It's amazing that in a game like last night, that we can still single out guys like Shaq instead of those who really played poorly. Shaq was 7 for 9 from the field, 1 for 2 from three, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, and 2 blocks. His 3 pt. % is now up to 45%, and his overall shooting is now over 50%. He's got 17 assists and 12 turnovers on the season, so he's not too bad there either. Yet, everyone wants him benched and we're trying to blame him for his defense now, since we can't blame him for his offense last night.
Shaq is obviously part of the exterior defense along with Caupain, Johnson, Evans and Cobb. Mick has already singled out Evans as not being very good defensively. Caupain has never been that good defensively. Cobb likes to go for a lot of steals, but his on the ball defense is sporadic. Shaq can be both good and bad. The group as a whole is not playing good defense, or the scheme is causing them to not play good. Not sure which is the case. I'm sure Mick believes the scheme is fine.
We had 4 guards go 4-25 (16%) from 3. Caupain a blistering 0-8, Cobb lighting it up at 2-9, Johnson bombing away at 2-6, and Jenifer 0-2 (and 0 for about 4 games now). In spite of that abysmal shooting, we still score 87 pts. Go figure! Caupain is now the worst 3 pt. shooter on the team, and him and Johnson are just a few missed shots from dropping below 30%. Cobb's percent is dropping like a rock. Jenifer hasn't hit a 3 since probably before Thanksgiving. If we can just fix the shooting woes, and improve the defense a little, we'll be fine. But, to beat X, VCU on the road, and Iowa State, it'll take a lot more than just a little improvement. We'll have to have all phases working great. We're due. That's for sure.
