UNC Game Thread



  • Oh I’m gonna really like Flory



  • The second half defense was maybe the worst I’ve seen in the Bill Self era.



  • I’ve been told Bill Self has some land for his retirement it’s about the shape and size of North Carolina



  • @approxinfinity Pretty much sys it all



  • Great to hang out with you all! Even better with a dub. Self is the best! We’re so lucky as fans. G’nite #RockChalk



  • @Zabudda Probably not, but I don’t have the stats available to confirm.



  • Thought AJ played pretty decent for the most part



  • Four down with 3 min to go. Outscored them 9-2 after that. Nice



  • Good win - but…give up a 15 pts half time lead…huge negative differential at the FT line at home…second straight game in which we dominated in the first half, but defense disappeared in the second half…



  • Bidunga 11 minutes 8 pts, 8 RB’s, and 1 official block.



  • Mayo with FT’s a jumper and the assist to Hunter in the last little bit. Player of the game with 21 points.



  • @patoh3

    Yeah official. Didn’t look like a freshman.



  • Post game not on espn+ ?



  • @Zabudda Hunt obviously isn’t in game shape and had some lapses and Mayo missed some good looks he likely hits most games but both stepped up In crunch time. Nice to see Juan make some plays late to keep our heart beat going. KJ disappeared in the second half, we have got to be quicker on our defensive rotations or teams with a stretch 4 will light us up. A win against UNC is always great and having stuff to work on probably helps. If we’d spanked by 20 we probably would be a little full of ourselves.



  • @DCHawker

    Least they got things to work on



  • I’m tellin ya our D-2 player came up big in some critical minutes late in the game. HELLOOOOO (KU BALLIN ) didn’t hear from you tonight , hmmmm Surprise, Surprise lol



  • Anyone catch that KJ had 37 minutes?! I thought his minutes would go down this year? I was told his minutes would go down? I’ll be honest, I’m rarely upset watching KJ play.



  • @benshawks08 said in UNC Game Thread:

    Anyone catch that KJ had 37 minutes?! I thought his minutes would go down this year? I was told his minutes would go down? I’ll be honest, I’m rarely upset watching KJ play.

    The issue is 37 minutes and 2 RBs at the 4 spot…



  • where would we be without KJ’S 14 first half points ?



  • This team is going to get so good as the season goes on



  • @DCHawker I said last year and this year we won’t win in March with KJ playing 30 plus minutes and tonight I think proved it. We don’t win that on a neutral court. He got schooled several times on defense when ask to cover a guard and was one of the main culprits of poor rotation. I believe he had 1 rebound and 2 fouls for second half stats.



  • @benshawks08

    Griffen was on the bench a lot and seemed like the matchups dictated this a bit too. Not a sustainable number for Adams though.





  • @jayballer67 how 'bout we stop calling him that?



  • Couldn’t find the post game on the ESPN- what’s up with that?

    Went on reddit for kicks to see what people are talking about. I was shocked to see informed, interesting and respectful discussion about the game from NC and KU fans. Nice job, basketball fans!

    https://www.reddit.com/r/CollegeBasketball/comments/1gmzske/post_game_thread_1_kansas_defeats_9_north/



  • Wait, only 4 TO’s, in the second game of the year, with god knows how many new people, against U-freakin’-NC?

    I am gratifyingly amazed!



  • @DanR I know some former buckets members that are on there.



  • @DanR wished I knew why theres no pre or post game!



  • @approxinfinity Zach play?



  • A rough outing for Coit looking at the box score. 0 points, 3 assists and 4 rebounds woof. I forgot he was on the floor several times tonight. Not to keep on KJ but damn dude had 2 rebounds in 37 minutes. Love ya man but damn that’s unacceptable in 37 by any player let alone a forward. Storr and Mayo are likely starting before the end of the semester.



  • @kjayhawks KJ was CLEARLY HURT but it’s also on Bill for playing him. As for Coit, we need Shak for sure. Depends on match-ups.



  • @BShark ya I wonder about that after the fall I just don’t know why he does that trying to get a call. They ain’t gonna call it if you fall every single time. It will be interesting to see how Shak fits into the rotation.



  • Learned a bit about this group tonight. Awesome to see the guards hitting shots. Speed and athleticism of UNC was a challenge. Refs are rusty.

    Always good to have a talented player from the state of Kansas on the team. Even better when from Lawrence! This is a different team from last year, with a common core that knows how to win. I’m excited to see if they can make winning a habit.



  • bill needs an intervention regarding KJ



  • I feel like KUballin is the equivalent to Smokey on the Friday movies. “When Deebo be here, I’ll be quiet but when he gone, I be talking again” haha



  • @rcjhdraft Nah the staff needs an intervention with Bill on the best lineups



  • Since everyone missed me - thanks I feel loved

    Pro’s - when we played the right lineups we got up 20.

    We won the game

    Juan had some clutch buckets down the stretch

    Best lineup: Juan (may end up Moore), Mayo, Storr, Griffen, Hunt/Flory

    Moore might take diggy’s minutes if he can defend like @BShark says and hit the occasional 3.

    Cons - Bill tightened up the lineups the second half and we peed it away. Had it not been for AFH which masks a ton of issues - we’d lost on a neutral court or road game.

    Coit’s shot didn’t drop and he struggled to attack the paint

    KJ’s man was in the paint as kj set a screen for Juan at the top of the key. Literally everyone knows not to guard him. This kills everything offensively yet Self rolls with it….unfathomable

    Kj can’t rebound, can’t shoot outside 10 feet, isn’t guarded by the other team. He’s athletic as heck and can dunk but more negatives than positives

    We still don’t defend the 3 well

    Griffin got beat on a back door cut then sat the rest of the game and Juan gets beat off the dribble but plays unlimited minutes if not for fouling. Griffin a final 4 starter a year ago….

    Bill’s postgame just read he isn’t worried about defending ball screens cause not many teams athletic like unc. Hey Bill u ain’t winning a title with this pu$$ attitude. Better figure it out or round of 32 against elite guards like Arky or unc. U prepare for the best not the other 90%. Idiotic

    We have the potential but let’s see what we are made of on the road this year and with Duke in Vegas (dukes for real)

    Lineup is set with moore for diggy and diggy getting kease’s few minutes.



  • Even though we didn’t play that well a win is still a win



  • I wish I hadn’t seen the final score while in the car. Was going to watch after arriving at my folks, but man o man, I wish you all could have seen the northern lights and the stars here.Really amazing. I watched the game anyways, way more relaxed than i would have been if I didn’t know the score. I think I would have been mad at the refs. But it was an exhilerating win.



  • Was out with friends for dinner and watched at the restaurant so was distracted. But after a rewatch!

    -Juan makes this whole thing go. Everything just runs better with him in. Stoked to see him under 30, you could tell his consistency and intensity were better.

    -Hunt was out of shape, that’ll come. But will be a monster in league play. Also for the Bill Self suggestion box, play some more drop coverage.

    -Love Diggy but he just doesn’t have the physical gifts to be a starter. Microwave role is perfect.

    -Zeke was for the most part terrific. Hope he starts Tuesday but also needs to be in better shape.

    -KJ was all world in the first but clearly wasn’t the same guy down the stretch. Very strong glue guy

    -The bulb is flickering with Storr. He did some great things but also doesn’t know what to do yet. The drive into 3 dudes was something.

    -Rylan kind of has the same thing. The midrange jumper was killer. Needs to embrace a 3 and D role. Just doesn’t have the skill to be a primary scorer (yet). Very impressed with his work on RJ

    -Flory also has no idea what he’s doing, but he’s going to be special once he learns to dribble and rebound.

    -This team thrives in transition. Dickinson is a terrific outlet passer and these guys can GO. Should be a major weapon.

    -Defensive intensity comes and goes. Which is par for the course in early November. And partly was due to some… interesting calls. We couldn’t be as aggressive as we wanted. And missed a few assignments. Good teaching tape against some really good guards. Stoked we get Shak soon.

    -Rebounding is going to be an issue all year. Hunt’s great but boy it gets bare after that.

    -The only thing that kept this from a blowout was UNC shooting the piss out of FTs. 28/31 is legitimately absurd.

    -Bill still rules in end of game situations, Hubert continues to be bad.

    -KU and UNC should play every year. It’s too fun not to.



  • @rcjhdraft said in UNC Game Thread:

    bill needs an intervention regarding KJ

    About to channel my inner kuballin10

    Bill Self is the only coach in the country that starts KJ with this roster.

    Rebounds

    KJ Adams 2

    Diggy Coit 4… at 5’8’’ in half the minutes.

    Flory 8 and 8 in 11 minutes he needs to play more.



  • KJ can’t rebound to save his life and it costs KU several points. - he came in wearing lingerie and clearly tweeked his leg late in the half. Hunt needed to sit in favor of Flory for a couple of minutes late in the game to get a breather. But really it looked well coached and played game. The crowd was great, but seeing several hundred UNC fans in the building was weird. I’ve never seen that many opposing fans in Allen Fieldhouse.



  • This post is deleted!


  • I am going to have to agree with a point from @kuballin10. The comment about the guards is troubling. We are at game number four counting the exhibitions and we’ve already played the “best/fastest” guards in the country twice. The problem is that every guard is going to look great if they can get Hunter in a ball screen with the current scheme.

    Something has to change there and I’m nervous because I don’t have much confidence that anything will.

    On the other hand I am pumped for Flory. He made some plays no one else on the team is capable of making. Got some big boy rebounds, showed a little post move, played with a big time motor, and even a few dribbles on a down hill drive. With normal officiating he’d have ended that game with 3 or more blocks.



  • I agree about KJ and the minutes got but let’s not go crazy Bill has a lot to figure out with this group and we played a high level team early.



  • What a game

    Some thoughts.

    Was disappointed in losing the 20 pt lead and ending the half with that negative momentum play at the buzzer was certainly positive fuel for UNC. Made for an exciting and nail bitting moments late but that was one heck of a starting point for the season. Resume building win #1.

    LOTS of positives in that first half offensively and many defensive possessions that kept UNC off script so the potential is there but it was not sustainable. Growth to find for sure.

    I’ll give Hunt, KJ and Mayo a pass for looking dead tired in stretches of the 2nd half as this game got tight and intense but it must improve from them all. Hopefully they get settled and figure it out because those 3 definitely bogged down the offense during the UNC run.

    Hunter is a liability defensively and they need to figure something else out on how to handle ball screens because that just became #1 film for opponents again. UNC has no doubt a top 5 backcourt in the country with those 3 plus Jackson off the bench, that’s a very impressive group. Trimble was bailed out a ton by bad officiating but it is what it is.

    Not convinced Self is handling Bidunga’s minutes that well so far. The kid has too much talent and skills that nobody else can really match. He easily looks like our best rim protector around the rim and most athletic guy. I’m not seeing limitations with playing him next to Hunt as long as you surround him with spacing. Hopefully we see some things evolve there.

    Mayo was big time and easily has the most advanced offensive game of the guards. There was a stretch in the 2nd half where he missed 4 wide open looks. Missed open looks in the 2nd half were a big reason why UNC got transition to the free throw line too much.

    Saw a lot more positive flashes from Storr. Work in progress but there’s a budding star in there. Certainly gives us another weapon.

    Harris looks to have a lot more bounce to him this yr. That dunk was so Harris and he had a driving layup in the 2nd half where he got up and it was impressive. Keeping him fresh is key to getting that kind of play out of him. We certainly need him out there running things though, he makes it all work when he’s got studs around him.

    Rock Chalk that was really fun



  • If you can play KJ next to Hunt you can do it with Flory too. Of course that would involve taking KJ out of the game at some point…



  • KJ does a lot of unnoticed things. He is a guy who helps break the press easy. He guards VERY well. He has great court vision. He scored sort of effortlessly at times last night.

    He doesn’t guard the other forwards, he switches everything. So he isn’t going to rebound like a traditional big man. Does anyone think he isn’t getting rebounds because he doesn’t have the motor to go get them? He’s the highest effort guy on the court at basically all times…

    I feel like there is more to that story. I’ve never had the patience to go watch the film to see what it is, but I feel like there is some good reasons why he doesn’t put up big rebound numbers.



  • I saw a lot of the Storr that I told you about. Alley oops, nice finishes, and some ugly drives into nothing. I don’t pay attention to defense much but I was trying with him specifically a bit last night. I always think someone as athletic as he should be able to D up anyone around his size. But I think he plays soft and then when he sees the guy he’s supposed to be stopping ready to make a shot or drive he hustles over there with predictable results ending in points scored.

    I did see some trust in him by Self that surprised me. Thought he’d get pulled a couple of times, like after taking on 3 guys at one, but tonight Self left him in. After game 1 Self said he’s not getting it. Maybe AJ earned some trust last night.



  • @Kcmatt7 KJ doesn’t box out. Ever. That’s pretty much the biggest reason he doesn’t rebound imho. Maybe it’s by design, but I don’t like it. I don’t think very many of KUs players box out well though. Would love if the staff preached it a bit.


Log in to reply