ARon Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 Here's what I see, keeping in mind that my basketball knowledge is pretty much limited to what I have seen watching Billiken basketball over the years: Defense: Majerus's "help" defense was a thing of beauty, but it has to be run properly or it gives the other team easy points. We defended man to man and gave the other team the impression that they could beat us one on one and get to the basket or use a ball screen at the top to open up a man. Inevitably the other team tried to go by our guys, only to be met by the center or a forward who now trapped the ball handler with the help of the guy who was originally guarding him. This either happened at the point of the ball screen or, if there was no ball screen, on the way to the basket. The "help" defender leaves his man open in this scenario, so a defender on the opposite side as the ball has to leave his man to pick up the man left by the help defender, thereby leaving his man wide open. The idea was to leave open the offensive player the furthest away from the ball and the play. If it was executed properly, by the time a long pass was made, if it was made, to the open man, the defense had time to adjust back and everyone was covered again. This year's defense: We seem to do a decently similar job on defending the ball screen at the arc. However, we do a terrible job of defending the offensive player to beats his man one on one. At different times, our bigs would fail to slide over and be the "help" defender, thus allowing the guy with the ball to drive for an easy layup. Other times, Gillman, Manning, Jolly, etc. would do their job and help with the ball handler, but the defender behind them wouldn't pick up the man they just left. Too many times, I would see our guys looking behind themselves at a wide open player putting the ball in the basket and then look over at the bench like "not my fault." It wasn't. I would hear fans complaining around me that they shouldn't have left their man, and I wanted to tell everyone of them that the guard or the opposite forward should have picked up that man. I don't know if the players aren't executing what they are being told or if Majerus was just better at getting them to understand where they were supposed to be to make that system work. Offense: The motion offense that Majerus ran was OK at getting opportunities for points for players that were not as skilled as the opponent they were playing. It may not have seemed like it, but every two or three passes were attempting to set up an imbalance in the defense that could be exploited. If, after running through 3 or 4 looks, there was nothing there, the offense got the ball to someone who would simply drive and shoot or dish the ball. Last year, Jordair bailed out our offense on multiple occasions. Keep in mind that during three of the best years of our program, our offense wasn't that good. It just did the job in combination with our top level defense. This Year's Offense: Looks to me like our guys are being taught and running roughly the same offense this year. Our inexperience is resulting in many of the "looks" in the motion offense not being there due to guys not being exactly in the right place when they need to be. Also, we don't have a guy like DE to bail us out inside or JJ to bail us out on a drive to the basket. At least not yet. I'm more confident that the offense will come, at least like it was in last three years, if we stay patient. I am less confident that this group will ever get the defense or that they will ever be properly taught the Majerus defense by the coaches (don't know which way it is not being at practices). Agree. And I think the plan this year was for Ash to be that bail out guy on offense. But he just isn't good enough at that roll.While the defense had some good moments this year it is pretty clear that there is still a lot of confusion. Even in the last game against Richmond we had confusion around ball screens beyond the arc that left two Billikens on the ballhandler and a Spider with a clear route to the basket just waiting for a pass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slufan13 Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 In Majerus' last year our offense ranked 39th in the country. It has ranked 75th, 181st, and 311th in Crews' 3 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slu72 Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 The offense in 2011-12 was a thing of beauty to watch. But we also had BC on the inside and he had a killer year. It also allowed DE to play the 3. In 2012-13, DE, who played the 3, was the man the last half of the season. Recall his play in the A10 tourney. He had his mid range jumper working and could take it inside. Some of the best games you'd ever seen by a Billiken were played by DE the latter part of that year. In 2013-14, he was more limited since he was manning the 4. Still, he was a warrior, but it gave more opportunities for JJ to be the man. If JC can get these guys just to do the fundamentals the PRECISE way, we can make a huge leap forward. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLU_Nick Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 The offense in 2011-12 was a thing of beauty to watch. But we also had BC on the inside and he had a killer year. It also allowed DE to play the 3. In 2012-13, DE, who played the 3, was the man the last half of the season. Recall his play in the A10 tourney. He had his mid range jumper working and could take it inside. Some of the best games you'd ever seen by a Billiken were played by DE the latter part of that year. In 2013-14, he was more limited since he was manning the 4. Still, he was a warrior, but it gave more opportunities for JJ to be the man. If JC can get these guys just to do the fundamentals the PRECISE way, we can make a huge leap forward. Yea. When we smoked New Mexico St in the first round 2 years ago, DE had like five 9-foot jumpers right in the lane over the giant ogre. Seems like 10 years ago... I have a sense I will be "living in the past" for the foreseeable future Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clock_Tower Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 The offense in 2011-12 was a thing of beauty to watch. But we also had BC on the inside and he had a killer year. It also allowed DE to play the 3. In 2012-13, DE, who played the 3, was the man the last half of the season. Recall his play in the A10 tourney. He had his mid range jumper working and could take it inside. Some of the best games you'd ever seen by a Billiken were played by DE the latter part of that year. In 2013-14, he was more limited since he was manning the 4. Still, he was a warrior, but it gave more opportunities for JJ to be the man. If JC can get these guys just to do the fundamentals the PRECISE way, we can make a huge leap forward. +1 But the problem I see with this is that our "veteran" guys are some of our worst at setting picks, using picks, help side defense, etc. I am a fan of Crawford but his help defense is awful. And Ash practiced all last year (this is 4th year post high school) but he is not fundamentally strong either. Lancona's defense is non-existent and McBroom and Reggie have struggled as well. Therefore, if it were ONLY the Frosh, I would say that we should all be patient -- but it's not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMM28 Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 Yea. When we smoked New Mexico St in the first round 2 years ago, DE had like five 9-foot jumpers right in the lane over the giant ogre. Seems like 10 years ago... I have a sense I will be "living in the past" for the foreseeable future Maybe we should set up a streaming feed of old games and have GDTs for them. GDT for the Dayton comeback win at Chaifetz a few years back? The tournament game against Memphis? Then someone needs to get a sex change, assume the name of a missing hiker, rise to the top of the SLU athletic department and fire Jim Crews. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hsmith19 Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 Then someone needs to get a sex change, assume the name of a missing hiker, rise to the top of the SLU athletic department and fire Jim Crews. WTF? Is this how Chris May got the job? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Box and Won Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 You had me at sex change. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cgeldmacher Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 In Majerus' last year our offense ranked 39th in the country. It has ranked 75th, 181st, and 311th in Crews' 3 years. I assume you are talking scoring efficiency and not actual points. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slufan13 Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 I assume you are talking scoring efficiency and not actual points. Correct. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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