@Xavier, Sat. Jan. 7, 2:30pm, FS1/970AM

[Andrew]

I don't want to be a broken record, but as I've been saying from the start of the season, a huge issue is defense, defense, defense. We are going to have our off nights offensively, and that is what it is with a guard-dependent offense where you don't get enough points in the paint. But you can't be awful defensively every time out and we are.

I get that Creighton had a mismatch with Patten, and that Xavier had size in the backcourt that was a problem for us. But you still have to work to make things tough for the other team on that end of the floor, and we can do better at that.

I still think we will be much improved over last year, and are poised to take another step next year. And I think Mussini and Freudenberg can still be contributors. But it all starts with picking up the defensive intensity, and being prepared to deal with the defensive intensity other BE teams bring every night.

Yes, we are just plainly an easy team to score on & it is impossible most nights v quality teams to keep pace. We started season with notions of depth, but I just don't see the bench guys bringing anything of consequence. Wish I had your optimism re Freudenberg, but each game he seems more nervous and tentative. Ahmed's recent poor & forced play really kills team offensively. Opponents having to deal with essentially two guys is a gift. I do hope staff embraces your point on defense & gets them to better commit & communicate there to keep us in games. Making up large deficits is impossible most nights in face of limited firepower.

May be nonsense on my part, but I almost think CM needs to script a handful of plays to start the game to minimize the out of control/bad shot fueled slow starts. Something to get them kickstarted.

Kind of like the alley oop dunk that Creighton threw down on us on their first possession.

 

[Section3]

I don't want to be a broken record, but as I've been saying from the start of the season, a huge issue is defense, defense, defense. We are going to have our off nights offensively, and that is what it is with a guard-dependent offense where you don't get enough points in the paint. But you can't be awful defensively every time out and we are.

I get that Creighton had a mismatch with Patten, and that Xavier had size in the backcourt that was a problem for us. But you still have to work to make things tough for the other team on that end of the floor, and we can do better at that.

I still think we will be much improved over last year, and are poised to take another step next year. And I think Mussini and Freudenberg can still be contributors. But it all starts with picking up the defensive intensity, and being prepared to deal with the defensive intensity other BE teams bring every night.

Yes, we are just plainly an easy team to score on & it is impossible most nights v quality teams to keep pace. We started season with notions of depth, but I just don't see the bench guys bringing anything of consequence. Wish I had your optimism re Freudenberg, but each game he seems more nervous and tentative. Ahmed's recent poor & forced play really kills team offensively. Opponents having to deal with essentially two guys is a gift. I do hope staff embraces your point on defense & gets them to better commit & communicate there to keep us in games. Making up large deficits is impossible most nights in face of limited firepower.

May be nonsense on my part, but I almost think CM needs to script a handful of plays to start the game to minimize the out of control/bad shot fueled slow starts. Something to get them kickstarted.

Kind of like the alley oop dunk that Creighton through down on us on their first possession.

Yep. Louie had a play to start games back in the day where (and I am testing my memory) Kevin Cluess would hand the ball off at the top of the key and navigate thru traffic to the corner where he invariably received the ball for an open jumper. Alagia and Beaver had their alley-oop routine also.

 

[westchesterjoe]

Nova, Creighton,Butler, Xavier are arguably Top 15 Programs and haven't suffered through 15 Years of Chaos like we have. Mullin is not a Miracle worker. he pulled together a Team last year that had been left Zero by Stevie Wonder. Lavin might not have won a game with our team last year! But, I digress.

we have 2 Legitimate BE players on our team and both, are exceptional , 6 foot,lefty guards whose games are essentially identical. They are small by comparison to nearly all the Guards they will face. their talent on any given night will determine where we will finish in the Standings. Right now, we are in better shape than DePaul, Providence, G'town having won 2 Games. Our Talent does not allow us to compete with the 4 Teams that will fight it out this year. We should be happy , not to finish last. I think we can hold our own with the teams below us in the Conference.

As for all the shots, some cheap, directed at Mullin. This Team could have Red Auerbach, Bobby Knight and John Wooden and Mike K on our Bench and the results wouldn't change. It won't until we get a full Roster of 8 legitimate BE level talent, including a big Man and 2 Burly Forwards built like NFL linebackers that can go to the hoop and also shoot a J. how far are we from that?

I don't know , does anyone at this point? A question to ask is Matt A. finding the job more difficult than at Iowa State? Maybe our Admissions policies are not as lenient as the Cyclones? Maybe we need some transfers or 5th year players, that every team has these days. Blaming Mullin for Player errors , when they are outclassed , doesn't seem fair to me. The team plays hard and didn't give up, today or against Creighton. Our 2 guards are Special Players and everyone knows it , but, they alone cant make up for the lack of a legitimate Front Court game .
I hope Ponds and Lovett stick around long enough to be part of building this Program to a competitive level. They are the Linch Pins to doing it.

I will preface this by saying I am a major Mullin homer (as my avatar indicates.)

I think we have more than 2 legitimate BE players. Bashir Ahmed, Williams, and Owens all can make the cut. They all sucked today, which was unfortunate.

But I **have** to believe that chemistry,or lack thereof, is playing a major role in the performance of this team and the development of those legitimate BE players we do have.

When guys like Mussini and Freduenberg --both mid-major players at best--get 19 minutes and 11 minutes, respectively (much of that when we in the lead and in contention) then you just have to say WTF??

I hope Ponds and Lovett do stick around. And I hope that high-level recruits looking in don't think they will be usurped by guys who don't deserve to be on the same court as them.

All very good points. Ahmed, Williams , Owens would all be role players on the Top 4 teams in the BE. Yes, They can contribute , off the Bench. Not Program changers. Which we need desperately to supplement Ponds and Lovett..

Unfair, to dis Mussini or RF on PT. All our players need a blow during the game, Ahmed showed early he was way out there today and also, against Creighton. Not good performances. Mussini is a spot up 3 pt shooter, that can contribute in certain situations.. I doubt Mullin would play them over newcomers, if the newcomers were capable of starting next year. You do need a Bench. i am not sure the roles for Ponds and Lovett are defined as yet. Ponds, spent a lot of time, especially in the first half, watching Lovett dribble into double teams. it's on Mullin to get Ponds the ball in scoring positions. Shamorie spent a lot of the early game giving it to Lovett and never saw it again. Mullin and Richmond, along with Hardaway learned how to share the ball in Golden State. It has to be leaned here too. Yakwe will likely never have good hands or make a meaningful contribution. Bench player , who can give minutes, as in less than 10. Ali, is what he is, a LAVIN recruit, not a BE player. Big Body, to take up space and foul hard.

 

[Section3]

Nova, Creighton,Butler, Xavier are arguably Top 15 Programs and haven't suffered through 15 Years of Chaos like we have. Mullin is not a Miracle worker. he pulled together a Team last year that had been left Zero by Stevie Wonder. Lavin might not have won a game with our team last year! But, I digress.

we have 2 Legitimate BE players on our team and both, are exceptional , 6 foot,lefty guards whose games are essentially identical. They are small by comparison to nearly all the Guards they will face. their talent on any given night will determine where we will finish in the Standings. Right now, we are in better shape than DePaul, Providence, G'town having won 2 Games. Our Talent does not allow us to compete with the 4 Teams that will fight it out this year. We should be happy , not to finish last. I think we can hold our own with the teams below us in the Conference.

As for all the shots, some cheap, directed at Mullin. This Team could have Red Auerbach, Bobby Knight and John Wooden and Mike K on our Bench and the results wouldn't change. It won't until we get a full Roster of 8 legitimate BE level talent, including a big Man and 2 Burly Forwards built like NFL linebackers that can go to the hoop and also shoot a J. how far are we from that?

I don't know , does anyone at this point? A question to ask is Matt A. finding the job more difficult than at Iowa State? Maybe our Admissions policies are not as lenient as the Cyclones? Maybe we need some transfers or 5th year players, that every team has these days. Blaming Mullin for Player errors , when they are outclassed , doesn't seem fair to me. The team plays hard and didn't give up, today or against Creighton. Our 2 guards are Special Players and everyone knows it , but, they alone cant make up for the lack of a legitimate Front Court game .
I hope Ponds and Lovett stick around long enough to be part of building this Program to a competitive level. They are the Linch Pins to doing it.

I will preface this by saying I am a major Mullin homer (as my avatar indicates.)

I think we have more than 2 legitimate BE players. Bashir Ahmed, Williams, and Owens all can make the cut. They all sucked today, which was unfortunate.

But I **have** to believe that chemistry,or lack thereof, is playing a major role in the performance of this team and the development of those legitimate BE players we do have.

When guys like Mussini and Freduenberg --both mid-major players at best--get 19 minutes and 11 minutes, respectively (much of that when we in the lead and in contention) then you just have to say WTF??

I hope Ponds and Lovett do stick around. And I hope that high-level recruits looking in don't think they will be usurped by guys who don't deserve to be on the same court as them.

All very good points. Ahmed, Williams , Owens would all be role players on the Top 4 teams in the BE. Yes, They can contribute , off the Bench. Not Program changers. Which we need desperately to supplement Ponds and Lovett..

Unfair, to dis Mussini or RF on PT. All our players need a blow during the game, Ahmed showed early he was way out there today and also, against Creighton. Not good performances. Mussini is a spot up 3 pt shooter, that can contribute in certain situations.. I doubt Mullin would play them over newcomers, if the newcomers were capable of starting next year. You do need a Bench. i am not sure the roles for Ponds and Lovett are defined as yet. Ponds, spent a lot of time, especially in the first half, watching Lovett dribble into double teams. it's on Mullin to get Ponds the ball in scoring positions. Shamorie spent a lot of the early game giving it to Lovett and never saw it again. Mullin and Richmond, along with Hardaway learned how to share the ball in Golden State. It has to be leaned here too. Yakwe will likely never have good hands or make a meaningful contribution. Bench player , who can give minutes, as in less than 10. Ali, is what he is, a LAVIN recruit, not a BE player. Big Body, to take up space and foul hard.

Ponds is the best passer on the team

 

[lawmanfan]

May be nonsense on my part, but I almost think CM needs to script a handful of plays to start the game to minimize the out of control/bad shot fueled slow starts. Something to get them kickstarted.

I get where you're coming from but on the offensive end of the floor the thing the staff could do that would make the biggest difference is get into BA's head that there are four other players on the floor. He needs to understand that a bad shot for him is not really a better option than a good shot for someone else. And yeah I've been saying that all along, too. I understand that we need his offense, but he can take you out of a game just as easily as shoot you into it.

A couple of others on the team suffer from the same problem to a much lesser extent, but I think it all starts with Ahmed.

 

[weathermannyc]

May be nonsense on my part, but I almost think CM needs to script a handful of plays to start the game to minimize the out of control/bad shot fueled slow starts. Something to get them kickstarted.

I get where you're coming from but on the offensive end of the floor the thing the staff could do that would make the biggest difference is get into BA's head that there are four other players on the floor. He needs to understand that a bad shot for him is not really a better option than a good shot for someone else. And yeah I've been saying that all along, too. I understand that we need his offense, but he can take you out of a game just as easily as shoot you into it.

A couple of others on the team suffer from the same problem to a much lesser extent, but I think it all starts with Ahmed.

Agree. Good Ahmed and we have three legit scoring threats that the defense has to key in on. Bad Ahmed and both Ponds and Lovett have to completely carry the load AND make up for the lost possessions from Ahmed turnovers and forced shots. It's frustrating. He has a lot of talent but just has to learn how to play under control. and get a feel for where and how his shots will come from. He should be able to easily get 10+ shots a night within the flow of the offense so there is no need to force things.

Here are our offensive ratings from KenPom:

Ponds 121.5
Lovett 113.9
Owens 113.5
Williams 112.4
Mussini 109.4
Ellison 108.6
Yakwe 101.8
Ahmed 92.5
Alibegovic 76.7
Freudenberg 72.3

Sima 103.2


Ahmed is that low due to a 38% FG on two point attempts (due to all the forced shots spinning into contact and double teams) and a 22.3% turnover rate (only ones higher are Freud and Ali). He is our X factor. When he plays under control, good things happen. When he plays out of control, the other team goes on a run.

 

[lawmanfan]

I love it when stats matchup with the eye test.
Thanks WMNYC

 

[cappy105]

May be nonsense on my part, but I almost think CM needs to script a handful of plays to start the game to minimize the out of control/bad shot fueled slow starts. Something to get them kickstarted.

I get where you're coming from but on the offensive end of the floor the thing the staff could do that would make the biggest difference is get into BA's head that there are four other players on the floor. He needs to understand that a bad shot for him is not really a better option than a good shot for someone else. And yeah I've been saying that all along, too. I understand that we need his offense, but he can take you out of a game just as easily as shoot you into it.

A couple of others on the team suffer from the same problem to a much lesser extent, but I think it all starts with Ahmed.

Agree. Good Ahmed and we have three legit scoring threats that the defense has to key in on. Bad Ahmed and both Ponds and Lovett have to completely carry the load AND make up for the lost possessions from Ahmed turnovers and forced shots. It's frustrating. He has a lot of talent but just has to learn how to play under control. and get a feel for where and how his shots will come from. He should be able to easily get 10+ shots a night within the flow of the offense so there is no need to force things.

Here are our offensive ratings from KenPom:

Ponds 121.5
Lovett 113.9
Owens 113.5
Williams 112.4
Mussini 109.4
Ellison 108.6
Yakwe 101.8
Ahmed 92.5
Alibegovic 76.7
Freudenberg 72.3

Sima 103.2


Ahmed is that low due to a 38% FG on two point attempts (due to all the forced shots spinning into contact and double teams) and a 22.3% turnover rate (only ones higher are Freud and Ali). He is our X factor. When he plays under control, good things happen. When he plays out of control, the other team goes on a run.

im a believer in starting with high % shots and filter in the 3 point shot. When we are shooting cold need to drive and make high % shots. Ellison and Ahmed should drive first, collapse defense, either pop it out to perimeter, or finish and pick up foul. I know GTown is big, but if our shot is not falling we still need to drive on them. Ellison is big for a guard and should always drive. He's actually a good slasher, same with Ahmed. Williams and Owens need to play tough and grab boards even though they are overmatched. If our shot is not falling we have no chance at this game....but if we can establish an inside and out game we can win.

 

[paultzman]

May be nonsense on my part, but I almost think CM needs to script a handful of plays to start the game to minimize the out of control/bad shot fueled slow starts. Something to get them kickstarted.

I get where you're coming from but on the offensive end of the floor the thing the staff could do that would make the biggest difference is get into BA's head that there are four other players on the floor. He needs to understand that a bad shot for him is not really a better option than a good shot for someone else. And yeah I've been saying that all along, too. I understand that we need his offense, but he can take you out of a game just as easily as shoot you into it.

A couple of others on the team suffer from the same problem to a much lesser extent, but I think it all starts with Ahmed.

Agree. Good Ahmed and we have three legit scoring threats that the defense has to key in on. Bad Ahmed and both Ponds and Lovett have to completely carry the load AND make up for the lost possessions from Ahmed turnovers and forced shots. It's frustrating. He has a lot of talent but just has to learn how to play under control. and get a feel for where and how his shots will come from. He should be able to easily get 10+ shots a night within the flow of the offense so there is no need to force things.

Here are our offensive ratings from KenPom:

Ponds 121.5
Lovett 113.9
Owens 113.5
Williams 112.4
Mussini 109.4
Ellison 108.6
Yakwe 101.8
Ahmed 92.5
Alibegovic 76.7
Freudenberg 72.3

Sima 103.2


Ahmed is that low due to a 38% FG on two point attempts (due to all the forced shots spinning into contact and double teams) and a 22.3% turnover rate (only ones higher are Freud and Ali). He is our X factor. When he plays under control, good things happen. When he plays out of control, the other team goes on a run.

im a believer in starting with high % shots and filter in the 3 point shot. When we are shooting cold need to drive and make high % shots. Ellison and Ahmed should drive first, collapse defense, either pop it out to perimeter, or finish and pick up foul. I know GTown is big, but if our shot is not falling we still need to drive on them. Ellison is big for a guard and should always drive. He's actually a good slasher, same with Ahmed. Williams and Owens need to play tough and grab boards even though they are overmatched. If our shot is not falling we have no chance at this game....but if we can establish an inside and out game we can win.

Good to see you did not suggest getting Amar to play physical down low to negate GT bigs.

 

[cappy105]

i gave up on that project. It seemed to make sense in my head. He is painful to watch.

 

[we are sju]

May be nonsense on my part, but I almost think CM needs to script a handful of plays to start the game to minimize the out of control/bad shot fueled slow starts. Something to get them kickstarted.

I get where you're coming from but on the offensive end of the floor the thing the staff could do that would make the biggest difference is get into BA's head that there are four other players on the floor. He needs to understand that a bad shot for him is not really a better option than a good shot for someone else. And yeah I've been saying that all along, too. I understand that we need his offense, but he can take you out of a game just as easily as shoot you into it.

A couple of others on the team suffer from the same problem to a much lesser extent, but I think it all starts with Ahmed.

Agree. Good Ahmed and we have three legit scoring threats that the defense has to key in on. Bad Ahmed and both Ponds and Lovett have to completely carry the load AND make up for the lost possessions from Ahmed turnovers and forced shots. It's frustrating. He has a lot of talent but just has to learn how to play under control. and get a feel for where and how his shots will come from. He should be able to easily get 10+ shots a night within the flow of the offense so there is no need to force things.

Here are our offensive ratings from KenPom:

Ponds 121.5
Lovett 113.9
Owens 113.5
Williams 112.4
Mussini 109.4
Ellison 108.6
Yakwe 101.8
Ahmed 92.5
Alibegovic 76.7
Freudenberg 72.3

Sima 103.2


Ahmed is that low due to a 38% FG on two point attempts (due to all the forced shots spinning into contact and double teams) and a 22.3% turnover rate (only ones higher are Freud and Ali). He is our X factor. When he plays under control, good things happen. When he plays out of control, the other team goes on a run.

Here is the main problem. Our two far and away best players are 6 foot guards. Owens and MAYBE Ellison would be 8th or 9th men on a good team. Ahmed I think will be better next year but this version of Ahmed does not play on a good team. Honestly people can talk about lack of assists for Lovett and Ponds but the guy I would hate to play with is Ahmed. No one else on roster that I did not mention would sniff court on another BE team.

And I joking ask this from time to time but seriously outside of Ahmed and Amar has anyone else on team ever lifted a weight? Are there only enough weights for those two guys? Owens looks like he lost weight? What kid in College loses weight? He could make a fortune by selling his weight loss secret to Freshman girls. Freshman 15 would be thing of the past.