You just named what I was thinking. And @DFresh11 just made me think of something. Watching the offense flow it looks like a team that is well drilled, but not experienced in games. What I mean by that is they run the plays and run all the options off the plays in practice, but they don’t practice them in a free flowing game like setting, always in a conditioned drill so you just make the next move according to the drill.
Point being, while it feels like you are reading and reacting the truth is you’re just reading down a checklist and never developing that second nature instinct that taps into that deep database of learned and experienced knowledge.
A lot of gobblygook there to say if I was coaching I’d center the focus of practice into small sided game and variations and not drills.
Very much feels like guys are more running through the motions of the offense rather than actively looking to make plays and adjustments within it. For as much as I don’t like B/M as an offense, our best years were when our guys had the knowledge and confidence to make those subtle modifications to their principles within it in order to catch opposing defenses off guard. One example that comes to mind is when we beat Dook at Cameron in 2018, remember how we took advantage of their defenders faceguarding us by getting the ball to a blocker at the elbow and backcutting our guard routes with Jerome and Hall? Fucking great intricacy used by TB and our guys that helped us build an early double digit lead in that game.
We need to be implementing more stuff like this that helps our team find some sort of a rhythm at the start of games, I get that TB probably wants to drill the basics of B/M down before anything else but teams are starting to know our offense better than our guys know it themselves and are reading us like a damn book. Especially in road games where confidence and coming out of the gate strong is so important, we’ve gotta do a better job of making sure the teams we’re playing are having to adjust to us instead of the other way around.
This was basically the wisconsin game. They literally knew our offense and defense better than we did and punished HARD on t he defensive breakdowns and trapping mckneely off a blocker mover screen, etc.
Yep especially if the guys running BM don’t know all the wrinkles and reads or there is a limited skill set that limits those options. The playbook shrinks and teams can key in.
Yep, we look like robotic drudges out there. An errant Roomba just bouncing into a corner over and over again comes to mind. My heart sank again as I watched our offense coming out against Wake in the first half. Same old, same old even with a quasi effective Minor in the mix. The challenge of course is whether we have the dudes who can freelance within situational bounds and be effective.
Thanks, as always. Nothing much to add here, but that’s never stopped me before:
Good stuff from Minor, and good thoughts from you. He’s no cure-all, but he gives us another piece that we didn’t really have. Unfortunately, yet another offensive issue, embodied by him, but also our entire post rotation, is that none of can hit free throws at a decent clip. So drawing fouls is nice, but hitting at 60% or FT% or so ain’t great.
I’ve decided to go full heel on Rohde’s minutes recently, but that’s mostly because I’ve found people to argue with (could be argued that’s a negative character trait of mine, I spose, but nevertheless) but for me, the fact that Rhode looks good playing off of Minor screens, is for me, YET ANOTHER REASON Rhode shouldn’t be getting 31mpg and iMac shouldn’t be getting 36 (#bench-iMac). This team needs to find stuff that works, and I’m not sure why we stopped doing that after the first scrimmage (HGN reported on a short rotation against MD, to which my reaction was ). So for me, Rohde/Rhode/Roadie** (I’ll make him a deal – get above 90 O-Rtg and I’ll memorize the spelling – Konieczny – see? I’m a great speller, but where the F does the H go? I don’t know…) working well off of screens is a good example of why we shouldn’t have stopped finding guard/wing lineup combos after the UConn scrimmage.
Those of you pointing out that it looks like we are running drills when we run offense – that’s a great insight! Everything looks mechanical, forced, etc. Is that a personnel issue? Yeah, sorta. Experience? Yeah, sorta. Coaching? Yeah, sorta.
** Can we do an emergency nickname, here? How about D-Ro? “D-Ro into A-Rob. A-Rob kicks it to a cutting RD. RD resets it out to i-Mac, who kicks it back to D-Ro. D-Ro finds an open Sir Nigel Airdale-Cavendish-Kincaid*** in the corner, who air-balls his three point attempt.”
*** Our new British shooting guard, who we get when we strike out in the portal. Family owns several baronial estates so he’s not interested in NIL.
Sorta related to our opponent this week - did folks know that Buzz made up the “Boots” Radford nickname? Cuz he’s as tough as leather boots. That’s a disappointing nickname…
The problem is I’m not sure he’s actually got the ability to do this against better competition…
I brought it up in the Morgan State game thread that his shot isn’t there from outside and that he hadn’t really shown a willingness to take a defender off the bounce, the most notable of those being the matchups with 7’4” center from Syracuse. I would like to see a more aggressive style trying to attack but skill wise I’m not sure he’s there to just take his man to the hoop. And I’m not sure that’s something that can be fixed in season. That’s more of a thousands of reps in the offseason type of thing IMO.
Dunn is so raw it’s easy to forget given the hype around him. That contributes to some of his hesitancy and ineffectiveness. Often times he looks like a guy figuring it out.
He’s done it, though. I don’t think it’s a lack of skill. Sure, he won’t finish everything, but he’s made some great plays with his footwork and has attacked the rim effectively. He’s quicker than the majority of players who end up guarding him and can cover a lot of ground in a straight line. I think he doesn’t trust himself nor is he willing to just launch himself in there/get blocked. I also don’t think he’s been given the green light as a focal point of the offense.
Not giving the green light only leads to a player too afraid to try anything because he’s afraid of making a mistake. I believe that gets in their head and you can see it in Dunn. It just hurts a player and the team. I’ve seen a lot of it over the years. Guys with wide open shots turning them down really piss me off
I’ll defer to you on the full on analytics/counting of plays, but to my eye Ryan is only scoring on plays either A right at the basket or B where he’s moving towards the basket within the play. Sure he’s done it some but I struggle to remember a time he’s created his own against better competition, especially when that competition was completely locked in and focused…
@BDragon makes a great point though. He’s got so much untapped potential it’s a shame we may not get to see him even scratch the surface of it.
Definitely mostly true and this is what I’ve been writing about.
There’s been a few, though. Check the last clip in my “Offense” section from this week. Full stand still gets ball on wing, takes his man off of the dribble and spins back toward the hoop for a nice layup. He could/should do this a lot more.
I get what you’re saying I just look at the time/score (16 points and roughly 9 mins left to play), and the comp (a young forward off the bench). I feel like if he were able to do this consistently it would show up more earlier in games. Agree with dragon on it he often does look like he’s still feeling out the game and what he can do to positively contribute.
). So for me, Rohde/Rhode/Roadie** (I’ll make him a deal – get above 90 O-Rtg and I’ll memorize the spelling – Konieczny – see? I’m a great speller, but where the F does the H go? I don’t know…) working well off of screens is a good example of why we shouldn’t have stopped finding guard/wing lineup combos after the UConn scrimmage.
