(11-22-2017 09:55 PM)GoBucsGo Wrote:  I think Armus is fine defensively and he rebounds. He's better defensively than Jurkin. Having them both in there is a mistake, apparently. We can't get it to either one of them. We just pass it around the perimeter and even when they're open, we fail to pass it to either one.

Thin in the post.

Right now we have 3 post players (Armus, Jerkin, and Burrell) to split 80 minutes not including the minutes Burrell gets at the 3. As physical as the play has become, that is a tall order in today's college basketball. They become tired and sometimes ask for breaks (can't blame them).

Hodges is coming along and Harrison seems a bit lost. In the open practice, Edwards was not impressive. Losing Rodriquez to injury really hurt this year's team.

I don't think we're 'thin' in the post. The post isn't our issue, anyway. Our guard play right now sucks. Nothing is great, but our guard play, which should be good, isn't. Can we find someone who can hit shots?

Would’ve been huge to have Patrick Good this year. That dude will be a difference maker next year.

Not every game is a step forward. The Bucs looked bad on offense most of the night.

And yet... at about 10:30 of the 2nd half it was a 5 point game 41-46.

And again at about 7:46, McCloud got a 4th foul on Vanardo who had been almost half of Troy's offense at that point. He had to sit down. Person had been shut down to that point and had only 3 points. McCloud actually made the free throws, so at about 7:46 it was once again a 5 point game, 44-49. In our building, within 5 points and Vanardo on the bench, it's an eminently winnable game.

Except that now our defense fails us: Wesley Person, with only 3 points until then, makes 5 three pointers in a row. Two right away to kick it out 46-55 at 6:22. Then 3 more to take it out to 49-66.

The bench doesn't quit and makes a nice run at the end to bring it within 8, 65-73. But that's a depressing finish to a winnable game. Too many missed shots, open 3's and layups inside. Too many missed free throws, and our free throw shooting had been pretty good to this point.

Varnado is out of Haywood County High in Brownsville, same HS league that produced Desonta, AJ, Arkansas' Jalen Barford, and Samford's Demetrius Denzel Dyson. He has an NBA body and a decent three stroke.

Person had a three/four minute span which flat-out won the game. We had no one who could guard him.

McCloud has great presence at the rim, reminds me of Jalen Riley a bit. Probably should have sent him inside more earlier to neutralize their bigs a bit. I like the shapes he gives us when in the lineup with Desonta.

Burrell tossed the mask for second half. I believe it affected his shooting, whether peripheral vision/depth perception or merely psychological.

(11-22-2017 11:23 PM)Wadood Abides Wrote:  McCloud has great presence at the rim, reminds me of Jalen Riley a bit. Probably should have sent him inside more earlier to neutralize their bigs a bit. I like the shapes he gives us when in the lineup with Desonta.

I think how McCloud "fits" into the offense is still a work in progress. I agree with you that we need his ability to penetrate. Sometimes Bradford can; occasionally Williams or Long can; but McCloud is *by far* our best penetrator (not counting Hodges, which is a different way of penetrating). I think (hope?) we haven't come near seeing the maximization of his ability to make the others better by efficient distribution as he penetrates - and some of that is the others not knowing enough about what he's going to do. He gives us an *additional* inside-out way to score (if we're hitting our shots). But doesn't do us any good if he can't score some inside to keep opposing defenses honest - which he does. But it seems mostly haphazard for now.

McCloud only had 1 assist in 25 minutes. (Not to mention 3 TOs, 2 of which were consecutive ones that were a big part of us getting in the hole in the first half.) That's *got* to rise - but again he would have had more (~2?) if the other shooters had been more accurate. By contrast, Long had 5 assists in 19 minutes - and only 1 TO. Long, as we've discussed before, is deceptively effective. He sure makes errors, and touchy, unwise fouls, but he *is* an asset, both on O and D.

All of which is a long-winded way of saying we can, and most likely will, do better at getting better shots. Do we really want half our shots to be 3-balls? (Well, sure, if we're hitting them, but we're not. We're a woeful 29.5% from deep on the young season.) Forbes alluded to this very thing (better shots, not necessarily less 3s) in the post-game interview. But he didn't mention McCloud. I think there's some better way there that, although elusive, can be harnessed much moreso than is being done presently........I hope.

(11-22-2017 10:30 PM)GoBucsGo Wrote:  I don't think we're 'thin' in the post. The post isn't our issue, anyway. Our guard play right now sucks. Nothing is great, but our guard play, which should be good, isn't. Can we find someone who can hit shots?

We are thin in the post with inconsistent guard play.

(11-22-2017 09:55 PM)GoBucsGo Wrote:  We have zero offense. We occasionally hit an open shot, but that's about it. No offensive flow, and we couldn't get a run tonight to save our life until the very end. I think Obi Rapu needs more minutes.

I'm not sure about McCloud. He sometimes just takes it to the hoop aimlessly. And the free throws - good God. We gotta be better than that!

I think Armus is fine defensively and he rebounds. He's better defensively than Jurkin. Having them both in there is a mistake, apparently. We can't get it to either one of them. We just pass it around the perimeter and even when they're open, we fail to pass it to either one.

Extremely unimpressed with our guard play thus far this season. We honestly just look like an average team. I'm sure the team will improve, and luckily, it appears the SoCon isn't very strong so we will probably be ok once we hit league play. Regardless, very disappointed in what I've seen thus far from this team.

Can someone step up? Find some offense somewhere. Ft. Wayne is likely better than us, so we better improve fast.

It's obvious we don't have any chemistry at the moment. We still have a lot of tough non-conf games to go until league play begins. Which BTW are three straight conference road games....thank you very much who ever made that schedule. Other than that I am not worried!