Play of Keita and Gbinige

[woody44]

Tonight was encouraging, I would like to see MG start to play more minutes if Cooney doesn't come out of his shooting slump, Cooney has been a 30% shooter from three since conference play started minus the ND game, Gbinige is arguably shooting the three better than TC right now, he is just as active defensively but does a better job on the glass.
As for Kieta after only playing a couple of minutes against BC I was worried that his injury was worse than reported, however
he looked good tonight, I just wish that he
and Christmas wouldn't fall for every
pump fake that gets themselves into foul trouble, Kieta was active tonight he kept rebounds alive that prolonged offensive posessions

 

[rrlbees]

Tonight was encouraging, I would like to see MG start to play more minutes if Cooney doesn't come out of his shooting slump, Cooney has been a 30% shooter from three since conference play started minus the ND game, Gbinige is arguably shooting the three better than TC right now, he is just as active defensively but does a better job on the glass. As for Kieta after only playing a couple of minutes against BC I was worried that his injury was worse than reported, however he looked good tonight, I just wish that he and Christmas wouldn't fall for every pump fake that gets themselves into foul trouble, Kieta was active tonight he kept rebounds alive that prolonged offensive posessions

Nobodies covering G when he's on the perimeter. And he did play a lot tonight because we went small a lot.

 

[longislandcuse]

Nobodies covering G when he's on the perimeter.

Even better because he shoots it well and isn't crazy inconsistent. Plus he plays beast mode defense.

 

[SoBeCuse]

Baye played ok but he was poor on D and was biting on fakes all day. Could be some rust. His layup attempts in the 1H were criminal. The staff needs to figure out how to get Cooney shots, pronto. Silent G did a good job.

 

[rrlbees]

Even better because he shoots it well and isn't crazy inconsistent. Plus he plays beast mode defense.

When he's not covered, someone has a 2nd person shading them. It's obvious JBs goal with this offense this year is to create iso's.

 

[corpjet]

To make any sort of run we need these two especially MB with how silent Cooney has been in some games. Keita needs to realize he's in for defense first, anything else he can bring is house money, with that being said we need to get the ball to Rak more on offense.

 

[newmexicuse]

Silent G had all of his eight in the first half. The kid is solid, but he simply is not a "natural" scorer & he couldn't sustain the O output for an entire game. This team badly needs better and more consistent O play from the 2G spot as well as an O spark off the bench.

 

[Ghost]

G's play tonight was pretty impressive. I haven't thought much of his game this year, but he hit a couple shots, and played well all-around. He was certainly playing with more confidence in that first half than Cooney or Ennis, both of whom seemed rattled. He also had a nice baseline drive and pass to Baye (who fumbled it as always), but still, nice move.

Baye played pretty well too.

3-18 from the floor, and o-5 from three for Ennis/Cooney isn't going to get it done.

 

[SoBeCuse]

Silent G had all of his eight in the first half. The kid is solid, but he simply is not a "natural" scorer & he couldn't sustain the O output for an entire game. This team badly needs better and more consistent O play from the 2G spot as well as an O spark off the bench.

This. Agreed.

 

[SoBeCuse]

We have a better frontline tham Duke imo but we don't have a Parker or Sulaimon. Sulaimon made some BIG plays tonight. Really good athlete off the bounce. Last year I thought he was one of the best freshmen in the country. He is on his game now. Parker was excellent.

 

[SoBeCuse]

G's play tonight was pretty impressive. I haven't thought much of his game this year, but he hit a couple shots, and played well all-around. He was certainly playing with more confidence in that first half than Cooney or Ennis, both of whom seemed rattled. He also had a nice baseline drive and pass to Baye (who fumbled it as always), but still, nice move.

Baye played pretty well too.

3-18 from the floor, and o-5 from three for Ennis/Cooney isn't going to get it done.

Agreed. What's your take re: Cooney/Ennis? Ennis missed some shots he normally makes but he and Cooney seemed to be hounded all game. Ennis made some uncharacteristic turnovers. Lack of depth hurts for sure but one would think we can get Cooney better looks. I'm encouraged with Silent G moving forward. We will need him.

 

[Ghost]

Agreed. What's your take re: Cooney/Ennis? Ennis missed some shots he normally makes but he and Cooney seemed to be hounded all game. Ennis made some uncharacteristic turnovers. Lack of depth hurts for sure but one would think we can get Cooney better looks. I'm encouraged with Silent G moving forward. We will need him.

Yeah, G seems to have found his confidence from three. Hopefully he continues to impress - I still think his handle is shaky, but he didn't seem to have too much trouble today. Overall, I still think he's rather limited at this point.

Cooney seems easy enough right now to shut down by simply overplaying him (obviously). Until he shows another dimension it's going to plague him. Shot fakes, driving to the hoop - right now they're not giving him any space and until he takes advantage of the overplaying it will continue. Again, I think working the ball into the post more would help a bit. Nobody really hedges off him - if we could hit him off of drives, or kicking it in and back out it may help. Nobody other than Grant seems all that inclined to toss into the post though.

I think bringing Rak/Keita out high, and having Cooney exploit the overplay is one way to get him some easy looks. They're both fairly adept at hitting the cutter.

Ennis looking so rattled in the first half was probably the second biggest shocker of the night (to JB getting ejected). The defense was getting away with a lot, but he seemed to lose his composure and, like Cooney, if you don't make them pay for the overplay they're going to keep doing it. He was much better in the second half, but needs to keep driving to the hoop more. I'm not that worried about him - but he needs to score more to relieve some of the pressure on everyone else.