Some thoughts at the new year

[Rhode_Island_Red]

Before we play the first game of 2017, some things have become evident. At least to me.

-- "Zone" should not be a four-letter word. If we played some zone, maybe our zone offense would be better having practiced against a zone. Until we can handle a decent zone (and that mess St. Louis played was far from decent), I'd expect to see very little man-to-man. Playing a zone would also mean we could play Andre Berry while avoiding his penchant for losing his man.

-- Kuran Iverson and Nicola Akele are not post players. Hopefully when Hassan Martin comes back we can see him and Cyril Langevine together, with Iverson or Akele on a wing where they belong. Or, if we played zone, Langevine and Berry together.

-- Can't tell whether E.C. disappears because he's just trying to blend in, because other teams are keyed on stopping him or he's just not yet 100 percent.

-- Long story with a point about Jared Terrell: Back in the 1980s the Detroit Pistons had a guy named Vinnie Johnson. They called him "the microwave" because he could come in off the bench and get hot in an instant. He could come in and hit five or six in a row, then keep shooting and miss five or six in a row. Chuck Daly said the toughest part of coaching him was knowing when to take him out before he got too cold. Sometimes Jared gets hot, and other times Dan needs to get him out before he shoots the other team back into the lead.

-- Jeff Dowtin is a nice player but not a point guard.

-- Stanford Robinson was a great pickup -- good handle, good defender and decent scorer (but not what you'd call a shooter).

-- Compare Langevine with the freshman-year version of Hassan -- not much of a difference. Let's see if Langevine works as hard on his offense as Hassan has.

-- It's been 18 years. Not sure how much longer I can wait.

[Billyboy78]

Trivia question: Who gave Vinnie Johnson that nickname?

[eli#10]

Chuck Daly?

[RF1]

Trivia question: Who gave Vinnie Johnson that nickname?

I had to look it up. Danny Ainge.

[Billyboy78]

Trivia question: Who gave Vinnie Johnson that nickname?

I had to look it up. Danny Ainge.

You are correct.

[josephski]

Agree with all your thoughts except for Terrell. If anyone gets brought to the bench because they're missing shots it should be EC. That +/- thread shows how much of an impact Terrell has on the game whether he's scoring or not.

[RhowdyRam02]

Oh great another thread where people can say we should play zone. I know your CYO team sucked against zone, so you think you're a great basketball mind suggesting we play it, but anyone suggesting we play zone should just literally give up and start following Syracuse.

[reef]

Only time we should play zone is to mix it up after a timeout where the other team won't expect it to fool them

[Rhode_Island_Red]

Oh great another thread where people can say we should play zone. I know your CYO team sucked against zone, so you think you're a great basketball mind suggesting we play it, but anyone suggesting we play zone should just literally give up and start following Syracuse.

Nobody is suggesting we play zone all the time. But with our lack of depth at the post positions, it would be a nice option to have. Plus, it might help our zone offense be a little less inept.

[ramster]

Red,
Good thoughts.
I think Terrell even reminds me some of The Microwave from his physical build, but Terrell is also good at taking the ball inside the lane. He seems to have improved this part of his game over past seasons. An example of Terrell streakiness is in FTs. Looked back and he hit his last 2 vs ODU, 4-4 Houston, 4-4 HC, 3-3 W&M then missed his 1st 4 vs SLU going 3-8 in the game. So he hit 13 straight then missed 4 straight. But he is streaky in a way like The Microwave was, but when Terrell gets hot he can be red hot. So you are right, how can Hurley leverage this streakiness to the benefit of the team's success as Daly admittedly struggled with.
I'd like to see us go to the Hot Guy more whether it's Terrell, EC, Garrett or Dowtin. Just keep feeding them for the 3 pointer - when they are hot. Look for them. I think we do this to a degree but we could do more of this, great teams do.

Agree with your comments about EC. We need Terrell and EC to both play well to achieve our goal of NCAA. Their stats are very similar, FG% Exactly the same at 44.5%, 3 pointers EC 34.3%, JT 35.3%, FT EC 71.1%, JT 75.9%. EC contributes more in rebounding with 4.6 rpg, JT 2.7 rpg. But bottom line we need both of these guys to perform well. We need the whole starting 5 and the first 3 guys off the bench to perform well to be NCAA. Can't have a single weak link.

Agree on EC. Not sure, but hopefully is it the year off and with continued playing time he will become his old self or better. We need him.

Dowtin came in as a Combo guard but primarily the off guard. He played off guard in HS.

I had heard very good things about Robinson last year when he participated in intra-squad scrimmages and practices so was not surprised with what he has done to date. Players and staff were impressed with him last year. Ball really moves with Robinson and Dowtin in the game together - a combo DH seems to be going with more and more - with Robinson assuming the PG role. Nice to have a deeper bench with quality players, A big difference over the past 18 years. Could be what carries us to the A10 Title and NCAA invite.

[rambone 78]

Good post, ramster. Agree.....and would add as long as Hassan can come back at close to 100%.....our chances could be good.....the next 2 games will tell us a lot.

[TruePoint]

A major difference between Terrell and Vinnie Johnson is that Terrell is the best player on our team and Johnson was backing up two hall of fame guards and was clearly not the best player on the team.

[The Dude]

If Rhody enters the Davidson game on February 3rd after not losing another game, then and only then will I be willing to once again start believing that this team is a team that can make the NCAA Tournament.
Hoping to see the improvements continue in the new year...
Go Rhody!

[reef]

Believe believe this will be the year the drought ends