[quote="SJU1512" post=300079]Offensively I actually thought team looked like they were further along than Nov. 1. Shamorie had a weird game but if Shamorie is one of the bigger concerns in an exhibition that's probably a good thing given how we know he competes when lights are on
. Figgy goes without saying but Keita looked outstanding as well and if Heron is anything close to advertised we added 3 major pieces that can impact this level. Major.
I think Dixon may struggle early at this level, small and not that quick, but seems skilled and is nice depth. A little surprised/concerned Williams didn't play given how Dixon looked. Trimble looked solid and when Heron is back I don't think it's a given Dixon will be taking the reserve guard minutes from him. Being able to physically compete really matters especially as SJU is undersized.
That all said scrimmage or no scrimmage difficult to watch last night and not be concerned about this team defensively. You wouldn't expect a baseball player to pick up a bat in January and time 100mph. But you would expect him not to step in the bucket repeatedly, and that's what SJU did defensively last night.
Either the staff has a severely flawed defensive philosophy that the players are executing as asked, or the players aren't executing a more favorable defensive strategy that the staff is trying to implement. I tend to think it's the former because this is mostly fundamental stuff that has been persistent across seasons. It's not an effort thing as guys seemed really engaged and active last night. But it's not enough to have length and athleticism and effort. Defense is a team sport. Two consistent breakdowns that have been and continue to be bone crunching:
1. There were probably conservatively 10+ times last night that we had 5 guys with at least one foot on the strong side of the rim line. Yes, theoretically that's how you might exaggeratedly teach a youth team to play help defense. But this is high major division 1 basketball in an era when the 3 is being emphasized probably more than ever. Our extreme help creates 3s that wide open wouldn't even begin to describe. Think about the amount of corner 3s Maryville created by driving baseline - with absolutely no play on the rim - and drawing 2-3 white shirts. It's too easy which even Maryville was able to remind last night and we don't need to imagine what better teams can do against this because we watched our 3pt fg defense last year. We need to take more chances with contested shots at the rim (especially since Keita seems like he can alter) as opposed to taking that away and giving away the 3 point line almost completely.
2. We don't defend screens. Not on the ball, not off the ball. In the P&R you either hedge and recover or fight underneath. We seemingly do neither, with both of our guys just sort of drifting with the ball, which kind of prevents the drive (?), but even if it does leaves the screener mostly wide open. This is largely why teams with bigs who can shoot have crushed us in the pick and pop and last night it was there again almost whenever Maryville wanted it. Off the ball you need the man on the screener to get a bump on the opposing player coming off the screen so he can't take his desired path from A to B. With our physical advantage last night we should have been blowing these guys up every time they wanted to come off a screen to the point where they didn't want to run motion off the ball anymore. Instead late in game with game on line Maryville runs a basic downscreen unimpeded for a wide open 3. It would genuinely be unacceptable to have that little resistance on that play if we were defending Draymond Green screening for Klay Thompson. To have it happen last night really makes you wonder if there even is a defensive approach.
Given how basic this stuff is I hope it changes, but given how long it's been going on I don't know if it does. If so team is going to have to press for close to 40, which they probably should anyway to take advantage of skillset, but this sort of defensive approach in the half court will almost necessitate it. Maybe too harsh for a scrimmage, but that was mind boggling last night for a pick-up game let alone right before it starts to count, and only more concerning because consistent with what we've seen previously. I think this team is really going to score but they are going to have to score a lot unless they make some pretty material changes defensively.[/quote]
You teach defense. We just don't have the teachers to teach that aspect of the game which is basically absent in NBA players. We have two former NBA players coaching kids but there is very little teaching going on from what we have seen over these past 3 years.
