MBB: ACC Comings and Goings

[JasonEvans]

Feel like we need a thread to specifically keep up with significant news about our conference.

Maybe I missed it, but I don't think anyone has posted this yet -- Bacot has officially announced he is coming back to UNC: https://mobile.twitter.com/iget_buck...67888479313921

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

Feel like we need a thread to specifically keep up with significant news about our conference.

Maybe I missed it, but I don't think anyone has posted this yet -- Bacot has officially announced he is coming back to UNC: https://mobile.twitter.com/iget_buck...67888479313921

That's huge for NC. He absolutely was a beast this year. He may break a LOT of records next year.

[Rich]

Not sure if this was already reported here

Armando Bacot returning to UNC

https://www.cbssports.com/college-ba...t-performance/

[flyingdutchdevil]

Not sure if this was already reported here

Armando Bacot returning to UNC

https://www.cbssports.com/college-ba...t-performance/

NIL is powerful.

Damn.

[CDu]

Not sure if this was already reported here

Armando Bacot returning to UNC

https://www.cbssports.com/college-ba...t-performance/

Yeah, reported in the "Comings and Goings" thread. But obviously a HUGE return for UNC. Clearly the early frontrunner for ACC PoY.

[CDu]

NIL is powerful.

Damn.

Yeah, that and a lack of draft prospects. He was likely to be a 2nd rounder had he gone pro. Lacks the mobility, athleticism, and shooting ability to be a plus at the next level.

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

Yeah, reported in the "Comings and Goings" thread. But obviously a HUGE return for UNC. Clearly the early frontrunner for ACC PoY.

K already made his vote known... If you haven't seen this, it's a very cool moment after our Saturday night loss.

[DavidBenAkiva]

Bacot returning for UNC is huge. On the other hand, it was team defense that put UNC on its magical run to the National Title Game. Manek, who is a fairly awful one-on-one defender, was a huge part of the team defense, calling out plays and serving as a QB of sorts. When Love and Davis started to buy in, things changed for UNC. Losing Manek hurts their overall defense and the ability to stretch the court on offense, especially if Love goes pro.

Love and Black may return, but it's not clear that UNC will be a dramatically better team next year if they do. Black is who he is as a player by this point. Teams will sag off of him to double Bacot or cover a stretch 4. If Puff Johnson is that starter and can't hit 35%+ from 3, then you can certainly double Bacot on offense and to crash the boards. Johnson shot well below 25% from 3 last year and looked eager but not very accurate when he did shoot late in the season. His brother is a deadly-accurate shooter, but it's not clear that runs in the family yet. There is also the question of whether Johnson will be a capable defender. Lots of unkonwns there.

I think UNC could be like UCLA this past season: A better regular season but a team that doesn't feel like it lived up to its potential. There are a number of teams in recent years that relied on a productive big man that had limited NBA appeal that got upset early in the NCAA Tournament (2022 Gonzaga and Kentucky, 2021 and 2022 Illinois, 2021 Iowa, and others). Losing Black or Love could make that more likely. They'll be a trendy top 5 and preseason National Title Contender pick. Whether they are that team remains to be seen.

[Ggallagher]

Yep, I talked to my sister this morning who's a good friend of Mondo's, and she was all excited about Mondo coming back. She's a big UNC fan unfortunately.

I am happy to have kids staying around longer - whatever the motivation. But I would have been OK if Mondo had chosen to leave.

[MCFinARL]

That's huge for NC. He absolutely was a beast this year. He may break a LOT of records next year.

Interesting choice. Bacot is an extremely effective college player who may not have a clear niche in the NBA. But his draft prospects are not likely ever to be higher than they are right now.

[flyingdutchdevil]

Interesting choice. Bacot is an extremely effective college player who may not have a clear niche in the NBA. But his draft prospects are not likely ever to be higher than they are right now.

Looks like he's banking (literally) on NIL cash flow vs the prospect of little to no cash flow in the League next year.

That would be my guess, cus you're right; his stock isn't going up next year (it may stay the same, like Grayson Allen as a sophomore and senior).

[scottdude8]

Bacot returning for UNC is huge. On the other hand, it was team defense that put UNC on its magical run to the National Title Game. Manek, who is a fairly awful one-on-one defender, was a huge part of the team defense, calling out plays and serving as a QB of sorts. When Love and Davis started to buy in, things changed for UNC. Losing Manek hurts their overall defense and the ability to stretch the court on offense, especially if Love goes pro.

Love and Black may return, but it's not clear that UNC will be a dramatically better team next year if they do. Black is who he is as a player by this point. Teams will sag off of him to double Bacot or cover a stretch 4. If Puff Johnson is that starter and can't hit 35%+ from 3, then you can certainly double Bacot on offense and to crash the boards. Johnson shot well below 25% from 3 last year and looked eager but not very accurate when he did shoot late in the season. His brother is a deadly-accurate shooter, but it's not clear that runs in the family yet. There is also the question of whether Johnson will be a capable defender. Lots of unkonwns there.

I think UNC could be like UCLA this past season: A better regular season but a team that doesn't feel like it lived up to its potential. There are a number of teams in recent years that relied on a productive big man that had limited NBA appeal that got upset early in the NCAA Tournament (2022 Gonzaga and Kentucky, 2021 and 2022 Illinois, 2021 Iowa, and others). Losing Black or Love could make that more likely. They'll be a trendy top 5 and preseason National Title Contender pick. Whether they are that team remains to be seen.

Yeah, I don't subscribe to the sky-is-falling, UNC is going to be a behemoth view that is permeating here and elsewhere. UNC will be very good next year, and arguably better throughout the course of the season than they were this year. But Manek's loss can't be overstated, especially since there isn't a clear replacement anywhere on the roster (or even potentially in the portal). The depth problems will still be there, since there isn't a stud incoming recruit and I'm not sure any of their returnees have particularly high ceilings.

If they continue getting good news, the Tar Heels will potentially be the ACC favorite entering the year... unless, of course, we start getting some good news of our own to counter. But even if we don't, UNC may be a favorite entering the season, but a far from flawless one.

[CameronBornAndBred]

Love and Black may return, but it's not clear that UNC will be a dramatically better team next year if they do.

They won't be worse, and given that that they took us out twice and were a frog's hair from the Natty, well...bleah.

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

Yeah, I don't subscribe to the sky-is-falling, UNC is going to be a behemoth view that is permeating here and elsewhere. UNC will be very good next year, and arguably better throughout the course of the season than they were this year. But Manek's loss can't be overstated, especially since there isn't a clear replacement anywhere on the roster (or even potentially in the portal). The depth problems will still be there, since there isn't a stud incoming recruit and I'm not sure any of their returnees have particularly high ceilings.

If they continue getting good news, the Tar Heels will potentially be the ACC favorite entering the year... unless, of course, we start getting some good news of our own to counter. But even if we don't, UNC may be a favorite entering the season, but a far from flawless one.

After all the discussion over "unicorns" on other threads, I'm hesitant to even suggest that Manek would qualify. But seems like a good candidate to me. Size + shooting + inside game. Add in the rarity of finding a gem like that in the portal, and I wouldn't put him at Porzingas levels, but I'd say he qualifies as an NCAA level unicorn.

Yes, he will be tough to replace. I suspect they revert to a more traditional UNC type of offense next year. - good/great interior play, solid defense for frequent breaks, and enough shooting to keep you honest on defense.

[KandG]

I think UNC could be like UCLA this past season: A better regular season but a team that doesn't feel like it lived up to its potential. There are a number of teams in recent years that relied on a productive big man that had limited NBA appeal that got upset early in the NCAA Tournament (2022 Gonzaga and Kentucky, 2021 and 2022 Illinois, 2021 Iowa, and others). Losing Black or Love could make that more likely. They'll be a trendy top 5 and preseason National Title Contender pick. Whether they are that team remains to be seen.

I made this point way back in one of the regional threads, because I was especially attached to UCLA’s run the previous year and enjoyed many of their players (especially Juzang, Jaquez and Campbell) and expected them to dominate this last season. You could see that UCLA was a team capable of winning it all, but the magic from that run just escaped them, there was a lot more scrutiny of their play, and injuries made things more difficult.

UCLA should have beaten UNC anyway in their Sweet Sixteen game, but lost on the same improbable types of shots and plays that they made to win big games the previous year.

UNC will be very good and ranked high in preseason polls, but they won’t fly under the radar. Unless their guards make another leap or they get a similarly transformative Manek-like player through the transfer portal, I suspect they’ll find the pixie dust that surrounded them in their run to the final game will be much harder to come by.

[CameronDuke]

Wow, UNC-CH gets the 2021-2022 ACC POY runner up as a senior. He will have a good shot at first team all ACC again this season and ACC POY. The ACC POY this year went to the NIT along with his coach who was the COY. I don’t see that happening next year again. I think this puts UNC-CH in a good spot to contend for the ACC regular season title and have a shot at the ACC tournament championship and a 1-7 seed in the NCAAT. Although they showed this year they could get to the national title game as an 8 seed. I believe they have four 4 star recruits coming in too. They will admittedly be tough again next year and I hope Duke goes better than 1-2 against them.

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

Wow, UNC-CH gets the 2021-2022 ACC POY runner up as a senior. He will have a good shot at first team all ACC again this season and ACC POY. The ACC POY this year went to the NIT along with his coach who was the COY. I don’t see that happening next year again. I think this puts UNC-CH in a good spot to contend for the ACC regular season title and have a shot at the ACC tournament championship and a 1-7 seed in the NCAAT. Although they showed this year they could get to the national title game as an 8 seed. I believe they have four 4 star recruits coming in too. They will admittedly be tough again next year and I hope Duke goes better than 1-2 against them.

UNC can win as many games as they want as long as we go 2-0, 3-0, or 4-0 against them, in my personal opinion.

[DavidBenAkiva]

Yeah, I don't subscribe to the sky-is-falling, UNC is going to be a behemoth view that is permeating here and elsewhere. UNC will be very good next year, and arguably better throughout the course of the season than they were this year. But Manek's loss can't be overstated, especially since there isn't a clear replacement anywhere on the roster (or even potentially in the portal). The depth problems will still be there, since there isn't a stud incoming recruit and I'm not sure any of their returnees have particularly high ceilings.

If they continue getting good news, the Tar Heels will potentially be the ACC favorite entering the year... unless, of course, we start getting some good news of our own to counter. But even if we don't, UNC may be a favorite entering the season, but a far from flawless one.

The other thing about UNC is they can't really add anyone through the portal unless more guys go.

The best-case scenario for them is to return 4 of their 5 starters, including Bacot, Black, Davis, and Love. They return Dunn, Harris, Johnson, McCoy, Styles, and Walton (for now) as well as redshirt-freshman Will Shaver. They bring in freshmen Nickel, Trimble, and Washington. That's 14 guys, one more than they can have on the roster. We can assume Walton will leave and perhaps Harris will, too. Even if that happens, they can only add 1 guy through the portal. Johnson shot less than 25% from 3 each of his first two years and McCoy shot less than that last year in 7 MPG. Styles doesn't look like he has much of a jumper, either. They don't have a stretch 4 on the roster and very limited ability to add one. If Black or Love does leave, they could add one but at a huge cost.

They'll be good but I don't see a roster that is going to dominate next season. Kentucky has more upside. So does Duke, for that matter. We'll see how it all comes together. I'm sure UNC will be a mainstay in the Top 25, but it's also possible they end up as a 3 or 4 seed and get bounced early if Bacot gets into foul trouble. They almost lost in the Sweet 16 last year. Was their run all-time heater or closer to their true selves? That's the million dollar question.

[flyingdutchdevil]

The other thing about UNC is they can't really add anyone through the portal unless more guys go.

The best-case scenario for them is to return 4 of their 5 starters, including Bacot, Black, Davis, and Love. They return Dunn, Harris, Johnson, McCoy, Styles, and Walton (for now) as well as redshirt-freshman Will Shaver. They bring in freshmen Nickel, Trimble, and Washington. That's 14 guys, one more than they can have on the roster. We can assume Walton will leave and perhaps Harris will, too. Even if that happens, they can only add 1 guy through the portal. Johnson shot less than 25% from 3 each of his first two years and McCoy shot less than that last year in 7 MPG. Styles doesn't look like he has much of a jumper, either. They don't have a stretch 4 on the roster and very limited ability to add one. If Black or Love does leave, they could add one but at a huge cost.

They'll be good but I don't see a roster that is going to dominate next season. Kentucky has more upside. So does Duke, for that matter. We'll see how it all comes together. I'm sure UNC will be a mainstay in the Top 25, but it's also possible they end up as a 3 or 4 seed and get bounced early if Bacot gets into foul trouble. They almost lost in the Sweet 16 last year. Was their run all-time heater or closer to their true selves? That's the million dollar question.

Sure, Duke and Kentucky will be more talented, but UNC has a muuuuuch higher floor and they have a ton of experience. Will talent beat experience or the other way around? Tough to tell, but this year experience won 2 out of 3.

UNC will be good. Duke will be good. UK will be good.

[rsvman]

UNC can win as many games as they want as long as we go 2-0, 3-0, or 4-0 against them, in my personal opinion.

On the other hand, if they happen to lose a crap-ton of games, I won't lose any sleep over it.