Originally Posted by
CDu
Well, as you all know, the season ended earlier than expected. Just as the team was showing new life with a new defensive approach and offensive strategy, the wheels came off on the season thanks to COVID. Hopefully this is the last time we have our season affected by COVID. Having said, that I wanted to do a summary "state of the union" assessment, looking at the last 9 games. Why 9? Because the NC State game was the first in which Williams established himself as the first option at center and we essentially moved on from Jalen Johnson.
Over that 9 game stretch, we went 6-3, and played the equivalent of a top-10 team. And honestly, that 6-3 could easily have been 5-4 or 8-1, as we won by 1 over UVa and went to OT in 2 of the 3 losses. This team was a second-weekend-NCAA caliber team and Final Four threat. Unfortunately, it took them too long to get there (and of course COVID made it moot anyway). Had we gone 4-4 in games decided by 5 or fewer points instead of 2-6, we're 15-9 right now and probably in the field before COVID ended our season. But alas, that's moot. What's important is that the team showed clear development in this period. No, it wasn't perfect, nor consistent. But in aggregate, we were a VERY good team over the last 9 games: easily a top-10 offense, and a passable defense (top-60).
As for the players, here are their numbers:
Mark Williams: 24.6 mpg, 13.6 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 1.9 bpg, 1.2 spg, 71.2 fg%, 56.3 ft%. As mentioned, Williams first took the reins in the NC State game. He had one more minimal role appearance against UVa, and from then on he played the second most frontcourt minutes on the team. And what a finish to the season he had. Obviously, the 23 and 19 against Louisville was amazing, and his rebounding numbers were all over the map prior to that. But there is no doubt the team realigned to better utilize his skills, and he deserves a ton of credit for getting himself ready to take advantage of those skills. I'm really excited about his prospects next season... so long as the Louisville game wasn't a sufficient audition to go to the NBA. If he's back, I'd expect a pretty big year for Williams.
Matthew Hurt: 32.9 mpg, 19.3 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 60.4 fg% (68.4 2pt%), 51.0 3pt%, 75.0 ft%. Hurt was a star for us this year. He is a shooting savant, hitting long 2s, midrange 2s, and 3s and an absurd percentage. Defense is a struggle and rebounding isn't a strength, but man can he shoot. It's crazy that there is a very real chance he won't play in an NCAA tournament game. But with the emergence of Williams and the incoming Banchero, he might well decide that his NBA stock will never be higher than it is right now. I don't expect him to return, and I'm very impressed by his emergence this year.
Wendell Moore: 31.0 mpg, 9.4 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 4.0 apg, 2.6 topg, 1.8 spg, 42.1 fg% (50.0 2pt%), 28.6 3pt%, 86.7 ft%. Moore played everywhere from pseudo PG to pseudo PF, and he had some terrific games in this stretch. He's still working to figure out what he can do consistently well. He does a little of everything, but hasn't quite put it together. Hopefully a more normal summer/offseason will allow him to really work on his ballhandling and decisionmaking. I wouldn't ever expect him to be a pass-first playmaker, but if he can get stronger off the dribble he can be a real asset with his FT shooting.
DJ Steward: 31.1 mpg, 12.9 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 2.8 apg, 1.7 topg, 1.0 spg, 41.3 fg% (50.0 2pt%), 32.0 3pt%, 73.7 ft%. Steward had a terrific freshman year, but finding more consistency with his 3pt shot will go a long way towards making his sophomore year a huge success. I think he's going to have a terrific year next year, especially if Griffin and Banchero are as good as advertised (and I think they will be). Looking forward to seeing him on an All-ACC team next year.
Jeremy Roach: 26.4 mpg, 7.0 ppg, 2.8 apg, 2.1 rpg, 1.7 topg, 45.1 fg% (52.4 2pt%), 40.0 3pt%, 62.5 ft%. Roach had a rough year, and his last-9 was roughly in line with that. He shot the 3 better later in the season, but never really found his rhythm. That said, his play over the last 3 games was promising, as he had 27 points, 9 assists, and just 1 turnover in that span. Hopefully a regular offseason and the sophomore jump works for him having a good sophomore year.
Jordan Goldwire: 26.9 mpg, 4.3 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 4.4 apg, 1.9 spg, 1.4 topg, 31.8 fg% (28.6 2pt%), 34.8 3pt%, 60.0 ft%. Goldwire improved dramatically over his 4 years, and was a very usable defensive specialist and caretaker at guard. He did start to find a chemistry with Williams late in the year, especially against Ga Tech. I would love for him to return next year to fill out our rotation, but if this was it for him he at least got to go out with a win.
Jaemyn Brakefield: 12.9 mpg, 3.7 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 38.9 fg% (50.0 2pt%), 21.4 3pt%, 33.3 ft%. Not a great end to the season for him. He was a mercurial player in high school, and it appears that hasn't changed in college. At times he can look quite good, at other times he looks lost. His role next year would appear the same as this: competing with Coleman for backup PF minutes and potentially getting usurped by a smallball type lineup. Hopefully he is more ready to regularly contribute next year.
Joey Baker: 10.6 mpg, 3.4 ppg, 35.0 3pt%. Baker returned to being a catch-and-shoot specialist. Next year's team may offer him more opportunity to fill that role, as we won't likely have Hurt and our other 4 defenders are thus likely to be better suited to fit him in. Still, it's probably a 10-15 mpg type role at best for him.
Henry Coleman: 6.3 mpg, 1.1 ppg, 1.9 rpg, 0.6 bpg, 41.7 fg%, 0.0 ft%. Coleman was a high-energy guy who was light on polish. Hopefully a year in the system will do him good. But as with Baker and Brakefield, he'll likely be competing for limited minutes next year unless something unexpected happens.
Patrick Tape: didn't play enough to have a meaningful stat line. I'm thankful he came and helped as best he could. It just didn't work out for him. Maybe he takes advantage of the extra year to get to experience Cameron for real, but I doubt he would see much game action.