Five Takeaways: Western Carolina 98, UNCW 76
Seahawks sunk by second-half surge
For about 25 minutes, the vision was clear.
Shorthanded and overmatched simply wasn’t going to matter for a UNCW team that had Jaylen Sims matching every punch Western Carolina threw, while the Seahawks were causing just enough defensive havoc to hang around.
After a flurry early in the second half, the Seahawks had pulled to within 55-52 on a beautiful piece of team basketball that helped set Imajae Dodd up for a dunk with 13:27 to go.
“I thought the game, for about 20 to 25 minutes was going the way that we wanted to,” UNCW coach Takayo Siddle said.
After three minutes of defensive lapses, bad decisions and poor rebounding, the Catamounts led 69-52 and never looked back en route to a 98-76 victory on Wednesday afternoon at Kimmel Arena in Asheville.
“I just didn’t think that middle part of the second half, I don’t think we handled them making their run,” Siddle said. “I don’t think we handled it the right way.”
Five takeaways from UNCW’s season-opener
Absent Point Guards Loom Large
In the first game under a new coach who runs an uptempo system that requires depth, UNCW was without starting point guard Shykeim Phillip and backup point guard Ja’Juan Carr, while Ty Gadsden battled through foul trouble all night before eventually picking up his fifth.
The way the Seahawks want to play on both ends of the floor is altered drastically without Phillips and Carr, and because of their absence, changes exactly how Gadsden and Mike Okauru — both better working offensively off the ball — operate.
The duo combined for four turnovers and four assists as they slid into the roles of primary playmakers.
In all, UNCW ended up with just five assists — evidence of how hard it was for the Seahawks to effectively move the ball and create offense. To contrast, UNCW had six assists in last season’s 47-46 loss to Cleveland State.
Successful Sims
Joe Browning/UNCWSports.com
Sims showed flashes of becoming a big-time scoring wing last season, but was occasionally too eager to take jumpers rather than attack the paint, attempting 113 2-point field goals vs. 157 3-point field goals.
It appears that won’t be a concern this season as Sims attacked early and often on Wednesday, drawing 11 fouls as he hit 13 of 18 free throw attempts to go with an efficient night from the field, hitting 5 of 12 overall and 4 of 6 from 3-point range on his way to a career-high 27 points.
“Jaylen played hard,” Siddle said. “He played the way I want him to play; I want him to be aggressive.”
Speaking of the Paint…
WCU made a living there, outscoring UNCW 50-26 on the night.
Coming up on the short end there isn’t and won’t be unexpected for the Seahawks this season, but the degree of success the Catamounts had with a relatively small lineup is concerning.
The 6-9 Xavier Cork went to work around the basket, making 10 of 13 attempts on his way to 22 points, while guard Mason Faulkner (21 points) had plenty of success getting into the lane.
The shot chart isn’t pretty for the UNCW defense:
The return of transfer forward Ian Steere, an athletic rim protector, would certainly help solve the defensive issues. In the meanwhile, UNCW has the 6-7, 200-pound John Bowen and the 6-6, 255-pound Imajae Dodd available.
Dodd’s role on Wednesday was especially puzzling, as the sophomore big man managed just two points and an assist in 11 minutes of action and didn’t manage to grab a rebound.
Obviously, paint touches and points also fall on how guards are defending, but it certainly helps to have a big man to erase some of those mistakes in the back.
UNCW didn’t get much help in that regard.
Boggs the Big?
Seems like an odd thing to say after a 22-point loss, but Jake Boggs was spectacular in a 17-point, 8-rebound performance, hitting 3 of 5 3-point attempts.
The sophomore stretch-four was significantly more involved on the boards than in his freshman season and didn’t shy away from mixing it up around the basket.
Given opportunities to spot up from beyond the arc or attack the basket, Boggs made good decisions and looked more comfortable handling the ball and creating his own looks.
With the other big men struggling to produce as scorers or rebounders, might playing Boggs with four guards be the answer in finding the right balance without sacrificing offense?
Run it Back
There’s no way to sugarcoat a defensive performance that allowed an opponent to shoot 56 percent from the field and dominate the paint.
But, (there’s always a but) the effort was generally there and that’s not what it will look like for long. The downside of pressing is that sometimes, when you’re physically overmatched, an opponent can take advantage and get a ton of easy looks. (SEE: Duke, 2016.)
I’d rather see a team building a defensive identity and fine-tuning a system that makes opponents uncomfortable for 94 feet than sitting back and allowing them to run anything they want from 35 feet out.
The good thing for the Seahawks is that they’ll have an opportunity to get back to work at 3:30 p.m. on Friday against another opponent that wants to run in UNC Asheville.
UNCW’s adjustments will tell us more than anything we learned on Wednesday.