I agree generally with the idea that installing new players and a new coach is somewhat of a process. But so far- it's been a lot worse than I expected.
I/we suffered watching BKs no defensive adjustments, stubborn fixation on zone, wide open shots/3s epidemic, and overall lack of defensive intensity.
Now with Buzz- I'm banging my head again seeing the same pan out and didn't expect it whatsoever.
DEFENSE: Not good. Why against Gonzaga did we not ever utilize man defense when we were leaving Gilder et al wide open for 3s? Never any adjustment.
ENERGY: Very good. I appreciate his energy and there is more energy to this team. And I appreciate how we subs our players when they aren't performing.
OFFENSE: Not good. I also have yet understood how our offense generates open looks. Not enough movement, back cuts, ball screens/pick and rolls from what I could tell. As others have complained, why is it that we switch coaches and our offense is just pass the ball haplessly around a permiter 5 feet outside of three, shot clock winds down, and somebody forces a drive and shot? The commentators had no idea who could score on the team but I disagree. We have scorers. Mitchell and Flagg are are quite good. But let's face it- when the entire Zag team sees the shot clock winding down and knows 1 guy and only 1 guy has to force up a shot- double teams and defensive focus turns to only that player. It means that our guy with the ball is pretty hopeless no matter our skill set. Gonzaga had guys with wide open looks/drives due to fantastic cuts and pick and rolls. If you inventoried all of the shots we took (where the defensive players in relation to the player with the ball)- we almost always had contested shots. They had far fewer contested or heavily contested shots. That's NOT a talent issue- that's coaches putting players where they need to be on the court.
We have too much athleticism for this team to look completely stifled (because most of our guys stood around) against a Zag team that didn't seem any more athletic than ours.
RECRUITING: Lights out great for where we could be.
Hoping Buzz puts it all together. We'll see.
I/we suffered watching BKs no defensive adjustments, stubborn fixation on zone, wide open shots/3s epidemic, and overall lack of defensive intensity.
Now with Buzz- I'm banging my head again seeing the same pan out and didn't expect it whatsoever.
DEFENSE: Not good. Why against Gonzaga did we not ever utilize man defense when we were leaving Gilder et al wide open for 3s? Never any adjustment.
ENERGY: Very good. I appreciate his energy and there is more energy to this team. And I appreciate how we subs our players when they aren't performing.
OFFENSE: Not good. I also have yet understood how our offense generates open looks. Not enough movement, back cuts, ball screens/pick and rolls from what I could tell. As others have complained, why is it that we switch coaches and our offense is just pass the ball haplessly around a permiter 5 feet outside of three, shot clock winds down, and somebody forces a drive and shot? The commentators had no idea who could score on the team but I disagree. We have scorers. Mitchell and Flagg are are quite good. But let's face it- when the entire Zag team sees the shot clock winding down and knows 1 guy and only 1 guy has to force up a shot- double teams and defensive focus turns to only that player. It means that our guy with the ball is pretty hopeless no matter our skill set. Gonzaga had guys with wide open looks/drives due to fantastic cuts and pick and rolls. If you inventoried all of the shots we took (where the defensive players in relation to the player with the ball)- we almost always had contested shots. They had far fewer contested or heavily contested shots. That's NOT a talent issue- that's coaches putting players where they need to be on the court.
We have too much athleticism for this team to look completely stifled (because most of our guys stood around) against a Zag team that didn't seem any more athletic than ours.
RECRUITING: Lights out great for where we could be.
Hoping Buzz puts it all together. We'll see.