JB's Presser after Cornell

[OrangeXtreme]

 

[OrangeAl]

So, he's saying we've been playing a tavern league zone so far. All hail, Igor!

 

[tbonezone]

new crusade. coaches vs hocus pocus.

 

[AZOrange]

This game didn't make me feel all warm and fuzzy. Seemed like we had a lot of the same issues but it was covered up by Cornell being really bad. I thought we had a couple moments of clarity but this team seems DOA in the ACC.

 

[NineOneSeven]

This game didn't make me feel all warm and fuzzy. Seemed like we had a lot of the same issues but it was covered up by Cornell being really bad. I thought we had a couple moments of clarity but this team seems DOA in the ACC.

Bingo

 

[NKR1978]

This game didn't make me feel all warm and fuzzy. Seemed like we had a lot of the same issues but it was covered up by Cornell being really bad. I thought we had a couple moments of clarity but this team seems DOA in the ACC.

Yeah, didn't feel any different than EMU or any of the other cupcakes we've feasted on.

 

[Cusefan0307]

I disagree that it doesn't feel different. I really like the way Thompson and Lydon are playing right now. They are our best players. The backcourt may still be a mess, but we might have to learn to play through the bigs this year.

 

[jordoo]

We still play slowly on offense because our backcourt is a disorganized mess IMO. I watched some of the MSU, MINN game and they were zipping up and down the court compared to us. It seemed like every guard and half the forwards could run the break themselves.

 

[Cusefan0307]

We still play slowly on offense because our backcourt is a disorganized mess IMO. I watched some of the MSU, MINN game and they were zipping up and down the court compared to us. It seemed like every guard and half the forwards could run the break themselves.

Yep. That's why I think it's noteworthy Thompson said after the game that the sets have been adjusted to make he and Lydon the first options in the halfcourt.

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

Yep. That's why I think it's noteworthy Thompson said after the game that the sets have been adjusted to make he and Lydon the first options in the halfcourt.

Run it all through Thompson

 

[RF2044]

We still play slowly on offense because our backcourt is a disorganized mess IMO. I watched some of the MSU, MINN game and they were zipping up and down the court compared to us. It seemed like every guard and half the forwards could run the break themselves.

Agreed. I watched the Maryland game yesterday, and they literally have five starters who can attack off of the bounce. It was discouraging to see.

 

[pearl31]

can never really tell what games like last night (and EMU, Holy Cross, etc) really mean, but... AW clearly played differently last night and with more all-around purpose, team seemed generally more "together" and the two PGs did a better job rotating on D and distributing - esp JG with 7 assts... but yes, jury still out in a big way

 

[pearl31]

Bingo

 

[AZOrange]

can never really tell what games like last night (and EMU, Holy Cross, etc) really mean, but... AW clearly played differently last night and with more all-around purpose, team seemed generally more "together" and the two PGs did a better job rotating on D and distributing - esp JG with 7 assts... but yes, jury still out in a big way

I honestly can't figure out one thing Frank did well out there. In the first half he was literally doing nothing.

 

[pearl31]

I honestly can't figure out one thing Frank did well out there. In the first half he was literally doing nothing.

He didn't play well in 1st half, and JB benched him for the remainder of half - but I thought he played well in the 2nd - nothing to write home about but it seemed like a solid bounce-back after the benching - good body language too

 

[RF2044]

I honestly can't figure out one thing Frank did well out there. In the first half he was literally doing nothing.

Seriously--what the hell is going on with Frank? He's really regressed after a promising start.

 

[MSOrange]

can never really tell what games like last night (and EMU, Holy Cross, etc) really mean, but... AW clearly played differently last night and with more all-around purpose, team seemed generally more "together" and the two PGs did a better job rotating on D and distributing - esp JG with 7 assts... but yes, jury still out in a big way

I was surprised when I looked at the stats that AW took as many shots as he did. It seemed like our offense has struggled so much, that I think he has forced it a bit at times just to try to get us going. I didn't feel that was the case at all last night.

 

[hoopsupstate]

White moved much better without the ball. He scored by cutting back door against the zone. He didn't make a jump shot last night, but was still effective. Howard made two really good drives in the second half and made nice dump off passes that were both missed, but then tipped in. I thought Gillen was really good leading the break in the first half. He made some nice passes. A couple to White cutting to the basket. The game turned around in the first half when Robertson came in. He's our best defensive forward. He did have a couple of crazy passes last night. One was an outlet to Lyndon that made JB put both hands to his head. Sometimes, JB is the best entertainment on the floor.

 

[realorange]

can never really tell what games like last night (and EMU, Holy Cross, etc) really mean, but... AW clearly played differently last night and with more all-around purpose, team seemed generally more "together" and the two PGs did a better job rotating on D and distributing - esp JG with 7 assts... but yes, jury still out in a big way

Agree on the variety White showed, but it was also obvious he will never set any land speed records.

 

[pearl31]

Agree on the variety White showed, but it was also obvious he will never set any land speed records.

Agreed. But as I noted in my thread about what he did in the b1g last year, he is still very much capable of doing damage against really good, althletic teams. Call it "sneaky athletic" or whatever but he's a smart player who's an elite shooter that knows how to score in a variety of ways.

 

[realorange]

Agreed. But as I noted in my thread about what he did in the b1g last year, he is still very much capable of doing damage against really good, althletic teams. Call it "sneaky athletic" or whatever but he's a smart player who's an elite shooter that knows how to score in a variety of ways.

They are going to have to set screens for him because I don't think he will find much open against M2M by himself.

 

[Cheriehoop]

I thought that in the first half we took over when Gillon and Roberson came in with 11 minutes to go in the half. Gillon brought energy to the lineup and made some great passes helping fuel our long lost fast break offense. Roberson came in at the same time and really ran the court well also energizing the team with his monster dunk. (miss those dunks) Between Gillon and Roberson both off the bench, they had 8 assists, 6 rebounds in their identical 11 minutes of play in just the last part of first half despite not being the offensive focus. (7 total points on 3 for 5 shooting) If players can accept being our valuable bench sparks, that would be huge for this team. They both came back in only in the latter 2nd half, after the game was a blowout and didn't provide the extra spark they did in the 1st half.

Andrew White looks like he's really trying to become a more complete player - he rebounded well (6 rebounds), was mixing it up inside, and moving without the ball. It was against Cornell so hopefully, he maintains his focus to become more effective than just a perimeter threat in the ACC. He and Lydon got burned defending wing penetration allowing about 3 layups from drives straight to the hoop. They finally tightened that up. Hopefully they will start intuitively recognizing situations on defense themselves to make the necessary adjustments without needing timeouts to tell them what they are doing wrong when getting burned repeatedly.

Tyus Battle is shooting it well from the 3 and had some very good anticipation steals leading to fast break opportunities which we have really missed this year. He was 4 for 7 from three but conversely only 1 for 4 inside the arc. We will need him to be a threat driving to the basket also. Lydon and Thompson's contributions have been already noted by others. FH didn't have a great game but our guards did a very good job protecting the ball - between Howard, Battle and Gillon - only 2 turnovers.

Sure wasn't Dejuan's game despite it being Cornell , a much smaller team. He played only 9 minutes but managed 3 TO's and just 1 rebound in that span. Thought this would be an opponent that he could make an impact but it didn't happen. We had 7 players, who played 19 or more minutes this game.

 

[jordoo]

can never really tell what games like last night (and EMU, Holy Cross, etc) really mean, but... AW clearly played differently last night and with more all-around purpose, team seemed generally more "together" and the two PGs did a better job rotating on D and distributing - esp JG with 7 assts... but yes, jury still out in a big way

I will say this about the defense. Finally 13 games in we had the 3rd rotation running at the shooters and closing out no matter what position they were playing in the zone. It happened more in that game than it has all season combined. We had the center contesting corner shots, we had the guards and wings dropping to protect the lane and rebound after a mad scramble and we had the wings covering the weakside and even the top of the key three when necessary. Its still a work in progress but defensively it looked like guys where covering for each other which is the way the zone is designed. It also tells you that guys have had their own adjenda or simply have not been paying attention to the coaches when they are coaching defense. This is how the zone should have looked games 3 and 4 of the season after the staff had some tape to show the guys.
Offensively we ran the ball through Lydon and Thompson and played off of them. The players seemed more willing to move the ball and cut. I didn't see anyone really force their offense when it wasn't there. Again these are things that should have changed much earlier in the season.

 

[Cheriehoop]

I will say this about the defense. Finally 13 games in we had the 3rd rotation running at the shooters and closing out no matter what position they were playing in the zone. It happened more in that game than it has all season combined. We had the center contesting corner shots, we had the guards and wings dropping to protect the lane and rebound after a mad scramble and we had the wings covering the weakside and even the top of the key three when necessary. Its still a work in progress but defensively it looked like guys where covering for each other which is the way the zone is designed. It also tells you that guys have had their own adjenda or simply have not been paying attention to the coaches when they are coaching defense. This is how the zone should have looked games 3 and 4 of the season after the staff had some tape to show the guys.
Offensively we ran the ball through Lydon and Thompson and played off of them. The players seemed more willing to move the ball and cut. I didn't see anyone really force their offense when it wasn't there. Again these are things that should have changed much earlier in the season.

I noticed the guards after being burned early , really started challenging Cornell's guards and staying with them, moving their feet, limiting their penetration inside and forcing them to start their offense further out. Nice change in their level of aggressiveness and quick reaction to their attempts to penetrate. Again, hoping they will do the same when the ACC guards are quicker and longer than Cornell's guards.

 

[br801]

Seriously--what the hell is going on with Frank? He's really regressed after a promising start.

I'm at a loss. Watching him early on, I thought he might end up being the best player on the team this season.