(POST GAME) Central Conn. St., Sat. Nov. 9, 4p, FS-2, 570 WMCA

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[quote="firestorm" post=362555][quote="usguard" post=362554]Do you see 40 mins of hell working with teams like Nova,SH etc[/quote]

Not sure, but almost certainly better than 40 minutes of confusion.[/quote]

At the very least MA keeps our squad in great shape and at the end of games the other team gets tired and makes mistakes.
 
[quote="Redmen88" post=362611]


At the very least MA keeps our squad in great shape and at the end of games the other team gets tired and makes mistakes.[/quote]
———-
..... in addition CMA’s players don’t switch on every pick while playing defense, and his player’s do not concede all offensive rebounds as we saw the last few years.
 
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[quote="otis" post=362614][quote="Redmen88" post=362611]


At the very least MA keeps our squad in great shape and at the end of games the other team gets tired and makes mistakes.[/quote]
———-
..... in addition CMA’s players don’t switch on every pick while playing defense, and his player’s do not concede all offensive rebounds as we saw the last few years.[/quote]

I know Chris knows bball, he was a great player, but how do you tell your players not to go for the offensive rebound? Was the Nelson's philosophy at G.S.? Just glad a real coach is here.
 
So here's a delayed report on the Cent Conn game:

Heron has been set up to be this year's version of Ponds in terms of being the designated shooter/scorer. However he is obviously less ball-dominant, which is good. His shot continues to look tremendously improved, and he has been a vocal leader on the floor.

By contrast, Figueroa does not yet seem comfortable in the new offense. It looks like some of that is him getting to the right spot and then not getting the ball.

Josh Roberts has been playing lights-out from an energy standpoint. It would be good if there were some plays run for him, but he's effective at cleaning up garbage around the rim. Ditto Earlington. Sears showed some nice post moves in the Cent Conn game, and he's a bruiser on the boards, but he's still far too foul-prone.

Williams continues to struggle. Rutherford continues to be OK. Carraher is useful in the limited minutes he's been getting.

This team needs three things: a PG; a big; and a third scoring option after Heron and LJ. Steere will provide the second one in December; hopefully Dunn will be the first and then one of the two of them will be the third.

If those holes are filled then this should be a representative and competitive Big East team (by which i mean maybe 7th place). Without those two, they will still win a few games against teams that aren't ready for them and I think will manage to stay out of the basement.

I have no concerns about whether the style of play can be successful in the Big East. The coaching staff is excellent thus far and with the horses the style of play can get the program to the top end of the league. And I think the style of play is going to help bring in the horses - recruits are going to want to play this style of game.
 
[quote="Beast of the East" post=362604][quote="Tonyinfairfield " post=362562][quote="firestorm" post=362555][quote="usguard" post=362554]Do you see 40 mins of hell working with teams like Nova,SH etc[/quote]

Not sure, but almost certainly better than 40 minutes of confusion.[/quote]

Or 40 minutes of “What the hell?” Kudos to my friend JM for first saying this. :)[/quote]

Actually CMA was the one who first said that, at the annual basketball tipoff dinner.[/quote]

CMA said that about the way the guys played under Chris?
 
[quote="Tonyinfairfield " post=362639][quote="Beast of the East" post=362604][quote="Tonyinfairfield " post=362562][quote="firestorm" post=362555][quote="usguard" post=362554]Do you see 40 mins of hell working with teams like Nova,SH etc[/quote]

Not sure, but almost certainly better than 40 minutes of confusion.[/quote]

Or 40 minutes of “What the hell?” Kudos to my friend JM for first saying this. :)[/quote]

Actually CMA was the one who first said that, at the annual basketball tipoff dinner.[/quote]

CMA said that about the way the guys played under Chris?[/quote]

No, about how 40 minutes of hell would look at times as his guys adjusted to it. 25 minutes of hell, 15 minutes of what the hell
 
[quote="lawmanfan" post=362616]So here's a delayed report on the Cent Conn game:

Heron has been set up to be this year's version of Ponds in terms of being the designated shooter/scorer. However he is obviously less ball-dominant, which is good. His shot continues to look tremendously improved, and he has been a vocal leader on the floor.

By contrast, Figueroa does not yet seem comfortable in the new offense. It looks like some of that is him getting to the right spot and then not getting the ball.

Josh Roberts has been playing lights-out from an energy standpoint. It would be good if there were some plays run for him, but he's effective at cleaning up garbage around the rim. Ditto Earlington. Sears showed some nice post moves in the Cent Conn game, and he's a bruiser on the boards, but he's still far too foul-prone.

Williams continues to struggle. Rutherford continues to be OK. Carraher is useful in the limited minutes he's been getting.

This team needs three things: a PG; a big; and a third scoring option after Heron and LJ. Steere will provide the second one in December; hopefully Dunn will be the first and then one of the two of them will be the third.

If those holes are filled then this should be a representative and competitive Big East team (by which i mean maybe 7th place). Without those two, they will still win a few games against teams that aren't ready for them and I think will manage to stay out of the basement.

I have no concerns about whether the style of play can be successful in the Big East. The coaching staff is excellent thus far and with the horses the style of play can get the program to the top end of the league. And I think the style of play is going to help bring in the horses - recruits are going to want to play this style of game.[/quote]

Think LJ looks more than comfortable so far. 18,6,6 was a walk in the park for him.
 
Agree regarding the holes. Imagine us having a big like Yvertsen or whatever his name is from G'Town or the Seton Hall beast (think he may be hurt now). You guys all know I'm Mikey two times (actually infinite times) with this stuff, but it really is true. We cannot seem to buy a major big man even with Jeff Bezos money. Hoping Steere is going to fill that void, however even if he's pretty good and we know Roberts will at least be solid, you really need another stud big. It really is a shame that Simon and Ponds left early, because if both were on this team and we had just 1 more big to add to Steere and Roberts, we really could be a darkhorse Sweet 16 team if the coaching really is as good as it looks so far. Simon would've had so many big-time dunks on all these fast breaks and he's a tenacious defender. Ponds had very good instinct and had a nose for the ball.

Anyway, moving forward I think we will all know a lot more after the Vermont game...still only cupcakes so far...but great start for now. The key to a perennial top 25 team that can do regular damage in March is solid coaching paired with lots of talented players. For years we've only had 1 or the other but never both. We may finally have both. The 2021 cycle will tell us a lot about CMA's recruiting ability which I think ultimately decides his fate here long-term.
 
The most startling deifference ashe competition level goes up is the skill and agility of opponents bigs. I'd withhold judgment on the quality of of the play of our bigs until we start playing teams with talent up front. While the play of Roberts is certainly encouraging, in the Big East if you switch off your man to try to block a shot, you can often be out of position, or even beat for a layup.

Like most of us I'm looking forward to seeing just how much Roberts has improved and if he can be a Big East impact player.

Caraher did not stand out at all against lower competition. No assessment yet because it takes a while for some guys to get their feet wet.

LJ cannot take 60% of his shots from three if we expect to be competitive. Yes, he will score points that way, but our style of play has to get us into the opponent's 2nd five, and fouls play a big part of that.
 
[quote="Beast of the East" post=362680]The most startling deifference ashe competition level goes up is the skill and agility of opponents bigs. I'd withhold judgment on the quality of of the play of our bigs until we start playing teams with talent up front. While the play of Roberts is certainly encouraging, in the Big East if you switch off your man to try to block a shot, you can often be out of position, or even beat for a layup.

Like most of us I'm looking forward to seeing just how much Roberts has improved and if he can be a Big East impact player.

Caraher did not stand out at all against lower competition. No assessment yet because it takes a while for some guys to get their feet wet.

LJ cannot take 60% of his shots from three if we expect to be competitive. Yes, he will score points that way, but our style of play has to get us into the opponent's 2nd five, and fouls play a big part of that.[/quote]

I will say this about our “bigs”. Roberts and Steere will be two of the most mobile and athletic bigs in the conference. We’ve seen Roberts athleticism and Steere’s is on par. Steere is an athletic beast physically. He’s a big, strong kid and will be more athletic than a lot of the guys he matches up with. He may not have the overall size of some of these 7 footers but if he plays aggressive ball and dunks everything he gets under the basket, we are gonna have a big addition in 8 more games.
 
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[quote="MCNPA" post=362681][quote="Beast of the East" post=362680]The most startling deifference ashe competition level goes up is the skill and agility of opponents bigs. I'd withhold judgment on the quality of of the play of our bigs until we start playing teams with talent up front. While the play of Roberts is certainly encouraging, in the Big East if you switch off your man to try to block a shot, you can often be out of position, or even beat for a layup.

Like most of us I'm looking forward to seeing just how much Roberts has improved and if he can be a Big East impact player.

Caraher did not stand out at all against lower competition. No assessment yet because it takes a while for some guys to get their feet wet.

LJ cannot take 60% of his shots from three if we expect to be competitive. Yes, he will score points that way, but our style of play has to get us into the opponent's 2nd five, and fouls play a big part of that.[/quote]

I will say this about our “bigs”. Roberts and Steere will be two of the most mobile and athletic bigs in the conference. We’ve seen Roberts athleticism and Steere’s is on par. Steere is an athletic beast physically. He’s a big, strong kid and will be more athletic than a lot of the guys he matches up with. He may not have the overall size of some of these 7 footers but if he plays aggressive ball and dunks everything he gets under the basket, we are gonna have a big addition in 8 more games.[/quote]

I just hope Steere doesn't look for jump shots. I hope he wants to bang down low and bully people. If he's wide open and can knock them down routinely then fine, but I'd rather see him in the paint most of the time. It would be so refreshing to get real big men who understand their role and maybe have some offensive skill too. When's the last guy who was 6'10+ 230+ who had a legit jump hook and soft touch around the rim while also being a solid rebounder? I've never seen any as long as I've been a fan.
 
Watching the game this morning and coming away more impressed with the court awareness of Champagnie and realizing because of the different coaching philosophies of Mullin and Anderson , he would have played probably ten minutes under Mullin up to this point and would be called on to contribute very little for the rest of the season.
 
[quote="Beast of the East" post=362680] ... Caraher did not stand out at all against lower competition. No assessment yet because it takes a while for some guys to get their feet wet. ...[/quote]
Beast, as wet as his feet may get, they won't ever move any faster.
 
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[quote="redken" post=362695]Beast, as wet as his feet get, they won't ever move any faster.[/quote]

They will if they are webbed.
 
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