Miami

[skyblade]

Anyone shocked MAW missed the 1-1? There was no chance he was making that. I wouldn't even have had him in the game he was so bad. Then JD looks to the refs at the end of the game thinking it was over when there was still time left. Fortunately Miami sucks. No idea what Wes is doing.

I preferred Ado on the line over MAW. Figured Ado might at least make one.

 

[waterhead]

MAW has iced many games for us. Let’s stop with hot takes. We take horrible shots and that has to stop. Not gonna throw individual players under the bus. Wes needs an offense and a tighter leash. Penny has learned street ball doesn’t work. Gotta get some discipline out there.

 

[TheLongHaul]

I preferred Ado on the line over MAW. Figured Ado might at least make one.

Me too, though neither are ideal. I don't know who else you go to in that situation though. On the inbounds they didn't even run a play to get it into DDJ's hands, they just flashed him to the backcoourt as if Miami wasn't going to try to deny it. I almost feel that Wes didn't realize the clock situation and thought Miami would just allow it in the backcourt. Not sure what other explanation there could be for that.

MAW has iced many games for us. Let’s stop with hot takes. We take horrible shots and that has to stop. Not gonna throw individual players under the bus. Wes needs an offense and a tighter leash. Penny has learned street ball doesn’t work. Gotta get some discipline out there.

The hot take was suggesting that there were adjustments made at halftime...MAW has been clutch several times in the past, but there was no way he was making those. You could even see it on his face as he stepped to the line. Teams have figured him out (mainly that he can only go to his left and just throws up wild shots when contested) and his defense is bad. Probably a good guy and he'll have some good games in the future, but they need to find someone better to take 75% of his minutes.

 

[waterhead]

Terry Nelson just said it on the radio (in reference to Ado). "If you can't block shots and you can't rebound, then you can't be in the game, put another guard in."

Edit: It seems like Ado heard him, has had 4 offensive rebounds and 4 point since I typed that.

Ended with 14 points, 11 boards, 2 steals, 2 blocks

That’s a game right there. Probably played the best game

 

[TheLongHaul]

Ended with 14 points, 11 boards, 2 steals, 2 blocks

That’s a game right there. Probably played the best game

His points were easy baskets/dunks off of good passes by DDJ. He is at least tall, I'll give him that. And is a good offensive rebounder but a poor defensive rebounder due to how slow he is.

 

[waterhead]

His points were easy baskets/dunks off of good passes by DDJ. He is at least tall, I'll give him that. And is a good offensive rebounder but a poor defensive rebounder due to how slow he is.

I thought easy buckets were better than dumb 3 balls

 

[TheLongHaul]

I thought easy buckets were better than dumb 3 balls

Damn right they are! That just just proves my point. If an offensively challenged player like Ado can score 14 points on 6-7 shooting why on earth are they shooting 33 three pointers when you are ranked 308th in 3 point fg %?

So far a lot is left to be desired on the coaching side. I know Wes has been talking a good game but being objective he isn't looking too great from a in-game coaching perspective. Looked good against Illinois, looked bad too often elsewhere. Still way, way too early and I'm still a believer but it's time to put some sort of offense and instill some discipline in the players.

 

[Queens_NYC]

Horrible commentators, very inconsistent referees, awful free throw shooting, abysmal halfcourt offense for 90% of the game and we still win.

Thought we were in real trouble once we went down 8 in the 2nd half but Ado, Davenport and DeJulius all responded well to get us back in the game.

Smart move to set up a game in a (semi) hostile atmosphere prior to playing at Eggs.

 

[sedziobs]

Ado was a bright spot. He had 7 offensive rebounds, 2 blocks, 2 steals, and zero fouls or turnovers. And MAW was fine when he stuck to a floor manager role: 5 assists and zero fouls or turnovers. That's 55 minutes combined of foul and turnover free basketball between them.

The problem with this team remains shot selection. Attempting 33 threes against a severely undersized opponent is not a good gameplan. Ado, Lakhin, and Koval were an excellent 8 of 11 at the rim. We should have been pounding the paint getting more looks through them or Ody. Instead our guards had more rim attempts and went a dismal 2 for 12. Thankfully the midrange wasn't overdone in this one, and we shot a solid 5 for 9.

I'm still of the opinion that MAW should have a single digit usage rate. Only DDJ had a higher usage tonight among players with 20+ minutes. MAW finished 1 for 12 from the field. Mason is struggling with his shot, but I think he's a decent creator and should be playing around 15 minutes to bring MAW down near 20.

 

[Queens_NYC]

Hard to complain about our game when AAU Mega Squad Memphis just lost to (what I thought was) a very average Georgia team that was 2-5 going into tonight.

 

[Queens_NYC]

Mason is struggling with his shot, but I think he's a decent creator and should be playing around 15 minutes to bring MAW down near 20.

Mason has his limitations but I like how he actively tries to make plays when he's in the game.

As erratic as he was last season, we desperately miss Keith's facilitation abilities from the wing. Newman is giving us a fraction of his production while playing nearly the same amount of minutes as he did last year.

 

[sedziobs]

Hard to complain about our game when AAU Mega Squad Memphis just lost to (what I thought was) a very average Georgia team that was 2-5 going into tonight.

Yeah, all things considered we may have just picked up another quality win.

Wichita St got a nice road win at Oklahoma St and SMU destroyed UNLV. Hopefully those two and UCF can end up in the top 75.

 

[waterhead]

Damn right they are! That just just proves my point. If an offensively challenged player like Ado can score 14 points on 6-7 shooting why on earth are they shooting 33 three pointers when you are ranked 308th in 3 point fg %?

So far a lot is left to be desired on the coaching side. I know Wes has been talking a good game but being objective he isn't looking too great from a in-game coaching perspective. Looked good against Illinois, looked bad too often elsewhere. Still way, way too early and I'm still a believer but it's time to put some sort of offense and instill some discipline in the players.

I agree on disciplined shooting. But we should have been lobbing the ball into 7 footers all night. Maybe a couple get tipped away but the height advantage was significant. We could not dribble drive so we need to pass the ball to the post. That should be a drill we practice for the next week and see which wings can hit the post at the right time and place. There is usually a short window when they get position. If the D doubles down we pass it back out for the set 3.

 

[skyblade]

Mason has his limitations but I like how he actively tries to make plays when he's in the game.

As erratic as he was last season, we desperately miss Keith's facilitation abilities from the wing. Newman is giving us a fraction of his production while playing nearly the same amount of minutes as he did last year.

Newman does a lot of good things in the rebounding and defense department, but on O he doesn't do much (though at least he doesn't take bad threes). I wonder if part of our issue getting it inside is not having a guy who is big enough to see over the defense. It's Saunders and DDJ doing the play making and they aren't exactly the tallest guys, though DDJ started going pretty well hitting the guy down low in the second half.

I agree on Mason, find a way to give him more minutes (possibly at the expense of MAW). He's a guy you can tell is close to being a play-maker. He looks to drive and sees the floor well. He's still got that young guy look though where he's a step slow, or slightly late making a decision, but he will figure it out at some point.

The trick to the season is going to find a way to develop and work in the potential play makers (Mason, Ody, Hensley, Lakhin) who aren't there yet. Step one I think is getting Koval off the floor, we don't need a 7 footer who just wants to stand around and jack up threes.

 

[Queens_NYC]

Newman does a lot of good things in the rebounding and defense department, but on O he doesn't do much (though at least he doesn't take bad threes). I wonder if part of our issue getting it inside is not having a guy who is big enough to see over the defense. It's Saunders and DDJ doing the play making and they aren't exactly the tallest guys, though DDJ started going pretty well hitting the guy down low in the second half.

I agree on Mason, find a way to give him more minutes (possibly at the expense of MAW). He's a guy you can tell is close to being a play-maker. He looks to drive and sees the floor well. He's still got that young guy look though where he's a step slow, or slightly late making a decision, but he will figure it out at some point.

The trick to the season is going to find a way to develop and work in the potential play makers (Mason, Ody, Hensley, Lakhin) who aren't there yet. Step one I think is getting Koval off the floor, we don't need a 7 footer who just wants to stand around and jack up threes.

Koval is probably the best example of a high floor-low ceiling player on the roster right now. He'll defend the rim, hit the occasional 3, finish the occasional bunny and never turn the ball over. Otherwise, we can't expect much more from him.

We definitely need to find a way to maximize the abilities of our more dynamic bigs if we're going to reach our full potential.

 

[waterhead]

Ado has been playing pretty well lately. That rebound he had late in game when he slid between 2 Miami guys grabbed the ball and hit the floor was a BIG rebound for us and our chances of winning the game. He's been very active lately. Starting to understand what Wes saw in practice and why he starts. He's got a lot of energy and it's starting to show and I like it!

If he played 25 mpg I could see him closing in on double double territory or at least 8 and 8.

 

[waterhead]

Ado has been playing pretty well lately. That rebound he had late in game when he slid between 2 Miami guys grabbed the ball and hit the floor was a BIG rebound for us and our chances of winning the game. He's been very active lately. Starting to understand what Wes saw in practice and why he starts. He's got a lot of energy and it's starting to show and I like it!

If he played 25 mpg I could see him closing in on double double territory or at least 8 and 8.

In the last 5 games Ado has played 83 minutes (avg 16.5) and Koval 75 (avg 15).

Ado

Blocks 12
Rebounds 25
Steals 5
TO's 3
Pts 29

Koval

Blocks 4
Rebounds 15
Steals 0
TO's 1
Pts 18

 

[Loser Mentality]

Someone outside of our guards and bigs needs to drive the ball to the basket, on the regular basis.

The lack of courage to drive the ball to the basket, can be attributed to the lack of our wing players being able to dribble the ball with confidence.

It's like why pack on muscle , just to shoot 3 point shots......

I think our Free throw % would increase, if our players with driving ability, actually would drive to the basket.

I'd rather see drives to the basket, than hoisting up a ton of 3's.

A Keith W. type would average 30pts easy, with half the 30 coming off Free Throw attempts lol.

Somebody's light bulb needs to come on, and realize they could be than man on this team by driving that ball.

Hensley has shown flashes, but he gets no time. Mason has a 70in vertical for what lol?

We are still winning, but please someone 6'4 or taller wake up and drive that ball. Working on your handle is personal.

 

[cincrulz11]

MAW is shooting 28% on the season and taking 9 shots a game.

Maybe you can play one of MAW and Newman, but having them on the court together gives you absolutely no shot on offense. And maybe you could play them both if the other 3 guys could score and create for themselves. But we don't have any of those pieces.


MAW at most should have the Justin Jenifer role of standing in the corner and taking wide open catch and release 3's. He should never take a shot after he's dribbled the ball.

 

[sedziobs]

MAW's shot looks broken to me. It's really flat. I can't remember if it has always been like that.