Questions/Concerns about this team..

The thing that I am surprised with is how long it takes for us to "get in the game." We keep starting off slow.
I am surprised how the team is not playing together better. I know we have a lot of new people but it's worrisome.
Our defense is not good again. Everyone thinks we will play pressure defense. We don't and more importantly can't.
When we pressure they break it and our defense is like Swiss cheese. Also when we don't pressure our half court defense is not high quality. Too many easy baskets and we can't seem to ever grab the big rebound. As many have said our road to the NCAA will be a tough one now. I hope we can play over .500 in the Big East but right now I just don't see it. As of today this could rank up there as one of the more disappointing seasons ever with all the hoopla coming in. I hope we can play better.
 
Maybe we need to come out of the locker with pressing D from the start.  Get everyone engaged right away.
 
Knight post=445312 said:
Maybe we need to come out of the locker with pressing D from the start.  Get everyone engaged right away.
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Good point Knight. If they’re going to come out lethargic, then put them in a position where they can’t be right off the bat.
 
Need the horses to press. IMO last year's top 8 players were much more suited to press and play uptempo then this year's top 8 players. I think CMA recognized that early on, which is why we see less pressing and uptempo play. The problem with that is that we're not a very good half court team. 
 
Monte post=445324 said:
Need the horses to press. IMO last year's top 8 players were much more suited to press and play uptempo then this year's top 8 players. I think CMA recognized that early on, which is why we see less pressing and uptempo play. The problem with that is that we're not a very good half court team. 
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While I believe this year’s newcomers will be an upgrade, we are missing 2 aspects that really fueled our pressure defense last year, resulting in forced turnovers and easier scoring opportunities:

In your face on ball defense (Rasheed Dunn was an elite defender)
Passing Lane defense (GWill has great instincts)

This doesn’t mean these guys are better (or worse) than the new guys. Just that we need these attributes to be the type of team that we want/need to be.
 
Regardless of the personnel, I would rather go down doing what Anderson knows best which is an aggressive press. We are terrible in half court defense as we can't grab a rebound and close out on outside shooters. We are terrible in half court offense because we have very little inside presence and don't pass the ball well enough to find Smith and Coburn (yes they have to hit their shots but I think they will at some point) There is no other choice then to be aggressive on defense and unfortunately attack the basket when we get a stop. Have to cut down the turnovers. I am optimistic that Pinzon and Stanley will improve as the season goes along. The less I see of Wheeler the happier I will be. Nwiye has some defensive skill but you can't pass him the ball and expect him to do much at this point. I would keep the starters from the Kansas game. Smith, Pinzon, Stanley and Coburn as my reserves.Wheeler and Nwiye would only play in limited roles unless they improve dramatically. Need to find easier looks for the guards.
 
Mismatched pieces. Soriano for offense, Nyiwe for defense.  Stanley for boards, Wheeler for best Kyle Cuffe imitator.  Coburn, Mathis and Smith for 3's, 2's, and drives, but only one type per player.  We may have some possibilities with Pinzon, Posh, JC, and Wusu on the court together with a big and use the other players as respite fillers where the coordination of who's in clarifies their role.  The other question is whether the 40 minutes of hell works against updated ball movement offenses in the age of the corner 3.
 
Section3 post=445329 said:
Monte post=445324 said:
Need the horses to press. IMO last year's top 8 players were much more suited to press and play uptempo then this year's top 8 players. I think CMA recognized that early on, which is why we see less pressing and uptempo play. The problem with that is that we're not a very good half court team. 
Click to expand...

While I believe this year’s newcomers will be an upgrade, we are missing 2 aspects that really fueled our pressure defense last year, resulting in forced turnovers and easier scoring opportunities:

In your face on ball defense (Rasheed Dunn was an elite defender)
Passing Lane defense (GWill has great instincts)

This doesn’t mean these guys are better (or worse) than the new guys. Just that we need these attributes to be the type of team that we want/need to be.
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I agree with you. I think the discussion about whether the new guys or the guys who left is better/more talented misses the mark. The question should be who is the better offensive/defensive complement to Posh/Champ/Wusu. Based on the season to date (which is premature), it looks like the guys who left.  
 
Posh not the same Energizer bunny as last season so I'm going to guess not fully healed.   It may take a while, but he is the key to everything on defense.
 
Smith considers defense beneath him. The on ball defense improves dramatically when Wusu comes in for him. 
 
I'm not really sure this team really likes each other. Aside from JC, Posh, and Wusu, i'm not really seeing love otherwise. Soriano had a few big dunks and ones in previous games. He wasn't immediately embraced like teams of the past would. Same for guys hitting the deck, you aren't seeing multiple guys come to give them a hand up. Together teams celebrate together and bring each other up. Just not seeing that. 
 
Look what TJ Otzelberger has done in his first year at Iowa St. with 8 transfers on his roster. He has them ranked 19th. It didn’t take him Half a season to get his guys to buy in or get them acclimated. It’s just proof of what can be accomplished. He didn’t schedule light because he had 8 transfers and it was his first year at the school etc. Two top 25 wins already. Let’s stop with the excuses for CMA!!!! 
 
Just curious. If we beat Fordham,  Monmouth, Colgate and Pitt how will folks feel.going into Big East play?
 
NCJohnnie post=445374 said:
Just curious. If we beat Fordham,  Monmouth, Colgate and Pitt how will folks feel.going into Big East play?
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Like I do anytime Nathalie wants me to try a drink with Tequila in it. Nervous
 
NCJohnnie post=445374 said:
Just curious. If we beat Fordham,  Monmouth, Colgate and Pitt how will folks feel.going into Big East play?
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If we win each game by at least 15 pts, I'll forget the Kansas debacle and just go back only to slightly better than the uneasy feeling I had after NJIT.
 
NCJohnnie post=445374 said:
Just curious. If we beat Fordham,  Monmouth, Colgate and Pitt how will folks feel.going into Big East play?
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As RSNC said, if we win big I would feel better about the team, but I would still have my concerns about how well this team can do come league play. 
 
Agree its not just about winning. This team needs to play better basketball.
 
 
It’s not, the record that has the fan base upset it’s the fact that we appear to be a lot closer to the mid majors we are playing than to the elite. Very few expected a win over Kansas but didn’t think we would be so outclassed. Let’s hope we can look like Kansas to our next few opponents.
 
We ve looked bad lately, but we were not outclassed by Indiana, only lost by 2 in a very hostile environment.
Do have to get on track.
 
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richard A Steinfeld post=445413 said:
We ve looked bad lately, but we’re not outclassed by Indiana, only lost by 2 in a very hostile environment.
Do have to get on track.
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The 2nd half against Indy is the one thing that gives me real hope that this team can play much better then it has. The question I keep asking is; was that truly an indicator of how good we can play, or was that an anomaly? 
 
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