Vanderbilt, Mon., Nov. 23, 2:30 PM, ESPN2 & 970 AM

After further review, Vandy played most of the game with 6 & 7 men on the court. No wonder we got our asses kicked. :S
 
On another note, Mussini. Will never be able to make shots off the dribble.
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Never? Hes hit a few already. Understand his percentages are hurting but he has had the ball in his hands and been asked to do too much. Still, hes been perhaps our most effective player. I think he is more point guard than people want to give him credit for but I think he'll be at his best when used as a combo, allowing him to both play-make and spot up for shots.

On another note, hes had some finishes around the rim that I never saw any of our previous guards complete. And this is a physically over matched 18 year old. Will enjoy watching him improve and look forward to Ellison rejoining him.
 
On another note, Mussini. Will never be able to make shots off the dribble.
Click to expand...

Never? Hes hit a few already. Understand his percentages are hurting but he has had the ball in his hands and been asked to do too much. Still, hes been perhaps our most effective player. I think he is more point guard than people want to give him credit for but I think he'll be at his best when used as a combo, allowing him to both play-make and spot up for shots.

On another note, hes had some finishes around the rim that I never saw any of our previous guards complete. And this is a physically over matched 18 year old. Will enjoy watching him improve and look forward to Ellison rejoining him.
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Never?
 
On another note, Mussini. Will never be able to make shots off the dribble.
Click to expand...

Never? Hes hit a few already. Understand his percentages are hurting but he has had the ball in his hands and been asked to do too much. Still, hes been perhaps our most effective player. I think he is more point guard than people want to give him credit for but I think he'll be at his best when used as a combo, allowing him to both play-make and spot up for shots.

On another note, hes had some finishes around the rim that I never saw any of our previous guards complete. And this is a physically over matched 18 year old. Will enjoy watching him improve and look forward to Ellison rejoining him.
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Never?
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Lol im talking about something that has or hasn't happened. You're predicting the future.
 
On another note, Mussini. Will never be able to make shots off the dribble.
Click to expand...

Never? Hes hit a few already. Understand his percentages are hurting but he has had the ball in his hands and been asked to do too much. Still, hes been perhaps our most effective player. I think he is more point guard than people want to give him credit for but I think he'll be at his best when used as a combo, allowing him to both play-make and spot up for shots.

On another note, hes had some finishes around the rim that I never saw any of our previous guards complete. And this is a physically over matched 18 year old. Will enjoy watching him improve and look forward to Ellison rejoining him.
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Never?
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Lol im talking about something that has or hasn't happened. You're predicting the future.
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I didn't literally mean never. Of course he has hit a few, albeit against lower level competition. He will hit a few more, I'm sure. Nonetheless, he will have a very hard time shooting jumpers off the dribble against good competition. Even against Rutgers, he had at least 2 blocked and one led to a fast break. He will be much more effective coming off screens for catch and shoot.

I guess I will have to be more precise with my language when speaking about Mussini. I'll save the hyperbole for less appreciated players.
 
I was very impressed by Vanderbilt's ball movement. This is how I hope we play when we have the talent. I am really disappointed that Ellison and Williams are hurt. This is valuable playing time and they are part of the future with Moose and Sima.
 
I know this does not take away from what happened, but I'm happy for Dial, that he was able to get those 2 baskets at the end. I'm sure he busts his behind in practice, nice to see him rewarded.
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One of the best plays of the game for SJU was Holyfiled to Dial... In all seriousness we will probably need Holyfield more. He is one of the only guys with a decent handle and seems like an overall solid basketball player. You can argue that playing the walkon is detrimental to the long term but having our guys get killed for the rest of the season is also going to hurt any learning experience when you simply cannot execute. Even if we still only won 5-10 games this season, there would be a lot more future building with Lovett on the floor. I sure hope there is still some fight going on there.

Whatever we can do to get Mussini off the ball would help offensively. Didn't see enough of Dial to know if he has any handle but that is our biggest problem. It was less evident today because they didn't need to pressure us but even in the half court larger guards coming out kill us because we have neither size nor speed and then we can't shoot the three either. Mussini is creative at times but not enough of the total PG package to be consistently effective to give us some inside/out.
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Now Moose is going to go postal, and it's all your fault.

But I agree with both points. Holifield should get some minutes. He may or may not have high D1 skills, but he is a solid all-around player who understands the game and how to play. Used appropriately, he won't hurt you and I think he can make the team better.

I also agree that it would be better for Mussini and for the team if someone else was the primary ball-handling option.
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I have developed a lot of respect for Mussini. He is new to this country, new to college, playing out of position, and is giving up size and strength in every match-up. Yet his body language always seems to be positive, he plays his ass off, and he makes plays. He is the only ball handling option at the moment. He will do much better as a complementary player next year. You have to like this kid.
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Mussini is our only shooting option. It was obvious from the start as Vandy overplayed him, switching on every pick.
Now, speaking of switching. We did a terrible job of getting around screens allowing them to take open threes.
Our so called zone was pitiful. Didn't we know they have solid three point shooters? It's called scouting.
I like Balamou in the low post but get some height on the shot.
Still impressed with Sima, need to get more touches.
Obviously this is a year of learning from our mistakes.
I don't know about you but can someone shut Bill Walton up.
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You have to give up something, Vandy has size and can shoot the 3. We don't have size so we gave up the 3 hoping they were off, they weren't. It is about players, coaching can be, and usually is, very over-rated. The overwhelming % of a coaches job is recruiting, after that the most important thing is recruiting. There are other factors once you get players, but I believe If Mullin and company can recruit, they will be successful. If they can't, well, they won't be. They appear to be very much on the right track, they are all certainly working their tails off, but time will tell.
 
On another note, Mussini. Will never be able to make shots off the dribble.
Click to expand...

Never? Hes hit a few already. Understand his percentages are hurting but he has had the ball in his hands and been asked to do too much. Still, hes been perhaps our most effective player. I think he is more point guard than people want to give him credit for but I think he'll be at his best when used as a combo, allowing him to both play-make and spot up for shots.

On another note, hes had some finishes around the rim that I never saw any of our previous guards complete. And this is a physically over matched 18 year old. Will enjoy watching him improve and look forward to Ellison rejoining him.
Click to expand...

Never?
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Lol im talking about something that has or hasn't happened. You're predicting the future.
Click to expand...

I didn't literally mean never. Of course he has hit a few, albeit against lower level competition. He will hit a few more, I'm sure. Nonetheless, he will have a very hard time shooting jumpers off the dribble against good competition. Even against Rutgers, he had at least 2 blocked and one led to a fast break. He will be much more effective coming off screens for catch and shoot.

I guess I will have to be more precise with my language when speaking about Mussini. I'll save the hyperbole for less appreciated players.
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Wasn't attacking your post was just curious why you thought a kid who obviously can shoot it would never be able to do so off the dribble.
 
Mussini already has made several pull up jumpers off the dribble this season.
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Uh...ok!
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He's 19-48 from the floor through today.
Betting his percentage off the dribble is brutal.
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I'm very comfortable with Mussini shooting off the dribble. He's gotten a few of those blocked already also, but in general he doesn't need much time or room to shoot. He's just got to adjust to the D1 game which appears to be bigger and faster than he's accustomed to, and he misgauged how open he was in the times he got blocked. Right now he faces the additional pressure of teams knowing he is a legitimate outside shooter and are keying on him from the onset. He will have to work very hard to get open. He's got a great coach to teach him that, but as a point, will also have the additional pressure of having the ball far more than Mullin did as a player.
 
This season and next are a stop gap for the program. I expect most of our games to be + 25 blowouts. We have maybe one player (Sima) who can start (next year) at a major Div. I school. I give the players a lot of credit working hard and being thrown to the wolves. I think 6-8 wins is realistic.

A couple posters commented even Vandy almost lost to Stony Brook. That means nothing for us because Stony Brook would beat us by + 20. Not one player for us we start for Stony Brook. That is an unfortunate fact.
 
Back to the lab.
And let's continue to build this thing brick by brick.
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There were quite a few bricks last night. Now we need to put in a few outlets, add some screens and maybe throw in a back door or two. LOL.
 
Wake Forest up 78-77 with 24 seconds remaining. Manning calls a timeout after Wake scores to take the lead. :)
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Oh boy must be a terrible momentum changing coach :lol:
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Even Coach K does it on occasion.
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But very rarely do you see a coach do it with a significant amount of time left in a game and their team having seized momentum. When the game is down to a few possessions it is a viable strategy.
 
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