I really like this lineup

[PhatOrange]

Liked it against Duke and tonight.

Rak, BJ, Roberson, Cooney, GBinje

 

[RF2044]

Liked it against Duke and tonight.

Rak, BJ, Roberson, Cooney, GBinje

I didn't like both Gbinije and BJ totaling zero points at halftime.

 

[jekelish]

I didn't like both Gbinije and BJ totaling zero points at halftime.

Agreed. BJ at least did a few things here and there defensively. Gbinije has been pretty terrible over the last 5-6 games. Disappointing after he'd been playing so well.

 

[Jasoncuse]

Having no PG kills this team/offense. We need someone that can drive and score/dish. Love G, but thats not his game.

 

[Calilivin28]

Defensively, the lineup is great with G at the top alongside Cooney. Throw Richardson in there next year and the backcourt will be extremely long. Surprised at no Joseph tonite so far...am I missing something? I don't remember hearing about an injury or anything on the broadcast.

 

[Ghost]

I didn't like both Gbinije and BJ totaling zero points at halftime.

lolololol...concur!

 

[CuseHulk]

I didn't. Want G playing on the wing.

 

[jordoo]

I found this lineup to be better defensively and worse offensively.

As I have often said Mike's advantage as a SF on offense is negated when he plays PG and is guarded by a guy used to checking guards. This was of course highlighted because we played one of the best defensive teams in the country but I think its still accurate. We absolutely need better PG play next year to allow Mike (if back) to play as a point forward where he has the advantage and played his best ball of the season.

What this lineup did show us is how poor Kaleb and Ron's defense has been all season. UVA completely victimized us when either was in the game.

Then of course there was the rebounding which rightfully has its own thread. Yikes, bad effort by all here and for some reason that bigger lineup seemed to do worse on the defensive glass.

 

[CuseHulk]

Why send Kaleb to the bench. I understand Coach explained wanted to go with G at the Point for the whole game.

But 3 minutes, with only 2 games left. Why send the message now is all.

 

[jordoo]

Having no PG kills this team/offense. We need someone that can drive and score/dish. Love G, but thats not his game.

It is part of his game when he is being guarded by a forward. When guarded by a good defensive guard he starts turning it over wildly and or over penetrating into the waiting help defense.

 

[jordoo]

Why send Kaleb to the bench. I understand Coach explained wanted to go with G at the Point for the whole game.

But 3 minutes, with only 2 games left. Why send the message now is all.

Against UVA he may have actually been protecting the kids confidence which has already taken a blow this year.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

I found this lineup to be better defensively and worse offensively.

As I have often said Mike's advantage as a SF on offense is negated when he plays PG and is guarded by a guy used to checking guards. This was of course highlighted because we played one of the best defensive teams in the country but I think its still accurate. We absolutely need better PG play next year to allow Mike (if back) to play as a point forward where he has the advantage and played his best ball of the season.

What this lineup did show us is how poor Kaleb and Ron's defense has been all season. UVA completely victimized us when either was in the game.

Then of course there was the rebounding which rightfully has its own thread. Yikes, bad effort by all here and for some reason that bigger lineup seemed to do worse on the defensive glass.

Love this post, but you went a bit too far with the discussion of the guard's lack of defense and didn't include Cooney. He gave up more three pointers on his side than all three other guards combined. He's just TERRIBLE at closing out on the three point shooter. I simply don't understand how a guy who makes his living shooting threes is constantly getting sucked into the lane or playing defense two feet inside the 3 ball line. And because he makes an occasional bank shot from three is completely forgiven for it.

 

[rrlbees]

G has played plenty of PG this year. Even when Kaleb has been on the floor.

 

[RF2044]

Why send Kaleb to the bench. I understand Coach explained wanted to go with G at the Point for the whole game.

But 3 minutes, with only 2 games left. Why send the message now is all.

It didn't have anything to do with Kaleb, I don't believe. It had everything to do with adding a third shooter to the lineup, with more size to [theoretically] chip in on the glass.

Boeheim expected them to double team the crap out of Christmas. His lineup adjustment was designed to take advantage of that and make UVa pay by capitalizing on having guys who could make wide open perimeter shots. Problem is, none of our three shooters could hit shots, so we didn't make them "pay" for double teaming Rak.

 

[Henny & Coke]

Agreed. BJ at least did a few things here and there defensively. Gbinije has been pretty terrible over the last 5-6 games. Disappointing after he'd been playing so well.

Agree G's been bad recently, but more like past 3-4 games.

5 games ago was vs Louisville where he went for 18 pts (500% FG), 6 ast, 5 rebs...

6 games ago was vs Duke where he went for 27 pts (714% FG!!), 6 rebs, 4 asts.

(Just a small correction. Though it DOES seem like longer haha.)

 

[jordoo]

Love this post, but you went a bit too far with the discussion of the guard's lack of defense and didn't include Cooney. He gave up more three pointers on his side than all three other guards combined. He's just TERRIBLE at closing out on the three point shooter. I simply don't understand how a guy who makes his living shooting threes is constantly getting sucked into the lane or playing defense two feet inside the 3 ball line. And because he makes an occasional bank shot from three is completely forgiven for it.

I agree that he has had issues as well and isn't one of our better defensive guards at closing out. He's pretty good at getting his hands on balls and collapsing down from the weakside to disrupt the driver but not very good at working over the screens and seems like you mention to quite often close out late even when he is standing 4' from the guy on the catch. If you watched this is something that Bennett adjusted in the game, he moved Brogden and Parrentes in a couple feet on the catch and told them to be shot ready. They almost held to freeze the defender like they would pass but really they were sizing up the hoop before letting it fly. I'd add that Cooney isn't one of our better guys at stopping penetration but Ron and Kaleb exasperate his deficiencies by basically rarely being where they should be and rarely moving properly with the movement of the ball. Cooney looked much better with MikeG who has had very little time there this year.

IMO Cooney is an average defensive guard in our system with an above average ability to get his hands on passes and a below average ability to bother shooters even when he does close out well. If he played next to a MCW, Brandon or Andy we wouldn't notice it all that much. Heck Ennis was another probably average defensive guard in our system except he was great at playing passing lanes and Cooney looked like a much better defender playing with him. So even two average defenders can get by if they know where to be. This is why I pointed out Ron and Kaleb because when they were in it wasn't so much what shots UVA got or what mistakes these guys made as it was that UVA got whatever they wanted with little resistance at all against them. When Mike was up top with Trevor and the game wasn't yet out of reach they at least provided consistent resistance to what UVA was trying to do.

 

[jordoo]

G has played plenty of PG this year. Even when Kaleb has been on the floor.

Yes against forwards where he has a huge advantage because Kaleb and Trevor are being checked by the guards.

 

[orangecuse]

It didn't have anything to do with Kaleb, I don't believe. It had everything to do with adding a third shooter to the lineup, with more size to [theoretically] chip in on the glass.

Boeheim expected them to double team the crap out of Christmas. His lineup adjustment was designed to take advantage of that and make UVa pay by capitalizing on having guys who could make wide open perimeter shots. Problem is, none of our three shooters could hit shots, so we didn't make them "pay" for double teaming Rak.

Per JB's presser last night, I believe it did. He pretty much stated that Kaleb's poor D, and trying to avoid so much dribble/guard penetration was a factor...he also flat out stated that Kaleb hadn't been playing well overall, which contributed to his lack of pt last night.

 

[rrlbees]

Yes against forwards where he has a huge advantage because Kaleb and Trevor are being checked by the guards.

The biggest difference in G's game right now is that the defense is paying him a little attention. When he had wide open shots with nobody near him, he drained them. Teams now learned as I said the 2nd half of Duke.

 

[jordoo]

The biggest difference in G's game right now is that the defense is paying him a little attention. When he had wide open shots with nobody near him, he drained them. Teams now learned as I said the 2nd half of Duke.

Somewhat but he has also missed plenty of wide open looks in the last 4/5 games. I personally think playing him in the backcourt negates many of the offensive advantages he has as a forward. Yes he is getting more attention of late but its not like teams ignored him all season. Teams have been ignoring anyone other than Rak, Trev or Mike and only BJ recently a couple of times, Kaleb once against BC and Tyler here and there have made them pay for it. Saying he has gotten more attention is certainly accurate but its not the whole picture IMO.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

Somewhat but he has also missed plenty of wide open looks in the last 4/5 games. I personally think playing him in the backcourt negates many of the offensive advantages he has as a forward. Yes he is getting more attention of late but its not like teams ignored him all season. Teams have been ignoring anyone other than Rak, Trev or Mike and only BJ recently a couple of times, Kaleb once against BC and Tyler here and there have made them pay for it. Saying he has gotten more attention is certainly accurate but its not the whole picture IMO.

He's tired. No other way to say it. Unless he's also injured. That's the reason those shots aren't falling. He was all alone in the corner last night for that one and I knew he was going to come up short. He did. He was asked to do a ton this year.

 

[jordoo]

He's tired. No other way to say it. Unless he's also injured. That's the reason those shots aren't falling. He was all alone in the corner last night for that one and I knew he was going to come up short. He did. He was asked to do a ton this year.

They all may be tiered at this point and the last two games certainly seem to support that plus the emotional let down of knowing the season is over after the next game. Usually you are in a tourney game and if you win you keep playing so its only a possibility of the season ending. I do think Mike gets stuck trying to do too much when we really struggle on offense which Trevor also seems to do. Its a tough year when we are usually its 3 on 5.

 

[rrlbees]

Somewhat but he has also missed plenty of wide open looks in the last 4/5 games. I personally think playing him in the backcourt negates many of the offensive advantages he has as a forward. Yes he is getting more attention of late but its not like teams ignored him all season. Teams have been ignoring anyone other than Rak, Trev or Mike and only BJ recently a couple of times, Kaleb once against BC and Tyler here and there have made them pay for it. Saying he has gotten more attention is certainly accurate but its not the whole picture IMO.

A lot more than somewhat. If you DVR the games, you can take a look. It's the biggest thing about G that folks in my section have noticed.

 

[jordoo]

A lot more than somewhat. If you DVR the games, you can take a look. It's the biggest thing about G that folks in my section have noticed.

I'm not saying you are incorrect just pointing out that he hasn't been ignored in ACC play. Yes early on he was not a feared shooter but teams knew that before the Duke game. Christmas has demanded so much attention that Mike got the benefit of open shots. However as Trevor's shooting has declined some of that attention has shifted to Mike. Less open looks for sure and less time to shoot when open which may be the bigger deal as he doesn't have a quick release. Still if you watch on DVR he has had wide open plenty of time to shoot 3's in the last 4 games that he has missed. The same shots he was draining earlier in the year. Last night he had all day in the corner and missed. He had another with plenty of time from the wing.

 

[tbonezone]

Liked it against Duke and tonight.

Rak, BJ, Roberson, Cooney, GBinje

it's been really effective for us.