Playing through the post, defensive rotations, navigating drop coverage differently?, Rohde spotlight, continued bad rebounding and other thoughts.
This is really good stuff cuts. I’m on the same page about TJP. Made no sense to cut his minutes when I thought he was playing pretty well and it seems clear he’s going to have to carve out a successful role for the team to have actual success this year.
My biggest disappointment I think so far has been how not strong we look. Weak feels like too harsh a term, but I don’t have much confidence in our bigs being able to successfully back down higher level opponents consistently. Which sucks because I’m with you being able to play through the post some would help.
On Taine the play you highlighted with him taking the ball to the hoop and dishing a great pass for an easy dunk is Taine at his best. When he’s attacking he’s a really valuable player. But my complaint on him and it dates back to last year is he’s entirely too passive. I feel like too often when he gets the ball he looks away from the basket and if he’s not looking to attack I don’t really see the value in playing him, especially when you have a guy like Sharma who (so far) hasn’t shown any reluctance in looking to attack.
Going forward I hope to see TJ in a 15 maybe 18 or so minute role off the bench, and Sharma and ARob to get looks in more minor roles. I think from what I’ve seen so far I’d put money on ARob being our strongest player, and I think strength is something we’ll need at some point so better to have him with some minutes and experience.
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Okay, so not in the spirit of the point you’re making, or in the spirit of the day, but kinda in the spirit of me … so here goes… let me get this straight … those first two clips were meant to highlight Blake in the post? Like, what were those shots? to be fair, one goes in (somehow) and the other drew a foul. So Merry Christmas, everyone or Happy Hannukkah, or whatever today is.
@JBHoo Same issue for me on Taine. He is a senior and he still doesn’t know when/how to be appropriately aggressive. See Coppin for some bad examples of him trying to do too much, and Manhattan for not enough.
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I know it’s completely unprovable but I will always wonder how much of that was Tony keeping him buried on the bench for 2 1/2 years, and never even trying to build on his rookie year Iowa performance.
But then again, Tony’s stubborn unwillingness to play underclassmen through growing pains in favor of low-ceiling veterans post-natty is well documented.
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I’ve kinda worn my thoughts out on Blake as @Jerome knows. I don’t think Tuesday changed those thoughts. But it’s nice to see a few go in and hope that spurs something.
I think the offensive game is decidedly not going to develop absent of any sort of shift in the laws of physics. But I think Ronchez needs to be weighing whether what he provides defensively (imperfect but more refined than Cofie) outweighs the clear disadvantage we have with defensive rebounding when he is on the court.
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Looking at the on-offs, I’m mildly surprised to see that Blake’s on-off impact has been positive for offense, negative for defense, which is flipped from last season. Relatedly, Cofie has been negative offense, positive defense. They do play a fair number of minutes together.
Maybe more interesting to look at frontcourt combos; link to Hoop Explorer here but I’ll screenshot for convenience (warning, numbers incoming):
The number in the top left closest to the names is the net rating of each pairing, adjusted for opponent. If you click through the link, you can see more of the statistical fingerprint of each combo. The Blake-Cofie, Blake-Saunders lineups have trouble rebounding (oddly, the Blake-Power lineups have been OK). 3PT variance looms large this early in the season; the Blake lineups have been getting toasted from 3, which might be real or might be overstating the defensive issues.
FYI, these are sorted by possession count, so underneath Cofie-Power are combos that rarely play.
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Bonus thought on Blake: my favorite thing of the game was him trying that 3! Loved it. Needs a bit more arc
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I think I described Blake’s first post move as a baby deer learning to gallop - which should indicate my confidence level.
That being said, yeah, I’d still like to get him more post touches as well as Cofie, Saunders, Power, and Rohde (prioritizing mismatches). That little hook shot from Blake if he doesnt draw help and pass out is still a better option than our insane turnover rate and some of the poor outside shots we generate.
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