You guys are the same people that have been bashing on sanders since he got here, I admit he has improved and I like what I see, I'm not trying to take anything away from the kid here. But don't give up on Shaquille and say sanders should play more than him yet, Shaq doesn't have a low bb iq idk why people say that, he just plays too fast right now. He will be our sf by years end no doubt in my mind...
Your perfect rotation for conference play
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Shaq's shot doesn't have a thing to do with anything. He is a starter, so obviously his flat shot isn't bothering the coaches. His shooting percentages are decent as well. Nor have I seen a low BB IQ. He's definitely on a short leash. I see Kilpatrick do some incredibly stupid things every game that goes unpunished. If you're playing with one eye on the bench constantly, that can be on the coach.
As to JDIII, you're right, he hasn't blossomed. He wasn't permitted to blossom. An awful lot of fans regularly expressed their dismay about him not playing because in his short time here, we all saw a lot of good things from him in the times he was in games....especially offensively....which just happens to be this team's weakness. If this coach could focus on anything other than one facet of the game, then the offensively gifted players might be allowed the freedom to grow.
I fully expect JDIII to, in fact, blossom at his new school. Most coaches will take a player's strengths and build on those while working to improve on their weaknesses.....not relagating them to the end of the bench because of their weakness in one facet of the game. When you answer the question..."How are you going to improve the offense." with....."By playing better defense."......that kind of points to where the problem lies. It's not always on the players.
As to JDIII, you're right, he hasn't blossomed. He wasn't permitted to blossom. An awful lot of fans regularly expressed their dismay about him not playing because in his short time here, we all saw a lot of good things from him in the times he was in games....especially offensively....which just happens to be this team's weakness. If this coach could focus on anything other than one facet of the game, then the offensively gifted players might be allowed the freedom to grow.
I fully expect JDIII to, in fact, blossom at his new school. Most coaches will take a player's strengths and build on those while working to improve on their weaknesses.....not relagating them to the end of the bench because of their weakness in one facet of the game. When you answer the question..."How are you going to improve the offense." with....."By playing better defense."......that kind of points to where the problem lies. It's not always on the players.
I was one of those fans that was on JS because of very poor production. The potential was there with Thomas. But...Sanders is now outproducing Thomas so things are changing. Thomas isn't tapping into his potential.
Will we take what Sanders is giving us? As long as we aren't getting better results from someone else...sure. Would we rather see more production out of the wing? Absolutely. At this point JS or ST is more of a pick your poison type of thing...nothing spectacular.
david aka the TYZ
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Shaq has good instincts on the offensive end. His instincts on defense is where I think people, including myself, have said he lacks bball IQ. He has issues with letting his man get lost and then draining open shots. That is something Mick does not tolerate. I think he has gotten better this year as I've tried to zero in on him while he plays D. He has done a much better job of just shadowing his man. I think he has trouble picking up rotations and knowing where to go and defend in these situations. When he gets pulled I think is when he makes a mistake and then hangs his head and therefore isn't mentally playing right. I think there are times his head isn't in the game and that's why Mick keeps him on the bench. Mick has said as much about him.
I agree to your point about SK. I've been wanting to bring this up as well. Mick has made comments that the next time he boxes out will be his first. And while he has become a decent defender he's not a great defender yet he seemingly has no leash. I've said in previous posts I don't think guys get pulled for making mistakes, I think they get pulled for not following the gameplan. I think this is where Shaq and Guyn get in trouble.
As far as Davis is concerned I might have been one of the only people not concerned he wasn't seeing minutes. I thought he had a nice shot, but he was a serious liability on defense. I know fans want to see points scored, but I don't want a team like Seton Hall or Providence that has good scorers and we scratch our heads at why they have such good scorers and we don't, but at the end of the day they are a .500 team because they don't play defense or a team game. I want to win and I will trust in our head coach. He has won in a tough league with less talent. If he chooses to bench Davis or Shaq I won't pretend to know better than him. And if Davis goes on to succeed at Ball State then more power to him. He might average 15-18 a game, but the question is will he make that team that much better? I think some people don't really realize you get the same amount of shots/possessions as your opponent. You can find better scorers, but in return if they allow the opposing team to score more often then what good is it? Mick's philosophy is he wants to make it as impossible as possible for the opponent to score. While it can be frustrating at times and I think he does need to focus on offensive fundamentals a little more I won't argue with the success this team has had the past few years. I think we are starting to see better offensive players being brought in. If we continue to play the same level of D then there's nowhere to go but up.
I will say if Shaq can get it together on defense and play with confidence I still think he has a bright future with this team. As it stands today though, I would rather let Sanders play and even let Johnson get some of his minutes. Offensively I'm just as confident in either of those two as I am with Shaq and defensively I have more confidence in those two.
Robert
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I don't think Davis was the worst defender I've ever seen by any means. Not up to Cincinnati standards, sure, but I think he'll do just fine playing defense in the MAC.
He will be a nice player at Ball State. I wish he could have been a nice player here as well, but he was going to have a hell of a time cracking the rotation, so I'm over it.
bearcat jeff
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Gets lost defensively. Consistently turns the ball over on poor decisions going to the basket. Doesn't know anything about rebounding position. Just a few examples of a poor bb iq. Hey nobody wants him to improve more than me. I will say it again...Shaq can add a whole new diminsion to this team.
He is in a new role and needs to grow but unlike L-T I don't believe you leave him on the floor when Sanders is outplaying him in all facets of the game.
JumpinJack5
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We must find a happy medium. Many (including myself, sometimes) were ready to give up on Sanders at this time last year. Now, many want him to start and they want to cut a lot of Shaq's minutes. I agree that Sanders has been more effective and he plays harder, but his ceiling isn't nearly as high as Shaq's. Shaq needs to continue to put on weight like he did this off-season and just add a little arc. Nothing too hard, and I think he will be highly motivated. I know I'm in the minority, but I think his basketball is fine. He just looks like he is overthinking things out there and has become tentative. Mick has mentioned this a few times in interviews and post game, and I agree. I hope Shaq figures things out, he is so talented if he could pull everything together.
JumpinJack5
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Sorry Jeff, I have to agree to disagree. I'm not anti-Sanders, I just think that Shaq needs playing time to improve. The more experience he gets, the more it becomes muscle memory and the more he stops thinking about it. He just needs to be aggressive and play, he lets things get to him too much. Just look at his body language, he needs confidence and reassurance. I don't think demoting him is best for the team in the long run. I get your point, Sanders is producing and Shaq isn't, but I think Shaq has just been inconsistent. The more PT he gets, the more consistent he should get. I think an equal split in playing time is fine at this point.
Bearcat_NTS
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Exactly. Shaq Thomas has so much potential but at some point it begins to work against him. I just hope he doesn't become like Darnell Wilks (who was showed flashes as a frosh/soph and ended his career as a bench player). With how effective Sanders has been, you can't afford to give Thomas minutes because he has a higher upside...
JumpinJack5
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Wilks was more athletic, but Shaq is far more advanced as far as slashing goes. Also, Wilks came on towards the end of his career, he was great in the BE tourney.
Bearcat_NTS
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Shaq Thomas is a better player, it was just the most recent Bearcat comparison...
The coach is starting him. Enough said.
Ya I guess just agree to disagree, his issue to me is he plays out of control because he plays too fast, not the lack of his bb IQ. I guess the thing that is bothering me is you guys seem to think because sanders scored 14 points against Chicago state and 9 against Nebraska he's turning the corner. To me he is a role player, his shot is just to slow and against good competition I don't think he is going to get the same looks hes been getting. Defensively he always seems to have great position on rebounding, but I fear he may be just to slow to guard teams with talented wing players. I Think its still too early to make these assumptions is all, sanders scored 7 total points against pitt, Xavier, and new mexico.
I was a Sanders doubter as well. I'm not declaring he's turned the corner or should be playing 30+ minutes, but it's hard to argue his recent performance doesn't merit increased time. Increasing someone's minutes is going to negatively impact another player's court time - in this case probably Shaq. Like you said let's see how he does with some better teams like SMU and Memphis. With Shaq, his +/- rating (thank you to BearcatNTS for the link http://www.scacchoops.com/NCAATeam.asp?bView=0&sTeamName=Cincinnati) is 8.3 compared to 14.1 for Sanders. Based on that you could argue the most productive lineup right now would be Caupain, SK, Sanders, Rubles, and JJ.
WAITE HOYT 2
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Folks it seems we get caught up in who should be playing based on how they play day to day. Many things go into who gets playing time and when. Foul trouble,how they practice,in game match ups,versitility of player,class room and game situations. To say this is my rotation is not something that is etched in stone. Some have indicated that by pulling a kid after a bad play hurts his confidence. Accountability and practice competition are tools the coaches use to motivate kids. As a father of a D-1 athlete it has been my experience that nothing makes a kid work harder then being challenged at practice by a kid trying to take his spot or the threat of losing PT. It also helps perpare him for those pressure moments that occur during the games.
Lots of varibles go into MC making out his line up and rotating players. Some of those are not seen by the general public such as practice. If MC removes a kid after a error it could very well be something he has gone over with him numerous times in practice. Coaches study film and instruct constantly. How well a kid reacts to such instruction is also huge.
I guess what i'm taking a longtime to say is there is usually a method to a coaches madness to how he substitutes that is not generally clear to the public in all cases.
Lots of varibles go into MC making out his line up and rotating players. Some of those are not seen by the general public such as practice. If MC removes a kid after a error it could very well be something he has gone over with him numerous times in practice. Coaches study film and instruct constantly. How well a kid reacts to such instruction is also huge.
I guess what i'm taking a longtime to say is there is usually a method to a coaches madness to how he substitutes that is not generally clear to the public in all cases.
I don't thinks it's as much about Sanders turning the corner or some light going on. It's more about who should be our (less than spectacular) 5th starter. I don't think anyone is saying Sanders is an all star...he's just playing better than Shaq at the moment and apparently we don't have any other options Mick wants to look at for the wing position. I would think about playing three guards with KJ here and there but that's just me.
Playing KJ and running the 3-guard offense in a valid point and one I haven't given much thought to. KJ is improving by leaps and bounds, but if the recent Sanders is the norm, you got to go with experience. He has looked pretty darn good lately. I wish KJ had gotten more PT in the 2nd half the other day. His 1st half results were really good and critical during the time when the game was close. Still want to see Shaq find whatever he is missing.
I agree about KJ not playing enough in the second half. He was probably our best player in the first half. I get your point on JS too...he's solid and experienced. My problem between him and guys like ST and KJ is that both of them can create shots for themselves. I would say the majority of JS points come when someone passes the ball to him while he is open. Most of these guys can make open shots. My preference would be to have the guys on the court who can create shots for themselves with a man on them. These are the guys that can cause a defensive breakdown when they beat their man and someone else has to come help.
CaptDale
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You conveniently left out the fact that GG is probably our best on court defender. Minor point.
