(POST GAME) (@MSG) Pittsburgh, Sat., Dec. 18, 12 Noon, FS-1

[beast of the east]

redken wrote:

No doubt there's more to it than this, but shooting 25% on both FG and 3-point attempts and looking lost at times hasn't helped his seeing more PT, especially for someone who came here with a rep as a great outside shooter.

Redken, in fact Coburn is shooting 36% from three, 80% from foul line which is pretty consistent with what he shot at Hofstra. He needs to play more period, a pet peeve of mine. Inexplicable.

Thanks for the correction, NCJohnnie. Looks like the web source I cited was less than primo. But based on all the pre-season chatter we heard, I was hoping he'd start for us and assumed he'd satisfactorily fill a big need, but for whatever reason, that hasn't been the case to date.

I'm not sure who else there might be but in terms of academic responsibilities:

1. Charles Minlend - Pharmacy - (he graduated and is registered)
2. Rudy Wright - Chemistry major (I believe he passed away a few years back)

both played significant minutes and carried the burden of school.  I'm not sure of what pre-reqs Coburn's academics at Hofstra put him in the program, but adjusting to the magnitude of work (numerous difficult courses) is a task all by itself.  If he is focused on academics first, good for him,

 

[BrookJersey Redmen]

  N/M

 

[SJU85]

I haven't watched every minute of every game, so maybe I missed something.  Why has Coburn been limited to 0 - 3 minutes for several games in a row?  I remember one "off" game he had several weeks ago, but otherwise he's not getting enough PT to play himself onto the bench.  Defensive liability?  Doesn't hustle in practice?  Late for bus call?  We have long stretches of offensive droughts game after game and the kid gets zero opportunities.  It's not coming up too often on the board, so I'm guessing I missed something.

Coburn scored a combined 30 points (17 and 13) in the first two games of the season.  He has scored a grand total of 11 in the seven games he has played since including four games with goose eggs.  In fact the 3 he scored Saturday broke a string of three consecutive games in which he did not score.

Now it could be a "chicken and the egg thing" that he hasn't been given enough time to find his groove, but in the games since other than the first two in order he has 0 points in 15 minutes, 5 points in 26 minutes, 3 points in 16 minutes, 0 points in 17, 0 points in 4, 0 points in 7 and 3 points.  Definitely expected more out of him and Smith.

 

[AlBovino]

I agree that Coburn should get more minutes, especially against zone defenses. My guess is that his matador defense keeps him on the bench. He has a hard time keeping his man in front of him.

 

[lawmanfan]

I agree that Coburn should get more minutes, especially against zone defenses. My guess is that his matador defense keeps him on the bench. He has a hard time keeping his man in front of him.
 

Correct - Coburn cannot defend at the level that is required here, and he also has not shown that he can create his own shot against defenses at this level.  That makes him a situational spot-up shooter which is a very, very small role on an Anderson team.

I would not spend any more time worrying about Coburn's role on the team.  Things that I would focus on are:

1.  What's the rotation up front among Nyiwe, Soriano, Stanley and Wheeler.  I think if Soriano brings what he brought against Pitt then he gets the starting job back, otherwise Nyiwe keeps it based on athleticism and energy.  Coach is trying very hard to make something of Wheeler but IMO Stanley is a far superior option at the moment for what we need up front.

2.  Where do Mathis, Smith and Pinzon fit in?  Mathis is somewhat duplicative of Wusu on the court, except he's not as good a shooter and not as good getting to the rim.  His best role may be coming off the bench to back up Wusu.  That leaves Pinzon and Smith who are both superior options on offense, if they can figure out how they fit in and play capable defense.  IMO we need a third shooter beyond Champ and Posh (who isn't exactly a "shooter" but he will take it if open and make enough of them to keep the D honest).  Mathis isn't it, whoever plays at the 5 isn't it, so I'd go with Smith or Pinzon, personally.

3.  Where's the pressure defense?  I have seen the true pressure defense rolled out once this season, for about 3 minutes.  The mystery to me is where it's been and why we aren't using it more.  We have the depth, and every time we sped Pitt up they turned the ball over.  It was a mystery to me why we go to it more that game - especially since it's Anderson's calling card.  I can only assume that there is something the staff is seeing in practice that is preventing them from unleashing it in games.  But it's odd.

 

[IDRAFT]

I'm rooting for Coburn but haven't seen anything to dictate more playing time. Defense has been discussed, but in the half-court offense he seems to never be in a logical spot, he's not going to be open (nor is the guy next to him) if he keeps running into his own players. And I'm not sure how well that shows up on TV, but live he looks like a chicken with his head cut off, just running around from here to there. Could be a lack of practice, I have no idea about that.



 

 

[jr49]

coultdn't believe that last play  eight seconds and was able to get off a good look

Defense has not been anything special through all 11 games

Too tired and bummed-out to have read all but a handful of post-game posts, but I just read yours, Phil, and definitely agree. I've never critized CMA on the board ever since he took the job, but why he didn't call for a full-court press on a turnover-prone opponent with just eight seconds left puzzled me and had me yelling at the TV (something I handn't done in a long time.) Thought it was just a horrible coaching decision. As for the players, I definitely think too many weaknesses have been exposed thus far for me to think we'll finish in the top half of the BE, let alone earn a trip to the the Big Dance.

I don't think he thinks he has the horses that can trust to run a full court press. They run it at half court. He was ok with it with the team it let gey away. Can anyone on the site please tell me what went on with all those guys getting away. Did he lose the locker room? He did not even bring his type of player.
 

 

[ras]

The thing about Champ is the opposing defenses have to really key in on him, that makes the other players look better. Without Champ the other players are guarded much closer resulting in  poorer performances.

 

[Section3]

I agree that Coburn should get more minutes, especially against zone defenses. My guess is that his matador defense keeps him on the bench. He has a hard time keeping his man in front of him.

 

Correct - Coburn cannot defend at the level that is required here, and he also has not shown that he can create his own shot against defenses at this level.  That makes him a situational spot-up shooter which is a very, very small role on an Anderson team.

I would not spend any more time worrying about Coburn's role on the team.  Things that I would focus on are:

1.  What's the rotation up front among Nyiwe, Soriano, Stanley and Wheeler.  I think if Soriano brings what he brought against Pitt then he gets the starting job back, otherwise Nyiwe keeps it based on athleticism and energy.  Coach is trying very hard to make something of Wheeler but IMO Stanley is a far superior option at the moment for what we need up front.

2.  Where do Mathis, Smith and Pinzon fit in?  Mathis is somewhat duplicative of Wusu on the court, except he's not as good a shooter and not as good getting to the rim.  His best role may be coming off the bench to back up Wusu.  That leaves Pinzon and Smith who are both superior options on offense, if they can figure out how they fit in and play capable defense.  IMO we need a third shooter beyond Champ and Posh (who isn't exactly a "shooter" but he will take it if open and make enough of them to keep the D honest).  Mathis isn't it, whoever plays at the 5 isn't it, so I'd go with Smith or Pinzon, personally.

3.  Where's the pressure defense?  I have seen the true pressure defense rolled out once this season, for about 3 minutes.  The mystery to me is where it's been and why we aren't using it more.  We have the depth, and every time we sped Pitt up they turned the ball over.  It was a mystery to me why we go to it more that game - especially since it's Anderson's calling card.  I can only assume that there is something the staff is seeing in practice that is preventing them from unleashing it in games.  But it's odd.

Spot on analysis on all 3 points