Gonzaga Post Game Thoughts

[huskymagic]

The Huge positive from this game is that Jalen Adams should be the starter from now on as he is an elite point guard who knows how to drive, pass, shoot, and most importantly defend his position. Sterling Gibbs needs to play off the ball like Purvis. Gibbs needs to come off the bench for scoring as a 2 guard. You can't have two erratic and frenetic shooting guards like Gibbs and Purvis playing together. Purvis gets the edge with his size, speed, and defense over Gibbs. Our perimeter defense improved drastically with Jalen playing in the second half. Adams needs the ball in his hands making decisions less Purvis and Gibbs in last second shot clocks situation in games.

Poetic justice when Purvis turns the ball over with less than a minute to go , and Gibbs comes in and gets blocked by Karnowski last play. Adams or Hamilton should have been the targets to shoot there with someone coming over to free them with a screen. The ball needs to be in the hands of your most capable players and most effective players during the game in those type of situations.

Amida played another solid game. I have no idea what people in the boneyard are thinking, but Amida is one of our top 3 players and played well against Gonzaga bigs. Miller also had a nice second half scoring and defneding. Enoch looks like a solid big man who can play solid minutes as a backup to Amida.

Starting lineup going forward: Adams, Purvis, Hamilton, Miller, Brimah
Bench: Gibbs, Facey, Cassel, Enoch, Omar.

 

[mauconnfan]

The Huge positive from this game is that Jalen Adams should be the starter from now on as he is an elite point guard who knows how to drive, pass, shoot, and most importantly defend his position. Sterling Gibbs needs to play off the ball like Purvis. Gibbs needs to come off the bench for scoring as a 2 guard. You can't have two erratic and frenetic shooting guards like Gibbs and Purvis playing together. Purvis gets the edge with his size, speed, and defense over Gibbs. Our perimeter defense improved drastically with Jalen playing in the second half. Adams needs the ball in his hands making decisions less Purvis and Gibbs in last second shot clocks situation in games.

Poetic justice when Purvis turns the ball over with less than a minute to go , and Gibbs comes in and gets blocked by Karnowski last play. Adams or Hamilton should have been the targets to shoot there with someone coming over to free them with a screen. The ball needs to be in the hands of your most capable players and most effective players during the game in those type of situations.

Amida played another solid game. I have no idea what people in the boneyard are thinking, but Amida is one of our top 3 players and played well against Gonzaga bigs. Miller also had a nice second half scoring and defneding. Enoch looks like a solid big man who can play solid minutes as a backup to Amida.

Starting lineup going forward: Adams, Purvis, Hamilton, Miller, Brimah
Bench: Gibbs, Facey, Cassel, Enoch, Omar.

Magic you must be a coach for sure. So spot on. Thanks for the heads up. I guess AB went fromt he 2nd best player to Top 3 even after a solid game but the rest of your summary is solid, very Woodenesque. keep'em coming

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

It shouldn't be, but the overreaction based on a single game is consistently amazing.

 

[Stainmaster]

2 assists makes Adams an elite PG after 6 games? That's the mother of all hot takes. By all means he should be playing a lot more, just as much as our starters. He looked damn good today as an offensive weapon. But he's not ready to be handed the keys to the entire offense yet.

 

[huskymagic]

2 assists makes Adams an elite PG after 6 games? That's the mother of all hot takes. By all means he should be playing a lot more, just as much as our starters. He looked damn good today as an offensive weapon. But he's not ready to be handed the keys to the entire offense yet.

Yes Adams should get more minutes, but he is definitely ready for the keys to this offense, which isn't really that complicated because there is no offense. Adams can do everything Gibbs can do, but better. We can't have 2 shooting guards like Gibbs and Purvis running the team as they are not capable of it. They are natural shooters or scorers not leaders. Adams has it and the defensive ability as well as ability to go at different speeds. If passing the ball around the perimeter until someone hoists a three is the offense you speak of then we can safely assume Adams can handle it.

Kevin Ollie needs to incorporate some pick and roll action, as well some use of dribble drive penetration. All skills that suit Adams not Gibbs. I like Gibbs as a shooter at the 2 spot along with Purvis not as the leader or point guard of this team.

 

[Stainmaster]

My god, it just doesn't stop.

 

[Matrim55]

Yes Adams should get more minutes, but he is definitely ready for the keys to this offense...

Dial it back a notch. Adams is a 19-year-old freshman who went a combined 0-for-8 from the floor with 4 points and 1 assist in 36 minutes against Michigan and Syracuse.

He had a nice game on both ends today, and he'll be playing more in the future. But he's got a ways to go until he's ready to lead anything on a game-by-game basis.

 

[bballgrda]

My thoughts on the season thus far:

Obviously this tournament did not turn out as many of us had hoped (and probably expected). At times it looked like a worse version of last years team. Passing the ball around sloppily, primarily around the perimeter, and infrequently. Constant dribbling outside the three without accomplishing anything. We have seen the Huskies be a revolving door on defense as well. Lots of stuff to get down on.

But, there have also been glimpses of hope from our players - you can see a potential for the team to “gel” if guys can play at a high level consistently together. Down the stretch of this game I was impressed by the defensive effort. Hamilton’s defense has traditionally been suspect in my mind. Today him, Miller, and Adams all seemed to be making high impact plays, helping off their own man to block passing lanes while getting back. Looking at the big picture we have seen what beasts both Purvis and Brimah can be on defense (and Purvis on offense).

Still not sure what to make of Brimah’s overall game, he is a positive. There are for sure some frustrating plays. When a guy can reach over Brimah from behind for the board he is neutralizing much of Brimah’s advantage.

Hamilton has been better than anything I could have reasonably expected overall. It seems he can get into the lane at will and can make a good play from that position, passing or going to the basket. He takes some boneheaded shots as accentuated by that heat check 3 down 1. At other times I wish he’d be more aggressive. He has that nice move in the lane when he fakes going outside and cuts back in, sometimes going over the defender. Can he finish going the other way?

Really liked what I saw from Adams and Miller today, they led the comeback. Should probably say more but this is already long. Not worried about Gibbs.

Omar and Sam I think are play as needed, if one of them has the hot hand. Sure could have used some 3 point shooting today. At least we were 17/20 from the line.

Facey and Nolan have their moments, especially the former. Depends on the situation. Poor passing might be the most frustrating thing from a fan’s perspective.

We have looked stellar at moments in transition. Hamilton getting a board seems to lead to good things, don’t know the statistics. Was happy to see the team answer after being down so much, if we lose this game by double digits I have different feelings. The top four of this tournament are all pretty good I think, should all be tournament teams at the least. It can be said for many teams, but there is a specific path you can see the team taking to click together and be competitive when it matters. If it happens or not is another story.