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Message: [QUOTE="IthacaMatt, post: 4873131, member: 405"] It's a process. When you stop seeing progress, then you have to try something different or new. The first couple games, there was no offense at all, just ISO pick & roll, or throwing it around the perimeter for a random three attempt. The defense was dreadful against Colgate, playing man-to-man. They didn't know whether to switch or not, they didn't fight through picks, they didn't box out at all on the boards. Really horrendous, let's be honest. We were in the game for a half against Tennessee, but after that, they just managed the lead, and you knew we were never going to win. Next game against Gonzaga - who had just lost - we looked out of it the whole time. Yes, I know we got within 6 or so in the second half, but we never even looked good in that game. Chaminade was like a scrimmage, but be honest, we played way better against Chaminade than we did in any of our first 3 or 4 games. So, again, that's some progress. Kicked LSU's butt, soundly. Improved on the boards, looked like we were running more motion on offense early, and then of course Judah took over late and got to the foul line about 15 times in a blow out win. Against Virginia, their star defensive guard took Judah right out of the game. If he's our leader, he has to be tougher than that, and make plays for [I]other guys[/I] to score, if this guy has you locked up. JJ had his best game, but it wasn't nearly good enough. Copeland got rebounds, made some nice plays, but also seemed to try too hard and threw away several easy passes. Maliq and Naheem were OK for 5 minutes or so each, but then got overpowered, or committed fouls, or in Naheem's case, traveled a couple times and froze on the double teams. Even this game, the first 10 minutes, we had motion all over the place on the offensive end, we had dual ball handlers, and Judah wasn't forcing it. Everybody was playing defense with commitment. And then we stopped scoring, but remained close for maybe 4-5 more minutes, and then it just got away from them. Autry should have changed things up in the last 5 minutes of the first half, when it went from 5 points to a 15 point lead. Boeheim used to be great at closing out halves. And then when they are thumping you with a 13-0 run early in the 2nd half to effectively end the game, you have to call a timeout somewhere in there to shake things up, change the mix, try a different strategy. Nothing from Autry here. Did not show himself to be a good game coach today, IMO. He's got work to do. He'll get better, the team will get better. But we need some toughness and character. How about a game of paintball between the players? Maybe some ax throwing. Take them hiking in the Adirondacks. SOMETHING! They need more edge, not selfishness, when things get challenging. [/QUOTE]

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