Zone was really good when Bus was in

[STEVEHOLT]

Does a very good job being active and disruptive at the top of the zone when in there. Trevor is also active and aggressive but he takes alot of chances which does get us some steals, but also burns us when he doesn't intercept the ball.

 

[omniorange]

Yeah, but in a couple of those plays TC had to choose between helping on a driving Lavert or giving Spike a wide open three. Lavert got by KJ a few times tonight. But again, learning the zone will take a couple of months. Once Joseph's mind is in sync with his athleticism at the top of the zone, the two three will get even stronger.

Cheers,
Neil

 

[stuckinbig11]

Why do you dislike Cooney so much?

 

[NineOneSeven]

Our zone defense up top was very average at best last night. As I've harped on many times already, poor D up top will lead to Rak foul trouble. Zone defense starts and stops with the guards, imo. Once penetration occurs, it's chaos.

Joseph's D so far has been really poor with regards to allowing dribble penetration and working through screens. Cooney is definitely active, but he was caught too far in the paint a few times last night that burned us.

These things will happen over the course of a 40 minute game, we just have to do our best to minimize them.

 

[jimsonjunction]

Our zone defense up top was very average at best last night. As I've harped on many times already, poor D up top will lead to Rak foul trouble. Zone defense starts and stops with the guards, imo. Once penetration occurs, it's chaos.

Joseph's D so far has been really poor with regards to allowing dribble penetration and working through screens. Cooney is definitely active, but he was caught too far in the paint a few times last night that burned us.

These things will happen over the course of a 40 minute game, we just have to do our best to minimize them.

Agreed. I think Joseph was kind of exposed on defense last night. He would drift towards the ball and cause the zone to bend before it needed to.

Work in progress, but sitting down and watching the film will help a lot.

 

[RF2044]

It takes awhile to "get" the zone. And right now, no--I don't think that Joseph, McCullough, and any of the wings have "gotten" it just quite yet.

Like the previous poster states, watching film will help--as will playing tough games early against quality opponents like Michigan. These guys will be formidable defensively by the end of the year--all the pieces are there.

 

[jordoo]

Our zone defense up top was very average at best last night. As I've harped on many times already, poor D up top will lead to Rak foul trouble. Zone defense starts and stops with the guards, imo. Once penetration occurs, it's chaos.

Joseph's D so far has been really poor with regards to allowing dribble penetration and working through screens. Cooney is definitely active, but he was caught too far in the paint a few times last night that burned us.

These things will happen over the course of a 40 minute game, we just have to do our best to minimize them.

Yes and once Rak has 2 in the 1st half or 3 in the 2nd half and they penetrate he has to let them go and teams know this. Of course he could help his cause by letting the 99% chance of a basket go rather than fouling the guy dunking to pick up his 3rd and his first foul was just outright foolishness. I agree Joseph is pretty poor defensively at this point. It took Ennis about 10-12 games to get better about allowing easy penetration as well.

 

[pfister1]

Yes and once Rak has 2 in the 1st half or 3 in the 2nd half and they penetrate he has to let them go and teams know this. Of course he could help his cause by letting the 99% chance of a basket go rather than fouling the guy dunking to pick up his 3rd and his first foul was just outright foolishness. I agree Joseph is pretty poor defensively at this point. It took Ennis about 10-12 games to get better about allowing easy penetration as well.

I really am surprised by how many dumb fouls RAK still picks up. I also hate how players are conditioned to give the foul on a sure basket, as though the foul doesn't matter. More often than necessary it becomes an and 1 situation on top of a player picking up a foul.

 

[jordoo]

I really am surprised by how many dumb fouls RAK still picks up. I also hate how players are conditioned to give the foul on a sure basket, as though the foul doesn't matter. More often than necessary it becomes an and 1 situation on top of a player picking up a foul.

You don't see this in the NBA. If its an obvious hoop they simply let it happen and take the ball out of the basket. I do feel that Rak gets at least one bad call from the refs a game but look at his first foul last night and you can see why. A ref sees that to start the game they are going to assume you foul constantly. He needs to help himself out a bit.

 

[Damdevs]

KJ is the weak link at the top. I just don't like his laziness, lack of hands up and he doesn't move his feet. He does a really poor job of keeping his man in front of him. Even Dakich eluded to it during the game last night how Michigan was able to exploit us at the top of the zone on the dribble drive penetration.

I like Patterson's game. I'm not sure why he doesn't get more playing time, but he's really good at the top of the zone. He's got a nice shot and he's got good vision when he drives and dishes off. My guess is JB trying to develop KJ as fast as he can.

 

[Madbiker]

KJ is the weak link at the top. I just don't like his laziness, lack of hands up and he doesn't move his feet. He does a really poor job of keeping his man in front of him. Even Dakich eluded to it during the game last night how Michigan was able to exploit us at the top of the zone on the dribble drive penetration.

I like Patterson's game. I'm not sure why he doesn't get more playing time, but he's really good at the top of the zone. He's got a nice shot and he's got good vision when he drives and dishes off. My guess is JB trying to develop KJ as fast as he can.

Agree. KJ's play at the top of the zone is not good. Never gets his hand up in a shooter's face. He's constantly too far inside the 3 pt line leaving good shooters a lot of space. Last night you have to know that Albrecht's shot is from the top of the key out to NBA range...that is his shot that is what he does. Yet he was consistently left wide open out there. Sometimes freshman guards don't realize that college players can consistently make those deep shots that it's not high school anymore.

 

[moqui]

It takes awhile to "get" the zone. And right now, no--I don't think that Joseph, McCullough, and any of the wings have "gotten" it just quite yet.

Like the previous poster states, watching film will help--as will playing tough games early against quality opponents like Michigan. These guys will be formidable defensively by the end of the year--all the pieces are there.

but the important thing is that they all seem to have fully bought into the system, which will help them "get it" sooner rather than later. Compare that to the last time we had a highly rated freshman tandem starting at PG/PF . . . the Dynasty squad never bought in either defensively or offensively and therefore missed out on the NCAAs. The big difference this year is the presence of upperclassmen to stabilize things and provide continuity with what has been working for half a decade.

I remain very high on this year's team. Barring injury, I think it will be a force by mid February.

 

[RF2044]

but the important thing is that they all seem to have fully bought into the system, which will help them "get it" sooner rather than later. Compare that to the last time we had a highly rated freshman tandem starting at PG/PF . . . the Dynasty squad never bought in either defensively or offensively and therefore missed out on the NCAAs. The big difference this year is the presence of upperclassmen to stabilize things and provide continuity with what has been working for half a decade.

I remain very high on this year's team. Barring injury, I think it will be a force by mid February.

I tend to agree, Moqui. Rak / McCullough are a formidable inside tandem, and so long as we can hit "enough" shots, we'll continue to improve throughout the course of the season--especially as KJ begins to figure some things out.

I am not abandoning hope that this will be a top 25 team, either. All the elements are there--they just need to round into form.

 

[Dave85]

Does a very good job being active and disruptive at the top of the zone when in there. Trevor is also active and aggressive but he takes alot of chances which does get us some steals, but also burns us when he doesn't intercept the ball.

Yeah, the second time he was playing that group did really well defensively. But if Cooney is making 3s it will limit his PT. But it was really nice to see RP do well defensively!

 

[Cusefan0307]

Yeah, the second time he was playing that group did really well defensively. But if Cooney is making 3s it will limit his PT. But it was really nice to see RP do well defensively!

Patterson's 3-18 from the field so far. If he could make a shot when he got in there it would help him get more minutes.

 

[Cheriehoop]

Ennis and Cooney co-ordinated well on defense despite not oozing athleticism. Cooney and Joseph have to develop the same on-court rapport. Slides, switches, recognizing, avoiding and fighting through screens has to be a co-ordinated team effort. The center on our D has usually been responsible for calling out screens etc.

Last night those high screens were killing us (some were moving) allowing penetration, kickouts for open 3's, dumpdowns for inside shots. Our forwards that hedge up when someone's on the wing aren't recovering back to cover the corner 3 pointer when the guard is there to cover the wing. Too many times the forward is caught either doubling the wing or in no where's land between the wing and the corner guarding no one. These kids are still adjusting to not only the zone scheme itself but how their new teammates play it. Work in progress but it appears they are working and progressing. We need to progress from a purely reactive zone to a pro-active one. (Love that McC remembered the Iowa game lesson JB gave him on where to go sliding in , stealing the ball when it's on the reverse side attempting to dump into the center. Great recognition)

 

[RF2044]

Ennis and Cooney co-ordinated well on defense despite not oozing athleticism. Cooney and Joseph have to develop the same on-court rapport. Slides, switches, recognizing, avoiding and fighting through screens has to be a co-ordinated team effort. The center on our D has usually been responsible for calling out screens etc.

Last night those high screens were killing us (some were moving) allowing penetration, kickouts for open 3's, dumpdowns for inside shots. Our forwards that hedge up when someone's on the wing aren't recovering back to cover the corner 3 pointer when the guard is there to cover the wing. Too many times the forward is caught either doubling the wing or in no where's land between the wing and the corner guarding no one. These kids are still adjusting to not only the zone scheme itself but how their new teammates play it. Work in progress but it appears they are working and progressing.

Astute--very good post.

The forwards are doing what they're coached to do, they're just slow to recover. It'll improve.

 

[STEVEHOLT]

Patterson's 3-18 from the field so far. If he could make a shot when he got in there it would help him get more minutes.

3-18 is like saying...he's harldy taken any shots...its like quoting batting averages in april

 

[SoBeCuse]

I've actually been very disappointed in Cooney's defense so far. Maybe it takes more time with Joseph to form a rapport like he had as a tandem with Ennis. Cooney has been getting sucked in too deep towards the high post and even for times when ZERO help is needed too many times now. He keeps leaving shooters...ugh! Cooney wasn't much better than Joseph last night defensively. Loved his confidence shooting the ball though. That was fun to see.

 

[jordoo]

3-18 is like saying...he's harldy taken any shots...its like quoting batting averages in april

Its more like saying he's shooting 17% in a small sample size this year.

Chris and Rak are right under 60% then its Kaleb at 43% with everyone else is in the mid to high 30's although after last night Trevor is close to 40%. That's just a bad shooting team has shot it worse than anyone but does have the fewest shots attempted.

 

[jordoo]

I've actually been very disappointed in Cooney's defense so far. Maybe it takes more time with Joseph to form a rapport like he had as a tandem with Ennis. Cooney has been getting sucked in too deep towards the high post and even for times when ZERO help is needed too many times now. He keeps leaving shooters...ugh! Cooney wasn't much better than Joseph last night defensively. Loved his confidence shooting the ball though. That was fun to see.

Its hard to identify Joseph's mistakes or Cooney's sometimes because you are right Cooney seems worse defensively than last year. How much of that is him and Kaleb learning to play next to each other, how much is it Cooney trying to cover for Kaleb's mistakes and how much of it is Cooney's frustration with his shooting seeping into other parts of his game. I'm not sure but hopefully last night gets Cooney going on both ends.

 

[pearl31]

now it would nice to see Buss get into "the zone" on the other end of the floor

 

[OttoMets]

but the important thing is that they all seem to have fully bought into the system, which will help them "get it" sooner rather than later. Compare that to the last time we had a highly rated freshman tandem starting at PG/PF . . . the Dynasty squad never bought in either defensively or offensively and therefore missed out on the NCAAs. The big difference this year is the presence of upperclassmen to stabilize things and provide continuity with what has been working for half a decade.

I remain very high on this year's team. Barring injury, I think it will be a force by mid February.

Good point.

It's easy to tell that Joseph and McCollough are more dedicated to their craft and receptive to teaching than their 2008 counterparts were. And this team has some semblance of veteran leadership around them.

 

[OttoMets]

Patterson's 3-18 from the field so far. If he could make a shot when he got in there it would help him get more minutes.

I wish he'd take more than one per game (as he's done lately). He doesn't seem like the type to succeed with that volume; he needs to get some reps in.

 

[jordoo]

I wish he'd take more than one per game (as he's done lately). He doesn't seem like the type to succeed with that volume; he needs to get some reps in.

I think he needs to be more patient with his shot. The defense is good for him so he should be picky about his jumpers but aggressive if there are openings to drive and dish. JB isn't going to pull Ron for his defense IMO but he will for jacking an ill advised shot or for being passive when he has an opening. Its tough to please JB when you are at that 7,8 spot in the rotation with established guys ahead of you at your position.