MCW Just Played Himself into the 2nd PG Behind Scoop

[Flacusian]

Once UConn made their run in the second half, JB went with his line-up that has continually pulled out W's in close games. Why wouldnt he do that? The line-up on the court in the second half has pulled out every single close game. You want to mess with that? At this point in the season?

They were clearly gassed and I guess you didn't notice that a 17 point lead completely evaporated. I contend that if he had handled the substitutions in the 2nd half in the same manner as he did in the 1st half we would have won the game by a significant margin. I have no doubt whatsoever that the key to this team moving forward should include playing time distributed in the fashion we saw in the 1st half. The entire season points toward that conclusion.

 

[SoBristol]

not to ment


Actually, they lose all 3 of their penetrators this off-season. Kjo, Dion, and Scoop.

True -- something to worry about.
CJ might add that dimension to his game.

 

[SoBristol]

They were clearly gassed and I guess you didn't notice that a 17 point lead completely evaporated. I contend that if he had handled the substitutions in the 2nd half in the same manner as he did in the 1st half we would have won the game by a significant margin. I have no doubt whatsoever that the key to this team moving forward should include playing time distributed in the fashion we saw in the 1st half. The entire season points toward that conclusion.

You have a point, but that lead began to evaporate in the first 10 minutes of the second half -- when no one was gassed. UConn doesn't use more guys than we use.

 

[reedny]

Most of uconns run came with BMK on the court. it is getting to the point where we cannot afford to sit melo. that is not good. I really think we need to get rak all of the back up minutes for melo and hope and pray he can give us something in the post season. it may be too late..but i cant see him being worse than bmk

He missed a point blank shot (dunk or drop in) off a (sweet) pass from Dion. That was his one and only silver-platter opportunity to score -- and he flubbed it. Disappointing.

 

[Victory Lap]

Oh, so naive. He probably won't play next game.

He came in because Scoop was struggling at the time. Scoop starts out good and MCW will likely continue to see little PT. But love that he's there when needed.

 

[GardenOrange]

MCW is our teams best passer. He is able to see the court and execute passes other guys don't see or won't attempt. He gets the big guys good shots better than anyone else.

He came in because Scoop was struggling at the time. Scoop starts out good and MCW will likely continue to see little PT. But love that he's there when needed.

 

[Victory Lap]

MCW is our teams best passer. He is able to see the court and execute passes other guys don't see or won't attempt. He gets the big guys good shots better than anyone else.

You may be right. Regardless, I don't think MCW will get major minutes in post-season play absent poor play from Scoop.

 

[SoBristol]

Reviewing that game segment when MCW was paired with Dion in the first half -- the defense pitched a near shut-out (apart from a lucky banked 3 by Lamb); Dion had one of his better stretches of play; James hit a 3 pointer from the corner and had a spectacular block; Melo finished two good feeds from MCW and made his best assist; KJo had a couple of easy finishes (Melo's assist for one; Dion's assist on a run-out).

The run was a lot more than MCW's point guard play.

But MCW's length helps on defense (position play reminds me of Rautins). He got Melo involved -- not only on the alley oop but his feed to Melo led to Melo's assist. Did MCW help with the good play of James, Dion & KJo? Maybe so.

Hate to cut into BT's minutes, but hope we see some of Dion & MCW in some of the games we should win (Thursday in Big East; first round game in NCAAs). If it works, let it ride.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

They were clearly gassed and I guess you didn't notice that a 17 point lead completely evaporated. I contend that if he had handled the substitutions in the 2nd half in the same manner as he did in the 1st half we would have won the game by a significant margin. I have no doubt whatsoever that the key to this team moving forward should include playing time distributed in the fashion we saw in the 1st half. The entire season points toward that conclusion.

I've been thinking about this quite a bit as well. Seems like a chicken/egg scenario. Do we win games because Scoop and Dion play most of the second half, or do we peter away large leads because of those two? I'm not so sure it's not the latter, especially with the way Dion has been shooting lately. He hasn't come all that close to hitting from beyond the arc lately yet he keeps tossing them up. He makes some really spectacular plays, which is probably what keeps him on the floor over Triche or MCW.

 

[br801]

I've been thinking about this quite a bit as well. Seems like a chicken/egg scenario. Do we win games because Scoop and Dion play most of the second half, or do we peter away large leads because of those two? I'm not so sure it's not the latter, especially with the way Dion has been shooting lately. He hasn't come all that close to hitting from beyond the arc lately yet he keeps tossing them up. He makes some really spectacular plays, which is probably what keeps him on the floor over Triche or MCW.

Good post. Interesting point about Scoop and Dion playing with a big lead. It does seem like the offense sometimes stops flowing as smoothly in those situations and begins and ends with one of them dominating the ball.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

Good post. Interesting point about Scoop and Dion playing with a big lead. It does seem like the offense sometimes stops flowing as smoothly in those situations and begins and ends with one of them dominating the ball.

There was a perfect example of this on one play near the end of the game yesterday. Dion had the ball dribbling around until about 17 seconds left on the clock. Gave the ball back to Scoop, who proceeded to dribble over to the other side of the court and then kept dribbling through defenders until he gave up the ball. I'm sure JB wanted to kill him on that one.

I have to give Scoop a lot of credit for his play this year though. He's been MUCH better than in years past making decisions. He rarely reverts back to that old player we all cringed over. I think he gets tired playing as many minutes as he does though, which usually shows on the defensive end of the floor and results in a couple long threes bombing in over the zone.

 

[AZOrange]

MCW is our teams best passer. He is able to see the court and execute passes other guys don't see or won't attempt. He gets the big guys good shots better than anyone else.

MCW has got to be making JB's job tough...that kid is going to be REALLY good.

 

[xc84]

MCW did some very good things in that game. He needs to keep it up and make plays when he gets his time. If he can do that, he will keep getting more playing time.

 

[SoBristol]

There was a perfect example of this on one play near the end of the game yesterday. Dion had the ball dribbling around until about 17 seconds left on the clock. Gave the ball back to Scoop, who proceeded to dribble over to the other side of the court and then kept dribbling through defenders until he gave up the ball. I'm sure JB wanted to kill him on that one.

I have to give Scoop a lot of credit for his play this year though. He's been MUCH better than in years past making decisions. He rarely reverts back to that old player we all cringed over. I think he gets tired playing as many minutes as he does though, which usually shows on the defensive end of the floor and results in a couple long threes bombing in over the zone.

I doubt our guards get more tired than our opposition -- we split minutes among 3 veteran guys, each playing 20 to 30 minutes. With TV timeouts etc, the kids should be all right. Good opponents are going to make a few long threes no matter how fresh our guys are.
In those 6 or 8 minutes at the end of most games, Dion and Scoop are trying to work the clock. It is the JB plan. Naturally, there will be times when they use the time, but don't get the best shot (your "perfect example") when the defense converges. There will be lots of other times, when they run clock and get a finish and find a jump shooter. Gotta give someone credit -- we haven't lost a single one of these close games.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

I doubt our guards get more tired than our opposition -- we split minutes among 3 veteran guys, each playing 20 to 30 minutes. With TV timeouts etc, the kids should be all right. Good opponents are going to make a few long threes no matter how fresh our guys are.
In those 6 or 8 minutes at the end of most games, Dion and Scoop are trying to work the clock. It is the JB plan. Naturally, there will be times when they use the time, but don't get the best shot (your "perfect example") when the defense converges. There will be lots of other times, when they run clock and get a finish and find a jump shooter. Gotta give someone credit -- we haven't lost a single one of these close games.

Just to be clear, I didn't say our guards get more tired, that was someone else. I was just referring to Scoop. He doesn't exactly look like the example of conditioning. And on Saturday, Brandon got 18 minutes, most of those in the first half, while Dion played the majority of the second half. Just saying I'd like to see Jimmy give Scoop a blow every now and again in the second half to keep him fresh. Plus the defense is better with Triche and Waiters up top.

 

[SoBristol]

Just to be clear, I didn't say our guards get more tired, that was someone else. I was just referring to Scoop. He doesn't exactly look like the example of conditioning. And on Saturday, Brandon got 18 minutes, most of those in the first half, while Dion played the majority of the second half. Just saying I'd like to see Jimmy give Scoop a blow every now and again in the second half to keep him fresh. Plus the defense is better with Triche and Waiters up top.

Best defense against UConn was with Dion and MCW --
JB's typical rotation in the 2H is to start BT with Scoop; bring Dion in for Scoop after 5 or 6 minutes, then rotate BT out at roughly the 9 or 10 minute mark. With Scoop also sitting part of the first half, he should be fine to finish the final 10 minutes of the game. It is pretty clear that JB is working that rotation to be sure he has his best PG taking the lead in the last 10 minutes of a close game.

Hard to argue with this when BT hasn't been getting much done in his turns in the second halves of close game.

 

[HarrisonJBounel]

If there was a market that priced MCW's playing time in the NCAA's big games, I'd short it.

Same for James, and Xmas, and BMK. Unless there is an injury or foul trouble, these guys aren't going to play many meaningful minutes in the big games this year.

Sorry.