RE: Anyone else going to Chapel Hill?
While I would love to see the upset tonight, I am just hoping for a "representative" game.
Looking ahead, there is a fairly large problem that I see, however, going into League play on Saturday. While a few on this board have pumped up up the 8 man rotation and the talented freshmen, in truth, we are a 5 man team.
While I certainly believe and greatly hope that the youngsters will eventually be productive, right now, that's just not happening. Our starting five are "solid" (capable of 16-20 wins, with some help from the bench) and occasionally "exceptional" (capable of 20-24 wins, with some bench help), but the bench has, to date, shown no notice that it can be relied on for much offensive support.
That 3 man, first off the bench group is responsible for 20% of the total minutes played, but only 12% of the scoring overall (8.6 ppg). That number reduces to only 6.6 ppg when you remove the two DIII games. That is not going to cut it in League play. Most teams, that I randomly checked, had a couple bench players averaging 7.0 - 8.0 per game, by themselves (or closer to 15 ppg for their first three players off the bench), not combined. This includes tonight's opponent, UNC.
The biggest concern for the Tribe, in league play, could be foul trouble and fatigue. There is no one who has really shown the ability to play consistently productive offensive minutes, if forced to take over due to early foul trouble, or (heaven forbid) injury. Due to that, the Tribe starters have played heavy minutes and gotten fatigued as the game wore on (Richmond, High Point, for example), with less than positive results.
I certainly believe that there will be growth by the youngsters, but it is time for the FOTB (first off the bench) guys to start stepping up offensively. I hope it is this week.
|