Matty Light

I like the idea of concentrating on attacking the basket (under control that is). It may seem counterproductive trying to get to the FT line more often but if we could saddle the opponent's big men with foul trouble, that has got to create more openings around the basket. Plus, our PPP is under 1 point per posession, so even splitting a pair of FTs produces more scoring than our average possession (0.928). It may be frustrating for French and Gordon to get hacked a lot, but most teams can't keep that up all game without having to go deep to their bench. Also, more cutting to the hoop. I am not seeing a lot of movement on the perimeter without the ball. Force defenses to move with you. At the very least wear those guards out some instead of giving them a breather on defense.

I share your concerns with the TOs, shempie. Those high double digit TO games are killers. We have been lucky to escape with the win in some of those games. Have 16 TOs in a game is alright if you have a Point per Possession (PPP) significantly over 1.0. You take some of those TOs as the cost of doing business in a high scoring offense. But this year, our PPP or Offensive Efficiency is 0.928. That is 273rd out of 353 teams--or the bottom 25%. Only VCU and GW are worse in the A-10. For comparison's sake our PPP was 0.982 last year. The good news is our Defensive Efficiency is 0.852 (13th in the entire country). Last year was 0.987. If we are going to struggle to convert buckets, taking care of the ball is paramount. As is offensive rebounding.

To be fair, when Coach Ford was constructing his roster, he expected to have Ty Graves and Adonys Henriquez playing. That would have dramatically changed our ball-handling and shooting abilities. It is probably tough to just find a replacement when key pieces are dismissed from the University. You can tell that Coach is trying to remedy that with Yuri Collins and Gibson Jimmerson. No relief for this year, unfortunately.

I remember one of those but couldn't tell what he was trying to do it was so bad.

A major problem with our offense is that we are taking what the defense gives us. On a well-balanced team this is a good strategy. But we are not a good 3pt shooting team--and everyone knows it. So, we move the ball around the perimeter, move the ball inside, pass the ball back outside after the double team comes, and we end up getting an open 3-pt look. This is exactly what the opposition wants us to do. We need to work on imposing our will on the inside. Try some high post/low post action. Try more actions from the guards cutting through the lane. Hoping we hit enough 3s to score 60 is not going to be a winning strategy with this roster. Oh, and 8 games in we still have yet to attempt an alley-oop. WTF!?

Congratulations! And have a great summer

It might have been a good strategy. I don't remember who was on the court at the time, but if you got French, Gordon, and Bess down there, maybe you just try to draw iron off the glass in order to prevent a shot-clock violation. With the way those guys get offensive rebounds it could be a worthwhile strategy.

He's moved up in the world. Now the Wiz is doing Audi commercials.

Right on. Especially when it is a 4-on-3 break, or 3-1. If you take that corner 3, no one will be able to cover you without abandoning the lane.

Show me where any of our fast breaks ended with points taking it to the rim. It hasn't been often. Eight foot pullup jumpers are easy money. It is practically a layup with nobody up in your grill. The point I am making is if that if you force the guy leading the break to make a decision rather than decide "I'm taking it all the way", they will inevitably make a high percentage decision with the basketball. Once we start playing like that, you can add allow them to "go all the way" with it. If at the decision point in the lane that presents itself as the highest percentage scoring opportunity. It often isn't.

Great game yesterday. A dominant defensive effort but another weak offensive game. The FTs were better down the strech and we worked the ball into the post much more efficiently. However, our fast break is a clown show right now. I have never seen a fast break run so poorly past the high school level. We actually are at a disadvantage when we go on the break. It usually ends up in a charge call, no bucket, or a turnover. It is a like a ice hockey team that gets a power play and gives up a short-handed goal all of the time. It was like we were 0-5 on the powerplay and gave up 2 shorthanded goals. The good news, is this is easily correctable. The man with the ball needs to take the middle and the guys off the ball go wide angled on the wings. We are always coming down spaced together in the lane. This makes it possible for one defender to guard multiple guys. Space it out and success will come much easier. Also, Travis should just make a rule for now that the guy with the ball cannot take it all the way to the hoop. This would alleviate all the charge calls. Go towards the cylinder and come to a stop or jump stop 8 feet from the hoop. If the defender lays off, stick the 8-footer. If the defender comes out, drop the dime to the teammate breaking to the hoop from the wide-angle. That has to add 6-8 points in the margin of victory for us. Also, we have now played 7 games without an alley-oop attempt. It seemed very open against Butler. I don't know why we don't attempt that. Especially at home during a scoring drought when we could use the crowd getting riled up.

Having watched enough minutes of Thatch against Power 6 teams, I love his future. His defense and intensity reminds me of Jimmy Butler. He is only a freshman, and has a lot of time to develop a good shot and accumulate enough offensive skills to play in the NBA. How good was Jimmy Buckets at Marquette his first year? Thatch defense is so tough right now that Coach Ford can afford to play him minutes while he develops an offensive game. The future is so bright for Thatch, he's gotta wear shades!

I definitely love the quick release. He is going to have to be guarded closely on the perimeter. That should open up a lot of space to maneuver.

I'm not worried about what Seton Hall, FSU, Pitt, Butler, etc. do with the rest of their seasons. It is out of SLU's control. What the Billikens can control now is how they play out the rest of the season. Make improvements in FT shooting, quicker offensive play, and reduce foul issues--all while coalescing and having each others backs and we will be dancing. The path to the Big Dance should be focused on winning the conference. Everything else will take care of itself. Go Billikens!

French needs to underhand it.