Weaknesses | The Boneyard

Weaknesses

andy34 said:
They're too skilled, too deep, and too exciting. And they'll win too many games
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Are you saying the fans will get tired of “winning, winning, winning?”
 
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Shooting.

The team is crazy athletic at just about every position and the guards/wings will get to the hoop with ease. If they cannot have somebody spot up and consistently knock down the 3 off the dribble drive there will be some tough nights.
 
3 pt shooting. We are really relying on Gaffney and Akok and Martin and Adams shooting better, Tyler coming back to form, and Jackson learning how to shoot at all. If we role out a lineup of Gaff, Bouk, Jackson, Whaley Carlton like some have suggested a zone with eat this team for lunch. 0 spacing. A post-injury Polley and Bouk are our only proven shooters at the high-major level on this team we have... the potential for a disastrous offensive season is there. In general, people are assuming a MASSIVE jump in production from Gaffney this year--I am in that camp, but it might not happen. Not everyone will shoot 35+% from 3--but I think we need at least 4 if we want to be competitive at the highest level. My guess is Gaff, Cole, Bouk, Polley end up being our best shooters--Adams low 30s, Akok/Jackson high 20s again on lower attempts. With four shooters we could always have 3 of them on the floor in crunch time (which I believe is a requirement).

Unproven frontcourt. Whaley came on strong late, Carlton MIGHT turn it around, but the rest of our frontcourt hasn't played D1 ball at all.

Lack of experience in big games. I think this might be the one that gets us in the 2nd round more than anything when we make the tournament. This team may be athletic and talented, but no one has proven they are a crunch time winner outside of Bouk.

Perimeter defense. Bouknight was a garbage defender last year. Let's assume the added bulk and hard work this summer has helped him improve on that end. Even the coach is saying that Cole wasn't very good. Gaffney wasn't good either last season. Adams is probably going to be our strongest perimeter defender, but he's more of a 2/3 than a 1/2 defender. How do we stop a talented PG? The Gaffney weight gain and healthy ankle needs to lead to noticeable improvements.

(I think our defense on the wing should be very good though. I have high hopes that Adams/Jackson/Martin/Akok will be able to shut down the 3-4)

Interior defense. Carlton is incapable of hedging the ball and recovering--that was true even before the weight gain. Brown and and Sanogo are not particularly fleet of foot themselves. Sanogo hedged a lot in HS and didn't look like anything special. Young bigs always take a long time to develop good defense so I am not expecting much from Sanogo anyways on that end. I think we end up relying on Whaley A LOT unless Carlton has developed a better PnR IQ.

In general, Hurley's best trait is player development. This summer really messed with player development all over the country. I think this will effect us more than most teams.
 
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Youth.. Good news/bad news... The speed with which the young guys develop will dictate the trajectory of the season.. A lot of our talent is young..We have very talented slashers/scorers.. Can hide the lack of outside shooting with smothering defenses creating TOs and open court fast break opportunities.. RJ/JG will be getting the ball to the right guys in their favorite spots.. Trust me.. Dan Hurley/staff have these guys taking a lot of long range jumpers in practice..Maybe Polley plays the John Gwynn role of the Microwave.. Instant Offense off the bench..
 
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429 does a good job of it.

I think there are lineups that can shoot, but those lineups probably can't defend the interior or rebound.
There are lineups that can devastate teams with interior scoring and defense, but those will lack outside shooting.

I am not sure it is a weakness exactly, but Hurley is going to need this team to be multiple different teams, depending on what is needed that day. Like a football team that may throw often one game and run the ball the next. There will be teams we play that can't handle our size. There will be teams that can't handle our guys on the perimeter. There will be teams we need to defend a certain way. I believe defense needs to lead the way, not offense This team, no matter who is on the floor, can score in transition off of turnovers.

The keys to overachieving: Jackson becomes a shooter. Martin is a better shooter than we think. Akok comes back and is good. Polley learns how to rebound and play interior defense. Josh is late sophomore season Josh.
 
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We need to learn to defend better without fouling, especially with the front court. This was a consistent theme last year. At least this year we should have more depth to counteract this.
 
A lot hinges on shooting. Polley is our only proven shooter and he’s coming off an ACL tear. Bouk, Gaffney, Adams, Cole, Akok shooting well is a big if. There will be nights we shoot loke 4/25 from 3 and nights we shoot 10/20.
 
Defense. We know Whaley is a great plus but we also need to remember on many of his successful helps Vital and AG were involved in bothering the other guards as well. Can Cole and Gaffney defend to the point of keeping other teams guards from being comfortable starting their offenses? Can Bouk, Martin and Jackson defend scoring wings from getting in the lanes as well as creating havoc on the perimeter for other teams shooters?

We know Whaley will be good is Josh quick enough now to be decent on D, his steps lost last year on D were horrid and hurt often? Are the freshman smart enough to be like Whaley and not Enoch?

Lots of question marks but also lots of options and different line ups available. Not just on the kids but on the staff also to find the right combos.
 
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Regarding defensive liabilities, one plus this season is across the board length. For example, Bouknight may have been a negative man to man defender but his length created steals, disruptions and rebounds which led to easy baskets. Almost everyone they throw out on the floor has length with the exception of Cole and if the energy and effort is there, they will be very tough on the defensive end.
 
My own view is that depth at PG is a weakness if either Cole or Gaffney is out due to a turned ankle or covid protocol, because I don't see a 3rd guy ready to run the team and handle backcourt pressure, (although I think Jackson will eventually, and Adams did play there in a couple spots).

Most of the things @husky429 mentions, I think are concerns to address rather than actual weaknesses another team can exploit. We are unproven in certain ways. For example, its doubtful and unproven that we can put a 90% free throw shooter on the line at the end of games to replace Vital, but that doesn't mean it's a weakness. Moreover, I think we have an important strength. We can play so many ways, Hurley should always be able to create and exploit a mismatch.

Even if our 3 point shooting is the same as last year, I think we can come up with more 3 point rebounds to get second chances, and that slightly more second chances will make up for a deficiency in percentage. I also think Jackson will shoot as good from 3 as Bouknight last year, but not in volume. He shot well from 3 every time I saw him or watched a tape.

Creighton and Nova shoot 3's to win. Guarding the 3 point line will be a key, so it is very important but I don't think it's a weakness. It's just something we need to do.

If a big like Carlton truly can't effectively hedge and recover, I don't see that as a team weakness because there are other ways to play defense. It's a coaching weakness if you're making players do things they can't do well, and you've decided to play that way anyway. Whaley is great at it, and I think Carlton and Sanogo will be serviceable, or its up to Hurley to adjust the scheme when it is a disadvantage.

I understand the point about lack of the optimum summer to improve the guys, but in the spirit of the question, it can't be a weakness vs our competitors because we had our guys on campus 6-8 weeks before any other big east team according to Borges interview, and you can see the condition the guys are in. No other Big East team was on campus before mid august. Their development can't be ahead of ours.

Not really picking at the points made because they are all things that we have to do, are unproven, etc
I just distinguish concerns from actual weaknesses that we have proven we can't do.

As an extra plus: I think Jackson will totally disrupt passing lanes and get his hands on everything.
 
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