Questions for this team

[billsin01]

So another interesting game tonight. Monmouth was likely better than SU made them look and while 71 isn't a super exciting point total, it's not bad vs. a pretty pesky opponent. Having said that, this team still has very much a work in progress feel to me (not that that's bad thing, per se).

So with that, a couple questions I think are worth watching as the season continues:

Who is Tyler Lydon?
Relax, I'm not knocking the dude. He's fine. I'm simply saying that right now he looks really uncomfortable on offense. So the question is where does he fit, ideally? Is he a post-first guy or a wing/shooter guy? Does he put the ball on the deck a lot? I don't really know exactly what the answer is and guess it depends on where he ends up playing the most (3, 4 or 5). Another thing that would help is if he got a few more touches which brings us to another point ...

What will this offense look like as the competition gets tougher?
When will the competition get tougher is a bit of a question as well I suppose as Monmouth pushed Souther Carolina and G'town and Uconn have looked terrible, but I digress. Point is, when we start playing good team who gets the shots? Aggressive Unc (love that nickname for White, by the way since he looks like 35 years old), is fine but I don't know that we really need him shooting a huge volume with this team. Does White turn down a decent look to get DC an open look from 12 feet? Not sure that's in our best interest. But there were a few times that Lydon was really disappointed he didn't get the ball from his teammates and I didn't blame him. I also think Robey has looked really solid so far, Thompson has undeniable skill and Howard has been great. So while we've seen a ton of shots from Gillon and White, I wonder if going forward they don't try to reign those guys in just a bit. Not sure, will be interesting and at the end of the day having so many offensive weapons is great.

What role do Chukwu and Coleman play?
No need to draw this out but both have had some moments. Chukwu had a couple nice blocks and DC played really aggressively going for 7 and 8 tonight. Do they play well enough to stick in the rotation in some way, shape or form?

Forced 15 turnovers tonight, blocked 10 shots, had 10 steals -- Is this potentially a stingy defensive team?
Obviously we are much better offensively this year than the past few, but what this team's ceiling is defensively is an interesting question as well. I could see a lineup of gillon/Howard-Battle-white-roberson-lydon being pretty nasty defensively at some point.

 

[IthacaMatt]

I agree that with White's emergence so far, Lydon is trying to figure out his role. He was a little quick to give back the ball on offense at points in the second half. I think they have to give him more direction. We don't run many pick-and-pop's or pick-and-roll's for him so far. He only really goes to the high post against a zone. He posted up a couple times. At least he is still hustling and making plays. I think he had 7 rebounds, 4 blocks a couple steals and an assist, to go with his six or seven points. Eventually they will figure out his spacing versus White.

White so far looks like the go-to guy. I don't think he's forcing it too much, but he is quietly assertive. He shows more dribble-drive than he did last year, he had 3 or 4 assists against Holy Cross and a couple more tonight. I think he's a good role model for Lydon and Battle, and I think he will help them grow as players, and help them figure out what it means to be the go-to guy.

I'm also glad he is force feeding minutes to Chukwu; he is getting better and offers something really unique to the defense. Tonight was a night I would have preferred to see a little more of Coleman and a little less of Lydon at the 5.

Frank with a solid game. Gillon fell back to earth a bit tonight. Loved the midrange game the big men flashed. Thompson with yet another solid performance. Can't wait for South Carolina and Wisconsin. Winning those games would probably give us a decent boost in the rankings.

 

[pearl31]

agreed that it'll be a work in progress for a while... thing is though, we didn't play particularly well tonight vs a decent team and still won by 20+... that's a pretty good indication that we have something here

 

[SoBeCuse]

I just finished watching the replay on WatchEspn. My only gripe would be barely any penetration from our guards. We should be breaking guys down and throwing down layups and dunks galore. Their PG was able to do damage for himself or others when he got into the paint. He's good. Monmouth played some good M2M so it was a little disappointing we didn't exploit it for more closer shots to the basket. Fortunately the threes and jumpers went in. I don't really want to be dependant on shooting jump shots again. Too much dribbling around from Howard and Gillon without much purpose. Still, the team played hard, the jumpers fell, and the defense was good. Monmouth is good. This was a good win. Hope TT is ok. He is so solid and will play major minutes all year if healthy.

 

[RF2044]

White would have difficulty dribbling down his chin. The vast majority of the time he attempts a drive, poor outcomes ensue--like when he committed that boneheaded charge yesterday, and the other time with the bad turnover. People need to recognize that if he can't successfully complete drives against this portion of the schedule, he sure isn't going to magically start to convert against bigger, stronger, more athletic defenders in the ACC.

 

[tbonezone]

as to be expected early in the season on a team with several new components i've seen a lot of talent but very little cohesion.

 

[doc05]

As good as AWIII has been -- and he has been our best player -- it is clear as day to me that he is a 3. And it's also clear that Lydon is a (strecth) 4 and occasional 5. Battle and AWIII have to be on the wings to me. The depth is a good problem to have and figure out, but need cohesion as ACC play rolls around.

 

[RF2044]

As good as AWIII has been -- and he has been our best player -- it is clear as day to me that he is a 3. And it's also clear that Lydon is a (strecth) 4 and occasional 5. Battle and AWIII have to be on the wings to me. The depth is a good problem to have and figure out, but need cohesion as ACC play rolls around.

Spot on.