Willard Postgame - Wow

[PosterFormallyKnownAsShuathelete]

The Willard haters will always try to blame the coach. Reality is we need Cale to produce more and Willard has given him sooo many opportunities. His play has not been consistent but I don't think that means Willard is giving up on him at all. Clearly Rhoden has earned his increased playing time. Hopefully Myles does too but quiet the criticism on the coach on this one. He can't play for him too! He's started many games this year and I've wondered why Rhoden did not start so Willard is giving him lots of opportunities. If he can play solid D to start Cale will see the floor more and maybe his scoring touch will return. We need our bench to produce more and that is on them not the coach.

agree, and i used to be a patented willard hater. donnie brought up a great point today. lets get a big lead for once and start giving guys like Cale more minutes to figure it out. Cale is almost there. hes show glimpses of getting to the rim and getting in the lane. just needs a confident finish. unfortunately weve had so much trouble expanding a lead lately. 5 pt leads turn to 7 pt deficits in minutes.

 

[Ryanpbkelly]

Willard needs to figure out some stuff just as much as the players do.
If this team does not advance deep in March it will be because of rebounding specifically giving up offensive rebounds.
I could make a whole thread on Willard and what he does well what he does poorly and what an actual honest assessment of him as a coach is but that may take too long.

 

[shu09]

agree, and i used to be a patented willard hater. donnie brought up a great point today. lets get a big lead for once and start giving guys like Cale more minutes to figure it out. Cale is almost there. hes show glimpses of getting to the rim and getting in the lane. just needs a confident finish. unfortunately weve had so much trouble expanding a lead lately. 5 pt leads turn to 7 pt deficits in minutes.

It sounds so easy to do that, but it isn't. Building big leads in this league is as rare as any league in the country. The Big East is 31st out of 32 conferences in blowout percentage (> 19 point final margin). Just 4 of the 63 games have been decided by 20 points or more. Nearly every game is competitive.

Also, a big reason why we lose leads during a game is because we have the second unit guys in there (Ike, Nelson, Samuel, etc). Plus, that's just the nature of basketball. It's a game of runs. Cale has had ample time to show what he can or can't do.

 

[PosterFormallyKnownAsShuathelete]

It sounds so easy to do that, but it isn't. Building big leads in this league is as rare as any league in the country. The Big East is 31st out of 32 conferences in blowout percentage (> 19 point final margin). Just 4 of the 63 games have been decided by 20 points or more. Nearly every game is competitive.

Also, a big reason why we lose leads during a game is because we have the second unit guys in there (Ike, Nelson, Samuel, etc). Plus, that's just the nature of basketball. It's a game of runs. Cale has had ample time to show what he can or can't do.

is it rare? its happened to us a bunch. the game doesnt have to end in a blowout. ideally it does for my sanity.

one method could be to stop taking out the hot hand constantly. you give teams so much life when doing that

 

[sami]

Cale opened the home game against Creighton with a great early performance and as soon as he showed he was hot that night he got benched. Willard tells him to play without looking over his shoulder, and yet when Cale is doing well - benched. When he's playing poorly - benched. What exactly is his motivation to play well if he doesn't get PT even when he's doing great things on court in a given night?

That’s not benched. That’s a breather. No one should expect to play 40 minutes, even if hot... 20 minutes in the first half could spell tired legs the second.

Your “benched” is a bit dramatic.

 

[shu09]

is it rare? its happened to us a bunch. the game doesnt have to end in a blowout. ideally it does for my sanity.

one method could be to stop taking out the hot hand constantly. you give teams so much life when doing that

Yes, it is rare. Other than Georgetown and at Xavier, where have we built a big lead during a game?

Cale played 31 minutes vs. Georgetown, 24 minutes at Xavier and 13 minutes at Georgetown (the lead was only big early on and he didn't start).

 

[setonball46]

Willard needs to figure out some stuff just as much as the players do.
If this team does not advance deep in March it will be because of rebounding specifically giving up offensive rebounds.
I could make a whole thread on Willard and what he does well what he does poorly and what an actual honest assessment of him as a coach is but that may take too long.

thanks for sparing us that thread.

 

[Ryanpbkelly]

thanks for sparing us that thread.

Just for you I’m going to make it

 

[setonball46]

Just for you I’m going to make it

Thanks

 

[TheHall87]

That’s not benched. That’s a breather. No one should expect to play 40 minutes, even if hot... 20 minutes in the first half could spell tired legs the second.

Your “benched” is a bit dramatic.

In the first Georgetown game, the complaint was Willard pulled Cale when he was hot (that was the night he was drilling threes). He was the last starter to sub out eight minutes into the game and sat for two minutes.

When Willard put the starters back in at the 10 minute mark, a five point lead ballooned to 20 in just over six minutes.

You want to give you starters a rest when things are going well and you depend on the bench to do its job of at least breaking even.

 

[Hallsome]

Cale opened the home game against Creighton with a great early performance and as soon as he showed he was hot that night he got benched. Willard tells him to play without looking over his shoulder, and yet when Cale is doing well - benched. When he's playing poorly - benched. What exactly is his motivation to play well if he doesn't get PT even when he's doing great things on court in a given night?

Inaccurate