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- Aug 26, 2011
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It's demoralizing to lose to a team that everybody said was better than you and was better than you, because no matter how many times you prepare yourself for it, this program has come through enough where you're never really expecting serve to be held like that. Very similar vibe to the Kansas game two years ago. Perhaps solace can be taken in the fact that that was the end and this is the beginning.
Beyond that, I think the game can pretty much be broken down into two parts - the first and second half. The first half was a complete cluster on both ends. We competed like hell defensively and turned it into a rock fight much in the same way we did in 2012 and 2014 against that team. We have some specific abilities defensively - like overall team quickness, coordination, and anticipation skills - that are very reminiscent of the Boat/Napier teams and will be grounds for optimism that we can stay in most games this season. Unfortunately, our limitations were exposed offensively - you can get away with not having a low post presence, it's a lot tougher to get away with not having a single player who can finish and play above the rim. Baskets are going to be hard to come by for this team against elite competition, but they need to keep chipping away and letting shots fire, no matter how ugly it is or however many isolations it takes. Shot selection has been a problem at times and was tonight. The 2014 team had a lot of these same limitations, but Shabazz was pretty good at least late in the season at making sure we were doing the right things every time down. You saw some of the two man game I speculated would highlight our offense with Adams/Larrier late.
Whereas garbage time usually forces teams out of their natural offense, I think it has the odd effect of getting us into what we should be doing all the time. This is especially true of Adams whose performance in the last ten minutes harkens back to his garbage time heroics in Maui last year. It feels like when we try to make it pretty we end up getting bad shots but when we play unapologetic iso ball we at least give our skill and creativity the chance to keep us in games. I really liked one of the sets they tried late which had Adams curling to the paint with some momentum and then posting a smaller guy. I'd like to try more of that especially in alignments where Larrier is playing the five spotting up and dragging rim protection out with him.
The second half barrage was partially just a kid getting white hot. A guard shooting 12 of 15 isn't something you see every day. We're used to being on the other side of that but unfortunately today we got doused. There were quite a few breakdowns, however, aside from that, and the offense they generated at the rim seemed to re-enforce our biggest fears heading into the year. Carlton wasn't ready for this caliber of competition tonight, David O just isn't really cut out to be more than a situational player at this level, and Larrier is going to give up some playing the four as part of the give and take of using him at that spot. The defensive focus away from the ball needs to be better moving forward. There were lapses in ball screen coverage, blown assignments away from the ball, slow closeouts, etc. Those will have to stop.
My final observation is that, while Anderson has certainly outplayed Vital this season, I get the sense that our best lineups are ultimately going to include Christian on the floor. Anderson is just limited, and I cringe every time he tries to take his defender off the bounce or call for a ball screen. There is no reason, with Adams and Gilbert both on the roster, for anybody else to be initiating the offense. Anderson and Vital can drive on close-outs and spot up, but the primary offense needs to flow through Adams/Gilbert and Larrier.
Next up is Oklahoma. I don't know much about them but they're 26th on KenPom to our 65th, and in simply gauging the trajectory of the team I would expect us to pick up another loss in that game. I don't think we're quite there yet and I'm not sure 36 hours will be enough to do the trick. Hopefully I'm wrong, but in either case at least Michigan State - perhaps the best team we'll play all year - is out of the way and we can return to making a more manageable assessment on our team. Sunday will be a big one.
Beyond that, I think the game can pretty much be broken down into two parts - the first and second half. The first half was a complete cluster on both ends. We competed like hell defensively and turned it into a rock fight much in the same way we did in 2012 and 2014 against that team. We have some specific abilities defensively - like overall team quickness, coordination, and anticipation skills - that are very reminiscent of the Boat/Napier teams and will be grounds for optimism that we can stay in most games this season. Unfortunately, our limitations were exposed offensively - you can get away with not having a low post presence, it's a lot tougher to get away with not having a single player who can finish and play above the rim. Baskets are going to be hard to come by for this team against elite competition, but they need to keep chipping away and letting shots fire, no matter how ugly it is or however many isolations it takes. Shot selection has been a problem at times and was tonight. The 2014 team had a lot of these same limitations, but Shabazz was pretty good at least late in the season at making sure we were doing the right things every time down. You saw some of the two man game I speculated would highlight our offense with Adams/Larrier late.
Whereas garbage time usually forces teams out of their natural offense, I think it has the odd effect of getting us into what we should be doing all the time. This is especially true of Adams whose performance in the last ten minutes harkens back to his garbage time heroics in Maui last year. It feels like when we try to make it pretty we end up getting bad shots but when we play unapologetic iso ball we at least give our skill and creativity the chance to keep us in games. I really liked one of the sets they tried late which had Adams curling to the paint with some momentum and then posting a smaller guy. I'd like to try more of that especially in alignments where Larrier is playing the five spotting up and dragging rim protection out with him.
The second half barrage was partially just a kid getting white hot. A guard shooting 12 of 15 isn't something you see every day. We're used to being on the other side of that but unfortunately today we got doused. There were quite a few breakdowns, however, aside from that, and the offense they generated at the rim seemed to re-enforce our biggest fears heading into the year. Carlton wasn't ready for this caliber of competition tonight, David O just isn't really cut out to be more than a situational player at this level, and Larrier is going to give up some playing the four as part of the give and take of using him at that spot. The defensive focus away from the ball needs to be better moving forward. There were lapses in ball screen coverage, blown assignments away from the ball, slow closeouts, etc. Those will have to stop.
My final observation is that, while Anderson has certainly outplayed Vital this season, I get the sense that our best lineups are ultimately going to include Christian on the floor. Anderson is just limited, and I cringe every time he tries to take his defender off the bounce or call for a ball screen. There is no reason, with Adams and Gilbert both on the roster, for anybody else to be initiating the offense. Anderson and Vital can drive on close-outs and spot up, but the primary offense needs to flow through Adams/Gilbert and Larrier.
Next up is Oklahoma. I don't know much about them but they're 26th on KenPom to our 65th, and in simply gauging the trajectory of the team I would expect us to pick up another loss in that game. I don't think we're quite there yet and I'm not sure 36 hours will be enough to do the trick. Hopefully I'm wrong, but in either case at least Michigan State - perhaps the best team we'll play all year - is out of the way and we can return to making a more manageable assessment on our team. Sunday will be a big one.
