ACC Tournament

orientalnc

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Oriental, NC
Looking back on the season, I asked myself if I am disappointed with the results. My answer depends upon which expectation I use as the measure. Back in the Fall I was not optimistic we could replace the guys who left with comparable talent. I thought we were expecting too much from Alvarado and Moore at the point and far too much from Wright and Cole. I thought Haywood would be an asset right away. But, I thought we would win 10-11 games in the OOC schedule and 8-9 games in the ACC if our young players developed as I expected.

But, as the season progressed things happened which altered my view of the team. Jose was far better than I expected, but prone to turnovers. We missed our seniors who valued every possession. When Jose went down (with Moore not really on the team any longer) we were severely handicapped. Wright probably should have been redshirted. Maybe Cole as well. But circumstances prevented that from happening.

Given where we are at the end of the season, here is my take:

Injuries to Josh, CGB, Ben, and Jose, and whatever has kept Ves on the bench, exacerbated our short bench.
PG was a problem all year, even when Jose was healthy.
We never found anyone who could play the 4.
We do not have a demonstrated ACC caliber shooter on the team.
That we won six ACC games is a tribute to the buy in CJP has gotten from this group to play defense and share the ball.

Yes. I am disappointed in the season, but some of what happened was simply bad luck. Maybe we beat UCLA and Grambling with Jackson and Okogie. Maybe we win two more ACC games if Ben and Jose don't get hurt. Maybe none of it really mattered and the truth is that our guys are just not as good I thought.
 

YlJacket

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3,273
In the end with this year's recruits we had one kid who really hit (Jose), one kid who seemed to be rounding into ACC form but not quite there before being hurt (Haywood) and 2 kids who showed flashes but regressed to the development needed category we thought they were when the season started. For next year we need at least DeVoe to hit from day one and one of either Sjolund or Moore to have a Haywood type of season (without the injury). Do that and plug in a grad transfer rim protector and we are improved. Even without the rim protector we are improved overall.
 

Silk3

Ramblin' Wreck
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936
Forget all that. Forget the statistics. Forget those 12 turnovers he had in the three games prior to todays. Just hammer that square peg in there and talk in terms of "what if"
Look at lists of leading turnovers per game in NBA and its all the best players in the league, so I dont get what your point is. And I havent been saying what if.
Anyways main reason he should of been at pg his last 4 years is bc we have had no pgs. Weve been running out Heath and Heyward for 35mpg at pg and at sg we have had Okogie and Adam Smith. Seems it would be smart to try and get your best players on the court together.
 

Silk3

Ramblin' Wreck
Messages
936
Forget all that. Forget the statistics. Forget those 12 turnovers he had in the three games prior to todays. Just hammer that square peg in there and talk in terms of "what if"
And forget about the statistics? Hes averaging 11ppg playing off the ball and 20ppg at point. So i dont think im the one ignoring statistics. Keep trying though
 

JDjacket

Ramblin' Wreck
Messages
635
Pitt and Stallings might be negotiating a lower buyout?

If you're Stallings... why take a lower buyout unless you plan on just retiring?
Its not like he just wants to get out of contract to find a new job. After the showcase he's put on the last 2 years, I don't think he'd get anything good. Why not either force them to give you the $10 million or let you coach another year. Maybe you start turning the team around so you look like a competent coach and can get a better job than if you accept less now and go looking for a job with 4-32 ACC record over 2 years.
 

Jacketman1

Ramblin' Wreck
Messages
601
The freshmen are exactly where I thought they would be.
Alvarado: good player. Had a solid first year, and I think he'll be even better in the future.
Wright: I'm sorry, but he is not great. AT least, he wasn't this year. Very raw. I can see his physical tools, but sometimes it's like watching a fawn learn how to run. Wasn't ecstatic over his signing, but I've grown to like him. I just don't think he is a good player right now. Hope he proves me wrong.
Cole: Shows flashes. Serviceable player. Showed his shooting stroke and athleticism- at times. I expect inconsistencies in freshman, so we'll see with him.
Haywood: Not quite as good of a ball handler or driver as I expected him to be. He seemed to be mostly a shooter. He was decent.
 

Peacone36

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Maine
Pitt and Stallings might be negotiating a lower buyout?

If you're Stallings... why take a lower buyout unless you plan on just retiring?
Its not like he just wants to get out of contract to find a new job. After the showcase he's put on the last 2 years, I don't think he'd get anything good. Why not either force them to give you the $10 million or let you coach another year. Maybe you start turning the team around so you look like a competent coach and can get a better job than if you accept less now and go looking for a job with 4-32 ACC record over 2 years.

Maybe the buyout wasn’t as high as some anticipated? I’m sure Red will have a logical explanation for this
 

Silk3

Ramblin' Wreck
Messages
936
What did Stallings do at Vandy to make everyone hate him? They were usualky pretty good when he was there. I remember they would always upset UF when they had Noah and horford and brewer. They were good with Festus and Jeffrey Taylor. Obviously hasnt worked at Pitt and was stupid to run Dixon out bc Dixon always thought to be a really goid coach. But just curious when everyone started to hate him. Was it once he got to Pitt or just bc Vandy was underachieving at the end of his tenure?
 

lv20gt

Helluva Engineer
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5,588
It seemed like Wright basically played the whole first half and he was playing terrible. Also, I guess Wright didnt figure out hes always wide open for a reason. I do like the confidence though. Miss 10 in a row? Im due to hit the next 10. #shootersshoot

I wasn't able to watch today's game because of work, but based on the last few games my impression is that Wright is trying to play the way the team needs him to perform to be successful rather than just playing his own game and trying to do what he can do. What I mean by that is with the way the team played offense the past several games we needed Wright, or Cole if he was at the 4, to be an outside threat to help draw a defender out of the lane. If we're in a situation where Wright's man is sagging off him on the perimeter to help out, we really needed him to be able to hit those shots. Of course it puts us in the scenario where the choices are either Wright not even trying to do what the team needs him to, or trying and likely missing the shot. It's a no win situation that is forced because of the injury situation. My personal preference is that I'd rather see a guy make mistakes trying to do what the team needs him to do, Wright, rather than a guy who doesn't even attempt to do what the team needs him to do because he believes he can't do it (Alston and to a lesser extent Cole at times). That's especially true for freshmen, and even more so when the season is basically lost due to injuries anyways.
 

jayparr

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newnan
I wasn't able to watch today's game because of work, but based on the last few games my impression is that Wright is trying to play the way the team needs him to perform to be successful rather than just playing his own game and trying to do what he can do. What I mean by that is with the way the team played offense the past several games we needed Wright, or Cole if he was at the 4, to be an outside threat to help draw a defender out of the lane. If we're in a situation where Wright's man is sagging off him on the perimeter to help out, we really needed him to be able to hit those shots. Of course it puts us in the scenario where the choices are either Wright not even trying to do what the team needs him to, or trying and likely missing the shot. It's a no win situation that is forced because of the injury situation. My personal preference is that I'd rather see a guy make mistakes trying to do what the team needs him to do, Wright, rather than a guy who doesn't even attempt to do what the team needs him to do because he believes he can't do it (Alston and to a lesser extent Cole at times). That's especially true for freshmen, and even more so when the season is basically lost due to injuries anyways.
Wright 2 for 30 from 3 pt range. He'll never be a good shot. Alston is now a good enough player to either start next year or a good bench player. Cole will be ok coming off the bench if not a starter.
 

RyanS12

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Flint Michigan
Fu*k! The thing that bothers me the most is we haven’t had a winning ACC record since 1996! Nineteen Ninty fu*king Six! That’s pathetic. This has to be be a P5 conference record.
 

LibertyTurns

Banned
Messages
6,216
How did they end up with 37 FTs?

Also, I can’t remember when if ever I saw a box score where a team played 7 players & had 29 fouls.

I got some sort of alert on my iPhone that Tad scored 29 & I figured we had won. Got on internet to see who were were playing tomorrow and saw we lost. Maybe a fitting end to the season?
 
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