Something about our last play ain't right

[jdb50]

In huddle look-ins Willard was emphasizing stopping Polley from being able to get a shot off or receive a pass. Martin seemed to lose the ball pretty easily at the end and I wonder if he still has weakness in his injured wrist? Waiting too long to get started on a last shot has become a Hurley trademark. There a was no room for error especially with our one point guard on the bench.

 

[WestHartHusk]

I think my biggest issue is that our team doesn’t have a game-winning shot mentality or leader. Given that, I think you have to give them two chances here: out of the timeout a play that is moving and driving towards a shot as soon as one is available, ideally with 15 or so seconds left. If we miss or turn it over, which is likely, we get a second bite at the apple. Until we show some cajones, we have to go 2-for-1 in these situations.

 

[mauconnfan]

It's just that I see Polley and Gaff standing in the same spot.

Amazing to watch these 2 guys for 5-6 seconds within 5-6 feet of each other and actually walking into each other with Polley pushing Gaffney towards the ball to help. Are they taught about spacing or is it all “throw it to Adama”? I mean I hate to say this but I come out of that timeout with andre handling the ball and Gaff on the bench. Hawkins who wasn’t good with the ball but made his only 3 in the opposite corner just because he can make a shot. No matter the fact these 2 were just roaming around near each other at the top of the key is an absolute joke!

 

[Improviser]

Maybe they need new contact lenses.

 

[Palatine]

On the final offensive play the players did not look comfortable. Everything they did was mechanical and slow. They were not attacking, they were defensive.

You would think Hurley would run a play they knew very well, had practiced many times and were confident with. Something that was second nature. Seton Hall was ahead of the play the entire time. They were never chasing.

From the look of the play and the way the players ran it, they were not prepared.

 

[uconngb]

This is all coaching. End of game scenarios should be drilled in to the players' heads and be second nature. No different than a football team executing last second plays near the goal line.

There should be 2-3 plays they can run. Tie game, down by 1, down by 2, down by 3. Since Cole is the only PG Hurley trusts they need to run them with Cole and without Cole.

The lack of movement away from the ball keeps all five defenders engaged and able to help.

Hurley said in the paper he's sick of losing. Well, when he gets sick and tired of being tired and makes changes in his coaching leading up to end of game scenarios, then he'll see better chances at change and winning.

I don't expect every last second play to work or every shot to go in, but they do need to come up with better plays.

Well said

 

[SubbaBub]

The play was to Sanogo, he couldn't get open and Martin had to improvise and got caught on the sideline in a double team. It's as simple as that. Without Cole on the floor there was no one to swing the ball to allow Sanogo to repost. Hall played really good defense on the last play and no real harm losing on the road like that.

If you ask me, the game was lost by our continued inability to dribble and catch the basketball. It torpedoed too many possessions that ended without a decent shot or a turnover. Even when we managed to corral the ball the possession ended up in scramble mode. We drop even simple passes.

This is who we are, if we want to meet our goals as a team we need to learn to execute, especially in the clutch. To date we've been the 4th best team in the BE, which is at the bottom range of expectations and points to a first weekend exit and probably a disappointing run in MSG.

There is still plenty of time to figure it out, but we are nearly out of mulligans. Need to win games and beat other tournament teams or we might find ourselves on the bubble.

 

[DaveHuskiesFan]

On the final offensive play the players did not look comfortable. Everything they did was mechanical and slow. They were not attacking, they were defensive.

You would think Hurley would run a play they knew very well, had practiced many times and were confident with. Something that was second nature. Seton Hall was ahead of the play the entire time. They were never chasing.

From the look of the play and the way the players ran it, they were not prepared.

You don’t think they practice Entry passes to the post? This is about as basic of a play as it gets. Typically they have AJax make that entry pass, with Tyrese doing it occasionally. Tyrese is making that pass in that situation because if you get denied the entry pass, you don’t want Andre to be the one to have to make a shot. Tyrese is the guy you feel most confident being able to take his guy off the dribble. The play just got bundled by the denial by Obiagu and Sanogo coming to set a screen when he shouldn’t have. The play call was fine. The execution was poor, and SHU played great defense.

 

[mauconnfan]

The play was to Sanogo, he couldn't get open and Martin had to improvise and got caught on the sideline in a double team. It's as simple as that. Without Cole on the floor there was no one to swing the ball to allow Sanogo to repost. Hall played really good defense on the last play and no real harm losing on the road like that.

If you ask me, the game was lost by our continued inability to dribble and catch the basketball. It torpedoed too many possessions that ended without a decent shot or a turnover. Even when we managed to corral the ball the possession ended up in scramble mode. We drop even simple passes.

This is who we are, if we want to meet our goals as a team we need to learn to execute, especially in the clutch. To date we've been the 4th best team in the BE, which is at the bottom range of expectations and points to a first weekend exit and probably a disappointing run in MSG.

There is still plenty of time to figure it out, but we are nearly out of mulligans. Need to win games and beat other tournament teams or we might find ourselves on the bubble.

Of course they defended it well everyone knew what they were going to draw up it’s inevitable. But where was plan B? No one knew where to be or what to do you can tell by the replay.

 

[mauconnfan]

You don’t think they practice Entry passes to the post? This is about as basic of a play as it gets. Typically they have AJax make that entry pass, with Tyrese doing it occasionally. Tyrese is making that pass in that situation because if you get denied the entry pass, you don’t want Andre to be the one to have to make a shot. Tyrese is the guy you feel most confident being able to take his guy off the dribble. The play just got bundled by the denial by Obiagu and Sanogo coming to set a screen when he shouldn’t have. The play call was fine. The execution was poor, and SHU played great defense.

The point was not the entry pass it was what do we do if we can’t make the pass. They weren’t prepared to play on after being denied the original play instead we saw 2 guys hugging each other at the top of the key. I mean Willard did a great job telling his team to make someone other than Sanogo beat them. Our plan had no alternative answer.

 

[TeasenDonut]

Jackson is the best at feeding sanogo in the post by a mile. If this was the play, the ball 100% should’ve been in his hands instead of Tyrese. We also lost the Michigan State game on Tyrese turning it over trying to feed the post.

 

[auror]

The start of the play was Polley/Gaffney 2 man game, see if any advantage can be created. Hall switched it, so next action (the real plan) was 5-out post entry to Sanogo. Sanogo came over to screen Martin's man, but his man wasn't covering him all that tightly so he didn't even need to set the pick. Martin flashed, caught, and looked for the dump down. Obiagu was slightly fronting, so either by play design or by choice, Sanogo tried to setup a lob instead of a deep post.

Here's where it breaks down. Obiagu is pretty massive, so it took a couple seconds for Sanogo to move him out of position to have space for the catch. Unfortunately, Jackson is 0 threat from 3, and so his man helped way off, and the time it took Sanogo to move Obiagu allowed AJax's defender to have both feet in the lane and in position to pick off or deflect any lob. Not to mention it would have been a tough pass just from Obiagu's length.

In a team where Jackson is any kind of shooter, you make the cross court pass and he makes the wide open shot to win. But that's not our personnel.

So then Martin thinks drive with 8 seconds left. He calls for Sanogo pick (agree with @Ricker that he called for the pick, didn't waive him off), and might even have been thinking find Sanogo on the short roll. Smart to get Obiagu into space. Sanogo rolls immediately, and Obiagu does a really nice job of doubling by sliding to baseline to cut off Martin. Martin tries to protect the ball to get the pass off, but his man reacts well, strip, over.

It's not a genius play, but it's not like we called nothing. We tried to get it to our best player. We had run a different Sanogo play last play, so this was likely not our top play. They had a pretty good defensive option with Obiagu and to me the big problem is that Jackson didn't actually create the space we needed. He tried sliding up to maintain the pass angle and try to draw his man up, but there was just no respect there. One possible action would be to have Jackson set a flare screen for Polley on the far wing to take advantage of his man playing so far off. Would be a tough cross court look from Martin with all of Hall's height/length, so ideally it would have been timed with Martin driving right into the middle of the paint, but unfortunately he prefers driving left. The pieces don't really fit.

 

[DaveHuskiesFan]

The point was not the entry pass it was what do we do if we can’t make the pass. They weren’t prepared to play on after being denied the original play instead we saw 2 guys hugging each other at the top of the key. I mean Willard did a great job telling his team to make someone other than Sanogo beat them. Our plan had no alternative answer.

There’s 7 seconds left. You can’t reset the offense and have someone run something else. The play at that moment is a Tyrese ISO.

 

[businesslawyer]

Jackson is the best at feeding sanogo in the post by a mile. If this was the play, the ball 100% should’ve been in his hands instead of Tyrese. We also lost the Michigan State game on Tyrese turning it over trying to feed the post.

You're not wrong that AJ may be better at feeding the post. But if that option isn't there or is taken away, do you want the ball in Martin's hand or AJ's to make a play in the half court? That's rhetorical -- it's not a close decision.

 

[businesslawyer]

The start of the play was Polley/Gaffney 2 man game, see if any advantage can be created. Hall switched it, so next action (the real plan) was 5-out post entry to Sanogo. Sanogo came over to screen Martin's man, but his man wasn't covering him all that tightly so he didn't even need to set the pick. Martin flashed, caught, and looked for the dump down. Obiagu was slightly fronting, so either by play design or by choice, Sanogo tried to setup a lob instead of a deep post.

Here's where it breaks down. Obiagu is pretty massive, so it took a couple seconds for Sanogo to move him out of position to have space for the catch. Unfortunately, Jackson is 0 threat from 3, and so his man helped way off, and the time it took Sanogo to move Obiagu allowed AJax's defender to have both feet in the lane and in position to pick off or deflect any lob. Not to mention it would have been a tough pass just from Obiagu's length.

In a team where Jackson is any kind of shooter, you make the cross court pass and he makes the wide open shot to win. But that's not our personnel.

So then Martin thinks drive with 8 seconds left. He calls for Sanogo pick (agree with @Ricker that he called for the pick, didn't waive him off), and might even have been thinking find Sanogo on the short roll. Smart to get Obiagu into space. Sanogo rolls immediately, and Obiagu does a really nice job of doubling by sliding to baseline to cut off Martin. Martin tries to protect the ball to get the pass off, but his man reacts well, strip, over.

It's not a genius play, but it's not like we called nothing. We tried to get it to our best player. We had run a different Sanogo play last play, so this was likely not our top play. They had a pretty good defensive option with Obiagu and to me the big problem is that Jackson didn't actually create the space we needed. He tried sliding up to maintain the pass angle and try to draw his man up, but there was just no respect there. One possible action would be to have Jackson set a flare screen for Polley on the far wing to take advantage of his man playing so far off. Would be a tough cross court look from Martin with all of Hall's height/length, so ideally it would have been timed with Martin driving right into the middle of the paint, but unfortunately he prefers driving left. The pieces don't really fit.

It does make you ask if either Hawkins or Akok should have been the isolated player on the far side. If that player's only roll on the play was to stay wide, and if necessary catch and shoot, I know AJ had hit two earlier but is he really your choice there?

 

[Hamms30]

I guess being able to look back on this now in hindsight. What could have been done? It's obvious Richmond is off Jackson and trying to take away the feed to Sanogo. Should Jackson go to the foul line on that for an entry pass and then he can drive and attack the hoop or try and force Richmond away from that double team area? Or should it have been a switch for Polley to where Jackson was to force them to respect the outside threat? Generally curious, what's the plan of attack on a soft double team on a post play? I feel like you need to force the secondary defender's hand and make them commit one way or the other.

 

[MuchoDogYears]

Polley and AJ should’ve been switched to each other’s spot on the court to start the play. Then they could’ve run a triangle offense.
When Martin got the ball he would’ve had two options,,,pass to Sanogo posting or if that’s not open, then pass to AJ at the top of the key who then has a clear pass to Sanogo who’s then diving towards the hoop.
Polley in the corner would to be accounted for, so his man wouldn’t be able to leave him to double down on Sanogo.

 

[Umami Zen]

Winning plays will sometimes involve improvisation--BB IQ-- if the play that was drawn up in the huddle is not there and/or taken away by the defense-- Got to think on your feet(quickly) and create. Our most creative guy was on the bench with five fouls.

Get real nervous with the ball in Martin's hands at crunch time--Get him open and let him catch and shoot-- That's fine. Had too many "unforced errors" yesterday with the ball in his hands. Am not calling him out on the last play but there are times when he is much too casual with his passes and ballhandling.

It is what it is. Beat the Johnnies

 

[Conquistador]

I think my biggest issue is that our team doesn’t have a game-winning shot mentality or leader. Given that, I think you have to give them two chances here: out of the timeout a play that is moving and driving towards a shot as soon as one is available, ideally with 15 or so seconds left. If we miss or turn it over, which is likely, we get a second bite at the apple. Until we show some cajones, we have to go 2-for-1 in these situations.

You hit the nail on the head! There is no leader or alpha dog on this team! There needs to be a player to get in the faces of the other players, to motivate them, to yell at them, to inspire them to compete. Nope, nothing. The player you would naturally think would fill the role is Martin, but he is not the guy. He’s not vocal, and when he messes up (often) he drops his head and mopes. Happened a few times yesterday. I like the kid but he hurt us yesterday.

 

[RichZ]

There needs to be a player to get in the faces of the other players, to motivate them, to yell at them, to inspire them to compete.

What a run of those player we have had. We need a Khalid, a Kemba, a Bazz or Boat.