Long Term Question?

H

hnkcolumbia

Well-known member
Overall, the team is making step by step progress. Coach calls it a natural progression. It's unwise to make an overall assessment until we have a balanced roster of 10 Big East players front court and backcourt. That's next year.. Then the question is will Coach's style of treating them like men, like pros, work work with 20 year olds? They're kids after all. We'll find out next year.

In the meantime, hopeful we can enjoy the rest of this season as erratic as we are.
 
I am personally not a fan of the pro style offense on the college level. You need to have 8 or 9 players who can all shoot the 3 with 40% or so precision. The total de-emphasis on rebounding is frustrating and a negative to me. Again it all comes down to recruiting the right players for the right system, but I think most colleges will have a hard time finding enough legit shooters to make that work.

Frankly, while our team gets kudos for being a good shooting team (e.g. prime example is Trimble), I don't think that's true, at least not consistently against good defenders. We really don't have one guy I would categorize as a consistent "lights out" shooter.
 
Right now, when a guy makes a mistake or two, a lazy foul, a forced shot, a three when a drive is available, a missed close out, a missed open player to pass, Coach has no real option to sit him down for a few. Now the only option is to watch film the next day.
 
Redmanwest wrote: Frankly, while our team gets kudos for being a good shooting team (e.g. prime example is Trimble), I don't think that's true, at least not consistently against good defenders. We really don't have one guy I would categorize as a consistent "lights out" shooter.

Agree with the above. Our team now shoots 36% from three, which is average as opposed to being above 40% earlier in the year. Ponds is down to 35% and Clark 36%. Clark shot 41% last year and Ponds, while bad last year from three, shot 38% as a freshman. Heron is our only real consistent three point shooter (42%).
 
I know a lot of you will disagree with me but what the hay it's JMO. Quite a few Friar fans tweeted out last night that in pre-game warm ups our players were taking 30 footers, laughing and joking around. IMO pre-game is where you should be getting mentally ready for the task at hand especially playing a team that punked us on our home court within the last two weeks. These are college kids not pros and leaving them to their own devices may not be prudent and IMO Mullin needs to run a bit of a tighter ship and instill more discipline and direction for college kids.
 
I am unaware of any successful college men’s basketball coach whose team
(x) plays man defense and switches every occasion without attempting to fight through picks thereby creating guards guarding bigs on a regular basis, or
(y) whose team seemingly does not putt any effort into offensive rebounding or following up on missed shots
 
I notice they are always fooling around before games with stupid shots.

They need to be treated like kids and not pros. I believe that is part of the problem, just my opinion.
 
[quote="hopeful" post=324592]Overall, the team is making step by step progress. Coach calls it a natural progression. It's unwise to make an overall assessment until we have a balanced roster of 10 Big East players front court and backcourt. That's next year.. Then the question is will Coach's style of treating them like men, like pros, work work with 20 year olds? They're kids after all. We'll find out next year.

In the meantime, hopeful we can enjoy the rest of this season as erratic as we are.[/quote]

You stole my word man: ‘erratic’—the perfect description for these guys.
A maddening and frustrating experience rooting for this talented group.
They could beat anybody but Duke on all cylinders and lose to the Little Sisters of the Poor the very next game.
I’ve got no clue what to expect these last 4 games or in the BET and any thoughts of ‘dancing’ on my part, are delusional.
I’ll just root.
 
Last edited:
Long term question. I question where this program is headed. Much talk about roster imbalance. How about next years imbalance. We currently have two centers who are not playable. We bring in a juco center who is a project and we all hope Steere is the answer based on his big body. Maybe he is. But how is that not roster imbalance? Four guys for one spot on the floor, three guys that are questionable.

Hey, I’m 84 years old. The shot clock is running out. I do not have time for more rebuilds.
 
[quote="Manhattan1" post=324718]I notice they are always fooling around before games with stupid shots.

They need to be treated like kids and not pros. I believe that is part of the problem, just my opinion.[/quote]

I don't want to make this out to be the problem, but.....anyone who observed Villanova's routine in the pregame workout saw a very different culture at work. Very together, highly organized and consisting of drills that highlighted skills most likely to be employed during the game. No dunking, no half-court shots, no hoodies with headphones, etc.

Again, not saying this is the reason we lose games. But, as a fan, I am definitely drawn to the "all business" approach.
 
[quote="Rehobie" post=324725]Long term question. I question where this program is headed. Much talk about roster imbalance. How about next years imbalance. We currently have two centers who are not playable. We bring in a juco center who is a project and we all hope Steere is the answer based on his big body. Maybe he is. But how is that not roster imbalance? Four guys for one spot on the floor, three guys that are questionable. [/quote]

I also question where the program is headed. I believe there are still far more questions than answers. I'm afraid next season could be another reset of sorts.

Hey, I’m 84 years old. The shot clock is running out. I do not have time for more rebuilds.
Click to expand...

Haha! Good one.
 
[quote="bamafan" post=324711]I know a lot of you will disagree with me but what the hay it's JMO. Quite a few Friar fans tweeted out last night that in pre-game warm ups our players were taking 30 footers, laughing and joking around. IMO pre-game is where you should be getting mentally ready for the task at hand especially playing a team that punked us on our home court within the last two weeks. These are college kids not pros and leaving them to their own devices may not be prudent and IMO Mullin needs to run a bit of a tighter ship and instill more discipline and direction for college kids.[/quote]

It may seem minute, but it goes hand-in-hand with stuff we've witnessed for nearly 4 seasons. This is the kinda stuff that gives me no faith long-term with this staff.

Concur on Otis's post.
 
I think kids need the business approach that is why Nova has a great culture.

The only thing I am happy about is that I do not believe Cragg is going to sit and let this go on. He is here to build the athletics department and brand and if changes need to be made he will do so. Staff, Coach, culture, etc.
 
[quote="otis" post=324716]I am unaware of any successful college men’s basketball coach whose team
(x) plays man defense and switches every occasion without attempting to fight through picks thereby creating guards guarding bigs on a regular basis, or
(y) whose team seemingly does not putt any effort into offensive rebounding or following up on missed shots[/quote]

Otis,
I don't think it is a lack of effort, but instruction from Mullin telling the team not to go for offensive boards and to get back on defense to limit transition baskets. My friend noticed this on the 2nd possession against Villanova, he said why do all the players run back on defense when a shot goes up, no one even tries to rebound.
 
[quote="ipd200" post=324745][quote="otis" post=324716]I am unaware of any successful college men’s basketball coach whose team
(x) plays man defense and switches every occasion without attempting to fight through picks thereby creating guards guarding bigs on a regular basis, or
(y) whose team seemingly does not putt any effort into offensive rebounding or following up on missed shots[/quote]

Otis,
I don't think it is a lack of effort, but instruction from Mullin telling the team not to go for offensive boards and to get back on defense to limit transition baskets. My friend noticed this on the 2nd possession against Villanova, he said why do all the players run back on defense when a shot goes up, no one even tries to rebound.[/quote]

Mullin himself has said many times that's what it is.

You may not agree with that line of thinking (I think you can have a bit of the best of both worlds- have 2 guys crash, and send 3 defenders back), but that is what he has said.

Makes me wonder why we keep harping on it.
 
[quote="otis" post=324716]I am unaware of any successful college men’s basketball coach whose team
(x) plays man defense and switches every occasion without attempting to fight through picks thereby creating guards guarding bigs on a regular basis, or
(y) whose team seemingly does not putt any effort into offensive rebounding or following up on missed shots[/quote]

I think Mully uses the retreat and defend approach because we dont have a particularly gifted offensive rebounder. So in general, we prefer to cut off transition chances for our opponents more than going after (usually a low probability) chances for extra possessions.
The "follow your shot" approach is good for corner shots and any shot within 10 feet of the basket.
What irks me more is not going after defensive rebounds.  That's just lazy basketball.
 
[quote="JohnnyFan" post=324727][quote="Manhattan1" post=324718]I notice they are always fooling around before games with stupid shots.

They need to be treated like kids and not pros. I believe that is part of the problem, just my opinion.[/quote]

I don't want to make this out to be the problem, but.....anyone who observed Villanova's routine in the pregame workout saw a very different culture at work. Very together, highly organized and consisting of drills that highlighted skills most likely to be employed during the game. No dunking, no half-court shots, no hoodies with headphones, etc.

Again, not saying this is the reason we lose games. But, as a fan, I am definitely drawn to the "all business" approach.[/quote]

The half court shot Simon hit set us up for the win. Wright missed defending it in his drills. During NCAA final, same point was made by one of the analysts. Very structured practice.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top