RE: @ Boise State / @ Stanford (11/29, 9 PM EST; 12/1, 4 PM EST)
Nothing we do works consistently on offense or defense.
On offense, we pass around the perimeter when we play 4 out, and literally have 4 or 5 out. It's easy to defend because the next pass is always obvious. The passes aren't crisp or quick. No cross court passes to a spot up shooter. No cutters. Our best offense has become one on one drives to the basket. But, we only have a few guys with the ability to finish consistently and nobody drives and kicks the ball out. We either finish, miss or turn the ball over, then we're one and done with almost no offensive rebounding and second shots. Toews looks like a completely different player this year in this offense, and not in a good way. He is consistently driving to the right corner and getting stuck or driving to the basket with nobody to pass to. His assists are way down, but his turnovers are still there. We can't hit threes against a good defensive team.
On defense, we do nothing to mix things up and confuse the offense. Last night, two guys were taking us one on one at will. They scored and drew fouls practically every time they wanted. Our response? Nothing. I watched them run the same high picks over and over. When Linssen was eating them up inside, they switched to a zone to stop it. That's what good coaches do.
And i'm sorry, we've got guys getting PT who are bringing very little to the floor that others can't and more. Tolefree is not a basketball player. Maybe a good athlete, but that's it. During the run that put this out of reach, he took several really bad shots early in the clock. He drove and was competely stuffed, then he shot an air ball from 3 that was at least five feet short of the basket that turned into a fast break the other way. He also is not a good ball handler. John Bowen is supposed to be one of our "bigs", but in 15 minutes of play, he grabbed one rebound. ONE.
Even if we get Gadsden and Estime back, we still have no size. Dodd is proving to be a decent player but gets in foul trouble easily. When he has to sit, we find ourselves with Boggs playing the 5. He's going to get eat up if we have to do that much in the CAA.
Which gets back to recruiting. WHY are we so young? Why are we so small? We should have several decent Juniors who came in as Freshmen McGraths first year. We should have a couple of decent Sophomores that came in the freshman class last year, and we should have at least a couple of decent seniors. Instead, we are relying heavily on our Freshmen this year. Dodd and Boggs represent two of our three biggest players on the court. The other is a transfer. They are the first freshmen players McGrath recruited out of high school who aren't guards, and even they are only 6'6" and 6'7". Are we not looking to recruit bigs out of high school or are we incapable of closing the deal? And if you look at verbal commits, we have no offers out to PF or centers. Why?
I just do not see the vision McGrath has for this program. I can't tell what he is trying to do by what I see on the court or who we are recruiting. I really thought he had to have a press in mind this year, since we only seem to care about recruiting a bunch of guards, but we don't press. Or, I guess we are going to be a "live by the three, die by the three" team, but our offensive sets don't produce good three point shots. Or maybe, we are going to be a running team, but we never win the "fast break" points stat. I just don't get it.
If anybody else sees something I don't...a vision, a plan...clue me in.
(This post was last modified: 11-30-2019 09:07 AM by 82hawk.)
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@ Boise State / @ Stanford (11/29, 9 PM EST; 12/1, 4 PM EST)
