SWC75
Bored Historian
- Joined
- Aug 26, 2011
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- This team is starting to remind me of the team two years ago- the one we thought would be so good that turned out not to be. I should probably wait until Frank Howard gets back to judge them. But there’s more wrong with this team than Frank’s absence. He’s no Magic Johnson and won’t be able to turn anything around without the help of his teammates.
- I have no idea what the problem is with Oshae Brissett. Until late in the Oregon game, he almost totally abandoned driving to the basket to score or get to the line, a huge part of his game. His aggressive rebounding was absent as well. He can hit three pointers but he’s no Reggie Miller. In two games the guy who should be the best player on our team was 5 for 27 from the field, 2 for 12 from outside the arc and 3 for 15 inside of it. He was 8 for 10 from the line, most of those after the Oregon game was already lost. Our best rebounder grabbed 10 rebounds in 2 games. With a normal game from Oshae, we could have had a shot at winning either of them.
- Tyus Battle took a long time to get going in both games. He wound up with 16 and 17 points, respectively, on 11 for 27 shooting, including 1 for 8 from three point range. He seemed unable to take over games at key points where we might have been able to turn things around.
- Marek Dolezaj got knocked around in the He had only one turnover but 8 fouls.
- It’s sad to think that Paschal Chukwu is the same size as Bol Bol, comes from the same continent, is older and more experienced and yet will never see the day when he is anywhere near as talented. Bol scored 26 points, 9 rebounds to go with an assists, two blocks and two steals. He stepped and spun around our hapless defenders, including Chukwu as if they were standing still. Meanwhile, in two games, Paschal had 6 points, 6 rebounds, 4 blocks and a steal- in two games. He also had 7 fouls, 3 turnovers and only got off 3 shots. Bol had 17 attempts just tonight.
- Chukwu, Brissett, Dolezaj, Battle. Those are four of the five returning starters who, with Howard, were going to make this year something special. Four are underperforming and the other isn’t playing.
- Of the newcomers, Buddy Boeheim is now 3 for 24 from the field, including 2 for 16 from three point range. And he’s a player whose value is almost all in his shooting. The fact that Howard Washington barely played when we were badly in need of a point guard tells you what JB’s evaluation of his skills are, at this point anyway.
- Elijah Hughes plays hard and is productive but he was just 9/24 (5/14) and had 7 turnovers today. We anticipated that Hughes and Boeheim would give us the outside firepower we lacked last year. So far this team is 17 for 79 from the arc, 21.5%.
- We’re supposed to be a heck of a defensive team yet we’ve given up 83 and 80 points in these two games. Neither Connecticut nor Oregon seemed bothered by the zone and, in fact, Oregon played it better than we did.
- I hate the press JB put on. It wasn’t the 2-2-1 they had been working on that allows us to maintain the integrity of our half-court defense. Instead two guys went after the ball. Another wandered around a few feet away while a fourth guy tried to guard 70 feet of court and the center stood in the paint. It didn’t work. How could it? With the 2-2-1, you can force the pass and have two people looking for the steal. If you don’t get it, you can still drop back into the zone. And you can slow the other teams down and force them to start their offense with a chunk of the shot clock gone.
- I have no idea what the problem is with Oshae Brissett. Until late in the Oregon game, he almost totally abandoned driving to the basket to score or get to the line, a huge part of his game. His aggressive rebounding was absent as well. He can hit three pointers but he’s no Reggie Miller. In two games the guy who should be the best player on our team was 5 for 27 from the field, 2 for 12 from outside the arc and 3 for 15 inside of it. He was 8 for 10 from the line, most of those after the Oregon game was already lost. Our best rebounder grabbed 10 rebounds in 2 games. With a normal game from Oshae, we could have had a shot at winning either of them.
- Tyus Battle took a long time to get going in both games. He wound up with 16 and 17 points, respectively, on 11 for 27 shooting, including 1 for 8 from three point range. He seemed unable to take over games at key points where we might have been able to turn things around.
- Marek Dolezaj got knocked around in the He had only one turnover but 8 fouls.
- It’s sad to think that Paschal Chukwu is the same size as Bol Bol, comes from the same continent, is older and more experienced and yet will never see the day when he is anywhere near as talented. Bol scored 26 points, 9 rebounds to go with an assists, two blocks and two steals. He stepped and spun around our hapless defenders, including Chukwu as if they were standing still. Meanwhile, in two games, Paschal had 6 points, 6 rebounds, 4 blocks and a steal- in two games. He also had 7 fouls, 3 turnovers and only got off 3 shots. Bol had 17 attempts just tonight.
- Chukwu, Brissett, Dolezaj, Battle. Those are four of the five returning starters who, with Howard, were going to make this year something special. Four are underperforming and the other isn’t playing.
- Of the newcomers, Buddy Boeheim is now 3 for 24 from the field, including 2 for 16 from three point range. And he’s a player whose value is almost all in his shooting. The fact that Howard Washington barely played when we were badly in need of a point guard tells you what JB’s evaluation of his skills are, at this point anyway.
- Elijah Hughes plays hard and is productive but he was just 9/24 (5/14) and had 7 turnovers today. We anticipated that Hughes and Boeheim would give us the outside firepower we lacked last year. So far this team is 17 for 79 from the arc, 21.5%.
- We’re supposed to be a heck of a defensive team yet we’ve given up 83 and 80 points in these two games. Neither Connecticut nor Oregon seemed bothered by the zone and, in fact, Oregon played it better than we did.
- I hate the press JB put on. It wasn’t the 2-2-1 they had been working on that allows us to maintain the integrity of our half-court defense. Instead two guys went after the ball. Another wandered around a few feet away while a fourth guy tried to guard 70 feet of court and the center stood in the paint. It didn’t work. How could it? With the 2-2-1, you can force the pass and have two people looking for the steal. If you don’t get it, you can still drop back into the zone. And you can slow the other teams down and force them to start their offense with a chunk of the shot clock gone.
