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North Carolina A&T Game & Other Dribbles ...

I think Jeffress could be fine in the ACC if he really leans into the role of being super annoying and finishing a bunch of dirty buckets and putbacks. The ultimate role player, and it seems like he’s the kind of kid who could embrace it and lean into playing within himself like that. Went 3/4 from the line, too, IIRC - which he’s probably gonna need.
 
I think Jeffress could be fine in the ACC if he really leans into the role of being super annoying and finishing a bunch of dirty buckets and putbacks. The ultimate role player, and it seems like he’s the kind of kid who could embrace it and lean into playing within himself like that. Went 3/4 from the line, too, IIRC - which he’s probably gonna need.

He's never going to be able to score. Never going to live up to being on Team USA (so like a Top 15 player at one point) but he could be a nice role player like you said. You'd prefer that a 4 star not be that guy but it is what it is. He can defend, rebound, and get some junk buckets.
 
He still seems to be near zero on offense though. Nearly 4 on 5 when he's in there. Looks clearly #9 to start.
 
5 players on nba rosters is a stretch, but the fact it is even possible suggests the team is very talented.
Not only that Mo, but two of them aren’t even starters. That says a lot about the depth of this program right now.
 
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Agreed, 5 years from now 5 or maybe more will have had time in the nba. My hopeful expectation is that carrington hinson and maybe fede go after this year. Then next year jdg and gdg become starters and take the step to nba level.

Carrington - yes

GDG - maybe

Hinson - 2 way and will have to earn it, athleticism is an issue

Fede - no way, not good enough offensively and there's a lot of 6'11 guys. He didnt even make Finland

Jorge - has a long way to go but maybe. I wouldn’t bet on it
 
Exactly. They put up 100 with Jeffress playing 17 mins…like in spite of his offense. Happy for him though that he made it 100. Looking ahead. JU put up 111 on their division 2 for, but only 25 percent from three. Mizz also put up 101 last night and gators in 90s. We will need some better D.
Misunderstood
 
Dior dismissal may be a blessing allowing things to unfold the way they did. HOWEVER, can’t believe the depth this team would have with him and Kante available. Things will get tougher with in-conference scouting and familiarity so these youngsters will get rattled eventually. Part of learning and maturation. At least the culture is now in place as future pieces are added to the program.
 
Love the energy and comradery last night! Great to see us get out of the gate like we did knowing we need to. Can't say enough about Carrington's performance. "Awesome, baby!"

If there were areas of concern, for me it was rebounding to some extent and free throw shooting. I felt NCA&T were getting some ORebs they shouldn't have. And 8-17 at the charity stripe is awful. That was a big, big strength for us last year. Shoot FT's like that and it will cost us some games. 2 starters - Austin and Fede - a combined 1-6.
 
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????

HBCUs are consistently some of the worst programs in America. The MEAC and SWAC are the 2 worst conferences IMO. NC A&T and Hampton joined the CAA but they were picked 13th and 14th. For as good as last night felt, NC A&T is very likely a sub 300 team.
What do you know about either the MEAC or the SWAC? I guess you didn't take notice that Texas Southern went into Michigan State a couple of years ago and won - and went into Florida last year and laid a beat down on them. I can add a few more but why bother trying to educate you?
 
I hate to dump any salt on this fire, but something is amiss with these HBCU’s. I haven’t seen them THIS down in a while. VT put up a similar performance against Coppin State, Kansas and NC central and Arizona and Morgan state too. Delaware State put up slightly more of a fight but 45 points? Sheesh.

I guess that trend of good players going there was a blip. I say wait until game 2 to declare us with your jinx of “we are back” 😉
I found myself assuming that Binghamton will provide a bit more of a challenge on Friday. I don’t remember ever considering low to mid majors level of play much during the OOC.
 
What do you know about either the MEAC or the SWAC?

A whole lot. I follow college basketball. The MEAC, SWAC, and NEC are the 3 worst conferences by a pretty good margin. The MEAC is so bad, their teams are leaving in droves to go to the SWAC or CAA. I will give you that the SWAC is better than the MEAC. The MEAC is down to 8 for basketball and 6 for football. Chicago State may add football to get a MEAC invite.
 
I found myself assuming that Binghamton will provide a bit more of a challenge on Friday. I don’t remember ever considering low to mid majors level of play much during the OOC.
Depends. If the kid from Pine Richland is playing, they shouldn’t be much more of a threat. I’d expect a similar type game

Won’t get to go though unfortunately
 
Depends. If the kid from Pine Richland is playing, they shouldn’t be much more of a threat. I’d expect a similar type game

Won’t get to go though unfortunately

Never knew that dude existed but seems to had an ok career.

Speaking of local kids, Vinnie didnt do much for UPJ but played a lot and I liked his athleticism. I think he can play low D1 eventually. Do you think the SSA guard can play low D1?
 
He's never going to be able to score. Never going to live up to being on Team USA (so like a Top 15 player at one point) but he could be a nice role player like you said. You'd prefer that a 4 star not be that guy but it is what it is. He can defend, rebound, and get some junk buckets.
He can be a poor man’s Dennis Rodman
 
Never knew that dude existed but seems to had an ok career.

Speaking of local kids, Vinnie didnt do much for UPJ but played a lot and I liked his athleticism. I think he can play low D1 eventually. Do you think the SSA guard can play low D1?
No vinnie cannot play D1. I don’t even know who the SSA guard is
 
I agree with your explanation. I always thought an assist is usually credited when a pass is made from one player to another resulting in a basket. More specifically, a direct pass resulting in that basket. If a player fumbles with the ball, reverses court, or some other delay between the pass and the basket it's probably not an assist. But then, the ole "judgement" call
seems to rule. Given what was going on last night, there was no way he wasn't going to get
credit for an assist. But hey, I'm glad he got it!


I'm not going to dig up the document, although I am sure it's still out there on the web, but basically a pass that leads to a scoring opportunity is an assist if the basket is made. So, for instance, you grab a rebound and throw an outlet pass to a guard at mid-court who is cherry picking behind the opponent and they dribble down and score, that is an assist because your pass directly led to a scoring opportunity. But if you pass to someone in the corner and they do a little pump fake and then dribble past the defender for a dunk/layup, that's not an assist, because the scoring opportunity arose from the play after the pass, not because of the pass. Now if that guy is cutting down the baseline and you hit him with a pass and he takes a couple dribbles before that layup/dunk, that's an assist because your pass leads the guy into the score.
 
In regard to Austin, I wonder if he was hurting a little. My seats are diagonal across the court from the tunnel to the Pitt locker room. When he went down in the first half behind the baseline in the corner near the Pitt bench, I could see that when he got up he ran down the tunnel to the locker room with his right arm dangling by his side. When he didn't return within a few seconds, several people from the Pitt bench went looking for him. My first thought was that he may have a broken arm. Fortunately, he returned a few minutes later and then went back into the game.
 
I'm not going to dig up the document, although I am sure it's still out there on the web, but basically a pass that leads to a scoring opportunity is an assist if the basket is made. So, for instance, you grab a rebound and throw an outlet pass to a guard at mid-court who is cherry picking behind the opponent and they dribble down and score, that is an assist because your pass directly led to a scoring opportunity. But if you pass to someone in the corner and they do a little pump fake and then dribble past the defender for a dunk/layup, that's not an assist, because the scoring opportunity arose from the play after the pass, not because of the pass. Now if that guy is cutting down the baseline and you hit him with a pass and he takes a couple dribbles before that layup/dunk, that's an assist because your pass leads the guy into the score.
You are technically right. I swear when we were growing up if they took more than 2 dribbles it was no longer an assist and they were a lot harder to find by. Probably just old man yelling at cloud by me
 
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I'm not going to dig up the document, although I am sure it's still out there on the web, but basically a pass that leads to a scoring opportunity is an assist if the basket is made. So, for instance, you grab a rebound and throw an outlet pass to a guard at mid-court who is cherry picking behind the opponent and they dribble down and score, that is an assist because your pass directly led to a scoring opportunity. But if you pass to someone in the corner and they do a little pump fake and then dribble past the defender for a dunk/layup, that's not an assist, because the scoring opportunity arose from the play after the pass, not because of the pass. Now if that guy is cutting down the baseline and you hit him with a pass and he takes a couple dribbles before that layup/dunk, that's an assist because your pass leads the guy into the score.
Yes, that's how I see it. Your examples make sense. I was talking with someone who had a
different take. I used this as an example...... PG hits the wing in the corner, the wing fakes a
shot and dribbles out front and gets a screen from the other guard. He then dribbles to
the top of the circle and hits a jumper. That isn't an assist for the pg. I thought that was
an obvious example for my friend. My friend continued to disagree. He saw it as an
assist.
I explained the initial pass has to lead directly to a basket....key word, "directly."

Anyway, I'll take a few of those dubious ones for Carrington like we saw last night.
 
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The twins giveth and taketh away. It’s okay if they give up some baskets if they equal it out with some 3s, which is something Fede can’t do when he is in there. Last night both were off so it stands out more. It also happened on a night when Blake was off too, so stood out even more. If we won by 20 plus, likely not as much concern as right now.
 
** In the hour or so before this season opening Panther Hoops contest, I thought about what there might be to say about the evening’s proceedings. Then, I came upon a wonderful conclusion. That is, “we are back!”

** I’ve taken plenty of well-deserved heat for my infamous premature proclamation back in January 2021. But in my defense, what “We Are Back” really only meant is that we mattered once again. At the time, this may have even been true, until the Panthers tanked in the weeks that followed that season.

** But after reading so many preseason predictions from prognosticators and fans unlike, including resident expert @Matt Steinbrink, thinking we can find our way into the NCAA tournament this season does indeed make the "being back" point. All we really want is to believe we CAN be successful.

** And even if one such as myself has been cautious to suggest that a Dance Card is surely in the cards come March, I do realize that it’s been since the fall of 2016 that I went into a season thinking it was even possible. That is "back."

** Walking to my seats tonight peering upon a perfectly packed Zoo bouncing and sporting nifty blue and gold caps only added to this positivity.

** Then the game started.

** Just 11 seconds in, a young man named Bub threw a pretty reverse pass to an older man named Blake who began the Panther assault with one of his patented three point bombs.

** Three more consecutive Bub assists later, the rout was already on, and the triple double watch was underway. For this night for sure, by the aforementioned standard, the Panthers surely are back.

** So, about this “triple double,” mostly just for fun, I "must" say the following. Midway through the second half, this Bub gentleman took a seat for a blow with six assists to his name, and we could have sworn that when he returned to the court his tally had grown to seven.

** Assist number nine was also curious. Bub threw pass to Zack at the corner. Instead of letting the three fly, Zach up faked and drove the baseline for a layup. An assist? Tonight, damn right it was!

** Still, I’m not sure I’ve rooted for an assist so much when Bub later swung a pass to Blake whose three went out and in and out for what would have been assist #10. At the break after the shot, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen Blake so angry knowing he didn’t come through for the moment.

** But kudos to Coach Capel for giving everyone everything they wanted and entering Bub one last time to make history. And following a Carrington pass when GDiaz’s three bounced on the front rim, bounced off the backboard, and then finally fell through, we all got to witness something special.

** Triple doubles aside, it’s hard not to think that Panthers are not only back, but here to stay with Number 7 on the court. I’m always one to resist hype, but it's hard not to recognize how effortless his stellar performance was this night.

** Accordingly, if you are one to believe that Bub could be the running for ACC Rookie of the Year, or a one and done candidate, or will even be the Panthers best player this year, it’s simply unwise to throw caution into such thoughts at the moment.

** It would also be unwise to try to throw caution into this overall performance by the Panthers, regardless of the inabilities of the opponent. In fact, what impressed me the most is that we scored 100 without shooting the ball exceptionally well. Sure, 56% is good, but it’s not sizzling. And it wasn’t as if our opponent was inept offensively. They took care of the ball well and ran some decent stuff. But we guarded their shots well enough that they just weren’t making them

** The reality seemed to be that we simply overwhelmed the Aggies the way an NCAA tournament type team should.

** We also showed firepower up and down the lineup, right down to Jorge who flashed every bit of skill that anyone might want to see from him.

** Everyone showed something actually. Most notable to me was Fede, who showed some work with the dribble to get his shot, and plenty of toughness inside.

** Ish was good, Will made Will plays, G made G plays, and Mike made another deep one at the end.

** Zach and Jaland contributed as well, but they might have been the only two Panthers who left me wanting a little more. I still want to see Zach hit the open three, and Jaland seems to be having a little difficulty knowing exactly how to assert himself. But that’s nitpicking.

** It’s nitpicking because this was nothing short of a glorious start of the Panther season, and an equally glorious start of a career for Mr. Carrington. Mostly it was tons of fun, and even more so, seemed like tons of fun for our Panther players.

** On the out way of the Pete, I was even fortunate enough to receive the gift of one of those nifty blue and gold caps from a kind and excited Zoo Member. My thanks to my Zoo friend, as it was literally and figuratively a perfect “capper” to as close to a perfect Panther season opener as I can remember in quite some time.
** Nice to see the team tested and still come out on top

Jaland - coming along, gaining confidence and contributing

Seems like there is one player that is contributing offensively each game - Game 1: Jorge (14 pts) 2: Guillermo (12) 3: Jaland (12)...as long as this is consistent will be hard for teams to game plan only on the big three.

Will - showed his value - teams need these role players to be successful

Austin - playing his role well

Looking forward to seeing how we respond to a P5 opponent next week..how will we shoot FT, what will the defense look like against a P5 team, who will step up - right now both freshmen guards look like PTPers...as Dicky V would say....

✌️
 
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