ACC’s Point Guard Situation

07-08 Basketball General127

Caulton Tudor focused on the point guard situation in the ACC in today’s N&O:

State, with four returning starters, is best prepared to deal with the dilemma. If Sidney Lowe can find a solution, his second team could be exceptional. If not, the Wolfpack should still be good enough to win eight or nine league games and get back to the NCAA Tournament.

Some random comments:

* We’ve talked about the impact of Crittenton at GT in the past. This season was supposed to be set up for Paul Hewitt and the Yellow Jackets to make a run. It won’t happen now and the Yellow Jacket fans are closing ranks on Hewitt.

* Greg Paulus got a lot of heat during Duke’s mid-season swoon…but, to be fair…he played a lot better at the end of the season.

* The importance of Sean Singletary’s return to Virginia cannot be overstated. Additionally, Coach Leitao is optimistic about his inside players.

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07-08 Basketball General

127 Responses to ACC’s Point Guard Situation

  1. primacyone 06/20/2007 at 10:23 AM #

    I predict Sean Singletary ACC Player of the Year as long as his head stays on straight. Of course, Leitao will need to keep his head on strait as well.

    If UNC doesn’t make it to the final four and loses to both NC State and Duke, there are going be some really loud heels sreaming at Roy from the hole come March. I’d say Roy has some significnat pressure this year. This should be the year we find out if Roy can really coach.

    “If Sidney Lowe can find a solution, his second team could be exceptional.” That just about says it all. Having said that, we know Sidney can coach!

  2. Rick 06/20/2007 at 10:31 AM #

    And for ten years I thought point guards were not important. Tudor must not know what he is talking about.

  3. TNCSU 06/20/2007 at 10:39 AM #

    I’m not sure if I’d pick Singletary for POY. He’ll miss J.R. being opposite him, although no doubt, he’s a great player. My pre-season pick may be a guy like Ellington at UNC or truthfully, we’ve got a couple of guys that could compete. I actually like our chances for Rookie of the Year, too. Although Degand will be a first year player, he’s got two years of college practice experience, and two years of maturity under his belt — both of which will definitely help.

  4. RickJ 06/20/2007 at 10:53 AM #

    I actually think Ga. Tech still has a good chance to finish in the Top 4 of the league (my new benchmark of where you always want to finish – provides bye in ACC Tourney and probably insures NCAA bid). How many teams will start 3 seniors – Dickey, Smith & Morrow and possibly a 4th if Causey wins the PG position? Also, Clinch should be eligible and he is a junior. This is a pretty talented and very experienced team and they still have a ton of role players to come off the bench.

    This doesn’t diminish what they lost – they had a chance to be a great team with Crittenton & Young.

  5. Akula Wolf 06/20/2007 at 11:01 AM #

    Regardless of what Tudor says, if Ish Smith is your point guard, you are also in point-guard purgatory.

  6. primacyone 06/20/2007 at 11:10 AM #

    Wake also has Jeff Teague coming this year. He’s ranked one spot higher than Chris Wright and he should be able to contribute right away.

  7. chris92heel 06/20/2007 at 11:11 AM #

    “This should be the year we find out if Roy can really coach.”

    Really? Finishing second in the ACC after losing seven of his top eight players wasn’t sufficient?

  8. primacyone 06/20/2007 at 11:18 AM #

    ^Most of the heels I know (and I know plenty that were born that way) are still not 100% confident in Roy’s in-game coaching ability.

    Want the proof. Go back to your board and search “Roy” around the end of March and see what’s being discussed.

  9. chris92heel 06/20/2007 at 11:31 AM #

    The overwhelming majority of heels wouldn’t trade Roy for anyone.

    Of course there’s a nut brigade who like to meltdown everytime we lose or don’t get a recruit. The IC basketball boards have been overrun with said idiots.

    You know, the kind of Carolina fans that everyone hates. The kind who think that we lose games but are never beaten, that any kid who doesn’t commit to us is either getting paid, a low class thug, or Roy blew it because he was playing golf.

  10. westwolf 06/20/2007 at 11:46 AM #

    I’m just glad that we’re not having to discuss who will be “transporting” the ball for us.

  11. legacyman 06/20/2007 at 11:50 AM #

    Never, ever, tell a head coach who is a former national level PG that the PG position is not important and not needed. Don’t ever listen long to any head coach who would state that PGs are not important.

  12. zahadum 06/20/2007 at 11:57 AM #

    Maybe I’m forgetting something, but in what way was Paulus injured most of the season? He had the broken foot in, I think, October, but that was healed by the time ACC play got going. So maybe you could say he was rusty most of the season with some justification, but he wasn’t injured, not like Engin was.

  13. Rick 06/20/2007 at 12:43 PM #

    “Don’t ever listen long to any head coach who would state that PGs are not important.”

    So were we supposed to spend a decade with our fingers in our ears murmurring “lalalalalalalala”?

  14. Pack92 06/20/2007 at 1:48 PM #

    Give us a break chris. Roy replaced those 7 with equal or better talent in most cases and he still has the same situation today. Admittedly, TOO MUCH talent has it’s own headaches and I don’t envy Roy that. I actually thought some of his better coaching came in the 90’s at Kansas. I really believed they were going to knock off the heels in ’92 because I thought Ostertag could take Mostross. Roy came perilously close to embarassment in the ACC championship this year (as you and I have discussed) and really wasn’t doing much to stop the bleeding until 2 timely 3’s saved him.

    Are you admitting those type light-blue fans exist or is that a hypothetical situation? Notice I am being nice!

  15. VaWolf82 06/20/2007 at 2:05 PM #

    Anyone (no matter who they pull for) that thinks that RW is under any type of extra pressure this year is clearly delusional. UNC will accomplish whatever they are capable of and then will move on to recruiting/draft posts. RW will be in Chapel Hill as long as he wants to be.

  16. El Scrotcho 06/20/2007 at 2:05 PM #

    “Roy replaced those 7 with equal or better talent in most cases”

    That’s just not a credible statement. There’s no way that talent of that team compares equally with the year before. There were 3 first rounders on that team. That was a helluva team-building and coaching job.

  17. packpigskinfan23 06/20/2007 at 2:10 PM #

    Roy is NOT the best coach in the country… If the Pack and Dukies both get a win out of Carolina this year(especially if one is in the ACC tourney) THEN Roy will be on the hot seat the following year. As of now he is safe… but he does need to prove he can coach better. Right now he is working off of his players raw talent. One day(hopefully this year) something is going to happen to one(Lawson) or even two(Hansborough) of his star players and he isnt gonna have raw talent to work with. THAT is when coaching comes in. Sid proved he can coach last year. Roy has yet to prove that while wearing Sky Blue.

  18. beowolf 06/20/2007 at 2:19 PM #

    YTF are we arguing about Roy? The man has a national championship and an ACC championship. He can recruit and coach.

    I’d love for him to be on the hot seat for those two reasons right there.

  19. primacyone 06/20/2007 at 2:19 PM #

    ^Let me clarify my statement regarding Roy’s extra pressure. In no way shape or form is Roy under any pressure as far as his job security goes. He will be in Chapel Hill for as long as he wants to be, as mentioned above.

    I am saying that I believe that Roy will be under the most pressure he has been under so far from his fan base and from himself to go to the final four this year. With as much ranting as Roy heard from his fan base this year, when the expectations were not nearly is high, if he does not go the final four and he looses to State and Duke, his fanbase will be screaming at him.

  20. Pack92 06/20/2007 at 2:21 PM #

    OK, the talent Roy had to work with TO replace those 7 was better than anyone else in the ACC had for a starting 5. Happy now? He may have had 3 1st rounders but only 2 were legit. Mays has yet to show me the tear he was on in that NCAA tourney. I will always believe the only thing the talent on that team needed to succeed was a hands-off approach. Doherty screwed up their chemistry WAY too much.

    I agree with VAWolf. Look how many Dean blew and he could still be there if he wanted. However, expectations are a bit higher now as holes “believe” they are better.

  21. Pack92 06/20/2007 at 2:21 PM #

    ^primacyone just nailed it.

  22. noah 06/20/2007 at 2:22 PM #

    “RW will be in Chapel Hill as long as he wants to be.”

    And will probably be ranked in the top five for 95 percent of the time there. He’s one of the two or three best coaches in the country and probably one of the 10 best coaches of all time.

    I don’t care how much people look for chinks in the armor or what rationale they bring to the table…the guy is a phenomenal coach.

    Dammit.

  23. primacyone 06/20/2007 at 2:33 PM #

    “He’s one of the two or three best coaches in the country and probably one of the 10 best coaches of all time.”

    With all due respect. Roy is not one of the two or three best “in-game” coaches in the country. Roy is not one of the 10 best “in-game” coaches of all time so far.

  24. BoKnowsNCS71 06/20/2007 at 2:33 PM #

    /\ True. he’s so good, people want to talk about him more than Point guards in the ACC.

  25. lush 06/20/2007 at 2:54 PM #

    “My pre-season pick may be a guy like Ellington at UNC”

    are you serious??? based on what? hes not even the third best player on their team. courtney fells had just as good as season as ellington, has ten times the athletic ability, and has the same streaky jumper. what on earth is the reasoning for this?

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