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The End all-Be all post about last night....


TheGoat

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Well, there is two and a half hours of my life I will never get back! Gotta say that is probably the worst Billikens game I have seen in person EVER!

The Team overall was seriously in the biggest funk in a two hour span that I have ever seen them in. Not only were shots not dropping, but the gameplan was aweful! I have no idea what Brad was doing, but I also believe that this was his worst coached game since he has been here. To Begin:

1. Why was DB in the starting lineup to begin with? Luke was the better play here and he showed it after he was in the game. At least he could hit a free throw! The lineup from here on out should be AD, KL, TL, IV, LM. Nuff said. I don't really care if JJ or VN see the floor for the rest of the year.

2. Somehow, someway BS needed to find a way to get IV the ball inside. Even after it was there, he threw it right back out to the perimeter. Also, our guys did a horrible job breaking the zone tonight (with the exception of TL in the 2nd). We did a fine job reversing the ball around the perimeter, but when we would catch them out of step, we would not slash or insert the ball to the post! Just pass it around again. NOT the way to break down a zone.

3. Free Throws, Free Throws, Free Throws!

4. Again, horrible effort from three, but what can you say about this. This is not something that gets better with coaching, it is simply just practice, practice, practice. It got to the point that they were not even guarding us from three. Luke was shooting with abandon and couldn't hit anything.

5. If I am correct, Skip, who was sitting right next to me was the highlight of the game with his verbal barbs toward the refs. Skip if this was not you I apologize. The comment about the refs being Martelli's girlfriends was the highlight of the night, especially when the one was staring you down!

6. On a personal note, the cop who was pissed off before the game and gave me a jaywalking ("failure to obey a reasonable request by an officer"--which I did not do!) ticket for crossing a street with two cars on it, can go F himself. I hate downtown cops!!!

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"Why was DB in the starting lineup to begin with? Luke

was the better play here and he showed it after he was in

the game. At least he could hit a free throw! The lineup

from here on out should be AD, KL, TL, IV, LM. Nuff said.

I don't really care if JJ or VN see the floor for the rest

of the year".

I wouldn't start KL or LM at the same time, maybe bring one off the bench. I would start JJ only for the reason that Tommie is wearing down. He needs to get away from all his rebounding responsibilities.

Agree that Luke needs to play more.

"Somehow, someway BS needed to find a way to get IV the ball inside".

Not necessarily so, I believe Ian as well as Tommie are being under-utilized in this offense. Coach has Ian stuck in the post as if Ian and Husak are one and the same. Ian has skills away from the basket as evidenced by his many poster worthy dunks over so-called more athletic players. He and Liddell also showed that they can be very effective with the pick and roll. I think Ian can be a reliable 10-15 ft shooter coming off the pick. Tommie can penetrate to the basket if the defense chooses not to double him and cover Ian. With Ian outside of the post in theory it should open the lane as defenders won't triple cover Ian outside of the post. We will never know as Soderberg is intent on running the same unproven offense. He often has said if he had the personnel he would increase the tempo. This is a guard dominated team, a team more suited to get out and play pressure defense and get out in the open. I have no doubts that if SLU had the personnel of present day UConn the offense would be the same.

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>Not necessarily so, I believe Ian as well as Tommie are

>being under-utilized in this offense. Coach has Ian stuck in

>the post as if Ian and Husak are one and the same. Ian has

>skills away from the basket as evidenced by his many poster

>worthy dunks over so-called more athletic players. He and

>Liddell also showed that they can be very effective with the

>pick and roll. I think Ian can be a reliable 10-15 ft

>shooter coming off the pick. Tommie can penetrate to the

>basket if the defense chooses not to double him and cover

>Ian. With Ian outside of the post in theory it should open

>the lane as defenders won't triple cover Ian outside of the

>post. We will never know as Soderberg is intent on running

>the same unproven offense. He often has said if he had the

>personnel he would increase the tempo. This is a guard

>dominated team, a team more suited to get out and play

>pressure defense and get out in the open. I have no doubts

>that if SLU had the personnel of present day UConn the

>offense would be the same.

To me, this is one of the best observations made all year. To tack onto it, this would assist my complaint that when facing a zone we do not explore the weak spots at all. On one play the whole game did we actually effectively explore the high post. I think TL fed VN on the free throw line who turned and faced up, dished to IV for the dunk. Too bad he got hacked and didn't make the free throws, but that's another story.

Needed offensive roles against a zone (which any moron of a coach can see is the way to play against us):

TL - When reversing the ball along the perimeter, even if he is open he is not a threat to shoot. However, when we get it to him at the top of the key with the defense slow on a rotation he needs to get into the lane and pop the 8-10 footer. Only go all the way if you can get there, he's been getting swatted too often b/c he won't shoot the mid-ranger.

KL - Must be assertive with the 3 ball early. He has to be the one to stretch or break the zone. Furthermore, penetrating a bit for the mid-ranger in rhythm could help get him going as well.

LM - See above.

DB - Don't know what to say. Sometimes he's hitting, other times not. I really don't have a feel for what he's good at, he's just so inconsistent.

AD - See TL. Also, too much penetration without a plan. Penetrate and take the mid-ranger or kick out immediately. All too often he's inside the defense with nowhere to go, just pivoting trying to find anyone to unload the ball to.

All of them - also consider entering it into the post, low or high, as the defense shifts.

Random thought - what about exploring TL in the high post. He can make a shot of that distance. Should be our best passer hitting cutters or Ian from there and would be inside the defense to create his own shoot. KL shoots deadly from the top of the key, and LM and AD on the wings would be nice to penetrate when available or pop a 3.

The penetration I'm talking about is into the weak spots (where the zone responsibilities overlap) where 2 defenders are drawn. Penetration to these spots is key to beating a zone as it allows you to 1) shoot if no one rotates (a higher % mid-range rather than chucking 21 3's), 2) dump to a perimeter player that should be open when the defenders rotate, 3) find someone cutting down the lane that is open as defenders shift. I don't see us penetrating enough and when we do it is too often without a plan. Players can show to these spots to receive passes as well, instead of having to penetrate to them. We MUST be more aggressive in attacking the defense.

Sorry this was so long, I tried to refrain from posting until I had cooled down as much as possible from last night.

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I'm sick of stating the same thing. I thought UB was talking match-ups earlier in the week. They start 2 BIG guys down low. TL is stuck with thier 4 getting worked. We get out rebounded. JJ still plays 8 min.? Yes, he got burned bad on one play, but that was a good dime. I don't get it.

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>>I wouldn't start KL or LM at the same time, maybe bring one off the bench. I would start JJ only for the reason that Tommie is wearing down. He needs to get away from all his rebounding responsibilities.<<

Agree with JaleJarr on this point: we are grinding Tommie down asking him to cover 6'8" dudes in the paint who have 30 pounds on him. That wasn't what he was recruited for. Luke Meyer, JJ or VN should be on the floor to cover the opposing 4.

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