THBTHD #028
👊 Hey there. Thanks for joining us. Lots to get to. But first…
UNC nabs recruit: Carolina just landed its first 2026 player — a five-star, top 25 small forward with one of the best names in the sport: Maximo Adams. Just think of the NIL opportunities.
MVP watch: Drake Maye has a real chance of nabbing the award this year, as his torrid run continues. Through 11 games, he was the first NFL QB in history to tally at least 2,500 passing yards, 250 rushing yards, 20 passing TDs, a 70% completion rate and an .800 win percentage.
Drake Powell is beginning to silence doubters with solid play for the Nets.
Let’s go…
1. The lead off: The Heels continue to figure it out
Andy: I’m not ready to call it a pattern yet but we looked a little sloppy in the first half against NC Central. Caleb Wilson once again seemed to be the only guy playing with a purpose.
The good news is that the second half was other-worldly good. Even without Seth, you can see the potential of this team when they put everything together.
Reed: Two stats jump out at you. The first is the 0 turnovers in the second half after 10 (!) in the first. Ever since those first exhibition games, this team has been plagued by turnovers, and it’s worrying. But apparently Hubert got on them at halftime and they were able to clean it up. Good sign.
Then there was the 14 blocks — the most since 2013. That rim protection is an element that’s been sorely missed in the last few years. It’s so welcome, and you can mostly thank Caleb Wilson and Henri Veesaar for that.
Andy: Is it possible that we already take Henri Veesaar for granted? He had 12 points, 11 rebounds and 5 of those blocks. He wasn’t perfect but we can’t let it go unnoticed that this was his second career double-double. Not just while he’s been a Tar Heel. His entire college career.
You never know if a transfer is going to be able to produce at an increased level with increased minutes. Henri has done that and more so far.
Reed: He’s been really, really good. And pairing him with Wilson gives us so much on both the offensive and defensive end. Those guys work so well together, I honestly had a moment during this game when I got sad when I realized Wilson will be gone in just five months.
Andy: We have one more tune-up game against Navy on Tuesday before things start to get interesting. And don’t look now but that Georgetown game on Dec. 7 looks like it might be tougher than we previously thought.
2. Ask Spenser
Former UNC guard Spenser Dalton answers your questions. Send them to thbthd@gmail.com
Q: Cade Tyson has played three games for Minnesota and has tallied 30, 21 and 17 points. WTF? What was UNC doing wrong with him?
A: Cade never seemed to find any rhythm in his game last year. One of Coach Davis’s strongest beliefs is that playing time is earned in practice, in addition to when your number is called, that’s when you get your shot.
Cade unfortunately didn’t do enough in either of those situations last year and likely lost his confidence. I felt like he never looked comfortable.
As for his strong performances this year, we can’t ignore that he would have worked very hard in the offseason. And apparently the change of scenery, coaching staff and usage rate has given him back the confidence in his shooting stroke.
3. The season sputtered on at Wake
Reed: I know we’d rather not think of the Wake game as indicative of Carolina football — but let’s be honest, this was absolutely Carolina football. All the hallmarks of the season, for better or worse, were there.
Lackluster offense, futility on third down, ill-timed penalties, a decent defensive effort that still somehow ended up giving away too much.
Andy: That Wake game was a slog and, you’re right, exactly like the whole season. I had almost convinced myself that I could enjoy watching this team battle it out in low-scoring defense-first games.
Then the basketball season started, and I was quickly reminded that your teams are supposed to be fun to watch.
Reed: All this was happening against the backdrop of yet another week of off-field drama. All anyone seemed to be talking about was whether Belichick was going to the Giants.
I wasn’t exactly on the edge of my seat. I mean, he may have wanted that job, but I seriously doubt the Giants would have him. “Let’s rebuild around someone who’s 73, can’t coach anymore and has a girlfriend would be distracting tabloid fodder every single day.”
Despite USA Today writing one of the most savage Belichick takedowns of the year and claiming he should go to the Giants, Bill released a statement saying he’s not going anywhere. So…yay?
Andy: Exactly. What could the Giants have possibly seen so far this year that would make them want Chapel Bill? Certainly not offensive prowess. Against Wake, we moved the ball enough to get into field goal range six different times and came away with 12 points. That’s just putrid.
I continue to be baffled that we haven’t at least seen them give another QB a shot. Think about how many guys have played at RB, WR, D-Line, and O-line. And yet we can’t bother to give Max or Bryce or Au’Tori a series or two just to see what happens?
4. This week’s reason why Duke sucks
It’s been one of the hallmarks of Duke basketball — at least since the Coach K era.
The refs gift the Blue Devils an absolutely massive advantage at the foul line, and this year is shaping up to be a doozy on that front.
Duke, early in the season, is averaging 30.7 foul shots per game — which even excludes two exhibition contests where the team shot a combined 63 attempts at the line.
And Cam Boozer is leading the way. He’s already gaining the rep as the Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of college basketball. Breathe on this dude wrong, and you’re gonna draw a whistle. He’s shooting 7.7 free throw attempts a game, just 1 less than SGA took last season when his “foul merchant” rep became a national punchline.
We really thought once Coach K slinked off into retirement, this crap would stop. He would relentlessly bully the zebras into calling fouls, but what’s the excuse for now? Scheyer is not exactly intimidating. The only thing he looks like he could bully you into is accepting the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Can we please do some sort of Men In Black blinky eye zapper thing on the ACC officials so that they can call fouls at a normal clip?
⫚ Up next: It’s time. Carolina takes on Duke — a team coming off an L at the hands of UVA. The Blue Devils are favored by a touchdown, or one point per $571,000 they’re paying their QB. Our picks:
Andy (3-3): Duke has a decent chance at playing in the ACC Championship game. In football. As much as it pains me to say it, I don’t see UNC scoring enough points to keep up. Duke wins.
Reed (4-2): Yep. Even at home I can’t see us having enough offensive momentum to cover.
One reminder, if you’ve got questions or comments, send them our way at thbthd@gmail.com.
Go Heels!