A GoHeels.Com Analyst Reacts To The Game

[Sphinx]

Reading the UNC forum after the game, I found little appreciation of UConn's performance. The consensus was that UNC played a poor game and UConn just happened to be on the court. As for the chance of meeting UConn again in March, the consensus was, "Bring 'em on."

On the other hand, I found this set of "Rapd Reactions" from columnist Adam Lucas at goheels.com:

<excerpts>
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1. Connecticut is one of the best teams in the country, and Carolina simply didn't play at that level in an 87-76 UConn win.

2. It's very difficult to make a comeback against a team as good as UConn, and it's almost impossible when you're not combining defensive stops with offensive scores. During the decisive part of the game--the 11:00 mark through the 4:00 mark--Carolina did not have a single stop and score. It's essentially mathematically impossible to come back from a deficit in that fashion.

3. It's not necessarily that Carolina was poor defensively. It's that Connecticut is very talented offensively and presents multiple problems for a defense. The Huskies put a lot of stress on numerous parts of a defense. In the first half, they were dominant inside the three-point line, as they hit 13-for-19 on two-point shots (68 percent). And although they weren't particularly good on three-point shots (4-16) in that half, they rebounded five of those misses.

4. Then, as you were afraid might happen, the Huskies coupled that efficiency with success from the perimeter in the second half. They warmed up and hit 6-for-15 from three (while still hitting 11-for-16 from two), and that was simply too much offense to overcome. For the game, they were 24-for-35 on two-point shots, nearly 70 percent. Carolina, if you're wondering, was 21-for-43 on two-point shots.

5. The Tar Heels would've had to play an almost flawless offensive game to compete, and they simply didn't. ...

6. Bacot's rebounds were the best individual effort on a night when UConn dominated the backboards. The Huskies, one of the best rebounding teams in the country, had a 41-31 overall edge and 11-9 on the offensive glass, even while missing more shots than the Tar Heels.

7. Carolina wasn't great at capitalizing on those offensive boards (just six points), but an even more frustrating stat was points off turnovers. UConn made just eight miscues (Carolina had only seven), but the Tar Heels turned them into only seven points. The Huskies, meanwhile, got 14 points off those UNC errors.

....

9. There's no question that UConn coach Dan Hurley is a Hurley. He stayed in constant contact with the officiating crew, and perhaps not coincidentally, the very dubious first half technical foul on Armando Bacot was whistled immediately after Hurley spent the majority of a timeout berating an official.

10. The Tar Heels broke out a halfcourt zone defense for the first time this season during a first half stretch when UConn was having significant success offensively. The Tar Heels tried a 1-3-1 to give them a different look; it resulted in a Cam Spencer three-pointer and was quickly shelved.

....

13. The Jimmy V Classic is a great event, and it feels right to have the Tar Heels back in it again. They played the famous ESPYs speech at halftime of the Illinois-Florida Atlantic game on the in-venue jumbotron, and it was remarkable how quiet it got inside Madison Square Garden as the speech played. ...

 

[TheChamps990411]

3. It's not necessarily that Carolina was poor defensively. It's that Connecticut is very talented offensively and presents multiple problems for a defense. The Huskies put a lot of stress on numerous parts of a defense. In the first half, they were dominant inside the three-point line, as they hit 13-for-19 on two-point shots (68 percent). And although they weren't particularly good on three-point shots (4-16) in that half, they rebounded five of those misses.

Uconns offense is really difficult to deal with and will wear you out. Look at KU who is a great defensive team. It took an A+ level defensive effort and some injuries to hold Uconn to 65 points but it took a lot of energy to do so which is why against Kansas City a 3-6 team came back on them in the second half when they tired a bit. Maybe its talking out my rear end but KU did look a bit winded in the 2nd half.

 

[Scottobot]

UConn has 4 guys on the court at all times that can handle ball, pass, rebound, and run offense. Karaban’s ball handling, passing and shooting at the power forward spot is very rare. Guards Newton, Castle, Spencer, Ball all have exceptional strength and grit at guard position and rebound well. All handle the ball well under pressure. Clingan and Samson also pretty sure handed for guys their size. Injuries or a red hot opponent in tournament is the only thing stopping this team. So far it looks like we will have a problem with injuries. I hope everyone heals, but odds are at least one will linger. If that happens we will need Ross or Stewart to step up and be 8th player. 7 players is not enough to win 6 in a row in tournament.

 

[LStudfellow]

9. There's no question that UConn coach Dan Hurley is a Hurley. He stayed in constant contact with the officiating crew, and perhaps not coincidentally, the very dubious first half technical foul on Armando Bacot was whistled immediately after Hurley spent the majority of a timeout berating an official.

Although this particular call was a bit debatable, it makes me LMAO to read any analysis that would seriously try to paint the refereeing in that game as being anything but UNC-biased most of the night. Notice how he makes sure not to bring up or comment that the total fouls were actually +5 for the Tarheels (18 for us, 13 for them)... because of course that would blow his not-so-subtle point here right out of the water.

Nice try there Adam Lucas... but no. No way anyone could claim that Hurley influenced the refs last night into being "pro-UConn". You can take off the Tarheel Blue-colored glasses you must have been wearing last night buddy.

Just... NO.

 

[caw]

Don't care about the officiating, it wasn't horrible. Better than KU (which wasn't bad itself aside from a few key calls). IMO the thing that kept this game even remotely close was UConn missing 3-4 lob attempts. I know Samson missed two and Clingan one at least but I think there might have been one more I'm forgetting. I believe at least two of those were 2 on 1s too with very little challenge from UNC.

 

[shizzle787]

I actually found that most UNC posters thought we were too good for them.

 

[UCTitleTown]

It seems many think UNC is a flawed team and too reliant on a couple players. We are so much more balanced and deeper than them and our ball movement is sick. Text book movement.

 

[businesslawyer]

Although this particular call was a bit debatable, it makes me LMAO to read any analysis that would seriously try to paint the refereeing in that game as being anything but UNC-biased most of the night. Notice how he makes sure not to bring up or comment that the total fouls were actually +5 for the Tarheels (18 for us, 13 for them)... because of course that would blow his not-so-subtle point here right out of the water.

Nice try there Adam Lucas... but no. No way anyone could claim that Hurley influenced the refs last night into being "pro-UConn". You can take off the Tarheel Blue-colored glasses you must have been wearing last night buddy.

Just... NO.

Whatever you thought about the officiating all game long, that was absolutely a technical. Guy made a great play and then got in a Huskies’ face and mouthed off, right after the officials had warned both teams about mouthing off. Spencer got T’d up in the second half, deservedly so, when he taunted a Tar Heel without the physical intimidation that Bacot’s taunt had.

Other than that, I thought it was a damn good analysis.

 

[runner11]

I actually found that most UNC posters thought we were too good for them.

On r/college basketball the vast majority of Tar Heel fans praised us as a level above and seemed content with their performance. We just offered too much.

 

[Ricker]

After the game I watched a Carolina Podcast that had a stream of fan comments running next to the podcasters so you could also see fan reactions like in our 'chat'. They discussed the game and responded to a few of the postings. I was impressed at their solid view of the game and view of UConn. It was essentially like our view of Kansas, a solid loss against a quality team. No moral victories but nothing to hang your head about, and insight was gained about changing the outcome in a rematch. A few of the fans didn't see it that way, but probably 8 out of 10 did. (I think the whole thing with Bacot and Spencer was that they were warned more than once before they were T'd up. Neither one of the T's were unfair given direct warnings to knock it off)

 

[Rocktheworld]

Did so well besides the nonsense regarding the technical. Cam got one later on for far less; who had a hand in that?

 

[my2cents]

Don't care about the officiating, it wasn't horrible. Better than KU (which wasn't bad itself aside from a few key calls). IMO the thing that kept this game even remotely close was UConn missing 3-4 lob attempts. I know Samson missed two and Clingan one at least but I think there might have been one more I'm forgetting. I believe at least two of those were 2 on 1s too with very little challenge from UNC.

We easily gave away 8/10 points on missed lobs. A question for Hurley would be, should they be making simpler passes on those breaks to guarantee a basket?

 

[businesslawyer]

We easily gave away 8/10 points on missed lobs. A question for Hurley would be, should they be making simpler passes on those breaks to guarantee a basket?

Part of the reason we ”gave away” those points is because every time Samson Johnson left the ground to catch a lob, Carolina was allowed to root out Johnson with their bodies without being whistled for fouls.

 

[Tenspro2002]

Uconns offense is really difficult to deal with and will wear you out. Look at KU who is a great defensive team. It took an A+ level defensive effort and some injuries to hold Uconn to 65 points but it took a lot of energy to do so which is why against Kansas City a 3-6 team came back on them in the second half when they tired a bit. Maybe its talking out my rear end but KU did look a bit winded in the 2nd half.

Our offense is relentless and does not let you take a play off, or even a moment off during a possession. There is constant movement, almost everyone is a threat to shoot, cut, pass, or drive to the rim. And we're not fazed by late clock situations.

Look at how many wide open dunks Karaban ended up with. During the KO era we used to rue how badly out-dunked we were game after game, with this being a sign of how much of a slog our offense was in comparison to our opponents. Now it's the opposite.

 

[ibleedhuskyblue]

After the game I watched a Carolina Podcast that had a stream of fan comments running next to the podcasters so you could also see fan reactions like in our 'chat'. They discussed the game and responded to a few of the postings. I was impressed at their solid view of the game and view of UConn. It was essentially like our view of Kansas, a solid loss against a quality team. No moral victories but nothing to hang your head about, and insight was gained about changing the outcome in a rematch. A few of the fans didn't see it that way, but probably 8 out of 10 did. (I think the whole thing with Bacot and Spencer was that they were warned more than once before they were T'd up. Neither one of the T's were unfair given direct warnings to knock it off)

My only issue with the T's is that Bacots involved actual contact with Cam.
Cam was 15 feet away from bacot when he was T'd up.

 

[mussels]

My only issue with the T's is that Bacots involved actual contact with Cam.
Cam was 15 feet away from bacot when he was T'd up.

My guess is that they were each equally trash talking the entire game, and that‘s the point Davis was likely making when arguing against the technical on Bacot. I saw the tech on Cam as evening thing up and a nod to Davis.

 

[Rico444]

On r/college basketball the vast majority of Tar Heel fans praised us as a level above and seemed content with their performance. We just offered too much.

I watched the game with my cousin who is a UNC fan. In the 2nd half he said he would be happy if Carolina lost by single digits, because we are clearly the better team.

 

[Matrim55]

UNC fans on reddit were wildly complimentary of us:

 

[YearoftheHusky]

My only issue with the T's is that Bacots involved actual contact with Cam.
Cam was 15 feet away from bacot when he was T'd up.

Bacot’s actually came after he hooked Samson and dunked the missed free throw. He taunted afterwards and was immediately t’d.

Inexplicably there was no call on his contact with Cam which is what fired Hurley up and led to his conversation with the ref that the author said was the catalyst for the Bacot technical shortly after.

 

[Mots010]

At one point in the second half, I think there were 14 fouls on Uconn, and 4 fouls on Carolina...and we were leading by double digits. That is insane.

The second half fouls evened out after that.

 

[UConnSwag11]

UNC plays no defense and they dont to rebound

 

[WhereistheDove?]

Whatever you thought about the officiating all game long, that was absolutely a technical. Guy made a great play and then got in a Huskies’ face and mouthed off, right after the officials had warned both teams about mouthing off. Spencer got T’d up in the second half, deservedly so, when he taunted a Tar Heel without the physical intimidation that Bacot’s taunt had.

Other than that, I thought it was a damn good analysis.

Yeah, that’s a warning unless a warning had already been given (it had). Bacon may not have been looking directly at Cam, but he clearly intended it towards him and a ref will call that almost every time after warning had been issued. Same for me with the Cam T, it’s not a tech in a vacuum but the warnings had already been given.

 

[Palatine]

We scored 44 points by halftime and 87 in the game, that's with Clingan holding the ball all alone in the front court with 15 seconds to go and shooting 56% from the foul line.

Said another way, we ripped their defense to sheds. We should have been in the 90s.

 

[tzznandrew]

Our offense is relentless and does not let you take a play off, or even a moment off during a possession. There is constant movement, almost everyone is a threat to shoot, cut, pass, or drive to the rim. And we're not fazed by late clock situations.

Look at how many wide open dunks Karaban ended up with. During the KO era we used to rue how badly out-dunked we were game after game, with this being a sign of how much of a slog our offense was in comparison to our opponents. Now it's the opposite.

Those KO teams would regularly finish games with very few assists. Even in the title year. Ball movement wasn't nearly as good.

 

[Palatine]

Those KO teams would regularly finish games with very few assists. Even in the title year. Ball movement wasn't nearly as good.

I remember a Ollie post game presser where he said, "We shot 30 threes, I don't like that."

We shot 31 versus UNC. Not even mentioned by Hurley, who is definitely fine with it.