My biggest issue with this years team and play was our stagnant offense. Most of the time it looked like the point guard. If we were lucky enough to have a point guard on the floor (Jordan, Branch) (not Greene) no one moved on offence, they just stood there. It looked like they had no plays and had no idea what to do. It looked like they just took the ball up and figured it out when they got there.
Stagnant Offense
- Thread starter T6K0E6
- Start date
What is even more maddening is that they had a few games where they showed a ton of movement in a few offensive possessions and it worked out so well it left you scratching your head as to why they did not implement it for every game.
This is something that absolutely HAS to change for next season. With the amount of depth that we had we should have been running all game.
This is something that absolutely HAS to change for next season. With the amount of depth that we had we should have been running all game.
Since he is guaranteed to be here for at least next year, Lavin has to. If not then Keady has to instill it in him, isn't he the coach's coach after all? OR at the very least Whitesell has to start it, wasn't he brought in to manage X's and O'x?
I am still very perplexed as to what Keady and Whitesell's jobs really are, from the fans point of view, they haven't done what they where brought in to do.
Honestly with the amount of athleticism that we have, how hard can it be to hold many many conditioning practices and then tell the players that on offense you DONT STOP MOVING until you SCORE. Laving doesn't need to have a think playbook for this, just keep the players moving.
The offense has bothered me for a long time, too. And no one will confuse me with Lavin's agent. But piss poor execution by the players has been a big reason the offense is stagnant.
I'm no basketball savant, but in this era of freedom of movement, and no hand checking etc, the pick and roll from the slot has become the de facto "pro-set". Everybody runs it, it's just a question of how well you can execute it with your personnel, and how well you can defend it.
We did a bad job in both regards this year.
Our ball handlers don't set it up, the screeners don't position themselves at 90 degree angles, we never pass to the screener on a pop or roll...it's just a mess all around. And as much as I fault the staff, I am 100% sure that Whitesell, Hines, and yes, even Lavin have worked with our guys on this in practice.
At some point the players need to play the game. If Phil Greene can't turn the corner, he shouldn't be a guard in the game. Likewise if Obekpa and Sampson can't set a proper pick ...they can only be marginally useful on offense. Even Dangelo needs to learn, his best way to avoid being trapped on every pnr is to throw it back to Sampson and have him hit a few jumpers early in the game.
This is just one example, and maybe better coaching would get through to these guys, I don't know. But the ball movement is largely a fault of the players IMHO.
Who is in the game at what times, and what plays are called coming out of timeouts and out of bounds, etc ...that's a different story.
I'm no basketball savant, but in this era of freedom of movement, and no hand checking etc, the pick and roll from the slot has become the de facto "pro-set". Everybody runs it, it's just a question of how well you can execute it with your personnel, and how well you can defend it.
We did a bad job in both regards this year.
Our ball handlers don't set it up, the screeners don't position themselves at 90 degree angles, we never pass to the screener on a pop or roll...it's just a mess all around. And as much as I fault the staff, I am 100% sure that Whitesell, Hines, and yes, even Lavin have worked with our guys on this in practice.
At some point the players need to play the game. If Phil Greene can't turn the corner, he shouldn't be a guard in the game. Likewise if Obekpa and Sampson can't set a proper pick ...they can only be marginally useful on offense. Even Dangelo needs to learn, his best way to avoid being trapped on every pnr is to throw it back to Sampson and have him hit a few jumpers early in the game.
This is just one example, and maybe better coaching would get through to these guys, I don't know. But the ball movement is largely a fault of the players IMHO.
Who is in the game at what times, and what plays are called coming out of timeouts and out of bounds, etc ...that's a different story.
Not saying that we can do a better job, this board is for fans to talk about the team that we love both positively and negatively. This is a blog for our opinions. When your team does not live up to expectations, it is the duty of the fans to criticize. We set the bar here.
Lavin know that his weakness is in-game coaching and he has addressed that problem by hiring Dunlap, Keady, and Whitesell but after 4 years it looks like he has not learned anything from them or that he has not paid any attention to anything they have said.
So I have to point out:
The stagnant offense is frustrating
The lack of designated plays on offense is mind-boggling
Some time-outs are still head-scratching
Red, you are performing what you think your duties are very well. Perhaps the three guys with over 850 division one wins and 65% winning percentage know a bit more than fans with zero wins. Do you really think when a coach hires strong assistants it is sign that they know they are weak coaches? Or have you spoken to Lavin and he told you that he knows that he is a weak at in-game coaching?
Ray Morgan
Well-known member
Don't know how long this board has been around, but the title to this thread could have been written every season since Barkley and Thornton left the program. Offense, and especially shooting the ball, just isn't a St. John's thing.
tom in salem
Well-known member
4 years ago the team never took a bad shot.
Ran great stuff and really went after the offensive boards.
A different type of player on this team, players with a greater ego is the primary reason with Coach Dunlap being reason two.
beast of the east
Active member
Only when we won.
stjohnschris
Active member
Real team leaders, more experienced players overall, and an assistant named Dunlap. Our star this year was a freshman, and as a freshman, I thought he was incredible. Very very different circumstances comparing to 4 years ago