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Message: [QUOTE="RF2044, post: 1978057, member: 40"] Saturday's loss to South Carolina was a deflating kick to the nuts. We sucked--and while USC's defense certainly had a lot to do with it, it was discouraging that we also shot ourselves in the foot a couple of important ways. Namely: [LIST=1] [*][B][COLOR=rgb(0, 0, 255)]Our point guards sucked --[/COLOR][/B] the flat out stunk up the joint. I know that some will point to how Howard played at the beginning of the second half to counter this claim, but really--he was generally poor. And Gillon looked like a deer in the headlights--he couldn't get the ball out of his hands fast enough. I hope that this was just big game jitters and that he'll settle down, otherwise he's going to be parked upon the pine if he can't be counted upon to deliver. These guys are BOTH capable of playing better than they did against South Carolina, and we need them to both be better. Some of those Gillon drives, he left his feet with nowhere to go. If you're not confident about making a play or taking a shot, then don't try to do too much. And it drives me nuts that both of these guys drive into the teeth of the defense and then make passes backwards to guys like Coleman and Chukwu who can't do anything with the ball there even if they catch it cleanly. Enough. Make no mistake, both of these guys stunk the joint out on Saturday, which contributed heavily to our loss, and also feeds into my second point... [*][B][COLOR=rgb(0, 0, 255)]Thus far, we display zero cohesion in terms of team offensive play --[/COLOR][/B] Something that's worried me in the four admittedly impressive offensive early games we had was that everything we've seen thus far has been one-on-one, with not much ball movement. There's too much reliance in our offense on guys getting the ball, slowing down, and then trying to individually create their own shot [even a big like Taurean Thompson is guilty of this]. You can get away with that against lesser opponents. And it isn't difficult to make shots when you're up 20. But when the game's on the line, the team needs to function as one, otherwise things bog down. And to date, our execution of half court offensive sets has been subpar. Our point guards did us no favors with their play on Saturday, either, but that was only a symptom of the larger problem. If we are going to rely upon Lydon and White to have to create their own shots, then we're going to struggle all year long. The points guards simply have to do a better job of running the team's half court offense, and the team has to do a better job of finding the open man and making slick interior passes. Move the rock around. [*][B][COLOR=rgb(0, 0, 255)]Our free throw shooting sucks --[/COLOR][/B] what's new? This seems to be a perennial problem. The four in a row that Frank missed when we were down 6 really hampered our ability to come back. And he wasn't the only one. [*][B][COLOR=rgb(0, 0, 255)]Missed bunnies --[/COLOR][/B]in a game where points were tough to come by, we pissed away a ton of scoring opportunities within the shadow of the basket. Can't afford to do that. I'm looking at you Tyler Roberson. I don't expect Chukwu to be much of a factor on offense, but when our guys get the ball at point blank range of the rim, they have to convert, or get fouled. [/LIST] #2 worries me the most--by FAR--but we'll need to clean up ALL of these issues, or Tuesday's going to be another rough outing. [/QUOTE]

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