This staff has to start changing things up if they want to start winning. The assistants sub the players for the most part, and that is where we are losing. Playing the wrong guys at the wrong times or not playing guys at all.

I have an issue with the number of minutes Sims, O'Connell, Elmore and Taylor have been playing.

Sims with 13.9min has had 2 good offensive games and now he is a starter? He played 22 min against CoC and scored 3pts which is really more consistent with all of his games leading up to Georgia State. Doesn't make sense. Estime' needs to be playing in front of him no question.

O'Connell with 18.1min, offers practically no offense for us with 3.4pts per game. Last 4 games he has averaged 18.7 min and 1.5 rebounds and 3.2pts. Watching him play he appears more efficient than he really is because of his mobility.

Elmore gets junk minutes leading up to the Furman game. He plays 12 non-junk minutes due to others being in foul trouble and does a decent job. He has not seen the floor since Furman!

Taylor is one of our clutch shooters and loses his starting slot? Everyone is going to have slumps, but when you sit them you are now messing with their confidence. He had 10pt and 12pt games back to back in Asheville and hasn't started since.

Kalina has played junk min and only seen the court in 4 games. I have seen him practice and I know he can contribute.

(01-03-2019 09:30 AM)Seahawksilver Wrote:  This staff has to start changing things up if they want to start winning. The assistants sub the players for the most part, and that is where we are losing. Playing the wrong guys at the wrong times or not playing guys at all.

I have an issue with the number of minutes Sims, O'Connell, Elmore and Taylor have been playing.

Sims with 13.9min has had 2 good offensive games and now he is a starter? He played 22 min against CoC and scored 3pts which is really more consistent with all of his games leading up to Georgia State. Doesn't make sense. Estime' needs to be playing in front of him no question.

O'Connell with 18.1min, offers practically no offense for us with 3.4pts per game. Last 4 games he has averaged 18.7 min and 1.5 rebounds and 3.2pts. Watching him play he appears more efficient than he really is because of his mobility.

Elmore gets junk minutes leading up to the Furman game. He plays 12 non-junk minutes due to others being in foul trouble and does a decent job. He has not seen the floor since Furman!

Taylor is one of our clutch shooters and loses his starting slot? Everyone is going to have slumps, but when you sit them you are now messing with their confidence. He had 10pt and 12pt games back to back in Asheville and hasn't started since.

Kalina has played junk min and only seen the court in 4 games. I have seen him practice and I know he can contribute.

While you have some valid points, I don't see how you make an argument for Ellmore or Kalina over O'connel. Good teams have roll players, and certainly fills a few roles. Hard nosed D and rebounding.

(01-03-2019 09:39 AM)Seahawkhoops Wrote:  

(01-03-2019 09:30 AM)Seahawksilver Wrote:  This staff has to start changing things up if they want to start winning. The assistants sub the players for the most part, and that is where we are losing. Playing the wrong guys at the wrong times or not playing guys at all.

I have an issue with the number of minutes Sims, O'Connell, Elmore and Taylor have been playing.

Sims with 13.9min has had 2 good offensive games and now he is a starter? He played 22 min against CoC and scored 3pts which is really more consistent with all of his games leading up to Georgia State. Doesn't make sense. Estime' needs to be playing in front of him no question.

O'Connell with 18.1min, offers practically no offense for us with 3.4pts per game. Last 4 games he has averaged 18.7 min and 1.5 rebounds and 3.2pts. Watching him play he appears more efficient than he really is because of his mobility.

Elmore gets junk minutes leading up to the Furman game. He plays 12 non-junk minutes due to others being in foul trouble and does a decent job. He has not seen the floor since Furman!

Taylor is one of our clutch shooters and loses his starting slot? Everyone is going to have slumps, but when you sit them you are now messing with their confidence. He had 10pt and 12pt games back to back in Asheville and hasn't started since.

Kalina has played junk min and only seen the court in 4 games. I have seen him practice and I know he can contribute.

While you have some valid points, I don't see how you make an argument for Ellmore or Kalina over O'connel. Good teams have roll players, and certainly fills a few roles. Hard nosed D and rebounding.

I am not arguing for Elmore or Kalina over O'Connell. I am saying I think they have more to contribute then they are being allowed to show. Kalina hasn't been given any chance to show if he can or can't contribute.

Let's take this one step deeper.... How would you know if O'Connell is any better than either of them? Because he is the one the coach chooses to play? Because he gets 4 rebounds per game? You don't know and you can't know, because you haven't seen the other two play an equal or even close amount of minutes. Just like I don't know and I can't know for the same reasons. My point is as stated in my original post, I think the staff needs to explore playing different players. It is obvious what they are doing now is not working!!!!

Welcome to the board Seahawksilver! Very cool to see some new, quality posters join up here. We need that!

I think it's a simple matter of McGrath trying to build "his team". Ty Taylor, Matt Elmore were not players that McGrath brought in. Sims and O'Connell were. Thus, he's going to show some favoritism towards "his" players, like most coaches would.

Not to mention I still don't think Elmore is really close to being the player he CAN be coming off his injury. That's a factor that must be considered.

As for Kalina, even though he was a McGrath guy, you can't extend the bench too much. Especially when you get into conference play. You need to have 8-9 guys you lean on and stick with that as your primary rotation. Kalina isn't part of that, right or wrong, so he'll only see the court if someone gets into foul trouble, or (hopefully not) injured.

(01-03-2019 09:58 AM)Seahawksilver Wrote:  Let's take this one step deeper.... How would you know if O'Connell is any better than either of them? Because he is the one the coach chooses to play? Because he gets 4 rebounds per game? You don't know and you can't know, because you haven't seen the other two play an equal or even close amount of minutes. Just like I don't know and I can't know for the same reasons. My point is as stated in my original post, I think the staff needs to explore playing different players. It is obvious what they are doing now is not working!!!!

The coaches see these guys in practice every day. So they of course know more about what these players can and can't do. If they aren't earning their playing time in practice, they won't see the court.

Just because WE aren't seeing Kalina on the court doesn't mean the coaching staff is necessarily "missing out" on a quality player.

I don't think things are working either, of course, but I do think we played much better against Charleston than we had in previous games. Hopefully we'll see steps forward rather than the "1 step forward, 2 steps back", starting tonight.

But in terms of the rotation/minutes, I only imagine we'll see some small changes here and there over the course of the season. Massive changes just aren't in the cards. No one else is walking through that door, and the guys who are top 8/9 in minutes will continue to be in that mix unless something truly drastic happens.

Not having Ty Gadsden has been a HUGE blow in so many ways. We need his defense, and I think he might just have been one of those "killer instinct" guys we need on offense late in games.

(01-03-2019 09:59 AM)Seahawk Nation 08 Wrote:  Welcome to the board Seahawksilver! Very cool to see some new, quality posters join up here. We need that!

I think it's a simple matter of McGrath trying to build "his team". Ty Taylor, Matt Elmore were not players that McGrath brought in. Sims and O'Connell were. Thus, he's going to show some favoritism towards "his" players, like most coaches would.

Not to mention I still don't think Elmore is really close to being the player he CAN be coming off his injury. That's a factor that must be considered.

As for Kalina, even though he was a McGrath guy, you can't extend the bench too much. Especially when you get into conference play. You need to have 8-9 guys you lean on and stick with that as your primary rotation. Kalina isn't part of that, right or wrong, so he'll only see the court if someone gets into foul trouble, or (hopefully not) injured.

Thank you Sir for the welcome!
I think you hit the nail on the head with the recruiting. But that is definitely being short sighted if that is the case. A trait I would not expect a D1 coach to have.
If the 8-9 guys you are playing continue to give the same results, change things up!

(01-03-2019 09:59 AM)Seahawk Nation 08 Wrote:  Welcome to the board Seahawksilver! Very cool to see some new, quality posters join up here. We need that!

I think it's a simple matter of McGrath trying to build "his team". Ty Taylor, Matt Elmore were not players that McGrath brought in. Sims and O'Connell were. Thus, he's going to show some favoritism towards "his" players, like most coaches would.

Not to mention I still don't think Elmore is really close to being the player he CAN be coming off his injury. That's a factor that must be considered.

As for Kalina, even though he was a McGrath guy, you can't extend the bench too much. Especially when you get into conference play. You need to have 8-9 guys you lean on and stick with that as your primary rotation. Kalina isn't part of that, right or wrong, so he'll only see the court if someone gets into foul trouble, or (hopefully not) injured.

Elmore needs a full healthy offseason to get back to his true self. Yes, he had a good game against Furman, but he's slow right now. O'Connell provides the consistency we need from a big off the bench. Sims needs to keep playing, his versatility is key for him being a big contributor now and in the future.

(01-03-2019 10:10 AM)Gary Miller Wrote:  Elmore needs a full healthy offseason to get back to his true self. Yes, he had a good game against Furman, but he's slow right now. O'Connell provides the consistency we need from a big off the bench. Sims needs to keep playing, his versatility is key for him being a big contributor now and in the future.

Fully agreed with all of this.

Sims is extremely raw, but he LOOKS physically like the type of kids the big boys get all the time. A lengthy, athletic guard is exactly what this team needs. So he needs to play through this raw period and get as much PT as we can give him. We have to keep an eye on the future while trying to win now.

My hope is we utilize as much press as possible going forward to maximize Sims' physical gifts. We'll give up tons of easy layups in the process, but we need to set the groundwork for a system that suits our players the best.

You do make some good points, but it's about defense, upside and team play as well my man. Sims has been emerging and is part of the future for this program. It's not him vs Estime at all. I can see a case for at least some token big man minutes that you speak of. Taylor can be very good at times or sometimes cold. He was good the last game for sure. Fornes needs to step his game up too and shouldn't get a pass. He's too talented to go away for long stretches and needs to be tougher.

At the end of the day, it's about who are the best fits and not who this staff recruited. Estime and Sims have length and skill which matters. They have both demonstrated that they need minutes especially if the older guys are passive and not killing it. Somebody needs to freaking want it.

[/quote]

Sims is extremely raw, but he LOOKS physically like the type of kids the big boys get all the time. A lengthy, athletic guard is exactly what this team needs. So he needs to play through this raw period and get as much PT as we can give him. We have to keep an eye on the future while trying to win now.

My hope is we utilize as much press as possible going forward to maximize Sims' physical gifts. We'll give up tons of easy layups in the process, but we need to set the groundwork for a system that suits our players the best.
[/quote]

Agree with pressing and keeping an eye on the future. But if we want to continue recruiting good players, we have to be a winning team.
Playing through the 'Raw" period is costing us games.

Here are Sims' stats. Don't see many reasons to "maximize gifts" https://static.uncwsports.com/custompage...lyr_30.htm
Seems like the staff is trying to force someone who isn't fully ready to be forced. He needs to be inserted in certain situations, but IMO should not be starting.

(01-03-2019 10:30 AM)Seahawksilver Wrote:  Here are Sims' stats. Don't see many reasons to "maximize gifts" https://static.uncwsports.com/custompage...lyr_30.htm
Seems like the staff is trying to force someone who isn't fully ready to be forced. He needs to be inserted in certain situations, but IMO should not be starting.

Playing in short spurts doesn't allow a player to get into rhythm. It's a double-edged sword.

If he was awesome right from the beginning of his career, he wouldn't have been the kind of player we could land here. Kids who are athletically and physically gifted are always going to have some flaws if they end up at the mid-major level.

Getting minutes isn't all about offensive production. There's also injuries you have to take into consideration and guys getting minutes increased/reduced b/c of those.

I'm going to throw this out there, but Kalina just isn't going to be an answer that we want to see on the court -- especially as we're trying to get wins in the portion of the season we currently have to bank our wins on. He doesn't have the court speed, which makes him a liability on one side of the court or the other. From seeing him last year there's not really an argument to support giving him any significant minutes, especially if your angle is offensive production.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Estime not start recently because of a technical he received?

(01-03-2019 10:41 AM)CG_Hawk06 Wrote:  Getting minutes isn't all about offensive production. There's also injuries you have to take into consideration and guys getting minutes increased/reduced b/c of those.

I'm going to throw this out there, but Kalina just isn't going to be an answer that we want to see on the court -- especially as we're trying to get wins in the portion of the season we currently have to bank our wins on. He doesn't have the court speed, which makes him a liability on one side of the court or the other. From seeing him last year there's not really an argument to support giving him any significant minutes, especially if your angle is offensive production.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Estime not start recently because of a technical he received?

Agree and disagree. when we are losing, we need offense. That is exactly how Keats won games. It is clear everyone besides Gadsden needs to work on their defense. Agree that his injury has hindered us.
If and this is a big if... we were a pressing team, Kalina would be able to contribute more. But we still don't know how much he has improved since last year.
I think it was Cacok who had the tech and didn't start one game.

(01-03-2019 10:54 AM)Seahawksilver Wrote:  

(01-03-2019 10:41 AM)CG_Hawk06 Wrote:  Getting minutes isn't all about offensive production. There's also injuries you have to take into consideration and guys getting minutes increased/reduced b/c of those.

I'm going to throw this out there, but Kalina just isn't going to be an answer that we want to see on the court -- especially as we're trying to get wins in the portion of the season we currently have to bank our wins on. He doesn't have the court speed, which makes him a liability on one side of the court or the other. From seeing him last year there's not really an argument to support giving him any significant minutes, especially if your angle is offensive production.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Estime not start recently because of a technical he received?

Agree and disagree. when we are losing, we need offense. That is exactly how Keats won games. It is clear everyone besides Gadsden needs to work on their defense. Agree that his injury has hindered us.
If and this is a big if... we were a pressing team, Kalina would be able to contribute more. But we still don't know how much he has improved since last year.
I think it was Cacok who had the tech and didn't start one game.

our offense isn't the problem! We have struggled a bit in close games but it's our D and getting stops that is the issue. You mention our former coach, and his offense, but you fail to mention that a good portions of the time, it was the D that created good offense on his teams!

(01-03-2019 11:06 AM)Seahawkhoops Wrote:  our offense isn't the problem! We have struggled a bit in close games but it's our D and getting stops that is the issue.

It certainly isn't our biggest problem, but it could definitely get better. We're # 139 in Offensive Efficiency per Ken Pomeroy. With guys like Toews, Cacok and several other players who have strong track records (Taylor, Fornes), I think we could be a Top 75 unit if we can get to the rim more.

(01-03-2019 11:10 AM)Seahawk Nation 08 Wrote:  

(01-03-2019 11:06 AM)Seahawkhoops Wrote:  our offense isn't the problem! We have struggled a bit in close games but it's our D and getting stops that is the issue.

It certainly isn't our biggest problem, but it could definitely get better. We're # 139 in Offensive Efficiency per Ken Pomeroy. With guys like Toews, Cacok and several other players who have strong track records (Taylor, Fornes), I think we could be a Top 75 unit if we can get to the rim more.

Fair enough, but a sub 300 number in defense is a far bigger problem.

(01-03-2019 11:14 AM)Seahawkhoops Wrote:  Fair enough, but a sub 300 number in defense is a far bigger problem.

Of course. But better offense will help the defense. After all, its only possible to run a press defense or a zone after a made basket.

If we ever opt to go with more press/zone than we have, we'll need the offense to be even better than its been to make up for our shortcomings in halfcourt defense. It goes hand in hand.

(01-03-2019 11:21 AM)Seahawk Nation 08 Wrote:  

(01-03-2019 11:14 AM)Seahawkhoops Wrote:  Fair enough, but a sub 300 number in defense is a far bigger problem.

Of course. But better offense will help the defense. After all, its only possible to run a press defense or a zone after a made basket.

If we ever opt to go with more press/zone than we have, we'll need the offense to be even better than its been to make up for our shortcomings in halfcourt defense. I just don't know how that's going to get significantly better over the course of the season.

Good defense creates better opportunities on offense :)

Love all the different takes and insight with this group already!

(01-03-2019 11:22 AM)Seahawkhoops Wrote:  Good defense creates better opportunities on offense :)

Of course, but we both know that this won't play out realistically on the court. We mostly are what we are in the halfcourt defense. We need Gadsden back (not sure the prognosis there?), and we need Sims to use his length to be disruptive.