UNC will go up against Wagner in the NCAA Tournament

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Call clickgrainger.com or just stop by. Grainger. For the ones who get it done. We're recovering from the first four game between Colorado State and Virginia last night. Let's continue soothing our soul with Joel Berry, ACC Network, Tar Heel, national champion, all of that. He joins us to talk a little hoops.

Before we get to the game last night and looking ahead to the other games, certainly North Carolina, Duke State will be in it. How much do you miss playing in this event? Yeah, I miss it so much, man. Every time I get around this time, I start getting the jitters and I start getting itchy a little bit because I get so excited and wish I had some eligibility left to be able to play in it. This is the greatest time of the year. So much anticipation, so much anxiousness because of the pressure of being one and done and just navigating your way throughout the NCAA tournament. But that's what makes it fun. And that's why I'm so excited. And I always used to play my best basketball in March because that's what I was there for to step up in those big moments.

Joel Berry is joining us here on the Adam Gold show. So walk me through it like one of your game days. How obviously even a big game like a Carolina Duke game at the end of the season where something is on the legitimately is on the line.

How does that type of a day differ from an NCAA tournament day? Yeah, I think it's more of, uh, you know, my preparation was always the same. Uh, you know, get my breakfast in the morning.

We will go to shoot around. Just try to be locked in as much as possible. Get my body going in the morning and then come back and get some rest. Uh, but really it's just marinating on my comp on the competition and, and who I have for my matchup that game. Um, you know, I just, I tried to focus in on that. And then tell you what, Adam, when you got, when you got a teammate like deal pension as your roommate, uh, just to be sure he will let you know, like, Hey, JB, um, they saying that this dude's side is gonna outplay you, you know what time it is. So, uh, I was, uh, always had the motivation right there next to me.

Um, so that will always be a typical day as my teammate, uh, letting me know that, uh, that they had the, the competition, um, being better than me. So I knew I had to step up. How long until Theo Benson is holding a microphone next to you?

Oh, I, I don't know. It could be, it could be sewn, um, you know, he's still pursuing that dream, um, which I'm so happy about. And, you know, he has his podcast going on, which he's doing an amazing job. Uh, but one day in the future, we will get together and be on the mic. And I would tell people that you make sure you listen to him because there are a lot of stories and we'll make sure we keep it PG 13, but there are a lot of stories that need to be told. Here's the thing. I think you can still, you can still work blue at PG 13. I think, uh, they allow you, we, we have to keep a G rated. You got to keep.

So, so the kids, so, so mom and dad don't have to cover everybody's, uh, ears. Joel Berry is joining us here. All right. Uh, the Tar Heels didn't play well, obviously against NC state. Uh, and, uh, so the Wolfpack water, a lot of that was state playing great and maybe North Carolina didn't necessarily, uh, uh, have it that day. It happens.

Uh, you don't want it to happen this time of the year, obviously. And certainly now in the last tournament, there is no tomorrow. Uh, what do you see that you like the most from this tutorial team? Yeah, what I like the most is the togetherness of this team in a way that they compete. Um, you know, in the past, there has always been questions about the toughness and the grit of the Carolina teams.

But I think if we, uh, you know, been examining this team throughout the year. Uh, those questions have been answered that they do have the toughness that they do have the grittiness, um, in the togetherness to add to that, um, as a team, so I love that about this team, um, in just the way that they could they compete. And the way that they get after it, uh, when you talk about X and O's, um, they have playmakers, uh, one in particular, ACC player of the year, RJ Davis. Um, they have Armando Baycott and then they have some other pieces. Um, and the key is for those other pieces to step up. But when you talk about the ingredients of this team, I think they have what it takes to be able to make a deep run in the tournament.

RJ Davis, obviously, ACC player of the year has had just an amazing season. He could, if he wanted to, come back for another year. I mean, we're saying the same thing about Jeremy Roach up the street, so they have the option if they want, thanks to our friend COVID-19. But the, I mean, I don't know if they will. I mean, I think RJ's probably going to approach this one, uh, like it's his last one and Armando, uh, you know, it's funny for, for a good chunk of the season, I was, and this is not really jokingly, I thought it was legit, uh, but I thought it was a great sign that I kept talking about him as their fourth best player.

I think he has elevated his game. Um, what, what are your thoughts on Armando? Adam Gold here with my man, coach Pete DeRuta, Capital Financial Advisory Group. Are most of your clients hands-on or they just give you their money and let it work for them? About 90% give the money and then we meet every year and go through status reports, have a financial pit stop, making sure everything's fine. It is like a puzzle, Adam, but for the next 10 of you, we'll solve your own retirement puzzle at no cost or obligation. Call and claim your comprehensive review with coach Pete and the team.

Triple eight, eight, four, three double O 13 or text Adam to 600 700. Adam Gold is a Pete's books and investment advisory services offered by Capital Financial Advisory Group, North Carolina registered investment advisor. Yeah, I think he has elevated his game from a standpoint of just be demanding the ball. I was saying it at the beginning of the year. I thought he was being a little passive and, uh, and, and not letting his teammates know like, Hey, when I'm open, when you see my North Carolina, um, and my number five on the front of my Jersey, give me the ball. Um, and you know, it could have been a little bit of him being more demanding and the coaches telling his teammates to give them more looks down low. But, um, yeah, you, you say he, he was the fourth best player. I think the way that he's been playing, he's been playing like the second best player. And, uh, he's really demanded the ball and really has, has established himself in the polls. Kind of like the old Armando that we, that we've seen in the past. So I like how they're, they're getting him the ball, establishing him more in the block, because honestly, in this game, you need that inside out pairing and he gives them that. And he has the capability of doing it. Um, uh, like the best in the country.

So I love the way that he's been playing here down the stretch. Joel Berry, ACC network, former Tar Heel legend at Joel Berry to, uh, the letter I, and then the letter I, uh, at the end of it on Twitter. Uh, I, I personally have North Carolina in the final four.

Uh, I look forward to a long tournament run. I thought, I love the fact that they're based on the defensive end. That's where this team is rooted. Uh, and the offense will come from that as long as they get enough from Harrison Ingram and Cormac Ryan and Elliot Cadeau has just been dynamite. I think all year long, you know, helping RJ Davis in the back court. Their depth is great. They're, they're guys coming off the bench playing defense first. Uh, it is a tremendous thing to watch.

Let me get to, let me get to last night real quick. We don't have to talk a ton about it. Unfortunately, all year long, we've been hearing about the ACC. Well, the ACC is not good. It's not as good as the mountain West, blah, blah, blah, whatever. I'm not going to get into those silly debates. Um, but last night because of all those debates became a referendum on ACC basketball.

I like to separate it. I just think that this Virginia team didn't belong in the NCAA tournament. I think there were two ACC teams that were better than Virginia.

They just didn't have the resumes to show it. I think both Pitt and Wake would have been better representatives of the league last night. Uh, what's your take on UVA? Yeah, this is, this is a tough one because I, uh, Tony Bennett has taken a lot of criticism for his coaching and what he's done this year.

Um, and I would switch that around and say, it's not Tony Bennett. It's not his system. It's the lack of talent that they had this year. Look at all the transfers that they had the young guys.

I believe they have six freshmen on their roster, um, pairing along with the transfers. They had a, a center who is at six, eight camp can't score the ball. Um, so when you look at the makeup of the roster, the only guy that could go get his own basket was Reese Beatman. And if you looked at Reese Beatman in the past, he wasn't a guy that was ultra aggressive on the offensive end. Um, he's very, very sound.

Uh, he could play mate, you know, he has high assist, um, low turnover ratio. Uh, and he, he, he wasn't that score. And that was the problem. They had the lack of scoring. It wasn't the defense event. It's just, they didn't have what they had in the year that they won a 2019 championship guys like Ty Jerome and cow guy, Jay Huff, Deandre Hunter.

I mean, think about their roster. Yeah, it was pros. So it wasn't, it's not Tony Bennett's, uh, system. It's not Tony Bennett himself. It's the lack of talent that they had. And I will say this at the end, I heard Steve and they go off and say that Tony Bennett should be fired. That is blasphemy. That is blasphemy because clearly he hasn't been watching the ACC and clearly hasn't been watching what Tony Bennett has done over the years and shouldn't be, uh, criticizing Tony Bennett for something that he hasn't seen over the past years.

Joe Berry is joining us here. The only, I like, I would not fire Tony Bennett. Tony did, did say after the game that he needs to rethink his system. My only criticism of Virginia basketball, even when they were good, was that they were slow. It was part of the way they operated their offense. Would you, would you want to play where it was so deliberate offensively?

You, you, you liked playing in a more high tempo offense, right? Yes, because when you think about it, Adam, like in our system with Carolina, we pushed the ball up the floor. So we were able to play ahead of the defense sometimes. And if we were able to play in primary, which is getting the ball up the court as fast as possible and getting a layup as quick as possible, you give yourself a chance to be able to play in the open court and not have to play against a set defense.

But when you talk about Virginia's team this year with the lack of talent and the offense ability that they had, that they had or didn't have rather, they put so much pressure on their half court offense and they couldn't get it done. So it would be wise for Tony Bennett to look at, Hey, do we want to play with more pace going into the half court? If we have a chance to be able to play ahead of the defense, let's do that. If not, then let's slow it down and do the move a blocker offense.

That will be my suggestion. All right, let's get to the other two local teams anyway, before we have to say goodbye to Joel Berry. Let's start with the Wolfpack who won five games in five days. I actually think that this is sort of the Wolfpack team that we maybe should have seen for most of the year where a lot of other guys not named DJ Horn and DJ Burns were contributing offensively. I think their defense has been fairly good when they bother to play it.

They didn't play it in the first game against Louisville. They still won it, didn't need it, I guess. But I love Mo Diarra and the other guys around them, I think can make them dangerous, no?

I totally agree with you, Adam. I think they can. I think the biggest adjustment that they made at the end of the season was moving Michael O'Connell into the starting lineup and moving DJ Horn.

Kind of, sort of like how Elliot Cadeau and RJ Davis work. Now you have DJ Horn being able to focus on what he does best and what he did in the ACC tournament and that scored the ball. And now Michael O'Connell can be that guy that distributes and kind of settles things when NC State needs things to be settled down and just needs to get a good shot. So I thought that was a great move. And then Mo Diarra, I can't, I can't, you know, he just played so well through the ACC tournament and really was that exact, kind of that Swiss Army nice to them.

And then, you know, I don't even have to go into it, Adam. DJ Burns is DJ Burns and no one can stop him. Good luck if you try to play him one-on-one because whether you want to or not and try to stop it, he's getting to that left hand.

So good luck. Yeah, and he posts up. I've never seen anybody post up at the three-point line before.

It is his... And that's what, he will catch it in that corner and will literally be towing the sideline and back you all the way down into the middle of the basket. I've never seen anything like it. Incredible.

All right. Yeah, you have anything good to say about the Duke Blue Devils who lost their last two and I was surprised. I mentioned Jeremy Roach.

I was surprised that I thought he played his two. I mean, I hate to say worst games, but they kind of were back-to-back against Carolina at Cameron and then against State in the ACC, in the ACC tournament. What are your thoughts on the Blue Devils heading into this tournament? Yeah, I think John Shire has his guys ready to go.

He'll light a fire up under them and get them to realize like this. Well, luckily, we have another chance to be able to play because there are a lot of teams who ended their season in the tournament, in the conference tournament. So they have another chance. Jeremy Roach and Tyrese Proctor are very key to them and how far they make it in this tournament. And the reason why I say that is because in that NC State game in the ACC tournament, they were very passive to the point it looked like they didn't know who wanted to be the guy to make big-time shots at the end of that game. And so, when I look at the makeup of this roster, those two guys will need to be ultra-aggressive if they want to make a deep run because Kyle Filipowski and Mark Mitchell stepped up.

But those two guys look very passive and they can't have them being passive, especially with not having the depth in the guard position that you can rely on to go and make plays. Joel Berry, do you have a bracket? I do have a bracket. I do have it sealed out, ready to go. Have you submitted it yet? Can you tell us who your final four is?

Yes, I can. First off, do you have yours submitted? I don't have mine submitted yet, but I'm doing it a different way.

I'm choosing the best movie that was filmed on that campus or in that city and I'm advancing through movies, which by the way, makes Wagner a very difficult out since it's going to be The Godfather vs. Patch Adams in the first round. Yeah, it's a tough one. It'll be a huge upset, I think, if Carolina wins. Yeah, okay. I don't want to hear that one. I don't want to hear that.

I hope your theory is wrong. I have my final four as UConn, UNC, Houston, and Tennessee. And I have Carolina winning it all. I love it.

I love it. Against Houston in the national championship. Houston is trying to set the game back as well, but they have grown men on that team. They are... Yes.

My gosh, do they have grown men. Joel Berry, always cool to catch up with you, my friend. I appreciate your time.

ACC Network, UNCA national champion at JoelBerry2 on Twitter. Thank you, man. Yes, sir. Thanks for having me, Adam. You got it. Joel Berry. Awesome. Go get it done.