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We have a legit shot to win it all

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saturdayroad.com

ACC Basketball Power Rankings: Feast Week edition - Saturday Road

It's still early, but we're already learning things about ACC basketball teams. Here's our updated power rankings entering Feast Week.
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skyman said:
Was saying it all offseason but was told it doesnt matter so just dropped it.. Think we just should have one in the holster to battle teams like Uconn or Purdue types down the line, plus the hope Omier is available all year or never gets a foul doesnt seem like sound strategy for a team with championship aspirations.. it is what it is at this point, lets just enjoy
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Purdue lost in the first round last year. No guarantee UCONN makes a run this year. For all the 'when we play xyz school with size, we're screwed' talk, there's no telling what matchups will look like come March.
 
JZCane0825 said:
Purdue lost in the first round last year. No guarantee UCONN makes a run this year. For all the 'when we play xyz school with size, we're screwed' talk, there's no telling what matchups will look like come March.
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Obviously, you dont know who you will play.. Just that I dont see why we leaned soo hard into it when we saw when Omier gets in foul trouble we cant even play interior defense at all, he has to let everything go to not pickup another one.. Another option is not a bad thing and wont hurt team identity. Getting killed on glass, 2nd possessions opportunities, no interior defense, etc. all can hurt.

Doesnt mean we suck, doesnt mean I think coach L is an idiot or anything like that, just see the potential of this team going all the way and wanted to clean up the Achilles heel that popped up from time to time banking on one undersized player to never get in foul trouble when he has to redline and play hyper aggressive because of size..
 
I posted this in the game thread watching our first game this season:

"
I told my wife watching the game this team can win a National Champioanhip.

Now injuries can derail that, or some key piece getting the Yips like our star QB has gotten, but this team has speed, athleticism, and it looks like they share the ball better.

Isaiah Wong was a great player, but I do feel like he didn't distribute as well as he liked to play a one on one game.

If this team keeps up the ball movement they are an impossible defend imo."
 
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skyman said:
Obviously, you dont know who you will play.. Just that I dont see why we leaned soo hard into it when we saw when Omier gets in foul trouble we cant even play interior defense at all, he has to let everything go to not pickup another one.. Another option is not a bad thing and wont hurt team identity. Getting killed on glass, 2nd possessions opportunities, no interior defense, etc. all can hurt.

Doesnt mean we suck, doesnt mean I think coach L is an idiot or anything like that, just see the potential of this team going all the way and wanted to clean up the Achilles heel that popped up from time to time banking on one undersized player to never get in foul trouble when he has to redline and play hyper aggressive because of size..
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There’s probably only a couple 6’10+ players in the country who could actually make this team better.

Most bigs would actually hurt this team more than they would help it offensively (pace and space) and defensively (ability to switch 1-5). See @Peter Ariz post for what a matchup nightmare Omier has the potential to be this year surrounded by 4 guys who can knock it down from deep.

Defensively and rebounding we are just long and athletic enough to be able to outwork and outscheme most height differentials. But that requires 100% effort which is hard to sustain while up 20 in the last 10 minutes (see KSU).

Depth wise we weren’t getting anyone better than Nwoko, who is already able to give 100x more than Aire/Gak, and I’m hopeful he’ll continue to improve over the year.
 
jackedaround said:
Saying it right here, right now.

I've seen enough. This team can win it all.

We have experience. Guard play. 3 point shooters and a beast in Omier.

Don't be shocked.
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Waaaaaay too early to really even go there.

Quite a few teams start the season with potential to go all the way in basketball. After that, we get into league play and the contenders are separated from the pretenders..
 
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My early season observations. I would love to read others.

UConn looks really good, well coached, and big-again
KU looked good beating UK but last night they were completely undone by a fast, aggressive Marquette team coached by Shaka Smart.
Duke looks better than last year but their guards are still their weakness
Purdue is big, their guards look better but I would have written the same thing last year and we know how that ended
I have not seen Arizona play but we know they beat Duke
I was not impressed by MSU. They shot poorly against JMU and the 1st half of the Duke game.

What are some other observations some of you have as to top teams?
 
AtlAtty said:
My early season observations. I would love to read others.

UConn looks really good, well coached, and big-again
KU looked good beating UK but last night they were completely undone by a fast, aggressive Marquette team coached by Shaka Smart.
Duke looks better than last year but their guards are still their weakness
Purdue is big, their guards look better but I would have written the same thing last year and we know how that ended
I have not seen Arizona play but we know they beat Duke
I was not impressed by MSU. They shot poorly against JMU and the 1st half of the Duke game.

What are some other observations some of you have as to top teams?
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I think Ucla will sneak up on people. They lost a ton and have a ton of freshmen. Very good defensive team.

I'm excited to watch them tonight against Gonzaga.
 
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Ispyin said:
I see that we have a lot of posters who know less about basketball than they know about football


final four me x2
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Boy was that comeback win against Drake in the NCAAT First Round last March maybe the most consequential basketball game the Canes have played. Imagine where we'd be today had Drake won (which they certainly could have).
 
hotshot said:
Boy was that comeback win against Drake in the NCAAT First Round last March maybe the most consequential basketball game the Canes have played. Imagine where we'd be today had Drake won (which they certainly could have).
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Very good point... heck you could also argue the year before if USC hits that buzzer beater in the first round... or we lose another couple games in that regular season and don't even make the tourney and this run never really gets started. These things often hang by a thread, and fortunately we have caught most of the breaks the last couple of years... although our draws in the tournament have actually been relatively tough, with only Iowa State being a lucky low-seeded matchup.

It is crazy to think that literally this time two years ago, the program had very little positive momentum, we had gone three seasons in a row missing the tourney and the start of the 2021-2022 season was also a bit of a slog (I remember we lost to UCF and got our doors blown off by Bama/Dayton). The good thing about basketball relative to football is that things can really turn on a dime if you either get a couple key transfers/recruits and/or see some player development. I hope we can keep it rolling, the last time we really looked to be in position for a sustained period of success was in that 2015-2017 timeframe, but the investigation really halted any momentum in that period. Coach L's retirement is probably the next big "tuning point moment" looming for us, although I have no idea when that would be.
 
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JackMcClinton89 said:
Very good point... heck you could also argue the year before if USC hits that buzzer beater in the first round... or we lose another couple games in that regular season and don't even make the tourney and this run never really gets started. These things often hang by a thread, and fortunately we have caught most of the breaks the last couple of years... although our draws in the tournament have actually been relatively tough, with only Iowa State being a lucky low-seeded matchup.

It is crazy to think that literally this time two years ago, the program had very little positive momentum, we had gone three seasons in a row missing the tourney and the start of the 2021-2022 season was also a bit of a slog (I remember we lost to UCF and got our doors blown off by Bama/Dayton). The good thing about basketball relative to football is that things can really turn on a dime if you either get a couple key transfers/recruits and/or see some player development. I hope we can keep it rolling, the last time we really looked to be in position for a sustained period of success was in that 2015-2017 timeframe, but the investigation really halted any momentum in that period. Coach L's retirement is probably the next big "tuning point moment" looming for us, although I have no idea when that would be.
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Notice what all the ncaa tourney success did. Players keep citing it when they come in. You got a coach that will support the best players style of play and let them rip it. You win at the highest level. Your best players get drafted in the NBA. Don't forget the weather and the women. Sort of a no brainer....

This is why football can't get going. We do none of the three of late.
 
hotshot said:
Boy was that comeback win against Drake in the NCAAT First Round last March maybe the most consequential basketball game the Canes have played. Imagine where we'd be today had Drake won (which they certainly could have).
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What if Nacho doesn’t heal as quickly or isn’t as tough?

Law of averages, the prior most talented team didn’t have Brown available in the tourny and Lonnie iirc missed many games too.
 
RBradleigh said:
What if Nacho doesn’t heal as quickly or isn’t as tough?

Law of averages, the prior most talented team didn’t have Brown available in the tourny and Lonnie iirc missed many games too.
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No question we were due for a break. It was what we accomplished after getting that break, though, that seemingly has us where we are.

IMO, Brown's absence was a huge loss (I still recall him from running UNC out of our gym); Lonnie played in the Loyola loss. 100% or not, I never thought he was a huge factor in his one year here.
 
UConn has the look of a B2B champion imo.

After watching a lot of NCAA basketball this week, I think our lack of size is going to be a problem. We've lived by the 3 so far, and I think we may have the best shooting team in the country. But on a day when the shots don't fall, some of these biggers team will be able to punish us.
 
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