3/7 | UMass | 7:00PM (NESN Plus/ESPN+)

[Rhody72]

Tre did body Fatts on that final play, but the contact would be a no-call in most games. At least we fouled them tonight rather than using the matador defense.

Every time Tre got the ball down low he was double teamed. We won because the open opponent missed shots.

The opening post of this thread called us battered and bruised. That is how we looked for the last 6 games.

Will the development of returnees plus newcomers make up for the loss of Jeff and Cyril?

[reef]

I thought the Cyril call on Tre to put him at the line was borderline so if they called that then they have to put Fatts st the line at the end to stay consistent

I agree that was dumb to call time out and let mass set up a play but why do we come out in a 2-2-1 trap when we are up by 1 point ?? I would rather we just play tough half court man defense ??

[Tjrams91]

It’s painfully apparent that those of you complaining about offense have never coached on any level. Purely armchair QBs. In order for an offense to be efficient, you have to be efficient in making the shots it creates. There are sets designed for Jeff to knock down his mid range, their are sets designed for Fatts to get to the basket and get fouled, there are sets for Tyrese to knock down open 3’s, and there are sets run for a cutting Cyril or Jermaine to finish right at the rim. At some point, you have to hold the players accountable to simply put the ball in the bucket.

Now, I’m not saying Cox & Co. are perfect (or even close to it), but when we were playing well, we were shooting damn near 50% per game. That has declined because we are in an obvious SLUMP, offensively. Only way out, is to find your rhythm again and shoot your way out. You don’t start folding in new offensive sets during this time of the season, you just tweak the ones you have.

The timeouts, I can’t speak to, but I’ll defer judgement until someone asks the question.

[Rhode_Island_Red]

It’s painfully apparent that those of you complaining about offense have never coached on any level. Purely armchair QBs. In order for an offense to be efficient, you have to be efficient in making the shots it creates. There are sets designed for Jeff to knock down his mid range, their are sets designed for Fatts to get to the basket and get fouled, there are sets for Tyrese to knock down open 3’s, and there are sets run for a cutting Cyril or Jermaine to finish right at the rim. At some point, you have to hold the players accountable to simply put the ball in the bucket.

Now, I’m not saying Cox & Co. are perfect (or even close to it), but when we were playing well, we were shooting damn near 50% per game. That has declined because we are in an obvious SLUMP, offensively. Only way out, is to find your rhythm again and shoot your way out. You don’t start folding in new offensive sets during this time of the season, you just tweak the ones you have.

The timeouts, I can’t speak to, but I’ll defer judgement until someone asks the question.

I’m sure they have all these sets. But too often, our offense looks like one of these:
— The old John Chaney offense — fool around on the perimeter for 25 seconds, then chuck a three.
— Fatts drives into the lane and gets swallowed up by their bigs.
— Cyril gets the ball 18 feet out and goes one-on-three.

[section(105)]

.....OK, I’ll bite, of all those “sets” mentioned are fine, then the set that I don’t get is the one where four players are standing motionless creating no advantage for themselves nor the ball handler that often creates a poor shot selection, that is missed.....and the defense is not put in a disadvantage......OK, back to my rocker, I prefer that over arm chair.......onto a Brooklyn with looking for shots going in....

[section(105)]

I thought the Cyril call on Tre to put him at the line was borderline so if they called that then they have to put Fatts st the line at the end to stay consistent

I agree that was dumb to call time out and let mass set up a play but why do we come out in a 2-2-1 trap when we are up by 1 point ?? I would rather we just play tough half court man defense ??

.......maybe to creating some resistance to take a few seconds off the clock and not make it easy for UMass to walk into their offense......?

[Tjrams91]

.....OK, I’ll bite, of all those “sets” mentioned are fine, then the set that I don’t get is the one where four players are standing motionless creating no advantage for themselves nor the ball handler that often creates a poor shot selection, that is missed.....and the defense is not put in a disadvantage......OK, back to my rocker, I prefer that over arm chair....

Again, that’s an inaccurate assessment. Cox runs the wings underneath the zone to open the gap to feed the middle man and catch a cutter slashing to the basket. Sometimes it gets blown up, and the next thing is to simply find a way to score.

[rambone 78]

.....OK, I’ll bite, of all those “sets” mentioned are fine, then the set that I don’t get is the one where four players are standing motionless creating no advantage for themselves nor the ball handler that often creates a poor shot selection, that is missed.....and the defense is not put in a disadvantage......OK, back to my rocker, I prefer that over arm chair....

For the life of me, I'll never understand why we just stand there watching the ball handler.

How many other teams do that? Even in D2 or D3, teams run motion offenses.

We did it when Baron was coach, and we even did it with Dan at times.

To me, that's on the coaching staff.....when will we EVER get a coach that can effectively run a half court offense?

I mean, we DO at times, but why not more often?

Which makes it even harder to understand.

It's like we're trying to run clock with 10 minutes to go.

The 4 corners went out a long time ago, when the shot clock was instituted.

When we stand around we suck. The world can see that. The coaches?

[section(105)]

......Tjrams cleared it up for me.....

[Tjrams91]

.....OK, I’ll bite, of all those “sets” mentioned are fine, then the set that I don’t get is the one where four players are standing motionless creating no advantage for themselves nor the ball handler that often creates a poor shot selection, that is missed.....and the defense is not put in a disadvantage......OK, back to my rocker, I prefer that over arm chair....

For the life of me, I'll never understand why we just stand there watching the ball handler.

How many other teams do that? Even in D2 or D3, teams run motion offenses.

We did it when Baron was coach, and we even did it with Dan at times.

To me, that's on the coaching staff.....when will we EVER get a coach that can effectively run a half court offense?

I mean, we DO at times, but why not more often?

Which makes it even harder to understand.

It's like we're trying to run clock with 10 minutes to go.

The 4 corners went out a long time ago, when the shot clock was instituted.

When we stand around we suck. The world can see that. The coaches?

Consider me naive. The only time we stand around is when reading the defense. If it’s a zone, we run two guys behind the zone and the set begins.

[rhodylaw]

.....OK, I’ll bite, of all those “sets” mentioned are fine, then the set that I don’t get is the one where four players are standing motionless creating no advantage for themselves nor the ball handler that often creates a poor shot selection, that is missed.....and the defense is not put in a disadvantage......OK, back to my rocker, I prefer that over arm chair....

Again, that’s an inaccurate assessment. Cox runs the wings underneath the zone to open the gap to feed the middle man and catch a cutter slashing to the basket. Sometimes it gets blown up, and the next thing is to simply find a way to score.

So really the problem is that we don’t have a middle man in the zone who can execute this? Cyril has improved but that is not his strength. Also the middle of the zone gets clogged when we don’t have a threat from three on the kick out. Need improved shooting from three as well.

[rhodylaw]

Also on Harris - I remember an important juncture of the game last night where he was open for three and passed it up and drove to the hoop and got fouled. It showed a little more game sense to not take the three it that situation.

No problem with him taking a couple a game, my problem has been the situations when has taken them, particularly because he has not quite found his touch from deep on the colleg level. I think he will hit them eventually in his career and become the player we hoped he would be. Maybe next weekend?

[PeterRamTime]

I think we need more weave...

[PeteRI]

It’s painfully apparent that those of you complaining about offense have never coached on any level. Purely armchair QBs. In order for an offense to be efficient, you have to be efficient in making the shots it creates. There are sets designed for Jeff to knock down his mid range, their are sets designed for Fatts to get to the basket and get fouled, there are sets for Tyrese to knock down open 3’s, and there are sets run for a cutting Cyril or Jermaine to finish right at the rim. At some point, you have to hold the players accountable to simply put the ball in the bucket.

Now, I’m not saying Cox & Co. are perfect (or even close to it), but when we were playing well, we were shooting damn near 50% per game. That has declined because we are in an obvious SLUMP, offensively. Only way out, is to find your rhythm again and shoot your way out. You don’t start folding in new offensive sets during this time of the season, you just tweak the ones you have.

The timeouts, I can’t speak to, but I’ll defer judgement until someone asks the question.

I’m sure they have all these sets. But too often, our offense looks like one of these:
— The old John Chaney offense — fool around on the perimeter for 25 seconds, then chuck a three.
— Fatts drives into the lane and gets swallowed up by their bigs.
— Cyril gets the ball 18 feet out and goes one-on-three.

The Cyril one-on-three is my personal favorite -- especially when he puts it on the floor. Close second is the Jermaine 3.

[Tjrams91]

.....OK, I’ll bite, of all those “sets” mentioned are fine, then the set that I don’t get is the one where four players are standing motionless creating no advantage for themselves nor the ball handler that often creates a poor shot selection, that is missed.....and the defense is not put in a disadvantage......OK, back to my rocker, I prefer that over arm chair....

Again, that’s an inaccurate assessment. Cox runs the wings underneath the zone to open the gap to feed the middle man and catch a cutter slashing to the basket. Sometimes it gets blown up, and the next thing is to simply find a way to score.

So really the problem is that we don’t have a middle man in the zone who can execute this? Cyril has improved but that is not his strength. Also the middle of the zone gets clogged when we don’t have a threat from three on the kick out. Need improved shooting from three as well.

Correct. It handicaps is that we don’t have a big that can knock down a shot from the Free throw line or below.

[Tjrams91]

It’s painfully apparent that those of you complaining about offense have never coached on any level. Purely armchair QBs. In order for an offense to be efficient, you have to be efficient in making the shots it creates. There are sets designed for Jeff to knock down his mid range, their are sets designed for Fatts to get to the basket and get fouled, there are sets for Tyrese to knock down open 3’s, and there are sets run for a cutting Cyril or Jermaine to finish right at the rim. At some point, you have to hold the players accountable to simply put the ball in the bucket.

Now, I’m not saying Cox & Co. are perfect (or even close to it), but when we were playing well, we were shooting damn near 50% per game. That has declined because we are in an obvious SLUMP, offensively. Only way out, is to find your rhythm again and shoot your way out. You don’t start folding in new offensive sets during this time of the season, you just tweak the ones you have.

The timeouts, I can’t speak to, but I’ll defer judgement until someone asks the question.

I’m sure they have all these sets. But too often, our offense looks like one of these:
— The old John Chaney offense — fool around on the perimeter for 25 seconds, then chuck a three.
— Fatts drives into the lane and gets swallowed up by their bigs.
— Cyril gets the ball 18 feet out and goes one-on-three.

The Cyril one-on-three is my personal favorite -- especially when he puts it on the floor. Close second is the Jermaine 3.

It is not designed for him to do that.

[CHICO 78]

The root problem is still the fact that we have no one who can consistently hit the outside shot. And now teams are purposely collapsing to the middle to stop Fatts and anyone else from slashing to hoop. So the offense bogs down for long stretches. And when that happens we either lose the lead we have or we get terminally behind. Solution to the problem going forward recruit someone who can shoot the outside shot consistently And plays Passable defense. Not defensive specialists who slash to the basket and can’t hit the side of a barn with a open shot. At Least one to go with Sheppard Hopefully that’s Leggett! That doesn’t help us this year unfortunately.

[bigappleram]

It’s all about the quality of shots. Our guys aren’t as bad shooters as they look when they take difficult shots, off the dribble, contested, or early in shot clock. When the ball moved at beginning of game we got numerous easy looks and were shooting 50-55%. It gets sticky, stagnant and impatient and the numbers swing the other way.

Some of that is design but a lot more is on the execution.

[NYGFan_Section208]

Does Four McG have any eligibility left?

[FDshoes]

I’m sure they have all these sets. But too often, our offense looks like one of these:
— The old John Chaney offense — fool around on the perimeter for 25 seconds, then chuck a three.
— Fatts drives into the lane and gets swallowed up by their bigs.
— Cyril gets the ball 18 feet out and goes one-on-three.

The Cyril one-on-three is my personal favorite -- especially when he puts it on the floor. Close second is the Jermaine 3.

It is not designed for him to do that.

But coaching would teach Cyril to stop putting the damn ball on the floor under the hoop with multiple guys around him. We let Fatts carry us on the winning streak, coaching would recognize he is streaky scorer and not let our offense become one dimensional. Coaching should recognize if one or two plays are killing us and adjust. IE that damn backdoor cut that we are incapable of stopping. Coaching should teach/coach the offense to not let the shot clock run down so far before people start moving on so many possessions. So many games this year Harris gets a couple easy buckets early with good ball movement and him slipping free. Then whaddya know you dont hear his name the rest of the game. Also coaching.

[rhodylaw]

I’m sure they have all these sets. But too often, our offense looks like one of these:
— The old John Chaney offense — fool around on the perimeter for 25 seconds, then chuck a three.
— Fatts drives into the lane and gets swallowed up by their bigs.
— Cyril gets the ball 18 feet out and goes one-on-three.

The Cyril one-on-three is my personal favorite -- especially when he puts it on the floor. Close second is the Jermaine 3.

It is not designed for him to do that.

Well Harris and Walker should be able to - add in Toppin and we have three bigs who can rotate from the middle to the wing. I think I actually see where this is going in the coming years and think we will be in good shape if these guys develop and improve. I love Cyril and he has really improved his game but his starting point was a low post only guy so his ceiling in that role is tougher to reach.

[FDshoes]

Again, that’s an inaccurate assessment. Cox runs the wings underneath the zone to open the gap to feed the middle man and catch a cutter slashing to the basket. Sometimes it gets blown up, and the next thing is to simply find a way to score.

So really the problem is that we don’t have a middle man in the zone who can execute this? Cyril has improved but that is not his strength. Also the middle of the zone gets clogged when we don’t have a threat from three on the kick out. Need improved shooting from three as well.

Correct. It handicaps is that we don’t have a big that can knock down a shot from the Free throw line or below.

Last i checked Harris has decent touch inside 15 ft but the staff cant figure out how to use the big men.

[rhodyblue12]

It’s all about the quality of shots. Our guys aren’t as bad shooters as they look when they take difficult shots, off the dribble, contested, or early in shot clock. When the ball moved at beginning of game we got numerous easy looks and were shooting 50-55%. It gets sticky, stagnant and impatient and the numbers swing the other way.

Some of that is design but a lot more is on the execution.

Agree 100%.
Watching the last 6 games, it seems the adjustments (tweaks") have been minimal. At this point there is a lot of film on every team. Teams are sagging their man to man and we are still sending Fatts down the middle or running the same high pick and roll action. Teams have completely changed the way they play and we have responded with "tweaks" that have not been enough to counter it. That is where the frustration is coming from.

In-game adjustments by the staff are minimal and that's not good when you have a team with a rather low BB IQ (save Dowtin). Yesterday we had their best player with two fouls. He would have provided little resistance on defense, yet we only seemingly only attacked him when it was Cyril's "turn" to shoot. Painful.

One small adjustment that would be nice to see is for them to get into their sets earlier. This team wastes more possessions than they should standing around waiting for the set play to develop. When they do, they are mechanical in their actions and run the offense as if it is a walk through (like when "Cox runs the wings underneath the zone"). This is further complicated by the other team knowing our sets at this point of the season. The result is often the action is late and if the player the set was run for is not free, he shoots anyway because either the shot clock is an issue or there is no alternate option within the set (again "it's his turn to shoot").

The best thing I saw yesterday was the pass from Cyril on the low block to Harris in the middle against the zone - beautiful adjustment. They never ran it again.

[FDshoes]

My biggest issue is that as soon as we get a lead in the 2nd half any where near 10 points and around the under 12 timeout we play stall ball. And everything goes to shit! Hence why we blow so many leads. That is also coaching!!

[Tjrams91]

FT’s are also shooting us in the foot. If we can’t depend on our most consistent guys to knock those down it also doesn’t bode well for us. Cox can’t put the ball in the bucket. Just imagine if we shot them at a better clip how we wouldn’t even be having these conversations.

[Tjrams91]

It’s all about the quality of shots. Our guys aren’t as bad shooters as they look when they take difficult shots, off the dribble, contested, or early in shot clock. When the ball moved at beginning of game we got numerous easy looks and were shooting 50-55%. It gets sticky, stagnant and impatient and the numbers swing the other way.

Some of that is design but a lot more is on the execution.

Agree 100%.
Watching the last 6 games, it seems the adjustments (tweaks") have been minimal. At this point there is a lot of film on every team. Teams are sagging their man to man and we are still sending Fatts down the middle or running the same high pick and roll action. Teams have completely changed the way they play and we have responded with "tweaks" that have not been enough to counter it. That is where the frustration is coming from.

In-game adjustments by the staff are minimal and that's not good when you have a team with a rather low BB IQ (save Dowtin). Yesterday we had their best player with two fouls. He would have provided little resistance on defense, yet we only seemingly only attacked him when it was Cyril's "turn" to shoot. Painful.

One small adjustment that would be nice to see is for them to get into their sets earlier. This team wastes more possessions than they should standing around waiting for the set play to develop. When they do, they are mechanical in their actions and run the offense as if it is a walk through (like when "Cox runs the wings underneath the zone"). This is further complicated by the other team knowing our sets at this point of the season. The result is often the action is late and if the player the set was run for is not free, he shoots anyway because either the shot clock is an issue or there is no alternate option within the set (again "it's his turn to shoot").

The best thing I saw yesterday was the pass from Cyril on the low block to Harris in the middle against the zone - beautiful adjustment. They never ran it again.

Dayton ran 3 plays against us. They been running the same offense all year. Fortunately for them, they are effective offensively.

There is no team in NCAAB that runs more than 3-6 offensive sets a game. They just mix up when they run them. They may run it the other way, but that’s about it. Are some of you guys sure you’ve actually watched college b-ball before?

I’m no wizard, but I’ve coached for 15 years, and even a blind man can see this.

And rhodyblue, this isn’t directed toward you. This was just a general statement.

[section(105)]

FT’s are also shooting us in the foot. If we can’t depend on our most consistent guys to knock those down it also doesn’t bode well for us. Cox can’t put the ball in the bucket. Just imagine if we shot them at a better clip how we wouldn’t even be having these conversations.
[/quote

.......so, ya think they players weak in this area can/should be coaches up more for improvement?.....just asking.....

[steveystuds06]

Sandler needs to add to this.... We all know a guy who thinks he’s an expert on a message board..

[Tjrams91]

FT’s are also shooting us in the foot. If we can’t depend on our most consistent guys to knock those down it also doesn’t bode well for us. Cox can’t put the ball in the bucket. Just imagine if we shot them at a better clip how we wouldn’t even be having these conversations.
[/quote

.......so, ya think they players weak in this area can/should be coaches up more for improvement?.....just asking.....

This has been addressed in a few of the radio shows. Cyril puts up an astronomical number of FT’s per week. And not alone. It’s mental.

[Tjrams91]

Sandler needs to add to this.... We all know a guy who thinks he’s an expert on a message board..

Touché. I’m just another bumbling idiot.

[hrstrat57]

Well we all know D1 hoops is rocket surgery...

[Joe95]

I thought the Cyril call on Tre to put him at the line was borderline so if they called that then they have to put Fatts st the line at the end to stay consistent

I agree that was dumb to call time out and let mass set up a play but why do we come out in a 2-2-1 trap when we are up by 1 point ?? I would rather we just play tough half court man defense ??

Cyril was all over him, it was a mugging.

[Tjrams91]

Well we all know D1 hoops is rocket surgery...

Or brain science.

[steveystuds06]

Sandler needs to add to this.... We all know a guy who thinks he’s an expert on a message board..

Touché. I’m just another bumbling idiot.

I’m just messing around.

[McRam]

It’s painfully apparent that those of you complaining about offense have never coached on any level. Purely armchair QBs. In order for an offense to be efficient, you have to be efficient in making the shots it creates. There are sets designed for Jeff to knock down his mid range, their are sets designed for Fatts to get to the basket and get fouled, there are sets for Tyrese to knock down open 3’s, and there are sets run for a cutting Cyril or Jermaine to finish right at the rim. At some point, you have to hold the players accountable to simply put the ball in the bucket.

Now, I’m not saying Cox & Co. are perfect (or even close to it), but when we were playing well, we were shooting damn near 50% per game. That has declined because we are in an obvious SLUMP, offensively. Only way out, is to find your rhythm again and shoot your way out. You don’t start folding in new offensive sets during this time of the season, you just tweak the ones you have.

The timeouts, I can’t speak to, but I’ll defer judgement until someone asks the question.

I agree, BUT, they typically run the "Fatts to the basket off a high screen by Harris or Langevine" way more than the others. They play with this being their "go to" play" when they really need a basket. My criticism of the coaching is that this set is overused when it clearly is not working as well as teams are doing a much better job of defensing it. This started happening about 10 games before the start of the collapse. My criticism is that there has been little change or so called tweaks to this set. Is there some "rule" that prevents Dowtin and Fatts screening for each other to see what that results in, same with Martin setting a screen and winding up with an open 18 foot shot.

And of course, Cox is totally responsible for starting to slow it down with 10 minutes to go in the game and we wind up with bad shots close to time clock violations. Cox has done this multiple times this season and he owns this strategy.

[Tjrams91]

It’s painfully apparent that those of you complaining about offense have never coached on any level. Purely armchair QBs. In order for an offense to be efficient, you have to be efficient in making the shots it creates. There are sets designed for Jeff to knock down his mid range, their are sets designed for Fatts to get to the basket and get fouled, there are sets for Tyrese to knock down open 3’s, and there are sets run for a cutting Cyril or Jermaine to finish right at the rim. At some point, you have to hold the players accountable to simply put the ball in the bucket.

Now, I’m not saying Cox & Co. are perfect (or even close to it), but when we were playing well, we were shooting damn near 50% per game. That has declined because we are in an obvious SLUMP, offensively. Only way out, is to find your rhythm again and shoot your way out. You don’t start folding in new offensive sets during this time of the season, you just tweak the ones you have.

The timeouts, I can’t speak to, but I’ll defer judgement until someone asks the question.

I agree, BUT, they typically run the "Fatts to the basket off a high screen by Harris or Langevine" way more than the others. They play with this being their "go to" play" when they really need a basket. My criticism of the coaching is that this set is overused when it clearly is not working as well as teams are doing a much better job of defensing it. This started happening about 10 games before the start of the collapse. My criticism is that there has been little change or so called tweaks to this set. Is there some "rule" that prevents Dowtin and Fatts screening for each other to see what that results in, same with Martin setting a screen and winding up with an open 18 foot shot.

And of course, Cox is totally responsible for starting to slow it down with 10 minutes to go in the game and we wind up with bad shots close to time clock violations. Cox has done this multiple times this season and he owns this strategy.

That’s not the only set that’s run when Fatts has the ball. Fatts tried to often to create his own offense. They do have some creative liberties.

[damram]

I also am not a fan of the momentum breaking timeout when it breaks our momentum.

[TruePoint]

A lot of our actions start with a high ball screen for Fatts (or Jeff when he is triggering the offense, which isn’t as rare as people here make it out to be). That isn’t a “play” in the sense that it is designed only for Fatts to get around the corner and attack the rim. We do a lot of different stuff off that and there should be actions involving all five guys that they can utilize depending on how the defense plays it. This is our most prominent set, which makes sense because it uses our best player doing his best thing. However, I think there are design flaws in the set AND execution/decision-making issues so both the coaches and the players are responsible for the half court offense falling off a cliff. As the season goes on, defenses identify what you’re doing and adjust. Hopefully the days off here allows them to do some self scouting and make some counter-adjustments. Not sure why that didn’t happen a few weeks back during the bye.

[Taylor Swift]

Well we all know D1 hoops is rocket surgery...

Rocket surgery. One of my favorite KB keywords.

[rhodyblue12]

It’s all about the quality of shots. Our guys aren’t as bad shooters as they look when they take difficult shots, off the dribble, contested, or early in shot clock. When the ball moved at beginning of game we got numerous easy looks and were shooting 50-55%. It gets sticky, stagnant and impatient and the numbers swing the other way.

Some of that is design but a lot more is on the execution.

Agree 100%.
Watching the last 6 games, it seems the adjustments (tweaks") have been minimal. At this point there is a lot of film on every team. Teams are sagging their man to man and we are still sending Fatts down the middle or running the same high pick and roll action. Teams have completely changed the way they play and we have responded with "tweaks" that have not been enough to counter it. That is where the frustration is coming from.

In-game adjustments by the staff are minimal and that's not good when you have a team with a rather low BB IQ (save Dowtin). Yesterday we had their best player with two fouls. He would have provided little resistance on defense, yet we only seemingly only attacked him when it was Cyril's "turn" to shoot. Painful.

One small adjustment that would be nice to see is for them to get into their sets earlier. This team wastes more possessions than they should standing around waiting for the set play to develop. When they do, they are mechanical in their actions and run the offense as if it is a walk through (like when "Cox runs the wings underneath the zone"). This is further complicated by the other team knowing our sets at this point of the season. The result is often the action is late and if the player the set was run for is not free, he shoots anyway because either the shot clock is an issue or there is no alternate option within the set (again "it's his turn to shoot").

The best thing I saw yesterday was the pass from Cyril on the low block to Harris in the middle against the zone - beautiful adjustment. They never ran it again.

Dayton ran 3 plays against us. They been running the same offense all year. Fortunately for them, they are effective offensively.

There is no team in NCAAB that runs more than 3-6 offensive sets a game. They just mix up when they run them. They may run it the other way, but that’s about it. Are some of you guys sure you’ve actually watched college b-ball before?

I’m no wizard, but I’ve coached for 15 years, and even a blind man can see this.

And rhodyblue, this isn’t directed toward you. This was just a general statement.

I won't take anything personally - good discussion (besides the "you guys sure you’ve actually watched college b-ball before" comment). I actually have watched a little basketball in my time. You can tell me if I am wrong, TJ, but the offense of a good college team should evolve over the course of a season. You start out with a base offense and add to it/subtract from it over time based on roster capabilities and by watching tape to see what works. This is especially true if you have a young team/new players who are seeing this for the first time (or a new coach with a new system). By the end of the season, yes you may have only 5 core sets, but half a dozen wrinkles off each of them that apply to different situations depending on how the defense is playing you. That is what we are not seeing.

Concepts like spreading the floor are the basis for many college basketball teams - but are only successful when you have shooters. If you don't, and the defense sags - a simple response - what do you do next? That's where we are at. I love Mekhi, Walker, Harris and Jacob, but teams will be happy to let them shoot. That generally is not going to be a winning formula for us (although a shout out to Mekhi for his Fordham performance).

From an in-game coaching perspective, we did not make Mitchell work AT ALL on defense yesterday. No back up center available for UMass but we let him rest on defense during their big run by camping Mekhi in the corner. Mitchell just sagged and clogged the lane. Sometimes game situations should dictate how you attack a team. We never do that, we just run our stuff. Frustrating.

[eli#10]

The slowing it down strategy with a lot of time left is one that seems to get us in trouble. The other coaching issues that I cannot figure out is not using a time out as the other team is on a run and calling time out after we have scored. Once we we have scored one would think we have some momentum so why call a time out??? Seems like the $64,000 question.

[ramster]

In general I think Harris plays poor defense and suspect that is why Cox doesn’t trust him in close games in the second half. Personally I think Harris has been doing better lately. But I did think Mekhi played Mitchell tough tonight until he fouled out.

I was at the game and did not see poor defense from Harris

Got home and watched the replay of the game on ESPN+, really wanted to see the Mitchell foul on Russell, plus wanted to rewatch a certain bad pass.

So @ 14:11 Harris to bench. Mitchell hit a long 3P shot during that roughly 6 minutes. At the 15:00 mark the Announcer commented on what an effective job a Harris had been doing to contain Mitchell. FWIW.

In the 1st half Russell threw a strange pass from not far from the scorers table, over the head of Dowtin at halfcourt and out of reach to Martin about 10’ in front of the half court line. The ball ended up in the crowd. I was surprised because Russell was saying something to a Martin like he had caused the bad pass. I was surprised because it just looked like a horrific pass. A minute or two later Cox was talking to Martin I thought still about the pass. On replay it still looked like as has a pass as I thought in person. No idea why Russell would be talking to Martin about it. Just move on.

On the foul by Mitchell I thought we caught a break at the game. UMASS people thought there was no foul, some playing it back on their phones. Seconds to go Refs often swallow their whistles. Watching on ESPN+ it looked like Mitchell got some body on Russell but the block was clean. I’ll take it but I’ve seen similar plays in remaining seconds not called more than called in my lifetime.

[SandorClegane]

I know some people are looking for an individual(s) to blame, but I don’t really have a problem with the offense. A number of people have already hit the nail on the head. We have a lack of shooting. We miss a lot of open shots. On the 10 game win streak, we were hitting those open shots. As we’ve started to struggle, teams are now collapsing on Fatts and Jeff as they drive to the hoop because they know it’s a low percentage shot if they kick it out. I don’t think we can take 20+ threes per game I think we’re going to win. Teams are just daring us to do that.

[SandorClegane]

I also thought the call on Mitchell in the closing seconds was 100% a foul. If that is mid game, it’s called 99 out of 100 times. He didn’t go straight up, and he materially bumped Fatts midair. That being said, I do agree that generally refs tend to swallow their whistles in the closing seconds. Either way I was happy with the call…and thought it was a phenomenal play by Fatts. The other thing that’s overlooked, is that he calmly nailed both free throws. If he misses them both we lose obviously, but if he hits one we go to overtime with Cyril and Long already found out.
Big ups to Fatts.

[Ramulous]

Fatts gets fouled on almost every drive to the hoop.....

...in my opinion.....the opponents foul on every drive because they know the officials wont call a foul on every single play.....and the strategy is to knock Fatts around enough to tire him out...which affects his outside shooting....and free throws in non-clutch situations....

...Mitchell got Fatts with his body......Fatts finally got a call he deserved....and no one on our team is better on free throws when we are in a close game with under 4 minutes to go....

I was at the game.....after each free throw I simply yelled "Fatts"....UMass fans didn't like it....but hey....he's Fatts....

Even though he fouled out.....we don't win that game without the efforts of Mekhi Long.....his defense on Mitchell, together with a second defender doubling down on him forced the ball out of his hands....

....Mitchell also traveled on his late drive to the basket that went in....the refs didn't call it....so karma owed us the duty to call the foul that set up the game winning free throws....

[Tjrams91]

Agree 100%.
Watching the last 6 games, it seems the adjustments (tweaks") have been minimal. At this point there is a lot of film on every team. Teams are sagging their man to man and we are still sending Fatts down the middle or running the same high pick and roll action. Teams have completely changed the way they play and we have responded with "tweaks" that have not been enough to counter it. That is where the frustration is coming from.

In-game adjustments by the staff are minimal and that's not good when you have a team with a rather low BB IQ (save Dowtin). Yesterday we had their best player with two fouls. He would have provided little resistance on defense, yet we only seemingly only attacked him when it was Cyril's "turn" to shoot. Painful.

One small adjustment that would be nice to see is for them to get into their sets earlier. This team wastes more possessions than they should standing around waiting for the set play to develop. When they do, they are mechanical in their actions and run the offense as if it is a walk through (like when "Cox runs the wings underneath the zone"). This is further complicated by the other team knowing our sets at this point of the season. The result is often the action is late and if the player the set was run for is not free, he shoots anyway because either the shot clock is an issue or there is no alternate option within the set (again "it's his turn to shoot").

The best thing I saw yesterday was the pass from Cyril on the low block to Harris in the middle against the zone - beautiful adjustment. They never ran it again.

Dayton ran 3 plays against us. They been running the same offense all year. Fortunately for them, they are effective offensively.

There is no team in NCAAB that runs more than 3-6 offensive sets a game. They just mix up when they run them. They may run it the other way, but that’s about it. Are some of you guys sure you’ve actually watched college b-ball before?

I’m no wizard, but I’ve coached for 15 years, and even a blind man can see this.

And rhodyblue, this isn’t directed toward you. This was just a general statement.

I won't take anything personally - good discussion (besides the "you guys sure you’ve actually watched college b-ball before" comment). I actually have watched a little basketball in my time. You can tell me if I am wrong, TJ, but the offense of a good college team should evolve over the course of a season. You start out with a base offense and add to it/subtract from it over time based on roster capabilities and by watching tape to see what works. This is especially true if you have a young team/new players who are seeing this for the first time (or a new coach with a new system). By the end of the season, yes you may have only core 5 sets, but half a dozen wrinkles off each of them that apply to different situations depending on how the defense is playing you. That is what we are not seeing.

Concepts like spreading the floor are the basis for many college basketball teams - but are only successful when you have shooters. If you don't, and the defense sags - a simple response - what do you do next? That's where we are at. I love Mekhi, Walker, Harris and Jacob, but teams will be happy to let them shoot. That generally is not going to be a winning formula for us (although a shout out to Mekhi for his Fordham performance).

From an in-game coaching perspective, we did make Mitchell work AT ALL on defense yesterday. No back up center available for UMass but we let him rest on defense during their big run by camping Mekhi in the corner. Mitchell just sagged and clogged the lane. Sometimes game situations should dictate how you attack a team. We never do that, we just run our stuff. Frustrating.

I love a healthy dialogue.

I see the wrinkles in the sets because I coach and specifically look for them. One wrinkle is show the screen, reverse the ball and catch the cutter. The other is actually screen, get around the screen, the screen trails, either for a rebound, a quick dump off, or to be in position for a rebound after a kick out pass to the wing. It’s Rese’s spot but he hasn’t been knocking it down. The answer isn’t to tell him to stop shooting, the answer is to persuade him to keep shooting for his confidences sake.

[rhodyblue12]

Yes - (maybe this is the same thing you are talking about) at the end of the weave, Cyril usually breaks up from the low post to set a screen for the last guy with the ball (usually Fatts) they have put a wrinkle in where Cyril shows the screen but continues and pins down on Tyrese's man. That is good action off the main set. You are right, Tyrese has curled and gotten a few good looks off of that. Love to see more of it. Perfect example of where we should be. Need more of this.

[PeterRamTime]

Dayton ran 3 plays against us. They been running the same offense all year. Fortunately for them, they are effective offensively.

There is no team in NCAAB that runs more than 3-6 offensive sets a game. They just mix up when they run them. They may run it the other way, but that’s about it. Are some of you guys sure you’ve actually watched college b-ball before?

I’m no wizard, but I’ve coached for 15 years, and even a blind man can see this.

And rhodyblue, this isn’t directed toward you. This was just a general statement.

I won't take anything personally - good discussion (besides the "you guys sure you’ve actually watched college b-ball before" comment). I actually have watched a little basketball in my time. You can tell me if I am wrong, TJ, but the offense of a good college team should evolve over the course of a season. You start out with a base offense and add to it/subtract from it over time based on roster capabilities and by watching tape to see what works. This is especially true if you have a young team/new players who are seeing this for the first time (or a new coach with a new system). By the end of the season, yes you may have only core 5 sets, but half a dozen wrinkles off each of them that apply to different situations depending on how the defense is playing you. That is what we are not seeing.

Concepts like spreading the floor are the basis for many college basketball teams - but are only successful when you have shooters. If you don't, and the defense sags - a simple response - what do you do next? That's where we are at. I love Mekhi, Walker, Harris and Jacob, but teams will be happy to let them shoot. That generally is not going to be a winning formula for us (although a shout out to Mekhi for his Fordham performance).

From an in-game coaching perspective, we did make Mitchell work AT ALL on defense yesterday. No back up center available for UMass but we let him rest on defense during their big run by camping Mekhi in the corner. Mitchell just sagged and clogged the lane. Sometimes game situations should dictate how you attack a team. We never do that, we just run our stuff. Frustrating.

I love a healthy dialogue.

I see the wrinkles in the sets because I coach and specifically look for them. One wrinkle is show the screen, reverse the ball and catch the cutter. The other is actually screen, get around the screen, the screen trails, either for a rebound, a quick dump off, or to be in position for a rebound after a kick out pass to the wing. It’s Rese’s spot but he hasn’t been knocking it down. The answer isn’t to tell him to stop shooting, the answer is to persuade him to keep shooting for his confidences sake.

And if Tyrese isn't knocking them down then he should drive it.

He did that in the last game and drew a foul.

Should maybe look to drive it a little more because hes shot poorly all year.

[Billyboy78]

33

Lottery pick right now

I said after I saw him in the game at the RC that he'd be in the NBA probably after next year. People laughed at me and said he'd never be an NBA player. He's going to get stronger and be much more dangerous inside and be a better post defensive player. He's 6'9", 240 now, so... He killed us last game inside and killed us this game outside.

[ramster]

33

Lottery pick right now

I said after I saw him in the game at the RC that he'd be in the NBA probably after next year. People laughed at me and said he'd never be an NBA player. He's going to get stronger and be much more dangerous inside and be a better post defensive player. He's 6'9", 240 now, so... He killed us last game inside and killed us this game outside.

No doubt Mitchell is NBA bound