Quote :

"Not a surprise that the lineup that pulled us back in the last ~8 min didn’t include Al Freeman. Was a bit of a surprise that it didn’t include Narddog or Abu."

The most positive thing to come out of this game (other than a W) was that Keats decided to play a defensive lineup, rather than keeping Al Freeman in hoping he would get hot. All of our previous coaches would have gone with the offense. Great call by KK.

1/19/2018 8:43:17 AM

Quote :

"Was a bit of a surprise that it didn’t include Narddog or Abu."

This. Nard had some decent minutes, but not his best game. Abu on the other hand just completely disappears on the court at times. Not even getting rebounds. Didn't he have 10+ double-doubles last season? I realize the matchup against Moore last night was better for yurtseven but geez, where are you Abu?

1/19/2018 12:09:43 PM

i truly think abu is still bothered by his injury, if not physically, then mentally. When theres bodies flying around and everything is moving fast...i can imagine you hold back when you're just getting over a knee injury.

1/19/2018 12:14:41 PM

it's almost as if Abu has been dealing with an injury all season...

1/19/2018 12:14:56 PM

^^good point on the mental aspect.

He's been playing for the last two months though correct?

^i just want more Abu dunks in my life, that's all

Edit:

I mean if he's so hurt he can't grab a rebound or two in 13 mins, then..........
(He finished with 13 mins, 1 ast, 2 pts)

[Edited on January 19, 2018 at 12:29 PM. Reason : Get well soon!]

1/19/2018 12:25:22 PM

Quote :

"The most positive thing to come out of this game (other than a W) was that Keats decided to play a defensive lineup, rather than keeping Al Freeman in hoping he would get hot. All of our previous coaches would have gone with the offense. Great call by KK."

To be fair, Johnson being suspended had a major impact on Freeman's playing time. Hunt is the worst defensive guard on the team, so he wasn't going to get that playing time when MJ was out. That's really the only other guy who could have played in place on is Freeman and I think we can all agree that is a much worse idea.

1/19/2018 12:59:47 PM

I'm not so sure that Hunt is that much worse on the defensive end than Freeman as you are saying. And Hunt is a better shooter. That said, it was never a choice between Hunt and Freeman while Markell was out. It was between Batts and Freeman and although it took too many games IMO, it looks like KK is making the switch.

Al Freeman had 17 min against Wake.

Me from the Virginia game thread:

Quote :

"As far as I am concerned, you drop Freeman to 15-18 min a game and split the difference between Batts and Markell. "

I'm a goddamn genius. Markell had 27 and Batts had 23 min.

1/19/2018 1:20:43 PM

That was a boring game to watch, and State played poorly for the majority of the game and still won! That's awesome. KK is a good coach, I love our guards but these guys look like midgets when running on the court but they play good team ball. Man, when we have another game like we did against Jacksonville in which everything falls then this team is going to blow someone out. We shoot like crap yesterday and still ended up winning almost by double digits.

1/19/2018 1:33:19 PM

Quote :

"we have too many fucking guards that cant shoot"

The thing is, all of these new guards came in with reputations as being good-to-great shooters (sans Batts). Hunt and Beverly were supposed to be lethal from deep, and Freeman was at least supposed to be good. We've seen flashes, but they sure as hell haven't been great.

Luckily Yurt has been shooting better than expected from deep. If everybody would just shoot halfway decently from three, we can beat just about anyone.

Quote :

"The most positive thing to come out of this game (other than a W) was that Keats decided to play a defensive lineup "

Yep. Putting Batts, Markell, and Dorn in together to run the trap is fun to watch. All three are relentless on defense -- and Beverly is surprisingly good at pressuring the ball too.

I'll give Wake credit. They were much feistier than I thought they'd be. And that big guy, Moore (?), is a load down low. They just don't have enough scorers.

Quote :

"i truly think abu is still bothered by his injury, if not physically, then mentally. "

It's always been a mental thing with Abu. He's a smart guy, but for some reason his bball IQ always seems awful. The fact that he has stone hands doesn't help either.

1/19/2018 1:59:53 PM

Abu has a little CJL to him. Very athletic. Not a particularly great basketball player.

1/19/2018 2:02:25 PM

I agree, gotta bump Al to the 6th man spot.

He's a detriment on defense and his offense has been lackluster at best with terrible shot selection lately.

___

Markell, BB/LB, Dorn, Lenard and Yurt7 should be the starting lineup from here on out, subbing Al and Abu when needed.

Abu is still bothered by his knee they said and isnt 100%

1/19/2018 2:04:00 PM

Abu is also bothered by a low basketball IQ

1/19/2018 2:59:47 PM

How was Markell last night?

1/19/2018 3:30:07 PM

Really good on defense. Ok on offense.

He hit a clutch jumper when we were trying to close it out, and he had a pretty awesome layup off of a full-court pass. He was decent from deep too (2-4) and had a couple nice assists. (The pass to Abu for a dunk was impressive.)

But he was bad from the FT line (3-8) and had a lot of instances where he drove into the lane wildly without a plan. He seemed to be really herky-jerky in his movements too. Maybe he's always been like that, but i didn't notice it much until last night.

Pretty good overall though. He had a few pick-pocket plays on defense that made me very

1/19/2018 4:08:31 PM

He had a nice assist where he was pulling up for a three, but instead passed it to an open Dorn under the basket (in a shooting motion).

1/19/2018 4:22:11 PM

You can tell how much just having him on the court takes a ton of pressure off Beverly.

^^I think he's always been a little wild when driving to the paint. I can't tell if he's working mismatches (any slow dude is not gonna be able to stay in front of him, that's for sure) or if KK gave him the go ahead to drive as needed or what, but I think him driving every now and then is pretty crucial to our set offense. It opens up the outside shooting some as the defense moves a few steps off the 3pt line. He's also solid on fast breaks (offense and defense) which helps the team out too.

Time will tell, but I'm hoping him coming back makes our Offense noticeably more effective.

[Edited on January 19, 2018 at 4:40 PM. Reason : Not sure where Wake's defense is in comparison to the rest of the ACC]

1/19/2018 4:39:14 PM

Very happy about the win and excited for the rest of the season but here are some thoughts.

1. Al Freeman is a bonehead Trevor Lacey impersonator. He would be so useful as a distributor because of his handle and iso ability.
2. Abu was a much better player 2 years ago when he didn't take jumpshots every time he got the ball.
3. Batts & Markell can be a defensive nightmare for opposing teams guards.
4. Yurt7 pick n' pop became our offense? Not sure how that will work against the rest of the ACC. Not sold on his shooting either.

1/19/2018 11:53:36 PM

Quote :

"Not sold on his shooting either."

Nobody is asking you to be sold, but it is pretty promising. 13/23 on 3s is nothing to shit on. We'll see if he can keep it up.

The Big Dirty Yurty is obviously a much improved player over last year on most fronts. We should celebrate that fact.

Quote :

"Abu was a much better player 2 years ago"

Quote :

"Abu is still bothered by his knee they said and isnt 100%"

[Edited on January 20, 2018 at 12:59 AM. Reason : ]

1/20/2018 12:55:40 AM

Quote :

" Quote : "Not sold on his shooting either." Nobody is asking you to be sold, but it is pretty promising. 13/23 on 3s is nothing to shit on. We'll see if he can keep it up. The Big Dirty Yurty is obviously a much improved player over last year on most fronts. We should celebrate that fact"

Not to mention his mid range jumper is very good too. He’s not Dirk. But dude is a solid shooter.

1/20/2018 7:01:39 AM

Abu still having trouble with his knee has nothing to do with him taking terrible shots

1/20/2018 9:22:24 AM

Any shot for Abu that's not a dunk is probably a terrible shot

1/20/2018 10:29:57 AM