Tyler Polley Polley is an amazing weapon for us | Page 2 | The Boneyard

Tyler Polley Polley is an amazing weapon for us

nelsonmuntz

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Polley can spread the floor because the D has to respect his 3's. That opens up driving lanes, which can scramble the D.

Unfortunately, the only guy to this point who can exploit that consistently is Bouknight, and to a lesser extent Martin. And one of those is out.

As an aside, the high pick & roll offense needs to be run to Polley's side of the floor when he's on the court, so that the gap develops. Or, if they close the gap, Polley has a 3 on the kick out.

Just because we choose not to exploit it does not mean that Carlton, Sanogo and Whaley are not frequently in 1-on-1 situations on or near the block. They are shooting .472, .500, and .545 respectively. Polley is doing his part to spread the court. Get them the ball.
 

nelsonmuntz

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Carlton and Sonogo play entirely different positions from Polly and they'd be worse guarding the stretch 4's and 3's.

You are right with Adams though. I honestly don't know the logic behind that one. I think it's not what he brings to the table but more of the fact that since Bouk went down, we need someone to eat minutes.

Either the team is better defensively with Carlton and/or Sanogo on the floor or it isn't. The stats say it is.

Polley is pretty bad defensively, but Adams is not much better. Play Martin at the 2, Polley at the 3, and 2 of Sanogo, Whaley and Carlton. Let's see teams try to match up with that lineup.
 

nelsonmuntz

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I'm sorry if I misunderstood your post and you literally meant that the 6'8" guy can only shoot well over people 6'4" and less and not well over 6'5" people.

Again, Creighton gave 77% of its total available minutes in that game to guys at 6'5" or shorter, and 20 of the 23% remaining were given to centers. That is universally considered a small lineup. 3% of the minutes were to guys 6'6" or taller that were not playing the 5.

For context, we've given more than 15x those same minutes out. 51% of our total non-center minutes over the last 5 games have been to guys 6'6" or taller.

From some playing time stats based on an inch difference in height between some of the Creighton players, you appear to be arguing that height doesn't matter when defending a player. You are right. That must be why it is so easy for Gaff to get his shot off. Oh wait, it isn't.
 
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He is such an offensive weapon when he hits his shots and under limited situations. If he isn’t scoring the ball he isn’t rebounding nor is he defending effectively. I like the young man and have had several small conversations with him. Very likable and I have wished him the best and really wanted him to succeed. He has had a half a dozen good games in his career so far. He needs to dig down deep and find that fire he needs to have to compete in all phases the team needs from him IF he wants meaningful minutes. I’m not sure if he will adjust well being someone who spells time for a starter or to see if he can give a possible scoring punch off the bench for limited minutes. I feel DH has given him equitable time yet with Bouk and Andre returning will the minutes be there? He has shown heart in his battle with injuries and has shown to be a young man of high character and as Nelson said he is easy to root for. I just don’t see as much chance for him to be the real go to guy or see enough minutes to work out an off shooting night. He will have 6’5” plus guys in his face every game- he is not a hard mark to plan on stopping. I hope he hits 80% of his shots and is 1st team NBE I really do.
Bouk and Jackson need to be cutting into Adams minutes when they get back. Not Polley’s.
 
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From some playing time stats based on an inch difference in height between some of the Creighton players, you appear to be arguing that height doesn't matter when defending a player. You are right. That must be why it is so easy for Gaff to get his shot off. Oh wait, it isn't.
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Polley is an amazing weapon for us. I think his 39% 3 ponit shooting understates how accurate and effective he has been from the field. Looking at the game log, with 2 exceptions, St. Johns and Creighton, he has been shooting over 50% since he has been playing over 50% of the game. Basically, if our guards can get Polley his shots, he will hit over half of them. Polley's shot is a catch and shoot 3. He doesn't need to be wide open because he is so tall that he can shoot right over guards. His eFG% (.542), ORtg (129.5) and OBPM (5.1) are all really impressive. A shooter like Polley is not just a scorer, but he is such a game-changing threat on offense that he creates open shots and driving lanes for other players simply by making it impossible for his defender to help out anywhere else.

Creighton and St. Johns have a lot of 6'5"+ players, and they can challenge those outside shots if they are willing to commit a tall defender to Polley 23 feet from the hoop. I have no doubt in my mind that we win the first Creighton game if Polley was there to play 25 minutes and take 8 3's. After Bouknight, the rest of the team was 2 for 18 from 3 in that game. If UConn can keep running Polley off screens to get him just a little space, he can be deadly. I don't think Polley is nearly as good shooting off the dribble. His defense is not great, but he is such an offensive weapon that the net of him being on the court makes it worth it to play him more. He is coming off a serious knee injury, so it is not surprising to see a dip in his lateral quickness.

He has come back very strong from that knee injury, which could have gone either way for a borderline starter on a bubble team that gets hurt late in his junior year. A lot of players would have packed it in, and it says a lot about Polley's character that he came back as quickly and as strongly as he did. He is an easy guy to root for.
Hmm.....don’t count the games he sucked and he’s great? Pretty sure you can say that about anyone.

the guy is a one dimensional player. When his shot is on, he can win us a game (Marquette). When its off, he’s kinda useless (St John’s).

So basically he’s a weapon when he’s on and he’s useless when he’s not. Great analysis.
 
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Either the team is better defensively with Carlton and/or Sanogo on the floor or it isn't. The stats say it is.

Polley is pretty bad defensively, but Adams is not much better. Play Martin at the 2, Polley at the 3, and 2 of Sanogo, Whaley and Carlton. Let's see teams try to match up with that lineup.

The stats look good against the lower teams of the conference whom we're 5-1 against. We have 2 wins against DePaul, 2 wins against Butler and 1 win against Marquette.

We haven't played Seton Hall or Nova yet. How do you think Sanogo or Carlton will handle Sandro, Samuels and Earl-Robinson? St Johns forced DH's hand and didn't play Sonogo the last 10 minutes of the half because they went small and spread the floor. Until we show that we can defend this on a regular basis, other teams will continue to try to attack us this way. We'll see what the stats will show when we start playing the better teams of the conference.
 
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Polley is an amazing weapon for us. I think his 39% 3 ponit shooting understates how accurate and effective he has been from the field. Looking at the game log, with 2 exceptions, St. Johns and Creighton, he has been shooting over 50% since he has been playing over 50% of the game. Basically, if our guards can get Polley his shots, he will hit over half of them. Polley's shot is a catch and shoot 3. He doesn't need to be wide open because he is so tall that he can shoot right over guards. His eFG% (.542), ORtg (129.5) and OBPM (5.1) are all really impressive. A shooter like Polley is not just a scorer, but he is such a game-changing threat on offense that he creates open shots and driving lanes for other players simply by making it impossible for his defender to help out anywhere else.

Creighton and St. Johns have a lot of 6'5"+ players, and they can challenge those outside shots if they are willing to commit a tall defender to Polley 23 feet from the hoop. I have no doubt in my mind that we win the first Creighton game if Polley was there to play 25 minutes and take 8 3's. After Bouknight, the rest of the team was 2 for 18 from 3 in that game. If UConn can keep running Polley off screens to get him just a little space, he can be deadly. I don't think Polley is nearly as good shooting off the dribble. His defense is not great, but he is such an offensive weapon that the net of him being on the court makes it worth it to play him more. He is coming off a serious knee injury, so it is not surprising to see a dip in his lateral quickness.

He has come back very strong from that knee injury, which could have gone either way for a borderline starter on a bubble team that gets hurt late in his junior year. A lot of players would have packed it in, and it says a lot about Polley's character that he came back as quickly and as strongly as he did. He is an easy guy to root for.
Some good points about his superior 3 point shooting ability. Polly has been a solid shooter for his team but his current lack of quickness and general reluctance to shoot or drive the baseline keep him on the bench a lot. His defense is questionable, plays off his man too far and perhaps due to his severe injury doesn't rebound. He currently lacks an all round game. If your that good a three shooter you need to take more shots rather than pass nearly all the time. The competition at this level requires more than just being a three point shooter.
 

nelsonmuntz

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The stats look good against the lower teams of the conference whom we're 5-1 against. We have 2 wins against DePaul, 2 wins against Butler and 1 win against Marquette.

We haven't played Seton Hall or Nova yet. How do you think Sanogo or Carlton will handle Sandro, Samuels and Earl-Robinson? St Johns forced DH's hand and didn't play Sonogo the last 10 minutes of the half because they went small and spread the floor. Until we show that we can defend this on a regular basis, other teams will continue to try to attack us this way. We'll see what the stats will show when we start playing the better teams of the conference.

What is your alternative?
 

nelsonmuntz

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Hmm.....don’t count the games he sucked and he’s great? Pretty sure you can say that about anyone.

the guy is a one dimensional player. When his shot is on, he can win us a game (Marquette). When its off, he’s kinda useless (St John’s).

So basically he’s a weapon when he’s on and he’s useless when he’s not. Great analysis.

Says the guy that has been trashing Polley for years. Got it.
 
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What is your alternative?

That is the dilemma. We'll probably have to roll the dice on Polley defensively and hope he is an asset offensively. With Polley shooting from the outside, we effectively lose a rebounder. To keep the defense honest, he needs to be driving to the hole and help out on the boards. Or if he's not shooting he can't be floating around outside. We simply can't afford having our 6'9" guy average 3 rebounds a game. He just needs to improve his rebounding and he'll be out there more. There's no reason why our PG is averaging more rebounds than our 6'9" forward. Hell, Adams is averaging 2.7 rebounds to Polley's 2.6.
 
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That is the dilemma. We'll probably have to roll the dice on Polley defensively and hope he is an asset offensively. With Polley shooting from the outside, we effectively lose a rebounder. To keep the defense honest, he needs to be driving to the hole and help out on the boards. Or if he's not shooting he can't be floating around outside. We simply can't afford having our 6'9" guy average 3 rebounds a game. He just needs to improve his rebounding and he'll be out there more. There's no reason why our PG is averaging more rebounds than our 6'9" forward. Hell, Adams is averaging 2.7 rebounds to Polley's 2.6.
Polley would be less of a liability in zone D. I rarely criticize Coach but I wish he was less stubborn on this and play just a little zone once in a while.
 
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Polley would be less of a liability in zone D. I rarely criticize Coach but I wish he was less stubborn on this and play just a little zone once in a while.
Can't just roll out a zone, though. Have to practice it. With this COVID season, they've been severely limited in quality practice time. Not to mention they've really started to grasp Hurley's man to man D this season as a team and have been executing it really well, so most practice time was likely devoted to that and integrating RJ and Sanogo into the offense.
 
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Can't just roll out a zone, though. Have to practice it. With this COVID season, they've been severely limited in quality practice time. Not to mention they've really started to grasp Hurley's man to man D this season as a team and have been executing it really well, so most practice time was likely devoted to that and integrating RJ and Sanogo into the offense.
I'm not talking playing zone like Syracuse just mixing it up once in a while. They've had plenty of practice time recently. I do agree that our m2m has been good most games and should be our bread and butter but mixing things up can keep the opponent off-guard.
 

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