With the atheletes we have there is zero excuse for how Tulane put up 48 points. We are so lazy and unmotivated. Offense scheme sucks but has all year… but we can’t even control our effort on D. Miller is not the answer.
If Miller should be able to do anything, isn't it motivate these guys? I mean what is up with all that "I'm fired up" talk? He seems to be trying to be best friends with the players and not hurt any feelings, shouldn't they at least give max effort? At what point is it on the coach? Schemes definitely suck, doesn't look like they are coached well, but the laziness, lack of toughness, etc, that is shocking.
This team simply has limited talent, at best. Sadly... There isn't much to look forward to either.
I didn't watch the game live, but watched the replay this morning.
Some notes:
We have long stretches where we play hero ball (DDJ and Davenport especially) and it usually leads to poor results. Quick bad threes is not what you want when you are struggling on defense or trying to make a comeback.
We also have too many mental errors, whether it be leaving a man open, not boxing out on a rebounds, lack of communication or many other things. It's not any one particular player. We seem to be mentally locked in for stretches, but not for anywhere close to the whole game.
Tulane shot extremely well from three in the first half, we gave them open looks early, then they got hot and made some tough ones.
DDJ is not able/willing to take spot up threes. Teams can leave him open because of it. His only shot is the three dribble step back, which is not conducive to ball movement. I know he's the best offense on the team, but he's also part of the problem.
DDJ seems to be best suited as a ball-dominant penetrate-and-kick guard on a team surrounded by three point shooters. His game really does not suit the offensive style Wes Miller wants to run or the other players on the team. He may be one of those guys who is a good player, but in the long run (next year?) we will be better off without.
Once we started running offense and getting it inside, we manage to start racking up fouls on Tulane. But we missed a lot of bunnies (Lakhin especially). Most of our guards are not good at short range jumpers when they get into the lane.
Bigger guards would really help our offense. For as much as is made about our size inside, we are undersized with the guys who need to throw the ball to them to run offense. The guys who handle the ball and lead our offense DDJ/Saunders/Davenport often can't see over their man well enough to feed the post. Newman is a non-factor and MAW often is as well. Mason could fill that big guard roll and did well in his one minute (good post feed and then got himself fouled on the next play).
Make FT's and bunnies and we would have had a shot at finishing the comeback. That was a common refrain on Cronin teams as well.
I wouldn't mind seeing rotations shrink, but I don't think they are really the problem. There's not a big difference between our 5th and 10th best player. The problem is none of them are actually good enough to play major minutes on a high-level team.
I would like to see Lakhin play some center with Davenport, Koval or Hensley at the 4. Give him some room to work inside. The paint gets really congested when Ado/Ody are in with Lakhin.
Speaking of the paint, Ado is too much of a liability on offense. Bad hands and can't make FT's. It's not hard to see why guards don't want to throw him the ball down low. Ody/Lakhin may make a lot more mental errors, but at some point you have to play them because they will develop into better players than Ado.
Nice to see us not give up after being down 25 and fight to the end.
I didn't watch the game live, but watched the replay this morning.
Some notes:
We have long stretches where we play hero ball (DDJ and Davenport especially) and it usually leads to poor results. Quick bad threes is not what you want when you are struggling on defense or trying to make a comeback.
We also have too many mental errors, whether it be leaving a man open, not boxing out on a rebounds, lack of communication or many other things. It's not any one particular player. We seem to be mentally locked in for stretches, but not for anywhere close to the whole game.
Tulane shot extremely well from three in the first half, we gave them open looks early, then they got hot and made some tough ones.
DDJ is not able/willing to take spot up threes. Teams can leave him open because of it. His only shot is the three dribble step back, which is not conducive to ball movement. I know he's the best offense on the team, but he's also part of the problem.
DDJ seems to be best suited as a ball-dominant penetrate-and-kick guard on a team surrounded by three point shooters. His game really does not suit the offensive style Wes Miller wants to run or the other players on the team. He may be one of those guys who is a good player, but in the long run (next year?) we will be better off without.
Once we started running offense and getting it inside, we manage to start racking up fouls on Tulane. But we missed a lot of bunnies (Lakhin especially). Most of our guards are not good at short range jumpers when they get into the lane.
Bigger guards would really help our offense. For as much as is made about our size inside, we are undersized with the guys who need to throw the ball to them to run offense. The guys who handle the ball and lead our offense DDJ/Saunders/Davenport often can't see over their man well enough to feed the post. Newman is a non-factor and MAW often is as well. Mason could fill that big guard roll and did well in his one minute (good post feed and then got himself fouled on the next play).
Make FT's and bunnies and we would have had a shot at finishing the comeback. That was a common refrain on Cronin teams as well.
I wouldn't mind seeing rotations shrink, but I don't think they are really the problem. There's not a big difference between our 5th and 10th best player. The problem is none of them are actually good enough to play major minutes on a high-level team.
I would like to see Lakhin play some center with Davenport, Koval or Hensley at the 4. Give him some room to work inside. The paint gets really congested when Ado/Ody are in with Lakhin.
Speaking of the paint, Ado is too much of a liability on offense. Bad hands and can't make FT's. It's not hard to see why guards don't want to throw him the ball down low. Ody/Lakhin may make a lot more mental errors, but at some point you have to play them because they will develop into better players than Ado.
Nice to see us not give up after being down 25 and fight to the end.