbrough, and we could always count on him to be strong and aggressive. Well, we can't replace Tyler, and keep wishing for old days, but I think Davis could be the new monster to feed. Get the ball to Davis and let him be the aggressive monster he can be. He needs more strenght though. He was getting pushed around some by Onuaku (6'9" 275) Friday night.
With Davis as the strongest big man, Thompson could fill in the gaps similar to the way he did last year. I love Deon, but I agree with you that he is not the strongest, most aggressive player which we need. His experience and leadership make him stand out this year, but I don't think that should change his role. He is better as a supplement to the main aggressive big man, Davis.
Again, comparing by gone players, I think Graves could make some improvements similar to Ellington. They are much different, but I remember watching Ellington transition from a stagnant pure shooter, to a "scorer". That meant moving with the ball, going to the hoop and making plays happen. Basically being more confident and aggressive. I saw Graves doing a little of that Friday. He made some good plays taking the ball to the hoop. I'm not talking any extreme change, just mix it up a little from pure shooting, just be more confident and aggressive, and smart with it. That's a lot to ask I suppose.
I like the Wear twins. I think they are fundamentally solid and reliable. That's why we saw them in the game making a difference at the end of that terrible half Friday night.
I think Strickland can be better than Drew. But he's young and shaky now. Also I think he can be very solid on defense. He can make a great supplent to backcourt defense with Ginyard, something very important this year.
I think Henson has the most potential for improvement. I wonder how fast he can do it? And what could he be if he puts on some muscle?
I agree with you about Zeller and being clumsy. I lost count how many times I yelled at him dropping the ball Friday. At least he is an agile, mobile big man. I think he's got huge potential.
Ginyard is pretty solid. He's had a couple early lapses with rebounding and turnovers, but I have so much trust in him, I believe he will bounce back from those lapses without a blink. I loved his push to fight back in the second half Friday, it just wasn't enough. Ginyard has always been one of my favorites. I remember the role he played in some great combacks two years ago. I feel good with him as the foundation and leadership of this team. He's a great role model for all these young guys.
So, much potential, so little time to learn. In a way, I'm really glad these guys got the whooping they did Friday night. It's like a misbehaving kid that just will not slow down and listen, just does not respect the lesson that you are trying to tell him. Sometimes they just need a whipping to snap them back to reality. I think the OSU game may have gotten their heads a little big; thought they were living up to the hype, thought they were on top of the world and could beat anyone sloppy play or not. They needed to realize that if they do not get it together and execute every thing Coach Williams is telling them they will get smacked in the face (figuratively) by these teams we will be playing. These guys have the potential to be great, but now they know that they also have the potential to have the crap kicked out of them if they don't focus.
It's good we get take our lessons from this week, and for a couple games turn down the competition difficulty a notch but don't dare turn down the intensity a notch. Although Nevada is no push-over, but not on par with what is coming. We have the chance to apply the lessons we learned in a couple less competitive games, keep the intensity high, win these next two games strongly, and then turn the difficulty back up and see what we can do against MSU and UK.
Great posts everyone! I just wanted to add some insight on a couple things I've noticed. Strickland is a great athlete and has a reputation for being able to get to the hoop. Unfortunately, he is being thrust into the PG spot that will take him much of this year to get comfortable with. I really would like to see Srickland get some minutes at the 2 spot. I think there he would be able to provide a scoring punch. This team has great size, but we aren't rebounding like we should or defending the paint like we should. Smaller quicker teams are going to give us fits all year. I'd like to see Coach experiment with small lineups from time to time. Like maybe Drew,Ginyard,Graves,Watts, and one big guy on the floor. I just think maybe it may create more fast break opportunites from time to time. When we have multiple bigs on the floor together, we have to mix our D up with some zone. In our half court sets we have to find ways to get Ed and Deon the ball on the low blocks for high percentage shots. Zeller needs to play with more authority and secure the ball over his head. Anyways I'm sure Coach is working diligently on this team and they will steadily improve throughout the year.
Great posts guys. We have 3 starters that are averaging 3+ TO's per game; Ginyard (5 against Syracuse), Thompson and Drew. That's a lot of possessions lost. It must stop. And I believe that if Zeller keeps scoring he will steal more minutes from Graves, who had a terrible outing in Syracuse (2-12) but has not had a really good game yet. That said, Williams must really hate zones, because our team is tailor made for one.
Other than that, we're still learning to play with each other, and we're young. The next month could be difficult on us, and after the Syracuse game, we will see a zone almost every game until we show we can deal with it. The guys will come a long way this year. It will just take some time. Hardly anyone is Tyler Hansbrough as a freshman. It's time for the seniors to step up.
Yea, I agree. I think it is a great idea to fit Dexter in at the 2 spot and going with smaller line up occasionally. We could have the ability to go big when it is adventagous or go a little smaller when that works best. It also keeps teams from being able to practice in anticipation of playing a pure big team. Ultimately, I think forcing 6'10" guys into roles that they are just too big to fill naturally ends up causing more problems than its worth.
Graves is really streaky, more on the down side than the up. I keep thinking he's got some potential just waiting to come out. Supposedly he's a sharp-shooter in practice. But in the end, if he can't execute in the game, he's got to go. They're plenty of other guys with big talent on the verge of breaking out.
If I remember correctly we did see Frasior play the 2 occasionally in addition to being the backup PG. I wonder how they would train for that in practice? I would think Dexter must get a lot of practice as a point guard. He's supposedly not a natural PG, so I would think he has had to try to work hard to fit into that role. I wonder if it would be more efficient for him to focus on the 2? But then how would he manage as the backup point without the extra work he needs to learn that role?
Coach Williams will figure it all out. It will be interesting to watch it unfold. That's one of my favorite parts of the basketball season, watching all the guys grow up and get better. I can remember watching each member of last year's championship team start out as freshmen and get better and better until they were insanely awsome good. It's frustrating sometimes, like Friday night's game, but in the long run it will be fun to see how far they grow beyond that clumsy team they were last week. Sometimes it's frustrating for years too (George Mason 06, Georgetown 07, Kansas 08, Championship 09), but I've got a very strong feeling that we've got another championship on the way in a short time. It wouldn't be as fun if we didn't go through this process of struggle.
We talked about it and it happened the same day. Dexter Strickland did play the 2nd position some last night; the first time Drew and Strickland have been in the game at the same time.
" Dexter Strickland did play the 2nd position some last night; the first time Drew and Strickland have been in the game at the same time. " That's good because the 2 is Dex's natural position.
" Dexter Strickland did play the 2nd position some last night; the first time Drew and Strickland have been in the game at the same time. " That's good because the 2 is Dex's natural position.\
LOL the bench is his natural position.. right next to Henson
I can remember watching each member of last year's championship team start out as freshmen and get better and better until they were insanely awsome good.
they only got better is because lawson green elington and the downey boy carried them and made the others look good.please them 4 could still of won a chapionship with the rest of the team as freshmen.......oh and one more thing if they became insanely awsome good.
whats hapend to them this year,i havent sean anything insanely awsome good.
just slopy. at least last year when i watched unc ,and thought about unc vs duke.i was scared. ill admit it,but i still had faith that mabe unc would have a off nite that last game.that would of gave us acc regular season champs.
This is a great thread started by dolphinatic76 and I won't go into each players ability or lack there of.
One of the most important parts of this team and will be for years to come is Coach Roy Williams and his coaching staff. They faced the same situation when he bacame our head coach and turned a bunch of players with lousy attitudes into National Champions in 2005. The next year he decided to build a team around Freshman Tyler Hansbrough (who did not have an "OFF" button) anywhere on him. 4 years later, another National Championship in 2009 for The University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill.
We're going to be going to be soft through the first half or the ACC season, then get stronger making a run deep into the NCAA Tourny.
Just watch and see because we have Roy Williams. And to end this post, we'll kick dook's butt all over the court at least once this season. UNCle promises!
I agree with most of the posts. Zeller has got to settle down a little, I think his stone hands are a result of nerves early. Onve he settles doen he seems to improve. As the season goes on he'll get more comfortable out of the gate.
Strickland will continue to get more time at the 2 spot, but Roy needs to get him experience at the point. We all know next year he will play the 2 spot, so the point is just a quick fix for this year.
Ginyard will play more point forward as the year goes on, similar to a few years ago when Lawson and Frasor were hurt.
Give the youngsters a chance. The tough schedule early will be great for their development. I'm still very optimistic about the potential of the team this year.
I created this thread in November, and I stand by everything I put in it then, with a few amendments.
Zeller is playing better - still not a dominant big, but he asserts himself better when he gets the minutes.
McDonald is actually getting a chance to showcase himself a little more. Granted - it is due to injuries right now, but I think the kid has skills, but is a little tentative at this point in his career. He is an interesting one to watch.
Strickland is playing out of position, but has great energy. He is just not the ballhandling PG we need. Our team will flourish with an up tempo style PG ala Felton or Lawson. Otherwise, we are an average to below average half court offense.
Our post players are still effective defensively, but I truly expected more dominance on the offensive side as well. It seems like all of our posts are playing "soft" with the exception of Davis on occassion. All of them get bodied out of position and all of them settle for turn around jumpers and hooks instead of being able to back someone down and ram it down their throat. We need a body that is able to intimidate with muscle as well as length.
After that dismal performance tonight, it is easy to throw stones at the team, but I still feel we will grow this year and be a much better team after ACC play. It will be a tough season for us though in regards to wins and losses as I feel we are going to take our lumps from some teams that have been waiting for the opportunity for a while. Our team better wake up to some of the realities that are coming their way the next few months. Everybody wants to kick UNC when they are "down". I think we can feed off of that and build a little bit of a chip on our shoulder as a result.
This thread has been overlooked multiple times now, but it still stands as the best description of this team to date. They are SOFT!!! No player on this team has what it takes to bow up and lead. We have soft post players (Ed usually plays tougher) and our guards are like chickens with their head's cut off. Drew is a role player - he is not a leader. Strickland has more ability and is getting more and more aggressive. McDonald will round out better, but none of these youngsters have anyone to learn from. I think Ginyard is playing HORRIBLY. I expect much more from him, but I am probably just dreaming since that is not his style. I hope the team can grow up fast and develop a sense of pride, but they are very very very weak with the ball right now and it is so obvious that the other team is ready to intimidate us and push us around right now. I guess all we can do is go back to work and try to correct the problems on the fly.
I will continue to revive this post as it is still the best description of this team that I can come up with. I think some of the younger players are getting better and that is obviously encouraging since they are our future, but I also see regression by some of the "leaders" on this team. Ed Davis is just not ready for the physical nature of the NBA. I believe his game has a high ceiling, but he needs to develop more in the way of post moves and range for his shot. He is still a little lanky to try and play a 4 in the NBA.
Marcus Ginyard is the absolute biggest disappointment that we have this year. He is playing terrible basketball and it is discouraging to see him on the floor right now when McDonald and Strickland easily deserve his minutes.
Deon Thompson is exactly what he has always been. A big, soft, finesse post player that is nota leader and cannot be a focal point of a successful team. He is a role player at best.
William Graves is also a role player and would be an excellent pressure valve if the other team's defense actually had to worry about any other player on the floor. Other teams never have to cheat on defense because we have nobody on the court who scares them. Therefore, our shooters are rarely open unless it is a busted play or one of the Wear twins steps out.
I really like the effort of the kids on the team, but I fault the upperclassmen and Davis for letting this season go down the drain. I hope they can put together a string of consistent basketball games so that this team can at least build some confidence going into next season.
