cncchris33
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Nov 14, 2009
- Messages
- 34,088
- Likes
- 51,131
Clearly we have some issues to be worked on. I want to bear in mind that we lost to the #1 and #2 teams in the country, and both have KenPom top-5ish defenses. We may have faced the two best big men in all of the country in a span of less than 24 hours. So in all of the emotion of losing two games, those are things to consider as we think back on these losses.
1. We have a rebounding problem. After dominating Syracuse on the glass, we got owned by Purdue (44-31, 17-10 ORebs) and Kansas (45-35). Tobe Awaka had 2 rebounds in 3 games. That’s a problem given it is his greatest strength and quality. His size is showing up as an issue against these bigger 5s, which isn’t surprising. He also hasn’t really improved his ability to defend without fouling. Aidoo rebounded better against KU, but for a guy his size, we need him to be more active on the glass.
2. Our offense just doesn’t make much of an effort to get buckets at the rim. It feels like every point we scored in these last two games was earned the hard way. Nothing seems to come easy for this team the way it does KU and Purdue, and not just Dickinson and Edey. KU had the floater game working well today. We just don’t get anything easy going at the rim. We also refuse to push the ball in transition, which only further emphasizes our inability to score in the paint. At one point vs KU, we had a 4 on 2 break and backed out for a 3-pt shot, which was one of the few that we hit. But we had other opportunities to push the ball and get to the rim or force a foul and just settled for backing out and getting into our offense, which was far too often dribble dribble pass for 20 seconds and shoot a 3.
3. Shot selection…we take a lot of bad, low percentage shots. 18-ft jumpers are bad shots, no matter who shoots them, but there is a reason no one guards Aidoo that far out. They want him taking that shot. Gainey passes up several 3s to take an 18-ft jumper. Bad shot! We just don’t seem to run a lot of set plays to get someone a look going to the basket. Our collection of guards is elite, but if they are not hitting shots from outside, we do not seem to adjust to finding better looks.
4. Second-chance points. This goes hand in hand with the rebounding problem, but we almost always only get one look on offense. Given the number of shots we take from outside, we should do a better job a grabbing long rebounds where our lack of size doesn’t necessarily come into play.
5. The Point Guard position is a problem. Zeigler is hurting his team on offense. 14 points, 8 assists, and 11 TOs in three games isn’t going to cut it. He’s still not 100%, so that is to be considered, but he can’t play as much as he did and not be more efficient. 4-22 shooting and 1-12 from 3 is damaging. Gainey was marginally better. 30 points, 5 assists, and 4 TOs on 9-32 shooting and 6-19 from 3. Mashack doesn’t provide much in the traditional sense as a PG, and his stats reflect that, so it isn’t perhaps fair to judge him on that. But he was definitely the most efficient of the three. 17 points, 3 assists, and 2 TOs on 6-14 shooting (0-1 from 3). None of them are doing a great job of being a facilitator of the offense, but I’m not real sure what the design of our offense is, right now.
These are the things that stand out as room for improvement. We were exposed by a couple good teams in some areas. Let’s just hope we can adjust and make changes that show up in March.
1. We have a rebounding problem. After dominating Syracuse on the glass, we got owned by Purdue (44-31, 17-10 ORebs) and Kansas (45-35). Tobe Awaka had 2 rebounds in 3 games. That’s a problem given it is his greatest strength and quality. His size is showing up as an issue against these bigger 5s, which isn’t surprising. He also hasn’t really improved his ability to defend without fouling. Aidoo rebounded better against KU, but for a guy his size, we need him to be more active on the glass.
2. Our offense just doesn’t make much of an effort to get buckets at the rim. It feels like every point we scored in these last two games was earned the hard way. Nothing seems to come easy for this team the way it does KU and Purdue, and not just Dickinson and Edey. KU had the floater game working well today. We just don’t get anything easy going at the rim. We also refuse to push the ball in transition, which only further emphasizes our inability to score in the paint. At one point vs KU, we had a 4 on 2 break and backed out for a 3-pt shot, which was one of the few that we hit. But we had other opportunities to push the ball and get to the rim or force a foul and just settled for backing out and getting into our offense, which was far too often dribble dribble pass for 20 seconds and shoot a 3.
3. Shot selection…we take a lot of bad, low percentage shots. 18-ft jumpers are bad shots, no matter who shoots them, but there is a reason no one guards Aidoo that far out. They want him taking that shot. Gainey passes up several 3s to take an 18-ft jumper. Bad shot! We just don’t seem to run a lot of set plays to get someone a look going to the basket. Our collection of guards is elite, but if they are not hitting shots from outside, we do not seem to adjust to finding better looks.
4. Second-chance points. This goes hand in hand with the rebounding problem, but we almost always only get one look on offense. Given the number of shots we take from outside, we should do a better job a grabbing long rebounds where our lack of size doesn’t necessarily come into play.
5. The Point Guard position is a problem. Zeigler is hurting his team on offense. 14 points, 8 assists, and 11 TOs in three games isn’t going to cut it. He’s still not 100%, so that is to be considered, but he can’t play as much as he did and not be more efficient. 4-22 shooting and 1-12 from 3 is damaging. Gainey was marginally better. 30 points, 5 assists, and 4 TOs on 9-32 shooting and 6-19 from 3. Mashack doesn’t provide much in the traditional sense as a PG, and his stats reflect that, so it isn’t perhaps fair to judge him on that. But he was definitely the most efficient of the three. 17 points, 3 assists, and 2 TOs on 6-14 shooting (0-1 from 3). None of them are doing a great job of being a facilitator of the offense, but I’m not real sure what the design of our offense is, right now.
These are the things that stand out as room for improvement. We were exposed by a couple good teams in some areas. Let’s just hope we can adjust and make changes that show up in March.
