The Downside

[SWC75]

- First Baye Keita gets hurt, (and who knows when he’ll be available. Then the refs decide to call fouls on our centers. Rakeem Christmas has to play 16 ineffectual minutes and Fab Melo is saddled with foul trouble throughout. JB was about ready to call Rob Murphy to see if Dash Riley could transfer back.

- Part of the problem was that Providence had small, quick for4wards, (no real center) and they could make shots from the top of the key, (the real key to beating a zone, as opposed to long range shots). Fab and Rak couldn’t block their shots and were a step slow in covering them. Part of that is on the guards, who allowed penetration to that area. Our zone just wasn’t as aggressive as it has been in previous games.

- Marquette also has some quick front court guys who can shoot but they are a much better defensive team than Providence.

- Rakeem is having a typical year for a first year big guy. He’s Shaq compared to last year’s Melo. But any game where he have to play him for extended minutes, especially at center, is a game where we are very, very vulnerable.

- That lack of aggression limited us to 5 steals. We only forced 13 turnovers. All those break-aways we’ve had in those prior games weren’t there. This game continued a trend of recent games. We either don’t force turnovers but make our three pointers or we can’t shoot but we make up for it with steals and fast-breaks. Against Bucknell we only forced 12 turnovers but were 8 for 17 from three point range. Against Tulane, it was the same: 14 turnovers but we were 10/21. Against Seton Hall we shot 2 for 13 but forced 23 turnovers. Against DePaul we were 3 for 18 but forced 18 turnovers. In this game we only forced 13 turnovers but were 10 for 17 from outside. Our loss will come when the turnover number is like Bucknell, Tulane or Providence and the outside shooting is like Seton Hall or DePaul.

- Hey, refs! You missed a great game!

 

[Oakland]

-Rakeem is having a typical year for a first year big guy

Our first year guys anyways. Seems like our frosh are slower to develop the last few years.

 

[pfister1]

-

- That lack of aggression limited us to 5 steals. We only forced 13 turnovers. All those break-aways we’ve had in those prior games weren’t there. This game continued a trend of recent games. We either don’t force turnovers but make our three pointers or we can’t shoot but we make up for it with steals and fast-breaks. Against Bucknell we only forced 12 turnovers but were 8 for 17 from three point range. Against Tulane, it was the same: 14 turnovers but we were 10/21. Against Seton Hall we shot 2 for 13 but forced 23 turnovers. Against DePaul we were 3 for 18 but forced 18 turnovers. In this game we only forced 13 turnovers but were 10 for 17 from outside. Our loss will come when the turnover number is like Bucknell, Tulane or Providence and the outside shooting is like Seton Hall or DePaul.

This might actually be an upside observation. We don't rely on one way to beat you. When we aren't doing one thing well, we are capable of doing something else well and beating you anyway.

 

[billsin01]

- Part of the problem was that Providence had small, quick for4wards, (no real center) and they could make shots from the top of the key, (the real key to beating a zone, as opposed to long range shots). Fab and Rak couldn’t block their shots and were a step slow in covering them. Part of that is on the guards, who allowed penetration to that area. Our zone just wasn’t as aggressive as it has been in previous games.

- Marquette also has some quick front court guys who can shoot but they are a much better defensive team than Providence.

Yeah, I'm very interested to see us against top flight competition. There has been a good deal of attention paid to our rebounding struggles, and perhaps rightfully so. But I think an equal or greater concern against good opponents is that we've had a tendency to allow a good deal of penetration and, as a result, several teams have carved up the zone for full games or at least long chunks of games.

Consider:

NC State shot basically 58%, 50% from 3
PC -- 49% from the floor/46%% from 3/75% on 28 FTs
Tulane and Depaul both got to the line 20+ times and Bucknell struggled shooting but was getting open looks for the entire first half.

So no, I'm not suggesting this is a bad defensive team or that we're going to lose when we play a good opponent. But I would say that teams' ability to get into the teeth of this zone and either kick to open teammates for good looks or get to the FT line is somewhat disconcerting.

It's nitpicking, of course, but it's worth noting when considering that we haven't played a bad schedule but it hasn't been a who's who of hoops teams either.

 

[MyMeloMyMan]

Rak looks like he is just so slow to re-act to things on the court. Maybe when he just stops thinking and starts playing, he won't look so slow...ala our boy Fab.

 

[tbonezone]

here's my little quibble.(other than the biased officiating)
you want to play stall ball.fine. but give yourself enuf time to at least get a decent look.
under 4:00 to go and back to back possession turnovers by dion and kris make it a 6 point game if henton knocks down that open 3. we start it too early imo and then wait too long into the shot clock to generate any type of true offense other than the heave and pray. a 6 point lead (had henton scored) with 2:43 to go is not start the bus time.still got work to do .

 

[pfister1]

here's my little quibble.(other than the biased officiating)
you want to play stall ball.fine. but give yourself enuf time to at least get a decent look.
under 4:00 to go and back to back possession turnovers by dion and kris make it a 6 point game if henton knocks down that open 3. we start it too early imo and then wait too long into the shot clock to generate any type of true offense other than the heave and pray. a 6 point lead (had henton scored) with 2:43 to go is not start the bus time.still got work to do .

I agree we waited too late in the shot clock on at least two possessions. I didn't have a problem with the stall in that situation just think you need to give yourself enough time to get a good offensive look rather than a frantic one.

 

[SWC75]

here's my little quibble.(other than the biased officiating)
you want to play stall ball.fine. but give yourself enuf time to at least get a decent look.
under 4:00 to go and back to back possession turnovers by dion and kris make it a 6 point game if henton knocks down that open 3. we start it too early imo and then wait too long into the shot clock to generate any type of true offense other than the heave and pray. a 6 point lead (had henton scored) with 2:43 to go is not start the bus time.still got work to do .

Agree to both. I've always felt there should be a formaula. If you ahve the eald down the stretch, make this caluclation every time you have the ball: Divide the time left by 35 seconds. Round up. Divide your lead by 3. If the first number is less than the last number, milk the clock. If not, run your normal offense, talking the first opportunity to score.

 

[tbonezone]

friars intercepted dions cross court pass at 3:34 and dunked 4 seconds later cutting the lead to nine. 3:34 is 214 seconds.
how many times does 4 go into 214? and then factor in the treys. way too early to start wasting possessions. the problem with the 35 second equation is that you're assuming you can
a: hold onto the ball
b: make freethrows if you're fouled early into the clock.
you built the lead playing straight up. quit playing prevent until it's conceded.

 

[SWC75]

friars intercepted dions cross court pass at 3:34 and dunked 4 seconds later cutting the lead to nine. 3:34 is 214 seconds.
how many times does 4 go into 214? and then factor in the treys. way too early to start wasting possessions. the problem with the 35 second equation is that you're assuming you can
a: hold onto the ball
b: make freethrows if you're fouled early into the clock.
you built the lead playing straight up. quit playing prevent until it's conceded.

You need to recalculate every time you get possession. Events can change the situation such that milking the clock is now a bad idea.