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Umass from da'Couch ......


Taj79

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..... gonna be a long, heart attack-inducing, frustrating, maddening year.  This will be a roller coaster aficionado's dream season! 

On the ups... we won.  The French Foreign Legion has seemed to return.  Isabell had a decent game.  The defense was pretty good for the most part.  We are 2 and 0 in conference, 11 and 4 overall. 

On the downs .... Jordan Goodwin remains MIA.  And DJ Foreman is on a sabbatical pilgrimage looking for him.   Free throw shooting, while good at the start, is what it is and will lose us more than a few games going forward.  The bench is incredibly weak offensively in Thatch, Wiley, Hankton and Jacobs; only Thatch contributes with his defense and locomotion.  All jump shots are officially dead save Bess'.  And no lead is safe with us at this point, there is no killer instinct or least an ability or skill set to apply a killer instinct.  Eight minutes at the end without a field goal.  Yikes!

Commentary:  Hankton's one made shot came when he popped to the middle of the Umass zone, and just shot it.  Swish.  Why aren't we doing more of that?  Is Wiley any better than Rashed Anthony was last year?  The guy's legacy will be lost, injury-prone nothingness.  I said in the GDT that Umass was resorting to overt physicality in the second half and Holloway was no exception.  Given they had a ten- or eleven-man roster to use, they seemed to want to takes us out by physical subtraction.  With all the calls Isabell gets for offensive fouls, Pipkins pushed off with his off arm the whole second half.  Holloway sucks .. he's just one big fat guy with height.  The announcers said they were switching him late for offense/defense -- I just think he can't run a full court length too often.  Very good thing they were without Laurent last night or I can't help but think that ends differently. 

I personally tend to get frustrated with Isabell more than most.  I think that's because of, as Pistol calls it, the high-risk, high-reward aspect of both him and Wiley, I expect a better product.  I will have to work on those expectations internally and reduce them.  He's just not that good.  He did well last night and we desperately need nights like last night to be commonplace for him.  However, he is somewhat lackadaisical with the ball.  As the free throw team leader, he could be better.  The drives and offensive fouls are maddening-- don't do that or stop it!  Or do it as you did with French and get the SLAM!  And yet Pipkins got  a pass.  Foreman's fifth foul was because Isabell #1 did not allow DJ to get set and #2 didn't cut the screen as well as a Majerus player would have.  This caused Foreman to lean a little and bend his leg out -- BANG -- fouled out.  This is where all D1 players have to improve because I see these calls five, six, seven times a game.  And then the hedging crap calls on French.  And then the French-falling-out-of-bounds-ball-scrum foul.  And a few late ones on Bess where the ref making the call had no angle to make it.  If you are behind the shooter and he goes up and the defenders arm aligns with the shooters, from behind, you cannot really tell if there is contact.  It then becomes perception and yet we call all this crap only to ignore Holloway's offensive tackle mentality and play?  How is that correct?  As I said in the game time thread --- my philosophy is you get five fouls, make them count.  Contest shots.  Halt breakaways.  A foul 34 feet from the basket is silly, unless you look at a game-ending three. 

And in the final seconds, yes, I had a problem with Goodwin's 'good foul.'  Not for commission but for doing it so soon.  They inbounded at like 8.9 seconds and he sent Pipkins to the line at 7.9.  Couldn't we lose another second or two?  I know its tough and it worked out well but still I just thought it too quick.  Yes, we di dmake two and yes they missed a tying three but given our ongoing plight and issues, it was scary.  A sooperdooperlooper rollercoaster ride.  We went eight final minutes without a field goal because #1) we can't shoot to begin with and #2) we seemed to elect to have the sphincter close and play tight.  Umass zoned us.  Duh.  So did Rhode island.  Here's a prediction for my 'projection' friends ---- La Salle AND Fordham will zone us.  Everyone who doesn't play zone will zone us.  My fear is 2 and 0 goes to 2 and 2 real fast.  Can we lose to La Salle?  Can we lose to Fordham.  We can lose to anybody. 

Lock, load and buckle up ---- children under 12 or weighing less than 48 pounds should not ride this ride.  Even if accompanied by an adult because most adults are becoming Scotch-sloshed. 

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I heard that UMass had barely played zone all season.  But the book on SLU is out, and UMass played a lot of zone, as did URI.

The refs were bad in both the URI and UMass games.  Some of those calls, such as the phantom foul on Hasahn French when he was diving for the ball going out of bounds, and the checking of Foreman (as I recall) no call in the URI game, were head shakers.

SLU has talent, no question, but is flawed.  We need to get Jordan Goodwin going, and I think that will happen.  Both soph Goodwin and freshman Fred Thatch, Jr. are strong bodied guards and get those key rebounds and loose balls.  I think both are going to come around on Offense.  Note that Goodwin again donned the mask later in the UMass game, after not wearing it earlier and after having it off in recent games. 

Jordan Goodwin reminds me of a combination of Bruce Douglas and his older brother Keith Douglas from the powerhouse Quincy High teams of '79-'82.  That Goodwin is a winner was shown when he made those two key free throws at crunch time.  I was burned once as a CYO 8th Grade Coach when a kid hit a 3 pointer to tie the game at the buzzer.  With a 3 point lead, I since think you foul once the player gets past half court, not in the backcourt.  But there is concern the ball handler is going to act like he's shooting and get 3 free throws, and such was noted by the CBSSN announcer.  Plus, that UMass guard Pipkins was short, had moves, was quick.  It's a tough call, but I foul once the guy gets past half court.  Just do your best to foul before he's in the act of shooting.

As it was, thank goodness Pipkins open 3 point shot bounced off the rim.  SLU Wins.

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-Taj, I agree with most of what you said but one point of disagreement is the 5th foul on DJF, it was all on him, not TI, well I guess that is only if he has been instructed how to set a legal screen, DJF clearly moved, I can't see how that can be in the coaching but I do agree we as a team have very little clue as to how to use a screen

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More times than not the moving screen foul is the fault of the guy with the ball.   They either dont wait for their screener to be set or they circle around wide which allows the defender room or both.  It is a pet peeve of mine because players should have learned this in about 7th grade.   

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2 hours ago, Taj79 said:

..... gonna be a long, heart attack-inducing, frustrating, maddening year.  This will be a roller coaster aficionado's dream season! 

On the ups... we won.  The French Foreign Legion has seemed to return.  Isabell had a decent game.  The defense was pretty good for the most part.  We are 2 and 0 in conference, 11 and 4 overall. 

On the downs .... Jordan Goodwin remains MIA.  And DJ Foreman is on a sabbatical pilgrimage looking for him.   Free throw shooting, while good at the start, is what it is and will lose us more than a few games going forward.  The bench is incredibly weak offensively in Thatch, Wiley, Hankton and Jacobs; only Thatch contributes with his defense and locomotion.  All jump shots are officially dead save Bess'.  And no lead is safe with us at this point, there is no killer instinct or least an ability or skill set to apply a killer instinct.  Eight minutes at the end without a field goal.  Yikes!

Commentary:  Hankton's one made shot came when he popped to the middle of the Umass zone, and just shot it.  Swish.  Why aren't we doing more of that?  Is Wiley any better than Rashed Anthony was last year?  The guy's legacy will be lost, injury-prone nothingness.  I said in the GDT that Umass was resorting to overt physicality in the second half and Holloway was no exception.  Given they had a ten- or eleven-man roster to use, they seemed to want to takes us out by physical subtraction.  With all the calls Isabell gets for offensive fouls, Pipkins pushed off with his off arm the whole second half.  Holloway sucks .. he's just one big fat guy with height.  The announcers said they were switching him late for offense/defense -- I just think he can't run a full court length too often.  Very good thing they were without Laurent last night or I can't help but think that ends differently. 

I personally tend to get frustrated with Isabell more than most.  I think that's because of, as Pistol calls it, the high-risk, high-reward aspect of both him and Wiley, I expect a better product.  I will have to work on those expectations internally and reduce them.  He's just not that good.  He did well last night and we desperately need nights like last night to be commonplace for him.  However, he is somewhat lackadaisical with the ball.  As the free throw team leader, he could be better.  The drives and offensive fouls are maddening-- don't do that or stop it!  Or do it as you did with French and get the SLAM!  And yet Pipkins got  a pass.  Foreman's fifth foul was because Isabell #1 did not allow DJ to get set and #2 didn't cut the screen as well as a Majerus player would have.  This caused Foreman to lean a little and bend his leg out -- BANG -- fouled out.  This is where all D1 players have to improve because I see these calls five, six, seven times a game.  And then the hedging crap calls on French.  And then the French-falling-out-of-bounds-ball-scrum foul.  And a few late ones on Bess where the ref making the call had no angle to make it.  If you are behind the shooter and he goes up and the defenders arm aligns with the shooters, from behind, you cannot really tell if there is contact.  It then becomes perception and yet we call all this crap only to ignore Holloway's offensive tackle mentality and play?  How is that correct?  As I said in the game time thread --- my philosophy is you get five fouls, make them count.  Contest shots.  Halt breakaways.  A foul 34 feet from the basket is silly, unless you look at a game-ending three. 

And in the final seconds, yes, I had a problem with Goodwin's 'good foul.'  Not for commission but for doing it so soon.  They inbounded at like 8.9 seconds and he sent Pipkins to the line at 7.9.  Couldn't we lose another second or two?  I know its tough and it worked out well but still I just thought it too quick.  Yes, we di dmake two and yes they missed a tying three but given our ongoing plight and issues, it was scary.  A sooperdooperlooper rollercoaster ride.  We went eight final minutes without a field goal because #1) we can't shoot to begin with and #2) we seemed to elect to have the sphincter close and play tight.  Umass zoned us.  Duh.  So did Rhode island.  Here's a prediction for my 'projection' friends ---- La Salle AND Fordham will zone us.  Everyone who doesn't play zone will zone us.  My fear is 2 and 0 goes to 2 and 2 real fast.  Can we lose to La Salle?  Can we lose to Fordham.  We can lose to anybody. 

Lock, load and buckle up ---- children under 12 or weighing less than 48 pounds should not ride this ride.  Even if accompanied by an adult because most adults are becoming Scotch-sloshed. 

I will respectfully disagree with you about Isabelle.  I was with you earlier in the season when his idea of the offense didn't mesh with everyone else's.  Now he seems to be developing chemistry with the other guys.  At this point, he's the only player we have that can consistently get himself into the lane on a drive.  He's mostly using that to pass inside (see French's big dunk in the 2nd half) or to the three point line (good play that just didn't pan out due to a poor shooting night).  Him driving to the lane to take a shot is now the minority, and his selectiveness about taking the shot himself is working out.  The past few games, when he does drive and put it up himself, it's going in more often than not.

I think that Isabelle's skills are crucial to our success this season, especially now that he's getting used to his teammates and their getting used to him.

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2 minutes ago, cgeldmacher said:

I will respectfully disagree with you about Isabelle.  I was with you earlier in the season when his idea of the offense didn't mesh with everyone else's.  Now he seems to be developing chemistry with the other guys

Isabell could have had like 16 assists last night if we could hit open shots. His vision and passing was on point, he found so many guys open up top when he was running around down low. 

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3 hours ago, Taj79 said:

I personally tend to get frustrated with Isabell more than most.  I think that's because of, as Pistol calls it, the high-risk, high-reward aspect of both him and Wiley, I expect a better product.  I will have to work on those expectations internally and reduce them.  He's just not that good.  He did well last night and we desperately need nights like last night to be commonplace for him.  However, he is somewhat lackadaisical with the ball.  As the free throw team leader, he could be better.  The drives and offensive fouls are maddening-- don't do that or stop it!  Or do it as you did with French and get the SLAM!    

 

Foreman's fifth foul was because Isabell #1 did not allow DJ to get set and #2 didn't cut the screen as well as a Majerus player would have.  This caused Foreman to lean a little and bend his leg out -- BANG -- fouled out.  This is where all D1 players have to improve because I see these calls five, six, seven times a game. 

Re: the bold - he had two turnovers. TWO. Compared to seven assists. I think I'll take 7:2.

He shot 75% from the FT line.

Isabell last night: 17, 7, & 7. with only two turnovers.

 

 

I always find it hilarious when people blame a moving screen on the ball handler - if the ball handler doesn't come close enough, then that's their fault. Let the screen miss. There's no reason to stick a leg out as  if it is out of his control and cause a turnover....

 

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I'll take Isabell's stats last night every game. Agree we need J Good to get going it would make a huge difference. Bess had on off night in the scoring column and hope that doesn't happen too many times the rest of the year. Lately, Thatch cannot throw it into the ocean. Didn't follow him in HS...was he a poor FT in HS. 

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42 minutes ago, Littlebill said:

Re: the bold - he had two turnovers. TWO. Compared to seven assists. I think I'll take 7:2.

He shot 75% from the FT line.

Isabell last night: 17, 7, & 7. with only two turnovers.

 

 

I always find it hilarious when people blame a moving screen on the ball handler - if the ball handler doesn't come close enough, then that's their fault. Let the screen miss. There's no reason to stick a leg out as  if it is out of his control and cause a turnover....

 

when the screener knows he is going to get yelled at for not screening the defender i think instinctively he will try to make contact with the defender.    the ball handler's job is to guide the defender into that screen.  

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5 hours ago, Taj79 said:

Lock, load and buckle up ---- children under 12 or weighing less than 48 pounds should not ride this ride.  Even if accompanied by an adult because most adults are becoming Scotch-sloshed. 

I know who this bullet was aimed at. I'm still trying to figure out why I am yelling at my new Smart TV when I watch the Billikens. And Alexa the next morning says "You must clean up your language". Living in the hi tech age.

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1 hour ago, billiken_roy said:

when the screener knows he is going to get yelled at for not screening the defender i think instinctively he will try to make contact with the defender.    the ball handler's job is to guide the defender into that screen.  

The screener sets himself and as Broy said, the ball handler drives his man into the screener. According to Rick Ma there should be no more than 6 inches between the ball handler and the screener. I think he pictorially demonstrated this one time to his Utah team.

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JGood is  missing a lot of layups, putbacks, and tip ins he got last year. He's never been a great outside or mid range shooter. A lot of his buckets came off slop that he cleaned up inside or when he drove to the rim down the middle. He's not making these this year. Once he gets back his mojo, and it can't happen soon enough, he'll be fine. The rest of his game is, save for some early season TO's, looks the same.

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One in particular a few minutes left came from cornered somehow like an invisible lid closed and all just went past other side. seemed like it would be easier to make than miss. we should get some cherry picker on the practice court dangle the guys one at a time and have them eyes to rim level and just keep feeding them baskets and spin them all around rim getting used to the lay of the land at the height they achieve that second or two they are airborne.

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I thought Isabell played the game we had hoped to see from him. Seemed to play more on the wing and really attacked off of the dribble creating for himself and others. Offensively I have a tough time expecting much more from him. I think that attacking off the dribble and kicking either to open shooters or guys cutting to the rim when their defenders help off is action I would like to see us bring consistently and from guys beyond just Isabell.

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2 minutes ago, TheChosenOne said:

I thought Isabell played the game we had hoped to see from him. Seemed to play more on the wing and really attacked off of the dribble creating for himself and others. Offensively I have a tough time expecting much more from him. I think that attacking off the dribble and kicking either to open shooters or guys cutting to the rim when their defenders help off is action I would like to see us bring consistently and from guys beyond just Isabell.

I thought he played good defense last night, too. He may have missed something somewhere. But he was hustling, bearing down, stayed with his man off the dribble. He's picked up this part of his game.

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1 hour ago, Adman said:

I thought he played good defense last night, too. He may have missed something somewhere. But he was hustling, bearing down, stayed with his man off the dribble. He's picked up this part of his game.

I thought it was interesting that Goodwin was primarily bringing the ball up, setting the offense, then normally passing to Isabell.

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10 hours ago, billiken_roy said:

More times than not the moving screen foul is the fault of the guy with the ball.   They either dont wait for their screener to be set or they circle around wide which allows the defender room or both.  It is a pet peeve of mine because players should have learned this in about 7th grade.   

1 million times yes. It's my pet peeve too. I was taught that in 6th grade (literally). I remember the drill. 

As 72 pointed out, we were spoiled during Majerus's time here, and it drove me crazy during the Crews era. The guards during that time- Roby, Hines, McBroom, Ash, etc- were TERRIBLE at running their man into screens. Too often, Agbeko, Gillmann, and others were left in no man's land, which resulted in a ton of stupid fouls. 

Watching McCall, Jett, Kwam and Loe (and Ellis) execute it was a thing of beauty. When sealed properly, Loe was left open for a 3 almost every single time. I miss that. 

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