Cassell

[Hoophound]

We don't need Cassell to be a great shooter but 35% from three would be better than what we have. These guys can't stop shooting. There is nowhere to score points if the big men can't score. You are looking for Hamilton and Boat to do all the scoring and have the other guys make a bucket of two. Boat might average 20, Hamilton 15. We still need another 35 points and looking down the bench I see Cassell as about my second option behind Purvis to score...and he isn't a good shooter either.

I sure hope Omar comes back strong because 10-11 points from him would help significantly. I think Cassell is in a mini slump. I don't think he is a great shooter but I certainly think he's a decent one. is

 

[mauconnfan]

Team really missed a healthy Purvis yesterday. Three point shooting is critical in college basketball, if you can't hit them, they shut down the lane and everything becomes difficult. With interior defense like Texas has, that's a real problem.

I recall during preseason, many of you said Cassell would start and get 25 mins a game. I didn't see it. He's a nice player, once he learns what he can and can't do at this level. That's going to take some time. It's a pretty big adjustment from JuCo to playing the #7 team in D1. Samuel was and is clearly the better PG.

The Samuel of which half? And of which of the last 3 games? I agree as a pure PG he should be our 2nd best no doubt. But he hasn't lived up to it and neither has Sam Jr as a shooter of any kind. Right now both of them have hurt us although when TSam plays defense like he did in the 2nd half he is clearly the better defender. For now with Rodney and Omar out they both need to play better as neither has asserted themselves as people earning lots of minutes. And if Omar and Rodney play well when they return both will lose PT.

 

[ctchamps]

Uconn turns him into a great shooter... Boneyarders need to calm down... Shot selection is his problem, he needs a niels approach where only good 3s are taken.. Itll come were fine...

There were many a times last season I wished Niels took a Cassell approach!

 

[hthusky74]

I thought in the exhibitions Cassell shot real well. As we've moved into the regular season he seemed to have slumped and the hole keeps getting deeper. His percentages last year were good. He needs to keep shooting as that is the only way to break out of the slump, well that and practice, practice, practice. Where is Ray Ray? Maybe he can spend some time with him and show him how to get it done. I'd like to see Hamilton keep working on his three too. It is good, but I'm thinking he is the next great one.

 

[Brettloaf]

Both Cassell and Purvis really need to start playing better basketball or we may need to experiment with going big. Until further notice we should be playing boat TSAM ( who looked scared yesterday btw) Hamilton Brimah and Facey with Nolan first off the bench.

 

[huskymagic]

Both Cassell and Purvis really need to start playing better basketball or we may need to experiment with going big. Until further notice we should be playing boat TSAM ( who looked scared yesterday btw) Hamilton Brimah and Facey with Nolan first off the bench.

interesting post milkman and good analysis. The lineup listed is probably our lineup for Yale game, and if T-Sam, Purvis, Cassel, Omar arent't playing well I like the idea of playing big like the good old days.

A lineup of Boat, Hamilton, Facey, Nolan, and Brimah deserves some looking into.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

A lineup of Boat, Hamilton, Facey, Nolan, and Brimah deserves some looking into.

I can't even imagine the thought process that leads to the conclusion that this lineup is a good idea.

 

[huskymagic]

I can't even imagine the thought process that leads to the conclusion that this lineup is a good idea.

Posts like this Cracken are the reason we can't have meaningful discussions but I know your goal to rack up as many likes received as possible on the boneyard so sarcasm should do it.

On to more pertinent matters, our lineup issues. Playing big is a good idea especially against teams that press. We have 2 scorers in Boatright and Hamilton, all we need from everybody else is to rebound, defend, block shots, set screens, and feed the ball to Boat and Ham. Facey is a guy that has serious potential of improving and is capable of hitting a jumper out to 15 feet. Going big allows us to crash the board and guys like Facey are quick enough to guard 3's on the perimeter if need be like Roscoe. Playing big allows us to crash the board and force teams to react to our size.

 

[boog204]

Posts like this Cracken are the reason we can't have meaningful discussions but I know your goal to rack up as many likes received as possible on the boneyard so sarcasm should do it.

On to more pertinent matters, our lineup issues. Playing big is a good idea especially against teams that press. We have 2 scorers in Boatright and Hamilton, all we need from everybody else is to rebound, defend, block shots, set screens, and feed the ball to Boat and Ham. Facey is a guy that has serious potential of improving and is capable of hitting a jumper out to 15 feet. Going big allows us to crash the board and guys like Facey are quick enough to guard 3's on the perimeter if need be like Roscoe. Playing big allows us to crash the board and force teams to react to our size.

Facey is not a 3. I know there is a video of him hitting 3's against a ballboy, but does not mean that he has that type of "in-game" range. This lineup would mean that Facey would be getting the ball on the wing in our half court offense and need to make decisions with the ball and be in the "triple-threat" position. He does not have those skills yet. Putting him at the 3 would be like the year when Freeman was our 3 and he was a pump-faking maniac who totally bogged down our offense. That is a terrible lineup with only two ballhandlers, two guys who are willing to take a shot (Facey is excellent around the hoop), and would rely on Facey guarding guys on the perimeter.

 

[huskymagic]

Facey is not a 3. I know there is a video of him hitting 3's against a ballboy, but does not mean that he has that type of "in-game" range. This lineup would mean that Facey would be getting the ball on the wing in our half court offense and need to make decisions with the ball and be in the "triple-threat" position. He does not have those skills yet. Putting him at the 3 would be like the year when Freeman was our 3 and he was a pump-faking maniac who totally bogged down our offense. That is a terrible lineup with only two ballhandlers, two guys who are willing to take a shot (Facey is excellent around the hoop), and would rely on Facey guarding guys on the perimeter.

you do realize that Kentucky plays with the Harrison Twins, Poythress, Towns, and WCS as their starting lineup something similar to the big lineup we should experiment with to see how it works. If not T-Sam, Purvis, Cassell, Omar are right there to mix and match. Your focusing too much about X's and O's, basketball is simple its about putting the 5 guys out there that give you the best chance to win. This is a suggestion that deserves tempering with if our guards other than Boatright and Hamilton can't be productive.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Playing big is a good idea especially against teams that press.

Even better, you want that lineup against the press.

I think a lineup of Brimah, Nolan, Dave Sevush, James Doran, and Jonathan Husky might be effective against certain zones.

 

[boog204]

you do realize that Kentucky plays with the Harrison Twins, Poythress, Towns, and WCS as their starting lineup something similar to the big lineup we should experiment with to see how it works. If not T-Sam, Purvis, Cassell, Omar are right there to mix and match. Your focusing too much about X's and O's, basketball is simple its about putting the 5 guys out there that give you the best chance to win. This is a suggestion that deserves tempering with if our guards other than Boatright and Hamilton can't be productive.

You do realize that the Harrison twins are both guards and that Poythress and Towns both have perimeter skills, right? Nolan and Brimah have next to no offensive ability and Facey most definitely is not a 3. Not really a good comp, in my opinion.

X and O's aside, we are having a world of difficult scoring points b/c of a lack of ballhandling and shooting. This lineup makes us more deficient in both areas.

 

[huskymagic]

Even better, you want that lineup against the press.

I think a lineup of Brimah, Nolan, Dave Sevush, James Doran, and Jonathan Husky might be effective against certain zones.

your doing an awesome job proving my point

 

[Gurleyman]

you do realize that Kentucky plays with the Harrison Twins, Poythress, Towns, and WCS as their starting lineup something similar to the big lineup we should experiment with to see how it works. If not T-Sam, Purvis, Cassell, Omar are right there to mix and match. Your focusing too much about X's and O's, basketball is simple its about putting the 5 guys out there that give you the best chance to win. This is a suggestion that deserves tempering with if our guards other than Boatright and Hamilton can't be productive.

If you play your lineup against me, I'll run a double at Boat every time he touches the ball and stay at home on Hamilton. Now what are your three non-shooting, non-passing post players going to do with the ball on the perimeter?

If you get it into a big, I'll double immediately off one of your other bigs and stay at home on Boat and Hamilton. Now what?

 

[huskymagic]

You do realize that the Harrison twins are both guards and that Poythress and Towns both have perimeter skills, right? Nolan and Brimah have next to no offensive ability and Facey most definitely is not a 3. Not really a good comp, in my opinion.

X and O's aside, we are having a world of difficult scoring points b/c of a lack of ballhandling and shooting. This lineup makes us more deficient in both areas.

What we need is some "nasty" from our players like the Calhoun teams of the past decade and a half. I am seeing too much indecision with the ball and not enough grit. The main concern for me are toughness, smarts, and decision making more than ball handling and shooting although shooting is a problem no doubt.

 

[huskymagic]

If you play your lineup against me, I'll run a double at Boat every time he touches the ball and stay at home on Hamilton. Now what are your three non-shooting, non-passing post players going to do with the ball on the perimeter?

If you get it into a big, I'll double immediately off one of your other bigs and stay at home on Boat and Hamilton. Now what?

get the ball to Facey at the free throw line and throw a lob for Brimah for the dunk before the double comes. Nolan or Facey with the put back if he misses

 

[Rocktheworld]

Playing big is a good idea especially against teams that press.

 

[jleves]

Posts like this Cracken are the reason we can't have meaningful discussions but I know your goal to rack up as many likes received as possible on the boneyard so sarcasm should do it.

On to more pertinent matters, our lineup issues. Playing big is a good idea especially against teams that press. We have 2 scorers in Boatright and Hamilton, all we need from everybody else is to rebound, defend, block shots, set screens, and feed the ball to Boat and Ham. Facey is a guy that has serious potential of improving and is capable of hitting a jumper out to 15 feet. Going big allows us to crash the board and guys like Facey are quick enough to guard 3's on the perimeter if need be like Roscoe. Playing big allows us to crash the board and force teams to react to our size.

Sarcasm only gets likes when it correctly exposes ridiculous ideas.

And on that note - you want to combat teams that press with worse ball handling and passing? Brilliant.

 

[Gurleyman]

get the ball to Facey at the free throw line and throw a lob for Brimah for the dunk before the double comes. Nolan or Facey with the put back if he misses

A lob? One of my bigs is always camped out deep in the paint because I don't have to worry at all about chasing three bigs around the perimeter. If one big gets it, one guy can always cover the other two bigs off the ball, since they aren't a threat outside of five feet.

Best you can hope for using Facey (who has two assists all year) as an outlet against the double, is him swinging it and getting a 15 foot jumper from Nolan or Brimah. And I'll have to see them make it several times before I think about adjusting.

You can beat it with quick big to big interior passing, but I don't think your bigs can do it. And I'll enjoy those turnovers, since I can outrun all your bigs down court and get at least a 3 on 2 every time,

 

[huskymagic]

Sarcasm only gets likes when it correctly exposes ridiculous ideas.

And on that note - you want to combat teams that press with worse ball handling and passing? Brilliant.

Some of you guys get caught up in simple semantics. Pressing is effective against little guards it doesn't work as well with a 6'9 guy or 7 footer who can see over the top of a press and pass to effective ball handlers and passers in boat and ham.

 

[BoatShow]

Posts like this Cracken are the reason we can't have meaningful discussions but I know your goal to rack up as many likes received as possible on the boneyard so sarcasm should do it.

On to more pertinent matters, our lineup issues. Playing big is a good idea especially against teams that press. We have 2 scorers in Boatright and Hamilton, all we need from everybody else is to rebound, defend, block shots, set screens, and feed the ball to Boat and Ham. Facey is a guy that has serious potential of improving and is capable of hitting a jumper out to 15 feet. Going big allows us to crash the board and guys like Facey are quick enough to guard 3's on the perimeter if need be like Roscoe. Playing big allows us to crash the board and force teams to react to our size.

My concern would be a secondary ball handler. Hamilton has decent handle for his size but he's not quite at the level we'd want him to be.

 

[johnhuskies95]

Some of you guys get caught up in simple semantics. Pressing is effective against little guards it doesn't work as well with a 6'9 guy or 7 footer who can see over the top of a press and pass to effective ball handlers and passers in boat and ham.

You can't beat a press with maybe 2 decent ball handlers. Sorry. And your second ball handler committed 8 turnovers the last time he was pressed.

This is a ridiculous conversation though because very few teams can effectively press.

 

[Rocktheworld]

Pressing is effective against little guards

Yeah the rest of the sporting world thought this on April 6. Then the Harrison twins met Ryan Boatright.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Upon further reflection, I am willing to give Cassell a few more games before I completely write him off. Anyone with me?

 

[jleves]

Some of you guys get caught up in simple semantics. Pressing is effective against little guards it doesn't work as well with a 6'9 guy or 7 footer who can see over the top of a press and pass to effective ball handlers and passers in boat and ham.

My god - can't you ever just realize you are wrong? Do you think you are smarter than the staff in evaluating who might be better at beating the press? If so, maybe you should be coaching. If the best lineup vs the press was a guard, a small forward and three bigs, I think they might have done that. They haven't for a reason. It's not because they are not as smart as you. Several people have pointed out how that lineup would be horrible. You don't seem to be able to accept your idea was not good.

 

[David 76]

We didn't lose this game due to a lack of three point shooting. We lost because of an inability to score any basket for 7 minutes. During that period we were unable to make a play. The ball (iirc) never went in to the bigs. Passing at the perimeter until the shot clock is about to expire. No one drove to the hoop except Boat's effort that was blocked. Seven minutes. I saw the same approach for every possession no matter how much it was failing.

It is too early to write any player off. But we need an offensive scheme. And it has to occasionally involve or front court

 

[caw]

A lineup with Facey, Nolan and Brimah all in together would be horrendous for spacing. If UConn ever trotted that out, I would fall back into a zone and camp 1 or 2 guys smack in the middle of the paint. Defensively it could work against some teams (not ones that play 3-4 guards).

 

[huskyharry]

Cassell is just not a great shooter - wasn't one in high school and wasn't one at junior college. If you're waiting for him to hit 38-40% of his threes, you're going to be waiting a while.

He is a volume shooter, though, and that's starting to become a problem.

The kid is an 80% free throw shooter from way back...when he resolves to just stand out and throw the ball towards the basket, he's basically turning the ball over. Move towards the basket, post up a smaller guard, get to the middle against the zone, whatever...just stop pretending you're Ray Allen out there.

Agree...if you are not hitting your shots, then take a step in and make a couple to get the confidence back. Also, consider decreasing the amount of fade away or sideways motion until you get the touch back.
He was red hot in the preseason and those shots were open then as well.

 

[Danzz]

interesting post milkman and good analysis. The lineup listed is probably our lineup for Yale game, and if T-Sam, Purvis, Cassel, Omar arent't playing well I like the idea of playing big like the good old days.

A lineup of Boat, Hamilton, Facey, Nolan, and Brimah deserves some looking into.

Do you realize that we don't have the Harrison twins? WE have bigs who are not scorers and playing them all together won't make them scorers, I thought in preseason that scoring was going to be our problem and right now we have Boat and Hamilton and not much else. Somebody will emerge as the season goes on or we will be playing against sagging zones all season basically negating slashers like Purvis. Omar could be the guy if he ever gets healthy.

 

[HuskyBballFan]

Some of you guys get caught up in simple semantics. Pressing is effective against little guards it doesn't work as well with a 6'9 guy or 7 footer who can see over the top of a press and pass to effective ball handlers and passers in boat and ham.

No.

There are plenty of ways to attack a press, but putting the ball in the hands of Amida Brimah, Phil Nolan, or Kentan Facey in the backcourt and expecting them to make good decisions is definitely not one of them. And how exactly can Daniel Hamilton, who had 8 turnovers against West Virginia's press, be called "an effective ball handler and passer" against a pressing defense?

Against that lineup, teams would deny Boatright the ball and then laugh as the other four guys try and get the ball over halfcourt.

In 2009 when we beat Louisville in their gym, Stanley Robinson played 2 minutes. He started the game and Calhoun quickly realized that a three guard lineup would be much better against their press than playing a 6'9'' guy who can "see over the defense" but can't actually dribble. The only thing scarier than Stanley Robinson at the 3 against a press is Kentan Facey at the 3 against a press.