As Day 3 of the ACC Tournament in Brooklyn treks on, here are some court-side observations in our Thursday afternoon notebook:
- North Carolina’s Kenny Williams is unable to play, due to an unfortunate injury. But I noticed he was wearing Nike socks as dress socks, which I have profound respect for.
- Several members of UNC’s marching band have the team’s starting line-up information down pat: Order, players’ hometowns.
- Speaking of the marching band, we approve of the shirts: “Ceiling. Roof. GOAT.”
- Miami targeting Kennedy Meeks earlier, and trying to involved him in ball screens with Kamari Murphy.
- After missing the last two games, Dewan Huell returned to action for Miami.
- When Isaiah Hicks connected on a dunk with 15:53 left in the second half, it gave him 17 points on only five field goal attempts; this translated to a true shooting rate of 105.2 percent. However, before that possession, when Hicks had 15 points on four attempts, the senior had a true shooting rate of 105.9 percent. Math.
- Theo Pinson with the play of the game or something like that in the second half, which was followed with a priceless facial expression:
Theo Pinson wanted the lob… got a three instead 🤷♂️#ACCTourney pic.twitter.com/RqUm83LnG8
— zach (@zachcronin0) March 9, 2017
- After the game, Miami’s Jim Larranaga praised UNC for its ball screen defense; he stated that the same actions Miami ran last month in Coral Gables were not opening the same looks today.
- NSFW: When asked about the advantages of hosting the ACC Tournament in bigger cities, like New York, Roy Williams had some choice words about a couple things, including President Donald Trump:
- On to Game No. 2: Jayson Tatum has hit a new level; he takes his time when he gets the ball, surveys the scene, and then makes a move. He has the speed advantage on everyone guarding him. There is no need to be in a rush.
- Louisville’s Jaylen Johnson scored a bucket over Tatum at the 17:53 mark of the second half after his teammate Mangok Mathiang instructed Johnson to “post his a– up!”
- You could overhear Duke’s help defenders shouting “Ice! Ice!” while checking pick-and-rolls. Ice is a term for pick-and-roll defense that forces the ball handler away from the middle screen and instead toward the baseline.
- It is safe to assume that Grayson Allen does not have many supporters amongst Louisville fans.
- The was maybe not Harry Giles’ best game, as far as stats are concerned, but the freshman big was as active and physical as I have seen him all season.
- Louisville has been good offensively against the zone this season — 1.07 points per possession, according to Synergy Sports — but Duke’s 2-3 was effective in the second half.
- After the loss, Louisville’s Rick Pitino was asked about playing the ACC Tournament in Brooklyn, as opposed to Greensboro; he addressed that question, and related it back to the comments Jim Boeheim made yesterday: “Well, I can’t be as eloquent as Jim. Let me say this. You have to understand what it’s all about because, when there were eight teams and most of them were on Tobacco Road, Greensboro is a great town and a great fit. But when you’ve got a corporation, it’s now not about — for us, we don’t care if it’s Greensboro, Washington, New York. We don’t go out. We’re sequestered away, watching film, getting ready.”