So I find this team pretty fascinating, if also frustrating often times. I hate coming on after losses because everyone is as pathetic as I am and the sky is always falling. The reality is, we're just not so good that we were ever going to be winning 9 of 10 with this group but I feel that's annual expectation of some.
So in the wake of a couple of potentially season-saving wins, I still honestly don't know what to make of this group, really. A few points for consideration and then some general individual observations (sorry, edited out the individual observations -- I'll do that at a later date. Lost steam).
Our schedule has been strange
Such a weird year because I'm not sure we have a signature win, or at least didn't until maybe that VA Tech win, although I'm not sure they end the year in the top 25. But, having said that, some of the games that felt the worst early, look like halfway decent wins at this point. Bryant is sitting on 10 wins and scoring almost 90 ppg, Northeastern has yet to lose in the CAA (again, for whatever that is worth -- they're 7-0 in league play) and while UB has been up and down, they're scoring 82/game and they've had to deal with COVID issues as well (which I'll address later, but is clearly an issue). Pitt feels like two bad losses and they just lost to Wake, but they also beat duke and are 8-3. Our worst win might be Georgetown, which has been brutal this year, and what felt like a bad but not terrible loss to Rutgers, looks worse now that they haven't played well in a while. VA Tech, like I said, is a big win, but I'm not sure the team we saw on Saturday is primed to really run the table in the ACC. Just hard to get a feel from our schedule as to where we stand.
COVID hasn't helped
Two shutdowns has really been a pain in the a$$ for this team. You take a guy like Buddy -- kid shot 37% from three for the season last year and he just hasn't really gotten going all year. Say what you will about the kid but we at least know he's a better shooter than what we've seen so far. Woody was really coming on when Buddy was out, then we had the second shutdown and he's been MIA since. He's appeared in just two games since 12/19 and logged a total of five minutes. Maybe this is on JB (we'll get to that topic in a minute), but either way, JB at least saw enough to lean on Woody for a while and now he's gone. Have to imagine that sucks to build some momentum, be working your way into the rotation and then not be able to play for a couple weeks and maybe still be dealing with some issues (at least that's what it sounded like in an article I read earlier this week).
Our rotation and minutes are all sorts of weird
I love JB and am slow to criticize mainly because of two factors: 1) He has 1000+ wins and we have a combined zero (as far as I know) and 2) I think it can be overblown. i.e. you can complain about minutes vs. Rutgers, for example, or whomever, but it feels like our issues are far more than simply minutes. You can think JGIII is the worst player in the league but then he puts up 23 in a win to snap our slide against Miami. So, I don't know, often there may be a method to the madness.
But this is a weird year. I feel like if you scrimmaged the 1s vs. the 2s (so JGIII/Buddy/Marek/Q/Griffin vs. Kadary/Woody/Bras/Edwards/JBA) it would be a much closer battle than in almost any other year.
So, for me, Kadary is just such a factor on the defensive end he has to be 20 mpg going forward. I was fine with his usage Saturday but I still feel like an extra 5-7 mins would have only put us in a better spot. I feel like Griffen is worth sticking with but he's kind of all or nothing -- there could be times where he is on the bench whether that means buddy at the 3 (yes, I know people will hate that) or more of woody/Bras at the three at least at certain times, probably makes sense. I also don't know with this roster that we need Marek playing 40 mpg ... Can Edwards be a bit of a factor? Can we sneak a few stretches with no center? In JB's defense, as weird as it is this late in the season, feel like he may still be trying to figure this out a bit as well.
Sidibe was a big loss
I'm not sure people are aware of just how damaging this was. We haven't recruited well at center, that much is fairly obvious. But we also had a guy grabbing ~7.5 rebounds in like 24 mins last year and coming into his senior year. He played so well the last seven games. Just feel for him, mostly, and us, a little, that we at least don't have the option of a sidibe/marek/q front line at times b/c at least some of the defensive insufficiencies and some of the rebounding issues would be less egregious.
The current college basketball world is ... odd
We clearly aren't what we were 10 years ago, but (and this has been happening the past few years) not many programs are. The blue bloods are OK but not running the sport. Duke has several losses, UK has really struggled (though against a tough schedule), Michigan state not in the top 25, Kansas in the top 10 for now, but three straight losses. It's really UVA and finally, after forever, UCLA seems to be poised for a good season. Gonzaga might be a blue blood of sorts with Few, so maybe they count too. Otherwise? It just seems hard to put together really good teams year after year. Not really a comment on our situation as much as a general observation that it feels like Cuse could still put together a solid season if we can improve as go along.
Defensively we need to play better against the pass to the FT line
JGIII and Buddy spend too much time focusing on the guy at the FT line. If you're Kadary, you can get away with it. You're long, athletic, quick and you can harass a guy there and still react to a pass out to a wing. JGIII and Buddy need to largely ignore that pass and make sure they understand where opponents are going -- don't flatten out too much if there is a shooter at the top of the key. Don't get sucked down into the middle and leave shooters wide open on each wing.
A big key in beating VA Tech was that even though we surrendered quite a few baseline layups to their interior passing, we did a better job of reacting and closing out on shooters up top. It kept them from pulling away and ultimately helped us suck the life out of their offense eventually and pull away ourselves.
So what's the future hold for this group?
I really don't know. I hope we see more Kadary with Girard on the bench or off ball. I hope we see a more consistently engaged Griffin. I really hope there are times we still get to see Woody or Bras b/c I think both bring energy and athleticism. Can Edwards help out? Maybe? Not sure. Interested but I still think we have a ton to learn and I just hope we can stay afloat long enough to truly figure out what our best lineups/sub patterns are. We shall see.
So in the wake of a couple of potentially season-saving wins, I still honestly don't know what to make of this group, really. A few points for consideration and then some general individual observations (sorry, edited out the individual observations -- I'll do that at a later date. Lost steam).
Our schedule has been strange
Such a weird year because I'm not sure we have a signature win, or at least didn't until maybe that VA Tech win, although I'm not sure they end the year in the top 25. But, having said that, some of the games that felt the worst early, look like halfway decent wins at this point. Bryant is sitting on 10 wins and scoring almost 90 ppg, Northeastern has yet to lose in the CAA (again, for whatever that is worth -- they're 7-0 in league play) and while UB has been up and down, they're scoring 82/game and they've had to deal with COVID issues as well (which I'll address later, but is clearly an issue). Pitt feels like two bad losses and they just lost to Wake, but they also beat duke and are 8-3. Our worst win might be Georgetown, which has been brutal this year, and what felt like a bad but not terrible loss to Rutgers, looks worse now that they haven't played well in a while. VA Tech, like I said, is a big win, but I'm not sure the team we saw on Saturday is primed to really run the table in the ACC. Just hard to get a feel from our schedule as to where we stand.
COVID hasn't helped
Two shutdowns has really been a pain in the a$$ for this team. You take a guy like Buddy -- kid shot 37% from three for the season last year and he just hasn't really gotten going all year. Say what you will about the kid but we at least know he's a better shooter than what we've seen so far. Woody was really coming on when Buddy was out, then we had the second shutdown and he's been MIA since. He's appeared in just two games since 12/19 and logged a total of five minutes. Maybe this is on JB (we'll get to that topic in a minute), but either way, JB at least saw enough to lean on Woody for a while and now he's gone. Have to imagine that sucks to build some momentum, be working your way into the rotation and then not be able to play for a couple weeks and maybe still be dealing with some issues (at least that's what it sounded like in an article I read earlier this week).
Our rotation and minutes are all sorts of weird
I love JB and am slow to criticize mainly because of two factors: 1) He has 1000+ wins and we have a combined zero (as far as I know) and 2) I think it can be overblown. i.e. you can complain about minutes vs. Rutgers, for example, or whomever, but it feels like our issues are far more than simply minutes. You can think JGIII is the worst player in the league but then he puts up 23 in a win to snap our slide against Miami. So, I don't know, often there may be a method to the madness.
But this is a weird year. I feel like if you scrimmaged the 1s vs. the 2s (so JGIII/Buddy/Marek/Q/Griffin vs. Kadary/Woody/Bras/Edwards/JBA) it would be a much closer battle than in almost any other year.
So, for me, Kadary is just such a factor on the defensive end he has to be 20 mpg going forward. I was fine with his usage Saturday but I still feel like an extra 5-7 mins would have only put us in a better spot. I feel like Griffen is worth sticking with but he's kind of all or nothing -- there could be times where he is on the bench whether that means buddy at the 3 (yes, I know people will hate that) or more of woody/Bras at the three at least at certain times, probably makes sense. I also don't know with this roster that we need Marek playing 40 mpg ... Can Edwards be a bit of a factor? Can we sneak a few stretches with no center? In JB's defense, as weird as it is this late in the season, feel like he may still be trying to figure this out a bit as well.
Sidibe was a big loss
I'm not sure people are aware of just how damaging this was. We haven't recruited well at center, that much is fairly obvious. But we also had a guy grabbing ~7.5 rebounds in like 24 mins last year and coming into his senior year. He played so well the last seven games. Just feel for him, mostly, and us, a little, that we at least don't have the option of a sidibe/marek/q front line at times b/c at least some of the defensive insufficiencies and some of the rebounding issues would be less egregious.
The current college basketball world is ... odd
We clearly aren't what we were 10 years ago, but (and this has been happening the past few years) not many programs are. The blue bloods are OK but not running the sport. Duke has several losses, UK has really struggled (though against a tough schedule), Michigan state not in the top 25, Kansas in the top 10 for now, but three straight losses. It's really UVA and finally, after forever, UCLA seems to be poised for a good season. Gonzaga might be a blue blood of sorts with Few, so maybe they count too. Otherwise? It just seems hard to put together really good teams year after year. Not really a comment on our situation as much as a general observation that it feels like Cuse could still put together a solid season if we can improve as go along.
Defensively we need to play better against the pass to the FT line
JGIII and Buddy spend too much time focusing on the guy at the FT line. If you're Kadary, you can get away with it. You're long, athletic, quick and you can harass a guy there and still react to a pass out to a wing. JGIII and Buddy need to largely ignore that pass and make sure they understand where opponents are going -- don't flatten out too much if there is a shooter at the top of the key. Don't get sucked down into the middle and leave shooters wide open on each wing.
A big key in beating VA Tech was that even though we surrendered quite a few baseline layups to their interior passing, we did a better job of reacting and closing out on shooters up top. It kept them from pulling away and ultimately helped us suck the life out of their offense eventually and pull away ourselves.
So what's the future hold for this group?
I really don't know. I hope we see more Kadary with Girard on the bench or off ball. I hope we see a more consistently engaged Griffin. I really hope there are times we still get to see Woody or Bras b/c I think both bring energy and athleticism. Can Edwards help out? Maybe? Not sure. Interested but I still think we have a ton to learn and I just hope we can stay afloat long enough to truly figure out what our best lineups/sub patterns are. We shall see.
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