SEMO From da' Couch in MD ......

[Taj79]

A win is a win is a win ..... chalk it up to the need to gel.  Chalk it up to a bunch of new players.  Chalk it up to the OOC learning process.  But also chalk it up as a win.  There is no need to evacuate the bandwagon just yet.  From now until December, we will be learning 'things' ... that hopefully all see the light of day for the conference season.  But no pronouncements should be made after o ne game -- winning by 10 or 30 or even losing ---- it's way too early for anything but improvement.

Kudos and credit to Coach Ray and his Redhawks.  He acknowledged his team's limitations against our strengths, adjusted to closed down the lane for French and Gordon, and dared us to beat him with our three-point shooting.  Then, he elongated the game at the end and played to another of our weaknesses, free throw shooting.  He stopped the clock, lengthened the game, and easily traded our single point for two or three of his own.  He used his timeouts judiciously and engaged substitution patterns that allowed him to set his defense and play the game.  He also said 'no more fouls' when the game was obviously over.  From my perch, he outcoached Ford but he had to ... he was behind so all the decision-making was on him.  Ford can't make free throws for his guys -- learned that as recently as last year.  While Brewer scored his 18, it seems secondary guys like Caldwell and Gable really helped where needed.  A win si a win.

On our end, we did not have a single dunk last night.  Anybody notice that?  The scrimmage, Quincy, UMSL -- dunkfests as far as SLU's SOP is concerned.  Last night?  Not a one.  As a matter of fact Gordon and French combined for three ---- one-two-THREE -- shots total.  Sure, Gordon got caught in dumb foul city but as I noted on the GDT, he's learning.  I think he is just doing what came natural on the high school court, which doesn't play well at the next level.  But I suspect he'll learn. 

Our weaknesses were exposed but they have been hiding in plain sight all along.  Skill items like shooting the basketball, from range and from 15-feet, remain MIA.  A measly 16% from three and a wicked 58% from the line that included zero -- ZERO --- attempts by our worst FT guy French.  We left 14 points on the line.  Expect to choke a game or two if we keep this up all season long.  SEMO even went to intentionally foul French at one point and Ford hastily got him out of there.   A win is a win.

This is the early part and I am neither happy nor sad.  I know the OOC is always a work in progress sand the first game is one you don't want to lose.  At least we are not Mason or Geedubya and counting home losses this morning. One thing I did notice is Isabell needs the ball in his hands to be who he seemed to be at Drexel.  Going forward, this could be problematic.  With Goodwin still a work in progress at the point, Wiley a pure spot-up shooter, and Jacobs and Thatch freshmen who weren't recruited as PGs, the engine of this team needs to be identified and polished.  We don't have a real distributor right now and we have to remedy that going forward.

I'd grade the first half as a B; I grade the second half a C-; and I'd grade the last few minutes as a D- --- that would be an F if we lost.  The best news --- a win is a win is a win.  Lots to improve on.  On to Troy ----------------

 

[moytoy12]

I think Goodwin and Isabell will both flourish when they aren’t on the court together. They both need the ball to stay engaged (more so Isabell).  

For all the hand-wringing about him, I thought Isabell had a good game.  Not great.  Shooting was off and i expected him to be more accurate. But his D was good enough and he came through with some crucial late buckets.  The dude can just make something from nothing a la JJett. 

We need to figure out the most effective back court combos.  Once we do this, it will feed our interior offense. 

[billikenfan05]

11 minutes ago, moytoy12 said:

I think Goodwin and Isabell will both flourish when they aren’t on the court together. They both need the ball to stay engaged (more so Isabell).  

For all the hand-wringing about him, I thought Isabell had a good game.  Not great.  Shooting was off and i expected him to be more accurate. But his D was good enough and he came through with some crucial late buckets.  The dude can just make something from nothing a la JJett. 

We need to figure out the most effective back court combos.  Once we do this, it will feed our interior offense. 

I actually thought Isabell's defense was really nice in the first half. Second half, was meh at best.

 

[slufan13]

I actually thought the first half was pretty impressive. Not too concerned about the final result of this game. Shooting is always going to be a concern but I honestly think we will pound the paint more in most games. We don't need to put up 21 3's a game.

Speaking of dunks.....now that we have guys who can actually dunk, can we start throwing up lobs and alley-oops?

[RiseAndGrind]

A win is a win and Zion looked awesome. 

I'll take it. 

[billikenfan05]

4 minutes ago, slufan13 said:

I actually thought the first half was pretty impressive. Not too concerned about the final result of this game. Shooting is always going to be a concern but I honestly think we will pound the paint more in most games. We don't need to put up 21 3's a game.

Speaking of dunks.....now that we have guys who can actually dunk, can we start throwing up lobs and alley-oops?

I actually thought TI (hehe) should have lobbed a pass to JG on the fast break early in the game where he drew the and 1

[brianstl]

27 minutes ago, moytoy12 said:

I think Goodwin and Isabell will both flourish when they aren’t on the court together. They both need the ball to stay engaged (more so Isabell).  

For all the hand-wringing about him, I thought Isabell had a good game.  Not great.  Shooting was off and i expected him to be more accurate. But his D was good enough and he came through with some crucial late buckets.  The dude can just make something from nothing a la JJett. 

We need to figure out the most effective back court combos.  Once we do this, it will feed our interior offense. 

Usage rates last night

Isaball-35.4

Goodwin-30.6

The usage rates for the Foreman, French, and Gordon were all below 16.

[slu72]

Watching on DVR. Not a lot to say, but if you're scouting the Bills you'd say pack the inside until they start to hit shots from outside. Obviously FT's are a problem and this can hurt you when you're trying to hold onto a lead at game's end. I expect we won't shoot 3's at 16% too many nights. And a lot of those taken were good looks, i.e. no desperation at the end of the shot clock like we've seen in the past. 

 

[slu72]

Will say Wiley has a good looking shot. Foreman is very under rated. Ford's got to find a way to get Goodwin and Isabell on the same page. 

[Taj79]

brian -- usage rate?  Unfamiliar with the term, calculation, or what's a good, bad or indifferent score. 

[moytoy12]

12 minutes ago, Taj79 said:

brian -- usage rate?  Unfamiliar with the term, calculation, or what's a good, bad or indifferent score. 

As i understand it, it’s the percent a particular player is involved in the offense (usually measured by whether the player shoots, turns the ball over, etc).  Generally, the higher the percentage, the more involved the player is in the offense. 

I suspect Brian is pointing out, at a minimum, that our bigs were not nearly involved in the offense as they should have been. Also, when Goodwin and Isabell are on the court at the same time, they’re essentially sucking all the oxygen out of the offense since the plays are generally flowing through those two players a majority of the time.  

[moytoy12]

Here’s hoping that KC gets healthy and has a semi-reliable outside shot. 

[slu72]

I went thru the last two minutes and calculated that if we'd hit both ends of our FT's we win by 17, 82-65. Probably not realistic to go 100%, especially for this team, but all our FTs at the end were by guys we would expect to hit at a 75% clip. None of our bigs went to the line in  that time, it was Isabell, Bess, Wiley, Goodwin, and Jacobs. This has to improve, or it will cost us games. 

[ACE]

1 hour ago, moytoy12 said:

Here’s hoping that KC gets healthy and has a semi-reliable outside shot. 

Agreed. Also, there would have been a role for Jalen Johnson if he had stuck around.

[brianstl]

2 hours ago, moytoy12 said:

As i understand it, it’s the percent a particular player is involved in the offense (usually measured by whether the player shoots, turns the ball over, etc).  Generally, the higher the percentage, the more involved the player is in the offense. 

I suspect Brian is pointing out, at a minimum, that our bigs were not nearly involved in the offense as they should have been. Also, when Goodwin and Isabell are on the court at the same time, they’re essentially sucking all the oxygen out of the offense since the plays are generally flowing through those two players a majority of the time.  

This is pretty much it.  

[MattyMo213]

3 hours ago, brianstl said:

Usage rates last night

Isaball-35.4

Goodwin-30.6

The usage rates for the Foreman, French, and Gordon were all below 16.

How do you check these? I'm always curious

[brianstl]

2 minutes ago, MattyMo213 said:

How do you check these? I'm always curious

https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/schools/saint-louis/2019.html

[slu72]

2 hours ago, ACE said:

Agreed. Also, there would have been a role for Jalen Johnson if he had stuck around.

Jalen definitely would have helped down the stretch w/ FTs. And to open up the inside. But I think we're panicking a little too much about our outside shooting after just one game. 

[Glorydays2013]

Does anyone else think our offense is too slow? I think we have enough athletes to run the floor over and over and wear out these teams

[RiseOfTheBillikens]

I think Ford does want to play faster than we did yesterday. Seemed like SEMO was doing a good job of getting back in transition. 

[ACE]

35 minutes ago, slu72 said:

Jalen definitely would have helped down the stretch w/ FTs. And to open up the inside. But I think we're panicking a little too much about our outside shooting after just one game. 

I started panicking about our outside shooting as soon as last season ended and I began to look ahead to this season.

[dlarry]

1 hour ago, slu72 said:

Jalen definitely would have helped down the stretch w/ FTs. And to open up the inside. But I think we're panicking a little too much about our outside shooting after just one game. 

I’m nervous because they couldn’t shoot threes in the exhibition games either.

i know they technically don’t count but if you can’t shoot in practice you are going to have a tough time shooting in games.

 

[billiken_roy]

3 hours ago, Glorydays2013 said:

Does anyone else think our offense is too slow? I think we have enough athletes to run the floor over and over and wear out these teams

if the other team gets back on defense usually accomplished by sending a limited number of players to rebound and the rest go back when a shot goes up,  you dont get run outs.

[Taj79]

Thanks for all the comments and feedback.  One game; nowhere to go but up.

[Glorydays2013]

1 hour ago, billiken_roy said:

if the other team gets back on defense usually accomplished by sending a limited number of players to rebound and the rest go back when a shot goes up,  you dont get run outs.

I was just watching the Duke and Florida state game and they Transition far quicker than we do leading to much higher scoring games. 

This is a way to play in my opinion when we’re strong on the paint with players who dominate once inside. This type of play is a counter to teams who clog up the inside