Molinari

[NUdiehard]

Molinari.

 

I am convinced more than ever that this team is a product of its de facto head coach, Jim Molinari.  When Craig Smith was here, he was the true Xs and Os guy.  When he left, Miles replaced him with Molinari, who has 30 years coaching experience.  Miles knew he needed an Xs and Os guy to replace what he lost in Smith.  The thing is, that means Nebraska is in essence a Jim Molinari coached team (with respect to the Xs and Os, basketball strategy, philosophy, etc).

 

Molinari has always been the coach of the "underdog" team and he has learned to "grind" out wins using techniques that are suited for teams with significantly less talent than his opponent.  He  was outgunned at Western Illinois  and his other coaching gigs, so he learned to play an intense defensive style of basketball and a grind-it-out offensive style that always allowed his overmatched team to stay in the game and then hope to pull it out at the end.  That is why he writes on the team board before the game "We love low scoring close games"  That is his philosophy.  It is part of his core--his nature.

 

Now, it has become part of the players core.  And it is a good thing---on the defensive side of the court.  But it is a deflating philosophy on the offensive side of the court.  I think Molinari is even more defensive oriented than Doc Sadler.  It puts so much pressure on every offensive possession b/c the players know there are only going to be so many possessions and they "can't screw up".  I remember writing almost this exact same post after year one of Doc because I saw it coming.  The players are adopting the philosophy that they are not "good enough" or "talented enough" to truly compete.  That philosophy permeates the mind over time. 

 

Miles said on his pre-game interview that every single substitution in a game is based solely on defensive match ups.  Really?  Is it any surprise that our offense suffers?  Can't it be 50-50?  of even 70-30?  So if a NU player on the floor suddenly gets hot and hits a couple shots, but then the other team subs and that same player has a bad defensive matchup.  Is Miles going to sub him out to get a better defensive match up?  Apparently yes based on his own statements.  Or the opposite, if a player is contributing absolutely nothing on the offensive end, is Miles going to sub him out to try and get some more offensive power on the court?  Apparently not if the defensive match ups don't allow for it.  

 

But most importantly, IMO, is that the style of play can have an effect on energy and confidence and attitude on the court.  Why do we walk the ball up the court time after time after time, allowing the defense to get set and creating a "lethargy" in our offensive sets.  Playing slow creates a "slow" mindset that is not thinking about attacking.  It is hard to walk the ball up, pass it around for 30 seconds, and then suddenly "turn it on" and become a full-fledged attacking mentality team.  Notice how in the Penn St game when Nebraska started pressing it went on a 14-0 run.  Why?  Some obviously b/c Penn St. struggles against the press (much like us).  But some because it created an attacking mentality in the NU players.  it puts the players in an attacking mindset.  It creates energy.  It takes away all the standing and thinking and allows players to just play.  Why do we have to walk the ball up the court every time.  Why can't we push the ball after every single missed shot.  I am not saying we have to "fast break" every possession, but you can push the ball and if the initial break isn't there, you can secondary break, and if that isn't there, you can pull it out and run a set or attack again.  At least this puts all the players in an "attacking" mindset all game long on every offensive possession.  Right now, there is too much standing around, too little energy, and it is a product the style of play created by Molinari.    

 

And Miles said after the game that NU really hasn't practiced the press that much so that is why is his so reluctant to run it in games.  Well, why haven't they practiced it?  Little league teams that practice one hour a week have enough time to practice the press.  Come on.  They have time, it is all a matter of priorities on that time. 

 

The loss of Craig Smith was dramatic.  It makes me concerned about the future as well.  Molinari has never been the more talented team in his career.  Will he know how to run a team that has talent?  Or will he try to conform those talented players into this "we are the underdog so grind it out" philosophy?

[Silverbacked1]

Good stuff, good things to think about over the next few games.

[mrjam]

Great post, I think you hit the nail on the head. With tp,smith parker and shields that would put them in a better rhythm

[huskerbaseball13]

+1.  But Miles is not dumb.  He sees the same things we do.  You have to think if our anemic offense is a product of Molinari's philosophy's then Miles as the head man would have dialed it back a long time ago.  At the time Molinari looked to be a good hire because of his experience and time in the Big Ten.  But, I'm afraid your message is very close to being correct.  I hope Miles can breath some life into the offense starting next year.

[ajb5856]

I hope that the play this season is more a by-product of Miles and Molinari learning to mesh more than anything else. Learning a new defensive system had to initially have an affect on the offense to begin with and that appears to be carrying over. The extra focus on defense put the offense to the side for awhile and it hasn't developed over the course of the season. There's nothing wrong with Molinari's focus on being a hard-nosed defensive squad, we would just obviously like to have that mentality without sacrificing anything offensively. I mean, we can have both. I think everybody would much rather win 78-65 than try and grind out 52-49 bloodbaths where every possession is critically important and every mistake is magnified times a thousand. The OP is correct in the assessment that this is what inferior teams try to do to scrape out Ws. We have B1G talent and there's no need to risk losing trying to play that way when we don't have to. If your half court defense is truly that good (and not just a by product of wasting time on the offensive end) then taking extra chances on the offensive end by speeding things up and attacking a bit should be a no brainer. Especially if you're a good FT shooting team that can attack and create points that way. Hopefully the Miles-Molinari tandem can find a way to adjust/mesh their strategy.

[FredsSlacks]

We are only scoring 4 less points per game than we did last year. 67 down to 63

 

ray is gone and leslee has barely played. Those 2 accounted for 13 ppg last year.

 

the new guys: moses, nick, tarin, jake, are scoring 7.7 ppg this year.

 

so really, our offense hasn't changed much from last year. we need to recruit better scorers.

 

Hopefully our incoming players will be more offensively skilled, and we can get over the hump next year.

[atskooc]

We are only scoring 4 less points per game than we did last year. 67 down to 63

 

ray is gone and leslee has barely played. Those 2 accounted for 13 ppg last year.

 

the new guys: moses, nick, tarin, jake, are scoring 7.7 ppg this year.

 

so really, our offense hasn't changed much from last year. we need to recruit better scorers.

 

Hopefully our incoming players will be more offensively skilled, and we can get over the hump next year.

We haven't played the hard part of our schedule yet.  I suspect our numbers will go down from 63/game.

 

That said, some pretty good numbers for the conversation, Tim.

[huskerbaseball13]

We are only scoring 4 less points per game than we did last year. 67 down to 63

 

ray is gone and leslee has barely played. Those 2 accounted for 13 ppg last year.

 

the new guys: moses, nick, tarin, jake, are scoring 7.7 ppg this year.

 

so really, our offense hasn't changed much from last year. we need to recruit better scorers.

 

Hopefully our incoming players will be more offensively skilled, and we can get over the hump next year.

 

We are averaging 57 points a game in the Big 10 compared to 63 last year.  Six points is quite a bit of difference in the grand scheme of things.  You would hope and like to think that with returning 4 starters we could have improved off that number...not get worse. 

 

At the end of the day our offense is ranked #294 on Kenpom....that would put us as having the worst offense from the power conferences.  Next closest is Rutgers at #277.  There is really no excuse for that.  No doubt we need better scorers...but I'm afraid it goes deeper than that.  At least this year that's the case.   

[basketballjones]

First off, your post hit home hard. My team can't score, and as I evaluate, I realize maybe we're focusing on the wrong things and overcompensating with defensive stuff.

However, you're a bit off in my opinion, on Coach Mo's influence. We haven't chanfed defensive scheme, were still a pack-line, switch ball screens/hand-offs, fight through off-ball screens, force back to the middle team.

We also rarely have ever pressed under Miles. Most D1 teams not named Louisville, Kentucky, or VCU don't. So it's not a shock to hear we haven't practiced it much.

As someone who's been a head and assistant - assistants are for recruiting, scouting, individual workouts, and providing input (primarily defensively) for game-plans. The general philosophy and team dynamic comes from the man up top, and doesn't shift much because assistants change.

If you ask me, my guess would be TM went after Coach Mo because he assumed scoring wouldn't be as difficult as it has been, and he wanted to bring in someone who could amp up their defensive abilities and game-plan really well. IMO, we've never had great flow on offense under Miles. And now the conference has seen it and has us scouted like crazy.

If I'm Coach Miles I'm probably just as flabbergasted by our offensive woes. I also would have assumed our individual talent was good enough to score points. I'd be in the same boat right now as him. Would have had the same assumptions and priorities going into the season.

[bball23]

A lot of our problems comes down to 1 simple asset of the game.  1) We struggle to put the ball in the hoop.

 

Sure, we can say its game planning and schemes, but I swear we miss more open shots than any team (although I watch us more closely obviously).  As a coach myself, all you can try and do it put the players in the best position possible to succeed and hope they can execute and knock down open shots.  We simply haven't been consistent this year with that. 

 

On top of that, we really have no low post presence and we have no great 3 point shooters.  That is a HUGE problem.  Teams are jamming the lanes and not allowing TP and SS to attack the hoop.  Or they sit in a zone and dare us to shoot 3's.  Vs PSU we went 2-19 on 3's.  Not going to win any games going 2-19 on 3's.  At some point, guys have to hit open shots. At home vs MSU and NW we hit open shots, we scored points, we won.  I know, seems simple, but its almost as if we have a mental block no the road and our guys play tight and we miss open shot after open shot.

 

Had we even shot DECENT last game in that 1st half I truly believe we run away with that game.  The key for this team seems to be seeing the ball go in early and building off of it.  When we struggle early its almost as if players get hesitant to even shoot the open shot.  Then what happens is all of a sudden the shot clock is at 10 and we have to chuck up a bad shot late. 

[Fullbacksympathy]

I disagree that Molinari is the problem.  We've played excellent defense this year.  We haven't pressed much because we probably don't have the depth to do so.  

 

Offensively, we have Petteway and Shields, who basically play the same position and have similar one-on-one scoring mentalities.  Every good team needs guys like that, but those are also the sorts of players who get the most attention.

 

What we don't have an even serviceable offensive post presence or a designated three point specialist.  Those are coming.  

 

All that said, I think a trapping defense makes a whole lot of sense with our guard length and athleticism.  Having a team this skilled defensively and this poor offensively means we need to force more turnovers and transition opportunities for our offense.  Look how much better Tai was utilized when we allowed him to pressure the ball and take some chances.  I wouldn't mind a 40 minutes of hell mentality and use all our bodies to do so just for the hell of it to finish out the year.

[jimmykc]

Does this mean that Joe Biden is our de facto President?

[Red Don]

This is a Great Thread (look at all the up-arrows) that gives me (who has much to learn about BB) a lot to think about. 

 

Rather than whining, as posters of many boards like to do, venting their frustrations;  it's an actual discussion of the 'Game' basics of BB by knowledgeable posters (ex-coaches, players and the like), that helps me understand what I'm seeing on the floor.

 

After saying that, I'm still having a hard time understanding (as the OP said) why we have such slow, deliberate starts each time we get possession, continued trouble with the press, and difficulty finishing shots in transition or fast-breaks (I can't help but think the attempted Dunks that don't go in could in some way be symptomatic of our difficulties on offense).  It seems that after we miss a shot, more often than not a scoring drought ensues.

 

Nor do I understand why we can't have a dogged defense, And an explosive offense.  I'm encouraged by knowing that Miles likes 'to score' and has run higher-tempo offenses in his prior tenures.  It may not be so much the 'Xs & the Os' as the personnel; if so we could see a big change in offense beginning next season.

[bkamler]

Hearing that Miles said that our substitutions were primarily based on defensive match ups explains a lot to me and I don't like it.

 

I believe I have heard Miles say that he should have played Smith and Abraham more in three out of the last five games. This was after Pitchford and Rivers were dominated in the paint by average centers.

 

And two of those times, I believe I heard Miles say that the "assistant in charge of substitutions" may have not played them enough and he would review that so it doesn't happen again.

 

The last game it seemed to me that we had the size advantage but we played short to match up with their players size. S and A played like ten minutes combined even though Smith was very effective in the few minutes he played. This tracks with defensive match ups dictating our substitutions or lack thereof. We submitted and played to PSU's weakness which was lack of size!

 

I am pretty simplistic when it comes to defense vs. offense. For the most part, if my player Jones scores and his guy scores 6, he's getting more minutes. Same holds if Jones scores 15 and gives up 13 for the most part. I know there are other factors.

 

For example, if Parker holds his opponent to 8 points vs. that guys average was 12, that's good unless Parker scores 0 points, then that's bad. It is not rocket science. The season is almost over and we still have players who DO NOT WANT TO TAKE A SHOT and if you don't want to shot, you percentage will be around 20% to 30% on that shot just from a confidence factor.

 

Next road game, I am putting the barf bucket close by so I can throw up occasinally after one of our many sickening offensive possessions.

 

 

[PeltzFan12]

I read the original post and kept thinking...."Mike Riley!!!!"  just kidding guys.  I'm giving the new guy a chance.  I would hope coach Miles would exert his will on the team more so than an assistant, but this could very well be part of it.

[The Polish Rifle]

Nick Bahe said today what we have all been thinking. Why are Shields and Petteway not taking the ball to the basket before the defense can get set up? It has bothered me the last couple games.  I'd rather play the odds with a strong take to the rim with Petteway or Shields early in the clock then have Rivers (no offense, I like the kid) put up a contested 15 footer late in the clock.

[Chuck Taylor]

Molinari's gotten credit for getting Illinois connections on recruiting, so keep that in mind.

 

As to his effect on the team's offense, it's undeniable. This is the style his teams have always played. His Kenpom defensive ratings the last three years at Western Illinois: 331 (2014), 280 (2013, team won 22 games), 280 (2012). You might blame that on his being at a lower level school, but his defensive rating was 54 in 2013, pretty darn good with the caliber of athletes he would have had. That's the way he played at earlier stop at Bradley as well. Easy to take when you're winning, godawful when you're not.

[Husker4theSpurs]

I honestly think Miles is not much of an Xs and Os coach. Craig Smith was his right hand man for a long time and it is a loss to not have him. Miles likes running a freewheeling motion offense and often we honestly don't even look like we have an offense.

We were very overrated coming into the year. We got hot at the right time last year and played a few teams at the right time. I don't blame people for expecting a lot out of us this year - it made sense.

We are missing pretty much everything that matters in basketball.

- we have zero consistent threat from the outside (and basically have NO shooting guards on the squad)

- point guard play has been extremely unreliable

- we have little to no threat of an offensive post presence

You're just not going to have a good team when you don't have those things. Miles is working on getting his guys in here. White will help with shooting but it still feels like we are gonna need more help there. Point guard play should do nothing but improve. Gonna need more post help. We ran into some misfortune this year as well with injuries. It will be interesting to see who may transfer out.

We have to play defense if we are going to win since we have a tough time scoring. I'm not sure Molinari was the best hire but we have needed his added defensive presence this year. Hopefully he has some recruiting ties as well but I'm pretty sure that's not where his strength lies.

[Huskerpapa]

I personally believe many of you are selling Coach Miles extremely short on his x & o ability...extremely short.

[royalfan]

I personally believe many of you are selling Coach Miles extremely short on his x & o ability...extremely short.

 

I think you are right.  And I think he needs to quit delagating so much stuff to others.  I thought I heard someone else was in charge of the substitutions one game?  Hopefully I misunderstood it. 

[Norm Peterson]

I honestly think Miles is not much of an Xs and Os coach. Craig Smith was his right hand man for a long time and it is a loss to not have him. Miles likes running a freewheeling motion offense and often we honestly don't even look like we have an offense.

Fortunately for us, when we fire Miles in a couple of years, we'll be able to snag Craig Smith from South Dakota for probably less than what we were paying Doc Sadler.  Which is nice, because we'll be paying through the nose for the buyout from Miles. 

 

 

I keed, I keed. 

 

I just think it's funny how so many people think if we lose, it's because our coach stinks at Xs and Os. 

 

We had Craig Smith in Miles' first year here and won like 4 league games.  He wasn't so hot at Xs and Os back then, apparently.  He must have read Dean Smith's book during the off-season and became an overnight offensive genius his second year here.

 

Seriously, people, c'mon.  You honestly think a D1 head coach doesn't understand offense or how to coach it?  Just because you don't get what's going on out on the floor doesn't mean the coach is equally clueless.  I guarantee he knows more than any of us will ever know about the game of basketball.

 

And I further guarantee that he didn't turn the offense over to Molinari to run what he did at Western Illinois.  That's ludicrous.  Miles has a philosophy about offensive basketball and he didn't just delegate Xs and Os to whoever the oldest or baldest assistant happened to be.

[huskerbaseball13]

I personally believe many of you are selling Coach Miles extremely short on his x & o ability...extremely short.

 

Miles is a very good X's & O's coach.  A couple things I have heard in the past is Coach Smith had the ability to grab the attention of Petteway and multiple other players.  Not saying Miles hasn't or can't do that but he has multiple other things to worry about also.  Part of it is the way other coaches are playing against us now but I feel like we have fallen in love with the jumper as opposed to getting to the rim. 

[basketballjones]

I personally believe many of you are selling Coach Miles extremely short on his x & o ability...extremely short.

Absolutely

[basketballjones]

Nick Bahe said today what we have all been thinking. Why are Shields and Petteway not taking the ball to the basket before the defense can get set up? It has bothered me the last couple games. I'd rather play the odds with a strong take to the rim with Petteway or Shields early in the clock then have Rivers (no offense, I like the kid) put up a contested 15 footer late in the clock.

What I've been saying for two years now.....

[NUdiehard]

FWIW, I am not trying to suggest that Miles doesn't know his Xs and Os or that he doesn't have anything to do with devising the scheme or implementing the offense.  But based on what I have heard and seen, I think he delegates a lot of responsibility in these areas to his assistants.  If you attend the games, watch during timeouts.  Who is in the huddle diagramming the next play or instructing the players on what adjustments they need to make.  I have noticed many,  many, many times where Miles approaches a referee to talk to while Molinari or another assistant is in the huddle addressing the players.  If that assistant is addressing the team during the game in the heat of battle, that indicates to me that assistant played a large part, if not the primary part, in implementing the game plan for that game. 

 

Royalfan, based on what I have heard, it is my understanding that the assistant coaches (I think it is primarily Harriman, but I could be mistaken on this) handle virtually all of the substitutions in every game, not just one game. 

 

I heard early on (I mean during Miles first year as head coach) that Craig Smith was the primary Xs & Os guy.  I could be wrong.  My source for this may have been incorrect, but he was pretty connected with the program.  This is why I was concerned before this season started at the loss of Craig Smith and how it would affect the team.

 

Nonetheless, I think it is pretty clear that Molinari is the primary defense coach and heavily involved in the overall plan and philosophy of the team and its strategy.  How could he not be?  If he is in charge of the defense, that is at least 50% of the game, and since it is emphasized even more currently at NU, then Molinari would have even more influence on scheme, Xs & Os, philosophy, tempo, strategy, etc. 

 

I am not even trying to suggest that everything Molinari is bad.  I want a great defense.  I don't have a problem with defense being our "identity", especially now when we are lacking in talent in some areas.  But I have never felt that playing slow, low-scoring games is a requirement for having a good defense.  Molinari believes in slow play, and low scoring games.  He has always been the underdog and felt that was the best way for him to win.  It is his identity.  If he has a prominent role in practice every single day (since he is the main defensive coach) and on game days (again, watch and see who is doing the coaching during games), his philosophy is going to come out and rub off on the players.  It is only natural.  I believe that slow play on offense eventually leads to passivity.  Its takes the aggression out of the offense.  It starts to affect confidence and creates some anxiety.  Every shot becomes huge and the pressure on each shot mounts.  Also, the lack of any transition game means less easy baskets, once again creating more pressure on the half-court offense, etc. All of this affects confidence, which affects shooting percentage.  Let me put it this way, if I had  players that were shooting significantly worse than they did the year before, I would be asking "why are my players shooting significantly worse than last year?" and I wouldn't be satisfied with the answer "Well, the shots just aren't falling this year." 

 

Here is a small blurb I found from a 2013 article discussing to contrasting pace of play in college basketball:

 

 

“Some offensive-minded coaches would say it’s a big issue,” says Jim Molinari. “I just don’t get caught up in it. Defense might teach greater life lessons, anyway.”

 

Of the 347 teams in Division I, Molinari’s Western Illinois Leathernecks are the slowest; they average fewer than 60 possessions per game, nearly two fewer than any other team. He’s always been defensive-minded, as the coach at Northern Illinois and then at Bradley (he also spent a couple of seasons as an NBA scout), and he’s come to believe this is the best way to win at a program like Western Illinois, which has little tradition and is set in a rural pocket of the Midwest. Over the course of a season, players get worn down, and they get tired, and they get hurt; it is easier, he tells me, for the Leathernecks to play the kind of pack defense that coaches like Tom Thibodeau have successfully implemented in the NBA. You may not get steals, and you may not get transition baskets, but for a vast number of hardscrabble mid-major Division I basketball teams, Molinari says, slowing the game down is the best formula for victory. Even if it is objectively duller.

 

“I don’t think you can really worry about it,” he tells me. “To the fans, it doesn’t matter how many you score, as long as each team gets a few dunks.”

And so the Leathernecks have won games by scores of 50-42 and 43-40 and 39-35, and their leading scorer is averaging fewer than 13 points per game, and after a 49-36 win over North Dakota State last Thursday night,⁴ they stood at 19-5 and atop the Summit League standings, which I suppose is the only thing that matters to a coach who would (quite understandably) prefer to retain his job rather than challenge the status quo.