Lots of talent on this team
- Thread starter chickenbox
- Start date
Once Desi is in the game, he tries to do too much, knowing his minutes are limited. Once he feels comfortable and playing more minutes, he will have some great games next year.
didn't say it, but knew someone (rightfully) would - of course, shooting the lights out in the first helps a ton, but it wasn't just that - good ball movement, extra passes for better shots, cuts to the basket - before things got a little too hectic and out of control, we used good athleticism to run the floor and score in transition - also fun to see the guys obviously having more fun out there and high-fiving, helping each other up, etc - video going into commercial of Isaiah super pumped and shouting something like "Here we go!" wasn't after he hit a big shot but after Haralds connected on his second straight three - anyway, the majority of the first half felt like a return of that excitement we and the players were feeling during those two big wins at the beginning of the year, and that was fun - the frustration of course comes from seeing that talent and what's it's like when we're clicking then following up with another 180 degree collapse (this time in the course of the same game) - for those down on IW, imagine what this second half looks like without him
The kids aren't the problem on this team.
Not their talent, not their attitudes or personalities, not even their chemistry. (I watched IW and SG extra close all game and didn't spot a thing out of place.)
It's painfully obvious what is the problem.
Not their talent, not their attitudes or personalities, not even their chemistry. (I watched IW and SG extra close all game and didn't spot a thing out of place.)
It's painfully obvious what is the problem.
We have more talent than in the past. But we still do not have enough talent to really compete. We got crushed on the boards tonight because we just don't have an aggressive big. We have no production from the 3 spot. Again we have talent but its not comparable to Providence. Can it be coached up? Yes but sadly it does not appear it can be coached up by this coach and staff.
We have talent. A lot of it. What we don't have is 40 minutes of focus and enough quality size.
The first half reminded me of how we played early in the season. Crisp ball movement, excellent player movement, confidence in yourself and your teammates, etc. I thought I was back in St Thomas in November.
The second half, starting from the opening tick of the clock was a microcosm of our last 10 or so games.
Dan nailed it. The focus part will change with the fact that the large freshman class will no longer be freshmen. They will "get it" as they get older and more mature. The quality size issue is the key to improvement. If we dont replace Mobley and Manga with some quality size that can compete on the glass the situation will not be better next year. If I were Ish I would bust my ass in the gym knowing I have a chance for big minutes next year if I can ramp up my game. Guys change every year, and go from deep bench players to major contributors. We need what he can bring with his size and athleticism.
We continually got destroyed by bigger teams this year. In basketball, that is what separates the consistent winners from the consistent losers...the ability to recruit big guys. I'm not talking about height, but rather it is about width. The guys we have (aside from Delgado) are simply too thin. We need some "bangers" as many have said. Last night was and this weekend will be the perfect example of what I'm talking about. These types of teams get easy buckets around the rim, cheap second chance points, and don't rely solely on hot shooting to get wins in conference play. I guess I've said this before, so I think I'm just venting after seeing SHU get bullied for the umpteenth time in the past 15 years to a better, BIGGER, team.
So frustrated at the losing, and the worst part is, it's always the same reasons, no matter the coach. If we can't recruit 3-4 BIG players, we will never win consistently again. That is the bottom line. And the only way to recruit these types of players is to hire the right coach who knows how to get these types of players to commit to our program.
This post was edited on 3/5 9:26 AM by HallB
So frustrated at the losing, and the worst part is, it's always the same reasons, no matter the coach. If we can't recruit 3-4 BIG players, we will never win consistently again. That is the bottom line. And the only way to recruit these types of players is to hire the right coach who knows how to get these types of players to commit to our program.
This post was edited on 3/5 9:26 AM by HallB
Pat hopefully you are right. But Nzei is a skinny 6-7. So is Ish. And Desi a rock solid 6-5.
Against some teams that's enough. But to challenge the best you need far more size and girth at the 4.
The good teams have small forwards the size of the three players you mentioned. That was very evident last night against a good but not great Friar team.
Against some teams that's enough. But to challenge the best you need far more size and girth at the 4.
The good teams have small forwards the size of the three players you mentioned. That was very evident last night against a good but not great Friar team.
That is why playing three guards in TBEC was such bull shit. Sure it worked with the OOC cream puffs, so how did that work out in the league. You win in the paint or you get spanked at this level. For whatever reason Willard can't recruit bigs.
I would disagree with the second to last sentence here Gary (respectfully, of course)
Do you need bigs? Is that really a case? G'Town essentially plays 20 minutes with 2 PF's...Nova plays Ochefu for 22-25 minutes a game, PC has some bigs but they don't play 40 minutes a night...X doesn't play Stainbrook more than 20 minutes and Reynolds is a Delgado type player...
Take PC as an example...next year, they'll have some really nice front court pieces in Bentil, Bullock and Chuwku...and if Kris Dunn leaves for the NBA, I have them at 7th in the league next year. (If he comes back, I have them at 2nd)
Guard size also matters...look at the top 4 teams in the NCAA (UK, Virginia, Duke, Nova) Only one starts a kid under 6 ft 2 (Duke) and just about every other guard is AT LEAST 6 ft 3, some are more like 6 ft 6. (Harrison Twins, Hillard, Anderson...)
Forget about basketball talent for a second...starting a team of Whitehead, Gibbs, Desi, Nezi and Delgado...minus 2 inches with Gibbs and about 30-40 pounds on Nezi, your starting lineup looks awfully like Virginia's.
Size is important, yes, but so is toughness and mindset. Nevermind that tasteless leg whip / finger stomp for a second...if there's a loose ball or an offensive rebound to be had...there isn't a guy I'd rather have on my team than Josh Hart...who plays a lot of the PF for us and he's maybe 6 ft 4. He's guarded guys 3, 4, 5 inches taller because he'll out work them to get the ball. Now, you can out work anyone, but if they're a 7 footer, you probably aren't getting the ball. That being said, besides Kentucky, who is regularly getting 7 footers on their team? (Florida St. is the only other team with multiple 7 footers...maybe Purdue, too...and both of them are medicore teams at best)
etown, will Nova start 6'6 (at most) Kris Jenkins at PF next year with the graduation of Pinkston? Basically the same size as Rodriguez.
This Pirate team has a solid rotation of 4 guards, 2 capable starting bigs, and while the depth aside of Desi wasn't good, the roster should have been better than this. This should have been a 9-10-win conference team. No doubt about it in my mind.
Would it have been great to have had a capable center like Billmeier or Geramipoor? Sure. Maybe Anthony can develop into that. But there was no excuse for a defensive coach to lose his team like this. As the season went on the team got slower to react defensively and the intensity was not there. Early on we looked like a very good defensive team. It started there.
When we allowed Xavier and Creighton to both shoot 50% on that first road trip after being ranked it was a bad sign.
And the offense? Well, you see what happens. So insanely inconsistent. Unfortunately Whitehead's a TO machine right now.
Would it have been great to have had a capable center like Billmeier or Geramipoor? Sure. Maybe Anthony can develop into that. But there was no excuse for a defensive coach to lose his team like this. As the season went on the team got slower to react defensively and the intensity was not there. Early on we looked like a very good defensive team. It started there.
When we allowed Xavier and Creighton to both shoot 50% on that first road trip after being ranked it was a bad sign.
And the offense? Well, you see what happens. So insanely inconsistent. Unfortunately Whitehead's a TO machine right now.
The talent is there, the coaching is not and never was. I also don't understand the nostalgia-fest for Geramipoor. A guy who lets face it was useless until his senior year. And even in his senior year probably was more toward useless than serviceable. Guy was a fouling machine just like Anthony. At least Anthony has SOME ability to back his man down and score over him as a freshmen. I don't think we ever saw that from Aaron G.
Oh, we need much better than AG if we're talking about being a top team, I was just referencing what he gave us as a SR in BE play last year. It was a serviceable 11-12 MPG or whatnot with more production than Anthony. Granted I'm comparing a SR to a FR and I expect Anthony to be a much better player long term.
Auda was a big loss because he mixed it up inside. Mobley doesn't.
The Hall currently ranks 279th in the country in allowing offensive
rebounds to the opponent (we're 51st in offensive rebounding). Yet we
have a player who plays less than have the time (Desi) who is 187th in
the country in defensive rebounding %. Mobley, conversely, is 416th.
I think a huge part of the problem is that we haven't utilized our roster well this year. I don't know why. Some of the lineups and configurations are baffling to me.
The Hall currently ranks 279th in the country in allowing offensive
rebounds to the opponent (we're 51st in offensive rebounding). Yet we
have a player who plays less than have the time (Desi) who is 187th in
the country in defensive rebounding %. Mobley, conversely, is 416th.
I think a huge part of the problem is that we haven't utilized our roster well this year. I don't know why. Some of the lineups and configurations are baffling to me.
You can't just say you have talent on your roster and leave it at that. You have to have the right mix of talent, you have to have talent at each position and you have to have a talented bench. Great , so we had 4 talented guards, no center , two power players and no depth at all up front at the power position. . Everyone on the staff knew that there was a very real possibility that Auda wouldn't return and that potential problem wasn't addressed and it hurt us .While I'll concede we do have talented players on this team, we don't have enough and we are without a legitimate center and no proven depth at PF.
This post was edited on 3/7 11:56 AM by hallgrad80
This post was edited on 3/7 11:56 AM by hallgrad80
Similar threads
