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Message: [QUOTE="IthacaMatt, post: 850027, member: 405"] I think that Ennis is playing too conservatively mentally, rather than the idea that he couldn't run the break because physically he's not that great an athlete. Yes, athleticism helps you do more things in the open court, but Billy Edelin and Z Sims, neither a speedster, could run a really good fast break. The question is speed of thought - how quickly you make decisions and advance the ball. You don't have to be the fastest guy from point A to point Z because passing the ball is much faster than dribbling the ball. A big part of the reason that Ennis has made such a great transition to college ball is that Boeheim is coaching him to minimize mistakes. JB figures we have enough scorers around Ennis that he wanted to have him concentrate first on ball security, good decisions and getting people open shots. To minimize mistakes, we have taken the foot off the gas on the fast break. We have also done that because our guards are not as big as last year, and they have been helping us on defense and not leaking out to start the break. The more you run, the more you turn it over, in hopes of making the "great" pass for the breakaway dunk. When we were running the most, we could turn it over 15-20 times and still win. But basketball has been changing. It's a more defensive game overall. You may get 90 points against a team you outclass physically, but it's much harder to do that in big games where teams are more evenly matched. Winning games at the highest level has become about minimizing mistakes and maximizing possessions, kind of like football. The reason we are number 2 in the country right now, despite not playing the greatest defense, is that are are rebounding fairly well (haven't been pounded by 15-20 rebounds by physical opponents like we used to), and we are just not turning the ball over - other than CJ, that is. Ennis will unwrap the offense and eventually the fast break will come. This team will continue to get better as they encourage Ennis to do more and more, and the coaches can do that because Ennis continues to handle all that they have asked him to do so far. [/QUOTE]

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