Jordy -- left side

[75unlgrad]

We need to get Jordy going but we are not getting him the ball in his most comfortable spot.  Jordy doesn't have a 'go-to' move -- let's help him.  Get him the ball on the low post on the LEFT side of the lane.  The first move you teach a low post is a 'drop step -- power up' shot.  Jordy's body is soooo big and wide -- most teams won't have anyone much bigger.  If Jordy can receive the ball on the left block, (be in control) and make a drop-step and power move to the hoop, he has a good chance for a bucket and maybe an old-fashioned 3-point play.  Again, his body is so big and wide -- most centers will end up fouling him if he takes it to the hoop strong -- so they will give him this shot IF HE RECEIVES THE BALL IN THE PROPER POSITION.  When Jordy receives the ball on the right block, he DOES NOT LOOK COMFORTABLE AND UNDER CONTROL.  This is not his best spot on the floor.  I am not confident that good things are going to happen.  Its almost always a turnover or a poor shot attempt with little chance of going in.

 

So, let's help Jordy.  It seems we almost always make our entry pass to Jordy on the RIGHT block.  Watson likes to go right -- one of his favorite shots is to start right off a screen and hit a pull-up jumper from 17 feet.  My opinion, we need to make an intentional effort to get Jordy the ball where he has the best chance to be successful.  On the LEFT block, he can power-step to the basket (best option), pivot and baby-hook with the right hand (he has shown a little 'touch' on this shot), or he can kick it back out.  Let's call Jordy's number early in the game with specific plays that gets him the ball on the LEFT block, get him under control, and let him make a play.  

 

I left the Kansas game thinking if we had the Kansas center, we're a top 3 Big Ten Conference team and an easy qualifier for the NCAA tourney. We have all the other pieces of the puzzle in place.  We are close.  We've got Jordy -- we've got to get him going.  We can not have such little production from Jordy if we want to play in the post-season.  He has to start producing more or we go small with Roby at the center position.

[Norm Peterson]

Jordy's favorite move is the lefty hook.  Jordy's problem, IMO, that's been discussed on the board here, is how he does a lefty hook.  Dean Smith and I both like the hook where you're rotating your core in the direction of the hand you are going to shoot with (clockwise for a lefty hook; counter clockwise for a righty hook).  That technique allows for more of a natural shooting motion and, as Dean Smith has pointed out, it also allows you to clear out the defender with your off hand in a way that typically isn't called.

 

The other advantage of that technique, though, is that it allows you to set up a counter move.  Jordy's lefty hook involves his shoulders being parallel to the line of the shot and flipping the ball over his head.  Hard to defend because he has the whole width of his whole body in between himself and the defender.  But there's no rotation of his core involved in the shot.

 

So, why does that matter?  Because if you post someone up, you want to be able to spin to either your left or your right depending on how the defender is playing you.  If you do Jordy's kind of hook shot, there's only one option the defender has to defend.  But if you can spin one way into a jumper or the other way into a hook, you can freeze the defender with a quick, almost subtle head-and-shoulders fake left while then spinning to your right or vice versa. And you can do that off the dribble or the catch, either way.

 

There was a game earlier this season where Isaiah Roby executed this perfectly.  He was coming from the baseline on the right side of the lane, took a dribble or two towards the high post, picked up his dribble, faked a pivot back toward the baseline which FREEZED the defender and in fact had him diving back toward the baseline, while Isaiah pivoted back to his left (clockwise) for a wide-open 5 foot jumper, which he swished.

 

Either process allows the offensive player to create some space to get a shot off.  In Jordy's version, he creates space using the width of his shoulders.  In the version Isaiah did, he uses the threat of being able to go back to his right, sold with a head-and-shoulders fake the other way.  But the advantage of Isaiah's technique is that it sets up counter moves that Jordy lacks.

[basketballjones]

I think he gets the ball on the right block often is twofold. 
1. I think the staff (and Jordy) thinks that his best shot is his baby left to the middle of the lane. 

2. Other teams probably make it more difficult for him to get the ball on the left block (I don't know this, as I haven't broken down film, but it's just a theory). 

 

I too would like to see him get the ball on the left block, so that he could take a hard dribble or two to the middle, and spin back to his left hand. He gets in this position a lot on the right side of the block, but he does not know how to spin back to his right (or is uncomfortable then using this right hand to finish). 

[uneblinstu]

It seems to me, too, that he gets up too far away from the basket. I haven't broken down film either, but it seems like he gets the ball 8-10 feet from the rim way too often. That makes that shot a lot harder than it needs to be and opens him up to offensive fouls. Maybe that's partly on his teammates for where they get him the ball, too, IDK. In contrast, Azubuike on Saturday, was getting the ball directly under the rim, or just a couple feet out, regardless of who was on him. That made it impossible to set him up for the offensive foul, much less defend against the dunk. Part of me thinks he should be setting himself up in better position, too. Again, those are very amateur observations, so maybe there's a component I'm missing.

Edited December 18, 2017 by uneblinstu
Crossing some Is and dotting some ts.

[hhcmatt]

Maybe this doesn't need to be said but Jordy is a lefty. 

[Dean Smith]

Roy Williams “The drop step isn’t a post move. It’s a lay up. Everyone needs to be able drop step both middle and baseline.” Jordy’s move is the jump hook to the middle. There is a counter to that and that’s the double drop or some call it a Barkley Move since he did it so well. Sometimes I think he is settling for the jumphook. Instead of stepping his right foot parallel to the basket, if he tried to get his foot all the way to the front of the rim, this pushes your defender under the basket and you just laying the ball over the front of the rim - or dunk if you can. 

[Huskerpapa]

A

3 hours ago, Dean Smith said:

Roy Williams “The drop step isn’t a post move. It’s a lay up. Everyone needs to be able drop step both middle and baseline.” Jordy’s move is the jump hook to the middle. There is a counter to that and that’s the double drop or some call it a Barkley Move since he did it so well. Sometimes I think he is settling for the jumphook. Instead of stepping his right foot parallel to the basket, if he tried to get his foot all the way to the front of the rim, this pushes your defender under the basket and you just laying the ball over the front of the rim - or dunk if you can. 

And generally, every time Jordy attempts a drop step, he travels...or so it seems. 

 

 

[75unlgrad]

My original point is that Jordy is not getting the ball in position to score easily (using his unusual size) -- low block where he can shield his man off and power the ball to the hoop.  Jordy needs to use his 'size' as an advantage.  Right now he doesn't possess the offensive skills to 'finese' many baskets.

[Fullbacksympathy]

19 hours ago, Dean Smith said:

Roy Williams “The drop step isn’t a post move. It’s a lay up. Everyone needs to be able drop step both middle and baseline.” Jordy’s move is the jump hook to the middle. There is a counter to that and that’s the double drop or some call it a Barkley Move since he did it so well. Sometimes I think he is settling for the jumphook. Instead of stepping his right foot parallel to the basket, if he tried to get his foot all the way to the front of the rim, this pushes your defender under the basket and you just laying the ball over the front of the rim - or dunk if you can. 

 

So much this.  Jordy should have a horrifyingly powerful drop step.  And I would think he would be a lot better doing it from the left block for sure.  I don't particularly like him dribbling to the middle of the lane.  

[Handy Johnson]

The fewer decisions and less ball handling Jordy has to do the better. Seal the defender deep, catch it, shoot it.

[hhcmatt]

Miles talked about Jordy starting at the 38 minute mark with a call from Chuck in Lincoln

 

Molinari was one the show first and around the 14:50 mark talked about needing more from the paint If it's not going to be Jordy then we need to go smaller with Roby and Copeland.

[Coaches kid]

You are correct in saying, "I don't particularly like him dribbling to the middle of the lane" Even better would be, "I don't particularly like him dribbling."   The other thing that Jordy could do which would help him be immediately 50% more effective would be to keep the ball chest level or higher instead of dropping the ball below his waist. If he were to simply develop a go to move, a drop step and then a counter to either of those two moves, he would be good for 8 points per game. The thing is, I think he has the ability to do this, but it will take a commitment on Jordy's part to put in the work to do so. 

[Huskerpapa]

Perhaps Jordy will see the light during the next game...

 

https://nebraska.rivals.com/news/huskers-hoping-tshimanga-can-end-early-slump

 

Senior guard Evan Taylor, maybe the top vocal leader on the team, said he’s tried to help Tshimanga get back on track by picking him up through encouragement.

“I talked to him today before practice,” Taylor said. “He was like, ‘Some of this stuff I’m not confident in’, and I was like, ‘Just ask me, bro.’ We’re in this together. I want to see him do well just like I want to see all my teammates do well.

“Just because he’s not playing as well as everybody knows he can right now, I just tell him, ‘keep going, keep going.’ Because you never know, tomorrow could be his breakthrough game, and he could take off running from there.

“In sports, you’ve just got to keep working hard no matter what. You’re playing well, you’re playing bad, just keep working hard.”

[HuskerCager]

Geesh, UNLGrad.  Don't ever start a topic title of [INSERT PLAYER HERE] Left....   You about gave me a stroke until I got to the 3rd word in the topic.

[hhcmatt]

34 minutes ago, huskercwg said:

Senior guard Evan Taylor, maybe the top vocal leader on the team, said he’s tried to help Tshimanga get back on track by picking him up through encouragement.

 

Hopefully another Taylor strategy is to keep Jordy off of twitter

[Dean Smith]

3 hours ago, LK1 said:

 

So much this.  Jordy should have a horrifyingly powerful drop step.  And I would think he would be a lot better doing it from the left block for sure.  I don't particularly like him dribbling to the middle of the lane.  

Which is why I would have him on the right block but lets get him to go through a post progression so he can get the ball deeper. He can start the drop step middle to his strong hand and if they take that away (which is the scouting report right now), double drop back to the baseline. I think he could make hay with that move right now.

[basketballjones]

15 hours ago, Dean Smith said:

Which is why I would have him on the right block but lets get him to go through a post progression so he can get the ball deeper. He can start the drop step middle to his strong hand and if they take that away (which is the scouting report right now), double drop back to the baseline. I think he could make hay with that move right now.

Yeah - that's the problem, he can't do the dribble drop/double drop back to his right hand. 

[Fullbacksympathy]

17 hours ago, Dean Smith said:

Which is why I would have him on the right block but lets get him to go through a post progression so he can get the ball deeper. He can start the drop step middle to his strong hand and if they take that away (which is the scouting report right now), double drop back to the baseline. I think he could make hay with that move right now.

 

I'm just worried about him finishing with his right hand.  I don't think I've ever seen him finish inside with his right.  But that's probably more of a Jordy problem than a coaching one.  

[dustystehl]

23 minutes ago, LK1 said:

 

I'm just worried about him finishing with his right hand.  I don't think I've ever seen him finish inside with his right.  But that's probably more of a Jordy problem than a coaching one.  

 

He had a great right-handed finish in the second half of the Minnesota game. My friends and I went NUTS!

[Dean Smith]

36 minutes ago, LK1 said:

 

I'm just worried about him finishing with his right hand.  I don't think I've ever seen him finish inside with his right.  But that's probably more of a Jordy problem than a coaching one.  

If you want to play D-1 basketball you have to be able to make a layup. Or at least you should have to.

[Norm Peterson]

6 hours ago, LK1 said:

 

I'm just worried about him finishing with his right hand.  I don't think I've ever seen him finish inside with his right.  But that's probably more of a Jordy problem than a coaching one.  

 

I've seen him hit right-handed hooks. Seems like there's a photo I saw recently of him doing just that.

[Dean Smith]

They started him and feed him on the left block to start the game - travel.

[basketballjones]

23 minutes ago, Dean Smith said:

They started him and feed him on the left block to start the game - travel.

Well, the board tried, Dean. Can only lead a horse to water. 

[Silverbacked1]

Jordy needs to go home for the holidays, eat some of mom's cooking, sleep in his old bed and see some old friends.  Maybe even go play some pick up at the youth rec center. Or not even touch a basketball.

 

I don't think we need him Friday or even for the game after that.

 

Let him reboot himself and then come back ready to go. 

 

I think we see this with some of these kids that go to boarding schools.  I mean most of us might have  gone off to school or the service.  But we did it after we had gone to high school with our family and friends around us.

 

Boarding school, you don't get home much and it just might start to grind a bit more on a kid than the "normal" I'm away for college kid.

 

Just my thought.

Edited December 21, 2017 by Silverbacked1