If you were the coach...

[Brooky03]

how would you turn this team around?

The frontcourt:
Coleman has to play at least 20 minutes per game, no matter what. Anytime we can get him more minutes, we should. Lydon simply is not a center and playing him there hurts not only the team but also his entire game. Roberson should be the next guy to slide down to Center. Yes, we want his rebounding at forward, but Lydon can at least out-jump guys for rebounds when he's in at forward, so the loss there isn't huge. Lydon has no shot at rebounding out of the 5. Roberson has the muscle to fight with all but the biggest centers, so let him.

The freshmen:
Next, I'd seriously evaluate Malachi's minutes. He should be topping at around 26-28mpg along with Lydon. The team has enough of a bench that we shouldn't be playing these guys 33+ minutes unless they're white hot from the field. Howard needs, and has earned, probably 10-12 mpg; he should come in at PG while we drop G to SF in place of Malachi.

The backcourt:
G still needs to get damn near 40 mpg. There's no way around it, but I think more of his minutes should come at SF than he's currently getting there. It's his natural position and he's not doing anything at PG that KJ or Howard couldn't do for a few minutes at a time. KJ has huge issues on defense, but Howard gives us effort on both sides of the ball. On nights when Cooney isn't looking great and Malachi might have the hot hand, why not play Malachi at the position he'll be playing next season, SG? Malachi is not a forward; he should get guard minutes when possible.

 

[Cusefan0307]

I'd do everything possible to convince Tyler Lydon he needs to be more aggressive and let him know he has the potential to be the best player on the team besides G.

 

[GardenOrange]

how would you turn this team around?

The frontcourt:
Coleman has to play at least 20 minutes per game, no matter what. Anytime we can get him more minutes, we should. Lydon simply is not a center and playing him there hurts not only the team but also his entire game. Roberson should be the next guy to slide down to Center. Yes, we want his rebounding at forward, but Lydon can at least out-jump guys for rebounds when he's in at forward, so the loss there isn't huge. Lydon has no shot at rebounding out of the 5. Roberson has the muscle to fight with all but the biggest centers, so let him.

The freshmen:
Next, I'd seriously evaluate Malachi's minutes. He should be topping at around 26-28mpg along with Lydon. The team has enough of a bench that we shouldn't be playing these guys 33+ minutes unless they're white hot from the field. Howard needs, and has earned, probably 10-12 mpg; he should come in at PG while we drop G to SF in place of Malachi.

The backcourt:
G still needs to get damn near 40 mpg. There's no way around it, but I think more of his minutes should come at SF than he's currently getting there. It's his natural position and he's not doing anything at PG that KJ or Howard couldn't do for a few minutes at a time. KJ has huge issues on defense, but Howard gives us effort on both sides of the ball. On nights when Cooney isn't looking great and Malachi might have the hot hand, why not play Malachi at the position he'll be playing next season, SG? Malachi is not a forward; he should get guard minutes when possible.

Totally agree with the moving G to SF for parts of the game. Richardson throwing up too many 3 s 8 seconds into the shot clock and he does not have the defensive mentality to play the back line right now.

 

[OrangeFoo]

Build a time machine and go back two years to convince grant to stay in college. Go back to two years ago and find a big man in the KJO class.

There's not much anyone can do with this season except pray that we hit threes. Playing Coleman until he fouls out would be a start and then playing Obokoh until he fouls out would be second on my list.

My off the wall idea would be to bench Cooney and start KJO or Howard to see if either can be productive right off the bat. I think both those guys do a better job of getting the team to look for better shots and it would allow G to slide to two guard/SF. Cooney would still get 25-30 mpg on a situational basis but I think he could provide some pop of the bench and we would potentially build some depth and also get us in better footing for next year. But unfortunately we know the coaches will never do this.

You recruited 9 guys... get them on the freaking court.

 

[Orangeman]

First, we play 1-2-2 match-up zone as our base defense, only because the team hasn't been school in man-to-man etc. Play this about 25 mins, M2M about 10 mins and 2-3 about 5 mins

"Center" -- Coleman (20-25), Roberson (10-15), Obokoh (5)

Forwards -- Roberson (10-15; 25-30 total), Richardson (25-30), Lydon (25-30), G (5-10)

Guards -- G (25-30; 35 total); Cooney (25-30); Howard (10-15); KJ (10)

The intensity is picked up across the board, perimeter ball pressure, etc. Where the team has legs is on the perimeter, 4 capable bodies for 2 slots, or in the 1-2-2 scenario 6 for 3, so the legs should be fresh and the defense should be disruptive so they can't get the ball inside easily, which is our weakness defensively

There is more pressing, but gone is the 1-2-1-1 full-court all-or-nothing pressure and more of a 2-2-1 three quarter court D which drops nicely into a 2-2-1. In a 30 second shot clock environment, you press 3/4 court and force them to start their zone offense with 18 seconds left, big advantage.

The offense is much more complicated obviously, but suffice-to-say there would be much less pick & roll, which works fine if you have the personnel (i.e. Gbinije and Lydon, fine), but there would be a lot more inside out action vs. the current pass the ball around the perimeter looking to exploit a matchup weakness.

We get overloaded a lot when we're on D...we could definitely overload a zone or man with G up top, MR on a wing, Lydon posting...then you'd have MR feed Lydon, a kick to G, who drives while MR screens down on the baseline for Lydon with Cooney floating over to replace G with either a Lydon baseline jumper, a kick out to Cooney, a drive for G or Coleman then settting a screen-for-the screener on MR's guy as he curls around in the paint.

I don't see these kinds of sets from us very often but they allow for enough flair but putting people in spots to succeed

Just my thoughts

 

[Briancuse]

Not much can be done about the lack of size, but I would try to Convince Malachi to take less shots, and for Lydon to be more aggressive.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

With the remaining OOC schedule I'd experiment a little bit:

- Get Roberson/Coleman/Lydon 2+ touches each on the block every game

- Reduce Cooney's PT in favor of more time for Frankie Howard

- Reduce Malachi's PT, moving Gbinije to the 3 a little bit each game, in favor of giving Kaleb some more minutes

- Tell Gbinije to just, like, let if fly, man

- Bribe the refs to stop calling charges

 

[Scotch]

More Frank Howard.

 

[TinyManInside]

I think this year's team doesn't have a very high ceiling so if it were up to me (which it isn't) I'd be looking to build the structure for next year.

That would mean more Howard at the point and a lot less Cooney unless he's having one of his fluke games where he actually shoots over 30% from 3.

Tell Gbinijie and Lydon to be more aggressive looking for their shot. Continue developing Richardson's ability to put the ball on the deck and attack the basket. Rein in his 3 point attempts for the time being. His mechanics look very smooth so I think he will turn into a pretty good three point shooter but he's a long long way from that right now. There is no doubt he's a very talented kid but at this point he's playing with zero direction. With proper development he could be a bigtime scorer for this team next year.

I'd try to get DC2 a little more involved offensively.

I have no idea what you do to make this team better defensively though... you can't teach height. We're going to get murdered giving up offensive rebounds all year long regardless of what lineups we use.

Mason

 

[RF2044]

• Get in Coleman's ear and tell him to concentrate on rebounding / shot blocking [a la Atlantis], and maximizing his physicality as he'll only be playing about 20 minutes per game. Use his fouls liberally, and let him start using his strength to keep guys out of the paint.

• More ball handling from the other players in our half court offensive sets to relieve Gbinije of some of the responsibility of having to initiate half court offensive sets so he can concentrate on scoring.

• Start working on drills in practice that emphasize players taking it STRONG to the rack. We have a TON of run outs that we fail to convert, or where our players go up weak and get blocked. Make it a point of emphasis to finish through contact or draw fouls instead of trying to slither past in an attempt to avoid contact, thereby making the shots more difficult.

• Get Roberson closer to the basket. Show him the Duke game from last year / the Uconn game from this year in the film room, and challenge him to be more of a consistent inside threat for this team, which the team needs. Let him know that scoring 16 one game and then 2 points the next game is not acceptable for a junior returning starter.

• Tell Malachi Richardson to forget about three point shots for now at the beginning of the game. Tell him to instead focus on getting the ball into the lane and taking it to the rim early to get him more in the flow before he starts taking jumpers.

• Make free throw shooting an emphasized pressure situation in practice. We're leaving too many points by the wayside, and it is hurting us. For the record, I think a lot of our issues are concentration based, as the players seem capable of doing much better than they've been doing at the stripe. Unacceptable.

• Tell Tyler Lydon to keep doing what he's doing. I know people are clamoring for him to shoot more, I just don't think that's his game. Kid has great hoops IQ, and is passing up the "right" shots for the most part. Hard to tell him to change that without seeing his efficiency drop.

• Use more high screen and roll with Coleman / Lydon off of Gbinije penetrations. Coleman has shown an ability to finish and seems to score better on the move. Lydon is a pick and pop threat.

• Need to establish one of the bench guards as a regular rotation guy with consistent minutes and a consistent role. Would love to see them both contribute in some capacity, but time has run out for Joseph I believe. If that's the case, then get Howard in the rotation--stat.

• When the bench guard comes into the game, keep the ball in Gbinije's hands. Our scoring droughts often seem to coincide with when we turn lead guard responsibilities over to Howard or Joseph. Let those guys play off the ball and just play instead of trying to run the offense, which neither seems well equipped to do right now.

• Teach Cooney how to jump stop. Get him to pull up for jumpers into the lane instead of overdribbling to get to the rim, where he doesn't finish well.

• Pull guys when they're cold. Doesn't mean that they have to sit the entire game. For example, Richardson was god awful in the first half against St. John's, then had a big scoring burst at the beginning of the 2nd half. Use the bench as a teaching tool if players take poor shots, or aren't connecting.

 

[81South]

Defense: We would not be a single defense team. We would teach the pack-line man 2 man defense used at Virginia and also utilize the 2-3 in the half court. We would mix these defenses to keep teams off balance. We would also utilize a 3/4 court 2-2-1 press at different points of the game as another change of pace. In fact I might even throw in some occasional 2-2-1 half court pressure. I like different looks/options...I want to make teams prepare for multiple looks that we will throw at them on defense.

Offense: Against zone defenses we would be using sets that rely on screens...lots of teams screen the top of our zone and that's great but I think there is a real opportunity to screen/seal the middle defender of the zone when drawing him to guard the mid-post. We would also stress ball movement against the zone...great ball movement will beat zones eventually...it requires great patience and practice.

Against man defenses I would keep some of the high ball screen sets...I would also utilize a number of different 1-4 sets. I am also a believer in old school motion offense with different principles. Look, offense doesn't have to be complicated but your kids have to be well drilled in the fundamentals and be unselfish. Fact of the matter is that a lot of kids are playing run and gun AAU ball most of the year and because of that they simply aren't fundamentally sound and it takes JB and company a lot of time to get these kids skills where they ought to be.

Minutes:
Silent G: He is our best player. He has to be on the court for 40 minutes.

Cooney: I may very well try bringing him off the bench to see if that change can bring some consistency to his offensive play. I love his leadership and hard work. I don't like his shot selection. I still think he is a 32-35 minute per game guy given the current roster.

Malachi: Obviously a talented player. Cannot tolerate him continuing to shoot 3's when he is off. He is a good slasher and that needs to be a bigger part of his game when his outside shot is off. I think he is a 28-33 minute per game guy.

DC: I still believe his best days are in front of him. I believe he will make a difference for us before he is done here. He can make high post jumper. I think he can be effective at the low block but he needs to develop a baby hook with both hands becaise he is not going over anybody. I want him in the game 25-30 minutes and I would intentionally run a slower paced game on offense to accommodate him.

Lydon starts instead of Roberson. He is a stud. He absolutely needs 10-15 shots per game. he can score from anywhere and I would run more sets just for him.

Roberson - get the kid counseling and figure out what is going on in his head. One game he looks like a world beater, the next he looks lost. He is a liability on offense and I just can see him playing more than 20-25 minutes a game given his inability to do anything offensively. The kid has no touch so having him shoot 1000 shots a day seems pointless. He needs more muscle so he can drive to the basket and finish with contact. This would be a focus for me.

Kaleb - Spot minutes only. I hate the offense with him handling the ball. THis is a kid I think could be a better shooter so I would have him shooting 1000 shots a day. He would get a shot every game if Cooney is off to go in and make some shots.

Howard - I would be telling the kid the minutes are there for the taking so show me that you want them. I would be trying like hell to get him capable of playing 15 minutes a game.

I would also make the kids who shoot less than 70% free throws in a game run stairs at the dome (in the 3rd level). I'm guessing feeling the burn in the legs from running those steps would get some guys a little more focused on getting their % up.

 

[RoatanCuse]

Give . Howard more run, at least until conference games begin. Then he becomes a viable sub...and more valuable next year when we can go deep(er) into the dance. To me, the big question is: how the hell do you get JB to fall out of love with Cooney? He hit his ceiling two years ago, and is on a plateau. Offensively, he hit his ceiling in HS.

 

[two3zone]

"Center" -- Coleman (20-25), Roberson (10-15), Obokoh (5)

What has Obokoh done to show he should get even 5 minutes a game? Seriously. Outside of a jump ball play earlier this season against a very weak team has he ever done anything on the court that you could call a positive?

 

[tbonezone]

g at the point and malachi starting at the 2. maybe being out top will straighten out his shooting. maybe.
then let joseph and howard spell both these guys at least 8 minutes a game. but not at the same time.
front line juggle coleman,lydon, cooney ,roberson, and obo and pray for rain.

 

[rrlbees]

g at the point and malachi starting at the 2. maybe being out top will straighten out his shooting. maybe. then let joseph and howard spell both these guys at least 8 minutes a game. but not at the same time. front line juggle coleman,lydon, cooney ,roberson, and obo and pray for rain.

The 2 and the 3 are the same in our offense. So moving Mali to the 2 doesn't change how or where he shoots from.

 

[SWC75]

Run the offense through Tyler Lydon in the high post and throw the pres on 2-3 times a game just to shake 'em up. Have Cooney dribble in for shorter shots if he's not hitting. Work Howard into the rotation more.

There's not much more you can do. I think what we've seen from Coleman is all we're going to get. Obviously. Okoboh doesn't figure in their plans and they aren't impressed with Joseph. With Richardson, it judgement that wil come with experience and with Roberson, he needs a fire lit under him.

But the first two are the biggies.

 

[Cusefan0307]

Run the offense through Tyler Lydon in the high post and throw the pres on 2-3 times a game just to shake 'em up. Have Cooney dribble in for shorter shots if he's not hitting. Work Howard into the rotation more.

There's not much more you can do. I think what we've seen from Coleman is all we're going to get. Obviously. Okoboh doesn't figure in their plans and they aren't impressed with Joseph. With Richardson, it judgement that wil come with experience and with Roberson, he needs a fire lit under him.

But the first two are the biggies.

I heard your call into Axe today and totally agreed with what you said regarding the offense. I think Lydon is so underutilized for the skill set he has. He could do more. I know his efficiency will suffer some, but it'll still be better than what we are getting in other areas.

 

[SWC75]

I heard your call into Axe today and totally agreed with what you said regarding the offense. I think Lydon is so underutilized for the skill set he has. He could do more. I know his efficiency will suffer some, but it'll still be better than what we are getting in other areas.

I don't usually listen to Hop's show: he's not the head man. But he is for now so I did tonight and called in to ask what he thought of putting Lydon in the high post. He gave a somewhat complicated answer, the gist of which is that they want to move Lydon around and force the defenders to make choices about who they want to defend.

I still like the idea of Lydon at the top of the key.

 

[Ghost]

I heard your call into Axe today and totally agreed with what you said regarding the offense. I think Lydon is so underutilized for the skill set he has. He could do more. I know his efficiency will suffer some, but it'll still be better than what we are getting in other areas.

Have they ever tried him at SF yet when Mali goes to the bench? As SWC said, still surprised he's not really getting the ball at the top of the key at all. Roberson seems incapable of making people pay from that spot - or at least not with anything resembling regularity.

 

[Cusefan0307]

Have they ever tried him at SF yet when Mali goes to the bench? As SWC said, still surprised he's not really getting the ball at the top of the key at all. Roberson seems incapable of making people pay from that spot - or at least not with anything resembling regularity.

Don't see we have seen the frontline of Coleman/Roberson/Lydon much at all. I'd really like to see him get the ball more where CJ got it his Jr and Sr year. I know some people claim he has no handle (he did dribble it off his foot sunday), but he is our best passer and shooter IMO. I really think he's our 2nd best player FWIW. He's made like 10 less shots than Mal and Cooney in about 60 less attempts, so really if his efficiency goes down just a little, it is still better than either one of them.

 

[rrlbees]

Have they ever tried him at SF yet when Mali goes to the bench? As SWC said, still surprised he's not really getting the ball at the top of the key at all. Roberson seems incapable of making people pay from that spot - or at least not with anything resembling regularity.

I saw Lydon get the ball a lot at the top of the key. Most times he passed it.