Coaching decisions

[Billikan]

Tonight's game was instructive in that it is obvious that coach Brad watched a lot of tape over the holiday. The important thing he learned is that he needs to play experienced players who will defend, rebound and run the offense.

As I watched the SMS game I was very disappointed that our deep bench played big minutes and we defended and rebounded on the defensive end like we were in high school. We cannot have Hunt, JJ and Clarke playing anything but small minutes and hope to beat good experienced teams.

Tonight we played smart, tough and emphasized the inside game with tom f. The coaches obviously realized that JJ could not hold his own on the defensive boards and he does not have a feel yet for the motion offense and the screens that are required.

Varner is not athletic but he understand how to play tough on the defensive boards and he sets a mean screen. There will be plenty of time to get pt for JJ and clarke next year (or late this year if the team goes in the tank!) if they work hard and learn to play tough on both ends. For now, the coaches have made the decision to shorten the bench and play smart and hard. Let's hope that Josh is not hurt bad. He was limping badly when he returned to the game.

This was a must win game and it was a nice win. IO played great defense and he seemed to be more comfortable--except early when he had several bad turnovers--and I see him playing big minutes the rest of the year. When we get Ian eligible I believe that he will be added to the rotation and we will try to start our offense in th post with passes out. If we do that I will be the happiest Bills fan in the land because it will mean that we have a chance to beat good teams on the offensive end if we do not turn the ball over. Then our defense will put us in a position to win. Go Bills!

PS-- I was very impressed By Sheets of Butler--he reminded me of john Stockton--great shooter, tough, nice penetration and tough defense on Reggie--although like Stockton he uses the grab and hold as an art form-- and the refs do not call the fouls!

[jjray]

>>The coaches obviously realized that JJ could not hold his own on the defensive boards. Ross practices better.

[Schasz]

Into what happened last night...plus keep in my Tom did not get into early foul trouble which allowed Coach Soderberg ample opportunity to shorten his bench. Time, game circumstances, and health of the players will determine exactly what Coach Soderberg's rotation will be. If Josh's injury is more serious than first glance then he could be forced to go deeper to his bench...we already know he prefers an 8 player rotation.

[3star_recruit]

Our increased offensive output had nothing to do with Ross Varner. It had EVERYTHING to do with Tom Frericks staying out of foul trouble and our guards posting up their guards and getting to the line.

[slufanskip]

I liked the rotation ... and I agree with the fact that TF stayed out of foul trouble limited JJ's minutes.

One note CS, IO, and RV's rebound totals don't show it but they did a fantastic job of blocking out. Close rebounds were gathered by TF and the other 3 created space for AD and RB to use their athletic ability to come inside and get anything out of TF's reach. TF was a monster.

As far as JJ and DC are concerned neither have showed me anything to suggest they should be getting more minutes. JJ has looked ok but does not play inside on the offensive end. I would like to see him get 5-10 minutes a game ... but with IV coming we need to msee what he does. DC has yet to show me much. He shot well one game ( I missed Ariz ) but most of the time appears lost. He needs more time.

If our newcomers come in and get more minutes next year then all the better for us. It will be nice to have a deeper bench and some competition for minutes between good players.

We need a good game against Dayton.

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[3star_recruit]

"As far as JJ and DC are concerned neither have showed me anything to suggest they should be getting more minutes."

At what time in the last three games have they been given a legit opportunity to show anything?

[slufanskip]

That statement wasn't meant to be negative ... they are freshmen and I wouldn't expect them to be playing much. I am not saying they have done anything wrong ... but when they have been in neither have shown any flashes of skill that say leave me in coach. Apparently they haven't in practice either.

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[tseugnekillib]

While I was surprised at only a seven man rotation against Butler, imo, two things attributed to that. First, TF stayed out of foul trouble, particularly in the first half and he was productive offensively. Secondly, SLU needed a win big time!

While I think the coach would be comfortable playing an eight or nine man rotation, I think the talent/experience/contribution level of the eighth and ninth player has to be higher than it was on Dec27. In my mind, JJ is closer to playing in the rotation than DC, but evidently in the coach's mind JJ isn't quite there as yet, but he is gaining on it.

Things could get complicated with IV getting eligible in January, but I would be pleasantly surprised if he contributed early.

[Schasz]

Not sure who started last night as I did not listen until the 2nd half...assume Tom F, Reggie, AD, Fish, and Chris?

I would see Ian as a primary sub for Tom...JJ has to get his minutes as sub for Chris and he is going to have to beat out Ross if he wants the lion share of those minutes. It will be interesting to see how this plays out as the season goes on. No question in my mind of JJ's upside.

I still don't believe it was a question of Clarke VS Ahearn but instead Morris VS Ahearn...becasue of that any talk of Ahearn not being a Billiken is pretty much of a dead issue with me...time to move on and develop the talent we have.

[Quality Is Job 1]

That's all the reason more that it's curious Justin Johnson didn't play last night. Only seven players played, and I though JJ would be the eighth.

[Quality Is Job 1]

Izik Ohanon

Chris Sloan

Tom Frericks

Josh Fisher

Reggie Bryant

[Tonka]

I know this will piss off 99% of the board, but I would still like to see Sloan as a 6th man. Many of you will ask me why, and tell me that I am crazy, but I would bet Chris would give us the same production being the 6th man. I still remember Sloan coming off the bench and performing wondefully, and that role suited him well. I love Sloan and he is perhaps my favorite player, so that is not a knock on him, but some of the best contributors to a team have been the 6th man. I think JJ has shown more than DC in the limited time they have played. I also think JJ has more upside this year at least. I would really like to see him played more and allow him to get comfortable and in a groove. I would bet he would give as much offensively and defensively as RV. I think RV should be used as a situational player. Just my thoughts.

[slufanskip]

As I've said many times before ... I would also like to see CS as a 6th man ... but not until JJ earns it and I don't think he has up to this point. After we see IV maybe he can earn more minutes and play some at the 4 as well as spell TF.

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[billiken_roy]

actually ross while he didnt add to the bottom line much in his 4-5 trips into the game, i thought he gave credible defense and pick work while in there that allowed the needed breather for frericks, sloan and izik to come back strong. that is exactly how i would use ross. only maybe cut his stints by one or two minutes each time to give him about 12-15 minutes for the entire game. imo, he would be effective with that.

you do make the correct point about frericks though. he was fantastic last nite. let's hope he keeps it up. he is one of the difference makers on this team imo.

[cheeseman]

Varner can not hit a foul shot to save himself - if he continues to play 20-22 minutes a game, then he will be in there during critical times and he end up hurting us - the two 1-1 situations against SMS as an example. His rebounding is weak and he gets beat or has to the ball or has it taken away from him by the other team on a consisten basis. He can set a screen but he is slow to pass the ball when he is outside so sometimes we miss an opportunity for an open 3pt shot because by the time he passes it the defender has recovered and is on our once open man. Too much down side with him in the game - period. If Brad wants to play him to go in and hack people than fine but if left in too long then his weaknesses will be exploited and we will be hurt.

[billiken_roy]

cheeseman said, "Varner can not hit a foul shot to save himself"

have you watched frericks shoot free throws? right now our inside players are not the players we want shooting free throws period. so you cant pick on ross for that without mentioning the others as well.

cheesman said, "if he continues to play 20-22 minutes a game, then he will be in there during critical times and he end up hurting us"

i said he should be limited to around 15 minutes per game and those appearances would be to give sloan and frericks their needed middle of he halves breaks. i agree i dont want him in the game at the end either. that said, at this point i dont want johnson in the game at the end as well. frericks and sloan got to stay out of foul trouble so they are there down the stretch.

cheeseman said, "His rebounding is weak and he gets beat or has to the ball or has it taken away from him by the other team on a consisten basis."

well again, until frericks stepped up the other nite, i dont think you can say that anyone else playing inside didnt fit into that description as well.

cheeseman said, "He can set a screen but he is slow to pass the ball when he is outside so sometimes we miss an opportunity for an open 3pt shot because by the time he passes it the defender has recovered and is on our once open man. Too much down side with him in the game - period."

actually, he one of the things ross does well is come to the ball when there is a problem finding an open man. watch and see how often when there is a pass to the wing and that wing has no options and the screener has to step out to get the ball ross does it and frericks and johnson do not. i agree he isnt a larry bird type passing forward, but he knows the game and makes safe decisions imo.

cheeseman said, "If Brad wants to play him to go in and hack people than fine but if left in too long then his weaknesses will be exploited and we will be hurt."

i totally agree with the point that varner should not be left in the game for long stretches. i have said on numerous occasions if he comes in for 3 minute stints to give frericks and sloan breaks, comes in and throws himself around, maybe hit a 3 or knock a pass away and then gets out of there. i think he actually would be an assett. but if left in for 10 minute stretches, the opposing coach will have time to focus on his slow feet and attack him. that is where he really becomes a liability.

again, i dont understand the attacks on a player that is out there giving his all and doing what he can and reacting as the coaches tell him to, when we have superior athletes that are sitting out because of no focus, stupid fouls, turnovers, etc. the emotions should be directed at frericks, izik, johnson and clarke as they are the players that are underachieving and holding the team back from reaching the potential the billikens have.

[Billikan]

I, too, was frustrated by the two misses at SMS on the front end when we were down 4 but he did hit two for two in the last game.

The bottom line is that Varner is playing because he is the best option available. His understanding of the offense and the defense is probably the best on the team and he is physically very tough. He has serious limitations--just like a lot of our players after the starting five.

In my view, for next year, our first priority must be to recruit a big strong 4 player who can rebound and defend. JJ has not yet proved to me that he is the answer.

[slufanskip]

Well put Roy. On free throws Ross is 4-7. Yes SMS was a disaster ... but for the entire team ... not just Ross. Take away those two free throw misses and he is 4-5 the rest of the year.

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[3star_recruit]

"JJ has not yet proved to me that he is the answer."

He may be, he may not. We KNOW Ross isn't.

[jjray]

>>He can set a screen but he is slow to pass the ball when he is outside so sometimes we miss an opportunity for an open 3pt shot because by the time he passes it the defender has recovered and is on our once open man.<<

Agree, his ball rotation from top of the circle is bad (too slow to swing the ball to the other wing). The whole offense slows down when he gets a touch.

[cheeseman]

Roy - my comments about Varner are not to be meant that everybody else is doing a great job. The difference between Tom and Ross is that Tom at least has a feel around the basket and is capable of scoring consistently down low - Ross does not. I never said that he does not move to the ball for a pass - what I said is that in rebounding situations, he gets beat to the ball by the other team on a consistent basis and he is prone to having the ball stripped out of his hands. I am not attacking Ross or questioning his effort - all I am doing is pointing out his limitations and that I fear his over exposure by being on the floor too long - I think we agree on this issue. I also agree with you that Tom's FT shooting has to improve.

[billiken_roy]

the problem is that no one including frericks with the exception of saturday nite, has shown a "i am so much better" performance to send ross to the bench. therefore the tie breaker more or less is attitude, knowledge, practice habits, etc go to ross for p.t. if any of you know the secret to waking justin johnson up to play up to his wonderful potential, please e-mail brad so he can utilize your secret to coaching that dynamite in a bottle that cant apparently be opened.

[cheeseman]

I don't have any silver bullet in this regard. What I do know is that treating all students equally is the most unfair act a teacher can do. Each student learns differently and requires a different approach. I do not have any first hand knowledge on what the problem with JJ is as far as Brad sees it but I have learned that enforcing a rule for the sake of enforcing the rule often gives you an unintended consequence. I am not saying there should not be any rules but situations have to cause leaders to adapt or bend a rule once in awhile for the good of the team. Ultimately the call is Brad's but playing Ross over others is a deadend - he is not a difference maker nor has he demonstrated that he is one of the uncanny role players who always seem to find themselves in the right place at the right time to make a key play. I also agree that I have no way of knowing if JJ is this kind of a player or not but it seems to me that Brad seldom played Ross last year and there was a reason for that - all I am saying now is I doubt things have changed that much regarding Ross's capabilities.

[Tonka]

Cheeseman, I agree wholeheartedly.

As far as bashing Ross, I won't hesitate to do that at all. I don't like the guy. Just because he puts out the most effort, so what. While that is admirable that he does, he does it because he has to. Imagine if he didn't put out 150% every day. Good Gosh, with his natural talent, he'd be as effective as one-legged man in ass kciking contest. This isn't grade school, where whoever puts out the most effort wins and plays. I agree that Brad needs to find a way to make JJ more effective during practices. I would think he has been up against this before though. Surely he's had players like this before. Since everybody likes to talk about the future so much, what happens if one of our "stars" in the future, don't practice hard and give effort and just rely on their natural talents. You may say that a "star" would never do that, but that is absolutely not true. Not every baller is Michael Jordan and aside from great talent, works their butt off, is the first to show up at practice, etc. But, what if? Do we bench them or limit their time?

Let me get your thoughts on this. I could make an argument that based upon previously posted messages from many of you, that Ross should be playing way less than he is. First of all, many of you agree that JJ is more athletically gifted than Ross. Second of all, I have read lots of posts about how well JJ played defensively in the time that he has played. If you look at stats, JJ's are pretty close to Ross' if you break them out by minutes. That being said, I think JJ would give us the same amount of production as Ross and yet JJ has far from developed and hasn't played enough to allow himself to get in a rhythm and acclimated to working with these guys at real games. Also, since there are so many future lookers on this board, you would think that JJ getting playing time would be your preference considering he can more than likely fill on for Ross equally in terms of productivity, and he his is part of the future as Ross is not. Now, Ross is more knowledgable about this offense, sets screens very well, has more experience (although his minutes in past years haven't been ataggering), and can be a 3 point threat, if left completely alone and is open. So, I guess there is trade offs with both of them, but again about the future thing, I think that in itself would make most sway for JJ. Maybe JJ just isn't good at all, but I think we owe it to him to find out and let him blossom. Coach is a smart guy, so there must be something going on or he must not be seeing something, but we will more than likely never know.

On the other hand if JJ is getting a scholarship and an education, he owes it to the program to give his all.

Of course, a lot fo this argument is very subjective as I do not like Varner as a player.

As far as bashing is also concerned, I am an equal opportunity basher. I have given IO more than his share. His stock has rose a very very very tiny amount for me, but he is still in my doghouse.

So, does Ross equal...loss? Should JJ...play? Or is the Greek...what we seek????

[billiken_roy]

you admit that ross and jj's stats are almost identical. there lies the answer. if jj outplays ross, my guess is he wins the job. if they are playing equal, the coaching staff apparently will go with effort over potential. jj has to totally outplay ross to win the minutes. he hasnt. the fact he is about a million times better and cant outplay him except in short bursts that show us his hidden talent p!sses me off far more than ross' lack of production.