They need to get Lamb the ball more!

[DogMania]

Just watching a few minutes of the game again and it confirmed a thought that I had while watching the game at XL. They need to do a better job of getting the ball to Lamb. He got himself open a number of times and his teammates weren't looking for him or spotted him too late.

I'd like to see them look more often for him and run more screen plays for him. He has the ability to curl off a screen, catch and shoot the J. 9 shots simply isn't enough. 7 for 9 is remarkable for a perimeter player. I'd like to see him get at least 15 quality shots off a game. He's capable of double digits FGs night in night out.

No doubt this team has championship talent but they have a ways to go execution wise. I'm not sure why they aren't able to get a few more shots for the sharp shooting Daniels. He seems to get 2 or 3 where I think they could run some plays to get him about 5 to 6 quality shots. I realize they are a work in progress and will need time to learn a more balanced attack. Right now they seem to be trying to transition from the Napier-Lamb-Boat Outside Show to the Drummond-Oriakhi-Olander Pound-it-inside show, which is a good thing. They need to get the bigs more good touches inside, though Alex needs to convert them more often.

There's a lot of ball yet to be played and I think we'll see a more balanced attack as the season goes on. I'm not sure if it is by design, but some coaching staffs work on developing specific areas in segments during the season, with the goal of putting it all together by the end. Not a bad way to do it. If you try to implement everything you'd like them to do at the same time, a team tends to not do any one area well. Boatright having to sit out likely posed a challenge as to this type of approach. But it seems the guard play and scoring was and continues to be their strength early on, and they're starting to make a greater effort of getting it inside at the expense of taking more perimeter opportunities.

When it's all said and done, this team is going to be a well balanced offensive team, not to mention a lock-down stingy defensive team as well.

 

[Letsgohuskies11]

id like to see lamb drive in more, i think sometimes he settles way too much for not great shots. Hes an incredible set up shooter but he has the ability to draw fouls and we havent seen too much of the floater so far this year.

 

[bmayuc]

id like to see lamb drive in more, i think sometimes he settles way too much for not great shots. Hes an incredible set up shooter but he has the ability to draw fouls and we havent seen too much of the floater so far this year.

He needs space to make moves, not great in traffic. I thnk you see more Iso on the wings and running off screens as the year progresses.

 

[UChusky916]

id like to see lamb drive in more, i think sometimes he settles way too much for not great shots. Hes an incredible set up shooter but he has the ability to draw fouls and we havent seen too much of the floater so far this year.

There were a lot of times where i felt Lamb could have easily gotten into the lane and either pulled up for an automatic jumper or toss up one of his patented floaters. He became a little complacent with long jump shots.

 

[Marat]

This is one thing that is missing from last year's team - the ability to draw fouls on opponents. Last year Kemba was great at it. I do agree that the combo of Lamb, Boatright, and Nappier should try to drive into the lane more.

id like to see lamb drive in more, i think sometimes he settles way too much for not great shots. Hes an incredible set up shooter but he has the ability to draw fouls and we havent seen too much of the floater so far this year.

 

[Scot-e]

IMHO- he just needs to take more shots in whatever form they come. 20 a game minimum.

 

[upstater]

He needs space to make moves, not great in traffic. I thnk you see more Iso on the wings and running off screens as the year progresses.

I watched him a lot this summer for Team USA and he surprised me with how good he was in traffic. He's so slender, he was knifing through top international defenses and scoring in the paint.

 

[bobbygt]

I agree that he needs more shots no matter what, but I don't think Jeremy is very good one on one when the defense knows that's what he's going to do.

What I mean is that Jeremy is very good to great one on one when it is in the flow of the game.

But when it's apparent to the other team, and he's dribbling out the clock and waiting till about the 10 second mark to make his move, it's much easier to defend. I'd say the same is true for Shabazz as well.

I'd like to see Jeremy play more like Rip/Ray/Gordon, by running, running, and finding space. It keeps the defense on their toes.

 

[RichZ]

I thought that last night in crunch time, when the lead was dwindling, bazz appeared to be freezing jlamb out. Not looking for him at all. I think that was the most worrisome thing about the 2nd half, actually.

 

[jibsey]

He handles well but with 12 seconds left I don't like him trying to breakdown with a drive because (long arms) he's gonna get stripped quite a bit. Gotta do a better job setting him up.

 

[TheChamps990411]

I thought that last night in crunch time, when the lead was dwindling, bazz appeared to be freezing jlamb out. Not looking for him at all. I think that was the most worrisome thing about the 2nd half, actually.

this was the point of a thread i started about bazz. you have a dominant scorer in JL and a force in AD in the post and when things get tough like they did last night bazz #1 priority should be to get these guys the ball in the best position for them to score.

 

[HuskyFan32]

id like to see lamb drive in more, i think sometimes he settles way too much for not great shots. Hes an incredible set up shooter but he has the ability to draw fouls and we havent seen too much of the floater so far this year.

Id like to see him come off screens and catch and shoot. Thats all he did at the end of the season last year and he rarely does it now. Obvioulsy opposing D's are playing to shut that down, but it doesnt seem like we run too many of those plays for him.

 

[art4life]

Several times last night I yelled @ the screen "Get Jeremy the damn ball!!!"

He should drive to the basket more often. Opens up the game for him and the team.
He did have one really nice drive in the lane (2nd half IIRC) where he split the two defenders and squeezed in-between them and somehow got the layup off the glass. Thing of beauty I'd like to see a LOT MORE OF...

 

[champs99and04]

I agree Lamb needs to get more shots. The offense became real stagment last night, especially in the second half. We saw some of the same offense we saw against UCF, with guys standing around, not running the offense, and kind of just waiting for somebody to bail them out. I think that's where we really miss Kemba. When teams went on a run last season, everybody on the team knew Kemba was getting the ball to stop the bleeding. I think Lamb and Bazz can be capable of being that guy, but they seem a little tenative out there when the lead is dwindling and somebody needs to make a big shot.

I know the conventional basketball wisdom says to give the ball to your best player and let him go one on one when you need a basket, but without the break you down type guy, I would rather see this team just continue to run the offense as usual, with a lot of back cuts, off ball screens, and high pick and rolls with Drummond/Shabazz. The late game offense is IMO, going to be a lot different this year than it was last year, and that may take some getting used to.

One thing on Lamb: I think he needs to improve his handle a little bit. Not in the open court, where he is great at breaking the press, but in the halfcourt offense when he's trying to make a quick move, he often loses the ball.

Shabazz played really good last night, but I still think he could have done a better job of running the offense and getting guys into position. Two guys I would like to go to more often are Drummond and Lamb. Lamb is shooting 50% on the season and Drummond is shooting 62%. Granted, Drummond's numbers are a bit skewed considering 50% of his buckets are on alley-oops or putbacks, but he has shown some semblance of a step back jumper of some sort. It might be a good idea to feed him more and see what he can do in there. He has been especially efficient in the past three games, where he's missed something like four shots total.

 

[HuskyCarlJ]

id like to see lamb drive in more, i think sometimes he settles way too much for not great shots. Hes an incredible set up shooter but he has the ability to draw fouls and we havent seen too much of the floater so far this year.

Not if he's going to get called for charges despite the fact that the defender was moving with both feet inside the arc...

 

[huskyharry]

Not if he's going to get called for charges despite the fact that the defender was moving with both feet inside the arc...

he has gotten screwed twice in the last 4 games by the Zebras on that call...however, he ought to just pull up and sink the 5 foot shot...I would hate to see him get hurt on one of those plays...let the flopper fall down with out any contact!

 

[Giddyup5]

I agree Lamb needs to get more shots. The offense became real stagment last night, especially in the second half. We saw some of the same offense we saw against UCF, with guys standing around, not running the offense, and kind of just waiting for somebody to bail them out. I think that's where we really miss Kemba. When teams went on a run last season, everybody on the team knew Kemba was getting the ball to stop the bleeding. I think Lamb and Bazz can be capable of being that guy, but they seem a little tenative out there when the lead is dwindling and somebody needs to make a big shot.

I know the conventional basketball wisdom says to give the ball to your best player and let him go one on one when you need a basket, but without the break you down type guy, I would rather see this team just continue to run the offense as usual, with a lot of back cuts, off ball screens, and high pick and rolls with Drummond/Shabazz. The late game offense is IMO, going to be a lot different this year than it was last year, and that may take some getting used to.

One thing on Lamb: I think he needs to improve his handle a little bit. Not in the open court, where he is great at breaking the press, but in the halfcourt offense when he's trying to make a quick move, he often loses the ball.

Shabazz played really good last night, but I still think he could have done a better job of running the offense and getting guys into position. Two guys I would like to go to more often are Drummond and Lamb. Lamb is shooting 50% on the season and Drummond is shooting 62%. Granted, Drummond's numbers are a bit skewed considering 50% of his buckets are on alley-oops or putbacks, but he has shown some semblance of a step back jumper of some sort. It might be a good idea to feed him more and see what he can do in there. He has been especially efficient in the past three games, where he's missed something like four shots total.

Couldn't have said it better. Agree 100%

 

[ctchamps]

The last two game the focus was getting the ball to the bigs. Plays were being run with that in mind. Shabazz and Ryan are watching the players run their sets. They can't just pass the ball to the players if the screens and pick and rolls are not being executed well or if they are getting covered. Watch Shabazz's eyes while he's dribbling. The entire time he's waiting to see if he can get the ball to Andre, AO or JL. But a lot of the times these guys don't get free. So how can he do more than that?

 

[champs99and04]

The last two game the focus was getting the ball to the bigs. Plays were being run with that in mind. Shabazz and Ryan are watching the players run their sets. They can't just pass the ball to the players if the screens and pick and rolls are not being executed well or if they are getting covered. Watch Shabazz's eyes while he's dribbling. The entire time he's waiting to see if he can get the ball to Andre, AO or JL. But a lot of the times these guys don't get free. So how can he do more than that?

I think the key to an efficient offense is all five players in constant motion, whether they be setting screens to free up their teammates, or putting themselves in a position to catch the ball and become a threat. Our bigs are extremely talented obviously, but setting good screens and passing out of the post are two things they will have to work on. I would say Lamb not getting free enough is a result of a lot of factors. Lamb got a lot stronger over the off-season, but he still gets pushed around a lot by defenders, which bumps him off his route when he's trying to use a screen. Lamb is good at using screens, but he's still got a ways to go before he can join the Rip, Ray, Kemba club as far as using screens is concerned. And as I said, our big men will have to work on setting screens as well. Specifically in the case of Drummond, screen setting probably wasn't something that was emphasized on his high school team.

 

[bmayuc]

I watched him a lot this summer for Team USA and he surprised me with how good he was in traffic. He's so slender, he was knifing through top international defenses and scoring in the paint.

I agree, but international ball there is much more space due to slightly longer 3 pt line and spread out, single post offensive action. Alot of times in NCAA ball things become very congested, too much for Lamb, IMO. He needs to be using screens like Rip, hitting spot up threes, and hitting 12-15 foot pullups off the bounce.