Jon Rothstein Reaction

[DoctahLexus]

What do you think is Freeman's elite skill?

I think of Freeman as one of those players who is good at everything, but not great at anything.

Being"good" at everything sometimes adds up to being a "great" player.

I think he'll be a great scorer by the end of the year, just because he already can do everything. Dribble penetration, posting up, finishing in transition or off the dish, catch and shoot, pick and pop... Freeman's got it all. It will be so hard to stop him, even if they aren't featuring him in the offense.

I honestly have no idea what will stand out for him. Really only saw him during the spot minutes in the olympics. I just have faith that he is popping up in the 1st round of NBA mock drafts based on more than just his measurements. Maybe that is misguided, but there is just no way this is another Benny situation. That simply cannot happen to us again.

 

[Hopkins16]

A lot of dialogue and no talk of the guy who might get us over the top - a healthy Westry.

 

[DoctahLexus]

A lot of dialogue and no talk of the guy who might get us over the top - a healthy Westry.

If he is actually 110% healthy is still a question mark. If he can beat out the 5 or 6 guys we have slotted to play at guard/small forward after over two years of no game experience is an even bigger question mark. Seems pointless to speculate on him until we actually see how he looks. Hopefully he gets out there on Saturday

 

[Niastri]

A lot of dialogue and no talk of the guy who might get us over the top - a healthy Westry.

Somebody who watched practice this week said Westry isn't participating in 5 on 5 yet... Westry isn't even going to be playing for at least a month.

It's difficult to be a factor from the bench.

 

[MamesJungro]

I’ve got to be honest—Red’s offensive sets last year were almost nonexistent. Whether it was due to limited players or something else, we didn’t seem to have much of a scheme or ability to create easy looks for the guys who were struggling.

This year, it seems like we’ve got some crafty players who could thrive within a well-defined system. But if we end up relying on iso plays again, I think we’ll struggle. It’s possible plays were being drawn up last year but just weren’t executed, but either way, the results were lacking.

 

[Orangezoo]

I’ve got to be honest—Red’s offensive sets last year were almost nonexistent. Whether it was due to limited players or something else, we didn’t seem to have much of a scheme or ability to create easy looks for the guys who were struggling.

This year, it seems like we’ve got some crafty players who could thrive within a well-defined system. But if we end up relying on iso plays again, I think we’ll struggle. It’s possible plays were being drawn up last year but just weren’t executed, but either way, the results were lacking.

You can watch guys look off each other and Red shaking his head and yelling last year many times. It looked to me he tried to adapt to win games which included having to use more iso sets given the challenges with specific players. He used Maliq more in the short roll as the season progressed to at least try and consistently run some stuff. To hear him talk about his biggest lessons learned and being convicted to his “whys” is important because it goes back to trying to adapt to win games vs running what you want run and pushing and teaching your team to do so from your star to the walk ons.

 

[Cusefan0307]

I think Bell ends up being our leading scorer and go to guy. Freeman has a great shot and I think he can have somewhat of a Lydon type freshman year impact.

 

[Orangezoo]

I think Bell ends up being our leading scorer and go to guy. Freeman has a great shot and I think he can have somewhat of a Lydon type freshman year impact.

Once Donnie really started to realize what he could do on the court he went nuts over the past year. I could see him building that confidence and things just starting to click and him having that same kind of success and then some even given he’s more athletically gifted than Lydon was. Numbers wise could be very similar though for sure. This is why the experienced guys are so key out of the gate.

 

[NineOneSeven]

Wait... who????

 

[Hopkins16]

I’ve got to be honest—Red’s offensive sets last year were almost nonexistent. Whether it was due to limited players or something else, we didn’t seem to have much of a scheme or ability to create easy looks for the guys who were struggling.

This year, it seems like we’ve got some crafty players who could thrive within a well-defined system. But if we end up relying on iso plays again, I think we’ll struggle. It’s possible plays were being drawn up last year but just weren’t executed, but either way, the results were lacking.

Bell moving without the ball and guys setting screens for him, as opposed to him standing in a corner like last year, is one offensive adjustment that will be beneficial to our offense this year.

 

[cuseincincy]

JUst gotta say...I preferred reading this to watching that video. Oof! How's he get that hair to look triangular?

 

[MamesJungro]

Bell moving without the ball and guys setting screens for him, as opposed to him standing in a corner like last year, is one offensive adjustment that will be beneficial to our offense this year.

Yes, this exactly. We don't need him to be Rip Hamilton or Rautins, but I'm thinking back to that game where he hit something like 8 3s in the first half and then didn't see the ball in the second half. If I recall, he was basically used for corner spacing for the rest of the game

 

[cuseincincy]

Yes, this exactly. We don't need him to be Rip Hamilton or Rautins, but I'm thinking back to that game where he hit something like 8 3s in the first half and then didn't see the ball in the second half. If I recall, he was basically used for corner spacing for the rest of the game

If Bell puts up Andy Rautins stats it will be a step back offensively. Bell was a better shooter as a freshman/sophomore than Rautins was as a junior/senior. I'll take an Andy Rautins year out of JJ though.

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

Once Donnie really started to realize what he could do on the court he went nuts over the past year. I could see him building that confidence and things just starting to click and him having that same kind of success and then some even given he’s more athletically gifted than Lydon was. Numbers wise could be very similar though for sure. This is why the experienced guys are so key out of the gate.

He is on an ascending trajectory. Melo wasn’t Melo when he committed. Getting guys who haven’t peaked is crucial, unless you are a one and done factory

 

[MikeSU02]

Go to guy has to be able to get his own shot when the shot clock is going down and it's crunch time. Means off the dribble, means a threat to drive and pull up, means he has multiple threats and can beat quality defenses to get at least a moderately decent look or get fouled.

If we don't have that guy, nothing else really matters. I think the closest is JJ (can dribble ok, in the right moment, can be dependable shooting) or Bell (can get hotter than the surface of the sun, but needs to work on almost everything else).

I don't think it's fair to expect Donnie to be that guy (all due respect to him, I think he's going in the first round probably, but a lot of that will be his flashes vs his consistency).

I'm not sure how anyone can say we have a mismatch advantage with this lineup. We have to hope we have a lot of "solid" guys when the rubber meets the road and just beat teams because we don't have any gaping holes, but there is no one that is dynamic enough that is a straight up mismatch.

I know I've been a broken record, but I'm very worried about what Lampkin is expecting in terms of the offense and his place in it vs what we end up running when we get punched in the mouth.

All of this is basically leading me to my expectation of just getting in the tourney (regardless of seed) and likely be on the bubble coming towards the end of the season.

Especially since nothing I wrote pertains to defense.

 

[baggerbob]

Bell moving without the ball and guys setting screens for him, as opposed to him standing in a corner like last year, is one offensive adjustment that will be beneficial to our offense this year.

Having a real point guard, who wants to penetrate, and dish the ball will create more sets. That will be a beginning, last year that was completely missing.

 

[cuseincincy]

Having a real point guard, who wants to penetrate, and dish the ball will create more sets. That will be a beginning, last year that was completely missing.

I was going to say something similar in response to MikeSU02 above. JJ is likely to be the guy that can create his own shot when necessary. But maybe Carlos can be the #2 option if he can penetrate and be unpredictable where the ball is going. I haven't seen his array of floaters etc. but if he's a threat at all someone will be open.

 

[Col. Bleep]

The bottom line is...Jon Rothstein sees things the same way as everyone else who attempts to look at the team somewhat objectively.
A "plethora of pretty good players" could be a plethora of a problem.
"Pretty good" players may have a tough time beating "good" teams.

 

[tptcuse]

This is it. Rothstein came so close to getting it. I thought overall his report was pretty good. He put 2 and 2 together but then didnt finish with a conclusion of 4.

He mentioned how Lampkin and Freeman are going to cause a lot of match up issues. He didn't mention that Bell will too, and was so much better against smaller defenders last year that every team started guarding him with their PF, something they won't be able to do this year.

He also mentioned that Carlos is going to be super important running the offense and getting people the ball where they need to have it.

What he missed is that this team will have a mismatch in our favor against just about every team they play this year. They don't need a Carmelo Anthony type go-to guy who is going to score even against double teams. Whoever has the mismatch in the moment is going to be the guy who gets the ball, and that will change from game to game and even sometimes within games depending on how the other team guards us.

People forget that teams game planned for Bell at the end of last season because he was shooting over 50% from three. If Freeman makes quick strides it will limit options for teams to plan for Bell's shooting.

My biggest concern continues to be defense, with rebounding being a close second. I think we will score a LOT of points.

 

[two3zone]

A lot of dialogue and no talk of the guy who might get us over the top - a healthy Westry.

I expect rust to be more of an issue than health.