I did not understand our offensive strategy in the 1st half. Drive for a lay up against UNC’s big men and get blocked over and over.

1/29/2022 10:55:14 PM

I was pleased in the post game comments to read that Seabron basically got benched for playing like crap today. Hopefully it lights a fire under him for the next game.

1/29/2022 11:21:15 PM

We are literally a player away from winning it all

1/30/2022 1:20:20 AM

^^^i hadnt watched unc at all this year, but I had read that they were prone to giving up points from penetration like that…that it was a weakness of theirs. So maybe that and trying to get Bacot in foul trouble early was the strategy. It failed miserably. But I think there may have been some logic behind it.

[Edited on January 30, 2022 at 7:06 AM. Reason : Y]

1/30/2022 7:05:49 AM

Some of you probably saw Debbie Yow's comments about Keatts on Twitter over the weekend, but this article does a good run-down of what she said about how the NCAA investigation affected his recruiting.

https://packinsider.com/2022/02/01/former-ad-debbie-yow-says-keatts-deserves-a-reset-now-that-ncaa-sanction-situation-is-cleared-i-agree/

I'm not sure what to think. On one hand, I do want Keatts to succeed here and I would like nothing more than to eat my critical words. On the other, it seems apparent to me that the problems with the teams over the last few years go deeper than missing out on key recruits. We are getting beat by teams with less talent than us.

The offensive system is not good. Defensive effectiveness is inconsistent. Roster management and player minutes/rotations are all over the place. At some point, key injuries killing our seasons stop being an unfortunate excuse and start being a result of a poorly built roster/depth.

It's possible (probable even) that some of these things are cleaned up by simply having better players on the team, but the best coaches do more with less. If Keatts stays, I'd like him to get some quality assistants who can help him run an offensive system and find some good transfers for next season. Then start building a real class around Dillingham for the 23 season. It seems pretty likely we will either see progress on those fronts quickly, or we won't... in which case the solution seems clear, no?

2/1/2022 10:45:11 AM

Yeah there’s context and nuance to all of it. Injuries, bad luck, and the NCAA issues are all legitimate obstacles he’s had. But it’s also pretty hard for fans to just forgive and forget about an ass whipping like the one UNC just laid on us. Especially this UNC team that isn’t very good. I think he should be back next year unless the bottom just completely falls out this year. With the way the transfer portal is, we can quickly become better over the off-season. Especially if Bates or Seabron were to come back (it’s seems far fetched to hope they both return. But maybe one will).

I think these two statements are simultaneously true: 1)KK has had some bad luck and he deserves a chance to build a roster without the NCAA issues looming and 2) a couple more losses like the UNC one and the fans will have lost patience - it’s hard to come back from those types of losses in year 5.

I do see next year as a make or break year. Even though Dillingham is class of 2023, it would be really hard to retain KK if next year is similar to this. We’d probably need to cut bait even if that meant losing Dillingham.

2/1/2022 12:35:52 PM

Every coach at every program that gets hired has some reason why theyre set up to fail. When Chris Beard took over Texas Tech, he went to a program thats never won anything and is located in the middle of fucking nowhere. Hubert Davis took over a roster that made zero sense at a program where the expectation is to make a Final Four or win the conference in 3 years. Like three other coaches (including one we passed over for Keatts) took over OTHER schools dealing with this "investigation." Steve Forbes was tasked with resurrecting Wake Forest, a school that should probably be in the Big South

If youre gonna win somewhere, you probably will regardless of circumstance. Circumstance might make you not win AS MUCH. After 5 years, I'm pretty confident that Keatts' defenses will always be bad enough to stop him from winning anything of consequence on a consistent basis (now sure, if Josh Pastner can fluke into an ACC Title, anyone can) even if he had multiple NBA talents on his roster

2/1/2022 7:23:48 PM

Stop acting like UNC still isn't loaded with talent.

2/1/2022 8:06:48 PM

Quote :

" Like three other coaches (including one we passed over for Keatts) took over OTHER schools dealing with this "investigation." "

If you’re talking about LSU and Will Wade…weren’t they under investigation because of Wade? Not stuff prior to Wade. Which feels different.

I get your point. Even a good coach can achieve some success in the face of obstacles. I think the obvious rebuttal to that is…KK took over a shit show and went to the NCAAT on year 1. Then would’ve very likely made the NCAAT in year 3 if the tournament hadn’t been cancelled. He hasn’t had a losing record in the ACC (this year he will). I’m not really defending him…at this point I don’t care strongly either way. But I think there are signs there that he can succeed.

2/1/2022 8:52:50 PM

Quote :

"Stop acting like UNC still isn't loaded with talent."

They had (have) a ton of talent but the roster construction was horrendous. Like 4 of their 5 best players last season are Centers at most programs and none of their guards could shoot. Davis wisely tried to flip that on its head with the guys he brought in but part of that involved sacrificing defense when you take a guy like Brady Manek

Looks great when he goes off against us and they win by 25, not so great when hes athletically outmatched and they lose by 25 themselves

2/1/2022 10:07:28 PM

Well sounds like Boo says Keatts has nothing to worry about. Guess we can lock this thread…

2/5/2022 11:23:07 PM

NOT SO FAST MY FRIEND

2/6/2022 11:34:16 AM

I haven't read a lot of the more recent posts here (plan to some time tomorrow) but I'd like to argue that if you want to see what a coach who clearly can't handle rotations/minutes, look at Memphis and Penny Hardaway. Just lost their 4th out of 4 commits for the 22 class. Yikes.

(Now, it's worth mentioning that from all accounts he's kinda a tool, but still).

2/6/2022 9:25:53 PM

Officially last place in the worst ACC in recent memory. Not good Bob.

We do have Pitt, BC and GT coming up, though.

2/7/2022 4:21:42 PM

Wake will be the most important game of the year.

If KK catches the L and it's ugly...there will be LOTS of loud talking.

A win in any form or fashion will be one of the more important wins for him in his tenure, given this season and the slide.

The roof is caving in. There is an apparent rifts amongst the team as well with some of the older guys not being that enthused to play with Baby T and all the success he's provided himself.

2/8/2022 7:25:12 AM

Quote :

" There is an apparent rifts amongst the team as well with some of the older guys not being that enthused to play with Baby T and all the success he's provided himself. "

Lol who is mad…Hayes? Or Allen? Not sure I buy that.

2/8/2022 8:44:38 AM

That sounds like some pack pride forum "sources" made up bullshit to me, but LOL if Hayes is in his feelings about baby T after the season he has had.

2/8/2022 10:42:54 AM

Not sure the exact 3 but Hayes is one of them. Seabron is another supposedly, and its not CM.

2/8/2022 11:03:41 AM

LMAO

2/8/2022 11:14:54 AM

The Red & White pod guys have been all over the 'checked out' / transfer at EoS narrative. I think they're mostly just reading body language & speculating though. Hayes has been the one they're most vocal about

2/8/2022 11:25:36 AM

So there are 3 upperclassmen upset because Smith is good? This is a wonderful baseless rumor.

There is literally one guy on this team who has lost minutes this year (and it's not because of Baby T.) Hayes is obviously struggling with what is probably the first adversity he's ever faced in his entire basketball career. I'd venture to guess he's never been benched like he has this year and his reaction to it has not been good. Obviously he is a prime candidate to transfer because he's fallen down the depth chart and is struggling to get on the floor.

But yeah this is one of those rumors that should be taken with a grain of salt ESPECIALLY since it comes from pack pride. Sounds much more like somebody wants Keatts gone and just wants to start shit.

2/8/2022 11:37:50 AM

Hayes looks like he sucks and has completely lost his confidence. A change of scenery would likely do him well. Baby T being super good should have little to do with Hayes. Hayes just sucks rn. But they’re young and I’m sure all have egos so whatever.

[Edited on February 8, 2022 at 11:41 AM. Reason : Yes basically exactly what Justin said ]

2/8/2022 11:38:03 AM

Love to get a visit from JT3. Always on point with key valid true data facts.

2/8/2022 11:47:11 AM

Also the team is losing. Especially in some frustrating ways. So it’s no wonder players on team wouldn’t be happy

2/8/2022 11:58:20 AM

I bet the 3 are Dowuona, Bates and Gantt. They're super pissed!!!

2/8/2022 12:17:55 PM

Even if the rumor is true…do you fire the coach because Allen and Hayes are pisssed off? Allen is a senior (and sucks) and Hayes, at his best, has shown promise but isn’t worth firing a coach over.

There’s several legit reasons you could fire Keatts. One of them is not because some very replaceable upperclassmen are mad a freshman is way better than them.

2/8/2022 1:54:38 PM

I've notice Braxton Beverly has gotten hardly any pt this season. He must be PISSED

[Edited on February 8, 2022 at 2:01 PM. Reason : Oh man he's playing LESS at eku than he did here! ]

2/8/2022 1:58:28 PM

He's playing less and shooting A LOT more (and is much less efficient as a shooter - 31% 2pt 36% 3pt 67% FT).

Fun fact: he's currently at 37.0% from 3 for his career. Awful, terrible, no good Hellems is 36.6%. There's a very distinct chance that he ends up with a better career % than the "sharpshooter"

2/8/2022 2:28:07 PM

If I was a 29 year old senior playing the last year of my career at a small school you better believe I’d get up a shot every chance I could. Good for him lol

2/8/2022 4:19:42 PM

I sure am glad not to have been on the Shak Moore-is-getting-18-min-a-night-"as a freshman"-and-he-should-be-happy-about-it corner while BB was getting 25+ a night (and more like 30+ for most of the season until the end) in the ACC.

2/8/2022 7:32:07 PM

Dang and we were having fun

2/8/2022 10:10:27 PM

oh shit this guy found me out, i'm secretly the biggest beverly fan on the goddamn planet.

2/8/2022 10:14:02 PM

One day the Shak will make the NBA HOF and the narrative will be that Beverly was actually getting 40 mpg and Shak on 2 mpg.

2/9/2022 5:45:14 AM

Quote :

"baseless rumor."

Quote :

"He's playing less and shooting A LOT more"

Should have been his role at NCSU. Guy was atrocious on defense...maybe it wasn't just a trend for those squads to be bad defensively...hmm.

[Edited on February 9, 2022 at 7:20 AM. Reason : h]

2/9/2022 7:19:14 AM

Yeah personally I don't want a guy who is shooting 36% from 3 to be lofting up 10+ attempts per game.

2/9/2022 8:35:22 AM

Is that a dig at Terq?

2/9/2022 9:16:55 AM

Yes, obviously i would rather have barxton doing that

2/9/2022 10:04:52 AM

Update: Seabron is not one of those upset at BABYT

2/9/2022 10:47:55 AM

So it IS Hayes, Gantt & Manny!!

2/9/2022 11:13:17 AM

Chase Graham???

2/9/2022 2:26:18 PM

Yep, even though Chase presents himself a happy-go-lucky, super-friendly, scout-team glue-guy, you can just tell he's seething over Terq's success.

2/9/2022 2:57:33 PM

Quote :

"barxton"

2/9/2022 6:09:37 PM

+ cred for developing Ebe into a semi competent post player so quickly this year. Dude looked like he didn’t belong in the ACC last year. Trial by fire this year, and he’s responded well.

2/9/2022 7:31:46 PM

Quote :

"If KK catches the L and it's ugly...there will be LOTS of loud talkin"

I don't hear anything

2/9/2022 9:42:04 PM

I will give Keatts credit on defense tonight. For once he ram zones and traps and we did well stopping the bigger team in Wake Forest. Our offense was not good though.

2/9/2022 9:58:03 PM

Quote :

"For once he ram zones and traps"

I was shocked to see this as well.

That was ugly though on offense, especially the 21-3 run to end the game at HOME.

Can you believe Keatts was only one player away from winning the ACC this year?

2/10/2022 7:10:34 AM

2/10/2022 7:25:27 AM

Looked at the standings and we are DFL…

2/10/2022 10:32:45 AM

I'm always Down For Laughs

2/10/2022 11:22:49 AM

If we lose he out he can't be brought back....no matter what excuses there are.

Quote :

"+ cred for developing Ebe into a semi competent post player so quickly this year. Dude looked like he didn’t belong in the ACC last year. Trial by fire this year, and he’s responded well."

He's gotten better. Still needs to rebound more. That doesn't take talent. Needs to box out/battle for position more and quit worrying about trying to block so many shots. 4.7 a game is about half what he should get with his body.

[Edited on February 10, 2022 at 1:32 PM. Reason : Ebe]

2/10/2022 1:30:17 PM