GT Hoops General Topics

[57jacket]

As I posted before, if he signs the commited players and keeps his current eligible roster, I think he will do well. Recruiting is his forte and the key to success.

 

[Connell62]

If you have eyes and know anything about basketball you don't need an explanation.

I don't remember many injuries last season when we were three games from a special season with 14 victories. If only we could get players like a scoring wing from the best team in the country, maybe a Gapare that is giving the same production at Maryland with a 24% reduction in minutes or a role player that shoots 53% from deep in conference play like they have at UCF.

I don't need a rationalization or explanation for that either. Fairly simple formula P+NC-DS=^PER

Honestly....I'm confused as hell by your post..lol. I'm not entirely sure of your point, but I assume that you are implying that the staff is underperforming.

There's always a BUT...I seem to remember Gapare missing countless layups, free throws, and corner three's last year. Haven't looked at the numbers, but perhaps he started making a few of them.

With Deebo, you're absolutely right. If you have eyes, you can clearly see that he is in much better shape at UCF than he was at GT. That's undoubtedly led to his resurgence.

Perhaps his Achilles injury finally better and he was able to get over the hump. There wasn't a bigger Deebo fan in the building than me, and I felt him leaving was the right move.

Are those two examples of others staff's getting more from current players???

 

[Northeast Stinger]

If you have eyes and know anything about basketball you don't need an explanation.

I don't remember many injuries last season when we were three games from a special season with 14 victories. If only we could get players like a scoring wing from the best team in the country, maybe a Gapare that is giving the same production at Maryland with a 24% reduction in minutes or a role player that shoots 53% from deep in conference play like they have at UCF.

I don't need a rationalization or explanation for that either. Fairly simple formula P+NC-DS=^PER

But you haven’t made up your mind yet about the ultimate outcome which is why one man’s explanation is another man’s excuse.

Everybody is seeing the same thing. Not many have settled on the final interpretation.

 

[cpf2001]

Retention is a definite concern at this point with the number of guys - from all three buckets of “Pastner guys”, transfers, and freshman - who have been in and out quickly.

Could definitely use some of the depth of some of the Pastner guys who left. Could definitely use some contributions from the Stoudamire recruits who’ve clashed with the staff and/or others.

Hopefully the next class(es) pan out more completely and quickly, any “he didn’t have time to find his footing” recruiting rationale is basically over this point for incoming classes and transfers.

 

[orientalnc]

If you have eyes and know anything about basketball you don't need an explanation.

I don't remember many injuries last season when we were three games from a special season with 14 victories. If only we could get players like a scoring wing from the best team in the country, maybe a Gapare that is giving the same production at Maryland with a 24% reduction in minutes or a role player that shoots 53% from deep in conference play like they have at UCF.

I don't need a rationalization or explanation for that either. Fairly simple formula P+NC-DS=^PER

Miles is playing really well right now and the change to a team where he is not expected to be the leader is paying off for him. He is not forcing shots or expected to be the 1st option on every play. Hell, at Auburn he is not the 2nd or even the 3rd option. So his shooting percentages are up. I think it's partly a mental thing with him because his FT shooting has never been this good. Now this could be Damon's fault. He was asking his best player and team leader from Pastner's final season to be his leader as well.

You must be seeing something in Deebo's play that I have missed the few times I watched their games this year. He looks a wee bit leaner and lighter on his feet, but he is still not a great shooter. The announcer said his FT shooting has improved. But he is still a 6-7 ppg player who stands around in the corner a lot.

Gapare is still the same guy he was for us. Oh, I agree that he is shooting better, but he is so well thought of that his playing time is down considerably this year.

I am not sure of the point you are trying to make.

 

[BeeRBee]

Gapare is still the same guy he was for us. Oh, I agree that he is shooting better, but he is so well thought of that his playing time is down considerably this year.

Back in November when he had a “break-out game” and scored 19 points, Maryland’s coach was quoted:

“He’s one of the most frustrating players I’ve ever coached … [and that’s] more of a compliment,” Willard said. “I’ve got to get him a little more time to probably be out there and make a difference, but he also has to understand he’s got to come in aggressive from the start. … He came out looking to shoot, and he played really well.”

I think CDS would probably have said almost the exact same thing last year. There was a clip from the ACC kick-off event where CDS was asked to name an under-the-radar player on the team, and Gapare was who he named. IIRC, he said that Gapare had all of the talent, and it was his (CDS) job to bring it out and get him to produce.

He’s only been in double figures one other game this season.

 

[Connell62]

Back in November when he had a “break-out game” and scored 19 points, Maryland’s coach was quoted:

“He’s one of the most frustrating players I’ve ever coached … [and that’s] more of a compliment,” Willard said. “I’ve got to get him a little more time to probably be out there and make a difference, but he also has to understand he’s got to come in aggressive from the start. … He came out looking to shoot, and he played really well.”

I think CDS would probably have said almost the exact same thing last year. There was a clip from the ACC kick-off event where CDS was asked to name an under-the-radar player on the team, and Gapare was who he named. IIRC, he said that Gapare had all of the talent, and it was his (CDS) job to bring it out and get him to produce.

He’s only been in double figures one other game this season.

Gapare leaving was his decision entirely. Damon didn’t want him to leave, and he is on record saying how much time he spent developing him. Maybe Damon should get some of that credit, but I know Pea too well for that.

 

[Peacone36]

Honestly....I'm confused as hell by your post..lol. I'm not entirely sure of your point, but I assume that you are implying that the staff is underperforming.

There's always a BUT...I seem to remember Gapare missing countless layups, free throws, and corner three's last year. Haven't looked at the numbers, but perhaps he started making a few of them.

With Deebo, you're absolutely right. If you have eyes, you can clearly see that he is in much better shape at UCF than he was at GT. That's undoubtedly led to his resurgence.

Perhaps his Achilles injury finally better and he was able to get over the hump. There wasn't a bigger Deebo fan in the building than me, and I felt him leaving was the right move.

Are those two examples of others staff's getting more from current players???

I’m saying that players here have regressed. Players that left are playing well.

This offense does…not…work. And not just because we’re injured.

253 and 276 last year. Offensive points and defensive points.

189 and 260(ish) this year (don’t even think about saying it)

Doesn’t matter anyway. Tired of being a fan of a jv program. Definitely tired of arguing about it.

 

[Jack]

As I posted before, if he signs the commited players and keeps his current eligible roster, I think he will do well. Recruiting is his forte and the key to success.

I hope you are correct but who knows how many mite exit via the portal. This past spring, Miami had eight players transfer.

 

[Connell62]

Doesn’t matter anyway. Tired of being a fan of a jv program. Definitely tired of arguing about it.

Well…the good news, that part above is an easy fix, but I think this could be the weakest argument you’ve ever made here.

Right now, we have two guys who played last year on the squad. Using your eyes, can you tell me (honestly) that Baye gave the same effort over the first 15 games that he did a year ago.

Nait hasn’t had the strongest year, but he’s still leading the conference in assist. To me, it’s clear he’s trying to hit HR’s versus taking a single or double.

A coach might not advance a kids development, but help me understand a coach causes a kid, who excelled the prior season, to regress?

 

[orientalnc]

Doesn’t matter anyway. Tired of being a fan of a jv program. Definitely tired of arguing about it.

There's always Colby and Bowdoin if you are looking around for another team. The art museum at Colby is open year around.

 

[gte447f]

I’m saying that players here have regressed. Players that left are playing well.

This offense does…not…work. And not just because we’re injured.

253 and 276 last year. Offensive points and defensive points.

189 and 260(ish) this year (don’t even think about saying it)

Doesn’t matter anyway. Tired of being a fan of a jv program. Definitely tired of arguing about it.

Well at least you have finally told us mostly what you think instead of continuing to speak in riddles

 

[Connell62]

Well at least you have finally told us mostly what you think instead of continuing to speak in riddles

A leopard doesn’t change its spots!

 

[Northeast Stinger]

There's always Colby and Bowdoin if you are looking around for another team. The art museum at Colby is open year around.

University of Maine hockey would be my choice now that winter has set in. There used to be a great place for hotdogs in Orono too.

 

[lv20gt]

Is it too much to think / hope next year
pg-nate/chesterfield
sg-mustaf, stores
sf- reeves/ flemming
pf- baye/ powell/ sutton
c- mo/ cole

Might as well. The book is pretty much written on this year.

First off the elephant of college basketball is the transfer portal and if we're taking that into consideration I doubt you see Sutton here next year. I believe he had a minor injury earlier, and thought at one point they might be trying to redshirt him (which could still happen), but I can't imagine they would stick to that plan being shorthanded the last couple of games if he was going to be here next year. Game experience is too important. Other than that, its likely, just based on how many transfers there are each year, we may have to deal with something like Reeves or Baye transferring for one reason or another. I would also expect us to try and go after at least one impact transfer in the portal if not two. In reality any kind of look at next year is in need of a bunch of salt with it.

Otherwise, not that it means much because both would be more or less just wings alongside a PG but I'd switch Flemming and Stores as Stores is listed as having about an inch and 30 lbs advantage. Either way, I would guess practically only one of them is likely to play much if the rest of the back court stays.

What stands out to me right away is the lack of proven shooting. This year Terry and McCollum are our high volume 3 point shooters combining for 11 attempts on about 39% shooting. Of the starting 5 listed, Nate is shooting 4.8 attempts and hitting 30.4% of them. Not good, but okay enough where teams probably won't be able to just leave him. Reeves is at 5.3 attempts per game shooting just 28.1%. Last year he did shoot 38% on 4.2 attempts so the potential is there, but he struggled at UF shooting and this year he didn't continue the good shooting. The real issue though is that with Mustaf and Baye. Mustaf is shooting 39% but averaging barely over 1 attempt per game. He has yet to make multiple threes in a game this year. Baye is a more extreme case of that shooting 44% but having attempted just 9 the entire year. It wouldn't surprise me to see Reeves or Nate improve their 3% but imo it's less likely a player who shoots such a low volume suddenly shoots 5+ a game with good %. Of the freshmen i couldn't find much about Stores but the stats on max preps has him shooting 28% on about 3.6 attempts per from 3. Flemming seems to be a great scorer who shot 42.5% from 3 on about 3 3 attempts. Question with him is health as both his junior and now senior years seem to have been cut short by injury. Best case looks like he could really help that. Chatfield is a phenomenal shooter hitting 50% of his shots on over 6 attempts per game this year and 36% the last two years on high volume. As with all freshmen there is the question of adapting to the college game and with him in particular his size should bring up concerns defensively especially if we try to run him alongside Nate.

So that starting 5 to me looks like it would have a problem with a lot of pieces wanting to operate in the paint without a lot of spacing. For that reason I think we'd most likely start with Baye at the 5 and Powell at the 4. Powell isn't a terrific shooter but 32% on 2.8 attempts is something and could be built on and helps stretch the floor a bit. Sylla can be a help but i think it would be more beneficial to try and space things out and get the offense going and bring him in to counter what teams are doing.

I think in a best case scenario we see something like Flemming is so good that he starts alongside a return to jr year Reeves giving Nate two shooting options to dish to. Then Chatfield and Mustaf come in and somewhat share ball handling duties allowing Mustafs defense to cover for Chatfield and Chatfields shooting to stretch the floor for Mustaf driving. Down low the three man group of Baye, Powell, and Mo with Baye bouncing between the 4 and 4 and developing enough of a 3 point shot to help stretch the court some.

Two things to keep in mind. You really can't reasonably evaluate on the expectation that everything will fall nicely into place. The second people fall in love with the idea of going 10 deep. Realistically a core of 8 is probably what you shouold aim for when evaluating rosters. Others will see some use but it will probably be due to fouls/injuries/nothing working type of scenarios.

 

[YlJacket]

Nait hasn’t had the strongest year, but he’s still leading the conference in assist. To me, it’s clear he’s trying to hit HR’s versus taking a single or double.

That is exactly how I perceive Nait this year. He will pound the ball looking to get the perfect pass or a pass directly to a score instead of looking once for that and then getting the ball moving to others. He will hold it and hold it and ..... very seldom have a good ending. I think part of that is Nait - teams are playing off of him and pressing the other players to make him a scorer which he is not good at/comfortable with. In this regard he did not progress substantially from last year. And part is the scheme that is more spacing than motion which allows teams to more easily press the others on the court. Throw in that his favorite home run pass to Baye is not nearly as open as last year for a variety of reasons and we have a problem.

I know CDS wants to run a pro style spacing 5 out/perimeter offense to me this group really needs more structured movement to get the ball moving side to side with the goal of the home run pass being the fourth or fifth pass instead of the first pass.

 

[Connell62]

That is exactly how I perceive Nait this year. He will pound the ball looking to get the perfect pass or a pass directly to a score instead of looking once for that and then getting the ball moving to others. He will hold it and hold it and ..... very seldom have a good ending. I think part of that is Nait - teams are playing off of him and pressing the other players to make him a scorer which he is not good at/comfortable with. In this regard he did not progress substantially from last year. And part is the scheme that is more spacing than motion which allows teams to more easily press the others on the court. Throw in that his favorite home run pass to Baye is not nearly as open as last year for a variety of reasons and we have a problem.

I know CDS wants to run a pro style spacing 5 out/perimeter offense to me this group really needs more structured movement to get the ball moving side to side with the goal of the home run pass being the fourth or fifth pass instead of the first pass.

With the current grouping of players, perhaps different sets or schemes could help, but the problem is that you cannot reconstruct your offense halfway through the season.

Not to mention, if you go to more of a traditional offense, do we really have the players? Dump it down low to Baye, he's gonna get doubled and forced to kick to open perimeter shooters.

Then our offense becomes not much different than what we have today. That said, you've always been a step ahead of me with regard to offensive scheme.

 

[gte447f]

With the current grouping of players, perhaps different sets or schemes could help, but the problem is that you cannot reconstruct your offense halfway through the season.

Not to mention, if you go to more of a traditional offense, do we really have the players? Dump it down low to Baye, he's gonna get doubled and forced to kick to open perimeter shooters.

Then our offense becomes not much different than what we have today. That said, you've always been a step ahead of me with regard to offensive scheme.

I would love to see a little inside out game and just more post play in general. Unfortunately, Baye working a lot in the post is not really a viable option in my opinion, because he just doesn’t have the size. A little would be good though.

 

[YlJacket]

With the current grouping of players, perhaps different sets or schemes could help, but the problem is that you cannot reconstruct your offense halfway through the season.

Not to mention, if you go to more of a traditional offense, do we really have the players? Dump it down low to Baye, he's gonna get doubled and forced to kick to open perimeter shooters.

Then our offense becomes not much different than what we have today. That said, you've always been a step ahead of me with regard to offensive scheme.

Last thing I want is to make Baye a classic post up player. Not his strength to put it mildly We end up trying to do that way too often even now. He needs to be in motion and get the ball at the foul line or on a rim run.

I would like to see us do a lot more backside motion with Terry/McConnel/Mustaf coming off pin down/curl action to force more rotations/switches than we do now. Lot of ways to do this - watch Auburn and a few others. The key upside is to get the wing free and also to put Baye and others in situations where they can roll after the curl. Or get the ball facing the basket foul line extended. It wouldn't be that different from what a lot of these guys ran in HS and AAU. One of 20 different motion offenses. We have tried to implement a few of these concepts particularly a zoom action off the ball for the wing to come off a double screen but we don't do it well.

Back to 20K foot view. I understand that CDS wants to put in an NBA style spacing / penetration based offense where he can recruit higher end players and let them go to work. In some broad stroke ways like Paul Johnson did with Football. And he should go that route to support his really nice recruiting efforts. He also though has to accept that Nait isn't able to drive his system the way Nesbit could for Johnson. So how much does he adjust what he wants to do for what he has?

And no this isn't going to lead to a massive change in wins this year. The injuries are real. I do think it would help though.

But I am also more than happy to let recruiting play out as it is doing.

 

[orientalnc]

Last thing I want is to make Baye a classic post up player. Not his strength to put it mildly We end up trying to do that way too often even now. He needs to be in motion and get the ball at the foul line or on a rim run.

I would like to see us do a lot more backside motion with Terry/McConnel/Mustaf coming off pin down/curl action to force more rotations/switches than we do now. Lot of ways to do this - watch Auburn and a few others. The key upside is to get the wing free and also to put Baye and others in situations where they can roll after the curl. Or get the ball facing the basket foul line extended. It wouldn't be that different from what a lot of these guys ran in HS and AAU. One of 20 different motion offenses. We have tried to implement a few of these concepts particularly a zoom action off the ball for the wing to come off a double screen but we don't do it well.

Back to 20K foot view. I understand that CDS wants to put in an NBA style spacing / penetration based offense where he can recruit higher end players and let them go to work. In some broad stroke ways like Paul Johnson did with Football. And he should go that route to support his really nice recruiting efforts. He also though has to accept that Nait isn't able to drive his system the way Nesbit could for Johnson. So how much does he adjust what he wants to do for what he has?

And no this isn't going to lead to a massive change in wins this year. The injuries are real. I do think it would help though.

But I am also more than happy to let recruiting play out as it is doing.

I think Damon planned more post up plays this year with DO planting his big body in the low post, but that never worked as DO really wants to be KD.