JJ, can we please see the "wrist pass" in action next season? Thanks in advance.

I'd be content with just some entry passes to our bigs above a YMCA level.

I'll settle for being in the top 50 or less in turnovers per game. That would be a nice change.

mikesyracuse1

Do we value the ball? Do we maximize our possessions? Yes. Let's get the hot sauce when we are up twenty.

For all of their other shortcomings, Carlton and Collins were actually pretty good at entry passes. Like someone else said, I bigger issue in that department was spacing. Making an entry pass to the low block is pretty hard when someone else is floating around the free throw line. I don't know how many times I yelled "MOVE ANYWHERE" at my TV this season....

mdanyc03 said:

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I'm not sure why everybody decided that entry passes were such a big problem. That wouldn't even be in my top 10 of things we did poorly

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I think it's because it's an easy problem to see. "Tyler Davis has a mean sealed on the low block, but he isn't getting the ball..."

The problem is really that we struggle to get the ball to our good post players in good positions. Way too often Tyler was getting the ball out at about 10-15 feet and then having to try and dribble into position.

But the problem is bigger than "we suck at entry passes." It's one of those multi-stage problems that get into the weeds a little bit on my criticisms of Kennedy.

Let's say Gilder has the ball dribbling towards the wing and Trocha is coming to set a screen for him and Davis is going to post up on the low block.

Fail point 1) The pick itself. Too many times our guys either don't get wide enough on their screens or our guards don't rub off screens close enough or they take bad angles around the screen and the defender is able to just step right through the screen or just go under it quickly. Therefore the guard has his own defender still in his face, and that entry pass is going to be a lot more difficult unless Tyler slides out away from the low block.

Fail point 2) Our offensive M.O.: The pick-and-linger: Sometimes we actually set a good screen, and then ruin it by standing around. That allows the screener's defender to hedge out, Gilder's defender to recover, and then you're back at the first problem.

Fail point 3) The screener is STILL lingering. Now Gilder's defender has recovered, but the screener still hasn't moved anywhere significant and the screener's defender is free to stay close enough to Tyler Davis that even if he somehow gets the ball, he's going to be double teamed immediately.

That kind of stuff happened to us A LOT this season, and that's before we even have the chance to try an entry pass.

So, while I sort of agree that as a team we're not very good at entry passes, they're just part of a full system issue. Kind of like saying your house has air conditioning problems but the house is on fire.