(12-31-2020 11:49 AM)memtiger1987 Wrote:  

(12-31-2020 11:00 AM)rolexjames Wrote:  

(12-31-2020 10:29 AM)memtiger1987 Wrote:  

(12-30-2020 11:55 PM)Stammers Wrote:  

(12-30-2020 11:16 PM)memtiger1987 Wrote:  My point is when East was dominating local teams (or state teams), they were playing teams that would be lucky for anyone on the team to get a D1 look.

I think we have good players but a lousy coach. We all love Penny, but being a great player doesn’t make you a good coach.

What does that have to do with players missing free throws and wide open shots? We are shooting 29.9% from outside and 53.4% of our free throws in our last 4 games. What does that have to do with East?

So it’s all on the players. Highly ranked players that, up til now, have been very successful.

Why are we shooting poorly? Why do we turn the ball over? Why do we look completely disorganized?

A good coach puts in an offense suited to his players. The poor shooting isn’t always wide open shots. They usually dribble the ball 30 feet from the basket for 25 seconds and then throw up a rushed shot. Good offenses set up open shots (the reason you actually run an offense). And if they can’t make shots, they need to be benched (no matter what their ranking was).

Can’t explain poor free throw shooting. Were they all terrible FT shooters in high school?

The reference to East simply shows Pennys coaching philosophy. Play under matched teams and use incredible athletes to run them off the court. This just doesn’t happen against well coached, decent NCAA teams. He desperately needs someone to take over the offense. There are tons of seasoned coaches out of work. Ones that could coach, but couldn’t recruit (and that’s why they’re out of work, or under employed). Quit hiring your buddies...

Cody Toppert wasn't a buddy. He was the offensive coordinator. He's running a offense that depends on players being multidimensional and we don't have enough of those.

Yep, it’s the players. Top ranked class in conference, yet we struggle to beat USF.

I don’t know what team you’ve been watching, but our offensive sets are non-existent.

The article was spot on..

If you are in an Open gym and you can take any guard in the AAC you want, or any player in the AAC you want, do you start with a guard or player from Memphis? If you do, that choice is based on potential and reputation not results. Do we have a guard better than Marcus Sasser, Caleb Mills or Caleb Murphy? Marcus Sasser and Caleb Mills gets more shots than the 5 star on the Houston roster Quinton Grimes. Why? Because they can make a play or create a shot for themselves and others. We don't have a guy who can do that regardless of how many stars they have.

When Penny had two guards who could finish at the rim, or even create their own shot (Jeremiah Martin, Kareem Brewton) we averaged the most points in the league. We don't have that now consistently enough. Even in 2008, Cal would simply look at CDR or Derrick Rose at times and just yell "Make a play" He didn't call plays all time.

Yes the offense is disappointing considering the freshmen are now sophomores. The level of development and growth from last year to this year is completely non-existent. We could blame it on COVID and no off season workout or whatever. Penny has work to do definitely. But this team lacks what Penny previous two teams were especially known for and that's playing hard. This team stops playing hard whenever they hit adversity. That's mental toughness. Everyone has to do better.