(PRE-GAME) Xavier, Tues., Feb. 16, 8:30p, FS-1 / 970AM WNYM

[ras]

As we have seen, teams with any type of serviceable Big (Depaul/Marq/Prov...etc)- they feast on us. Granted, we have won those games, so may not be a bad thing- but Xavier offers two skilled options in the post with Carter/Freemantle (the latter who hit that game winner at MSG last year.... LIRR home was tough).

What I am getting at- is it would be interesting to see a line-up with both Roberts and Moore (for size purposes)- allows Moore to play his more natural position at the 4 and moves Champ out to the 3. Now I am sure there is a reason Coach hasnt experimented with this, but in my amateur opinion- it be interesting to roll out a lineup of Posh/Healthy Greg/Champ/Moore/Roberts. 

First game vs Xavier, it was after our long layoff and both teams looked real rusty. Xavier has had our number for a couple years now- each game down the stretch is going to be a real good test. 



The problem is all BE teams have a serviceable big. That's our Achilles heal. In just about every game we won , we got killed by the opposing teams big. We made up for it by shooting very well, but it's an area we have to work on.
Lets hope the extra rest will help Williams .


 

 

[Redmen88]

As we have seen, teams with any type of serviceable Big (Depaul/Marq/Prov...etc)- they feast on us. Granted, we have won those games, so may not be a bad thing- but Xavier offers two skilled options in the post with Carter/Freemantle (the latter who hit that game winner at MSG last year.... LIRR home was tough).

What I am getting at- is it would be interesting to see a line-up with both Roberts and Moore (for size purposes)- allows Moore to play his more natural position at the 4 and moves Champ out to the 3. Now I am sure there is a reason Coach hasnt experimented with this, but in my amateur opinion- it be interesting to roll out a lineup of Posh/Healthy Greg/Champ/Moore/Roberts. 

First game vs Xavier, it was after our long layoff and both teams looked real rusty. Xavier has had our number for a couple years now- each game down the stretch is going to be a real good test. 

The problem is all BE teams have a serviceable big. That's our Achilles heal. In just about every game we won , we got killed by the opposing teams big. We made up for it by shooting very well, but it's an area we have to work on.
Lets hope the extra rest will help Williams .


I like your suggestion even if we play that lineup for limited minutes to break up any momentum that teams are having inside. Perhaps it would clog up the middle and they will "forget" to pound it inside.  It would be up to Posh & Greg to really make sure that they run the offense well and get back on D to limit any fast breaks.  

 

 

[lawmanfan]

As we have seen, teams with any type of serviceable Big (Depaul/Marq/Prov...etc)- they feast on us. Granted, we have won those games, so may not be a bad thing- but Xavier offers two skilled options in the post with Carter/Freemantle (the latter who hit that game winner at MSG last year.... LIRR home was tough).

What I am getting at- is it would be interesting to see a line-up with both Roberts and Moore (for size purposes)- allows Moore to play his more natural position at the 4 and moves Champ out to the 3. Now I am sure there is a reason Coach hasnt experimented with this, but in my amateur opinion- it be interesting to roll out a lineup of Posh/Healthy Greg/Champ/Moore/Roberts. 

First game vs Xavier, it was after our long layoff and both teams looked real rusty. Xavier has had our number for a couple years now- each game down the stretch is going to be a real good test. 
 

Have been saying this for awhile. Playing Moore and Roberts together significantly increases the length on the floor and (should) improve the ability to compete in the post.  It lets Moore play the 4 where he belongs, instead of making him play the 5 where he doesn't. 

The cost would be moving either Cole or Dunn to the bench.  I think Anderson hasn't done it because (a) he'd rather have Cole or Dunn on the floor so (b) he can push the tempo he wants.  Also putting Moore and Josh on the floor together reduces your number of shooters and your bench depth for bigs. 

Still, I'm surprised he hasn't tried it even once (as far as I can remember)

 

[Amaseinyourface]

As we have seen, teams with any type of serviceable Big (Depaul/Marq/Prov...etc)- they feast on us. Granted, we have won those games, so may not be a bad thing- but Xavier offers two skilled options in the post with Carter/Freemantle (the latter who hit that game winner at MSG last year.... LIRR home was tough).

What I am getting at- is it would be interesting to see a line-up with both Roberts and Moore (for size purposes)- allows Moore to play his more natural position at the 4 and moves Champ out to the 3. Now I am sure there is a reason Coach hasnt experimented with this, but in my amateur opinion- it be interesting to roll out a lineup of Posh/Healthy Greg/Champ/Moore/Roberts. 

First game vs Xavier, it was after our long layoff and both teams looked real rusty. Xavier has had our number for a couple years now- each game down the stretch is going to be a real good test. 


 

Have been saying this for awhile. Playing Moore and Roberts together significantly increases the length on the floor and (should) improve the ability to compete in the post.  It lets Moore play the 4 where he belongs, instead of making him play the 5 where he doesn't. 

The cost would be moving either Cole or Dunn to the bench.  I think Anderson hasn't done it because (a) he'd rather have Cole or Dunn on the floor so (b) he can push the tempo he wants.  Also putting Moore and Josh on the floor together reduces your number of shooters and your bench depth for bigs. 

Still, I'm surprised he hasn't tried it even once (as far as I can remember)

Moore obviously is at a disadvantage as a 5 defensively, but I would also note I don’t think he gets these easy looks at the rim playing alongside a center. Give and take

 

[room112]

As we have seen, teams with any type of serviceable Big (Depaul/Marq/Prov...etc)- they feast on us. Granted, we have won those games, so may not be a bad thing- but Xavier offers two skilled options in the post with Carter/Freemantle (the latter who hit that game winner at MSG last year.... LIRR home was tough).

What I am getting at- is it would be interesting to see a line-up with both Roberts and Moore (for size purposes)- allows Moore to play his more natural position at the 4 and moves Champ out to the 3. Now I am sure there is a reason Coach hasnt experimented with this, but in my amateur opinion- it be interesting to roll out a lineup of Posh/Healthy Greg/Champ/Moore/Roberts. 

First game vs Xavier, it was after our long layoff and both teams looked real rusty. Xavier has had our number for a couple years now- each game down the stretch is going to be a real good test. 

See the flip side of it is, we have actually been holding our own with rebouding for the most part. And these teams who have bigs, the bigs still have to play defense on our smaller players, so that gives us an advantage on the other end. 

I'm actually totally fine letting an opposing big take a ton of shots and score 20-25 points, while neutralizing their outside game. I'd rather see that than a team light us up all night from the 3 point line. 

 

[lawmanfan]

Have been saying this for awhile. Playing Moore and Roberts together significantly increases the length on the floor and (should) improve the ability to compete in the post.  It lets Moore play the 4 where he belongs, instead of making him play the 5 where he doesn't. 

The cost would be moving either Cole or Dunn to the bench.  I think Anderson hasn't done it because (a) he'd rather have Cole or Dunn on the floor so (b) he can push the tempo he wants.  Also putting Moore and Josh on the floor together reduces your number of shooters and your bench depth for bigs. 

Still, I'm surprised he hasn't tried it even once (as far as I can remember)
 

Moore obviously is at a disadvantage as a 5 defensively, but I would also note I don’t think he gets these easy looks at the rim playing alongside a center. Give and take

I'm in the minority on this but I think Moore has a pretty deadly mid-range jumper, so he could challenge the D and get some points that way if Josh was down low.  Or we could play high-low with the two of them, which might get Julian some more space.  Josh can't hit the free throw line jumper, but Moore can, or dump it down to Josh, or find Julian on the wing.

I don't think it would hurt the pace we want to play at - Moore has no trouble getting up and down the floor and we use him on the press anyway.  But it would either reduce the number of outside shooters or push Dunn to the bench which Anderson clearly doesn't want to do.  And it would require working Earlington into a 3-man rotation with Moore and Roberts if you aren't going to give Toro any minutes at all.

It seems to me to be worth a try in games when we are getting killed in the post (which is basically all of them except Nova).  But yeah, it's a moot point, Anderson clearly wants to play small.  But IMHO playing Moore as a 5 is just ridiculous.  He can't defend the post, he doesn't rebound much, and he doesn't understand how to play the position.  It's just a waste and he could be put to better use.  Maybe next year.

 

[lawmanfan]

 

See the flip side of it is, we have actually been holding our own with rebouding for the most part. And these teams who have bigs, the bigs still have to play defense on our smaller players, so that gives us an advantage on the other end. 

I'm actually totally fine letting an opposing big take a ton of shots and score 20-25 points, while neutralizing their outside game. I'd rather see that than a team light us up all night from the 3 point line. 

You aren't wrong - rebounds were more or less even against UConn, Marquette, Nova and even Providence (31-27).  And there's something to be said for playing the mismatch to your advantage, especially if you're trading big-man 2s for shooter 3s.

However we got outrebounded by DePaul 45-35 and by Butler 37-28.  I'm just suggesting that there are some games when there's an adjustment that could be made that might help with that.  And it isn't just the rebounding numbers, it's to try to stop the bleeding where the other team scores inside at will and we have to depend on creating turnovers to compete.  It would be nice to be able to compete straight up against a team with a post game, or at least try to.

 

[AlBovino]

Any linup that pushes Dunn to the bench is a positive.
 

 

[Mullins Revenge]

I have 0 expectations of winning this game.  We just cant beat this team.

I am hoping to be pleasantly surprised.

 

[monte]

Any linup that pushes Dunn to the bench is a positive.


After Dunn was inserted in to the starting lineup, we won 7 of our next 8 games. Must be a coincidence.
 

 

[paultzman]

FYI re: Xavier/COVID

https://twitter.com/adamjbaum/status/1359949764524191744?s=21

 

[Section9]

Any linup that pushes Dunn to the bench is a positive.

Uhh, OK, so you want to take our second best ball handler and second best on ball defender and sit him on the bench so you can put BOTH Roberts and Moore on the floor together?  So who's going to tske the ball handling pressure off Posh?  Cole?  Chanps?  

Now if you could somehow graft Roberts' defensive skills and Moore's offensive skills into one we'd have somebody.

Ever notice that in recent games down the stretch we have Champ, Earlington, Wusu, Dunn and Posh on the court together?  Seems to have worked out well.  But I gues coach is no Ewing when it comes to stratergy./media/kunena/emoticons/wassat.png

 

 

[paultzman]

https://twitter.com/stjohnsbball/status/1359978789397291017?s=21

 

[bamafan]

See they are allowing cardboard cutouts into practice.

 

[paultzman]

See they are allowing cardboard cutouts into practice.

But no bathroom access

 

[monte]

See they are allowing cardboard cutouts into practice.


Not without a signed NDA 
 

 

[usguard]

What's going on with Coles game! Frankly has been a disappointment. Thought he would be shooting better and thought he would have been able to go to the rim a lot. Haven't seen much improvement being made

 

[Sjugrad13]

Well if you follow the players Instagram they really seem motivated. They definitely know the importance of this one especially Champagnie and Wusu 

 

[Mullins Revenge]

What's going on with Coles game! Frankly has been a disappointment. Thought he would be shooting better and thought he would have been able to go to the rim a lot. Haven't seen much improvement being made

I dont recall him getting many shots off.  it looks like Coach is having each of the kids play a specific role.  It seems Cole is to be a spot up shooter.

But again, he is not getting many open looks.

 

[NCJohnnie]

usguard wrote:
What's going on with Coles game! Frankly has been a disappointment. Thought he would be shooting better and thought he would have been able to go to the rim a lot. Haven't seen much improvement being made.

Cole had 4 consecutive double figure scoring games against Utah Valley, Depaul, Marquette & Villanova and it looked like he was relaxing and getting into the flow of BE basketball. Against the physical PC he didn't play much (16 minutes) and last game he struggled to find shots. Bottom line is like many of our players (Moore, Earlington, Roberts & even Greg to some extent although with him that is at least partially due to injury) he has had good moments but has also struggled to find consistency. Work in progress imho.