Billikan Posted November 27, 2004 Share Posted November 27, 2004 After watching this game I came away with very mixed emotions and see that the coaches have many unanswered questions such as: How can you account for the fact that Tom F. plays hard but misses many wide open lay ups and put backs and kills momentum on good offensive possesions? What can we do about the fact that even though we are getting many open shots the guards cannot hit the broad side of a barn? (believe it or not one of Reggie's made field goals was so long that it banked off the board and went in.) What are the coaches going to do with the center spot when Ian comes back in light of the fact that Husak had a fantastic game with tough rebounds and great defensive presence--3 blocks officially but he had his hand on at least two more and altered several other shots when people tried to shoot over him? ( For those who were questiong him, Bryce answered big time today! What is the answer to how we use our freshmen in light of the fact that they have moments of nice play and some real bad moments as well?Polk didn'tlook out of place at all and yet the half court offense struggled with him at the point until late in the game. Danny Brown defends well and is quick and athletic yet he made some freshman mistakes. Luke looks fundamentally sound but he need a little more experience and confidence. What can we do with VN who looked fine at times but looked like he does not understand the defense or the offense and he got into quick foul trouble? Can we continue to refine the defense and somehow hit open shots? Reggie is a perfect example-- he lost his man several times yet on other plays he looked fine but his shooting is really a problem--we cannot win without him hitting shots and yet he is shooting such a low percentage that it is killing the offense. How can we best use IO? Overall he looked great on offense but our guards seemed to forget he was on the floor at times and then he missed several open jumpers. His shots all looked excellent but they seem to go in and out--it must be frustrating. Believe it or not IO was the best defender on the floor. Wow, a lot of questions that will be difficult to answer. I hope we can turn it around but if we don't get better soon then I would start giving the young guys a lot of pt so they will be ready for next year. I was absolutely delighted to see Bryce play so well!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
House Posted November 28, 2004 Share Posted November 28, 2004 I agree that Bryce played well today, but let's be realistic. He played best when he came in for short stretches. He is certainly not a center who can play 30 minutes a game, yet. I hope he gets there, but definitely not yet. At least today he earned a few more minutes rotating at center with IV and TF. By the way, TF was terrible today. His lack of any shooting touch was driving me nuts, so Brad had to be beside himself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billikan Posted November 28, 2004 Author Share Posted November 28, 2004 I agree that Bryce cannot play 30 minutes a game. Yet I was very pleased that he demonstrated that he can compete at a high level. He really played BIG!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aj_arete Posted November 28, 2004 Share Posted November 28, 2004 Husak was a nice surprise and was a decent presence down low. But what was the guy doing shooting all of those 15-17 footers in the perimeter? I know he made one of them, but we need his presence down low. Until I see him actually work down low, I will contain my enthusiasm of him. Having said that, I was impressed with his play overall. Our problem might not be in the post after all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billikan Posted November 28, 2004 Author Share Posted November 28, 2004 You are right but at least his shot looked ok and he made a good shot inside. I guess I was reacting to people who wrote him off and I did not have enough time watching him to give an opinion. The coaches must be delighted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevinfootes Posted November 28, 2004 Share Posted November 28, 2004 hustled amd had some good rebounds and blocks today. He seems to think he can make the 15-foot jumper. He was about 1-5 today from that range. Hopefully he can shoot better if he's going to keep firing it up from that spot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted November 28, 2004 Share Posted November 28, 2004 i'm with aj on bryce. i came away yesterday more encouraged about bryce hasak than i ever had, however, he is still far from deserving a "delighted" or "great" label. i might say pleasantly surprised. he did accomplish a lot, by altering shots and all, but still he on ly had 4 rebounds and was only 2-7 from the field. he also is still slow running the floor and can easily be pushed around. but still, i agree he showed a lot of potential yesterday. i think our problems stem more so from our seniors than anyone else. earlier in the year i stated i thought our potential rested on izik. imo, i felt he was the guy that could improve on our record from last season. a breakout year from izik, would make the big difference. of course i was taking for granted his other two fellow seniors, tom frericks and reggie bryant would have "all-conference" like seasons. i have boldly declared that i thought reggie was better than claggett. none of us have a clue what went on in the carribean, but we do know about yesterday, and reggie and frericks were not the players we saw last year. reggie looks lethargic. he has been slow in getting his shot off. he has dribbled into trouble rather than shooting that magnificent shot of his. he has probably been the weakest link defensively. he has not been a jimmy chitwood that most of us expected. claggett made those tough shots. justin love willed us to that ncaa tourney with the miracle in memphis like year. hughes was just a legend. right now, reggie bryant doesnt belong in that class. i expected frericks to be a freight train this year. he accomplished so much last year even though he was often sick and/or injured. and i was amazed yesterday how often he was winded yesterday. just how in the hell can a college player that has been practicing two hours a day for over a month not be in shape? the box score says he was 3-9. i think tom has friends keeping stats as he missed six shots (bunnies at that) in the first half alone. and i know he shot in the second half. without bryant and frericks playing at the level we all expected, it will be a long season. there is no use even talking about ian and bryce potential vs reality or luke meyer and danny brown. how much responsibility young polk should take. if newborne should play the 3 or the 4 or if izik can be the breakout player. before anything else happens, before any other steps can be taken. tom frericks and reggie bryant have to start playing like the champions and leaders and goto players that most of us think they are. otherwise, we might as well start talking about leonard, hill and mcgwire recruiting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billikan Posted November 28, 2004 Author Share Posted November 28, 2004 I agree with many of your comments, particularly those about Tom and Reggie. I saw a lot more with Bryce that you did but maybe I was just so happy to see that he can compete effectively that I went a little overboard. As we have seen in the past, and it is more evident now, our margin of success is razor thin. If two teams miss last minute desperation shots from 25 feet and we hold a 4 point lead with 2 minutes to go we are 3-1 rather than 1-3. The difference is that Josh and Chris, as senior leaders gutted it out and helped us win the close ones. Tom and Reggie have so far not demonstrated the same attributes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillikenButch Posted November 28, 2004 Share Posted November 28, 2004 Last year we won those games. I don't remember how many, but there were several that we won by scoring in the last 30 seconds and we shut the opponent down to close the game. Would Josh Fisher have allowed that 3 pointer to go in at the end of the game yesterday? My guess is that last season's team wins that game. Plenty of games left though, but there were 2-3 players on ORU I'd like to have on our squad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3star_recruit Posted November 28, 2004 Share Posted November 28, 2004 I can live with a a last-second loss to Oral Roberts - Tutt and Green could start on all but 2-3 teams in Conference USA. But the Virgin Island games with Austin Peay missing their best player, Eastern Michigan and Troy aren't games that would have even been close last year. Butler was better than any of the teams the Bills faced in the islands and last year's team beat them by 18. Of course Frericks and Bryant both scored 18 points in that game. Drejaj scored 14. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guest Posted November 28, 2004 Share Posted November 28, 2004 he did make most of his free throws which was a great sign, cause he does go up strong and alot of these games we win or lose get decided by one or two points. KEEP PLAYING HARD TOM.!!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thetorch Posted November 29, 2004 Share Posted November 29, 2004 Before writing off Husak as a little triger happy lets point out that plays were run for him on those 15-18 footers. He can make ths shots, why else would there be plays for him there? With yesterdays shooting display Bryce's offense could have been a decent alternative. He has a lot to work on offense along with coordinataion and conditioning but right now as a redshirt freshman he is a big factor on the defensive end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slufanskip Posted November 29, 2004 Share Posted November 29, 2004 I'm with you on Bryce ... I have no problem with him taking those shots ... give him time he will learn some down low offensive moves. I question 4 boards and 3 blocks ... he had more than 3 blocks. He nees to learn a jump hook where he turns his off shoulder to the basket. Official Billikens.com sponsor of H. Waldman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thetorch Posted November 29, 2004 Share Posted November 29, 2004 He did have 3 clean blocks, add another one on the early foul and another that I believe they credited to Izik as a mistake. He altered shots on almost every possession he was in the game. Brad said he was a force on the defensive end this summer and he showed it yesterday. He may be a McCilvaine yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tseugnekillib Posted November 29, 2004 Share Posted November 29, 2004 imo, Bryce's shots weren't specifically design for him. There come with via the post guys screening in the motion offense. The same shot would be there for IV or TF. Soderberg is always preaching to his post players....the better screens that you post players set, the better opportunity you will get for an open look! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted November 29, 2004 Share Posted November 29, 2004 as tsuegnekillib states, it isnt specific plays as following the rules of a motion offense. to try to keep it simple, when a screen is set, the person the screen is set for will use it in some manner. whatever direction that person goes off the screen, the screener is supposed to go in the opposite direction. the hope is that one of the two will be open. the fact that bryce is about 8 foot tall become a big advantage when he rolls or fades off the screen he just set. thus, his "open" looks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thetorch Posted November 29, 2004 Share Posted November 29, 2004 Disagree slightly, Husak has the green light to take those shots. Frericks and Vouyoukas do not, simply because they do not have the ability to make an 18 foot jumper. No way in 100 years either of those guys take shos like that, if they did Sodereberg would have been all them. He was not all over Husak for doing the same thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted November 29, 2004 Share Posted November 29, 2004 frericks actually took two of them yesterday. both were ugly. but it shows there is no green or red light imo. open looks and confident shoot it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tseugnekillib Posted November 29, 2004 Share Posted November 29, 2004 post players....BH, IV, IO, and VN can all take that shot on the free-throw line. TF may set the right screen and have that same shot develope, but it is not TF true/best shot and he would rarely take it.. Soderberg preaches regularly that each player needs to know what is a good shot for him and him only. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guest Posted November 29, 2004 Share Posted November 29, 2004 truest words that i have seen in a long time. well said. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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