All last night showed was we lack a 2nd scorer

[Alsacs]

The defense is still good, but if C.J. Fair struggles we will have a real hard time scoring. I think Fair had 5 points last night and we only scored 56 points as a result. Grant/Cooney/Ennis/Gbnije one of them needs to be that 2nd scorer or it will be tough. I think Coleman played better offensively, but his defense isn't good enough for JB to make him anything more than the 3rd C in the rotation.

 

[Dave85]

I think we need to give more credit to St Francis. That team came out to play and the coach gave them a very good game plan against the 2-3 zone. They harassed Ennis effectively. They kept CJ in front of their defenders preventing him from driving left or right or getting any good shoots. St.Francis was more aggressive the whole game. And they were hitting their 3's.

I think last night is the result of the Orange coming out flat after a one day turnaround and St Francis playing a very good game. I do not think we need to conclude there's something wrong with this year's team or we need a 2nd scorer. The defense will get better. The offense will get better. Free throws have to get better. CJ and Grant going 4-4 from the foul line when it mattered at the end of the game which was key to the victory. Team offense and team defense takes time to develop. It's still very early in the season. By March all will be good. Teams loaded with 5-star recruits are going to look good this time of year. The Orange play team ball and it will take the whole season before our team peaks.

 

[Jack Hall]

The defense is still good, but if C.J. Fair struggles we will have a real hard time scoring. I think Fair had 5 points last night and we only scored 56 points as a result. Grant/Cooney/Ennis/Gbnije one of them needs to be that 2nd scorer or it will be tough. I think Coleman played better offensively, but his defense isn't good enough for JB to make him anything more than the 3rd C in the rotation.

Admit it our not Cole was the second scorer last night. Not by design but does that really matter? He got the ball in. His defense was spotty on two consecutive possessions in second half, JB yanked him for good, rak and Keita struggled almost as much, we lost the lead. IMO JB needs to get Coles D up to speed and or just trust him because offensively we will struggle when he is not on court, it will be 4 on 5...

 

[SUSScuse]

Disagree that we lack a second scorer on the team.
What I saw last night was a lack of looking for the next pass and trying to force your way in the paint for a basket.
I understand the idea of getting CJ going but at some point our freshman guard has to look for someone else to pass the ball to.
This goes for the rest of the team too. There was too much of one on five and not enough sharing of the basketball.

 

[Jack Hall]

Admit it our not Cole was the second scorer last night. Not by design but does that really matter? He got the ball in. His defense was spotty on two consecutive possessions in second half, JB yanked him for good, rak and Keita struggled almost as much, we lost the lead. IMO JB needs to get Coles D up to speed and or just trust him because offensively we will struggle when he is not on court, it will be 4 on 5...

In reality Keita and raks defense was barely better than Coles last night but those two just don't score it. But JB doesn't trust cole, he sat out end of game. Keita was in until he fouled out (after like 15 mins of pt which is weak) and then JB inserted rak not cole at end but our offense continued to stagnate. Thank god we got those two turnovers at end and grant got the outback of the CJ miss, otherwise our halfmcourt offense was one big struggle without cole on the court IMOIMO

 

[Trueblue25]

Jerami Grant is our second scorer. He had an off first half but he showed that he can be reliable when the team needs him.

What we need is a third scorer, badly. Teams cut off and glued down our wings last night, CJ and Jerami, and no one picked up the slack outside of Coleman.

I think Silent G can be the other go to if he JUST SHOWS SOME ENERGY!!

Cooney as well, I'd like some more consistency.

 

[Jack Hall]

Disagree that we lack a second scorer on the team.
What I saw last night was a lack of looking for the next pass and trying to force your way in the paint for a basket.
I understand the idea of getting CJ going but at some point our freshman guard has to look for someone else to pass the ball to.
This goes for the rest of the team too. There was too much of one on five and not enough sharing of the basketball.

Exactly. Last yr it was MCW and Triche driving, this year it will be CJ Grant and Tyler. And our offense has struggled. IMO we need to stop using only this ISO stuff and instead swing the ball and pass inside out

 

[Fly Rodder]

Cooney was buried all night. The only good look he had at a three in the 2nd half was when his man got crossed up slightly Cooney curled around for a nice quick three.

I'd definitely like to see the extra pass. As Tomcat pointed out in his summary, Ennis had an excellent opportunity for drive and kick, but he instead took a contested layup, which he missed. Too often there is a drive into the paint followed by a terrible shot instead of a kick or an extra pass.

 

[Jack Hall]

Disagree that we lack a second scorer on the team.
What I saw last night was a lack of looking for the next pass and trying to force your way in the paint for a basket.
I understand the idea of getting CJ going but at some point our freshman guard has to look for someone else to pass the ball to.
This goes for the rest of the team too. There was too much of one on five and not enough sharing of the basketball.

One in five just doesn't work obviously. How many times was the defense just waiting and then either Trevor or Tyler or Grant or CJ got their shot blocked or couldn't finish ? Poor offense. Good news is it can be fixed...

 

[DoctorBombay]

The defense is still good, but if C.J. Fair struggles we will have a real hard time scoring. I think Fair had 5 points last night and we only scored 56 points as a result. Grant/Cooney/Ennis/Gbnije one of them needs to be that 2nd scorer or it will be tough. I think Coleman played better offensively, but his defense isn't good enough for JB to make him anything more than the 3rd C in the rotation.

Agree.
Last night I was more concerned about the offense then the spotty D. If St. Francis of all people can clamp down on Cooney, & if CJ has a rough nite, just imagine what Duke, UNC, heck, even our old clutch-&-grab nemesis Pitt, will do to us in the league. St. Francis is not renowned for its all-world defense, yet they made us struggle for points.
I believe our D can get better, and will. But we need a reliable 2nd option to keep teams honest.
Last year one of MCW, Triche, or Dirty would always be there to supplement our scoring- any one of those guys could go for 20+ in a game. But more importantly, when all 3 were on, we could beat anybody and did.
We can't have this offense turn into a "CJ and Whoever-Shows-Up-Tonite Show" - that's just a recipe for failure. We need some sorta consistency, & hopefully it'll be there by March.

 

[cuseguy]

If Grant is indeed a first round pick, he should be able to be our second scorer.

 

[br801]

I'm not sure this team will develop a clear-cut 2nd scorer. Depending on match-ups in a given game, it might be Grant, Cooney, Ennis or even Coleman. And I don't necessarily think that would be a bad thing, as long as a couple of them show up to compliment CJ's scoring and/or pick up CJ when his shot is off.