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Message: [QUOTE="Hunt for 7, post: 5128539, member: 12414"] We are giving up wide open threes and we also cannot rebound very well. While zones do help stop dribble penetration they are susceptible to giving up threes (we allowed over 52% in both games) and offensive rebounds and since we don’t look like a very good rebounding team that could make it worse. I would prefer to keep grinding on defense just get better at not being to committed, to helping, so we can close out on the shooter with more effectiveness. Then on the dribble penetration my instruction to Tarris and Johnson is DO NOT LEAVE YOUR FEET until you are going for the rebound. Just wall up make it a semi contested layup. Granted these two teams may never shoot over 50% from three again but for some context Colorado shot 21% in their first Maui game and Memphis shot 34% in their game against MichST. So our defense seems to have helped them find better shots, I know it is a small sample size, although we kind of looked pedestrian at defending the three point line even against the cupcakes. Just don’t think a zone is the right play unless you have Ross/Ball, Stewart, Liam. AK and Reed/Johnson. You need long players to play zone not necessarily great athletes but long players that can make the entry passes more difficult and challenge the three because they don’t have as much ground to cover to get to the shooter and close out. We have run into a few three point shooters because we are having to close out at top speed and can’t control our body enough to avoid the shooter. I really think we need to make Nowell the starting point guard, he will make freshman mistakes but so did Khalid, but I understand he is not KEA but he looks like our best option. I commented after the URI game that Nowell might end up being our best point guard and that is looking like the case. He reminds me a bit of Taliek Brown, but I do think he will be a better shooter. They have some similarities and clearly uses his bulk coupled with very good quickness and speed to defend. I really think he may be a very important part of where this season goes. [/QUOTE]

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