Cal Thoughts

[Hoov50]

I haven't read anything on this board since before our game yesterday, so some of what I am about to type may be "beating a dead horse" as they say.

The entire first half the announcers were harping on how well Cal was attacking the zone. Which to me was complete crap. Cal scored 15 points over the last 4 1/2 minutes all on three pointers. At least three of those shots were pretty well defended and had nothing to do with how the zone was "attacked." Take away those points (and even with those points) we still played a pretty good half of defense.

Our issue as it has been the last 3 years was offense, or to be more accurate lack of offense. A point a minute isn't going to beat very many teams. As of now, I am not sure we have a single player on the team, with maybe the exception of Gbinijie, who can create their own shot. I don't think this is due to lack of talent, but more lack of knowing when to do it. We passed the ball around the outside, occasionally going inside for a contested shot most of the night. We hustle for rebound and tips, we set screens, but we don't really make much progress on offense. Our offense in many games the past three years, despite the successes, has been pretty anemic. Based on last night's performance, this year has the potential to be even worse.

Kaleb Joseph can (and most likely will) develop into a very good point guard for us. Right now he isn't playing very well. From unforced turnovers to trying to push the ball at the wrong times, he isn't making very good choices right now. The things I was impressed with him in previous games (granted, against lesser opponents) disappeared last night. Several times when we could have gotten into transition he made poor choices. Other times when it would have served us better to slow down, he tried to speed up the pace. Several times Joseph's defender overplayed his left hand and he had a wide open run to the basket to his right, yet didn't take it.

The best way to describe our offense right now is disjointed. The person with the ball really has no clue what the other four guys are going to be doing. In reality how could he, when it doesn't seem like anyone is doing things consistently. Whether through the play calls or their own doing every time down the court looks like a new philosophy. Christmas will set a screen 23 feet from the basket one time down the court and the next time never leave the paint. McCullough will play at the perimeter and then next time down the court he will be crowded into the paint right next to Christmas. The only consistent thing seems to be Cooney running around trying to get open. And it seems more times than not we miss him when he is open, although they way he is shooting now I am not sure if he would knock down the shot anyway.

There is loads of talent on this team from 1-8, but unless we start gelling as a team we could be in for a long season. The way we played last night, not the players' attitudes, remind of me of two teams in particular; 2001-02 and 2007-08. Both of those teams had quite a bit of talent, but never really gelled as a team.

Boeheim, despite his critics (some of which post here), always seems to be able to recognize and work to correct problems. Maybe the performance last night will speed up the process of corrections.

I truly think with development and work, we can be a pretty good team, maybe not Final Four quality, but the Tournament is all about match ups, so who knows?!

 

[stuckinbig11]

I agree with much of what you said. My take-away from the game was poor shot selection--an open 3 from 20 feet just after crossing mid-court--why not? throw the ball toward the basket from inside--why not? The thing I really noticed was that last year, Cooney would set up in the corner, left unattended--then he would get the ball and make the shot. This year, he still gets left alone in the corner waving his arms for the ball, but it never comes to him--either the guy inside tries a contested shot or he kicks it way out front. The shots Cooney is getting are generally not open set-up shots. We need good shots from deep to open up the middle. The ball-movement chemistry from last year is just not there. YET. I hope someone figures it out. The defense will come along with a bit more experience.

 

[Hoov50]

I agree with much of what you said. My take-away from the game was poor shot selection--an open 3 from 20 feet just after crossing mid-court--why not? throw the ball toward the basket from inside--why not? The thing I really noticed was that last year, Cooney would set up in the corner, left unattended--then he would get the ball and make the shot. This year, he still gets left alone in the corner waving his arms for the ball, but it never comes to him--either the guy inside tries a contested shot or he kicks it way out front. The shots Cooney is getting are generally not open set-up shots. We need good shots from deep to open up the middle. The ball-movement chemistry from last year is just not there. YET. I hope someone figures it out. The defense will come along with a bit more experience.

I agree and it isn't just Cooney. At times, it is almost like we see a wide open teammate and then decide, "well he's open, but I think I can find someone even more open, so I'm not going to pass it to him." Another thing I didn't post originally, is I don't think we are very good passers or, at very least, lack the confidence to make some seemingly open passes.