Butler, Sat. Feb. 6, 4:30pm, MSG (FSN) & 570 AM

[bamafan]

Love your point on number 7. As to maybe that's what it has come down to, lack of communication between players and coaches on the bench because of what you have seen on our bench-just look at other teams, you will see the opposite is true.

 

[Too_Funny]

Troubling that Mullin consulted the box score during that entire interview and used statistics in his analysis of what went wrong. It suggests that he doesn't know enough about basketball to learn everything there is about a game by merely watching it once live from a single POV, as so many redmen dot com readers are able to do. Is it possible he's in over his head?

way over his head ... someone better teach him the methodology of coming up with the answer he wants, and then trying to fit as much anecdotal and observational data provided here.

 

[westchesterjoe]

Takeaways from the game. I cheated because I was awake at 3 AM and saw part of the second half on TV after watching the game in person. Total glutton for punishment

1) Yakwe leads the Big East in blocks. Sima when injured was in the top 5 in the nation in blocks. If they can actually work in tandem, they could be a force. Unfortunately, Sima looked like a guy with a broken hand who hadn't played in more than a month, and both were ineffective defensively - not a real presence in any susbtantive way.

2) If Mussini really is a two, and they decided not to start him the part few games, it means that Ellison was playing the point. If they were going to start Ellison at the point, if they had a lot of faith in Mussini being the 2, why not just start him at the 2 to get him more looks? Size, speed? A look into the future as to where Mussini may figure in the rotation?

3) Odd meeting during a timeout. Slice spoke to the players, and Mullin was in an animated discussion with all of the other coaches, stat sheets in hand. I never saw anything like that before.

4) I cannot for the life of me understand the seating arrangement on the bench. Beginning with Linfonte closest to the scorers table, then all assistants (Richmond, Mullin Slice, Matt A) sit together, then 1-2 players then Zendon. Nobody talks to any of the players during the game, not to prepare them to go in, or to explain some aspect of the game to them. Considering all the coaches on the bench it seems odd to me, but maybe that's what college basketball coaching has become - no communication between management and workers.

5) The game itself? We played horrible defense, and gave them any open look they wanted.

6) Other than girls basketball, and boys CYO, I never saw a team that went to the hoop without being able to finish layups worse.

7) Felix goes 1-4 from the line, and then launches a 20 footer a minute later. I mean if you can't make a FT with no one guarding you, what makes you think you can hit a 20 footer?

All valid points. Just a comment about Players coming out of the Games and not getting much attention, if that is your opinion? The talent Gap with our current guys is so wide, that in game adjustments or, Coach's instructions aren't really going to help this Crew, is it? How do you tell Mussini to guard somebody 3-4 inches taller and 30 pounds heavier and quicker? Not much can be done there.

And, Balamou, Johnson and Ron M., are roster fillers and gone as soon as the Final Whistle. We owe them support for putting a team, other than Walk Ons, on the Court. They have made the effort but, are outclassed in every BE GAME.

So, I don't think the Coaches are negligent in Instruction but, just not much they can do to stem the tide this year. We have had so many bad years of BB over the last 15 that one more year is small penance to wait for the Renaissance that will come under Mullin's tenure. I still think we may have a shot on splitting with DePaul.

 

[beast of the east]

Takeaways from the game. I cheated because I was awake at 3 AM and saw part of the second half on TV after watching the game in person. Total glutton for punishment

1) Yakwe leads the Big East in blocks. Sima when injured was in the top 5 in the nation in blocks. If they can actually work in tandem, they could be a force. Unfortunately, Sima looked like a guy with a broken hand who hadn't played in more than a month, and both were ineffective defensively - not a real presence in any susbtantive way.

2) If Mussini really is a two, and they decided not to start him the part few games, it means that Ellison was playing the point. If they were going to start Ellison at the point, if they had a lot of faith in Mussini being the 2, why not just start him at the 2 to get him more looks? Size, speed? A look into the future as to where Mussini may figure in the rotation?

3) Odd meeting during a timeout. Slice spoke to the players, and Mullin was in an animated discussion with all of the other coaches, stat sheets in hand. I never saw anything like that before.

4) I cannot for the life of me understand the seating arrangement on the bench. Beginning with Linfonte closest to the scorers table, then all assistants (Richmond, Mullin Slice, Matt A) sit together, then 1-2 players then Zendon. Nobody talks to any of the players during the game, not to prepare them to go in, or to explain some aspect of the game to them. Considering all the coaches on the bench it seems odd to me, but maybe that's what college basketball coaching has become - no communication between management and workers.

5) The game itself? We played horrible defense, and gave them any open look they wanted.

6) Other than girls basketball, and boys CYO, I never saw a team that went to the hoop without being able to finish layups worse.

7) Felix goes 1-4 from the line, and then launches a 20 footer a minute later. I mean if you can't make a FT with no one guarding you, what makes you think you can hit a 20 footer?

All valid points. Just a comment about Players coming out of the Games and not getting much attention, if that is your opinion? The talent Gap with our current guys is so wide, that in game adjustments or, Coach's instructions aren't really going to help this Crew, is it? How do you tell Mussini to guard somebody 3-4 inches taller and 30 pounds heavier and quicker? Not much can be done there.

And, Balamou, Johnson and Ron M., are roster fillers and gone as soon as the Final Whistle. We owe them support for putting a team, other than Walk Ons, on the Court. They have made the effort but, are outclassed in every BE GAME.

So, I don't think the Coaches are negligent in Instruction but, just not much they can do to stem the tide this year. We have had so many bad years of BB over the last 15 that one more year is small penance to wait for the Renaissance that will come under Mullin's tenure. I still think we may have a shot on splitting with DePaul.

IF the staff really isn't communicating much with bench players except during timeouts (as I'm asserting), your rationale may be one reason why. My take is that college (and pro) players are often fundamentally deficient, so instructing a big man to front his man (or play behind him) to overplay him to his strong hand, get in his jock, be patient to wait for his shot and not rush it, or any number of things are all important brief discussions with players before they enter/exit a game, or to teach a player who isn't even scheduled to go in. I'd much rather see our coaches evenly dispersed along the bench then huddled together in a row watching the game together with no dialogue with players. To me at least, the less talented a player you are, the more instruction you need, and athletes of the D1 caliber are all capable of receiving instruction - even if they are overmatched vs. opponents talent wise.