What to Watch For: UNCW vs. Guilford
Home-opener a chance for Seahawks to find their offensive rhythm
UNCW (0-1) vs. Guilford (0-1)
7 p.m. | Trask Coliseum | FloSports | Listen | StatBroadcast
The bitter taste of losing shouldn’t last long, as a Division III opponent awaits the Seahawks for Friday night’s home-opener in Wilmington.
The result won’t be much of a question — or at least, it shouldn’t be — as the Quakers visit Trask.
Instead, it’ll be an opportunity for UNCW to focus inward and work on the things it’ll need to do to be successful throughout the rest of the nonconference schedule and beyond.
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Fortunately for the Seahawks, they’ll be able to get a little more out of this game than a typical D-I vs. D-III matchup, as Guilford has long been a well-respected program under Coach Tom Palombo.
Here’s what to watch for:
About the Quakers
Guilford’s 2020-21 season was cancelled due to COVID-19, but the Quakers are 97-44 over the past five seasons they’ve played. This is a solid, well-coached program that understands winning games at the D-III level. Palombo, beginning his 18th season, is 420-210 overall.
This season, they’re 0-2 after falling at N.C. Wesleyan on Tuesday and at Methodist on Thursday night. Liam Ward, a 6-6, 200-pound forward, scored 23 points vs. Methodist, hitting 3 of 6 from beyond the arc.
Of the 18 players on Guilford’s roster, 16 are from North Carolina, so there should be plenty of familiarity between the teams.
Time for Thomas
Despite Shykeim Phillips — who was fantastic on Tuesday — picking up two fouls late in the first half, Jamarii Thomas didn’t end up playing all of backup point guard minutes.
Thomas saw one two-minute burst early in the half, and another from the 6:21 mark until 4:30 remained, but from there, Mike Okauru primarily played the point as ISU mixed zone and fullcourt pressure.
Despite Phillips sitting for a little over four minutes in the second half, Thomas didn’t get in the game.
It’s unclear whether Thomas suffered some sort of injury or made a few mistakes that ultimately ended his night. There were no glaring errors, but the Redbirds certainly made a point of going after him with screens — not surprising for a true freshman in his first career game.
Of course, my idea of a “glaring error” might be different from that of the coaching staff, given how many tiny details they’re evaluating.
Regardless of why Thomas didn’t play more than four minutes, this game is a great opportunity. If the Seahawks take care of business and build a big lead early on, Siddle will be able to allow Thomas — and the other guys coming off the bench — plenty of time to gets some run and play through mistakes.
Given the way that UNCW will play, fouls and fatigue will factor into games at various points this season. It’s incredibly important that Thomas establish himself as the backup point guard, and thus, leaving Okauru on the wing where he can best utilize his versatility.
Find the Rhythm
None of the offensive numbers for either team were pretty on Tuesday night, but one stat best illustrates what kind of night it was: 8 of 23.
Indeed, the Seahawks were 8 of 23 on layups.
ISU had some size in the paint and blocked 11 shots, but at other times, UNCW had a difficult time with choosing when and where to pull up for a shot versus trying to draw contact around the basket.
In all, the Seahawks had assists to set up 7 of 22 made field goals — a long way from 22 assists on 28 makes in the exhibition win over Francis Marion.
What exactly does that mean?
UNCW needs to achieve better spacing on Friday night, and there are a few ways to accomplish that.
First off, it’s more passing, better movement and less dribblign.
Second, it’s just better luck, in some cases, as the Seahawks missed their fair share of good, open shots. Alec Oglesby, a knockdown shooter, missed all three of his attempts beyond the arc, while the trio of Okauru, Jaylen Sims and Jaylen Fornes were 6 of 28 from the field. Even against good defense, there’s some level of bad luck at play.
It’ll certainly be interesting to watch what adjustments Siddle makes, and just how well his team can execute to find the rhythm that just never came on Tuesday.
40 Minutes of Defense
The Seahawks were very good defensively on Tuesday night — especially over the first 15 or so minutes, when the Redbirds were completely out of sorts, missing 17 of their first 20 shots while committing seven turnovers up until the 4:27 mark. They wanted no part of the pace that UNCW had forced onto them.
That all came to a halt after Phillips got his second foul late in the first half — joining Amari Kelly and James Baker Jr. on the bench with two, as the Redbirds got into the bonus.
It’s no coincidence that after UNCW fell victim to an inconsistent whistle that cost them two starters for long periods, ISU only committed four turnovers over the next 24:26, while shooting 16 of 36 from the field.
On a night that that the halfcourt offense had a hard time getting anything going, just a few more turnovers that became easy baskets could have changed the result for the Seahawks.
In the end, the Redbirds ended up with 11 turnovers that resulted in 10 points for UNCW, part of a total of 13 fast-break points.
The Seahawks will be closer to their potential when all of those numbers go up, and it’s a fair bet they’ll increase significantly on Friday night.
The Wonderful Mr. White
It doesn’t take fancy metrics to see the impact that Trazarien White makes with his motor, but here’s one anyway!
According to Pivot Analysis, no player had a bigger impact on the UNCW offense than White, whose 115.19 offensive rating was best on the roster. Using Pivot’s measure, the Seahawks would score about 33 more points per 100 possessions with him in the game, versus having him on the bench.
If you had to name his particular role? Basketball player.
Kid plays his tail off every second he’s on the court, and because of that, he finds the ball in his hands around the bucket, as he did several times with 10 points, 7 rebounds in 19 minutes on Tuesday.
As White improves as a defender, his role will continue to expand. He certainly has the tools, as a big, strong kid with a ton of energy.
It’s already obvious that he has all of the tools to become a great player during his time in Wilmington, and it’ll be fun to watch as he pieces it together to become a complete player.