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Tired of watching basketball


corchjay

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I'm ready to be a part of March Madness.  

Our boys have got to make some major defensive strides to play with these sweet 16 teams night in and night out.  Physical strength has got to improve quickly as well.

That's all...

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  • WarTiger changed the title to Tired of watching basketball
8 hours ago, cole256 said:

We need more talent. We need perimeter players that can score the ball

I guess that's a start but your other post was more inclusive and well stated. 

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Yeah I was running out of time. When I get a day off I'm going to write a couple of posts that I hope some of you think is good

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When you see how well the SEC is doing in the tournament it also means that some of our losses are a little more understandable. Some issues that can be addressed strength there will be a huge difference with a full off year of working out  with our strength and conditioning program remember the majority of these our starters were freshman one who was really a HS senior. Having played together a year defense will improve.

We are losing Dunans, Johnson, and Lang We will replace Johnson with Mitchell who I believe will be an upgrade but will have normal freshman issues by end of season he will be an upgrade, Chuma Okeke should be an upgrade for Dunans but again will be a freshman. Dunans was an enigma one he did a little bit of everything shoot outside score inside off the dribble, play passing lanes, rebound when doing all of this at times played at a high level and made us look really good then he also had times when he played out of control and would hurt us. I will miss him because whether doing good or bad he always played hard and gave it his all. Okeke is bigger and stronger is a known rebounder so should be an upgrade there. Whether he can create his own offense especially off the dribble remains to be seen.   As the year went on we saw less and less of Lang.

Players develop during the off season. Thornwell is a great example of that he was not a dominate player as a freshman but he worked at his game and got better every year. 

The key to this coming season will be how each players develops and meshing in the new talent. Purifoy needs to get his confidence back and work on a medium range game where he pulls up and pops he has the talent but the injury put him behind ths year, Spencer needs to get stronger and embrace the 4 position, Herron just needs to continue the normal improvement any player makes from year to year, Brown needs to work on his ball handling or accept that he is not a ball handler, Wiley needs to get Stronger and quicker and would be nice if he could add a short range jump shot, strength increase should also help his Post defense., McLemore needs to get stronger as he will always be playing against bigger people. Harper has to become a truer PG looking to setup teammates before scoring a year of maturity should help with that. 

As a team they need to improve communication I watched us play solid Defense at times then I would see a player out of position often because of weak communication. On an individual basis the defensive effort was there it was the lack of cohesion as a unit that hurt us on defense I expect an improvement with more strength, better conditioning, a years experience as a unit. We are returing 7 players who have had some expeirence as starters:

Wiley Center

Spencer PF/C

Purifoy SF may have to play some PF

Herron SG

Brown  SG

Harper PG

McLemore Sub PF/C

Add

Mitchell  PG

Okeke  SF/PF

That is a solid 9 man rotation.  One key thing is even though we will be better next year as we are seeing so will other teams in the SEC. Next year should be fun but with improvement we are seeing in SEC it will also be tough.

 

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It might not be his nature but IMO, Purifoy needs to learn to take it to the hole...has the size to do that. The pull up shots are poor percentage generally.   From what I saw, he was not useful down low most of the season.   Don't know what his instructions were from the coaches but seems that he did not use his size to any advantage...did not score from inside and did not draw that many fouls. He's an excellent FT shooter and needs to learn how to take advantage of that. 

Maybe becoming stronger would give him that increase in 'confidence" that was mentioned above.

Meanwhile, Wiley shot less than 50% from FT and if he's going to be effective from inside he needs to make people pay when they foul him. 

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Before his ankle injury Purifoy did take it to the hole as he practices this year I expect to see his confidence grow and to see him go the hole more often.  The part of the game he needs to add is creating his own shot off the dribble and that includes a pull up jumper on a drive or a dribble and step back. Totally agree with you on Wiley and FT shooting. FT shooting  goes for the majority of the team as we actually got to the line a lot this year but because of our poor FT shooting it was not the advantage it should have been.

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Does anyone know why Purifoy wasn't our late game and technical foul free throw shooter? Considering how detailed Bruce gets to the media I'm surprised nobody asked him about this to get a response as to why the 6th best FT shooter in the entire conference at 88% was not shooting them. He seemed to want to force Heron in there, who's not bad by any means but 77% < 88% and Heron missed a couple in these aforementioned situations.

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You might be.

I'm hoping that our guys are still watching and  paying close attention to USC and Oregon in particular.

They are real fun to watch.  They play this thing called Defense.

 It's a new and upcoming basketball strategy that I think might be beneficial to their success next year.

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2 hours ago, AUGoo said:

You might be.

I'm hoping that our guys are still watching and  paying close attention to USC and Oregon in particular.

They are real fun to watch.  They play this thing called Defense.

 It's a new and upcoming basketball strategy that I think might be beneficial to their success next year.

One difference to me is that all of a sudden the refs are "letting them play".....not calling the ticky-tack stuff they called earlier in the season.  That's really helped the teams left in the tournament.  USCe and Gonzaga should be a real battle.


I watched both times UK played UNC....first game, both teams over 100 and the tournament game was a totally different game.....very aggressive defense and rebounding by both teams and neither team was in the two- shot foul situation until near the end of the game.

 

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I think the best move was mentioned above having Heron at the 2 instead of the 3 and having Purifoy at the 3 instead of the 4.  The 1 is the biggest priority and not just assists.  Defense on the ball from Harper has to get 100 percent better.  

Those changes should help the rebounding numbers.

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1 hour ago, corchjay said:

I think the best move was mentioned above having Heron at the 2 instead of the 3 and having Purifoy at the 3 instead of the 4.  The 1 is the biggest priority and not just assists.  Defense on the ball from Harper has to get 100 percent better.  

Those changes should help the rebounding numbers.

So coach...what will the loss of one of BPs coaches mean...announced that Dollor (sp) was leaving.     A chance to bring someone who can turn the defense around?  

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Hopefully the new coach can recruit, Dollar has been a big part of our ATL success with his connections

 

Wouldn't mind bringing someone in with NYC/Norrh East connections or someone with INTL connections

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2 hours ago, corchjay said:

I think the best move was mentioned above having Heron at the 2 instead of the 3 and having Purifoy at the 3 instead of the 4.  The 1 is the biggest priority and not just assists.  Defense on the ball from Harper has to get 100 percent better.  

Those changes should help the rebounding numbers.

Hmmmm

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No what you said was very intelligent, I think. Good stuff. I said this before the year started but not too many believed me. I'm more than casual with basketball.....it's a passion. I think I know a good bit of football and basketball but I would definitely say basketball, defensive backs, and wide receivers. I know quite a bit on those subjects

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OP asked:  Tired of watching basketball?  ...NOT YET....and what is interesting now is watching the teams (other than UNC) that in January were probably picked at more than 100:1 against making the final 4.  Even Gonzaga as a #1 seed has historically failed to deliver.

So...some great basketball ahead....still.

And as a side light....the hazards of recruiting "one and dones'  has been demonstrated at Duke where they basically wasted a scholarship on a guy names Harry Giles ...had been hurt in HS and injured when the season started....played about 3 minutes a game an made little contribution...but now that his ' college dreams have been fulfilled'...he's off to the NBA and seems pretty likely that someone will take him.  Duke rolled the dice on him and came up snake-eyes.  But not to worry...they will find a another 5* guy with the same goals. 

JMO but as we've discussed....having some "almost one and done" guys is a better deal...which is where we are at the moment with some pretty good guys coming back with a year under their belt....and hopefully some better coaching ...as CorchJ noted....to get them able to play a little tough defense and take better care of the ball.

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With lottery pick type talent guys you roll the dice. If Giles could have ever been healthy they'd probably still be playing right now, and also look at the other side Tatum was EVERYTHING they wanted him to be. We were a Tatum away actually a Ball away from being a tournament team at the least. When you guys talk about what BP wants for his system, it starts right there. A tall, long, great passer at point. 

You have to have talent at the other spots for a super star to make your team win as well

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11 hours ago, cole256 said:

With lottery pick type talent guys you roll the dice. If Giles could have ever been healthy they'd probably still be playing right now, and also look at the other side Tatum was EVERYTHING they wanted him to be. We were a Tatum away actually a Ball away from being a tournament team at the least. When you guys talk about what BP wants for his system, it starts right there. A tall, long, great passer at point. 

You have to have talent at the other spots for a super star to make your team win as well

Yep...that's what every coach wants...and there are darned few of them around.  Better still in my view, it would nice to have one of those guy play for more than one year.  Just think of what UCLA would look like in Ball's soph or junior year with those big guys like Leaf coming back. . 

 

Update....Leaf also leaving UCLA....goals accomplished ?

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Who knows? 

11 hours ago, AU64 said:

Yep...that's what every coach wants...and there are darned few of them around.  Better still in my view, it would nice to have one of those guy play for more than one year.  Just think of what UCLA would look like in Ball's soph or junior year with those big guys like Leaf coming back. . 

 

Update....Leaf also leaving UCLA....goals accomplished ?

Who knows? Who knows who they are signing next year but I duo know a couple of the role player guys were seniors so once again they were in a great situation for a couple of one and done guys, as was Kansas and duke as well. The super star players....there aren't that many and ideally you'd like to mix them in with experienced guys. 

But here's my thing....the teams that does this are CONSTANTLY at the least fighting for a title. They are in the discussion. There is only going to be one winner, but a school like us aren't close, I mean no where near close to think we should not recruit a guy with NBA talent. Pearl actually got Josh Jackson to visit here....If somehow we could of signed ball and Jackson g you're saying we shouldn't? That would be crazy. This particular year we just didn't have the talent many on here claimed we did but also we didn't have the experience. I told everybody that Harper was going to hit a wall, I said it after one of his better games so people wouldn't go crazy when it happened. Just how it is. 

We're not going to go from as bad as a program that we were into a championship team.  I know you get tired of me saying it, but I told everybody how this season was going to go, now the next year is the year we can really judge pearl on how players progress and whatnot. This year was going to go like this nobody who coaches. I just hope that Herron is a leader. Because to be honest I don't think Purifoy is as far as a hard work hour early before practice guy. And I hope we didn't ruin Purifoy by playing him out of position and stuff because like I said before the season started it would basically be a wasted year. 

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5 minutes ago, cole256 said:

Who knows? 

Who knows? Who knows who they are signing next year but I duo know a couple of the role player guys were seniors so once again they were in a great situation for a couple of one and done guys, as was Kansas and duke as well. The super star players....there aren't that many and ideally you'd like to mix them in with experienced guys. 

But here's my thing....the teams that does this are CONSTANTLY at the least fighting for a title. They are in the discussion. There is only going to be one winner, but a school like us aren't close, I mean no where near close to think we should not recruit a guy with NBA talent. Pearl actually got Josh Jackson to visit here....If somehow we could of signed ball and Jackson g you're saying we shouldn't? That would be crazy. This particular year we just didn't have the talent many on here claimed we did but also we didn't have the experience. I told everybody that Harper was going to hit a wall, I said it after one of his better games so people wouldn't go crazy when it happened. Just how it is. 

We're not going to go from as bad as a program that we were into a championship team.  I know you get tired of me saying it, but I told everybody how this season was going to go, now the next year is the year we can really judge pearl on how players progress and whatnot. This year was going to go like this nobody who coaches. I just hope that Herron is a leader. Because to be honest I don't think Purifoy is as far as a hard work hour early before practice guy. And I hope we didn't ruin Purifoy by playing him out of position and stuff because like I said before the season started it would basically be a wasted year. 

My thought about UCLA was that if those guys stayed, they would probably be pre-season #1......and now..who knows but unlikely....losing the core of the team and probably the best college player from what he meant to the team.  The kid was amazing in that he seemed able to ignore his loud mouthed dad and just play his game.

UNC got better when their McDonalds AA guys did not leave after one year...stayed to mature and developed...and not just a bunch of unpredictable freshmen.   As you note, that's what coaching is really about...

IMO...there is recruiting and there is coaching.....I'm guessing it was BP who brought in those good freshmen...now we need to see what he's going to do with them. 

 

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One of UNC's most heralded freshmen didn't even hardly play, because of their depth, if they would've had to rely on him they wouldn't be here right now. The ideal mix is having both, some guys who stay around and develop and usually those are your role player guys who have a job and knows exactly what they need to be doing to help their team and you have those NBA talent guys that come in.  As far as those guys staying yeah they'd been ranked high. Then if one of them gets hurt the team still is hurt and he definitely wouldn't be a top two pick so he loses something like 20 million dollars....

As far as his dad, I don't agree with everything he says, but his dad is the best thing going for him and most of these kids in this situation need a dad just like that

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12 minutes ago, cole256 said:

One of UNC's most heralded freshmen didn't even hardly play, because of their depth, if they would've had to rely on him they wouldn't be here right now. The ideal mix is having both, some guys who stay around and develop and usually those are your role player guys who have a job and knows exactly what they need to be doing to help their team and you have those NBA talent guys that come in.  As far as those guys staying yeah they'd been ranked high. Then if one of them gets hurt the team still is hurt and he definitely wouldn't be a top two pick so he loses something like 20 million dollars....

As far as his dad, I don't agree with everything he says, but his dad is the best thing going for him and most of these kids in this situation need a dad just like that

I agree about his Dad. His Dad recognizes how talented his kids are and that it is a business and you have to make the money while you can. Like you I don't always agree with everything his Dad says but despite all his talking he is making sure his son is making the right choices. Bottom line is his Dad is taking an interest in his kids and is taking care of them.

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13 hours ago, cole256 said:

With lottery pick type talent guys you roll the dice. If Giles could have ever been healthy they'd probably still be playing right now, and also look at the other side Tatum was EVERYTHING they wanted him to be. We were a Tatum away actually a Ball away from being a tournament team at the least. When you guys talk about what BP wants for his system, it starts right there. A tall, long, great passer at point. 

You have to have talent at the other spots for a super star to make your team win as well

You've been crushing it in here but I have a question regarding the bolded. When has BP had a guy like that? His best PGs were probably CJ Watson who is ~6'2, and Chris Lofton is probably the same size. Now, I'm just going off of memory here and I'm obviously not a UT-expert but has he ever actually had a long, tall, great passing PG? Not questioning you, just surprised because the way he's recruiting our PGs now they are all in the 6'1 or shorter range.

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