#19 R.P.I. North Carolina @

#229 R.P.I. Virginia Tech:

 The North Carolina basketball factory invades our Cassell this Saturday afternoon; on Senior Day Virginia Tech style.

U.n.c. is ranked 21^st at 21 up and 7 down. However, U.n.c. is only 1 game above .5oo (or .555) out on the road for a reason. Such is the nature of a youthful Atlantic Coast basketball squad, more often than not.

Now that being said, I do wanna pay coach Roy Williams a compliment, for courting a team that can not make a “1” (FTA) with a pencil –as U.n.c. is dead freakin’ last in FT percentage at 345^th worst, with a 62.9 team wide connect percentage from the charity-stripe, and with this much youth, and with a talented, though kinda hodgepodge or mismatch mix of true 1 through 5 positional talent, Roy has done a damn find job of molding this moldy patch of sky-blue clay. As I would have said U.n.c. will be very good, yet about a year away from being truly great way back in November.

Well, entering this game on a 10 game win streak is what I call bringing a team together. Gelling, meshing, synergy, or maybe just a medium-shot at the Atlantic Coast Coach of the Year award for coach Roy.

And yes, I like my crow rare; yet warm….

UNC Backcourt: (returning starters=1 of 2)

• Marcus Paige: star of the team right now and no, I confess, I did not quite see this one coming at 6’1’’ and a nearly featherweight 173 lbs. of scoring point-guard. All-A.c.c. Academic team member who finished high school with a perfected 4.o g.p.a; and since when do you hate that for a decision maker at Qb in football or at the Point in hoops? Stud import Hawkeye baller all the way from Iowa, which is not exactly a U.n.c. hotbed of recruiting. Seems to up his ante on the big-stage although he does have a history of left-foot stress-fracturing which leaves you wondering going forth. Not exactly a leaper or a ESPN strongman competition threat; though a team leading 17.5 ppg on 40% from beyond the arc is pretty fair work, if you can get it. Team leader as well in steals at 1.6 swipes per session, and a 213% increase in scoring from last year to this does not suck. Said to be an extra coach on the floor with the ball on a string; and a slick enough passer on top of all of that. Will prolly get carded until his mid-30’s, as he sure looks the part of a youngling indeed. Though he is up about 20 lbs. since being a water-bug 155 lb. high schooler just two seasons ago; and if he’s this good already; where is Marcus in 2016, if he sticks at U.n.c.?
• Leslie McDonald: Tennessee prep-star 2-guard who volunteered for the power-blue. Leslie is still coming back to a certain extent from a devastating 2011 knee injury (A.c.l. rip) and coach God Bless on that. Team veteran 5^th year leader, can stroke the J and is still capable of an offensive outburst here and there. McDonald was a state titlist and yet another Gatorade Player of the year way back in 2008 in scholastic terms. Jack of all trades as he can slide to the Three in a pinch and play a little Pt.Guard if he must; right now he is getting you 10.8 ppg, 2.2 rpg and 1.8 assists on about 1.5 good knees. So you have to wonder what Leslie would have been if he had only remained healthy; as his floor shooting (38%) and his 3-ball range (3o%) appear to be a bit hamstrung by his knee; which has not aided and abetted reports of a lack of aggression at times.

  

UNC Frontcourt: (starters back= 1 of 3)

1. James Michael McAdoo, legacy baller with a triple-double kool name. Is a next level talent someway or another, only real question is … is that code for foreign or domestic? As this was the kid I thought was gonna be the next Carolina big-thing. Still yet, second-best in scoring and blocks at 14.2 ppg and 1 swat per contest while leading U.n.c. in rebounding at 6.9 is not half bad. 6’9’’ 230 lb. power-forward who if anything looks a little taller than his listed height. The 2009 USA Basketball Male Athlete of the Year, the youngest baller to ever win that honor. Runs effortlessly, like a gazelle, and is absolutely ensconced at the FT-line with a staggering 216 FTA’s (on 52.3%) this season. So you have to wonder just what this kids ceiling really would be if he could only navigate a 15’ set-shot with 10 seconds to shoot and nobody guarding him? Best suited for the Four spot as he has struggled at times out-of-position at Center. Athletically bound player, explosive, who will attack the rim as evidenced by his FTA tally; does lack true range on his J as he is o for life on 3’s at U.n.c. and is a black-hole on offense; the basketball enters, and never comes back.
2. J.P. Tokoto, hustling high R.P.M. kinda athlete who plays above the rim and with an above average effort threshold too boot. Or in other words, you can not have too many J.P. Tokoto’s on thy squad. Does need some outside work and does need some betterment as his handles go as well. Winner of the 2012 American Family Insurance Slam Dunk contest in New Orleans; so you know he has some springs in his legs. Right not getting you 9.8 and 5.3 as points and rebounds go respectively per game; and he does pass the ball surprisingly well as something of an impoverished man’s Point-Forward at a team-wide second best 3 assists per game. Did not take up hoops until age 14 and is part Cameroonian, if you can spell it that way (hence: the surname).
3. Kennedy Meeks: truly massive wide-body of a space binge eating 6’9’’ 290 lb. power-forward with the emphasis on the “power” part without a doubt. McDonald’s All-American in hoops and a star tennis player on top of that in 10-12^th terms. So he must be a big more nimble that his raw bulk metrics –which are bulky indeed- would prima facie suggest. Noted for what the book on him called “his area rebounds”, yah, 10-4, you don’t say; and his lack of conditioning. Does not run the floor particularly well, pushing right at 3-bills (three hundred), and yet is said to have the softest hands on the team. Go fig’ as this is a most intriguing basketball paradox of a kid. Kennedy nets you 7.9 ppg with 6.4 boards on 56% from the floor; while being virtually impossible to displace if he finds his position down-low. Yet another kid that if he is this good right now, and if he can will himself into better pulmonary contrition and go Jenny Craig, Has a rep’ for home-run outlet passes that land a Joe Montana ‘esque right on the money. I’ll be very interested to see where this Mel Turpin redux is in a year or three.

UNC Bench: (depth=2, with very narrow spot minutes from 3-4 others)

• Brice Johnson, is a tallish string-bean (6’9’’ 2o8 lb.), South Carolina native who has shown some upward mobility at times off of a two time Gatorade Player of the Year high school career for the Gamecock state prior to entering U.n.c. Likewise a two time S.C. state champ in the high jump in Track & Field competition so you just know Brice has some hops and his hops have some ups. Brice knocks down 10.3 ppg and swipes a second-best 6.3 rpg in relief while leading the Heels in swats at 1.3 blocks per contest. Does look more than a little bit like rapper Humpty Hump with his mustache; no word yet on his keyboarding skillz.
• Nate Britt, 5.5 ppg, 1.3 rpg and 2.3 dimes dropped is what Mr. Birtt antes up off the T.Heel bench for coach Roy Williams. This off of a torn meniscus in Nate’s right knee his last year in high school and as a mere rookie to voting at a likewise mere 18 years of age. The book on Britt says that he is a natural point-guard in the pass-first, floor-general throwback mode of yesteryear. This from the Gatorade Player of the Year in Washington, D.C., in 2011 (prior to the cartilage tear) and a pretty fair to middling foutball and football player alike according to his bio’. Some preview mag’s have Nate listed at 5’11’’ and some have him listed at 6’2’’, so there appears to be some measure of discrepancy here. Has a nice hesitation of change of speed move, and decent enough range on his J, though his shooting has been off of late and he is said to lack overall athleticism. That on top of what I can only characterize as underwhelming high school stat-totals leaves you wondering a bit on this kid…
• Isaiah Hicks and Jackson Simmons both see action in nearly every single T.Heel game; albeit it only 2-3 minutes per half. Isaiah is a explosive athlete that could use a bit more bulk (2o8 lbs.) though he did put up some Len Bias looking 30+ point and 30+ board games in high school at times. Hicks was the gem of last years recruiting class, even if he looks to be a year away. Pure athlete of a P/F, who gets you 1.4 ppg and 1.3 rpg at the moment and needs some more post-moves to even out his bouncy game. Jackson is a worker bee who is slowly yet surely seeing his U.n.c. minutes ever so slightly increase as his sky-blue career roles (see the pun) on. 1.1. ppg and 1.3 rpg is not much, granted, though leading U.n.c. in shooting at 58% for the season does not suck for a kid who entered Tobacco Road as basically a S/F and grew into a P/F.

Illation, conclusion (s) and OPT digits:
Yet another ugly looking game on tap folks; as the 2-3 coach J’s Zone keeps blow-0ut closer, creates lesser possessions and plays right into the hands of our fair nice looking S.W.A.T. team back-line. As coach J’s boys are nothing, if nothing if not 44^th best in blocks. Now we see that both squads are shooting a miserable 65.4% (for UNC) and 65.7% (for VT) from the FT-line in the last two weeks. Ditto Vah.Tech’s lame looking 55 ppg and 39% over the very same time-span.

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However, all hope is not forfeit, even if this game is not won. Virginia Tech and coach J’s have quietly and oh so slowly, tightened up this 2-3 zone defense into a mini-me nose knot of disallowed scoring. 36% FG percentage allowed since the Florida State game says so!

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So if points are you thing, this is not exactly the game for you. Thing however is, we really need medium-Ben and my almost boy Smitty and their collective 22 ppg to bridge this much of a gap; even if we catch U.n.c. off of a victorious Duke let-down trap; and then looking ahead to Duke yet again.

Or prolly not, take thy pick…

Happy 86 years to coach Dean Smith; God Bless!

 (86% confidence interval)
Virginia Tech=5o, U.N.C.=65

“LETS GO!”

“Hokies!”

 bourbonstreet**