Once again it was a fantastic season and one we should all be proud of. It may have been the most exciting season from a game to game basis we have seen in these parts. Taxing, frustrating and satisfying sometimes on the same night.
Watching other teams in our own conference and all of these post season tournaments you get to see some of the team aspects that are holding us back. Here's what I have noticed:
1) Powell's offense and Q's defense are two of the main reasons we made the NCAA's this season. Q's defense helped us to shut down some marquee players. We can debate whether Q is a solid PG or not. He was brought in to be a combo guard that scores. You would have assumed he could shoot from the perimeter. I went back and looked how he did compared to other BigEast PG's from three.
Season Totals:
Q 18-67
Akinjo 52-133,
Cain 54-150,
Baldwin 42-135,
Gillespie 72-188,
Goodwin 40-138,
Diallo 40-120,
Alexander 75-252,
Ponds 65-184
Howard 120-298.
I believe those to be the BE point guards.
More disturbing he was 0-14 in last 8 games and 1-19 in last 9 games. 18 made threes in 957 minutes. That's not even on a Eugene Harvey level. Those were all very important games. When your other guard can't make threes it puts a huge amount of pressure on the offensive system.
In any conference ranging from the NEC to the ACC it would be hard to find too many teams that have this issue. Thankfully, Powell balances it out for us. So this has to be fixed. Q needs to get better.
2) Cale's inability to get to the free throw line. He's a strange player at this point. He looked better in the showroom than on the road. He improved from his first season, but not by that much. You would have thought his Kentucky winning shot and his great performance at Maryland would have been season turning events, but he was never able to stay consistent.
He had a very important contribution in the Nova home game that was so vital. His defense for the most part is good, but he has lapses there too. Where he hurts SHU is by not getting to the free throw line. He was 44-66 from the line in 1026 minutes over 34 games. Didn't check compared to the other Big East 3's, but its got to be on the low end.
Shavar Reynolds was 24-28 in way less minutes. Your 3 has to be more dynamic than that. He has to work on his handle and upgrade his entire offensive arsenal.
3) The inability for anyone other than Powell to create his own shot from the perimeter. All of these other teams seem to have multiple players that can get their own shots off. We have mainly catch and shoot players (Sandro, McKnight ,Rhoden, and Reynolds) Nelson hasn't taken enough at this point.
Next season you'll add Samuel and Davis. People are looking to add a Juco or other grad transfers. We do need shooters, but be careful with his ball handling skills too .In fact adding to this point, SHU really lacks a frontcourt player with a handle and a power game. Probably hard to find.
Next season its Sandro, Cale, Rhoden and Samuel. Obiagu, Gill and Brodie are in the paint players. The real top tier programs have these types of players. Rhoden and Samuel could be down the road. We've already mentioned the Cale issues.
We are not far away, but these are some of my areas of concern for the SHU Basketball Program.
Watching other teams in our own conference and all of these post season tournaments you get to see some of the team aspects that are holding us back. Here's what I have noticed:
1) Powell's offense and Q's defense are two of the main reasons we made the NCAA's this season. Q's defense helped us to shut down some marquee players. We can debate whether Q is a solid PG or not. He was brought in to be a combo guard that scores. You would have assumed he could shoot from the perimeter. I went back and looked how he did compared to other BigEast PG's from three.
Season Totals:
Q 18-67
Akinjo 52-133,
Cain 54-150,
Baldwin 42-135,
Gillespie 72-188,
Goodwin 40-138,
Diallo 40-120,
Alexander 75-252,
Ponds 65-184
Howard 120-298.
I believe those to be the BE point guards.
More disturbing he was 0-14 in last 8 games and 1-19 in last 9 games. 18 made threes in 957 minutes. That's not even on a Eugene Harvey level. Those were all very important games. When your other guard can't make threes it puts a huge amount of pressure on the offensive system.
In any conference ranging from the NEC to the ACC it would be hard to find too many teams that have this issue. Thankfully, Powell balances it out for us. So this has to be fixed. Q needs to get better.
2) Cale's inability to get to the free throw line. He's a strange player at this point. He looked better in the showroom than on the road. He improved from his first season, but not by that much. You would have thought his Kentucky winning shot and his great performance at Maryland would have been season turning events, but he was never able to stay consistent.
He had a very important contribution in the Nova home game that was so vital. His defense for the most part is good, but he has lapses there too. Where he hurts SHU is by not getting to the free throw line. He was 44-66 from the line in 1026 minutes over 34 games. Didn't check compared to the other Big East 3's, but its got to be on the low end.
Shavar Reynolds was 24-28 in way less minutes. Your 3 has to be more dynamic than that. He has to work on his handle and upgrade his entire offensive arsenal.
3) The inability for anyone other than Powell to create his own shot from the perimeter. All of these other teams seem to have multiple players that can get their own shots off. We have mainly catch and shoot players (Sandro, McKnight ,Rhoden, and Reynolds) Nelson hasn't taken enough at this point.
Next season you'll add Samuel and Davis. People are looking to add a Juco or other grad transfers. We do need shooters, but be careful with his ball handling skills too .In fact adding to this point, SHU really lacks a frontcourt player with a handle and a power game. Probably hard to find.
Next season its Sandro, Cale, Rhoden and Samuel. Obiagu, Gill and Brodie are in the paint players. The real top tier programs have these types of players. Rhoden and Samuel could be down the road. We've already mentioned the Cale issues.
We are not far away, but these are some of my areas of concern for the SHU Basketball Program.
