Marcus Paige: Not At Fault for Lack of ‘Toughness’
Marcus Paige is not the man responsible for ‘toughness issues’ at North Carolina. Despite a report by the Charlotte Observer that covered questions asked to Paige in the post game, Paige is not the arbiter of toughness. His presence as team leader might force him to take responsibility, but Paige is not part of a cycle of big men who seem to be unable to hold box outs at times.
No, a toughness problem has to come from the front court.
Looking at the Iowa Box Score, several things become apparent:
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Brice Johnson fouls too much
Johnson, considered an important paint piece, played all of 12 minutes in the game. He collected four rebounds, four points, and four fouls. Johnson may be bulkier, but he still the guy teams believe they can push around. Fouls prevent players from playing harder because they are waiting for that next foul.
Isaiah Hicks, Joel James, and Jackson Simmons combined for not many stats
Hicks, James, and Simmons played a combined 27 minutes. Kennedy Meeks played 29. The bench big trio managed three rebounds and two points. Meeks went 18 points and 12 rebounds. Now I understand that James and Simmons are not supposed to score, but they are supposed to grab rebounds.
A Lack of Toughness does not explain Tokoto and Meeks
Meeks and guard JP Tokoto were busy on the boards. Meeks is developing into a scoring force down low, and Tokoto sticks his nose into all kinds of situations when it calls for it. He eight rebounds against Iowa.
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Marcus Paige is not shooting well, which is not a toughness issue.
Teams are focused on Paige this year. Last year they spent the early part of season figuring out James Michael McAdoo and that allowed Paige to emerge. This year, teams are pretty sure that beating Marcus Paige will lead to beating North Carolina.
Iowa has two players who played with Paige in AAU. No team should have a better idea how he plays than they would. He is not getting the same kind of looks. So he shot 4-16 and 3-12. If he shoots 4-12 from three then the final score is 60-58. If he shoots 2-4 on non three point shots, then the game is a 60-60 tie. More troubling is that zero assist number.