#1 PG, #2 overall
Prepare for the show
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqNyIg2lwJ4

<--- Big Baller World Order

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...I'm from the era when A.I. was the answer, now they think ai is the answer - Marlon Craft

esp Coby doing it unexpectedly. most figured he'd be around for 2 years.

<--- Big Baller World Order

Hopefully last year and this year bring an end to that incredibly silly argument that stupid fans online make. (Though I'm sure they'll find a way to say Coby/Nassir/Cole/maybe Precious don't count.)

Going to be interesting to see if Anthony is more Irving or more Rivers for UNC next year. Obviously hoping the latter-- people forget that Rivers was definitely seen as an Anthony-level talent heading into college in 2012-- but should be entertaining either way from a basketball perspective.

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I guess you could strike lightening once or twice but the better approach is to get 2-3, mix them in with returning upperclassmen and upperclass transfers.

So in the event you don't land 2-3, you still have a strong, seasoned team that could compete for a title. Also, eventually, wouldn't kids see that almost half of those OAD's that come in to a 6-7 recruit class end up hurting their draft stock? Some to the point of having to stay in school to improve it.

I've always thought Cal's method was a bit risky, even if it netting him a top 3 ranking every season.

Had a convo all season with a cousin about how Zion leapfrogged the top 4 by going to Duke and hurting both Barrett and Reddish's seasons.

I think Cam has a stellar year and develops better at another program with a good coach, where he's more of a focal point. But at Duke, he was a far distant third option who didn't develop much.

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Usually we have two or three OAD types and then a couple of other four-star or lower, more developmental guys, and those guys play alongside more experienced players. Outside of 2018's class, it's been that way every year. (And we really wouldn't have had more than three in 2018 had Bagley not fallen into our laps.)

Besides, the argument I've heard the most online is "players only stay one year and then leave. They're rentals. Some #Brotherhood." etc. As if you'd *turn down* one-and-done players. UNC just hadn't really landed any between Barnes and Little, so fans online gotta make their agendas match what's happening. So now that UNC *is* landing OADs, we'll get to hear about how their OADs are *different* than Duke's OADs. Somehow.

>I think Cam has a stellar year and develops better at another
>program with a good coach, where he's more of a focal point.
>But at Duke, he was a far distant third option who didn't
>develop much.

I disagree with this wholeheartedly, because Cam's major problems-- inconsistent shooting form, inconsistent motor when his shot isn't falling, wildly turnover prone-- definitely don't *improve* if opponents are more focused on him. Especially the turnover issues-- if he's coughing up the ball/committing charges/making bad passes when facing an opponent's third best defender, I can't imagine him improving when facing their best defender or a double team. His issues extended beyond the "he didn't learn how to play without the ball in his hands," because the numbers show he had a really high usage rate and often looked to score when the ball was in his hands. He was just more raw than people thought. Like Nassir Little, tbh.

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>Usually we have two or three OAD types and then a couple of
>other four-star or lower, more developmental guys, and those
>guys play alongside more experienced players. Outside of
>2018's class, it's been that way every year. (And we really
>wouldn't have had more than three in 2018 had Bagley not
>fallen into our laps.)

Wasn't saying Duke in particular...was more towards Cal's approach.

>Besides, the argument I've heard the most online is "players
>only stay one year and then leave. They're rentals. Some
>#Brotherhood." etc. As if you'd *turn down* one-and-done
>players. UNC just hadn't really landed any between Barnes and
>Little, so fans online gotta make their agendas match what's
>happening. So now that UNC *is* landing OADs, we'll get to
>hear about how their OADs are *different* than Duke's OADs.
>Somehow.

I've realized I'm not like 'other' UNC fans. Visiting some of those fan boards feels icky so I generally avoid them. Carolina in general is a mixed bag of messiness.

>I disagree with this wholeheartedly, because Cam's major
>problems-- inconsistent shooting form, inconsistent motor when
>his shot isn't falling, wildly turnover prone-- definitely
>don't *improve* if opponents are more focused on him.
>Especially the turnover issues-- if he's coughing up the
>ball/committing charges/making bad passes when facing an
>opponent's third best defender, I can't imagine him improving
>when facing their best defender or a double team. His issues
>extended beyond the "he didn't learn how to play without the
>ball in his hands," because the numbers show he had a really
>high usage rate and often looked to score when the ball was in
>his hands. He was just more raw than people thought. Like
>Nassir Little, tbh.

I'll give some credence to his flaws but at another program, he gets to work through them as a focal point. Case in point: Jarrett Culver. Had a higher usage rate than Cam (Culvers was 32.2%...about what Barrett was for Duke), shot worse from 3 and better from 2 than Cam. Got 2 shots more a game. Played 3 more minutes a game but had the same TO's per game as Cam.

To me, the difference between Culver and Cam is Culver got to work through his offensive woes. He could do more than just wait on the ball for a 3 pointer (he took 4 a game, to Cam's 7) and he could work on his driving/pull up game overall. With Zion and Barrett on the team (who had a combined 60% usage rate and both higher than Cam's) he didn't have those opportunities. One player was within 10 percentage points of Culver's usage on Tech (Mooney @ 22.5...9.7% lower).

And to me, Cam is as good and could be better than Culver. So while it's easy to say, 'his flaws are the reason', I think he got diminished by playing with better players.

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1. Culver was a sophomore. Big, big difference. He had around Reddish's usage as a freshman (a little under), but then he worked all offseason and came back to be The Guy in the offense. He wouldn't have been able to handle that sort of usage as a freshman-- or if he had, he wouldn't have been nearly as efficient as he was this year. If you give Reddish another offseason with Duke, then sure, he can be Culver-level good... but, leading to my next points...

2. Culver as a freshman was miles better than Reddish at finishing inside. 60% at the rim to Reddish's 50%. 51% from 2 to Reddish's 39% (ugh). Then Culver gets another season to work on that and improves it. I think there's no world in which, even as a sophomore, Cam improves from 39% from 2 to 53% from 2 (Culver's soph number). He just wasn't good at getting inside this year, period. In large part due to my third point...

3. Culver as a freshman was already better at assist rate and turnover rate than Reddish was this year. Culver had an assist rate of 13.7% and a turnover rate of 16%-- both not great, both not terrible considering his usage. Reddish had an assist rate of 10.7%-- fairly dreadful, not much higher than Jahlil Okafor's assist rate at Duke. He also posted a 20.7% turnover rate, which is more than fairly dreadful.

The last two points underscore what I posted before: Reddish can't drive. He's a black hole in that regard: he puts his head down and goes. Led to multiple charges a game, multiple bad dribbles, and, when he would kick, multiple errant passes. Right now, his offense is shooting 3s and running in transition-- and *that's it.* And again, I really, really don't think having the type of defensive attention a sophomore Culver faced would've helped. It absolutely would've made things worse.

I don't think freshman Culver could've dealt with it, and freshman Culver was, by basically every metric, a better freshman than Reddish was. He even shot significantly better from 3 than Cam as a freshman-- a number that regressed significantly when his usage went up this year, in large part because he was against better defenders! If Cam only shot 31% from 3 against ACC opponents this year with teams's third best defenders against him, how would he have handled the first best or the double teams that Culver faced? My guess: very, very badly.

I think if Reddish was The Guy on a team, his ceiling is having the kind of year Isaiah Whitehead had for Seton Hall as a freshman. Decent numbers, poor efficiency (especially in getting inside), and scouts telling him it's possibly in his best interests to return for a sophomore year. Same honestly goes for Nassir Little. They benefitted, imo, from being relatively lower-usage guys on teams with strong supporting casts, because they didn't face as heavy defensive attention, and their flaws seemed less flagrant, so they'll still likely be lottery picks off their potential.

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>1. Who did Culver play with Freshman year that were as good and ball dominant as Barrett and Zion? Keenan Evans had similar usage to Zion. Culver was the second highest usage player on the team as a freshman. He got more shots off than Zhaire Smith.

So he was a focal point of the offense and was allowed to do more and grow in his role...even as a freshman. Which facilitated him being better as a Soph.

>2. I don't agree with this point. I watched a ton of Duke games this year (like you did). Cam's job wasn't driving. He didn't take many 2's (4 a game). He was camping on the 3 point line trying to take advantage of the attention Barrett and Zion got (7 a game). Can't get better or show what you can do with a skill if the team make up doesn't call for it. Had it been designed for him to shoot 10 times inside the 3 per game, I'm sure he would have done better than 39%

>3. I'll again say...it's different. Cam was a sidekick on this Duke team. The less you have a skill as a primary responsibility, the less you can develop at it. Now Culver might be a more naturally talented passer but I don't think Cam got the opportunity to show this as freely as Culver did either year at Tech.

>I think if Reddish was The Guy on a team, his ceiling is
>having the kind of year Isaiah Whitehead had for Seton Hall as
>a freshman. Decent numbers, poor efficiency (especially in
>getting inside), and scouts telling him it's possibly in his
>best interests to return for a sophomore year. Same honestly
>goes for Nassir Little. They benefitted, imo, from being
>relatively lower-usage guys on teams with strong supporting
>casts, because they didn't face as heavy defensive attention,
>and their flaws seemed less flagrant, so they'll still likely
>be lottery picks off their potential.

This could all be true but I don't think he's terrible at driving. I think he had so little reps at using the skill, he couldn't showcase or get better at it. Plus, who's to say a ton of his struggles didn't have to do with confidence. Dude came in heralded as a top 2-3 prospect and got leapfrogged rather rapidly (like preseason-games-in-July-rapidly)and became an afterthought sans a few clutch 3's off passes from Barrett and Zion.

The difference with Cam and Little is that I saw Cam's potential. Little looked a bit like a high energy guy with massive athletic ability. That J was suspect and his decision making (especially on defense) was horrid. Cam was a good defender for the most part and really didn't get a chance to show what he could do IMO.

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I think we need one more (Precious maybe) to be in serious contention next season.

Anthony makes us a huge threat though.

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Antawn or Vince.

Wonder if Roy will hold him back.

<---https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01DL9AVTQ

-Felton
-Lawson
-Paige
-Berry
-White

It's probably why he chose UNC. Lead guard makes it all possible for his teams.

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Roy hasn’t had a freshman with this talent since... Pierce maybe?

Not sure if he chose UNC specifically because of Roy’s approach to guards. It did seem like the most logical landing spot after all the chips landed.

<---https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01DL9AVTQ

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“Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind.” ~ Albert Einstein

"I cannot see how nature could have created itself. Only a supernatural force that is outside of space and time could have done that. ~ Francis Collins

3 pointer looking like a layup. league ready.

<--- Big Baller World Order

Lots of UNC fans told me Zion needed to sit (even before the injury), so I'm sure those same fans think Cole needs to sit too.

lol

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Playing this season is a waste of time. Dude should have been in the pros yesterday.

Polished beyond his years