uneblinstu's postgame chatter: vol 11; ed 21 - Wisconsin

[Jacob Padilla]

1 hour ago, Coaches kid said:

There have been some great perspectives shared on HHC during this period of angst. We are just sick about what has happened, and, because we are loyal fans, we will keep rooting for our guys and hoping against hope. That despite having our hearts ripped out too many times to count.

 

Obviously, Coach Miles and staff want to get this ship righted more than any of us. I don't watch practice and I've never been paid to be a coach. But as a guy who loves and has watched lots of basketball, I have reached the following opinions about our current team (I admit they may miss the mark and I would love to see differing perspectives):

 

1) Miles' offense is ISO heavy and is predicated on guys being able to make exceptional plays in order to score. That has especially been the case since we've gone all in on playing small ball. If you've got enough talented guys to do that, it may work out fine.  It was effective last year when it was new and we had a deeper roster, but I think the Big 10 has adjusted to us, and we are not making our own adjustments accordingly.  It appears that our high ball screen, dribble hand off sets have become very mechanical, and predictable. It puts so much pressure on our playmakers. We have to draw up something to help them out. 

 

When we move the ball from side to side and move ball and man, we seem to have much more success. Problem is we never have enough discipline to continue doing the things which give us the best chance to succeed. Moreover, it seems like we don't mix in designed sets which put our guys in great position to get consistently good looks. For example, we had those set plays for the free throw line curls we ran for Cope, and a nifty high back screen against Ohio State which freed Glynn for a layup.  Those are few and far between. 

 

2) Many of our ISOs do not put our players in the best possible position to score. JPJ is often starting his ISOs 20-25 feet from the basket. Roby gets isolated on guys he could take off the dribble, but we're asking him to do that from the top of the key outside of the 3 pt. line. It's almost impossible to get to the basket from those positions. How about spacing the floor and isolating JPG or Roby in the short corner or high post, where they can attack off 2 or 3 dribbles? An example would be on the play where Roby took Happ off the dribble from the baseline about 15-17 feet and got a dunk. 

 

It could be that Coach has been harping on ball movement and discipline with these guys, but that they have simply tuned him out. Problem is, our bench is so thin, we have no viable options to turn to right now to keep guys accountable. Defensively, we knew we were gonna struggle with legit 4's and 5's, but the fire, the tenacity, the "want to," doesn't seem near the level we saw last year. That's at least partially attributable to losing guys like Gill and Taylor, and even Jordy (a legit post defender).  

 

Hope we can salvage things. We'll see. At least I know I'm not suffering alone. 

 

 

 

Hard to do that without any shooters. Teams don't respect the guys they're trying to space the floor with. That backfired on Creighton, but not really for anybody else.

[Art Vandalay]

31 minutes ago, Jacob Padilla said:

 

Hard to do that without any shooters. Teams don't respect the guys they're trying to space the floor with. That backfired on Creighton, but not really for anybody else.

 

TA, Copeland was, and Roby are good enough spot up shooters I think. We are not a great passing team and miss a lot of good looks. When we do make the pass TA, and especially Roby are not taking the shot in rhythm, first instinct is to dribble. My head almost explodes seeing Roby turn down a wide open top of key shot to pump fake, dribble then step back shot or turnover. Nana is doing the same thing now. Cope was really the only one not afraid to catch and shoot. I think if TA and Roby would just shoot it their % would go up and we would be way more efficient and open up things for JPJ and GW. Think that is coaching since we never seem to pass well. Installing that confidence is one area McDermott excels. Hell Roby is a better shooter than Krample but he fires at will with confidence. Yes sometimes it will produce bad shots but I would live with it everyday since we seem to still end up with a lot of bad shots anyway.

[hskr4life]

I also think the guys get way to flustered way to easy.  Sometimes it's like a 4-0 run completely messes with us.

[Ron Mexico]

3 hours ago, Coaches kid said:

There have been some great perspectives shared on HHC during this period of angst. We are just sick about what has happened, and, because we are loyal fans, we will keep rooting for our guys and hoping against hope. That despite having our hearts ripped out too many times to count.

 

Obviously, Coach Miles and staff want to get this ship righted more than any of us. I don't watch practice and I've never been paid to be a coach. But as a guy who loves and has watched lots of basketball, I have reached the following opinions about our current team (I admit they may miss the mark and I would love to see differing perspectives):

 

1) Miles' offense is ISO heavy and is predicated on guys being able to make exceptional plays in order to score. That has especially been the case since we've gone all in on playing small ball. If you've got enough talented guys to do that, it may work out fine.  It was effective last year when it was new and we had a deeper roster, but I think the Big 10 has adjusted to us, and we are not making our own adjustments accordingly.  It appears that our high ball screen, dribble hand off sets have become very mechanical, and predictable. It puts so much pressure on our playmakers. We have to draw up something to help them out. 

 

When we move the ball from side to side and move ball and man, we seem to have much more success. Problem is we never have enough discipline to continue doing the things which give us the best chance to succeed. Moreover, it seems like we don't mix in designed sets which put our guys in great position to get consistently good looks. For example, we had those set plays for the free throw line curls we ran for Cope, and a nifty high back screen against Ohio State which freed Glynn for a layup.  Those are few and far between. 

 

2) Many of our ISOs do not put our players in the best possible position to score. JPJ is often starting his ISOs 20-25 feet from the basket. Roby gets isolated on guys he could take off the dribble, but we're asking him to do that from the top of the key outside of the 3 pt. line. It's almost impossible to get to the basket from those positions. How about spacing the floor and isolating JPG or Roby in the short corner or high post, where they can attack off 2 or 3 dribbles? An example would be on the play where Roby took Happ off the dribble from the baseline about 15-17 feet and got a dunk. 

 

It could be that Coach has been harping on ball movement and discipline with these guys, but that they have simply tuned him out. Problem is, our bench is so thin, we have no viable options to turn to right now to keep guys accountable. Defensively, we knew we were gonna struggle with legit 4's and 5's, but the fire, the tenacity, the "want to," doesn't seem near the level we saw last year. That's at least partially attributable to losing guys like Gill and Taylor, and even Jordy (a legit post defender).  

 

Hope we can salvage things. We'll see. At least I know I'm not suffering alone. 

 

 

There is also a lack of mental toughness that existed earlier in the season. It's as if the grind of Big10 play has worn them down mentally.

[Shawn Eichorst's Toupee]

19 hours ago, hskr4life said:

I also think the guys get way to flustered way to easy.  Sometimes it's like a 4-0 run completely messes with us.

 

I really don't understand how the same team can be flustered by mini-runs AND also lose an 18 point lead yet still win by 15 at Indiana. 

[hhcdave]

19 minutes ago, Shawn Eichorst's Toupee said:

 

I really don't understand how the same team can be flustered by mini-runs AND also lose an 18 point lead yet still win by 15 at Indiana. 

Because indiana turned out to not be that great of a win.

[Shawn Eichorst's Toupee]

2 minutes ago, hhcdave said:

Because indiana turned out to not be that great of a win.

 

Yeah, I get that. But hindsight is 20/20. At the time of the game, they were #25, Assembly Hall was loud, and the Hoosiers played like they wanted to win. In that specific moment, the team didn't shy away from the challenge. 

[ladyhusker]

59 minutes ago, Shawn Eichorst's Toupee said:

 

Yeah, I get that. But hindsight is 20/20. At the time of the game, they were #25, Assembly Hall was loud, and the Hoosiers played like they wanted to win. In that specific moment, the team didn't shy away from the challenge. 

YEP -- and games don't happen in a vacuum. If they win that game, do they have a confidence boost to win any subsequent games, rather than get mired in the quicksand that losing can be? Not to give us more credit than we deserve, because maybe they do wind up losing all these other games too anyway, but especially when you're talking about college dudes, it's naive to pretend that one game can't have an effect on the next.

[tcp]

5 hours ago, hhcdave said:

Because indiana turned out to not be that great of a win.

 

Hoosiers were actually playing good ball up until about a week before our game with them. 

 

Like us, they hit a wall and haven't found a way to recover. Langford's struggling to adapt to the league's approach to him. 

 

But Hoosiers aren't a bad team. I don't think there are any bad teams in this league. 

[hskr4life]

46 minutes ago, tcp said:

 

Hoosiers were actually playing good ball up until about a week before our game with them. 

 

Like us, they hit a wall and haven't found a way to recover. Langford's struggling to adapt to the league's approach to him. 

 

But Hoosiers aren't a bad team. I don't think there are any bad teams in this league. 

 

I did see a tweet the other day that said the Big 10 won’t get 10 teams in because the bottom of the league is too good.

 

So much truth.

[tcp]

11 minutes ago, hskr4life said:

 

I did see a tweet the other day that said the Big 10 won’t get 10 teams in because the bottom of the league is too good.

 

So much truth.

 

I can't see another conference in which Penn State would be winless. Not even the B12 or the ACC. They'll win eventually in the B1G, too, but still.....

 

I don't see 10 bids in any event. I'm thinking more like 8 or maybe 9 if a team can squeeze out just enough wins.