Cole's three was a game changer. | The Boneyard

Cole's three was a game changer.

Palatine

Palatine

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DePaul had the momentum had just gone up by four. No one on our offense seemed to be stepping up. RJ hit the the three. Martin stole the ball and scored. Ad we were ahead. DePaul responded with a dunk --- then never scored again. Big shot by RJ stemmed the tide. Stopped the roll. Whatever. Big shot.
 
Yeah that was a catch and shoot three from the corner. He’s made a couple of those this year and looks very confident when he shoots it. He looks much less confident shooting off the dribble yet at Howard that’s what he was known for.
 
Big Shot Cole
 
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That was a huge shot the timing was a must as a miss and another DePaul score could’ve made it a half dozen. Big shot.

But he can’t be dribbling off his foot without hardly being guarded and can’t have 3-4 throws hoping to get foul calls. Having said all of this he’s our best option at PG as Gaff is lost. Anyone else notice this sudden underhand pass he has which somehow he believes is “pretty” but instead he delivered to Polleys knees once so he couldn’t get a shot off? A guy who is struggling so much shouldn’t be trying to look anything but steady when he gets in no mustard required. Listen based on the early reviews it’s not going to be pretty at guard all that often. Neither PG can take their guy off the dribble and create they’re both slow. Brendan can’t play the point unless the other team doesn’t have a great defender who can break him down so it’s up to those 2 for the most part. Scary but real. Keep working and defending the best they can, keep the turnovers down and with Bouk back at some point we’ll be ok. Just wish we had a dynamic point this team could be special.
 
Huskybass said:
Last night I realized that Cole seems to be more effective playing off the ball. That was a back breaking shot. Nice to see Martin and Cole both contribute down the stretch.
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Yup...he seems to be a much more effective shooter with his feet set on kick outs rather than off the dribble. Unfortunately, this isn't an ideal situation for a 5'11" PG, but it is what it is. Occasionally, he'll pop a three off the dribble in a 1:1 type situation but it almost always seems off balance and misses. If I were Hurley, I'd try to set up a few situations early on in the game where he can get open for a kick out 3 and hopefully get him in a bit of a shooting rhythm early on.
 
Cole is actually shooting a little better from 3 than Bouknight is. He leads the team in attempts (wouldn't if Bouknight didn't miss time). He's a decent shooter out there when he's getting open looks. Shooting .342.

He has disappointed with the floater. That should be going in at a higher percentage. I can only guess that when he's in that intermediate area he's facing more length than he usually did a level down. His 2 pt. percentage is under 32%. That is awful. Too many missed layups as well.
 
Palatine said:
DePaul had the momentum had just gone up by four. No one on our offense seemed to be stepping up. RJ hit the the three. Martin stole the ball and scored. Ad we were ahead. DePaul responded with a dunk --- then never scored again. Big shot by RJ stemmed the tide. Stopped the roll. Whatever. Big shot.
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Yup. A big adjustment that helped change the momentum in our favor was getting the ball out of our guards hands and letting Martin run the point/bring the ball up the floor
 
HuskyHawk said:
Cole is actually shooting a little better from 3 than Bouknight is. He leads the team in attempts (wouldn't if Bouknight didn't miss time). He's a decent shooter out there when he's getting open looks. Shooting .342.

He has disappointed with the floater. That should be going in at a higher percentage. I can only guess that when he's in that intermediate area he's facing more length than he usually did a level down. His 2 pt. percentage is under 32%. That is awful. Too many missed layups as well.
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Much like AG at 5'9-5'10 they get swallowed need to have a pull up and use it. And need to make the floater as you stated, once in a while. Still have faith his confidence and creativity will allow that soon but it's needed.
 
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Palatine said:
DePaul had the momentum had just gone up by four. No one on our offense seemed to be stepping up. RJ hit the the three. Martin stole the ball and scored. Ad we were ahead. DePaul responded with a dunk --- then never scored again. Big shot by RJ stemmed the tide. Stopped the roll. Whatever. Big shot.
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Huge shot, and an awesome job by Martin to drive and kick it to him. Facilitating isn't Martin's strength, but he did just enough to draw a defender and get it to an open RJ.
 
HuskyHawk said:
Cole is actually shooting a little better from 3 than Bouknight is. He leads the team in attempts (wouldn't if Bouknight didn't miss time). He's a decent shooter out there when he's getting open looks. Shooting .342.

He has disappointed with the floater. That should be going in at a higher percentage. I can only guess that when he's in that intermediate area he's facing more length than he usually did a level down. His 2 pt. percentage is under 32%. That is awful. Too many missed layups as well.
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Remember, he took 18 FGA per game at Howard. I agree with the floater, that was his bread and butter in his highlights (from a casual on-looker). It seems, based on FGA that Hurley wants him shooting 3’s and is letting Bouk and Martin slash to the hoop. IMO that’s good coaching.
 
He’s been more under control the last couple games. I was concerned he was going to try to do too much without Bouk but he hasn’t been too bad there.
 
Palatine said:
DePaul had the momentum had just gone up by four. No one on our offense seemed to be stepping up. RJ hit the the three. Martin stole the ball and scored. Ad we were ahead. DePaul responded with a dunk --- then never scored again. Big shot by RJ stemmed the tide. Stopped the roll. Whatever. Big shot.
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This at least the second time that Cole has hit a 3 pointer in the last 10 minutes in a game where we were floundering and not scoring. I remember thinking that at the time last night when he shot it. I thought, "we can rely on this guy to hit big shots when they are available, no fear." Some guys have that, some don't. He shoots the open 3 very well, and with Bouk and Polley in games late, we have 3 guys who are big time shot makers who will not be affected by the moment.
I'm very happy with Cole. Doing a great job for us.
 
When Bouk comes back we will have lots of scoring options with Cole, Martin, and Polley emerging. Add Whaley to the mix and that's a lineup with lots of firepower. Unfortunately, Cole seems to be best playing off the ball so perhaps have Bouk or Martin with the ball in their hands more.
 
I said in another thread that this shot was the turning point of the second half. It was getting away from us and that shot kept us in contact, and our defense took over from there.

Everyone keeps making the wrong comparisons here.

Cole is not Gilbert, Donnell Beverly (come on), or Antoine Anderson (now you're just being a d___).

Cole is Sterling Gibbs. He's miscast as a break-you-down-off-the-dribble guy. He's a steady PG who can set up your offense and help with spacing. But he's better as a spot-up shooter than taking it to the rim.

What Hurley did down the stretch having Martin on the ball and Cole available on kickouts is what we should be doing more of. In the future it will be Bouknight, even better.
 
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I am hopeful that Gaffney's problem is his confidence. I have seen him physically make plays that were of the "why can't he do more of that" variety. I believe that the lack of practices and games has hurt him mentally.
 
This was a 4-out PnR play with Martin on the ball (Whaley, Cole, Martin, Polley, Adams). Whaley slipped the pick, dragging his help defender early, Martin used the space and drove and got a step and leverage on his man, forced the help and kicked to the open Cole without charging. I give Martin even more credit than Cole on this play.
 
That was big but my god there wasn’t a DePaul player within 10 feet of him
Their whole team collapsed on Martin
 
An equally big play for us was that Martin wide open layup off the inbound with around 2 minutes left. That put us up 2 possessions at a critical time. Must have been some kind of defensive breakdown by DePaul to allow that.
 
I love how he made Adams Moore dribble out of bounds while falling on his face. That was Boatrightesq.
 
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Palatine said:
DePaul had the momentum had just gone up by four. No one on our offense seemed to be stepping up. RJ hit the the three. Martin stole the ball and scored. Ad we were ahead. DePaul responded with a dunk --- then never scored again. Big shot by RJ stemmed the tide. Stopped the roll. Whatever. Big shot.
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Adams bringing up the ball has helped Cole. But where does Gaffney fit in to this rotation?
 
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mauconnfan said:
Much like AG at 5'9-5'10 they get swallowed need to have a pull up and use it. And need to make the floater as you stated, once in a while. Still have faith his confidence and creativity will allow that soon but it's needed.
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And stop leaning into his shot and just shoot straight up
 
UcannUconn said:
An equally big play for us was that Martin wide open layup off the inbound with around 2 minutes left. That put us up 2 possessions at a critical time. Must have been some kind of defensive breakdown by DePaul to allow that.
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UcannUconn said:
An equally big play for us was that Martin wide open layup off the inbound with around 2 minutes left. That put us up 2 possessions at a critical time. Must have been some kind of defensive breakdown by DePaul to allow that.
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Off a timeout. Great call by Dan Hurley
 
Greathusky said:
I am hopeful that Gaffney's problem is his confidence. I have seen him physically make plays that were of the "why can't he do more of that" variety. I believe that the lack of practices and games has hurt him mentally.
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I second your sentiment, including couching it as a hope rather than a prediction.

This thread has so much of what I saw and thought and felt last night.

Without solid point guard play - and we really do not have it right now- last night was a very uneasy game to watch.

But we do have a roster filled with options and alternatives, and as noted in the opening post here, except for the dunk right after we took the lead, we pitched a shutout to end the game. We didn't even hit the free throws that will be necessary in upcoming games against better competition. That is hugely hopeful.

Coaching and chemistry will be essential for this season. Not really a surprise, but it will be the difference between disappointment, Top 25, Top 10, or dreams of anything higher. And all are imaginable.

Last year, when we could not yet capture and keep the lead, there were the panicked complaints about lack of leadership and smarts that lasted up until Whaley started to flower, and Bouk grew, which led to a more properly proportioned Vital.

What I'm most hopeful to see developing is a collective, "Team IQ" that will result in adjustments to hot hands, foul trouble, injuries, schedule disruptions, COVID stuff, etc. Confidence in alternatives, and essential resilience that combines experienced seniors (whoda thunk that two - or even one -year ago), well-chosen transfers, and a significant upgrade in recruited talent. In sum, it's "Year three of a rebuild," mid-January with only 8 games played

The coaching staff has point guard experience, but until that bears greater fruit, savor the fact that DePaul did not score in the final 4:27.
 
87Xfer said:
And I thought the BY decided Hurley's a lousy in-game coach, too.
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"Worst coaching performance of all time" was one assertion, iirc.
 
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