Week until KY - What is your list?

YlJacket

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I am as pissed as anyone about these past 2 games, but figure the only semi positive aspect to discuss at this point is what we need to do between now and KY. Since we pretty much wasted 8 weeks or so of preseason practice, we have to try to cram it all in to about 7 days – with NCAA practice limitations.

So here is my list of things that are on my list as the top things to address. Whether they can make a difference going forward is TBD.

  • Get rid of the practice restrictions. Yes it may heighten the Covid risk but I would rather lose a few games than see the product on the court I have seen so far. Also vaccines are coming in Dec so by Jan I hope this is a different situation – not eliminated but reduced.
  • Find out who wants to be here. While I think the fitness level of this team needs serious work, a lot of the issues I saw were as much mental and “want to” as they were physical. This may lead to some guys (cough Devoe cough cough) who don’t see nearly as much PT.
  • Find a defense that works and commit to it in practice. Having watched us try to play man, I don’t think our guards can stay in front of ACC guards (haven’t stayed in front of any guards so far) so I personally would commit to the 1-3-1 zone and install it the right way. Quite honestly subbing Howard or Saba for Banks should be an easy installation as that role really only has to figure out when to cover the corner and retreat. The others should know it.
  • Install a 4 out offense. As frustrating as watching us pound the ball was, this still only comes lower in priority as the others are what should keep us in games and we did find ways to score – ugly as hadies though it was. To compete going forward we have to find ways to get easier scores – and that comes through motion, screens and ball movement. It would be “helpful” to see some from our side for a change.

Beyond that either TStan or Reveno has to have a come to Jesus discussion with Pastner about his substitution patterns. I honestly am OK with 7 man rotations, but only when your players are fit and committed – which I don’t think we are. I am also a believer in things like the UNC blue team of Dean Smith where he pulled everyone when their effort – usually defensive – was not up to standard. CJP has to have more enforcement of standards with his playing time. There is some really bad body language which shouldn’t be tolerated. And while guys like Moses versus GSU were actually trying hard, they didn’t have the fitness to play the minutes they did as hard as they needed to. Pastner has to recognize that Howard or Saba or Meka is better than 50% of Moses for a minute or so. Same with others who now are playing to ration their effort knowing they ain’t coming out.

As pissed as I was after Mercer, I would like to still think the season can be salvaged to some degree recognizing the crater we have dug for ourselves. This is my list. Curious what others think – otherwise all we do is argue who is paying for the buyout which sucks.
 
slugboy

slugboy

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YlJacket said:
  • Install a 4 out offense. As frustrating as watching us pound the ball was, this still only comes lower in priority as the others are what should keep us in games and we did find ways to score – ugly as hadies though it was. To compete going forward we have to find ways to get easier scores – and that comes through motion, screens and ball movement. It would be “helpful” to see some from our side for a change.
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I’m afraid this IS our 4-out offense. I don’t know why we don’t have any motion to it, or run the plays, or have a meaningful strategy for our center, but doesn’t this look the same as the 4 out that we’ve been running for the past few years?

We briefly had a 5 out offense one year, and before we abandoned it, I saw us plant 5 people statically around the arc and pass the ball around. The only difference between then and now is that usually one person is inside the arc, and outside the paint so they don’t get a lane violation, and we iso a lot.

I’m getting the idea that either Pastner thinks this is the way this offense should be run. After 3 or so years of this, I don’t know what else to think.

I also think Peacone is correct about us losing Hardy, and and we’ve never backfilled that offensive mind.

I’d like to see a reporter ask Pastner specific and pointed questions about his offensive strategy.

I think Pastner is trying to use a Calipari-style “dribble drive motion offense”, which would make sense since he was a Calipari assistant. I don’t think that works well for who we have. I think you need 2-3 excellent ball handlers and 3-4 outside shooters for that offense to shine.

If I’m right in the preceding paragraph, “get old-stay old” isn’t going to work with this offense. You need a stockpile of top 25 classes.

Penetration and kick out dribbling put Devoe in a bad spot, and it’s not even fair to Jose. It’s allowing our opponents to focus their defense on our two best players.

I’ll jump in here:
  1. Pick a complementary strategy for your center. Realize that they aren’t the strong part of your offense, play them on the weak side, and give them a clear role so they know how to contribute on offense. Play Howard and Saba at center.
  2. Put Moses in at your 4, where he excels.
  3. Use motion and get away from the dribble-drive (probably won’t happen, but I’d love to see it).
  4. Bubba/Usher others are your 3 and flex to 2 or 4 when needed.
  5. Strategically substitute so you don’t wear out your starters.
  6. Screen. We don’t have players that can create their own shot—or we don’t have 4 to 5 of them.
I think Mercer’s coach and Georgia State’s coach would each have made better use of our roster, and would have won both games. I think Pastner has a strategy that he’s convinced will work, and it won’t, and he’s going to ride it into the ground.
 
4shotB

4shotB

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YlJacket said:
Beyond that either TStan or Reveno has to have a come to Jesus discussion with Pastner about his substitution patterns.

As pissed as I was after Mercer, I would like to still think the season can be salvaged to some degree recognizing the crater we have dug for ourselves. This is my list. Curious what others think – otherwise all we do is argue who is paying for the buyout which sucks.
Click to expand...

I don't follow BB much anymore and didn't see the games so don't have much of value to add but I will say it bothers me that a coach this deep into being a HC needs either an AD or assistant to provide meaningful input such as this. This is not to imply that you are wrong btw and anyone can benefit from input. But this is something a bit bigger it may seem.

Also, does it seem awfully early in a year to put a lot of stock into losses in November? Is there a chance that this team can progress and still make the tourney? When I followed the team closely (Cremins days tbh) the games before conference didn't seem all that important one way or the other. It was conference play where things started to become important. Have things changed that much? am I simply outdated in my thinking? Or is it because the idea that if you can't beat the secondary schools in state that you cannot begin to be competitive in league play? I will hang up and listen. Thx.
 
jacketup

jacketup

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This team has a fundamental problem that can't be overcome. It can't shoot. We shot 38% in the second half. This has been a problem going back to the Gregory days. Good shooters are born, not created.

The 3 point rule changed the game, but some coaches still don't get it. You have to have couple of guys who can consistently shoot the 3 with a 40% success rate (unless you have a couple of guys who can't be stopped in one on one situations). We never have that. Parham was supposed to be that guy, but he is like 3-12 or something from 3 so far. He is still about all we have off the bench, and he is a defensive liability.

I agree with the comments about the offensive coaching strategy, but there are some talent issues that coaching won't overcome. Maybe the incoming class will solve some of the problems. Pastner will still be here for their arrival, so we will see what he does with them.

Pastner's strength as a coach has been on the defensive side, but with no rim protector this year (Wright was a -10 even with being the leading scorer) and his COVID practice philosophy, defense isn't a strength.
 
Fatmike91

Fatmike91

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jacketup said:
This team has a fundamental problem that can't be overcome. It can't shoot. We shot 38% in the second half. This has been a problem going back to the Gregory days. Good shooters are born, not created.
Click to expand...


I agree with a lot of what you wrote except about shooting.

You improve shooting percentage by improving shot selection.

We don’t run an effective offense. We have the wrong people firing 3s early in the shot clock. We don’t play defense and don’t have a transition game to get easy buckets.

These things result in bad shooting percentage but it’s not only because we can’t “shoot”.

/
 
tsrich

tsrich

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slugboy said:
I’m afraid this IS our 4-out offense. I don’t know why we don’t have any motion to it, or run the plays, or have a meaningful strategy for our center, but doesn’t this look the same as the 4 out that we’ve been running for the past few years?

We briefly had a 5 out offense one year, and before we abandoned it, I saw us plant 5 people statically around the arc and pass the ball around. The only difference between then and now is that usually one person is inside the arc, and outside the paint so they don’t get a lane violation, and we iso a lot.

I’m getting the idea that either Pastner thinks this is the way this offense should be run. After 3 or so years of this, I don’t know what else to think.

I also think Peacone is correct about us losing Hardy, and and we’ve never backfilled that offensive mind.

I’d like to see a reporter ask Pastner specific and pointed questions about his offensive strategy.

I think Pastner is trying to use a Calipari-style “dribble drive motion offense”, which would make sense since he was a Calipari assistant. I don’t think that works well for who we have. I think you need 2-3 excellent ball handlers and 3-4 outside shooters for that offense to shine.

If I’m right in the preceding paragraph, “get old-stay old” isn’t going to work with this offense. You need a stockpile of top 25 classes.

Penetration and kick out dribbling put Devoe in a bad spot, and it’s not even fair to Jose. It’s allowing our opponents to focus their defense on our two best players.

I’ll jump in here:
  1. Pick a complementary strategy for your center. Realize that they aren’t the strong part of your offense, play them on the weak side, and give them a clear role so they know how to contribute on offense. Play Howard and Saba at center.
  2. Put Moses in at your 4, where he excels.
  3. Use motion and get away from the dribble-drive (probably won’t happen, but I’d love to see it).
  4. Bubba/Usher others are your 3 and flex to 2 or 4 when needed.
  5. Strategically substitute so you don’t wear out your starters.
  6. Screen. We don’t have players that can create their own shot—or we don’t have 4 to 5 of them.
I think Mercer’s coach and Georgia State’s coach would each have made better use of our roster, and would have won both games. I think Pastner has a strategy that he’s convinced will work, and it won’t, and he’s going to ride it into the ground.
Click to expand...
I agree with most of this, but I don't think Bubba can run at the 3 very often. No way he can defend other 3s with his size.

I'd almost rather have him run the point and bump Devoe towards the 3. The stretch of the game where Bubba ran the point was our smoothest offensive series.
 

YlJacket

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wow they look like us. 36% shooting, over 20 turnovers, 0 for 10 from 3-point line and only 5 assists. Maybe we do have a shot :oops::D
 

bke1984

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Start practicing full contact. Whatever we’ve been doing has us completely unprepared to play...primarily on the defensive side (just like I predicted)
 

Jacketman99

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This team can shoot. They shot 45% from the field last year. However, we cannot shoot very well from 3 and we turn over the ball way too much. The offense actually looked ok the second half of last year. For some reason this year we see a lack of motion and our most reliable 3 point shooters (Devoe and Alvarado) are not getting it done. I believe the lack of full scrimmages has really hurt this team. The players look unsure on offense and lost on defense. Hopefully we can correct these issues and our backcourt plays up to their expected level. Also, Pastner is going to have to develop his bench. We have talented guys but the are going to need to play.
 
slugboy

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kg01 said:
I'm considering a sig-bet with some KY fan dudes on another site. Am I crazy? Yes
Click to expand...
do it yes GIF by Collider
 
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