In Game Strategy

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GardenCity62

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Last night's game showed what we have seen for going on four years, this group can play with top 25 teams when they press and run and they struggle with Div Two teams in their half court offense.
Without a power forward and with a surplus of guards this will probably be the same this year.
The half court press last night was effective and while it results in more fouls I think it is our only strategy since SJU will be undersized all year. There was an effort last night to run after made baskets which is great. Any time SJU crosses half court with a man advantage the ball should be taking to the hoop or a medium range jump shot should be attempted.
We not only have the athletic guards to play this way our center will outrun any opponent.
Nothing is worse than watching the ball move from side to side around the 3 point line while the defense takes a breather for 20 seconds followed by a long jump shot.
 
Last night's game showed what we have seen for going on four years, this group can play with top 25 teams when they press and run and they struggle with Div Two teams in their half court offense.
Without a power forward and with a surplus of guards this will probably be the same this year.
The half court press last night was effective and while it results in more fouls I think it is our only strategy since SJU will be undersized all year. There was an effort last night to run after made baskets which is great. Any time SJU crosses half court with a man advantage the ball should be taking to the hoop or a medium range jump shot should be attempted.
We not only have the athletic guards to play this way our center will outrun any opponent.
Nothing is worse than watching the ball move from side to side around the 3 point line while the defense takes a breather for 20 seconds followed by a long jump shot.
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I agree wholeheartedly with your post---except that I want to see it against better competition before I say it will work against top 25 opponents.
 
Last night's game showed what we have seen for going on four years, this group can play with top 25 teams when they press and run and they struggle with Div Two teams in their half court offense.
Without a power forward and with a surplus of guards this will probably be the same this year.
The half court press last night was effective and while it results in more fouls I think it is our only strategy since SJU will be undersized all year. There was an effort last night to run after made baskets which is great. Any time SJU crosses half court with a man advantage the ball should be taking to the hoop or a medium range jump shot should be attempted.
We not only have the athletic guards to play this way our center will outrun any opponent.
Nothing is worse than watching the ball move from side to side around the 3 point line while the defense takes a breather for 20 seconds followed by a long jump shot.
Click to expand...
Would like to see a little more sets in which Jordan and Jones post up and I'd like to see a few more clearouts for Jordan on the wing
 
And a ban on Pointer and PGIV bringing the ball up, particularly since if they give the ball up they can outrun most defenders and get it back for a layup.
 
Last night's game showed what we have seen for going on four years, this group can play with top 25 teams when they press and run and they struggle with Div Two teams in their half court offense.
Without a power forward and with a surplus of guards this will probably be the same this year.
The half court press last night was effective and while it results in more fouls I think it is our only strategy since SJU will be undersized all year. There was an effort last night to run after made baskets which is great. Any time SJU crosses half court with a man advantage the ball should be taking to the hoop or a medium range jump shot should be attempted.
We not only have the athletic guards to play this way our center will outrun any opponent.
Nothing is worse than watching the ball move from side to side around the 3 point line while the defense takes a breather for 20 seconds followed by a long jump shot.
Click to expand...

You are right when you say this year will probably be the same. We wont have an inside game and they showed again that no one can be relied upon to shoot from the 3 point line. Witness all the missed 3 point shots. Imagine if we were playing a Division 1 school. We would have been in deep trouble
 
:huh: It blows my mind that teams do not play zone against our poor outside shooters.
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A positive from the NJIT game is that it looks like they did install zone sets on offense to try to get the ball into the lane. NJIT went zone in the 2nd half. After years of playing against Cuse, we finally learned that what to do.

How they execute it against taller, more athletic teams however will be the question.
 
1.Everybody stays home on the defensive glass. Running will have to be off steals.

2. D Lo must avoid silly fouls (most of his are) because he needs to be on the floor for 35 minutes a game. He must also play within himself and rely on his teammates. He really understands what to do to get into position to score or get an assist. Unlike Greene who dribbles side to side, D Lo eyes the defense, and looks to attack. He has to avoid getting lazy and settling for the long 3, which happens a little too often.

3. Less reaching on D. Having NJIT in the bonus early both halves is not a good sign.

4. Trust each other. Too much one on one.

5. The 3 is not for everyone. Wide open 3s for D Lo,, Jordan and Phil, with their feet half an inch behind the line.
 
1.Everybody stays home on the defensive glass. Running will have to be off steals.

2. D Lo must avoid silly fouls (most of his are) because he needs to be on the floor for 35 minutes a game.
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Agree that he needs to be smart but 4 of the 5 fouls he got could have just as easily been no calls. And they were all plays that would result in something positive. Not like doms fouls 50 ft from the hoop :p
 
I like less talented, but deeper teams, running and pressing a lot. It tires your opponent out, results in them committing fouls, and forces them to go deeper into their bench then they would prefer. That being said, our ability to press over the years has been pretty horrible, and just one guy out of position can result in easy baskets for the opposition. Add to that the fact that our key guys commit an inordinate number of fouls far from the basket, and we certainly can't withstand that with a pretty shallow bench of our own.
 
Watching Friday night's game was a pleasure. Good result against bad competition aside, it was refreshing to see the team look prepared and focused in an early season game as opposed to going through the motions and expecting to win.

From a team perspective there was attention to detail - when someone drove baseline we had a player checking down to the opposite corner as an outlet every single time. There was excitement about the little things - tipped balls on D, guys diving on the floor for loose balls, etc. And there was purpose on offense (some of the most consistent 40 minutes of movement on offense we've seen the last 4 years, with very limited 1 on 1/bad shot selection) and defense (the press was in advanced shape and guys were flying all over the court for virtually the entire game). It has been rare in recent years that SJU has looked ahead of where they should be in a given game, and that's how this team looked Friday.

Individually Chris obviously stood out above all. He always moved well for a big in straight lines, but on Friday he was showing mobility in every direction. That was shades of Anthony Davis in terms of the way he was covering ground and using his length to get himself involved in plays he had no business being involved in. He has a chance to be one of the best two-way pick and roll bigs in the country if he's going to play like that, making an impact away from the basket the same way he has around the basket the last two years.

But Dom has to be mentioned as well. If we can get that game (not the numbers necessarily, more the contribution) from Dom in 90% of games this year, it's going to result in additional wins. That was the kind of energy he brought his freshman and sophomore years that earned him his nickname, before oddly becoming passive and not having much of an impact last year. When Dom is making things happen in transition and getting himself involved on the backboard on both ends of the court that's when he's at his best and we are a better team. I hope he's getting a lot of positive reinforcement from the staff the last few days about how critical him playing like he did Friday is. With out lack of front court depth, we need Dom to trend more towards Lavor Postell (setting aside half-court offensive skills) than 13/14 Dom. Consistently using your athleticism to play bigger than you are. He's 1/1 so far and if he can give us that 25+ times this year it's going to make a big difference.
 
Agree on Dom SJU1512, and I agree with your entire post, but especially on Dom. A double double against much lesser competition is nothing to go crazy about, but I rewatched the game last night and some of the rebounds he pulled down were boards he just wasn't looking to get his first three years. He had two instances where he tried to dribble in by himself on the fast break and nearly lost the ball, and that is the one thing I want to see him stop doing.

Other than that I am staying with my preseason prediction that he will improve big time this year, I am excited for this team to play a good team like Minnesota and see how they react.
 
Agree on Dom SJU1512, and I agree with your entire post, but especially on Dom. A double double against much lesser competition is nothing to go crazy about, but I rewatched the game last night and some of the rebounds he pulled down were boards he just wasn't looking to get his first three years. He had two instances where he tried to dribble in by himself on the fast break and nearly lost the ball, and that is the one thing I want to see him stop doing.

Other than that I am staying with my preseason prediction that he will improve big time this year, I am excited for this team to play a good team like Minnesota and see how they react.
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You got it, Jack. Dom's production can probably be most easily measured by one stat: the number of times he touches the ball when it isn't being passed to him. So, rebounds, tips, deflections, etc. Even when he doesn't come up with the ball, he's putting us in better position to get the ball. There were a few times on Friday where he didn't get the rebound, but got his hands in on a rebound a NJIT player was about to get and SJU got it instead. With our lack of size that type of stuff is just going to be massive. We could call this stat the disruptive counter, because Dom is at his best when he's being disruptive.
 
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