This Week in the ACC - 11/4-11/10

[devildeac]

Mike Brey looks like the guy who won the steak knives in Glengarry Glen Ross.

I'd rather have these:

d35ddb351419bca8605b7ef3602879f1_640x640.jpg

[dukelifer]

I’d say ACC POY is wrapped up already too.

Of course he has to stay healthy - see Kyrie- but the kid is going to be a handful.

[devildeac]

I hear there is an ACC team that has two (or more?) outstanding perimeter defenders; we'll see how they do against young Mr. Anthony.

Those two perimeter defenders to whom you refer are likely to pick up two fouls each during warm-ups when we play those cheating bastards.

[duketaylor]

rather Cavalier. Or, rather, acting like their previous team...not giving up hardly any points and contesting everything. Although the 'Cuse is very young, that could be part of the issue. More difficult hoops to watch.

[duketaylor]

48-34 over the 'Cuse, argh!!! What a display!! (Not football)

[Wahoo2000]

rather Cavalier. Or, rather, acting like their previous team...not giving up hardly any points and contesting everything. Although the 'Cuse is very young, that could be part of the issue. More difficult hoops to watch.

Tough breaking in a lot of new guys vs that zone. My Hoos have had much worse nights though.

The good - we were 16-25 inside the arc, Diakite/Huff/Key all looked extremely solid. They totally controlled the boards and scored in the paint with very high efficiency. Clark would have had a triple double if not for our woeful 3pt shooting (more on that coming up). The defense looked MUCH better than I expected, especially the newer guy not missing a beat on their rotations/assignments. It really looked like we must have been practicing nothing BUT defense, because....

The bad - we were 4-24 (not a typo) from 3. That's 16%... yuck. I'm sure we'll be better than that for most of the year, but not a good start. We had 16 turnovers, which, given our pace, is well over 20 vs most teams. Got to clean that up, and I actually think we will - at least 6-7 of those were off of just plain dumb or lazy passes which traditionally Bennett has been pretty quick to clean up.

The ??? - Playing that zone, which we won't again, doesn't begin to really tell me much about what our offense will be in most games. D looked good, but Cuse is young and historically starts seasons slow.

Overall, just happy to get out to a 1-0 start in league play PLUS grabbing a road win in what can usually be a tricky environment/matchup/situation.

[wobatus]

Keeling and Pierce are grad transfers, i.e. that thing that Coach K ignores but Roy uses so effectively. They look decent so far this season, unfortunately.

Walker Miller I believe is a (former?) walk-on.

Wes Miller’s brother. Another (former) walk-on and UNC-Greensboro’s coach. Walker is still sans scholarship.

Keeling played for Charleston Southern, Pierce played for former UNC player Tony Shaver at William & Mary.

[left_hook_lacey]

Regardless the outcome of this ND at UNC game, one conclusion I can communicate right now is Cole Anthony is very good.

Good thing is he appears to be all they have this year. Tre and Goldwire stop him, and we will blow them out both games this year.

[robed deity]

Good thing is he appears to be all they have this year. Tre and Goldwire stop him, and we will blow them out both games this year.

Not sure about THAT, but it is at least nice to have some good options against their strength.

[Indoor66]

No ACCT here.

I’d like to be upset, but if the ACC doesn’t watch me to watch their games then screw them. Sorry about the Duke games I will miss but I guess I’ll find other things to do.

Never went back to baseball really after the strike. Another new chapter here, I guess.

I am with you on this one. It starts to become too much effort and wayyyyyyyyyy too much money for the return.

[DavidBenAkiva]

It was an interesting start to the ACC season last night. I am not sure we learned anything we didn't already know or answer any questions we had about other teams.

Cole Anthony is going to be a very good player. Will UNC have anyone else that can contribute as a secondary scorer?

Virginia's defense looks as tight as ever. Will it have the guards to keep pace with elite offenses?

The most shocking outcome of the night was the Pitt victory over Florida State. Is Pitt going to be a bubble team this year?

[OldPhiKap]

I am with you on this one. It starts to become too much effort and wayyyyyyyyyy too much money for the return.

Yup.

I appreciate all of the posts that tell me how I can get the games. As a personal decision, I don't plan to pay more to watch.

There are plenty of other things to do with leisure time, and if they don't want my viewership so be it. Good luck to ACCN, I hope they all get rich.

(cue Jim Boehiem's "ACC money grab" GIF . . . .)

[phaedrus]

I’d say ACC POY is wrapped up already too.

Is it - what's the word - over?

[chris13]

I'd rather have these:

d35ddb351419bca8605b7ef3602879f1_640x640.jpg

So would Coach Brey in all likelihood.

[DarkstarWahoo]

I apologize to anyone who stayed up for the UVA-Cuse game. Only a UVA fan could have enjoyed that.

Boozer was good on TV, although all I could focus on was his beard. It looked like a mall Santa's beard colored with shoe polish.

[PackMan97]

I apologize to anyone who stayed up for the UVA-Cuse game. Only a UVA fan could have enjoyed that.

I see how it is. I really hope UVa's recruiting improves and you return to playing the game of basketball again.

...or is that part of the strategy? Bore everyone to death until they lose interest and then you win?

[DarkstarWahoo]

I see how it is. I really hope UVa's recruiting improves and you return to playing the game of basketball again.

...or is that part of the strategy? Bore everyone to death until they lose interest and then you win?

I'm of two minds. The UVA-positive side is that they were returning, what, the 4-7 guys in the rotation from last year (plus Stattmann, who wasn't even in the rotation) and playing against that godawful Syracuse zone in their first game. There's a compelling argument to be made that last night should be thrown out the window. (I'd just as soon set it on fire or flush it down the toilet, and we won the dang game!)

The UVA-negative side is, well, that they were returning, what, the 4-7 guys in the rotation from last year (plus Stattmann, who wasn't even in the rotation). You go to war with the guys you have, and the guys UVA has might just be an offense-challenged group. Maybe having Huff and Diakite shooting more 3s than is feasible as bigs against a 2-3 zone will help. I feel pretty confident that Key, Morsell and Woldetensae won't combine to go 1-14 from 3 in many games. But that was some ugly ish.

I really don't want to complain too much. 1-0 in the ACC in November is fine with me, and 1-0 as defending national champs is obviously way, way better than fine. But watching Clark pass to Morsell, who held the ball and passed back to Clark, who held the ball and passed to Woldetensae, who held the ball and passed back to Clark, and so on and so forth for 28 seconds, was...not the best viewing experience.

[Skydog]

Well I think we have our ACC rookie of the year- now the question is whether he will average over 30 on this team- geez

Announcers commented prior to game something to the effect Cole will be good offensively but don't expect Coby White. Turns out he looks better than Coby. Athleticism, great shooter, confidence, bball IQ - he showed it all. Color me impressed (other than his school choice obv).

[Wahoo2000]

I'm of two minds. The UVA-positive side is that they were returning, what, the 4-7 guys in the rotation from last year (plus Stattmann, who wasn't even in the rotation) and playing against that godawful Syracuse zone in their first game. There's a compelling argument to be made that last night should be thrown out the window. (I'd just as soon set it on fire or flush it down the toilet, and we won the dang game!)

The UVA-negative side is, well, that they were returning, what, the 4-7 guys in the rotation from last year (plus Stattmann, who wasn't even in the rotation). You go to war with the guys you have, and the guys UVA has might just be an offense-challenged group. Maybe having Huff and Diakite shooting more 3s than is feasible as bigs against a 2-3 zone will help. I feel pretty confident that Key, Morsell and Woldetensae won't combine to go 1-14 from 3 in many games. But that was some ugly ish.

I really don't want to complain too much. 1-0 in the ACC in November is fine with me, and 1-0 as defending national champs is obviously way, way better than fine. But watching Clark pass to Morsell, who held the ball and passed back to Clark, who held the ball and passed to Woldetensae, who held the ball and passed back to Clark, and so on and so forth for 28 seconds, was...not the best viewing experience.

There were only 2 problems with the offense that I saw-
1) We shot 16% from 3, and
2) We had 5-6 too many turnovers.

One of those things we will DEFINITELY fix (turnovers). The season will prob come down to whether we can get MUCH better shooting from the perimeter guys. I expect our overall 3pt shooting to definitely improve (after all, you'd almost have to TRY to be 16% bad), the question is by how much. If we shoot 30ish % from 3, we're a 4/5 seed kind of team. If we're 35ish%, we're more of a 2/3 seed team. I think that's prob the ceiling unless the D proves to be historically great by our standards, and on par with the '15 or '18 squads.

[devildeac]

I'm of two minds. The UVA-positive side is that they were returning, what, the 4-7 guys in the rotation from last year (plus Stattmann, who wasn't even in the rotation) and playing against that godawful Syracuse zone in their first game. There's a compelling argument to be made that last night should be thrown out the window. (I'd just as soon set it on fire or flush it down the toilet, and we won the dang game!)

The UVA-negative side is, well, that they were returning, what, the 4-7 guys in the rotation from last year (plus Stattmann, who wasn't even in the rotation). You go to war with the guys you have, and the guys UVA has might just be an offense-challenged group. Maybe having Huff and Diakite shooting more 3s than is feasible as bigs against a 2-3 zone will help. I feel pretty confident that Key, Morsell and Woldetensae won't combine to go 1-14 from 3 in many games. But that was some ugly ish.

I really don't want to complain too much. 1-0 in the ACC in November is fine with me, and 1-0 as defending national champs is obviously way, way better than fine. But watching Clark pass to Morsell, who held the ball and passed back to Clark, who held the ball and passed to Woldetensae, who held the ball and passed back to Clark, and so on and so forth for 28 seconds, was...not the best viewing experience.

Soooo, the 48-34 score last PM was a *basketball* game...