Hard to argue with the truth about our offense and what we've seen since Willard has been our coach . When you say " It's the system , not the players you're right except why can so many who have seen this team play recognize it but we have a coach who keeps sticking to a system that just doesn't work.
Are U Happy
- Thread starter Halldan1
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Hard to argue with the truth about our offense and what we've seen since Willard has been our coach . When you say " It's the system , not the players you're right except why can so many who have seen this team play recognize it but we have a coach who keeps sticking to a system that just doesn't work.
Carrington scoring on individual plays is a catch-22. The good news is right now Carrington seems to be recognizing the mismatch and blowing by defenders. The bad news is we are not going to be able to just blow by defenders in the big east, which is why I think our guys need to be on the bench for not playing team basketball. At the end of the year no one cares what we did in the non conference schedule if we finish 7th or 8th in the big east. Now is the time work on what it takes to win vs the big east. I can understand letting them play through mistakes as freshmen, but now 18 months since graduating from high school, they know what is expected of them.
Whitehead has 27 assists and 25 turnovers after 8 games and that's not exactly vs. the greatest competition. He led the team in turnovers last year and missed 9 games. Hard to think this team is going to thrive in the league if he has a 1:1 assist to turnover ratio. Yes, he needs to score, but also needs to get others involved and cut down on being sloppy with the ball.
Putting the coaching situation aside, I'm definitely enjoying watching the players on this team grow. Some players have shown noticible improvements from last year (Desi, Carrington), some have shown that they have talent for the first time (Ish, Nzei), and some players have underperformed expectations but still show the promise of getting better (Whitehead, Delgado).
Am I completely happy with the win-loss results that the team has had so far? No. There's a chance at season's end this will still be the case.
Is this team enjoyable and fun to watch play? I definitely think they are. Past season's failures have me focusing on this aspect more.
Am I completely happy with the win-loss results that the team has had so far? No. There's a chance at season's end this will still be the case.
Is this team enjoyable and fun to watch play? I definitely think they are. Past season's failures have me focusing on this aspect more.
You really can't use TO/game because it doesn't account for pace for play. Teams with fewer possessions (we are the third slowest team in the conference) will have fewer turnover opportunities. The more relevant stat is TO/possession. We're 9th in the league and 279th in the country in that category. I grant you we are still dealing with a fairly small sample size, but most of Willard's teams have been bad with turnovers. Over the past 4 years, we've ranked 7th (out of 10), 8th (out of 10), and 16th (out of 16), and 8th (out of 16) in the Big East.
BTW 14 turnovers per game is still horrible - it ranks 255th in the country.
I like this team a lot, but it is difficult to read this board because I don't know what fans expect from a young team like this. Think this team is doing great,
I know the Sooners are a top 10 team, but could you imagine what this board would be like if we had played exactly like Nova in their game against Oklahoma. Fans would be calling for Jay Wright's head.
It would be great if everyone would relax and enjoy this team for what they are and show some optimism and enjoyment. Frank
I know the Sooners are a top 10 team, but could you imagine what this board would be like if we had played exactly like Nova in their game against Oklahoma. Fans would be calling for Jay Wright's head.
It would be great if everyone would relax and enjoy this team for what they are and show some optimism and enjoyment. Frank
I thought the defense would be better and not satisfied with our two best freshman from last season and Veer. But very happy with Nzie, Desi, and Sonogo so far. Carrington is where I expected to be this year and think he will be a major player next year if he continues to progress.
Off course it is. But as noted in my post 43 of them came in the first two games and now the team has settled down.
But again it's the assists to turnover ratio that is alarming to me. Not the number of turnovers.
Got to do a better job of
1. Valuing possessions
2. Sharing the ball (quickly)
3. Taking quality shots & then hitting those shots
4. Feeding the post and then finishing in the post
5. Playing with a high BB IQ.
6. Less charges and improper picks.
7. Better player/ball movement.
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anon_4htvdezyfe7k9
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Tough to accomplish #2 if the weave keeps being drawn up.
And # 5 is tough to teach, you either have it, or you don't.
Some teams or players might not have high BB IQ's but I might disagree a little that a good coach, with a quality staff and willing listeners can't improve on that facet of the game.
I don't understand how anyone can be happy with Whitehead or Gordon.
Gordon is a big drop off from Gibbs and Whitehead plays stupid basketball.
His turnovers and inefficient shooting limits the high potential of this team. He has to play smarter otherwise all hopes of the tournament will be gone.
Khadeen Desi Nzei and Ish all have gotten better. If Whitehead played like his hype we would be a top 3 team in the Big East easy.
Gordon is a big drop off from Gibbs and Whitehead plays stupid basketball.
His turnovers and inefficient shooting limits the high potential of this team. He has to play smarter otherwise all hopes of the tournament will be gone.
Khadeen Desi Nzei and Ish all have gotten better. If Whitehead played like his hype we would be a top 3 team in the Big East easy.
I like Dan's criterion being the eye test. Here's what I see: Last season Khadeen's and Isaiah's drives were met with stone walls that stymied them into contorted shots. This year, KC has an unobstructed path and IW's instruction is down to a picket fence. (Both the result of experience and not weaker defenses.) KC has TONS of confidence now. Desi is having a ball. He knows he has a physical advantage and looks for every opportunity to take advantage of it. His 3-pt shooting is a complete surprise to me. I agree with everyone on Angel's conditioning / mindset, but his mobility to a pretty solid jump hook is a big improvement. Absolutely love Mike and Ishmael. Gordon is doing just as I expected he would. I'm glad the coach has decided to deliver sterner messages for both on and off court deficiencies. Without a collapse, we'll be a tough out for most BE teams, but I would still prefer to see what another coach can do with these players. they're pretty good ...
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anon_4htvdezyfe7k9
Guest
I hear you Dan, but that's asking a lot. (good coach, quality staff, willing listener).
What's odd to me is that on the surface IW seems to have the IQ, but just isn't executing on it yet. I think ultimately he will.
Trying to convert IW to a pg reminds of when PJ tried making John Morton into a pg during Mortons first two years. A factor in the team taking off was turning the pg reins over to Gerald Green and letting Morton play his natural sg position. I sort of see that this year; we have more production when IW is at has natural sg spot with Carrington/Gordan handling the pg. I don't think IW needs to be converted to a pg to make the NBA. He is a natural born scorer and hope his concentrates on that. Pleased so far with the team. Defensive lapses appear more related to the matchup system used than effort. Delgado may still need work but his rebounding numbers are good. Ish/Nzei/Desi all are great surprises. Cautiously optimistic. Not a Willard fan.
The basketball IQ of our players is high. Based on the many threads I read on here their desire to go pro is even higher. From time to time it looks like an NBA showcase where individuals play anywhere from 1 on 1 to 1 on 5. Nobody gets benched because of it. You can't go pro from the bench. They will stop with the stupid plays once they lose time on the floor for stupid plays. It's really not that complicated. Time for some tough love. Short-term that could lead to losses without our best players on the court. Long-term it could lead to the best basketball we've seen in 15 years.
Individual basketball doesn't exist at places like Kentucky, Duke, Kansas, Wisconsin, Mich St, etc. Maybe those schools are onto something.
What this team needs is one year of PJ as their coach and they would quickly learn what happens when you don't play smart basketball and make dumb mistakes. They would all get to know the bench intimately.
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