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mdchick

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they just took temple to overtime @ temple, Collins is there best player he’s a lot like Cumberland just not as good obviously, they are physical and play good defense, won’t be an easy USF win anymore.
 
That & every game left on the schedule. If the Cats don't dramatically improve the quality of their play, esp. defending the 3 pt. shot & hitting their own, I can see 7 or 8 losses the rest of the way....some of them by double digits. Based on recent play, I would predict losses in both UCF & Houston games, loss to USF, Temple, at SMU, UConn...need I go on?

That said, I don't believe the Cats will continue to play as poorly & I expect the coaching staff to be able to adjust to limit the wide open 3's that other teams manage to hit with regularity (why can't we do that?). If that adjustment is too difficult for the coaching staff to handle, I don't know what to say. Sometimes players aren't executing the plan correctly & that leads to open looks (too much help, not quick enough getting back to the shooter), but if your team is incapable of carrying out your plan, then the answer, Mick, et al. is to change the plan! Work with the team you have, not the team you wish you had...that's the essence of good coaching.
 
That & every game left on the schedule. If the Cats don't dramatically improve the quality of their play, esp. defending the 3 pt. shot & hitting their own, I can see 7 or 8 losses the rest of the way....some of them by double digits. Based on recent play, I would predict losses in both UCF & Houston games, loss to USF, Temple, at SMU, UConn...need I go on?

That said, I don't believe the Cats will continue to play as poorly & I expect the coaching staff to be able to adjust to limit the wide open 3's that other teams manage to hit with regularity (why can't we do that?). If that adjustment is too difficult for the coaching staff to handle, I don't know what to say. Sometimes players aren't executing the plan correctly & that leads to open looks (too much help, not quick enough getting back to the shooter), but if your team is incapable of carrying out your plan, then the answer, Mick, et al. is to change the plan! Work with the team you have, not the team you wish you had...that's the essence of good coaching.

Completely agree with your point of mick changing his plan. If you watch his press conference he makes a lot of good points and problems with the team but at what point does he change his philosophy or the way the team plays? And you can’t say his way works because he has only been to one sweet 16
 
Completely agree with your point of mick changing his plan. If you watch his press conference he makes a lot of good points and problems with the team but at what point does he change his philosophy or the way the team plays? And you can’t say his way works because he has only been to one sweet 16

Yes, good call. It seems its always more about the players not playing the system. Why not tailor to your team? Isn’t that what the good coaches do?

Oh well, glad it’s at home. Need that advantage right now. Coaches and kids need to get this back on track.
 
Completely agree with your point of mick changing his plan. If you watch his press conference he makes a lot of good points and problems with the team but at what point does he change his philosophy or the way the team plays? And you can’t say his way works because he has only been to one sweet 16

Would it matter? I've had the same complaint in the past, he has tried to fit square pegs into round holes defensively. Kyle Washington was a good example last year.

This year everyone on the team is physically and athletically capable of playing (and excelling at) our defense. The problem this year is mental. So would changing the defense matter? If the aren't mentally engaged in zone is playing man-to-man going to make a difference? Are they suddenly going to start remembering who on the other team can shoot and who can't?
 
I wrote this on another board:


Game is 7pm on Tuesday on ESPN NEWS

Kenpom: #141
KP Off: #258
KP Def: #50
NCAA NET: #94

Some interesting Tidbits:

-Rebounding: Wow what an impressive rebounding team from an extremely young team. #17 in Offensive Rebounding, #12 in defensive rebounding. Crushed UCONN 47-32 on the boards a few weeks ago.

-Defense: a top 50 defense in year 2 under Gregory. Laquincy Rideau is #1 in the nation in steal rate. Michael Durr, a 7ft freshman is #79 in the country in block rate. Brian Gregory's team is 3rd in the country in steal % and doesn't even press. On the flip side, they do get a little aggressive and if you attack them, you will get to the line a lot. Their game tend to be high in the foul column on both sides of the ball.

-Close Games: USF has lost 4 games this season, all 4 losses were by 3 points or less.They fight to the finish regardless wether they are down early or not. Nearly pulled an impossible comeback against Tulsa.

-Free Throws: USF is one of the best teams in the country at attacking, getting fouled and getting to the free throw line. They rank #3 in FTA/FGA nationally. On the flip side, only 7 teams in all of D1 basketball shoot a lower percentage from the free throw line.

-David Collins is a killer: Collins numbers don't jump off the charts, you could even make an argument that he is a wildly inefficient player. But then when you watch the game, he just has an answer every time his team needs it.

-Freshman Front Court: The Bulls start 2 freshman big men. One being 7ft rum protector Michael Durr, the other is 6'8 Freshman Alexis Yetna. Yetna is the elite rebounder, Durr the rim protector. In the few games I've watched over the season, they both have seemed to get better and better.

Overall, Brian Gregory has in a full season and a half, given USF an identity of toughness and intensity. I've listened to his press conferences and he sounds almost like another version of Mick Cronin. He demands a lot from his guys. They loaded up on cupcakes in the non conference, but for this group of guys, I think it was the right approach. They grew confident and also learned to win. They aren't very skilled offensively, but they have the nations leading assist rate running the point and have big guys down low dominating the rebounds. This reminds me of an early version of a mick Cronin team. They will beat you with all the things they can control. And even if they don't beat you, you'll wake up in the morning feeling like you were in a fight for your life.

USF is going to be a team to watch from this point on. I for one am glad we don't have to travel to their arena this season.
 
Yes, good call. It seems its always more about the players not playing the system. Why not tailor to your team? Isn’t that what the good coaches do?

Oh well, glad it’s at home. Need that advantage right now. Coaches and kids need to get this back on track.

The thing is.... The plan was working... I've never seen such beautiful rotations when we played NKU, Xavier & UCLA.

Literally, every time I thought one of those teams had an open look, our guys made the most insane close to contest.


BUT, lately, either the effort Or the focus has slipped in this defensive system. I mean, its hard to fault the actual system when no one on the floor is actually following it.

Its not our system to help 4 on 1 in the paint, and yet we did for the last few games.


but the thing is.. we've not had a ton of time to fix anything in practice. Thurs then Saturday then sunday off day (mandatory) then Tuesday. Just basically a single full practice between games and most of that is scout work
 
The thing is.... The plan was working... I've never seen such beautiful rotations when we played NKU, Xavier & UCLA.

Literally, every time I thought one of those teams had an open look, our guys made the most insane close to contest.


BUT, lately, either the effort Or the focus has slipped in this defensive system. I mean, its hard to fault the actual system when no one on the floor is actually following it.

Its not our system to help 4 on 1 in the paint, and yet we did for the last few games.


but the thing is.. we've not had a ton of time to fix anything in practice. Thurs then Saturday then sunday off day (mandatory) then Tuesday. Just basically a single full practice between games and most of that is scout work

Fair point...but I'd kinda like a plan B you can move to DURING a game (not having to wait for practice) when you are getting killed by your poor defense.
 
I wrote this on another board:


Game is 7pm on Tuesday on ESPN NEWS

Kenpom: #141
KP Off: #258
KP Def: #50
NCAA NET: #94

Some interesting Tidbits:

-Rebounding: Wow what an impressive rebounding team from an extremely young team. #17 in Offensive Rebounding, #12 in defensive rebounding. Crushed UCONN 47-32 on the boards a few weeks ago.

-Defense: a top 50 defense in year 2 under Gregory. Laquincy Rideau is #1 in the nation in steal rate. Michael Durr, a 7ft freshman is #79 in the country in block rate. Brian Gregory's team is 3rd in the country in steal % and doesn't even press. On the flip side, they do get a little aggressive and if you attack them, you will get to the line a lot. Their game tend to be high in the foul column on both sides of the ball.

-Close Games: USF has lost 4 games this season, all 4 losses were by 3 points or less.They fight to the finish regardless wether they are down early or not. Nearly pulled an impossible comeback against Tulsa.

-Free Throws: USF is one of the best teams in the country at attacking, getting fouled and getting to the free throw line. They rank #3 in FTA/FGA nationally. On the flip side, only 7 teams in all of D1 basketball shoot a lower percentage from the free throw line.

-David Collins is a killer: Collins numbers don't jump off the charts, you could even make an argument that he is a wildly inefficient player. But then when you watch the game, he just has an answer every time his team needs it.

-Freshman Front Court: The Bulls start 2 freshman big men. One being 7ft rum protector Michael Durr, the other is 6'8 Freshman Alexis Yetna. Yetna is the elite rebounder, Durr the rim protector. In the few games I've watched over the season, they both have seemed to get better and better.

Overall, Brian Gregory has in a full season and a half, given USF an identity of toughness and intensity. I've listened to his press conferences and he sounds almost like another version of Mick Cronin. He demands a lot from his guys. They loaded up on cupcakes in the non conference, but for this group of guys, I think it was the right approach. They grew confident and also learned to win. They aren't very skilled offensively, but they have the nations leading assist rate running the point and have big guys down low dominating the rebounds. This reminds me of an early version of a mick Cronin team. They will beat you with all the things they can control. And even if they don't beat you, you'll wake up in the morning feeling like you were in a fight for your life.

USF is going to be a team to watch from this point on. I for one am glad we don't have to travel to their arena this season.

Great overview. I watched a bit of the second half and overtime from the Temple game Saturday. Crazy game. USF opened the 2nd half on a 27-5 run. Once Temple responded with a 9-0 run to take the lead again the game was back and forth until USF's final shot to tie in OT with less than 10 seconds left.

USF is a very scrappy team. Rideau and Collins aren't the best shooters we'll go up against this season but their playmaking abilities are second to none. Alexis Yetna is well on his way to stardom as well.

They could be a very legitimate contender in the conference next season since they only lose their grad. transfer who comes off the bench now and a back-up center who plays limited minutes. They'll have a transfer from Okla. State eligible next season as well.
 
That & every game left on the schedule. If the Cats don't dramatically improve the quality of their play, esp. defending the 3 pt. shot & hitting their own, I can see 7 or 8 losses the rest of the way....some of them by double digits. Based on recent play, I would predict losses in both UCF & Houston games, loss to USF, Temple, at SMU, UConn...need I go on?

That said, I don't believe the Cats will continue to play as poorly & I expect the coaching staff to be able to adjust to limit the wide open 3's that other teams manage to hit with regularity (why can't we do that?). If that adjustment is too difficult for the coaching staff to handle, I don't know what to say. Sometimes players aren't executing the plan correctly & that leads to open looks (too much help, not quick enough getting back to the shooter), but if your team is incapable of carrying out your plan, then the answer, Mick, et al. is to change the plan! Work with the team you have, not the team you wish you had...that's the essence of good coaching.

From an athletic standpoint I don't think we have lost much with our replacements of Clark, Evans, and Washington. We may even be slightly more athletic. Brooks is an upgrade in terms of mobility, Williams is crazy athletic, and Scott is not far off from Clark.

I think our main problem lies in mental understanding. Evans and Clark always knew where to be and what to do. Williams and Scott are behind (Clark and evans) in that aspect. On the flip side on offense...they also always knew what to do and when to slow things down etc. This team lately seems settles for too many 3's when responding to a run from the other team. When we see a run we have to go back to what is/was working and play better D and not try to launch 3's to stop a run. We tend to speed things up rather than slow them down and think our way through.
 
I wrote this on another board:


Game is 7pm on Tuesday on ESPN NEWS

Kenpom: #141
KP Off: #258
KP Def: #50
NCAA NET: #94

Some interesting Tidbits:

-Rebounding: Wow what an impressive rebounding team from an extremely young team. #17 in Offensive Rebounding, #12 in defensive rebounding. Crushed UCONN 47-32 on the boards a few weeks ago.

-Defense: a top 50 defense in year 2 under Gregory. Laquincy Rideau is #1 in the nation in steal rate. Michael Durr, a 7ft freshman is #79 in the country in block rate. Brian Gregory's team is 3rd in the country in steal % and doesn't even press. On the flip side, they do get a little aggressive and if you attack them, you will get to the line a lot. Their game tend to be high in the foul column on both sides of the ball.

-Close Games: USF has lost 4 games this season, all 4 losses were by 3 points or less.They fight to the finish regardless wether they are down early or not. Nearly pulled an impossible comeback against Tulsa.

-Free Throws: USF is one of the best teams in the country at attacking, getting fouled and getting to the free throw line. They rank #3 in FTA/FGA nationally. On the flip side, only 7 teams in all of D1 basketball shoot a lower percentage from the free throw line.

-David Collins is a killer: Collins numbers don't jump off the charts, you could even make an argument that he is a wildly inefficient player. But then when you watch the game, he just has an answer every time his team needs it.

-Freshman Front Court: The Bulls start 2 freshman big men. One being 7ft rum protector Michael Durr, the other is 6'8 Freshman Alexis Yetna. Yetna is the elite rebounder, Durr the rim protector. In the few games I've watched over the season, they both have seemed to get better and better.

Overall, Brian Gregory has in a full season and a half, given USF an identity of toughness and intensity. I've listened to his press conferences and he sounds almost like another version of Mick Cronin. He demands a lot from his guys. They loaded up on cupcakes in the non conference, but for this group of guys, I think it was the right approach. They grew confident and also learned to win. They aren't very skilled offensively, but they have the nations leading assist rate running the point and have big guys down low dominating the rebounds. This reminds me of an early version of a mick Cronin team. They will beat you with all the things they can control. And even if they don't beat you, you'll wake up in the morning feeling like you were in a fight for your life.

USF is going to be a team to watch from this point on. I for one am glad we don't have to travel to their arena this season.

Solid breakdown.. Thanks.

Why are we glad we don't play them at USF? We all wish we were in a better conference, better games and more tests with this young team. Of all years, wouldn't we wish we did play @USF? Or would it be a bad loss if we did lose @USF?
 
Solid breakdown.. Thanks.

Why are we glad we don't play them at USF? We all wish we were in a better conference, better games and more tests with this young team. Of all years, wouldn't we wish we did play @USF? Or would it be a bad loss if we did lose @USF?

USF is much improved but they also schedule really soft. So beating them in their gym would 1. Be really tough and 2. Not insanely beneficial.


In the off season, I was weirdly happy to have received the toughest schedule In the league but after seeing us play in conference, I really wish we had some soft landing spots.


The league is improved. Tulane is the only team who isn’t on an upward or steady trajectory.

We don’t have any more “practice games” left on the schedule so we need to figure it out fast.
 
USF is much improved but they also schedule really soft. So beating them in their gym would 1. Be really tough and 2. Not insanely beneficial.


In the off season, I was weirdly happy to have received the toughest schedule In the league but after seeing us play in conference, I really wish we had some soft landing spots.


The league is improved. Tulane is the only team who isn’t on an upward or steady trajectory.

We don’t have any more “practice games” left on the schedule so we need to figure it out fast.

Yeah, that makes sense. Figured it was one of those games that doesn't do much if you win there but could hurt you if do lose there.

I trust we win at home.
 
Now that USF looks like a force and ECU has Dooley plus what will be back to back freshman of the year players on their team, the conference needs to align to playing a much tougher non conference.

If everyone schedules tough, & everyone gets scalps, we can raise the profile of he league from top to bottom.

Next season projects to be the best AAC year we’ve ever had but it means nothing if you don’t prove it in the non con
 
This team has to come out mentally focused. I think they are all willing to give effort but some of them struggle with decision making on shots here or there and can blow assignments. Cronin has to get them locked in or we may see him using the bench more to find players who can execute his game plan.

Of course he could also call the team and coaches out in private rather than public but that is another discussion.
 
This team has to come out mentally focused. I think they are all willing to give effort but some of them struggle with decision making on shots here or there and can blow assignments. Cronin has to get them locked in or we may see him using the bench more to find players who can execute his game plan.

Of course he could also call the team and coaches out in private rather than public but that is another discussion.


Agree. I also think that we really need a player to be an outgoing verbal leader. Willing to "yell" at players on the court/huddles...you know the productive yelling? We've had verbal leaders before, and this team sorely needs one. If Cumberland was, he would be even more special then he is. But he isn't. I feel this needs to be Jenifer at this point. Most of the rest of the guys are too young. Jenifer seems to be doing a good job with the young guards from time to time, but I'd like to see him step it up.

One very small thing I noticed during the Uconn game...every stoppage (free throws etc) the Uconn team was huddling up and talking. Even more than they should or for longer than they should be allowed. In contrast our guys we not getting together in a huddle. They would sometimes gather kinda near each other and talk...but not really huddling up. While a small thing I thought it showed where we could improve and where we lack on the court leadership from time to time.
 
-13

Considering we haven't covered in 3 games and haven't come close to covering in 2 of them, it seems like easy money to bet against us.

On the other hand, USF is young (they start 2 freshmen, 2 sophomores and a RS junior), not any more talented than us on paper, and haven't played in a truly hostile environment yet this season (Temple this past weekend was their best test yet).

If we cover tonight then we're on our way to re-establishing ourselves as a contender in the league. If we have another barn burner then our outlook for the rest of the season continues to look iffy.
 
Agree. I also think that we really need a player to be an outgoing verbal leader. Willing to "yell" at players on the court/huddles...you know the productive yelling? We've had verbal leaders before, and this team sorely needs one. If Cumberland was, he would be even more special then he is. But he isn't. I feel this needs to be Jenifer at this point. Most of the rest of the guys are too young. Jenifer seems to be doing a good job with the young guards from time to time, but I'd like to see him step it up.


Jenifer is not a leader personality wise. He's quiet and clearly more of a follower.



You know what's funny is Broome is a guy that kinda those traits. I think thats part of the issue of him and cronin clashing the way they have. Broome has that cocky swagger to him (when he's not all down on himself, which he has been this year) that was clear as early as the black/red scrimmage last year. The longer he's been here though the less it shows.



I would venture to say last year didn't really have that guy either. Gary was a quiet leader that did it by example. KWash was the right personality, but kyle would get into the dog house a lot.
 
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