Baylor Post Game Thread

[HuskyHawk]

And we were without our senior leader and two national champion Alex Karaban, who is likely to be playing in the NBA next year. I am calling it a wash, though it would be easy to make the argument that Alex was the bigger loss.

yes, yes I am well aware. This was partly a response to something posted that merely said UConn wins without Karaban, so I was just making the point that they were also missing a key player.

 

[3rdbass]

I thought Mahaney really held his own defensively last night, he seemed to he reading the ballhandler much better and even beating him to the spots. McNeeley was really good defensively and he's going to be a + defender. Solo still looks completely lost defensively, it's hard to understand.

Mahaney was better but he still go abused on D on some dribble drives. There was a reason he didn't play a lot in the 2nd half. He still needs to work harder on that part to see the floor consistently.

 

[cp176]

Mahaney was better but he still go abused on D on some dribble drives. There was a reason he didn't play a lot in the 2nd half. He still needs to work harder on that part to see the floor consistently.

No question that even though he did work harder, his defense is way below average but the same could be said about Ball. When i see two guys who repetitively open when their man makes a basket move and don't try to take space away from him, I just don't get it. These are elite athletes we are talking about. I did like the fact that Mahaney tried to get to the rim.

 

[3rdbass]

No question that even though he did work harder, his defense is way below average but the same could be said about Ball. When i see two guys who repetitively open when their man makes a basket move and don't try to take space away from him, I just don't get it. These are elite athletes we are talking about. I did like the fact that Mahaney tried to get to the rim.

I still don't understand why we got Mahaney when we have 3 small guards already and Ball the starter doesn't play D. Didn't Hurley realize we might suffer on that side of the ball? I guess he was just looking at a fit on offense but even there Mahaney was always more of 2G who can create than a true PG. Just a weird pickup considering the current team makeup. I think Mahaney is a good player but maybe not a great fit for this team. Yeah Ball plays no D so picking up Mahaney makes it more of a head scatcher. I know we were involved with Brea. Wasn't he known as a 3 and D type guy or more just 3?

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

Mahaney has finally been moved to SG where he belongs. Nowell s a PG. It’s not an either or situation, they can be on the court at the same time.

In a weird sort of way, the game showed a "two smalls" concept test.

Somewhat akin to having Samson & Tarris on the court at the same time, there was a time in the mid-second half when Hassan & Aidan were on the court together, and it felt like something different from having ball handlers and free throw shooters at the end of the game.

The coaching staff is clearly and necessarily testing a lot of things in real time.

 

[JustbrewitMan]

I still don't understand why we got Mahaney when we have 3 small guards already and Ball the starter doesn't play D. Didn't Hurley realize we might suffer on that side of the ball? I guess he was just looking at a fit on offense but even there Mahaney was always more of 2G who can create than a true PG. Just a weird pickup considering the current team makeup. I think Mahaney is a good player but maybe not a great fit for this team. Yeah Ball plays no D so picking up Mahaney makes it more of a head scatcher. I know we were involved with Brea. Wasn't he known as a 3 and D type guy or more just 3?

I don't think our staff envisioned Ball's defensive development to lag as much as it has been (I'm still gonna be optimistic and say he improves through the course of the season)

Maybe Mahaney promised a late growth spurt over the summer and it never happened (j/k, of course). But it was more likely that the staff felt our offense works just fine without a true traditional PG (which I tend to agree with), and saw enough of his driving/shot creation abilities at StMU that they were comfortable. They also may have been looking at better cohesion with team development over the next 2-3 years (Hass final year, Mahaney 2 more years, Nowell ~2 years)

 

[FfldCntyFan]

I feel like it’s a focus issue. He’ll face up to his man, who dribbles or hesitates and then drives, and Solo reads to me like he’s snapping back to attention a hair too late. Like he was looking for the screener, or something.

Solo does something that RJ Cole did when he was here (which drove me nuts) when guarding the ball handler on the perimeter. He continually looks around at what's going on behind him and more towards the middle of the court and allows the ball handler to get an angle to drive past him. There may be different reasons for the two as to why they took this approach (I always thought Cole was trying to figure out where the pass was going to go while Ball appears to be seeing if he's going to be screened) but it puts the defender in a bad position either way.

 

[cp176]

Solo does something that RJ Cole did when he was here (which drove me nuts) when guarding the ball handler on the perimeter. He continually looks around at what's going on behind him and more towards the middle of the court and allows the ball handler to get an angle to drive past him. There may be different reasons for the two as to why they took this approach (I always thought Cole was trying to figure out where the pass was going to go while Ball appears to be seeing if he's going to be screened) but it puts the defender in a bad position either way.

There are lots of ways to guard the ball directly. You can fan, you can funnel, you can play strong hand and lock them on one quarter of the court. Most importantly and the most basic thought of all is to stay between your man and the basket - keep the ball in front of you. i don't care how good a shooter you might be, you have to be able to do that. The matador defensive technique at any level drives me nuts. If you aren't physically able to do that, we are talking about a whole different story.

 

[CT2SC]

Quick question for anybody. In late game time and score situations, who needs to have the ball? Who won't turn it over and who will likely make their foul shots? I understand that Karaban wasn't out there, but it looked really random and really scary at times. Everything worked out though.

I would say AK, Mahaney and McNeeley.

 

[Lambeau]

The fact is it's usually Diarra controlling the ball and taking the last shot, as against Colorado.

 

[navery12]

Agree, and have Ahmad be first PG off the bench. How come he went from ~20 mins to nothing?

 

[CardiacAndre7]

Damn man

 

[SubbaBub]

First meaning full game where everyone showed they belonged. Still a lot to clean up.

1. Rebounding, we need more of it.
2. Hurley needs to start working in a 3rd center, this foul problem isn't going away.
3. Ball is being underutilized on offense. He can do more than just spot up.
4. Offense needs to run through McNeeley, AK, and Ball/Reed. Johnson, Mahaney and Diarra are secondary options.
5. Not many turnovers but the ones they had were spectacular(ly bad).
6. The one noticable difference this year is more idle dribbling up top. Learn the offense and run it.
7. The student section spooking our own guys at the line can't happen again.
8. Need to find our "we need a bucket this trip" guy. Had 5 or 6 last year. Not sure we have any. We spent a long time sitting on 68 points when 1 bucket would have likely spared us the late game drama.

 

[CardiacAndre7]

First meaning full game where everyone showed they belonged. Still a lot to clean up.

1. Rebounding, we need more of it.
2. Hurley needs to start working in a 3rd center, this foul problem isn't going away.
3. Ball is being underutilized on offense. He can do more than just spot up.
4. Offense needs to run through McNeeley, AK, and Ball/Reed. Johnson, Mahaney and Diarra are secondary options.
5. Not many turnovers but the ones they had were spectacular(ly bad).
6. The one noticable difference this year is more idle dribbling up top. Learn the offense and run it.
7. The student section spooking our own guys at the line can't happen again.
8. Need to find our "we need a bucket this trip" guy. Had 5 or 6 last year. Not sure we have any. We spent a long time sitting on 68 points when 1 bucket would have likely spared us the late game drama.

Point 3: Don’t know what you’ve seen, but he has simply not shown the ability to do more. You think Hurley and Co. wouldn’t love for him to be more versatile?

 

[SubbaBub]

Point 3: Don’t know what you’ve seen, but he has simply not shown the ability to do more. You think Hurley and Co. wouldn’t love for him to be more versatile?

They don't run enough plays for him nor does he get the ball enough. It's clear they want him as the off guard. He's a scorer. If you're going to compliance about the rest of his game then you have to agree he needs more opportunities to score.

 

[AidanFan20]

Finally came around to the Mahaney is more Joey C train after this offseason. Welcome!

Here's a coincidence for ya... Aidan's HS, Campolindo, played Joey's HS, Marin Catholic, today in the finals of a tourney in Santa Rosa. Campolindo won.

 

[444JR]

Diarra 6’2
McNeeley 6’7
Karaban 6’8
Johnson 6’10
Reed Jr. 6’10

I need to see it. McNeeley and Karaban spreading the floor with Diarra penetrating and dumping the ball off to slashing Samson and diving Reed.