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PLEASE.

After watching last nights game I ask myself. Why do we not drive to the hoop? We have seen the team do that but it is so random. If we did that most times down the court we would foul out the other teams players.

Secondly, What is the definition of an open shot? Last night I saw ( like 10 times ) someone get the ball with 3 to 5 feet of space on the outside and they don't shoot. They stand there and wait for a defenser and then pass. COME ON. SHOOT.

Frustrated about offense.

With Darrel Arthur ( I here he loves to score and shoot ) we would have been an NIT team THIS YEAR.

driving only works if you can finish. Thats been one of our problems all year, finishing at the rim. DRob keeps going 1 for 7 every game and several of those misses are usually drives to the hoop. Pearson is not finishing either. Hop and Dez have a hard time in the trees due to size, but Hop is by far our best finisher. I agree with the people that have said it is time for him to re-assert himself. Ideally, he would play in the flow of the offense and let the shots fall where they may. But we have to score more than 50 points per game. If Hopkins has to crank up 25 shots for us to get to 65 points, so be it I say. We did miss Brian Morris last night. He is good for 3 or 4 easy buckets every game by just getting position on the block for a layup or putback.

Last night I counted at least 5 times when we had a 3 on 1 or 2 on 1
fast breaks going and we couldn't finish.

After the ECU & Rice overtime wins and the emergence of Morris and Bamba, I was optimistic that we were beginning to gell and that by
tournament time, we would be a force to reckoned with.

But we seem to be going in a most disappointing direction at the moment.
Unless we can make progress between now and the CUSA tourney, we will be one and out.

Slow down offense is killing our chances by making us take desperation shots with the clock running out. I'd still rather see them play up tempo even if they blow shots. If we would only play more uptempo defense at
various times in the game instead of waiting until the last 4-5 minutes to really pressure, we might get many more easy attempts.

Scoring is so key for this team.

When scoring 70+ we are 8-0

Less than 70, 1-7.

The lack of finishing certainly depresses the crowd's enthusiasm. When you shoot 35% and don't go on any sustained offensive runs, the crowd can't sustain any excitement. I sensed the crowd wanted to get into the game, but struggling to get to 20 by half and to 50 at the end doesn't help much.

b-hop had one of the sickest moves at the tulsa game. Bhop started driving to the hoop, saw that his defender closed in, faked backing out, got around him, and took it to the hole. I agree the team needs to drive the lane more. B-hop needs to show off his arsenal better.

Its hard for BHOP to show his arsenal when you have a coach who expects you to run a silly offense that clogs up the middle and involves a lot of wasted movement and time by way of double screens at the top of the key - what the hell are these screens suppose to produce?- it does not take a freaking double screen to get the ball to the top of the key. And for the love of God, do not allow the bigs to clog the middle, and thus give our athletic guards a chance to be creative.

due wrote:Its hard for BHOP to show his arsenal when you have a coach who expects you to run a silly offense that clogs up the middle and involves a lot of wasted movement and time by way of double screens at the top of the key - what the hell are these screens suppose to produce?- it does not take a freaking double screen to get the ball to the top of the key. And for the love of God, do not allow the bigs to clog the middle, and thus give our athletic guards a chance to be creative.

I'm not dismissing what you are saying, but our opponents try to run that same double screen against us all the time. Most college teams run that play. I think it is actually designed to free BHop and Dez up to get some open shots when their bigger defenders overplay and harrass them. Look, I have probably been Bhops biggest proponent and defender on this board for years, but the fact is our guards are getting get pushed way out on the perimeter by the defense all the time. They are having a hard time getting to the point of attack. The double screen actually creates some space and opportunity for them to be creative. I'd probably like to see more of it, along with more full court defense earlier in the game. The problem is we are not deep enough.