Anthony Bennett vs James Michael McAdoo

Thoughts on UNC-UNLV

- The big story was obviously McAdoo vs Bennett, two potential lottery picks. Bennett had more rebounds and points than McAdoo, but McAdoo and North Carolina got the win. Bennett finished with 15 points (6-16) and 13 rebounds while McAdoo had 13 points (5-13) and 9 board.

- Neither player scored efficiently and the same thing can be blamed for each player - neither has a post game. For McAdoo it is because he struggles with physical defense, settles for fadeaways even with established position, and rushes a lot of shots. But it all comes down to his lack of strength. He can't maintain his post position which gets him off balanced - resulting in quick shots and turnovers.

For Bennett, it is more about preference. He prefers to be a jump shooter. Nobody is pushing Bennett around when he sets his mind to being tough. But he doesn't fight inside for post position. He is more than happy to give up inside and play outside when someone decides to get physical. Because of this though, Bennett's post game is non-existent. He's been floating outside since his high school days and his post game remains underdeveloped. He lacks any moves with his back to the basket. He lacks a way to get easy baskets using his size.

- Defensively, I was impressed with James Michael McAdoo. He took on the challenge of guarding Bennett and slowed him down - especially early. Bennett struggled with UNC's length inside. On the outside, McAdoo did a great job defending set screen plays that were designed to get Bennett good looks. McAdoo moves his feet very well and is an excellent help defender in space. 

Bennett on the other hand, was matched up with the offensively challenged Desmond Hubert whenever possible. Its a good thing too because McAdoo could have been more of a factor in pick and rolls with Bennett on him. Instead, McAdoo saw a lot of Quintrell Thomas - a perfect kryptonite. Thomas is an ultra-physical undersized power forward. He kept McAdoo from getting comfortable much of the night. Most of McAdoo's field goals ended up coming after Bennett or Mike Moser got switched on him. Moser struggled defensively as well and fouled out in 12 minutes because of it.

- McAdoo has obviously not adapted well to being "the guy" on UNC. When he wasn't the focus of the offense last year, he played his role very well. This year, Brice Johnson has taken over that role and has done an excellent job. He is very immature physical, but plays the game without fear inside. His offensive game is much like McAdoo's - he does his best work using his athleticism for putbacks or quick moves and has a nice short turnaround jumper in the post. He has been very efficient as defenses have keyed in on McAdoo. If the tables were turned, you can bet McAdoo's numbers would look a lot better. Its a much tougher game when you are expected to be a post threat.

- Bennett did get his highlight plays in. He had two thunderous dunks and had another full court drive that resulted in him crossing up McAdoo to get to the rim. There is no doubt that he can do things few other guys his size can and Dave Rice allows him to take advantage of it by allowing him to bring the ball up the court of rebounds. UNLV runs a perfect offense for him. Moser took advantage of the same freedoms last year. Getting down to it though, Bennett can't live off transition opportunities and jumpshots in the NBA with his atrocious defense. His defense will never be good, but his post game has room to develop. If not, he'll just be another Brandon Bass. 

- In comparing the two lottery prospects, I think James Michael McAdoo has the most to work with. He is taller, is a lot better defender, moves his feet very well, is quicker and more explosive at the rim, and understands the game of basketball better. Bennett is more of the physical specimen which gives him the edge in college. Bennett is also the better jump shooter and more dynamic with the ball. But he is a terrible defender and has little room to grow in that area. He also lacks the same kind of feel McAdoo has - another thing that is tough to learn. McAdoo on the otherhand is being held back mainly by his lack of strength. That is something that can be fixed. Its not like McAdoo has the frame of John Henson or Brice Johnson. The other big advantage Bennett has on McAdoo is the shooting. Again, another thing that can be vastly improved upon. No, McAdoo won't ever be a better shooter than Bennett, but he can turn into a reliable one. 

Things change and it is early, but Bennett does have a higher floor than McAdoo. McAdoo could be a flat out bust. Bennett at least has a floor of a Brandon Bass type. But his ceiling seems overrated. McAdoo's may be too, but I want to give him the rest of ACC play to see how he adjusts. Its too soon to get down on McAdoo just as it was too soon to anoint him a top 5 pick last season.

McAdoo, Bullock combined for 35 Points in Win

The new look Tar Heels are two games into their season, winning their second game today over Florida Atlantic 80-56. There never was any question about this game as North Carolina outran them and capitalized on Florida Atlantic's poor shot selection.

Marcus Paige bounced back from a zero assists debut to dish out 6 dimes and did a nice job of looking down the court and pushing the ball ahead in transition - much like the old #5 did last year. The slender lefty has more flare, length, and quickness to his game than Marshall did and could join him in the NBA when he decides its time to leave. Right now, Paige is only listed at 159 pounds and that is holding part of his game back. He hasn't been able to handle contact well in the halfcourt so far, and went 1-8 from the floor today. His slightly high dribble combined with his frame is enough to make it tough for Paige to get drive through traffic and finish at the rim. He has a higher ceiling than Kendall Marshall but will need to put on weight in order to handle to ACC and eventually, the NBA.

Paige had two outlets at all times on the breaks in Reggie Bullock and Dexter Strickland. Both players love getting out and finishing in transition and help make UNC arguably the best transition team in the nation. Bullock had a very efficient 16 points, hardly dribbling the ball, scoring all his points spotting up from three or getting out in transition. He's proven to be a great role player but after studying Bullock over the summer, he never has shown the ability to create much offense. That is why I am concerned about UNC's halfcourt offense this year more than ever as McAdoo is the only sure option there. Strickland had a stretch in the 2nd half that made it appear he wanted to audition for the job, but really all he did was take 4 straight ill-advised shots. Strickland is much like Bullock, playing great defense and leaking out on transition. He isn't as much of a shooter and can handle the ball more, but he is certainly not a #2 scoring threat. He was definitely Carolina's best defender today and that should be the same for most of this season.

Who could step up for North Carolina? Well after Desmond Hubert got the start, Joel James took over and ended up logging more minutes. He had 11 points and 8 rebounds in 18 minutes. James got in shape over the summer and is an absolute beast inside. He is still slow making moves, but his motor, size, and touch are a combination that could make him an All-ACC performer as soon as next year. He's not the answer as a #2 scorer though this year.

Tokoto and Johnson are both nice freshman as well. Both are great athletes and Johnson was really aggressive today. Neither are to be counted on this season, though.

PJ Hairston is the guy North Carolina will need. He was a chucker last season while not being able to make a shot, but things could be different this year. His 26% 3-pt shooting shouldn't be repeated as his jumper looks great. He took 8 shots in 17 minutes today while only making 2 so he has the shooting down. He can attack the hoop and get off both 3-pt and mid-range shots off the dribble. He needs to be more selective but Hairston has the best chance of being the guy to step up.

Quick thoughts on McAdoo:

McAdoo has started off the year well, measuring up to expectations. The best part of his game is the way he moves his feet - both offensively and defensively. He always finds himself in position to take charges on the defensive end. Offensively, he does a wonderful job sliding around the paint trying to get open. He gets an unusual amount of short open jumpers because of this. He is also able to post up and keep the defender on his back not because of his strength, but because of his active feet. He moves his feet in order to keep the defender on his back and also to set up angles at the hoop. McAdoo may be settling for too many jumpers early on and I'd like to see more post touches, but so far he looks very much like a lottery pick. He's handling the role of #1 option on offense well.

Scouting Report: Reggie Bullock

Height: 6'5.5''

Wingspan: 6'8.5''

Weight: 190lbs

Bday: 3/16/91

Team: North Carolina

Class of 2014

Being the fifth starter of a North Carolina lineup (after Strickland went down) that saw the other 4 members all get drafted in the first round, Bullock was a lot of the times the forgotten man, but he didn't seem to mind. He proved to be a good role player, complimenting star Harrison Barnes on the wing by providing defense and outside shooting. He beat out incoming McDonald's All-American PJ Hairston for the minutes not because he was a better scorer - he is not - but because of everything else he does.

Bullock's offense last year was very simple. 5 of his 7.6 shot attempts per game were 3-pt shots. It is safe to say that at least one other shot attempt a game came in transition thanks to Kendall Marshall and the Tar Heels uptempo offense. So that leaves Bullock with maybe one shot he created per game. And thats generous because Marshall could have created some of those looks too. Plus he averaged nearly 2 offensive rebounds per game so there was a chance for putbacks.

Oh look, its Reggie Bullock shooting a 3

This doesn't mean Bullock was completely worthless on offense. Not at all. Bullock isn't a good creator or ball handler, but he didn't have to be on this team so he focused on the little things. He would set screens, crash the boards, occupy the foul line area, and keep the floor spread with the threat of his jumper. Bullock struggles to string together multiple dribbles in line to the rim, but he had a tendency to take two dribbles and stop. This doesn't sound good, but he found a surprising amount of cutters doing this, showing off a nice passing ability. It seemed every time he did this he would set up a teammate with a nice feed. Now his assist numbers weren't impressive (only 2 per 40 minutes pace adjusted), but that isn't because he isn't a smart and good passer. Thats due to the fact that he struggles to create and he also rarely passes while dribbling. He always has to gather himself, partly because he can dribble with his head down. When he is looking up though, he does a great job of seeing the floor.

Bullock will never be a great dribbler, its too much to ask at this point, but he can become good enough to take advantage of his court vision and basketball IQ. Also, he showed a solid mid-range game and floater in high school and I would expect him to start showing these skills more next year. Last year he showed a very small sample of these moves, and also a pull up jumper that looked as efficient as his spot up jumper. He can go a few dribbles to his right and pull up without a problem, but don't expect him to go into isolation mode to create room for a shot.

This stuff isn't necessarily a death sentence in the NBA. Not everyone needs to be a shot creator. Bullock   does create many second chance opportunities just by rebounding the ball and hustling for loose balls. He has already shown he knows how to be a secondary type player and he showed the willingness to do it. Bullock has good intangibles and solid character. He's a guy who likes to laugh and joke around, although he may innocently slip up from time to time like when he said Coach K looks like a rat.

Reggie fit in quite well with his teammates and enjoyed every minute of it

His shooting is something Bullock will have to continue to show consistency with. His freshman year, he shot under 30% from 3 and 13-23 from the line. However, nobody was surprised when Bullock shot 38% from 3 last year with more attempts, and upped his free throw shooting to 72%. Bullock is more of the 38% shooter for sure and he has deep range and nice form on his shot as well. His free throws are bad, but he hardly gets to the line to begin with. That could be why he has never been a good foul shooter as last year he went to the line 0.8 times per game! That was by far the worst mark among rotational wings in college basketball (20+ minutes a game). Even Deividas Dulkys more than doubled that rate.

His lack of ball handling skills really pigeon hole him into the small forward spot - he is not a shooting guard by any stretch of the imagination. On defense though, Bullock has been asked to guard virtually every position except center and has done so successfully. He has a nice frame and a 6'8.5'' wingspan, but his tenacity and effort is what really sets him apart. He pressures the ball and takes away 3-pt chances and has good, but not elite lateral quickness. Bullock isn't going to be a lockdown defender, but he is a very good defender in college basketball and that should carry over to the next level. He also rebounds the ball well and plays good help defense.

Overall, Bullock is what he is. I think a lot of people are expecting that Bullock will take a big leap this year and become more of a scorer. His points are obviously going to go up, but it will be PJ Hairston who becomes the go-to scorer on the wing - not Bullock. Hairston is a lot more of a natural shot creator while Bullock can help out, while still concentrating on doing the little things. If you have high expectations for Bullock this year, you may end up disappointed, resulting in you downing him as a prospect. But if you accept what he is and focus on what he does well, you will see why he can be a nice role player in the NBA. Bullock doesn't have star potential and may not even be a sure fire first rounder, but as a basketball player, he is someone that you wouldn't mind having in your rotation.