Larry Wright
Well-known member
Much like WUSU he gets in trouble when he tries to out play his talent. If he cuts down on his wild charges into the lane and rebounds and hits open jumpers he will be fine.
Efficient 10 & 8 guy
Ledlum Struggles
- Thread starter paultzman
- Start date
Efficient 10 & 8 guy
My gut would be to tell Ledlum to NEVER drive the lane...only occasionally try a three...and get all your points off offensive rebounds. He's a beast on the boards with his outstanding effort. He's a lock to lose the ball or blow the layup when he's in the lane.
Plan B would be to have him work out of his funk.
Plan B would be to have him work out of his funk.
I would expect #8 to give rick what he wants. If he's adverse to at least trying there is a big problem.
When you have the coaching credentials that Pitino has you have the credibility to call out your best players and have them respond positively. Because it is Rick Pitino doing it.
You can learn a lot from his press conferences. In 2015-16 season he had an all-new backcourt in grad transfers Trey Lewis and Damion Lee. They had just lost a CBS National game to Virginia, got whooped pretty bad. Pitino, who loves Tony Bennett thinks he is one of the best coaches, was so impressed by how they play defense and was just totally disappointed in how his team played. The team was 17-4/6-2 which is not bad at all but he had not seen a good defensive effort outside of a game they played vs Pitt "all year." He talked about Malcolm Brogdon of UVA yelling "One more stop guys..." with Virginia up 20. He wanted that type of attitude from his kids.
He talked openly about the inexperience and "physical weakness" of his kids. And he had no. 1 UNC coming in 48 hours and worried about how his team was going to be ready for them. Well they ended up winning that game.
But here is the press conference and if you go to 3:50 mark he goes thru the entire roster and notes each player either being a)inexperienced or b) physically not ready in terms of not being good enough on defense.
You can learn a lot from his press conferences. In 2015-16 season he had an all-new backcourt in grad transfers Trey Lewis and Damion Lee. They had just lost a CBS National game to Virginia, got whooped pretty bad. Pitino, who loves Tony Bennett thinks he is one of the best coaches, was so impressed by how they play defense and was just totally disappointed in how his team played. The team was 17-4/6-2 which is not bad at all but he had not seen a good defensive effort outside of a game they played vs Pitt "all year." He talked about Malcolm Brogdon of UVA yelling "One more stop guys..." with Virginia up 20. He wanted that type of attitude from his kids.
He talked openly about the inexperience and "physical weakness" of his kids. And he had no. 1 UNC coming in 48 hours and worried about how his team was going to be ready for them. Well they ended up winning that game.
But here is the press conference and if you go to 3:50 mark he goes thru the entire roster and notes each player either being a)inexperienced or b) physically not ready in terms of not being good enough on defense.
and yesterday, I saw him as a total team player, a bull under the
boards and surprisingly with his weight, he is capable of skying.
What kills me is the points we give up by not boxing out, that's
a killer.
Your comments are absolutely correct . I viewed some of Ledlum’s interviews Pre Season and he appears to be a outstanding young Man .
There was some flip flopping with him coming here after he committed to Tennessee last Spring .Perhaps a mutual decision with he, his Dad and Coach Rick Barnes .
Or , just maybe the Mountains of Knoxville weren’t all that appealing ? Regardless, RP wanted him all along and took him on immediately .
It wasn’t without cost however , Quin Slazinski was one of the first Iona kids to follow RP here and was a outspoken advocate for him from day 1.
Problem was that Slazinski wanted his last year to be Special with ample Playing time and having Ledlum on board was going to reduce that for Quin somewhat .
So , he opted out of St John’s for WVU , where he is doing better than quite well . Rumor had it that Rick did not want to lose Slazinski but , a meeting of the minds didn’t prevail .
Slasinski is a good player . 4 Star Recruit for Louisville out of HS and he can shoot an rebound , which he is doing for the Mountaineers . We will see him in person shortly . He’s also taller than Ledlum at 6’8” i think .
Losing him was not a positive .
I ‘m not sure with your Assessment that Ledlum will be a Corporate Executive in 20 years .I think he might be President .
If y'all ever notice, there are times when Joel is doing work in the paint or hit a three; he'll look back at Pitino and bark at him. It's done in jest, but you also knows it comes from a place where Pitino is pushing buttons and motivating Soriano.
Larry Wright
Well-known member
I think the problems early on are pretty obvious. Ledlum pretty solidly built. Played in Ivy League against a bunch of smart kids. Smart kids probably thought wise to get out of the way of his bull charges into the lane.
Playing against dumber kids now. Getting in his way.
Playing against dumber kids now. Getting in his way.
Moose
Well-known member
Might be your best post ever
MugCostanza
Well-known member
Posting it here since Ledlum wouldn't be here had we landed Mgbako, but looks like we dodged a bullet on that one. Early in the season and in his career but he looks like completely lost on the floor especially on the defensive end and is now stuck riding the bench down the stretch here against Louisville
Which reinforces the reality of 18-19 year olds playing against 24-25 year olds . It’s tough .
Mgbako no different than our Wilcher and Dunlap on trying to learn how to play defense at this level .
i thought he had trouble getting over the rim with the ball in his hands
I think he can be a weapon if he picks his spots. He’s trying to be Robin to Jenkins.
2 drives and 2-3 open jumpers a game. 3-4 posts ups. Do tons of damage on the offensive glass.
So did Paul Silas, possibly the best rebounding forward of his time esp off the offensive glass. 90% of rebounds taken below the rim.
Zach excerpt from Post piece today
“
• Chris Ledlum’s performance in the win over Utah stood out, and not just because shots fell in a 15-point, nine-rebound effort. It was noticeable changes he made. The undersized 6-foot-6 power forward took open shots when they were there rather than driving into traffic, which is something he had been doing too much of. Twice, after offensive rebounds he passed the ball out for open 3s rather than going back up against Utah’s 7-footers.
Pitino said he wants him taking as many as seven 3s per game as long as the shots are there. That’s not something Ledlum, shooting 44.4 percent early on from beyond the arc, is accustomed to. He clearly has the ability, though, to be a weapon against bigger defenders on the perimeter, which could in turn open up driving lanes.”
“
• Chris Ledlum’s performance in the win over Utah stood out, and not just because shots fell in a 15-point, nine-rebound effort. It was noticeable changes he made. The undersized 6-foot-6 power forward took open shots when they were there rather than driving into traffic, which is something he had been doing too much of. Twice, after offensive rebounds he passed the ball out for open 3s rather than going back up against Utah’s 7-footers.
Pitino said he wants him taking as many as seven 3s per game as long as the shots are there. That’s not something Ledlum, shooting 44.4 percent early on from beyond the arc, is accustomed to. He clearly has the ability, though, to be a weapon against bigger defenders on the perimeter, which could in turn open up driving lanes.”
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Charles Oakley another great rebounder who got a lot of his rebounds due to positioning and not skying. Wes Unseld, Willis Reed, the list goes on and on.....
I think he could be more of a scorer if he would see more of the ball.
It's like passing to him has been a last resort.
Then, it would also open up the center more helping our drivers and Joel's
l0 ft jumpers.
I can also see him doing damage with short jump shots straight away or banked
and still being close enough for offensive rebounds, Driving all the way in doesn't
look good.
Chris has beautiful form and a confident look on his shots.
He has that same form and look on his foul shooting.
I would be surprised if he doesn't develop into being a BIGGG help
to the team.
Ivy League or not, there's plenty of talent there.
Silas and Dave Cowens making hi-lo post play into an art form. Anything close to that approach is a probable winner. Of course the celts had Jojo, Nelson, and Havlicek for when the defense collapsed inside.
Wait, you think he’s not seeing ENOUGH touches? Him and Jenkins have absolutely dominated looks so far. We have the nation’s second leading scorer from last year who barely touches the ball because of those two.
Ledlum can be a weapon I completely agree. Because of our lack of a true PG, he can help with passing out of the post. He can also be the top offensive rebounder in the conference. I don’t mind his open jumpers or wide open drives, but he has to pick his spots. Drive when the backup is in or in the bonus.