I'm late to this after a week 'away', so most has been said
clearly this staff MUST adjust and have an alternate strategy to win games when it's an off shooting night - why they continue to force is beyond me, because they have a guy in Kone who's coming on strong down low, and a PLETHORA of guards/wings who can slash and drive and draw contact for FT's - agree with you coach, you deserved to lose, but hope you see the reason why - it wasn't just because the guys didn't shoot well, it's because you employed no other way to win
it's cost them dearly now, and I hope that little experiment is over - c'mon JM, you've got to have a plan B man, you know that - if you're team can't hit shots and clearly plays sh!t D, then you best get to the line and slow the game down - that's 101 stuff there, and if this team expects to win the CAA they best start utilizing more than 1 way to to win games
I know it's their strength, but they have proven they cannot sustain hot shooting against the CAA game after game - they very often have off shooting half's or full games, so I simply do not see them capable of winning 3 games in 3 days by only relying on shooting great
therefore, until I see otherwise, I no longer see HU winning the CAA - if the 3 is all they got, it won't be enough to handle a weekend of battles - still early, but there's no way that can be their only strategy and realistically expect to go dancing
it's enough to produce a winning record, but NU and W&M are strong and play sound fundamental ball, will not go down just by some good shots - at this point, I'm just hoping HU can somehow land the #1 spot and win the regular season to get them into the NIT - and that is possible because we've seen some whacky wins and losses by every team so far - otherwise if HU doesn't get it together, they should get ready to be in some crap low level tourney or worse sitting at home
not angry or panicked, but disappointed - really expected more from this group by this point in the season.
MBB Game 21 - James Madison - 1/24/15, 4 PM
Re: MBB Game 21 - James Madison - 1/24/15, 4 PM
I don't post much, but i do read the posts a lot and appreciate all of your insights.
I have been to the last two home weekend games, ahem losses, and am pretty frustrated. Both were very winnable games and both are clear indications that this team needs to learn how to make offensive adjustments. I get that we live and die by the three, but our guards need to be willing to drive to the basket when the perimeter shots aren't falling. It was crazy that they watched a 12 point a lead vanish and they just kept launching. Juan'ya was going to the hole well earlier in the season - I think I remember a OOC game where his shots weren't falling but he had 10 FTs in the second half - but he never dribbled past the 3 point line in the second half. We have to have someone step up in these situations and that person has not emerged.
The play they were running getting the ball into the foul line was working - that guy had an open look most times - but it was a consistent miss. Maybe having someone cut to the basket off of that pass may have been worth a try.
Kone played great in my opinion. I know we were down on him we he came back form the injury, but it is clear he was either still a little hurt or rusty. He was the only one playing with intensity. Tanksley looked very frustrated in the second half and was ticked by every whistle. Juan'ya doesn't appear to show too much emotion, so I don't know that he could energize the team. Kone ignited the team every time he scored (reminds me of Uter in that aspect). The issue is he is going to get in foul trouble every time we play a decent big. He just doesn't have enough help. Rokas looked a little lost and had a terrible offensive foul on a moving pick. Coach must feel Walker isn't ready, because he doesn't even think about using him. Even Gonzalez got in (though he committed a quick foul and went right back to the bench).
I was really encouraged going into the UNCW game. The loss at NU wasn't surprising and with better D I felt they could play with them. However, D is definitely not our strength.
Also, I don't understand why Bernardi plays a full game. He is a pretty one dimensional sharp shooter that doesn't do anything great on D. When he is on, he is lethal, but if he is unwilling to drive to the basket when he's not then I'd much rather see Nichols in there more. I really feel Malik needs more minutes no matter what Coach is saying about the D we are playing against.
Sorry for the mini-rant, but I really expected more than 1-3 over the last four with two bad home losses. Very disappointing.
I have been to the last two home weekend games, ahem losses, and am pretty frustrated. Both were very winnable games and both are clear indications that this team needs to learn how to make offensive adjustments. I get that we live and die by the three, but our guards need to be willing to drive to the basket when the perimeter shots aren't falling. It was crazy that they watched a 12 point a lead vanish and they just kept launching. Juan'ya was going to the hole well earlier in the season - I think I remember a OOC game where his shots weren't falling but he had 10 FTs in the second half - but he never dribbled past the 3 point line in the second half. We have to have someone step up in these situations and that person has not emerged.
The play they were running getting the ball into the foul line was working - that guy had an open look most times - but it was a consistent miss. Maybe having someone cut to the basket off of that pass may have been worth a try.
Kone played great in my opinion. I know we were down on him we he came back form the injury, but it is clear he was either still a little hurt or rusty. He was the only one playing with intensity. Tanksley looked very frustrated in the second half and was ticked by every whistle. Juan'ya doesn't appear to show too much emotion, so I don't know that he could energize the team. Kone ignited the team every time he scored (reminds me of Uter in that aspect). The issue is he is going to get in foul trouble every time we play a decent big. He just doesn't have enough help. Rokas looked a little lost and had a terrible offensive foul on a moving pick. Coach must feel Walker isn't ready, because he doesn't even think about using him. Even Gonzalez got in (though he committed a quick foul and went right back to the bench).
I was really encouraged going into the UNCW game. The loss at NU wasn't surprising and with better D I felt they could play with them. However, D is definitely not our strength.
Also, I don't understand why Bernardi plays a full game. He is a pretty one dimensional sharp shooter that doesn't do anything great on D. When he is on, he is lethal, but if he is unwilling to drive to the basket when he's not then I'd much rather see Nichols in there more. I really feel Malik needs more minutes no matter what Coach is saying about the D we are playing against.
Sorry for the mini-rant, but I really expected more than 1-3 over the last four with two bad home losses. Very disappointing.