Let's not make this more complicated than it has to be: they can't shoot

[champs99and04]

For all of the hand-ringing about rebounding, guard play, or whatever else, it's just really hard to win basketball games, at any level, when you cannot shoot the ball. Those shooting deficiencies are compounded by the absence of any sort of consistent post play or finishers.

I wasn't surprised that they lost tonight. I thought that the final score on Sunday was a kinder reflection of their play than they deserved. Texas missed an abundance of open shots, turned it over with regularity, tossed in a game-altering flagrant foul for good measure, and did all of the other stuff you come to associate with Rick Barnes teams. The game was infuriatingly within reach of clinching for what seemed like a decade, but they lost because they missed shots, and more problematically, those missed shots began to impact their overall floor game.

That last part is what is key. Not only did they shoot just 2 of 11 from three tonight, but the 13 turnovers they committed are also a direct product of over-compensation; instead of reading the defense and reacting instinctively, there is a lot of over-dribbling. Passing up a good shot for a drastically worse one has become a common misstep among players like Hamilton and Cassell. Even if Hamilton or Boatright taking a three isn't necessarily the best shot within the offense, it's miles better than entertaining an awaiting paint-packed defense that is likely to do nothing other than force you into the worst shot in basketball, a contested two.

As of now, the 2-3 zone is simply a death knell for this team, and unlike in years past, the problem lies not in generating shots but in making them. Sure, there are other ways to attack a zone, but that typically requires at least a couple of skilled post players, which we're short in supply on right now. Directing Hamilton to the foul line sounds like a possible solution, but with no weak side release valve, the collapsing vortex of bodies is likely to force a turnover or low-percentage shot.

There is obviously some fine-tuning on the other end that needs to be done as well (13 offensive rebounds is inexcusable), but in my experience, 45 points isn't typically enough to win a college basketball game. Unfortunately, it was tonight, and it will be for a lot of teams moving forward if some of these guys don't remove the self-imposed handcuffs from their hands and let some shots fly (besides Samuel, and Cassell Jr., who needs no invitation). Hamilton was billed as a gunner coming in, and really, I wish he was.

Purvis returning is not going to solve many of these issues, particularly as it relates to shooting. If anything, his skill set exacerbates spacing problems until he proves he can hit shots (I'm not sold, despite his season at N.C. State) over closing defenders.

It's hard to shoot 18% from three and not have it drain the competency of the half-court attack as a whole. They aren't as bad as they've been in their last three games, but they might not be much better. And if that's the case, all of the circulating noise about heart and chemistry is immaterial.

 

[huskyharry]

Good post. One good side is that there will be some regression to the mean. This team is not blessed with exceptional perimeter shooters(no one is going to hit 50% like Giffey did) but they have several players who are capable of hitting 35% on a regular basis from 3, not 18%. Omar also is in that category.
Boat should be in the high 30% and Hamilton may hit 40% over the course of the season.
The half court defense has been strong and we are holding opponents to poor shooting percentages.

 

[Milo65]

For all of the hand-ringing about rebounding, guard play, or whatever else, it's just really hard to win basketball games, at any level, when you cannot shoot the ball. Those shooting deficiencies are compounded by the absence of any sort of consistent post play or finishers.

I wasn't surprised that they lost tonight. I thought that the final score on Sunday was a kinder reflection of their play than they deserved. Texas missed an abundance of open shots, turned it over with regularity, tossed in a game-altering flagrant foul for good measure, and did all of the other stuff you come to associate with Rick Barnes teams. The game was infuriatingly within reach of clinching for what seemed like a decade, but they lost because they missed shots, and more problematically, those missed shots began to impact their overall floor game.

That last part is what is key. Not only did they shoot just 2 of 11 from three tonight, but the 13 turnovers they committed are also a direct product of over-compensation; instead of reading the defense and reacting instinctively, there is a lot of over-dribbling. Passing up a good shot for a drastically worse one has become a common misstep among players like Hamilton and Cassell. Even if Hamilton or Boatright taking a three isn't necessarily the best shot within the offense, it's miles better than entertaining an awaiting paint-packed defense that is likely to do nothing other than force you into the worst shot in basketball, a contested two.

As of now, the 2-3 zone is simply a death knell for this team, and unlike in years past, the problem lies not in generating shots but in making them. Sure, there are other ways to attack a zone, but that typically requires at least a couple of skilled post players, which we're short in supply on right now. Directing Hamilton to the foul line sounds like a possible solution, but with no weak side release valve, the collapsing vortex of bodies is likely to force a turnover or low-percentage shot.

There is obviously some fine-tuning on the other end that needs to be done as well (13 offensive rebounds is inexcusable), but in my experience, 45 points isn't typically enough to win a college basketball game. Unfortunately, it was tonight, and it will be for a lot of teams moving forward if some of these guys don't remove the self-imposed handcuffs from their hands and let some shots fly (besides Samuel, and Cassell Jr., who needs no invitation). Hamilton was billed as a gunner coming in, and really, I wish he was.

Purvis returning is not going to solve many of these issues, particularly as it relates to shooting. If anything, his skill set exacerbates spacing problems until he proves he can hit shots (I'm not sold, despite his season at N.C. State) over closing defenders.

It's hard to shoot 18% from three and not have it drain the competency of the half-court attack as a whole. They aren't as bad as they've been in their last three games, but they might not be much better. And if that's the case, all of the circulating noise about heart and chemistry is immaterial.

You are 100% correct, you take Bazz, Giffey, and Daniels off this team and you got no outside threat. NONE. But they still run offense like they can shoot from out there. No ball movement, not body movement, little ability to penetrate, no attempt to post up and go inside.

 

[Palatine]

Boat hasn't made a a three point shot in the last three games. He is 20% from beyond the arc. Last year he was 33% for the season. That would be good enough for us to win a lot of games.The lane is never gong to open up for him without the threat he can make an outside shot.

 

[homunculus]

We've gone through this before. In 2012-13 the team collectively lost its shot - and the offenders were often the very players everyone keeps saying we're missing - Bazz, Giffey, Daniels. (Unfortunately Omar was one of them too.)

We beat Wake forest by 6 while shooting 3-18 from 3.
We scraped by Quinnipiac in 2OT, shooting 4-16 from 3.
We lost to NM, shooting 7-22 from 3.
We beat UNH by 8 after shooting 1-14 from 3.
We shot 6-22 from 3 in a loss to Pitt.
We shot 10-28 from 3 in a loss to St John's.
We shot 2-18 from 3 in a loss to Cincinnati (0-10 in the 2nd half).
We shot 3-20 from 3 in a loss to USF.

I said to my friends at the time that I thought it was because Ollie was focusing so much on defense (and rebounding) that the offense was suffering because of it. Well, that paid off in the long run and the offense eventually came around. That season was the building blocks of the 2014 championship.

Like it or not this year is very much like that year (where we would have been a bubble team if eligible), and I think Ollie is trying to start the same way - defense first, then the offense comes around, eventually. If he's successful again, we might be laughing about this loss in 2016, if we even remember it.

 

[SubbaBub]

They take plays off on defense, too. Or at least a few guys get caught ball watching on the weak side. It's fixable, but they have to recognize and make the effort.

 

[David 76]

Good post champs.
I would add that their difficulty shooting makes their not passing the ball inside the 3point line even more of a problem.

 

[tdrink]

Outside shooting is not necessarily critical to have a winning college basketball team. But there would need to be other ways of scoring and this team doesn't have those either. The bigs are the same ones who won NC last year, but there is still no scoring there. People talked about pressing and fastbreaking this year but that is not possible with two guards sidelined. TSam would be a great asset in that scheme, but SC2 is a huge liability, and boat needs to stay on the floor so he cant be overworked.

Last year outside shooting was part of the teams identity. This team is still trying to define itself, and having some broken parts is not helping.

 

[Cheeky]

Some on this board think our defense has been solid, and point to Yale and Texas' total points as evidence.
Some think that Texas and Yale just shot like ass, and that, had they hit a normal percentage, both games would not have been close.

I'm in the latter group. This team can't shoot, for sure. But it's over-simplifying things to leave it at that.

There are, potentially, heart and chemistry issues. If you're unsure about that, re-read Ollie's presser from last night. You'll notice he didn't say, "it's simple - we can't shoot well."

 

[champs99and04]

Some on this board think our defense has been solid, and point to Yale and Texas' total points as evidence.
Some think that Texas and Yale just shot like ass, and that, had they hit a normal percentage, both games would not have been close.

I'm in the latter group. This team can't shoot, for sure. But it's over-simplifying things to leave it at that.

There are, potentially, heart and chemistry issues. If you're unsure about that, re-read Ollie's presser from last night. You'll notice he didn't say, "it's simple - we can't shoot well."

Opposing offenses are shooting 39% against us on the season. We are ranked 19th in the country in defensive efficiency. I watched both the Texas and Yale games - yeah, they both got some open looks. A lot of those open shots were willing concessions on the part of our defense to players who cannot shoot (i.e., the Townsend kid from Yale). Many of the struggles had to do with the seven foot giant contesting their shots at the rim. If anything, the 37% Texas shot from the field undersells our dominance in the half-court when you adjust for the transition gaffes in the first half.

I agree with you that the defense isn't quite dialed into UConn form. There have been too many open shots yielded for my tastes. But I have a hard time chalking the very good defensive figures up to good-fortune.

There might be heart and chemistry issues. I have not noticed them on the court, but I'm not in the locker-room and at practice every day. All I'm saying is that winning tends to preclude chemistry issues, and in years where we have had alleged chemistry issues (2010, 2012), they emerged only after the realization that the half court offense was terrible.

 

[hoophuskee]

This is why they need Purvis and Calhoun. They don't need to be "super" just "good enough." Having 5 options of sticking outside shots instead of 3 is much better odds. Probbaly helps your defense (transition to offense) and your legs (play better down the stretch) as well.

 

[UC990411]

You say let's not make this complicated and proceed to write an essay.

 

[husky91]

If Purvis and Calhoun get healthy and play at a high level this team can be competitive. We wouldn't have to struggle with long minutes for Cassell or TSam and at times we can go small and use DHam at the 4 to get Facey off the floor.

 

[pnow15]

Ollie needs to green light DHam, Boatright and Sam Jr. from the three point line. If the ball is swung to them they have to be ready to catch and shoot if wide open. Dham passed on opens shots several times.There is no better shot in all of basketball except a slam dunk than the open three. DHam and Sam Jr need to find their sweets spots or develop a sweet spot.
Would like to see Brimah step out and take that little jumper. This is assuming the Purves and Calhoun have retired from the sport.

 

[Jay-Bone]

We've gone through this before. In 2012-13 the team collectively lost its shot - and the offenders were often the very players everyone keeps saying we're missing - Bazz, Giffey, Daniels. (Unfortunately Omar was one of them too.)

We beat Wake forest by 6 while shooting 3-18 from 3.
We scraped by Quinnipiac in 2OT, shooting 4-16 from 3.
We lost to NM, shooting 7-22 from 3.
We beat UNH by 8 after shooting 1-14 from 3.
We shot 6-22 from 3 in a loss to Pitt.
We shot 10-28 from 3 in a loss to St John's.
We shot 2-18 from 3 in a loss to Cincinnati (0-10 in the 2nd half).
We shot 3-20 from 3 in a loss to USF.

I said to my friends at the time that I thought it was because Ollie was focusing so much on defense (and rebounding) that the offense was suffering because of it. Well, that paid off in the long run and the offense eventually came around. That season was the building blocks of the 2014 championship.

Like it or not this year is very much like that year (where we would have been a bubble team if eligible), and I think Ollie is trying to start the same way - defense first, then the offense comes around, eventually. If he's successful again, we might be laughing about this loss in 2016, if we even remember it.

Agree, Boat can shoot, D-Ham can shoot, Cassell can shoot, 2012-13 Omar can shoot, heck even Brimah and Facey can shoot within their 15'. The whole chemistry of the team and flow of the offense has to come together for the shooters to get good looks and have confidence for the ball to go down. Last night's stagnant, one-on-one offense was not conducive to that (only Bazz could drop those in-your-face lean back threes). Boat tried to be typical Boat instead of playing within what his injury would allow. Keep in mind, neither him or Purvis practiced much all week. It's not that there's no good shooters on this team, maybe not great shooters, but we've seen all these players drain 3's, its just a collective shooting slump right now. Even purvis hit a couple 3's. If Boat keeps his confidence as the leader and Purvis and Omar heal and get there head's into the team commitment, Ollie will get more movement in the offense and get these shots dropping. We've seen some bright spots in the fact that Brimah is adding some back to the hoop offense as well as putting away the latter half of the drive and dish, D-Ham and Facey can potentially become that flash to the foul line and baseline jumper zone busters. Rome wasn't built in a day, 2 last second 3's generating people saying this team is a no-talent *ss clown D-II team is just silly.

 

[Jay-Bone]

For all of the hand-ringing about rebounding, guard play, or whatever else, it's just really hard to win basketball games, at any level, when you cannot shoot the ball. Those shooting deficiencies are compounded by the absence of any sort of consistent post play or finishers.

I wasn't surprised that they lost tonight. I thought that the final score on Sunday was a kinder reflection of their play than they deserved. Texas missed an abundance of open shots, turned it over with regularity, tossed in a game-altering flagrant foul for good measure, and did all of the other stuff you come to associate with Rick Barnes teams. The game was infuriatingly within reach of clinching for what seemed like a decade, but they lost because they missed shots, and more problematically, those missed shots began to impact their overall floor game.

That last part is what is key. Not only did they shoot just 2 of 11 from three tonight, but the 13 turnovers they committed are also a direct product of over-compensation; instead of reading the defense and reacting instinctively, there is a lot of over-dribbling. Passing up a good shot for a drastically worse one has become a common misstep among players like Hamilton and Cassell. Even if Hamilton or Boatright taking a three isn't necessarily the best shot within the offense, it's miles better than entertaining an awaiting paint-packed defense that is likely to do nothing other than force you into the worst shot in basketball, a contested two.

As of now, the 2-3 zone is simply a death knell for this team, and unlike in years past, the problem lies not in generating shots but in making them. Sure, there are other ways to attack a zone, but that typically requires at least a couple of skilled post players, which we're short in supply on right now. Directing Hamilton to the foul line sounds like a possible solution, but with no weak side release valve, the collapsing vortex of bodies is likely to force a turnover or low-percentage shot.

There is obviously some fine-tuning on the other end that needs to be done as well (13 offensive rebounds is inexcusable), but in my experience, 45 points isn't typically enough to win a college basketball game. Unfortunately, it was tonight, and it will be for a lot of teams moving forward if some of these guys don't remove the self-imposed handcuffs from their hands and let some shots fly (besides Samuel, and Cassell Jr., who needs no invitation). Hamilton was billed as a gunner coming in, and really, I wish he was.

Purvis returning is not going to solve many of these issues, particularly as it relates to shooting. If anything, his skill set exacerbates spacing problems until he proves he can hit shots (I'm not sold, despite his season at N.C. State) over closing defenders.

It's hard to shoot 18% from three and not have it drain the competency of the half-court attack as a whole. They aren't as bad as they've been in their last three games, but they might not be much better. And if that's the case, all of the circulating noise about heart and chemistry is immaterial.

I wholeheartedly agree that Samuel, Nolan and Lubin CANNOT shoot. They're horrendous! Especially the last one, he just throws up rocks.

 

[Stinger92860]

Ironically, despite all of the focus on our offensive woes, we win the last 2 games if we can play half court defense. Our rotations are bad, we are slow and lack intensity.

 

[Jay-Bone]

Ironically, despite all of the focus on our offensive woes, we win the last 2 games if we can play half court defense. Our rotations are bad, we are slow and lack intensity.

At times lackadaisical and lost in rotations, yes as can be expected with inexperience, but did you not see some of the half court D intensity in the Texas game? We win that game if we turned our heads on transition D. They have 5 guys over 6'-9" yet most of their paint points came from 6'-4" guys.

 

[Chief00]

Agree shooting is our big problem. Hitting the open shot is on the players not the coaches. The guys need to shoot hours by themselves late at night. The other thing is guys who were on the team last year think they won due to them - that's human nature now being asked to do more they are exposed.

 

[Stinger92860]

Agree shooting is our big problem. Hitting the open shot is on the players not the coaches. The guys need to shoot hours by themselves late at night. The other thing is guys who were on the team last year think they won due to them - that's human nature now being asked to do more they are exposed.

Intensity is not consistent and is not sustained for the full shot clock

 

[Huskybass]

While shooting is certainly a concern, getting ONE offensive rebound in 40 minutes is right up there. We simply don't get enough easy buckets to offset any outside shooting woes. A few put backs and a few more fast break buckets would go a long way toward righting the ship.

I am willing to reserve judgment a bit until Boat and Rodney are healthy. That said, I am amazed at some of the stuff that happens with Phil on the court. At 6'10", he simply has to convert a few easy buckets here and there. That mi

 

[tdrink]

Ironically, despite all of the focus on our offensive woes, we win the last 2 games if we can play half court defense. Our rotations are bad, we are slow and lack intensity.

They scored 44 points versus Yale. Hard not focus on the offense after that.