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He ain’t transferring. Nobody expected him to be back. That’s just coach speak and player speak. Wise if you ask me. KK just declared we have an open roster spot. He can avoid declaring he’s going pro and explore the best option, here or abroad. Gives him leverage.
We now have one scholarship available given the number of incoming players. I think KK has known this scenario for some time, and I wouldn’t be surprised if we bring in another transfer, grad transfer, or JUCO.
KK was forced to choose between offense and defense this year. We had some pretty good offensive players that just weren’t very good on the other end for a combination of reasons, none of which involved effort. Conversely, we had some pretty good defensive players that just weren’t very good on the opposite end. As the season wore on, KK went to a roster that favored the offensive players because we were really having some trouble scoring the basketball at times in the half court. But he also went away from the variety of presses we saw early in the year, the frequency, and the personnel used.
This team and KK exceeded my expectations this year. As he gets longer, athletic players, I think we’ll be more balanced on both ends, offense and defense, and you’ll see the Pack version of 40 minutes of hell.
Schematically though, I agree with CD. I do think a little more zone out of the press would’ve helped eak out a few more wins. Once the press is broken, I’m not a big fan of pressuring the ball and denying passes when you’re 30 feet from the basket. Too often, we got beat off the dribble this year, and there was inadequate help. Against Seton Hall, I think the pressure really played into their style, more than it did counter it. I do think we’ll improve in this area, but he might have countered some of the athletic and size deficiencies and defensive weaknesses of the team had we played a little more zone, and backed off in the half court just a touch.
Agree with rye that we don’t need new rules, just better officiating and enforcement. But I disagree that UVA’s flames out of the NCAA due to a different level of officiating, and that their style of play is that much more physical than most teams. They’re fundamentally sound, and he coaches the Pack Line Defense well, much like Marshall does at Wichita State. The approach on offense is to make teams actually play team defense, use a lot of motion, the pass, and probe for BETTER shots. Better shots is the key. You can always get a contested 3, or something off the dribble late, but rarely, will you see a Bennett team settle for an early contested 3, or deep 3, or by a guy shooting sub 40% from 3. I’m not saying I like watching it, but his success, at least in my mind, is more due to how putrid most other teams are on offense, and how bad the shot selection has gotten.
Please look at the roster, folks. I get the criticism of Freeman, but who else you going to bring in? He was brought in as a grad transfer to score for this team because there aren’t many options. Without a healthy Abu and now without Johnson, we’re even thinner. Freeman will continue to shoot the rock, good or bad. They ain’t nobody else in the stable at the 2-3 spots.
^if we’re a coin flip getting in to the dance, we all should be applauding. We’ll be lucky to win a game in conference without Johnson.
If you think the name on the front or back of the jersey means anything anymore in college basketball, you’ve not watched much in recent years. When you have to cobble together lineup just to field a team, how can you blame the current head coach? If you want to place blame, place it on the AD who hired his predecessor, or the prior coach himself. That’s where blame lies. How can you honestly expect a coach in his situation to have adequate depth?
The last two games have zero to do with game film from previous contests, or teams out scheming us. With Johnson, those games aren’t even close. If you’ve watched all season, the approach the last two games has been fundamentally different, and it’s had to be due to personnel. KK is not going to make excuses, and he minimizes Johnson’s absence in the post game, but we’re unable to penetrate as much off the dribble with Beverly at the point (Batts helps with getting into the lane), Hunt is our best shooter but he’s atrocious on defense. And in combination, as he’s said, we’ve been trying to integrate Abu back into the lineup, and playing bigger than we have all season. We’re a worse team playing bigger. Defense is worse, pressure is worse, and offensively, we simply don’t have the pieces. It’s fundamentally different, in terms of personnel and style, than how he wants and needs to play. Add to that our
I agree that he could’ve used Yurtseven more in the last 2 games, and that he might’ve adapted a bit more given the personnel situation and taken advantage of our size. But he’s trying to work Abu back into playing shape, figure out combinations and sub patterns. And Yurtseven picked up 2 quick ones in the last game, which also hurt.
We need to press, press, and press, run and run and run.
Any criticism of KK at this point is just plain ridiculous. Coming into the season, it was known that if Johnson didn’t return, we would struggle. No Johnson = not a good team. The kid was averaging close to 8 points per game, led us in assists and steals, and is an incredible on ball defender. In the press, he’s a monster. You’re looking at a 10-20 point swing minimum with him off the court. Think about that. His absence is requiring the guards to play more, and we’re very thin there already. Batts played well last night.
Prior to the UNC-G game, we had 2 losses: 1 to a top-25 team in Tennessee, and another to a Northern Iowa team that sits atop the MVC, has 3 losses, 2 of which were Villanova and UNC. And we’ve beaten 2 top 35 teams in Arizona and Penn St. AZ is only going to move up in the polls as they’ve finally getting healthy.
No Johnson = we’re in for a terrible season. With Johnson = we’ll be competitive in ACC games.
I don’t know why, but the food trucks line up at every parking lot from downtown up New Bern Ave on Friday nights. Or at least they’ve been the last few times I’ve driven out that way. Can get your taco and prostitute on, all at the same time.
Chop, they’ve got some cheese and cracker stuff. I enlisted my mother-in-law to keep junior while we gorged. We hit up the other joint owned by the same chef the next night. It was also superb.
Interested to hear what bills favorite Wilmington establishments are. I was always partial to the bridge tender and I kept MOI and Saltworks in business in my early 20s
Asheville – curate. Go early, eat and drink until they have to carry you out.
Millers Creek – igloo. Best dog in the foothills.
And gulf coast oysters suck. I’ve always been partial to Stumpies and Pamlicos, but my mind was blown away a few years ago by smaller New England varieties off the Maine coast.
Recent favs – Peninsula Grill in Charleston. My wife worked in the Charleston food and wine scene for while. Still haven’t tried Husk.
Raleigh – the bad. Don’t believe the hype, Brewery Bhavana blows. Bida Manda is far superior.
You fools probably never had the pleasure, but since bill is talkin long gone restaurants, the best Italian to ever visit NC was at in joint in Wilkes County called Sunny Italy. kitchen Roselli in East Bend is a relative, with of the same dishes, but the ingredients and sauces just aren’t Mama’s
I mean this is no knock on those who love futbol and play it, but it’s been my experience that in the South, soccer isn’t played by the best athletes.
Aside from the transplant and Hispanic population, it’s a game still largely played by mamas boys who don’t won’t junior to get hit or sweat alongside his darker neighbors.
With that said, I hope should mine want to play, he kicks the chit out of the sissies.
I don’t know our budget situation well, but also wonder to what extend the Gottfriend buyout hogties Yow’s hands in terms of salary flexibility. I know we went relatively cheap on KK base to start, but it’s my understanding we’re still paying Gottfried. Are we impacted by that bad hire?
DD is a terrible fit for SEC. He either thinks too highly of himself, he or his family (meaning wife) are just plain dissatisfied here, a combination of both, or he and his agent are flat posturing for a raise (which is certainly fine). Knoxville is a hole (Sorry TN folks), certainly not as nice a place as Raleigh. He would be run out of TN in a heartbeat. With GA on the upswing, even with with built in recruiting advantages and budget, his game management and decision making will not allow him to move that program up the SEC east at the speed required to succeed. I suspect he knows this as well.
Worst thing DY could do is overpay. I’m fine with getting him close to middle of pack, renegotiating incentives for performance, and upping the assistant pay for some coaches (not all), and including incentives for those assistants as well. But anything more, let him walk if he thinks the pastures are greener.
I think some overstate the talent on the team. What Doeren has done is built depth at most positions, and there is some quality depth. He gets the credit. But the roster isn’t comparable to Notre Dame or FSU or Clemson. Heck, with a Sr laden d-line made up of a 1st rounder and potentially a few other picks, we were probably the 3rd-4th best defensive line in the conference going into the season. Late in the year, even the most talented teams are struggling with injuries, Clemson included. Lose a starting QB early, like FSU, and you’re in a world of hurt.
8-4 (6-2), with a chance to go 9-4 is respectable given the schedule. And we were competitive in every game. Sure, plenty of bonehead coaching decisions, and questionable strategy or playcalling, but at the end of the day we had a shot in most.
This season only highlights some early concerns, at least for me. If you’re not going to significantly upgrade the recruiting (and Doeren and staff have proved more capable than their predecessors), you have to show results on the field. They have. They’ve proven more competitive against the conference elite. We’re not playing anybody in the conference with a major talent advantage. To have a shot at upgrading the talent, you gotta win the 50/50 games.
This is where DD and staff aren’t getting it done in my mind. Coaches make a difference in the close ones, and we’re not going to blow many teams out with talent. Better be able to out-scheme and play call. DD looks like he couldn’t get a greased bb up his arse on the sideline. The holding hands with assistant coaches for a FG at the end of the BC half (like the Clemson game last year) is pee-wee league stuff, and the all too often inexplicable delay of games when you know the decision is up to the head man, makes me cringe.
There are still roster deficiencies, but I’m not convinced we’ll be that much worse next year (depending on what JR’s come and go) than we are this year. But relative to other teams in the conference…well…
Read Kk’s postgame presser. Said he attributed the poor shooting to fatigue, but was pleased with how his club responded after 4 games in 7 days.
They dont have any Scott Woods out there but Hunt and the Baylor transfer are capable from 3. The recently eligible kid is supposedly a shooter as well. Johnson just has to keep teams honest, doesn’t need to burn it up at 40%. Batts isn’t a shooter at this point. PC sagged on Dorn. Keatts said in presser that he doesn’t want him falling in love with 3 ball.
When Abu returns, I suspect we will see some lineups where Dorn plays 4 at times.
What you saw last night was a coach
who wasn’t rattled. When the man pressure and traps didn’t work, he went to a 2-2-1 press in the second half and a quicker lineup with Batts in place of Hunt, and they turned PC over 15 times. and PC won’t finish in the bottom half of the Southern either.He’s going to surprise some teams this year. I’m not
expecting anything more than a lower third ACC finish, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we get to .500 in conference.BJD, if you’re out there lurking, I’m donning my new “Wild Wolf” t-shirt in your honor for the weekday basketball. As early as September 2016, Beej called on Drink to ditch the wildcat. If only we’d been so lucky.
Thanks to Mr. Ply’s inspiration and a new creation by Mrs. Whiteshoes, I’ll I’m sporting my own call for the end to the wild cat against the Presbyterians, before we head west to play the Baptists. Can I get an Amen?
Wake looks like the 3rd-4th best team we’ve played. SC is currently second in the east behind Georgia, even after losing an all-SEC receiver and a few other starters. They get Clemson after a patsy in a few weeks.
Several well respected coaches, including Bennett, have commented that Keats’s style of pressure is very different than what other teams have utilized in the past, like Richardson’s “40 minutes of hell” or Smart’s, etc. I don’t think you can really adequately look to the past, and project how successful Keats will be, this year or in following years.
When Richardson was running 40 minutes of hell, most teams were still using the traditional lineup of 2 guards, 2 forwards, and a big. And there weren’t frequently 4-5 capable ballhandlers on the court. Purnell had a little success at Clemson, but nothing to boast about. Smart’s team got hot, and that style of play can creep up on other squads in tournament play, if they’re not accustomed to playing against it, they lack depth, or quality ballhandlers.
But in a league like the ACC, where you’re going against some top teams and talent every night, and you’re facing rosters where there may be 4-5 guys on the court every night that can handle the ball, I’m also not convinced this style of play will work. But I’ll enjoy watching.
Ditch the scared-d cat unless it’s the backup QB. Don’t care that we got a TD with Samuels out of the pussy cat either. For every successful putty cat, there are 5-6 road kills. Samuels pitter-pats back there. Commentators this past Saturday applauded it as “patience” which is a gift for a back, but acceleration is also a gift. Since one of our problems is redzone conversion, and a contributor is the slow design by our OC, the side-to-side plays included, there should be a focus on attacking straight ahead. Hines or Gallaspie are better options from the backfield than Samuels. Finley bootleg is also a better option.
If the OC didn’t get hammered by the head man after Saturday, something is wrong.
The delay of games are inexcusable.
More baffling to me, is that you know that you’re kicking game is not reliable. Yet you don’t playcall like you’re in 4 down territory. Everytime we get to the 30-40 yard line, we ought to be playcalling like we’re in 4 down territory.
