Clearly, in the world of college basketball, there are two kinds of teams....first, we have teams that play in clever mode at all times. They tend to exploit their opponent's weaknesses, never appear to play foolish, they play as a cohesive unit, and never ever give the game away. They play aggressively and as a unit on defense, while racking up assists and open looks for their offenses. They usually display balance on both ends of the court, while rebounding with intensity and good position as well. They are well versed in the world of basketball theatrics: flopping, lower body hip checks, etc. They rarely take ill-advised shots and always always work for an open shot.
Then you have the teams who operate in the foolish mode. They allow constant penetration of the center. They allow easy kick outs and open looks for established three point shooters. They perpetually fail to maintain good position on the men they are guarding. They never take a charge. They hit airspace on every attempted shot and never consequently box anyone out. They miss assignments and frequently switch badly on pick and rolls. They fail to identify opponents who offer the best chance to hurt them. They frequently lose defensive balance and react late when help is needed. They commit foolish fouls. The interior is often open and they tend to apply pressure much too far from the basket. They frequently lack a real understanding of what the opponent is actually trying to do. They don't communicate.
Surely, watching the Red Storm play at San Francisco last night left little doubt about which category we fit into. I actually turned this game off. I couldn't stand watching the stupidity any longer.
I remember being pretty critical of Louie at the end of his coaching reign. I felt his style of basketball lacked imagination and excitement. I thought that basketball, as taught by guys like Carrill and Carnesecca, was a dinosaur with the introduction of the shot clock. Particularly with the modern athlete along with his speed and high flying athleticism. But one thing that Coach Carnesecca rarely ever did. And that was "lose to a team with inferior talent". Coach Lou would bore you to death, but he would sit back in solid, unforgiving defense...and pass the ball until someone got an open and uncontested look. That formula resulted in a pretty good won-loss record.
What St' John's is currently doing on the court is nothing short of ridiculous. Last night we took a kid, who was 0-2 from three point range, and turned him into John Stockton. I'm waiting for Coach Lavin and staff to tell Dom Pointer and the other guards to back it up. WE NEED CONTAINMENT...NOT A STEAL! Allowing this kid to go one-on-one to the rim five or six times is sickening. I'm tired of watching them being beaten off the dribble for penetration. I'm tired of the kick outs and open threes. I'm tired of the half-hearted double teams and the resulting backdoors. I'm tired of the blown assignments. We are pretty long Steve! Back it up and watch how fast our defense improves. How many open threes from the corner are we going to surrender anyway?
Certainly, the reffing in the game last night didn't help much...and was a factor in breaking us down. The entire San Francisco team was guarding by using their hands..allowable apparently by west coast referees...and the tech on Dom at the end was more an expression of frustration than anything. But I still believe that smarter basketball would have won this game. Once again, we played right into their hands. I believe that we had a superior team out there. We simply failed to address their strengths and weaknesses with intelligence.
Then you have the teams who operate in the foolish mode. They allow constant penetration of the center. They allow easy kick outs and open looks for established three point shooters. They perpetually fail to maintain good position on the men they are guarding. They never take a charge. They hit airspace on every attempted shot and never consequently box anyone out. They miss assignments and frequently switch badly on pick and rolls. They fail to identify opponents who offer the best chance to hurt them. They frequently lose defensive balance and react late when help is needed. They commit foolish fouls. The interior is often open and they tend to apply pressure much too far from the basket. They frequently lack a real understanding of what the opponent is actually trying to do. They don't communicate.
Surely, watching the Red Storm play at San Francisco last night left little doubt about which category we fit into. I actually turned this game off. I couldn't stand watching the stupidity any longer.
I remember being pretty critical of Louie at the end of his coaching reign. I felt his style of basketball lacked imagination and excitement. I thought that basketball, as taught by guys like Carrill and Carnesecca, was a dinosaur with the introduction of the shot clock. Particularly with the modern athlete along with his speed and high flying athleticism. But one thing that Coach Carnesecca rarely ever did. And that was "lose to a team with inferior talent". Coach Lou would bore you to death, but he would sit back in solid, unforgiving defense...and pass the ball until someone got an open and uncontested look. That formula resulted in a pretty good won-loss record.
What St' John's is currently doing on the court is nothing short of ridiculous. Last night we took a kid, who was 0-2 from three point range, and turned him into John Stockton. I'm waiting for Coach Lavin and staff to tell Dom Pointer and the other guards to back it up. WE NEED CONTAINMENT...NOT A STEAL! Allowing this kid to go one-on-one to the rim five or six times is sickening. I'm tired of watching them being beaten off the dribble for penetration. I'm tired of the kick outs and open threes. I'm tired of the half-hearted double teams and the resulting backdoors. I'm tired of the blown assignments. We are pretty long Steve! Back it up and watch how fast our defense improves. How many open threes from the corner are we going to surrender anyway?
Certainly, the reffing in the game last night didn't help much...and was a factor in breaking us down. The entire San Francisco team was guarding by using their hands..allowable apparently by west coast referees...and the tech on Dom at the end was more an expression of frustration than anything. But I still believe that smarter basketball would have won this game. Once again, we played right into their hands. I believe that we had a superior team out there. We simply failed to address their strengths and weaknesses with intelligence.