The Issue...
Posted: Mon Dec 05, 2016 10:44 amas I see it is defense. Before the season, many questioned how the loss of the seniors will effect play. How will we find leadership . Do we have enough size? Don't get me wrong, those issues matter, but its what we're not doing well, that we ALL thought we'd do well, that's truly killing us.
The expectation was that we had 6-6 length or more everywhere which would make us a team that could man up and wear you down. Everyone rebounding well from their position etc. So far, we aren't stopping the ball and are giving up uncontested 3's. We're rebounding just fine, not really getting hurt by opposing bigs when we're on D, but teams are shooting good percentages from the field and we're still giving up career nights to random kids from 3.
Now, I'm not absolving Jank from our defensive woes, its on him. That said, everything we hope to accomplish on O goes away w/o playing the type of defense we all hoped and thought we'd play. Jank spoke of playing faster, shooting more 3's, less inside/out etc. We're seeing none of that b/c we're inbounding after most possessions. No stops, no boards, no pushing tempo.
This was never a team designed to wear you down in the half court. Only Froling has block moves. Sure, we need better movement on O, better decision-making, more aggression from kids like Shake, but mostly we need to commit to the new style. Only way to make the commitment valid is to start by getting stops. We werent supposed to play the same way w Shake at point vs Nic. No reason to even try. Sometimes, even when we get stops and can push, we don't out of old habit. Have to ditch that mentality.
Simply, we need to hunker down on D, get stops, and advance the ball. This entire year will be frustration if we settle into the half court every time. We need some easy buckets, cant outwork folks for everything. We have some athletes that can get up and down, use them. On O, work Shake of a high screen and say get to the rim or find someone popping or spotting up. That's how you get numbers, 3 on 2, 2 on 1 etc. So far, its all contested. We can do better by design, but it starts w/D and a commitment to the new style.
The expectation was that we had 6-6 length or more everywhere which would make us a team that could man up and wear you down. Everyone rebounding well from their position etc. So far, we aren't stopping the ball and are giving up uncontested 3's. We're rebounding just fine, not really getting hurt by opposing bigs when we're on D, but teams are shooting good percentages from the field and we're still giving up career nights to random kids from 3.
Now, I'm not absolving Jank from our defensive woes, its on him. That said, everything we hope to accomplish on O goes away w/o playing the type of defense we all hoped and thought we'd play. Jank spoke of playing faster, shooting more 3's, less inside/out etc. We're seeing none of that b/c we're inbounding after most possessions. No stops, no boards, no pushing tempo.
This was never a team designed to wear you down in the half court. Only Froling has block moves. Sure, we need better movement on O, better decision-making, more aggression from kids like Shake, but mostly we need to commit to the new style. Only way to make the commitment valid is to start by getting stops. We werent supposed to play the same way w Shake at point vs Nic. No reason to even try. Sometimes, even when we get stops and can push, we don't out of old habit. Have to ditch that mentality.
Simply, we need to hunker down on D, get stops, and advance the ball. This entire year will be frustration if we settle into the half court every time. We need some easy buckets, cant outwork folks for everything. We have some athletes that can get up and down, use them. On O, work Shake of a high screen and say get to the rim or find someone popping or spotting up. That's how you get numbers, 3 on 2, 2 on 1 etc. So far, its all contested. We can do better by design, but it starts w/D and a commitment to the new style.
how'd you guess?