Miles coaching style

[NUdiehard]

This is Miles 4th year now and there are some frustrating tendencies of his teams that now seem to be trends:

 

1.  His teams do not attack the press.  In 4 years I can't remember a single time his team has aggressively attacked a press.  I would love for the some of the coaching minds (Dean, Jones, etc) to pitch in on this, but I just don't get it.  Isn't the greatest risk of the press (and the reason most teams don't press) is it is susceptible to giving up easy baskets by teams that attack it.  But Miles teams never get easy baskets off the press because he never attacks it.  THIS ALLOWS THE OPPONENT TO GET ALL OF THE BENEFIT/REWARD WITH NONE OF THE RISK of the press.  That simply can't happen.  the press can help the pressing team in multiple ways, including creating turnovers and, even if it doesn't create a turnover, it can slow the opposing team down so that it is fighting the shot clock each possession.  If you don't attack the press, you allow the opposing team to press with total and complete impunity.  You allow the opposing team to get all the benefit with absolutely no risk.  Blows my mind.

 

2.  When things get tight, Miles takes complete control.  Miles says each year that he wants his teams to "just play" and he touts his motion offense with movement, passing, etc.  And at times in the non-conference we see some of this.  But as soon as things get tight, Miles gets tight and tries to control every aspect of the game.  He starts calling sets every single possession.  This sometimes works, but as Miles himself has said, sets are easy to scout and therefore easy to defend because the other team knows the plays too.  Running sets also allows the opposing defense to always set up its defense (see #1).  For instance, one of the reason Miles' teams rarely attack the press is because Miles is calling a set play as soon as we inbound the ball,, this means the guards are not focused on trying to attack the press but rather just get it across half court so they can set up the set play.  Usually the set play is for Shields or White, and of course the other team knows that, so they simply guard White and put the other 4 guys in the paint and wait for Shavon to come plowing into them. 

 

3.  Players get tight because Miles is tight.  Watch Miles in big games.  He is super uptight from the opening tipoff.  I know that many, many other (often great) coaches are exactly the same way, so I can't say it is wrong.  But it just seems to me that when Miles is so worked up and tight, his players often play that way, especially the young players.  Yesterday, after Fuller missed a free throw, Miles was screaming at Fuller "Make your free throws Nick!" while he was at the line getting ready to shoot his next one.  Isn't this in the duh category.  As if Fuller didn't know he was supposed to make his FT or as if he wasn't trying to make them.  Fuller was missing those free throws because he was too tight, not too loose.  Miles yelling at him for the obvious was not going to help that situation IMO, but I understand other will feel that is perfectly appropriate and Fuller should be called out.  I am just looking at player and circumstance and results and seeing the trend. 

 

4.  The role players are scared to shoot down the stretch.  We have seen this for 4 years now and even though the players have changed, the result has not.  The role players are too tight and too nervous to shoot or make something happen late in tight games.  Is this just the players or is it the players response to Miles and his coaching?  I don't know, but when it happens for 4 years Miles is the one constant. 

 

5.  Rotation issues.  Just for the record, whenever I discuss players I don't think should be playing as much, it is never intended to be  slight towards that player.  I appreciate every player that puts on the scarlet and cream and gives his all for the team.  But it is impossible to discuss Miles' rotation and minutes distribution and personnel decisions without mentioning the player.  I would hope we are all able to understand the difference between the two.  With that said, BP simply cannot continue to play the minutes he has been playing.  He absolutely stifles the offense.  His man simply plays off him, stands in the paint, and waits for Shavon to plow into him.   Game after game I look up late in the 2nd half and his line reads 0 points, 0 rebounds 1 assist.  This cannot happen at this level.  I also don't think he is as good on the defensive end as Miles and many others do, but that is another discussion for another day.  BTW, our best rotation last night was with Tai at the point and both Watson and BP on the bench.  The team went on an immediate 8-0 run and scored on 4 straight possessions in the first half, but Miles never went back to it.

 

I am still a Miles supporter and still think he is the one for the job.  I still think he has upgraded the recruiting (albeit leaving some big holes like center and SG),   I think he has marketed the program well and is grinding.  He definitely deserves (considerably?) more time to develop this team and program.  My point is not to suggest he should be gone or anything.  I do think losing coach Smith was a bigger hit than most wanted to believe or acknowledge when it happened.  But mainly I am just pointing out some concerning traits of his teams that I have noticed, but I also know many will disagree with some or all of these points, and I am open to this as well.  For me, these are things I am hoping to see him grow and improve on during his coaching tenure here.

[huskerbaseball13]

This is Miles 4th year now and there are some frustrating tendencies of his teams that now seem to be trends:

 

1.  His teams do not attack the press.  In 4 years I can't remember a single time his team has aggressively attacked a press.  I would love for the some of the coaching minds (Dean, Jones, etc) to pitch in on this, but I just don't get it.  Isn't the greatest risk of the press (and the reason most teams don't press) is it is susceptible to giving up easy baskets by teams that attack it.  But Miles teams never get easy baskets off the press because he never attacks it.  THIS ALLOWS THE OPPONENT TO GET ALL OF THE BENEFIT/REWARD WITH NONE OF THE RISK of the press.  That simply can't happen.  the press can help the pressing team in multiple ways, including creating turnovers and, even if it doesn't create a turnover, it can slow the opposing team down so that it is fighting the shot clock each possession.  If you don't attack the press, you allow the opposing team to press with total and complete impunity.  You allow the opposing team to get all the benefit with absolutely no risk.  Blows my mind.

 

2.  When things get tight, Miles takes complete control.  Miles says each year that he wants his teams to "just play" and he touts his motion offense with movement, passing, etc.  And at times in the non-conference we see some of this.  But as soon as things get tight, Miles gets tight and tries to control every aspect of the game.  He starts calling sets every single possession.  This sometimes works, but as Miles himself has said, sets are easy to scout and therefore easy to defend because the other team knows the plays too.  Running sets also allows the opposing defense to always set up its defense (see #1).  For instance, one of the reason Miles' teams rarely attack the press is because Miles is calling a set play as soon as we inbound the ball,, this means the guards are not focused on trying to attack the press but rather just get it across half court so they can set up the set play.  Usually the set play is for Shields or White, and of course the other team knows that, so they simply guard White and put the other 4 guys in the paint and wait for Shavon to come plowing into them. 

 

3.  Players get tight because Miles is tight.  Watch Miles in big games.  He is super uptight from the opening tipoff.  I know that many, many other (often great) coaches are exactly the same way, so I can't say it is wrong.  But it just seems to me that when Miles is so worked up and tight, his players often play that way, especially the young players.  Yesterday, after Fuller missed a free throw, Miles was screaming at Fuller "Make your free throws Nick!" while he was at the line getting ready to shoot his next one.  Isn't this in the duh category.  As if Fuller didn't know he was supposed to make his FT or as if he wasn't trying to make them.  Fuller was missing those free throws because he was too tight, not too loose.  Miles yelling at him for the obvious was not going to help that situation IMO, but I understand other will feel that is perfectly appropriate and Fuller should be called out.  I am just looking at player and circumstance and results and seeing the trend. 

 

4.  The role players are scared to shoot down the stretch.  We have seen this for 4 years now and even though the players have changed, the result has not.  The role players are too tight and too nervous to shoot or make something happen late in tight games.  Is this just the players or is it the players response to Miles and his coaching?  I don't know, but when it happens for 4 years Miles is the one constant. 

 

5.  Rotation issues.  Just for the record, whenever I discuss players I don't think should be playing as much, it is never intended to be  slight towards that player.  I appreciate every player that puts on the scarlet and cream and gives his all for the team.  But it is impossible to discuss Miles' rotation and minutes distribution and personnel decisions without mentioning the player.  I would hope we are all able to understand the difference between the two.  With that said, BP simply cannot continue to play the minutes he has been playing.  He absolutely stifles the offense.  His man simply plays off him, stands in the paint, and waits for Shavon to plow into him.   Game after game I look up late in the 2nd half and his line reads 0 points, 0 rebounds 1 assist.  This cannot happen at this level.  I also don't think he is as good on the defensive end as Miles and many others do, but that is another discussion for another day.  BTW, our best rotation last night was with Tai at the point and both Watson and BP on the bench.  The team went on an immediate 8-0 run and scored on 4 straight possessions in the first half, but Miles never went back to it.

 

I am still a Miles supporter and still think he is the one for the job.  I still think he has upgraded the recruiting (albeit leaving some big holes like center and SG),   I think he has marketed the program well and is grinding.  He definitely deserves (considerably?) more time to develop this team and program.  My point is not to suggest he should be gone or anything.  I do think losing coach Smith was a bigger hit than most wanted to believe or acknowledge when it happened.  But mainly I am just pointing out some concerning traits of his teams that I have noticed, but I also know many will disagree with some or all of these points, and I am open to this as well.  For me, these are things I am hoping to see him grow and improve on during his coaching tenure here.

 

 

On #3 I don't notice it much with Coach Miles...in fact, I always that he coached pretty loose atleast from a body language and interaction with the team standpoint.  What I do notice is Coach Molinari flip flopping around on th bench though.  This may have little to do with the actual results on the court and may have zero trickle down effect...but, any defensive breakdown/bad shot you name it Molinari is not shy about showing his frustration.  Some have brought up we miss Coach Smith....that may be true in more ways than one.  I think he was an important piece inside the locker room. 

[Silverbacked1]

we made Three quick passes yesterday once against the press and the player got fouled trying to make the lay up. It worked but we never went back to it.

[big red22]

#4 is so spot on... I don't get the hesitation, and the only consistent thing in all of it is Miles.  If you are open let the ball fly.  Simple as that

 

There are only 2 people on the team I would be upset at if they took an open 3 look

 

Hammond and Morrow... anyone else shoot the ****ing ball.  Benny's 2 free throws.  I wanted to punch my TV set when he didn't take that 3

[cozrulz]

It isn't so much attacking the press, his teams have been awful even breaking it.

[HB]

#4 is so spot on... I don't get the hesitation, and the only consistent thing in all of it is Miles.  If you are open let the ball fly.  Simple as that

 

There are only 2 people on the team I would be upset at if they took an open 3 look

 

Hammond and Morrow... anyone else shoot the ****ing ball.  Benny's 2 free throws.  I wanted to punch my TV set when he didn't take that 3

 

Wow.  Have you seen most of these guys shoot?  And your answer is to fire away?  Interesting theory.  

[NUdiehard]

 

#4 is so spot on... I don't get the hesitation, and the only consistent thing in all of it is Miles.  If you are open let the ball fly.  Simple as that

 

There are only 2 people on the team I would be upset at if they took an open 3 look

 

Hammond and Morrow... anyone else shoot the ****ing ball.  Benny's 2 free throws.  I wanted to punch my TV set when he didn't take that 3

 

Wow.  Have you seen most of these guys shoot?  And your answer is to fire away?  Interesting theory.  

 

 

Just curious:

Who exactly are "most of these guys"?

 

And your solution is?

[NUdiehard]

One other coaching issue I have noticed but didn't mention in the OP is our defense when the opponent is inbounding the ball from under the hoop.  As much as I can remember, Miles teams have always played man-to-man in defending the inbounds.  Maybe this is standard at the college level, but man have we been killed by it time and time again.  I challenge anyone to go back and watch the Creighton game and count the number of times CU burned us on inbounds plays from under their own hoop.  I seriously think they scored on about 80% of their inbounds plays (and there were a lot of them, probably 10 or so).  Most times it was Shields or someone else chasing a guy around 3, 4 or even 5 screens and always getting caught up in traffic only to give him man a wide open 10-15 foot jumper.  Why not go zone for inbounds plays?  Heck, why not go zone the entire possession whenever they inbounds, it would be a nice change-up anyway. 

 

Regrettably, in contrast, I rarely recall Nebraska scoring an easy basket off our inbounds plays.

[Dean Smith]

One other coaching issue I have noticed but didn't mention in the OP is our defense when the opponent is inbounding the ball from under the hoop.  As much as I can remember, Miles teams have always played man-to-man in defending the inbounds.  Maybe this is standard at the college level, but man have we been killed by it time and time again.  I challenge anyone to go back and watch the Creighton game and count the number of times CU burned us on inbounds plays from under their own hoop.  I seriously think they scored on about 80% of their inbounds plays (and there were a lot of them, probably 10 or so).  Most times it was Shields or someone else chasing a guy around 3, 4 or even 5 screens and always getting caught up in traffic only to give him man a wide open 10-15 foot jumper.  Why not go zone for inbounds plays?  Heck, why not go zone the entire possession whenever they inbounds, it would be a nice change-up anyway. 

 

Regrettably, in contrast, I rarely recall Nebraska scoring an easy basket off our inbounds plays.

No excuse for NU but baseline out of bounds are an emphasis for McDermott. Some years they have as many as 50 BLOB's in the package. Mac see's them as a great way to get an easy basket and runs enough for them to be virtually unscoutable in those situations. 

[Silverbacked1]

One other coaching issue I have noticed but didn't mention in the OP is our defense when the opponent is inbounding the ball from under the hoop. As much as I can remember, Miles teams have always played man-to-man in defending the inbounds. Maybe this is standard at the college level, but man have we been killed by it time and time again. I challenge anyone to go back and watch the Creighton game and count the number of times CU burned us on inbounds plays from under their own hoop. I seriously think they scored on about 80% of their inbounds plays (and there were a lot of them, probably 10 or so). Most times it was Shields or someone else chasing a guy around 3, 4 or even 5 screens and always getting caught up in traffic only to give him man a wide open 10-15 foot jumper. Why not go zone for inbounds plays? Heck, why not go zone the entire possession whenever they inbounds, it would be a nice change-up anyway.

Regrettably, in contrast, I rarely recall Nebraska scoring an easy basket off our inbounds plays.

No excuse for NU but baseline out of bounds are an emphasis for McDermott. Some years they have as many as 50 BLOB's in the package. Mac see's them as a great way to get an easy basket and runs enough for them to be virtually unscoutable in those situations.

Isn't the inbounds play for a score kind of a lost coaching point. I seem to remember that teams tried to score off under the basket inbounds plays. Now everybody just kind of throws to half or the back court and they run their set offense. Maybe this one of the casualties of the less practice time allowed.

[bkamler]

NU diehard post about Huskers not attacking the press echoed much of what I have complained about since Miles has been our coach.

We let the ball bounce several times under the basket after a made bucket.

Several times we picked up the ball and handed it to the ref after a made basket!

As a point guard I was taught to scoop the ball up and in bound it to a teammate who was streaking to our basket BEFORE the press could get in position. If said teammate encountered pressure that would slow him down he passed the ball to me who was streaking toward our basket. Objective: Score on a layup and break the press!

Not rocket science!!!

[Norm Peterson]

It isn't so much attacking the press, his teams have been awful even breaking it.

When it comes to attacking the press, Miles could learn a thing or two from Pelini. 

[hhcmatt]

 

It isn't so much attacking the press, his teams have been awful even breaking it.

When it comes to attacking the press, Miles could learn a thing or two from Pelini. 

 

 

You owe me a new keyboard #SpitTake

[Bugeaters1]

NU diehard post about Huskers not attacking the press echoed much of what I have complained about since Miles has been our coach.

We let the ball bounce several times under the basket after a made bucket.

Several times we picked up the ball and handed it to the ref after a made basket!

As a point guard I was taught to scoop the ball up and in bound it to a teammate who was streaking to our basket BEFORE the press could get in position. If said teammate encountered pressure that would slow him down he passed the ball to me who was streaking toward our basket. Objective: Score on a layup and break the press!

Not rocket science!!!

Watch Yori's team break a press.