French

[pakapablo]

After reading through the Goodwin thread I was curious about others thoughts regarding the play of our other 4 year senior. I am a big Hasahn fan and have been bummed by how his senior season has gone so far. He doesn't seem right. Maybe it was the early season concussion, off-season covid, grandmother's passing, etc. I don't know what it is but he hasn't been the dominant Hasahn from past seasons. That includes before the team pause this season. His avg. points, avg. rebounds, blocks per game, minutes, ft% are all down. I hope the STB game is a positive pivot for the run through the rest of the regular season and beyond. I also hope we see more of the "old" Hasahn as he wraps up his Billiken career.

[Littlebill]

1 hour ago, pakapablo said:

After reading through the Goodwin thread I was curious about others thoughts regarding the play of our other 4 year senior. I am a big Hasahn fan and have been bummed by how his senior season has gone so far. He doesn't seem right. Maybe it was the early season concussion, off-season covid, grandmother's passing, etc. I don't know what it is but he hasn't been the dominant Hasahn from past seasons. That includes before the team pause this season. His avg. points, avg. rebounds, blocks per game, minutes, ft% are all down. I hope the STB game is a positive pivot for the run through the rest of the regular season and beyond. I also hope we see more of the "old" Hasahn as he wraps up his Billiken career.

I think our offense works best when he scores a couple early ones and then starts looking for shooters after a collapse. It has happened a few games this year.

[RUBillsFan]

13 minutes ago, Littlebill said:

I think our offense works best when he scores a couple early ones and then starts looking for shooters after a collapse. It has happened a few games this year.

Has isn’t and likely will never be a very efficient offensive player because of his inability to hit FTs or score away from the basket.  Very likely our offense is better if he’s at best 4th in the team in scoring.  You’re exactly right that he should be kicking out to shooters.  That being said if teams try to defend him 1-on-1, he needs to make them pay & finish through contact so his FT missed aren’t as big a deal.

We need Has to grab rebounds and play excellent interior D.  Those should be his focus if the #1 goal is winning.

[Clock_Tower]

1 hour ago, pakapablo said:

After reading through the Goodwin thread I was curious about others thoughts regarding the play of our other 4 year senior. I am a big Hasahn fan and have been bummed by how his senior season has gone so far. He doesn't seem right. Maybe it was the early season concussion, off-season covid, grandmother's passing, etc. I don't know what it is but he hasn't been the dominant Hasahn from past seasons. That includes before the team pause this season. His avg. points, avg. rebounds, blocks per game, minutes, ft% are all down. I hope the STB game is a positive pivot for the run through the rest of the regular season and beyond. I also hope we see more of the "old" Hasahn as he wraps up his Billiken career.

Yes. Everything you suggest.  Has French is a great player and I’m glad he is on our team.  With that said three additional comments:  1.  French is one dimensional. He cannot shoot beyond 5 foot and fouling him works in that most middle school kids shoot better than him from the FT line.    2.  French is also unknown commodity - especially in the A10. Other teams have scouted him for years and know his weaknesses. Other players and good coaches like Mark Schmidt can exploit him. 3. French is strong and talented but probably only 6’6” tall and already at a disadvantage. 

Mark Schmidt is a great coach. He reminds me of Charlie Spoonhour. some great athletes but not a full roster. Won with less talent. Disciplined teams who worked the clock and exploited matchups. If a program plays their (Spoon and Schmidt) game, their style, their tempo, they will win more often than not. The way you beat those programs is exactly what we did yesterday - use your superior and deeper talent to overwhelm them. 

[CenHudDude]

All good comments about Has, who is a warrior.  Is it possible that the has had COVID-19 twice?  We know that he had it when he returned home last spring.  Since 80% of the team had it this winter, did he get it a second time?  If so, was it a different strain?  That would explain a lot.

[CBFan]

I think and hope all of the seniors decide and or change their minds and stay another season.

Another year of playing and another year of a great education will help all 3.

[Taj79]

The three points by Clock Tower are right on.  Hasahn is who he is.  I really thought he'd develop a 15-foot game ala Juvonte Reddic at VCU a few year back or like Ahmed Nivens at St. Joe's as well but that never happened.  Who do you put that on?  The player?  or a coach?  Do we even have a coach who can take out big men to school and instruct them on those finer points of the game?  I was good to see Ford recognize that Hasahn is a liability in a close game comign down the stretch.  Linssen and Bell are downgrades on the defensive end but are twice as likely to make free throws than Fas.  Ditto Goodwin.  In a game like the Bonnies Saturday, i want Has on th ebench for late game offense and Goodwin inbounding the ball.  Jacobs, Perkins, Collins, Jimerson, Linssen are all better closing options at the line.

Four years of Has have given the coaches in this league ample evidence to game plan with.

[SLU_Nick]

2 minutes ago, Taj79 said:

The three points by Clock Tower are right on.  Hasahn is who he is.  I really thought he'd develop a 15-foot game ala Juvonte Reddic at VCU a few year back or like Ahmed Nivens at St. Joe's as well but that never happened.  Who do you put that on?  The player?  or a coach?  Do we even have a coach who can take out big men to school and instruct them on those finer points of the game?  I was good to see Ford recognize that Hasahn is a liability in a close game comign down the stretch.  Linssen and Bell are downgrades on the defensive end but are twice as likely to make free throws than Fas.  Ditto Goodwin.  In a game like the Bonnies Saturday, i want Has on th ebench for late game offense and Goodwin inbounding the ball.  Jacobs, Perkins, Collins, Jimerson, Linssen are all better closing options at the line.

Four years of Has have given the coaches in this league ample evidence to game plan with.

I think the hope is that he would develop more touch but sort of inexplicably, his ability to shoot has gone the complete opposite direction.    

To put it simply, it is a shame that he was hyped on the all conference team but he really cant see the floor in a close game in the 2nd half if the ultimate goal is for us to win that game.

[NH]

Hasahn is a fantastic player. He is an elite defender and rebounder. He has improved his finishing and this is his most efficient offensive season to date, as he's shooting a career-high 56% from the field. He is not a good free throw shooter, and his offensive game is limited, but he does have some good post moves and has shown to be a willing passer for a big man. 

I don't think he is a go-to offensive player, and he needs to work on staying out of foul trouble. But if we want to reach our ceiling this year, we're a lot better with Hasahn in there protecting the rim, rebounding, and offering mobility and pasing out of the big man spot. 

[3star_recruit]

Mo Alie-Cox, a very good A10 big man, was the same guy when he came to VCU and when he left.  Same with Has but even with his offensive limitations, he's still one of the greatest big men we've ever had.  He will leave with over 1100 points and a blocked shot record that won't be broken anytime soon.

He's been affected more personally by COVID than any other Billiken and in true Has fashion he has warriored his way through it.  I have no complaints.  

[slufanskip]

Imo we are not as good of a team when Has isn't performing his best offensively. He is a go to offensive performer and our best offensive big. Can he be overused? Sure. However, he needs to be a focus offensively for us to be at our best. We have to force teams to guard him with more than 1 player and then he has to make good decisions. It also seems a touch from French is a foul but a whack against him gets over looked because he's so strong. 

We are reading too much into a guy's early play when he had a concussion and then 4-5 weeks later has to sit 30 days due to covid and we don't even know if he was affected. How soon we forget the real Has

[ACE]

Last year, Bell played alongside French to start the game and a few other stretches throughout the game. This year, it seems like French is almost always the 5 and doesn't get to play alongside another big very often. I only recall a couple times when he played alongside Linnsen and I thought it worked pretty well. I would like to see French get to alongside another big, either Bell or Linnsen, a couple of times a game. Give the opponent a different look. I know a lot of it is dictated by match-ups, but French could really go to town against most 4s in the A-10.

[AnkielBreakers]

11 hours ago, RUBillsFan said:

Has isn’t and likely will never be a very efficient offensive player because of his inability to hit FTs or score away from the basket.  Very likely our offense is better if he’s at best 4th in the team in scoring.  You’re exactly right that he should be kicking out to shooters.  That being said if teams try to defend him 1-on-1, he needs to make them pay & finish through contact so his FT missed aren’t as big a deal.

We need Has to grab rebounds and play excellent interior D.  Those should be his focus if the #1 goal is winning.

I am really annoyed by this argument. If he is shooting well, he can hit at around a 70-80% rate in the paint. Even if his free throws are off, he can still put up 50-60% overall. It really depends on whether he is hitting, and how likely he is to get fouled. I think French is in his own head this year because of his free throw percentage. He needs to be aggressive when we need him to be. He should have had 20+ against Dayton and Lasalle. Same for the Minnesota game. 
 

If he cannot pull it together and find his aggressiveness, then the coaches need to put in Linssen or Bell and tell them to be aggressive. Bell, in particular, needs more opportunities like this. I think he would have had more success against Robbins and Minnesota. We should try to prepare for that next monster big.

That said, when the defense is collapsing on him, we are better off with him looking for the open shooters.

[Littlebill]

11 hours ago, RUBillsFan said:

Has isn’t and likely will never be a very efficient offensive player because of his inability to hit FTs or score away from the basket.  Very likely our offense is better if he’s at best 4th in the team in scoring.  You’re exactly right that he should be kicking out to shooters.  That being said if teams try to defend him 1-on-1, he needs to make them pay & finish through contact so his FT missed aren’t as big a deal.

We need Has to grab rebounds and play excellent interior D.  Those should be his focus if the #1 goal is winning.

Yep, this 100%

[billiCAN]

2 hours ago, ACE said:

Last year, Bell played alongside French to start the game and a few other stretches throughout the game. This year, it seems like French is almost always the 5 and doesn't get to play alongside another big very often. I only recall a couple times when he played alongside Linnsen and I thought it worked pretty well. I would like to see French get to alongside another big, either Bell or Linnsen, a couple of times a game. Give the opponent a different look. I know a lot of it is dictated by match-ups, but French could really go to town against most 4s in the A-10.

Would love to see this more especially now that Linnsen and Bell are comfortable.

[ACE]

URI plays Walker and Mitchell, two bigs, it would seem that this would be a game where French would get paired with Linnsen or Bell for some minutes.

[AnkielBreakers]

On 2/8/2021 at 10:13 AM, ACE said:

Last year, Bell played alongside French to start the game and a few other stretches throughout the game. This year, it seems like French is almost always the 5 and doesn't get to play alongside another big very often. I only recall a couple times when he played alongside Linnsen and I thought it worked pretty well. I would like to see French get to alongside another big, either Bell or Linnsen, a couple of times a game. Give the opponent a different look. I know a lot of it is dictated by match-ups, but French could really go to town against most 4s in the A-10.

Yeah, french and Linssen or bell inside, leave in Perkins and Gibson, set Jacobs at the point and work inside out for open 3’s. This lineup would be a killer on offense. Might struggle rebounding.

[Taj79]

Walker plays more like a three than a four.  URI's backup big is Jermaine Harris.  

[ACE]

43 minutes ago, Taj79 said:

Walker plays more like a three than a four.  URI's backup big is Jermaine Harris.  

Walker looks more like a 4 to me. A good rebounder and only shoots about 1 3-pointer per game. More of a threat inside than out.  He's nearly the same size as Has.  I would rather French guard him than Perkins.

[A10Ref]

need french to get some more blocks... Been missing his monster swats into the stands

[cgeldmacher]

I think that French has the toughest job on the court for our team.  He is constantly dealing with:

* Decision to for that block and risk getting into foul trouble or not contesting the shot

* Decision to make a move and attempt to score or kick the ball out

* Battling with larger opponents down low because he's our only big on the court

I always give Has a little extra slack given that I think he has the most to deal with out there.

 

[Taj79]

Has will likely get Mitchell.  Mitchell is stationary on the inside.  Walker will play the 4 but he will be more mobile on the outside.  Just because he doesn’t shoot the three doesn’t mean he plays bigger.  In a perfect world, Rhode Island would have Mitchell at the 4 and a different 5 but they don’t have one.

if you put Has on Walker, you have to start Bell or Linssen on Mitchell.  There is no way Perkins can cover Mitchell straight up and if so, he will be in foul trouble early.  If Osunniyi could not handle French/Linssen/Bell there is no way Mitchell will either.