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We kept trying to force feed Carver into the lineup and it did nothing to help this team. I said back in December that the starting lineup should be: Caver, BJ, Green, Ezipke & Robinson. Dickins backup to Robinson. Carver did not need to see the minutes he was given. This lineup would give us more size, better rebounding and definitely more scoring.

What a great year! The players and staff did a great job. All teams have strengths and weaknesses and it's the coaches job to find them and be successful. I would say JJ and the staff did a great job in those areas this year.

(03-22-2019 09:39 PM)Blue Moon Rising Wrote:  

(03-22-2019 09:10 PM)Mr.BigBlue Wrote:  

(03-22-2019 08:23 PM)Blue Moon Rising Wrote:  

(03-22-2019 06:11 PM)Mr.BigBlue Wrote:  

(03-22-2019 02:43 PM)EverRespect Wrote:  He needs to work on the jumpers so he can take them next season. It is all repetition. His size is what it is and he knows how to play D and he is a decent rebounder for his size. He needs to focus solely on shooting if we are going to be effective. He doesn't need to be great, just respected. Wade too.

They take hundreds of shots every day during the off season and during the season. It is not about the shots and practicing them. It is about their ability mentality to want to take them and to make shots.

Carver's problem is his hands! He cannot hold onto the ball? He can grab rebounds but when he tries to shoot the ball he loses it? If you pass him the ball to shoot he drops it. If he needs to work on anything its catch and shoot.

Dickens as well. the dude has weak hands and forearms.

Carver's problem is not physical! He has large very strong hands and is physically very strong. He can grab rebounds but when a shot is involved his hands turn to mush. He needs to work on catching and shooting the ball. Emphasis needs to be on catching. I don't know how many times this year he had point blank shots but lost the ball. Not bad shots but simply lost the ball?

I think his problem is all mental. IMHO he panics a little when he gets the ball down low and he tries to rush the put back before he has secured the ball.He needs to hurry but not rush. He also does not seem to have a good grasp for his proximity to the basket, again from rushing.

(03-23-2019 08:02 AM)EverRespect Wrote:  We were a much more exciting and higher scoring team last year. What changed? Hard to believe Randy Haynes was that much better at defense and running the floor than X.

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How quick we forget. We scored 49 last year in our season ending loss to WKU in the conference tournament. If you recall Haynes went into a funk last year at year end when he decided to change his jump shot. His funk was much worse than BJ's. I believe BJ's issues were due more to all the defensive attendtion he was receiving at year end. He still stepped up and hit some big shots for us in late game situations ( especially at the foul line).

(03-23-2019 11:00 AM)VB Monarch Wrote:  

(03-22-2019 09:39 PM)Blue Moon Rising Wrote:  

(03-22-2019 09:10 PM)Mr.BigBlue Wrote:  

(03-22-2019 08:23 PM)Blue Moon Rising Wrote:  

(03-22-2019 06:11 PM)Mr.BigBlue Wrote:  They take hundreds of shots every day during the off season and during the season. It is not about the shots and practicing them. It is about their ability mentality to want to take them and to make shots.

Carver's problem is his hands! He cannot hold onto the ball? He can grab rebounds but when he tries to shoot the ball he loses it? If you pass him the ball to shoot he drops it. If he needs to work on anything its catch and shoot.

Dickens as well. the dude has weak hands and forearms.

Carver's problem is not physical! He has large very strong hands and is physically very strong. He can grab rebounds but when a shot is involved his hands turn to mush. He needs to work on catching and shooting the ball. Emphasis needs to be on catching. I don't know how many times this year he had point blank shots but lost the ball. Not bad shots but simply lost the ball?

I think his problem is all mental. IMHO he panics a little when he gets the ball down low and he tries to rush the put back before he has secured the ball.He needs to hurry but not rush. He also does not seem to have a good grasp for his proximity to the basket, again from rushing.

I agree with all of this. Add in all of the errant passes he throws because he has nobody to pass to because the defense is covering everybody else. I dont think any amount of practice shots are going to significantly improve his shooting. I'm sorry but his minutes need to go down. His role should be to sub in for other players when they need a rest. I'd rather have a defensive liability in there than an offensive liability. He literally stalls the offense every time he touches the ball. I hate to be so negative on one player but this is the kind of stuff I have been screaming to myself all season.

(03-23-2019 06:48 AM)ODUCoach Wrote:  

(03-22-2019 11:43 PM)ODUalum78 Wrote:  

(03-22-2019 09:25 AM)Gilesfan Wrote:  Its tough to blame specific players, but when we have some defensive first guys in the lineup, those 2-3 scores need to play well (if playing a really good team like Purdue). Something happened with BJ down the stretch (injury?). You can't have someone that is that big of a part of the offense just fall off the cliff. We gutted our way through the conference tourney, but it isn't winning against a top 10 team.

The offense next year will be more balanced. But, when we need a basket, it will probably be Green.

We also need to get more athletic to get easier baskets. Green/Kithcart fit this mold. BJ did not, he just doesn't score buckets in transition.

We might be better defensively without BJ, but we need to improve rebounding wise.

Injury to BJ make sense.
Was it just my imagination or were BJ's shooting mechanics ever-so-slightly different in the last few games? He seemed to begin his shooting motion lower and maybe just a tad to one side?

As far as Green vs Purdue, he was not able to get any rhythm going after the 2 early fouls and time on the bench.

BJ’s mechanics were definitely different. He had much less roataion on the ball recently compared to his “normal” shot.

Yep. He was pushing the ball more like a shot-put but with both hands.

While we are in the pure speculation phase concerning BJ, I can say that I had the flu 2 weeks ago, and I'm still dragging ass today. Very tired and little energy even though the actual symptoms are gone. Did he get something similar?

(03-23-2019 11:00 AM)JJMonarch Wrote:  

(03-23-2019 08:02 AM)EverRespect Wrote:  We were a much more exciting and higher scoring team last year. What changed? Hard to believe Randy Haynes was that much better at defense and running the floor than X.

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How quick we forget. We scored 49 last year in our season ending loss to WKU in the conference tournament. If you recall Haynes went into a funk last year at year end when he decided to change his jump shot. His funk was much worse than BJ's. I believe BJ's issues were due more to all the defensive attendtion he was receiving at year end. He still stepped up and hit some big shots for us in late game situations ( especially at the foul line).

We averaged about 10 more ppg last year. Yeah, we had some stinker games as well, but on average last year was the fastest and highest scoring team we have have had since before Blaine was coach.

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Radical idea: Pilavios starts at the 4 instead of Carver. He looks like a shooter and played well when he got into games last year. Maybe this redshirt year has allowed him to get stronger and work on defense. Or, happy to have Ezikpe start at 4 and Dickens at 5. Wild card is can Reece contribute. Then we can have Carver come off the bench for a few minutes at a time for a defensive shot in the arm as needed.

1: Kithcart/Wade
2: Godwin/Oliver
3: Green/Reece
4: Pilavios/Carver
5: Ezikpe/Dickens

(03-23-2019 05:23 PM)CalODUFan Wrote:  Radical idea: Pilavios starts at the 4 instead of Carver. He looks like a shooter and played well when he got into games last year. Maybe this redshirt year has allowed him to get stronger and work on defense. Or, happy to have Ezikpe start at 4 and Dickens at 5. Wild card is can Reece contribute. Then we can have Carver come off the bench for a few minutes at a time for a defensive shot in the arm as needed.

1: Kithcart/Wade
2: Godwin/Oliver
3: Green/Reece
4: Pilavios/Carver
5: Ezikpe/Dickens

That is radical alright. If he goes from playing 0 meaningful minutes to starter that would be quite an improvement.

(03-23-2019 05:42 PM)Chillie Willie Wrote:  

(03-23-2019 05:23 PM)CalODUFan Wrote:  Radical idea: Pilavios starts at the 4 instead of Carver. He looks like a shooter and played well when he got into games last year. Maybe this redshirt year has allowed him to get stronger and work on defense. Or, happy to have Ezikpe start at 4 and Dickens at 5. Wild card is can Reece contribute. Then we can have Carver come off the bench for a few minutes at a time for a defensive shot in the arm as needed.

1: Kithcart/Wade
2: Godwin/Oliver
3: Green/Reece
4: Pilavios/Carver
5: Ezikpe/Dickens

That is radical alright. If he goes from playing 0 meaningful minutes to starter that would be quite an improvement.

He was redshirted this year and maybe for good reason.

(03-23-2019 05:50 PM)CalODUFan Wrote:  

(03-23-2019 05:42 PM)Chillie Willie Wrote:  

(03-23-2019 05:23 PM)CalODUFan Wrote:  Radical idea: Pilavios starts at the 4 instead of Carver. He looks like a shooter and played well when he got into games last year. Maybe this redshirt year has allowed him to get stronger and work on defense. Or, happy to have Ezikpe start at 4 and Dickens at 5. Wild card is can Reece contribute. Then we can have Carver come off the bench for a few minutes at a time for a defensive shot in the arm as needed.

1: Kithcart/Wade
2: Godwin/Oliver
3: Green/Reece
4: Pilavios/Carver
5: Ezikpe/Dickens

That is radical alright. If he goes from playing 0 meaningful minutes to starter that would be quite an improvement.

He was redshirted this year and maybe for good reason.

I would be at least a little bit surprised if more than 3 of those starters are actually starting by mid-December (if at all).

(03-23-2019 04:46 PM)EverRespect Wrote:  

(03-23-2019 11:00 AM)JJMonarch Wrote:  

(03-23-2019 08:02 AM)EverRespect Wrote:  We were a much more exciting and higher scoring team last year. What changed? Hard to believe Randy Haynes was that much better at defense and running the floor than X.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

How quick we forget. We scored 49 last year in our season ending loss to WKU in the conference tournament. If you recall Haynes went into a funk last year at year end when he decided to change his jump shot. His funk was much worse than BJ's. I believe BJ's issues were due more to all the defensive attendtion he was receiving at year end. He still stepped up and hit some big shots for us in late game situations ( especially at the foul line).

We averaged about 10 more ppg last year. Yeah, we had some stinker games as well, but on average last year was the fastest and highest scoring team we have have had since before Blaine was coach.

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Part of that was production from Porter last year. He emerged as a scoring option for us. The ball actually went through him a fair amount whenever he was on the court. It's a shame Porter didn't understand that but that's water over the dam now. I think we will see Dickens develope a nice short jumper which he showed at times this season. Between he and Kalu I think we will have a much better offensive presence up front next year. Plus both of them can know down the free throws which is comforting.

Free throws. I hope the future of ODU MBB is one of better free throws.

(03-23-2019 05:50 PM)CalODUFan Wrote:  

(03-23-2019 05:42 PM)Chillie Willie Wrote:  

(03-23-2019 05:23 PM)CalODUFan Wrote:  Radical idea: Pilavios starts at the 4 instead of Carver. He looks like a shooter and played well when he got into games last year. Maybe this redshirt year has allowed him to get stronger and work on defense. Or, happy to have Ezikpe start at 4 and Dickens at 5. Wild card is can Reece contribute. Then we can have Carver come off the bench for a few minutes at a time for a defensive shot in the arm as needed.

1: Kithcart/Wade
2: Godwin/Oliver
3: Green/Reece
4: Pilavios/Carver
5: Ezikpe/Dickens

That is radical alright. If he goes from playing 0 meaningful minutes to starter that would be quite an improvement.

He was redshirted this year and maybe for good reason.

Unless something crazy happens, Pilavios will average the same amount of minutes as the last 2 seasons (yes, I know that he redshirted this season). Don't expect him to be a big factor in any game scenario at ODU.

This summer Carver just needs to spend allot time with his dad (AC) who was an absolute dead eye shooter for ODU back in the day.

(03-25-2019 02:05 PM)ODUDon Wrote:  This summer Carver just needs to spend allot time with his dad (AC) who was an absolute dead eye shooter for ODU back in the day.

I hope this offseason Carver just takes 20,000 shots where he starts with the ball at the top of the key and takes 3 dribbles to inside of the free throw line and takes a pull up jumper. In our offense if he's going to get the ball at the top of the key and look to feed the ball inside he has to be some sort of offensive threat. Otherwise his defender just clogs the lane and its 5 on 4.

(03-25-2019 02:05 PM)ODUDon Wrote:  This summer Carver just needs to spend allot time with his dad (AC) who was an absolute dead eye shooter for ODU back in the day.

Alas, if the ability is not there, no amount of practice is going to make a difference. The father / son shooting genetics didn't translate all that great from Bryant Stith to Brendan or BJ (except for FT) either.

If Carver could hit a wide open shot from a foot behind the foul line at 35% it would be a huge help simply because people would have to guard him.

(03-25-2019 03:22 PM)monarx Wrote:  If Carver could hit a wide open shot from a foot behind the foul line at 35% it would be a huge help simply because people would have to guard him.

But he can't. How much more proof do you need?