Chief’s Briefs - MES Edition

[gtcam]

I am tired of Sanogo playing hero ball 10-15 feet from the basket, throwing up prayers, surrounded by 3 defenders. To be honest the team played like crap with him on the floor and without him on the floor - he isn't the hero that he and DH obviously feel he to be. Can the staff not see this isn't working? Why have there been no adjustments?
While Cole saved their bacon last night and has on several occasions this season, he is not a PG. He doesn't set tempo for the team and does very little in directing the team - Martin is better at that skill. This team really needs a true PG, Gaff has proven to have more liabilities than assets right now. Why not try Sool???
I know there is a certain poster who claims that AJ is the second coming of God. The kid is an athlete but so is Mark Spitz and Usain Bolt but that doesn't mean they are good basketball players and neither is AJ at this point. He doesn't score, has weak hands and his handle is suspect.
I am a huge Hawkins fan but he did not play well yesterday. I've seen him handle the ball expertly but he is stumbling in that area now. He was open so many time yesterday and begged for the ball but RJ and Sanogo were ignoring him. I know he will come around and emerge soon.
Whaley didn't have his best game but still did enough to team with Cole and provide the victory.
This team misses Martin and the energy he brings on all areas of the court - it was as evident as missing Whaley in the MSU game.
Let's see what they show Saturday vs Grambling who is bigger than MES. I am looking to see if DH has made some adjustments in several areas and plays some kids that he may be forced to use if there are injuries, etc. Still waiting for him to make rotation changes quicker and learn when to call a time out and not save them for next year.
Hopefully this was an anomaly, if not, West Virginia and the Bonnies will make them pay - heavily.

 

[Chief00]

Selvie was very much prone to the hook of JC.

A quick one but usually we’ll deserved. LOL

 

[Chief00]

I am tired of Sanogo playing hero ball 10-15 feet from the basket, throwing up prayers, surrounded by 3 defenders. To be honest the team played like crap with him on the floor and without him on the floor - he isn't the hero that he and DH obviously feel he to be. Can the staff not see this isn't working? Why have there been no adjustments?
While Cole saved their bacon last night and has on several occasions this season, he is not a PG. He doesn't set tempo for the team and does very little in directing the team - Martin is better at that skill. This team really needs a true PG, Gaff has proven to have more liabilities than assets right now. Why not try Sool???
I know there is a certain poster who claims that AJ is the second coming of God. The kid is an athlete but so is Mark Spitz and Usain Bolt but that doesn't mean they are good basketball players and neither is AJ at this point. He doesn't score, has weak hands and his handle is suspect.
I am a huge Hawkins fan but he did not play well yesterday. I've seen him handle the ball expertly but he is stumbling in that area now. He was open so many time yesterday and begged for the ball but RJ and Sanogo were ignoring him. I know he will come around and emerge soon.
Whaley didn't have his best game but still did enough to team with Cole and provide the victory.
This team misses Martin and the energy he brings on all areas of the court - it was as evident as missing Whaley in the MSU game.
Let's see what they show Saturday vs Grambling who is bigger than MES. I am looking to see if DH has made some adjustments in several areas and plays some kids that he may be forced to use if there are injuries, etc. Still waiting for him to make rotation changes quicker and learn when to call a time out and not save them for next year.
Hopefully this was an anomaly, if not, West Virginia and the Bonnies will make them pay - heavily.

Many good points. Sanogo is two different players 6 and 12 feet from the hoop. Agree, we are making what should be a simple game difficult by not moving the ball to an open man in a spot he can score with good efficiency.

 

[BuffaloHusky]

This is not an excuse but playing cupcakes at the XL after an intense road game(s) or tipping off at noon will always be recipes for letdowns. In these cases, we will rarely score style points so hopefully we just win, learn something and move on.

 

[Fatroony5]

Certainly not in panic mode, very fixable things out there. But a few things stick out to me: first is the slow starts. This team is allergic to starting off hot. Not saying I’d make any changes to the line up, but man, they are going to lose games based upon putting themselves in major holes. Sometimes you just gotta yank a guy quick and throw a different look in there. He rides that line up way too long when things don’t start well.

The forcing the post is getting completely out of hand. Had to have been at least 7-8 turnovers or deflections that lead to out of bounds throw ins from forcing action in bad spots. Whaley, AJax both had multiple turnovers or near turnovers from doing that. They should not be feeding Sanogo 15 feet from the basket if the staff is going to allow him to try and back his way down from that far. 6-8 feet is one thing, 15 feet isn’t working. Really surprised the staff haven’t thrown a counter action on that play, I’m not sure why they haven’t. It’s a simple fix.

Lastly, on ball defense has been worse than anticipated. Guards really having their way and getting blow bys, leading to a lot of fouls. Gotta clean that up. I thought this would be a top 10-15 defensive team but they’re trending in the wrong direction. Little stuff to correct can go a long way. Hopefully they get it sorted out, they’ll be fine if they can make those adjustments.

 

[Kolumbo]

I have no idea how anyone could have watched tonight's game and come away with the impression that Cole was the problem

I don't think he was saying Cole is the problem with the team, and I didn't get to see the game. Cole and Sanogo lead the team by far with 96 shots each. I think his point is that a point guard should not be one of the primary scorers. I wouldn't say Cole is the most prolific scorer they've ever had so for him to be taking all the shots is a problem. Taliek was by far a better PG because he pushed and dictated the tempo.

 

[ucp990411]

One problem with Sanogo is that he is receiving the ball too far from the basket which forces him to dribble. Get him in the low block, let him use his butt to seal his man and get him the ball.
As far as RJ, in my opinion he may go down as one of the all time great point guards. Tate had Smitty, KO had Doron, Khalid had Ricky, Taliek had Ben, AJ Price had Dyson, Kemba had Shabazz, Shabazz had Boatright. Who does RJ have to share the point guard load with - nobody!

 

[2014DualCs]

It's great to move up in the rankings. Let's just remember how soft the schedule has been overall and that 7-1 is really a result of scheduling. I'll take it. But let's not be surprised when Big East play starts.

2nd straight year at 7-1.

 

[Chief00]

This is not an excuse but playing cupcakes at the XL after an intense road game(s) or tipping off at noon will always be recipes for letdowns. In these cases, we will rarely score style points so hopefully we just win, learn something and move on.

Chief always hated those noon games. They were not kind to Jerome Dyson.

 

[Chief00]

Certainly not in panic mode, very fixable things out there. But a few things stick out to me: first is the slow starts. This team is allergic to starting off hot. Not saying I’d make any changes to the line up, but man, they are going to lose games based upon putting themselves in major holes. Sometimes you just gotta yank a guy quick and throw a different look in there. He rides that line up way too long when things don’t start well.

The forcing the post is getting completely out of hand. Had to have been at least 7-8 turnovers or deflections that lead to out of bounds throw ins from forcing action in bad spots. Whaley, AJax both had multiple turnovers or near turnovers from doing that. They should not be feeding Sanogo 15 feet from the basket if the staff is going to allow him to try and back his way down from that far. 6-8 feet is one thing, 15 feet isn’t working. Really surprised the staff haven’t thrown a counter action on that play, I’m not sure why they haven’t. It’s a simple fix.

Lastly, on ball defense has been worse than anticipated. Guards really having their way and getting blow bys, leading to a lot of fouls. Gotta clean that up. I thought this would be a top 10-15 defensive team but they’re trending in the wrong direction. Little stuff to correct can go a long way. Hopefully they get it sorted out, they’ll be fine if they can make those adjustments.

Typically, not enough shooters in the starting lineups.

 

[Husky1972]

Sanogo reminds me of the pitcher who has the yips and just can't throw to first base. Psychologically blocked from passing the ball.

 

[Chief00]

Sanogo reminds me of the pitcher who has the yips and just can't throw to first base. Psychologically blocked from passing the ball.

I think in HS, Sanogo could just have his way down low. Drummond, believe it or not, despite becoming a historic NBA rebounder had to learn in college how to carve out position. In HS he could just reach and jump over people.

 

[awfuldan]

2nd straight year at 7-1.

Damn, I had no memory that we got to 7-1 last year before losing four of the next five. Could have easily been 8-0 with the blown loss to Creighton. Crazy that we were deep into January and the Big East season after eight games last year. Such a strange season.

 

[Ts5034]

Damn, I had no memory that we got to 7-1 last year before losing four of the next five. Could have easily been 8-0 with the blown loss to Creighton. Crazy that we were deep into January and the Big East season after eight games last year. Such a strange season.

IIRC, we had a long gap leading up to the Creighton game because of Covid. We were supposed to play NC State at Mohegan, but that game was called off. I think by the time we played Creighton, we were off for over 2 weeks.

 

[August_West]

Damn, I had no memory that we got to 7-1 last year before losing four of the next five. Could have easily been 8-0 with the blown loss to Creighton. Crazy that we were deep into January and the Big East season after eight games last year. Such a strange season.

Crieghton where Bouk dropped 40. People wonder why some people on the boneyard have skittishness about this years team and tend to have negative takes? Its because we've seen this movie before. We were HORRIBLE closing out games last year, (you want me to list it?) and despite our 7-1 record we are horrible at it this year. Auburn never should've seen OT, Michigan state was a win we turned into a loss. We didn't have a problem closing out VCU, we were losing to them all game (which I dont take as a plus) .So despite the different team makeup, we do the same stuff in regards to winning time. I don't expect to win every game, but Id rather get beaten than beat ourselves in crunch time.

 

[2014DualCs]

Crieghton where Bouk dropped 40. People wonder why some people on the boneyard have skittishness about this years team and tend to have negative takes? Its because we've seen this movie before. We were HORRIBLE closing out games last year, (you want me to list it?) and despite our 7-1 record we are horrible at it this year. Auburn never should've seen OT, Michigan state was a win we turned into a loss. We didn't have a problem closing out VCU, we were losing to them all game (which I dont take as a plus) .So despite the different team makeup, we do the same stuff in regards to winning time. I don't expect to win every game, but Id rather get beaten than beat ourselves in crunch time.

It cost us MSU but 7-1 is 7-1. Duke couldn't close out OSU, which I would assume we're in agreement is a worse team than MSU, down the stretch either. It happens, learn from it, and hopefully do better.

Also, I think that's completely separate from VCU (where we were tired with little to no motivation to play and VCU plays tough seeing that small number next to UConn's name) and UMES (Low energy game on a Tuesday night where UMES got some tough, tough shots to fall seemingly all game).

I'll remain optimistic on this team until they show me otherwise. Onto Grambling.

 

[Chief00]

Crieghton where Bouk dropped 40. People wonder why some people on the boneyard have skittishness about this years team and tend to have negative takes? Its because we've seen this movie before. We were HORRIBLE closing out games last year, (you want me to list it?) and despite our 7-1 record we are horrible at it this year. Auburn never should've seen OT, Michigan state was a win we turned into a loss. We didn't have a problem closing out VCU, we were losing to them all game (which I dont take as a plus) .So despite the different team makeup, we do the same stuff in regards to winning time. I don't expect to win every game, but Id rather get beaten than beat ourselves in crunch time.

Chief agrees, you don’t want to have continuous beat yourself plays. It’s like a football team with sloppy penalties and careless turnovers. It’s not what good winning teams do.