A Few Thoughts...

[newmexicuse]

1. When the O stalls & Scoop is having a bad Scoop day - why wasn't MCW getting some run. He is our best pure creator.

2. How did Kris manage fewer boards than a dead man ?

3. Where has CJs O gone ?

4. We dug a huge hole mostly on poor play from our senior leaders so I don't want to blame BT for the loss. But his missing the two FTs really was a momentum killer at a point when we still had time.

5. I hope James's big game wasn't a one & done.

6. The single biggest key to beating us is to win the TO battle - it takes away our biggest strength. Also, hitting some threes won't hurt.

7. Biggest positive, as bad as things were, our guys had no quit & played really hard to the last second.

8. The only real bright spot was Dion - he was a man out there. But, caveat emptor, I hope he doesn't fall in love with the trey - he was hot tonight, but that won't happen consistantly.

 

[rocklloyd]

All are fantastic questions/observations. I have many of the same.

 

[baggerbob]

Actually check CJ's offense in the other 3 games he started Notre Dame, Cincy, West Virginia wasn't sick and not a lot better 6,6,7.

 

[Ghost]

1. When the O stalls & Scoop is having a bad Scoop day - why wasn't MCW getting some run. He is our best pure creator.

2. How did Kris manage fewer boards than a dead man ?

3. Where has CJs O gone ?

4. We dug a huge hole mostly on poor play from our senior leaders so I don't want to blame BT for the loss. But his missing the two FTs really was a momentum killer at a point when we still had time.

5. I hope James's big game wasn't a one & done.

Just to touch on a couple of your solid points, I've been a huge proponent of getting some MCW and Rak some run, but I also accepted it's not happening. Why not is beyond me. MCW seems to create shots for other people, something we need desperately at times. I can see him not playing against certain teams because he can be shaky with the ball, but maybe some extra PT would have helped calm those issues.

I thought Baye was actually good yesterday for the most part, but Rak should have been getting minutes at the 5 all year.

Now, we all do this, but there have been plenty of times where I have been yelling about how bad Scoop, Dion, or BT have been and wanting them removed only to see one of them turn it around and be a huge component in one of our 20-0 runs. None of us really come to the board and start yelling about how wrong we were that we wanted Scoop or BT out of the game only to see them suddenly catch fire. JB probably has a level of trust with these guys that we don't have because our decisions don't really have consequence on the game. /Rant

I thought James was okay last night, his shots for the most part seemed okay, and he rebounded. I think the fact that he does those little things makes up for the fact that he's not always hitting shots now.

CJ's has seemed a step slow in NY, I thought someone said he was ill though - true?

KJo needs to wake up and realize that he can contribute even when he's not scoring. Can we put him and DC in a room together and have DC beat some toughness into him? Or at least try to explain why rebounding is helpful to the team...

Still not a fan of changing up the starting lineup tbh.

 

[longislandcuse]

CJ as a 4 will always frustrate me because he gets his shot blocked numerous times a game. Hes just not big enough for the 4 and doesnt have the handle/shooting ability for the 3. I just cant get sold on him.

 

[Ghost]

CJ as a 4 will always frustrate me because he gets his shot blocked numerous times a game. Hes just not big enough for the 4 and doesnt have the handle/shooting ability for the 3. I just cant get sold on him.

Yeah, when he cuts across the lane he seems pretty adept at finishing. However, when he gets it in the high post and takes two dribbles and tries to finish at the rim it almost always ends badly. He also tends to get tunnel vision once he puts it on the floor in those situations and takes the shot up w/out much of an idea about who he is going up against and what the angle is on the finish.

 

[OttoMets]

KJo needs to wake up and realize that he can contribute even when he's not scoring. Can we put him and DC in a room together and have DC beat some toughness into him? Or at least try to explain why rebounding is helpful to the team...

I was thinking the same thing this morning. Coleman needs to sit Kris down - like he did with Todd Burgan in 1996 - and impress upon him the importance of, you know, trying.


Regarding the original poster's last point on Dion, I agree. I love what he did for us last night, but that was an aberrant shooting performance - he's not a very good jump-shooter and we'll never see him hit seven threes in a college game again. He just needs to hit enough to keep defenders honest and focus on driving and finishing strong at the rim.

 

[newmexicuse]

CJ as a 4 will always frustrate me because he gets his shot blocked numerous times a game. Hes just not big enough for the 4 and doesnt have the handle/shooting ability for the 3. I just cant get sold on him.

Right now it looks to me like CJ sometimes tries to rely too much on athleticism. He needs to pump fake more and come up with some sort of a move to create seperation from shot blockers or conversely learn to jump into their bodies so they can't extend on him. Cj is right now neither a true 3 nor a true 4 - he is the sterotypical "3 1/2".