Complaints, criticisms, comments

[FfldCntyFan]

There are quite a few things I want to comment on (in no particular order):

• Somebody needs to tell our players (guards/wings) that they don’t have to immediately dribble the ball when they receive a pass on the perimeter. Over the last two games I lost count of how many times someone received the pass, dribbled once or twice then stopped, got bodied up or double teamed and was lost as he could no longer dribble. If you have a path and want to cut to the lane or make space for a jump shot, fine, dribble (and move) immediately after receiving the ball. If you need to assess the situation, wait until you understand where the outlet is (if you get trapped) before dribbling.
• This wasn’t happening earlier in the season but very often in half-court offense we have two or three guys who just stand in a spot. It isn’t necessarily that they are intentionally there for spacing (as often the lane is still clogged) but this has got to stop. One of our (alleged) strengths is our depth. If we make every opponent work on defense our depth will be more of an asset.
• We need to limit threes very early in the shot clock to situations where we have at least one of our players in position to possibly get a rebound. The past few games I believe we are averaging about a half dozen of these a game where we have an 8-10 second one and done possession because a three was launched with the shooter one of the (if not the) closes UConn player to the basket.
• Sanogo needs to learn how to see the double team coming and the remainder of the offense needs to learn to react to this. If someone doubles him, they are leaving one of our guys open. Granted our player may need to move a bit to create sufficient space and a passing lane but this isn’t rocket science, it’s a fundamental concept they should have learned at 10, 12, 14 years old. There are too many instances where he gets caught up and cannot pass out of it (a combination of his waiting too long and there being no path for him to pass).
• I’m sick of our guards penetrating (when they do penetrate) without a plan on what to do. This happened a few times against PC and what seemed like a dozen times against Xavier where whoever it was ended up having to pick up his dribble, with his back to the lane and nowhere to go with the ball. Dribble penetration should lead to easy baskets as someone, somewhere is open. Understand who it is that left their assignment and find the guy he left open.
• Someone needs to explain to me how our last two opponents were able to spread us out on defense repeatedly yet we are incapable of doing the same.
• On the subject of spreading the opposition’s defense, we need to run a play four-five times a game where Hawkins gets a pass where he can slash through a (somewhat) open lane. Yes, he is an excellent three point shooter but he also is a ridiculous athlete (and likely the only one on our roster) who can consistently drive the lane for points. This will also give him more space for three point shots.
• I don’t mind the idea of Sanogo and Clingan being on the court together but I wouldn’t do this for more than a couple minutes at time and I wouldn’t do this for more than six to eight minutes a game.
• A few of our players need to understand that being an unselfish team (I will argue later that this may not really be the case for us) does not necessarily make you a high basketball IQ team. We all too often pass out of a good situation (open shot, position to drive and dish) into a bad one just because whoever has the ball believes he’s supposed to pass it off immediately. We threw away about a dozen possessions the past two games due to this.
• We need a point guard whisperer.
• We need (at least two, preferably more) leaders on this team who understand when critical situations arise. In both of our last two games, in the loss to NM St in the tourney last spring, the loss to Nova in the BET before that and the loss at Creighton in the regular season last year all had critical situations where, our better teams from the past few decades (didn’t need to be title teams) always seemed to understand that this in one offensive possession, in this one defensive stand, we need to be smart and execute at our best. To this point in the few years under Hurley, we all too often get sloppy or careless at a time when that’s the last thing we can afford.
• I would give anything for a backup four, about 6’7” maybe 225-230 with borderline athleticism and skill for a level below where we play but who can go out there for a few minutes here and there and bang against the type of player we cannot match up with. Hell, a Johnny Selvie clone would be music to my ears right now.
• Someone needs to let Hurley know that he can play Hawkins and Calcaterra together. Unless I missed something the past two games (which is possible) when Joey C came in, Hawkins took a blow.

 

[AdamaNation]

Your second to last point is available. Richie springs.

 

[Hoophound]

Your second to last point is available. Richie springs.

Richie is underused. We’ve had stiffs contribute in the past. Richie is far more capable than those guys were. Not sure why he doesn’t get a few minutes once in a while, especially given our obvious need.

Samson Johnson better be ready to play. We need him back badly.

 

[auror]

There are quite a few things I want to comment on (in no particular order):.

• This wasn’t happening earlier in the season but very often in half-court offense we have two or three guys who just stand in a spot. It isn’t necessarily that they are intentionally there for spacing (as often the lane is still clogged) but this has got to stop. One of our (alleged) strengths is our depth. If we make every opponent work on defense our depth will be more of an asset.

This is happening the same amount. Yes, it is for spacing.

• We need to limit threes very early in the shot clock to situations where we have at least one of our players in position to possibly get a rebound. The past few games I believe we are averaging about a half dozen of these a game where we have an 8-10 second one and done possession because a three was launched with the shooter one of the (if not the) closes UConn player to the basket.

Gonna have to show your work on this one. I don't remember many of these.

• Sanogo needs to learn how to see the double team coming and the remainder of the offense needs to learn to react to this. If someone doubles him, they are leaving one of our guys open. Granted our player may need to move a bit to create sufficient space and a passing lane but this isn’t rocket science, it’s a fundamental concept they should have learned at 10, 12, 14 years old. There are too many instances where he gets caught up and cannot pass out of it (a combination of his waiting too long and there being no path for him to pass).

Sure. He's been working on it. He wasn't even playing basketball at 10 years old. Had a nice kickout to Karaban last game.

• I’m sick of our guards penetrating (when they do penetrate) without a plan on what to do. This happened a few times against PC and what seemed like a dozen times against Xavier where whoever it was ended up having to pick up his dribble, with his back to the lane and nowhere to go with the ball. Dribble penetration should lead to easy baskets as someone, somewhere is open. Understand who it is that left their assignment and find the guy he left open.

Most guys have plans, but defense at this level moves fast.

• Someone needs to explain to me how our last two opponents were able to spread us out on defense repeatedly yet we are incapable of doing the same.

Our defense scheme is designed to be glued to perimeter, so we give our opponents more lane spacing than most at a benefit of reducing the number of 3s our opponents take. Meanwhile teams sag way off Jackson, Diarra, etc.

• On the subject of spreading the opposition’s defense, we need to run a play four-five times a game where Hawkins gets a pass where he can slash through a (somewhat) open lane. Yes, he is an excellent three point shooter but he also is a ridiculous athlete (and likely the only one on our roster) who can consistently drive the lane for points. This will also give him more space for three point shots.

We absolutely do this 4-5 times a game. He got several layups last game. It's a read off his curl screen where if they're playing it tight trail he can just go immediately downhill.

• A few of our players need to understand that being an unselfish team (I will argue later that this may not really be the case for us) does not necessarily make you a high basketball IQ team. We all too often pass out of a good situation (open shot, position to drive and dish) into a bad one just because whoever has the ball believes he’s supposed to pass it off immediately. We threw away about a dozen possessions the past two games due to this.
• We need a point guard whisperer.

Nah, We're 8th out of 363 teams in assists per field goal made. Passing is good. One too many extra passes is a small price to pay for that kind of ball movement.

• We need (at least two, preferably more) leaders on this team who understand when critical situations arise. In both of our last two games, in the loss to NM St in the tourney last spring, the loss to Nova in the BET before that and the loss at Creighton in the regular season last year all had critical situations where, our better teams from the past few decades (didn’t need to be title teams) always seemed to understand that this in one offensive possession, in this one defensive stand, we need to be smart and execute at our best. To this point in the few years under Hurley, we all

We have leaders, but they're not the most experienced in terms of postseason or big games. It's a weakness of the team. Andre is an emotional leader, but we do lack the steadying leader type.

• Someone needs to let Hurley know that he can play Hawkins and Calcaterra together. Unless I missed something the past two games (which is possible) when Joey C came in, Hawkins took a blow.

They run the same role in the same actions. They could overlap more, but Newton, Diarra, Alleyne and Jackson need minutes, too.

 

[CardiacAndre7]

Watching this Ohio St Purdue game shows the benefits of doubling effectively. Ohio State is taking away Edey quickly. He also has the issue Adama has, he takes too long to find the pass. But he eventually does pass, while Adama doesn’t most of the time. We’ve trued to double bigs but it hasn’t been effective or well planned it seems. Maybe Hurley and co can fix that. The rotations when we double just don’t seem to be good enough.

 

[UCFan1513]

Richie is underused. We’ve had stiffs contribute in the past. Richie is far more capable than those guys were. Not sure why he doesn’t get a few minutes once in a while, especially given our obvious need.

Samson Johnson better be ready to play. We need him back badly.

Hurley tends to fall in love with certain players, and out of love with others. He even mentioned himself that his favorite type of player is one who makes the game look “effortless.” Remember before he realized these he had in Whaley he made him ride the pine for what, like a year and a half?

He must seem to think Springs’ defense isn’t up to snuff, but he’s passed the eye test in the minutes he’s played. Also not sure Hurley can cast stones at anyone’s D after making Karaban guard Hopkins for a whole game

 

[auror]

Watching this Ohio St Purdue game shows the benefits of doubling effectively. Ohio State is taking away Edey quickly. He also has the issue Adama has, he takes too long to find the pass. But he eventually does pass, while Adama doesn’t most of the time. We’ve trued to double bigs but it hasn’t been effective or well planned it seems. Maybe Hurley and co can fix that. The rotations when we double just don’t seem to be good enough.

Unfortunately the game showed the other side, too. They lost the game when they doubled and he kicked it out a wide open shooter.

 

[CardiacAndre7]

Unfortunately the game showed the other side, too. They lost the game when they doubled and he kicked it out a wide open shooter.

Yeah true. But we aren’t facing any 7’4 guys who can see over our defense. Throwing quick doubles in the post with good adjustments on the back end should help us.