DEN
Miners => Den => Topic started by: SisyphusMiner on December 09, 2020, 06:51:24 PM
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I only saw the first 10 minutes of the 2nd half of the St Mary's game.
My impressions:
We were beaten by a team with better talent and better coaching. I don't think we need to feel bad about losing on the road to them.
Boum is great
Bryson is a great player, and sometimes forces things that aren't there.
Bienemy looks like a significant upgrade at point.
Verhoeven was against superior players, but the referees allowed the opposing center to "Shaq" him down in the lane. Other player was allowed to initiate the contact, bump him back, and then do it over again until a layup. This should have been an offensive foul
I didn't see a lot of Sjolund which surprised me. I guess he played more when I wasn't watching.
Kennedy didn't do much when I was watching.
We still can't defend the pick and roll. We still struggle with picks up top. We still don't really have an offense if the 3s aren't falling for us. We still can't screen to create open 3s.
Basically, it feels like we upgraded players, but the Xs and Os haven't changed. CRT is what he is, and Haskins he ain't. Or Sadler, or Gillispie...
Again, this is just based on a total of 10 minutes of gametime.
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My concern is the defense. Offense happens when good players step up, but defense takes more hustle & know how than talent.
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Agree on defense. Important point is that we run a specific defense. You can look it up on the internet if interested, and find exactly how it is implemented, and what the rules are for positioning, screens, etc.
The problem with this is that good coaches with well disciplined teams will adjust their offense to take advantage of the weakness of your defense. Our defense has a specific weakness for the pick and roll up top, and for double screens. W KY, Marshall, St. Mary's all have known this going into the game, and ran an offense designed to shred the defense. If we are unable to make a counter-adjustment we will always get creamed by better coached teams -- unless we get hot from the 3 and outscore them.
I still remember in 1992 when Haskins implemented a new defense right before the Kansas game and it discombobulated them. This is what coaches who actually understand the game do. You tweak your offense to take advantage of the other guys weaknesses defensively and you tweak your defense as well. The fact that we never adjust anything shows the coach does not truly understand the game. He has learned an offense and a defense, and is a good recruiter. We will be exactly as good as the players on a given day, and no better.
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so what's your saying is that we have a chance?! YES!!!
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Play small & the speed will cut the percentage of jumpers. Then adjust & play big when they pound the paint. However, that big kid for St. Mary's was so dominant.
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I don't think losing at St. Mary's is problematic per se. I expect to lose that game. I just want to see a UTEP coach make a gametime adjustment.
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Hey Sis,
Were you able to watch the game? We couldnt cut AZ rebounding, but score implies we hinge in there. I heard the last 5min of game. We had our chances, but couldnt hit shots towards the end. I was guessing we were tired & beat up.
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I have only been able to watch part of the 2nd half of St. MAry's. I don't feel bad about losing by 8 at UA, and I won't feel bad about losing at ASU as long as we make a game of it. Note that GCU only lost to them by 1. These are good games for us as CUSA will seem easier and slower.
Stats agree with you. Generally I feel like the biggest difference between the haves and have-nots is the quality and depth of the big men. 3 point shooters are easier to find --not for UTEP apparently, but in general. This is how 12 seed upsets generally win in the tourney. Blast from the outside. In that sense, CRT's concepts aren't too bad -- slow down the other team a bit, hope to have better frontcourt than most of the conference, and really gear towards the 3. It offends the purist in me, but I do understand the logic.
Going off of stats, here's what stands out to me.
Boum and Williams are obviously carrying the team so far.
Bienemy has a 17:1 assist to turnover ratio. This is incredible, and the main thing I want to see in a point guard. 2:1 is a good ratio.
Kennedy is obviously struggling with shooting, but is at least rebounding to make up for it.
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Thanks for the observation.
Again, looking at the numbers, we hung in a bit on defense (finally).
Boum- great scorer & he seems to close down outside shots.
Bieniemy- I like his ball control. He needs to find his groove on scoring.
Vulikic- his timing is off. I do think he will be good. Only a Fr.
Kennedy- timing is also off, however he hustles & rebounds
Sjolund- less talent than I expected. He needs to crash boards instead of waiting for the right shot.
Williams- Stud, but needs to work on protecting paint better
Odigie- work on post moves & defense
Verho- keep getting better @ protecting rim & rebounding
Those who I left out have fewer minutes & have little stats
I'm just glad we were within single digits. ASU looks to be a bit faster. We have a chance if we have low turnovers & better shot percentage.
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I have only been able to watch part of the 2nd half of St. MAry's. I don't feel bad about losing by 8 at UA, and I won't feel bad about losing at ASU as long as we make a game of it. Note that GCU only lost to them by 1. These are good games for us as CUSA will seem easier and slower.
Stats agree with you. Generally I feel like the biggest difference between the haves and have-nots is the quality and depth of the big men. 3 point shooters are easier to find --not for UTEP apparently, but in general. This is how 12 seed upsets generally win in the tourney. Blast from the outside. In that sense, CRT's concepts aren't too bad -- slow down the other team a bit, hope to have better frontcourt than most of the conference, and really gear towards the 3. It offends the purist in me, but I do understand the logic.
Going off of stats, here's what stands out to me.
Boum and Williams are obviously carrying the team so far.
Bienemy has a 17:1 assist to turnover ratio. This is incredible, and the main thing I want to see in a point guard. 2:1 is a good ratio.
Kennedy is obviously struggling with shooting, but is at least rebounding to make up for it.
That part about finding 3-point shooters, Sul Ross finds fricken snipers in El Paso of all places. lol
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KY, the thing with El Paso is that there are many good to great basketball players here. The trouble is that coaches aren't impressed with their height. Most of our players are Hispanic and thus not on the tall side. If you have a 6'4" Hispanic you've hit the jackpot. Most of the tall players are in that range. But...since they aren't as tall they rely more on the long shot, the 3 pointer to make a point on the court. I would be in many of our local games trying to find the 3 point gem in so many teams that we have in the city. That's why Sul Ross has such a good luck in finding good players that can ball and lob that 3 point bomb. Also, I hate to say this but coaches don't think Hispanics can play ball and if they aren't black they seem to think that the Hispanic can't compete with them. Maybe under the boards they can't but heck if you saw the UTEP-Butler NCAA game many moons ago you would see that they beat us badly BECAUSE of their 3 point prowess. Now, I'm not saying that that alone would win games but if you force the opposing team to leave that area under the basket and come out to defend these wonders then you allow YOUR big men to score and rebound much better. A good example (I hear) with the Arizona game was that Williams was being killed under the basket because no Arizona player would come out from under the boards and would stiflle Williams where he couldn't produce.
My criteria wouldn't be a 3 point player that scores a bunch I would sign one with a better than average PERCENTAGE of his shots. Anyone can score a bunch if that player is one of those that as soon as he grabs the ball he lobs it to the hoop. My cousin used to be one of those so of course he would always wind up as the highest scorer. A team doesn't need those kind of players anyway as it tends to bring down morale in the team.
My two cents worth...
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You might be surprised how quickly a guy 6 inches taller than you can close that gap when you're trying to jack up a 3.
I think the problem is CRT values defense and 3 shooting. It's hard to find a good 3 shooter that likes to play D. D is work and no glory.
Kind of similar problem with rebounding. It's mainly a lot of hard work every shot. Guys that like to score don't like to play D. The guys that play tough D or work for rebounds are guys like Verhoeven who figured out they are never going to be the top scorer but they can out-hustle everyone else.
It's a tough sell. You have to convince them there is a payoff to be worth all the hard work and getting yelled at. CRT hasn't convinced them of it. Possibly partly because your PT and your performance and/or effort appear to be unrelated.
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Well I'll be dipped in shit. We won. Not only did we win, we beat the shit out of them. We did it not playing tip top. We did advance in perimeter defense.
I'm am seriously shocked, boys.
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I don't have access to the pac network so only listened to the Teich broadcast.
So i don't have specific opinions.
But this is a quality win on the road against a quality opponent. This is the biggest win in quite a few years for us.
The two biggest things that jump out is how heavily we out-rebounded them, and just how awful their 3 pt shooting was.
Guards all engaged in rebounding. This is really important that everyone try to rebound.
Not sure if their bad 3 pt shooting was due to our D or just a bad game since I couldn't watch.
But this is how Miners win under Terry. They would have beat Arizona with this play. We have the elements to be top tier CUSA when we play well.
Beating Bobby Hurley makes it extra special. It's not really his fault, I have just hated him from the days of watching him play when Dick Vitale would call the entire game like he was Hurley's momma. "Bobby Hurley dribbles the ball upcourt like the god he is. Bobby Hurley passes the ball to Laetner in the paint. Bobby watches as his perfect pass enables Laetner to back down his opponent and score. Bobby now guards the opposing point guard. Bobby nearly steals the pass to the opposing shooting guard. Bobby's intense glare causes the opponent to miss. What a floor general!"
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Well I'll be dipped in shit. We won. Not only did we win, we beat the shit out of them. We did it not playing tip top. We did advance in perimeter defense.
I'm am seriously shocked, boys.
We did? Who did we beat? No, seriously, I haven't been following the Miners so closely because one week they play and the next we don't. I don't even know if the football season is over and that tells you a lot.
Again, who did we beat? and by how much?
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Last year the team spent the whole season looking for who it was going to be. I was not happy about that as it seemed more like a bus station than the Don. This season as the dust settles it appears to have the beginnings of a team with a heart. I think Boum is going to show his East Bay Grease and what it is to play hoops in Oakland. Last year he was feeding out of respect. This year he will be the threat and Williams will be fed because he is open. The big man is getting comfortable in his role and that's all he needs to do. Core is pretty solid. If the rest can be addition and not subtractions to the team on the floor is the key.
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Anybody have deeper insight into Agnew? For 18min, this kid balled. The kid should have looked awkward for his 1st game. Well...he didn't. I loved that kids energy.
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Anybody have deeper insight into Agnew? For 18min, this kid balled. The kid should have looked awkward for his 1st game. Well...he didn't. I loved that kids energy.
Were you able to watch the game? What did you think of him? I could only listen so I really couldn't tell.
Sure hope last game was a breakout game for Verhoeven. If he can consistently add rebounds and offense, then we have a frontcourt.
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Sis,
I didnt watch. Only listened. I heard his name & saw clips from the re-cap. Then I talked to a buddy who saw the game & said he focused on the kid & saw he had a high IQ for the game as well as being a lock down defender. He compared him to JWash. When he said that, I wanted to do as much homework on the guy as I could. That's why I brought up the question.
It's tough to use JWash's 4yrs vs Agnew's 18min. Since the kid is a Jr, I want to know about the kids production where ever he came from. He's 6'2" & built like a brick house. Clips showed him driving to the hoop & making a defensive stop. CRT described him as the missing piece to the team. What the Fudge can this guy do that we dont know about?
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So I listened to the 1st half & saw the 2nd. We cannot judge this game or the game with OLLU. It is very clear CRT put the kids in that needed the work. He also put them in to practice Jacking up 3s. Agnew looked good.
The other thing I wanted to point out is Vulikic. The kid can rebound & control the ball. I think that's it. His defense is meh, put his scoring needs work badly. I'm curious to hear others assessment of the game.
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I was same as you, only watched 2nd half during garbage time.
Agnew looked rough, but it's all there. I feel like right now he is an acceptable sub, but could develop into a key player.
Sjolund looks like a sub you can put in and he won't hurt you.
Vulikic -- agree completely with you Not ready for the speed of American D1.
Onyema looked completely lost, but gives us glimpses of the player he will turn into. Hope we can keep him.
Efe looks in better condition but plays just like the old Efe. He is simply as good as he is going to get
I was really really happy to see TV being aggressive offensively. To me, this is the key to the season. If he can be a 7-8 point per game offensive threat it forces other teams to respect him and back off the BW double-teams. It's not good to have a starter that doesn't score. You can tolerate it some from Bienemy up at PG. I also note that we are getting way too little production per minute played from Kennedy.
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Kennedy has his moments but I saw that at times he can be a loose cannon without discipline. Too many errors for my taste but he does have a machine that keeps on going. I think as a bench player he can come in when the other teams first teamers start getting tired.
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I watched it all and it was an exhibition. The first half showed what was to be expected and it was pretty damned good. Verhoven has found his fit and it makes a huge difference. No more one trick pony. Inside and out the team has serious fire power. The second half was a reward to the bench and to see what they could do. Individually inserted into games they will look much better. Like Efe looked like Efe trying to do too much in a game wth Williams Souly and Bienemy he will play much more effectively and efficiently giving Verhoven a breather.
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Good point, KY. Efe is not good at finding his own shot. He is better when someone else sets him up for it. He also needs to be a better defender. Verho didnt have Efe offensive skills when he got here, but he won the job because he can hold in the paint on D.
Kennedy, however, is a kid who is built to create, but needs to own it & repeat with frequency.
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BTW... The name of one of the opposing players seemed like it rang a bell. Is there a reason why Nick Sessions would ring a bell with me? Am I just imagining it?
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I have no clue, Sis.
I will say this. This entry is interesting, because I think it started just after St. Mary & the team is completely different since. I think if they played them again, they would win the game.
I hope we try to get game with NMSU. I think we would beat the shit out of them.
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SDSU just beat St Mary's by 25.
Assuming you are correct and we could beat them now, I don't think it's a beatdown like that. I feel like on a good night, we are a good mid-major, and a very good CUSA team Top 75 for sure. My question is how consistently can we have good nights?
Our offense requires good 3 point shooting. Right now we have 4 acceptable 3 point shooters. Boum and Williams present a serious threat. Sjolund at 33% and Hess at 45% also get less than 20 minutes of play time and are currently our 7th and 8th bench players.
I think CUSA is pretty weak except for W Ky. This year and next should determine if CRT is on the right track.
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I think you are right about the 3 point shooting. CRT is letting them jack up as many as possible in order to become more effective down the road. I think it will come at this pace.
The thing that caught my attention is how we got better at perimeter defense. It's because of that is why ASU had no chance in catching up.
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Perhaps because Hess is a sophomore(?) he is only getting so many minutes but if he is shooting at 45% that is awesome. I don't remember someone hitting 3s like that except for that Miner that got hot in his last year and was in the news not too long ago about him losing his mind thing. I can't remember his name but at one time everyone groaned when he was inserted because he was really bad but improved tremendously his last year. I think he hit 9 threes in one game one time.
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You're thinking of Chris Craig. He became a very good PG for us. He shot 42.6% from 3 pt for his career for us. Maybe best ever for us?
Omar Duran was great until the opponents started guarding him, then he couldn't create.
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Found the records finally. In terms of percentage
3-Point Field Goal Percentage
1. Mark Ingles, 1995-96 .447
2. Chris Craig, 2003-04 .424
3. Miguel Ayala, 2005-06 .383
4. Omar Duran, 2002-03 .380
5. Antoine Gillespie, 1994-95 .326
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That's the one, Chris Craig. I remember that we used to cringe whenever he went into the game until later when he was shooting lights out everyone was surprised. He was good. I also remember that he had problems afterwards out of school. I hope he straightened out I'm sure he had his demons to conquer and I hope he won. I didn't know Ingles had a better percentage though, that's fantastic.
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Current thoughts:
Bienemy -- A really really good PG. Right now looking like he belongs in the long list of great Miner PGs. His Assist / TO ratio slightly better than Julyan Stone
Boum -- The most consistent player we have.
BW -- Something seems not right. Maybe it's just that the other teams double him every time he touches it. And we have no play to get him the ball isolated one on one. He's a team player and doesn't force things much.
Verhoeven -- much improved offensively. Still not strong enough. Gets called a lot for bogus fouls. A valuable part of this team but honestly maybe wouldn't be starting if we weren't so weak at the C / PF position.
Sjolund -- Hell of a shooter. Decent rebounder. Not quite where he needs to be defensivly.
Kennedy -- Good defender -- put in a great effort against Draine on first night. Good aggressive rebounder. Total liability offensively at this point.
Agnew -- So much energy -- he will make something happen, not always good. Takes risks defensively that sometimes pay off but sometimes hurt. Reminds me of Johnny Melvin.
CRT -- As mentioned many times, he is what he is. Not a great X and O guy. We are not good against the press and obviously didn't practice it a lot. We better start working on it because other teams will utilize it now that we've been exposed.
Would have like to see Onyema, but I understand not playing him after our collapse the first night. He is totally lost defensively.
CRT has a problem with this team in that he has to figure out who his #5 is. Kennedy, Sjolund, or Agnew? Kennedy is the best defensively and rebounder, but awful offensively. Solund by far best offensively, a bit weak defensively. Agnew hustles the most but erratic.
I think CRT prefers to go with the best defender. Assuming that Kennedy can shoot in practice he will give him the green light like he did with Boum, and let him shoot his way out of his slump. Personally I think I'd go with Sjolund as my SF, but it's not an easy decision, especially again assuming that he has reason to believe Kennedy will eventually get there.
CRT's other problem is he really doesn't have a backup PF or C that he feels good about. I think he needs to find a way to start getting Onyema minutes, even knowing it hurts us.
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Always love your 2 cents, Sis. I totally agree with everything. Agnew is the best back up I've seen here in El Paso for some time. The part that has me scratching my head is Kennedy's offense. The kid should be driving & not shooting. Sjoland is a good back up for Kennedy. I think they both should get the same amount of playing time. Our PG is pretty damn good. He's coming into his shooting. While I'm always happy with any win, the weak rebounding always pushes me off to no end. Positioning & blocking out is so under rated. Especially mixed with lack of hustle.
Now on to the next opponent. I just hope I can actually be at the game.
You know, the more I think about it, the more Kennedy is more of an athlete than a Bball player. He basically is replacing some of the guards we lost last year, which were athletes & not necessarily Bball players.
I'm actually OK with it as long as he is not the focal point or leader. Surrounded by Bball players allows him to be more aggressive & productive.
What I do like seeing is Agnew & Kennedy on the floor at the same time both playing great perimeter defense. Those 2 are nightmares for shooters.
Williams was compromised and he needs to figure out how to be more productive.
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I just ran some numbers on Kennedy, Sjolund, and Agnew on a per minute basis. I don't have more advanced statistics available, and you can't really fully account for defensive skills based on these stats. But it's interesting.
Here are the basic box score stats as contributions per minute. I hope it formats OK.
Player... MIN FGM FGA FTM FTA. 3PM. 3PA. PTS. OR.. DR.. REB. AST. TO.. STL. BLK
Kennedy 240 0.10 0.30 0.02 0.03 0.02 0.10 0.24 0.04 0.13 0.16 0.05 0.07 0.04 0.00
Agmew . 87. 0.13 0.39 0.10 0.16 0.01 0.13 0.37 0.03 0.11 0.15 0.07 0.03 0.08 0.00
Sjolund. 130 0.15 0.30 0.02 0.02 0.09 0.23 0.40 0.01 0.11 0.12 0.01 0.03 0.01 0.02
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Hard to read, Sis. I'm sure it shows Kennedy doing everything else except scoring.
I think the other thing we all failed to mention was the Miners have found a way to score when Williams cant. Sjoland, Agnew, Boum, & Bieniemy. I believe they all were in dbl figures, not to mention Verho just short of 10pts.
We will be playing Rice next & that should allow the bigs to reach dbl digits in scoring. As a matter of a fact, I think Odigie matched up well against Rice as long as there are ONLY 1 or 2 bigs playing at one time. I dont really consider Sjoland a big with his style of play. He's more of a long SF.
On a side note, I read Vila is having same foot issues as Wilms did. I think he'll be out rest of year. He'll get a medical red shirt, but this foot issue may not allow him to return. I know most dont like his shooting or defense, but I think he can be a great back up. The other kid with issue is Vilikic. I actually really like the kid. He has good ball skills, can rebound, & reads the game well. His only flaw is shooting. As a 21yr old Fr, I think he'll be just fine. He'll need to work on the jumper in the offseason.
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Sorry. I haven't figured out how to get XCEL data to post cleanly here.
Summary:
There is really nothing on the stat line that Kennedy is clearly better at. I have noted my personal opinion is that he is the best defender.
Sjolund scores a little more than the others and obviously shoots 3s better. Low turnovers. Also lowest in rebounds, assists, and steals.
Agnew roughly the same as Kennedy in scoring and rebounding, but twice as many assists and steals as Kennedy, half as many turnovers (turnover thing surprised me).
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I think you have to look at how each one?s presence on the court affects the team as a single organism and how their presence affects the other individual players. For instance Sjolund is more than his three point production. His presence is a threat and the defense has to respect it. That does much in the way of opening Verhoeven and Williams. Bienemy has been the straw and is finding his shot. Everyone is better because of his play.
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I absolutely agree with this. It feels like the offense stagnates with Kennedy on the court and flows better with Sjolund. Sjolund can flat out shoot.
However, against Rice, I would play Kennedy and tell him to guard Olivari like white on rice (see what I did there?) Olivari is shooting 49% from 3 for the season. Shut him down like Kennedy shut Draine down and I don't care what Kennedy's offense is like.
At the same time, Olivari is only 6-2. Maybe Sjolund at 6-8 can shut him down?
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Fellas,
I'm gonna try to make this evenings game. I just had spine surgery on my neck & supposed to stay home for a month. I don't care. I need to get out. So if anyone is going & U see a big guy in a neck brace, that would be me doing exactly what my doctor told me not to do. Haha
Long live sport.
Aside from that, here is what I'd like to see.
Bieniemy- keep being a leader.
Vuk- keep looking for the open man & keep shooting
Boum- no more melt downs & pass the ball inside.
Kennedy- drive to the hole & minimize shooting
Agnew- keep pushing for best 6th man in the conf.
Sjoland- pick it up on D & shoot until your arm is sore.
Williams- work through the dbl team. Make then foul you or pass out.
Verho- keep getting better. Improvements every game.
Odigie plz get better on D & drive to the hole?
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Take care of yourself. If we are doing good, no high fives and no jumping up and down. If we are doing bad, don't smack yourself in the head. It was probably hitting your head against the wall repeatedly during football season that did it to you.
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Never mind. Not going. Too much risk. Does anyone have a channel?
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Never mind. Not going. Too much risk. Does anyone have a channel?
Probably a wise move, Chanson. Take care. Hope the healing process goes quickly and smoothly.
lieb
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Get well Chans!
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OK, fellas. Not a bad night last night. Hope we can repeat. There are lots of different elements going on with this Terry team that we are not used to.
1st off, this team is up & down on rebounds. 1 night they kill it, the next they drop the ball (see how I used that?).
...Tough Crowd
Anyway, our shooting is very streaky & we just cant seem to defend against pick & roll. Terry addressed that last night at the presser. Sjolund & Odigie had off nights while Boum stilk doesn't seem to be himself at times.
Now for the fun stuff.
Bieniemy is a f...ing stud. He protects, he scores, & distributes. Not to mention he's not bad at D or rebounding. Kennedy seems to be more comfortable in his skin when he has the ball. Keeeeeeep shooting.
Our rebounding was much better, our defense needs a tweak, but our turn overs are much improved. Funny how low turn overs will win a game even with horrible rebounding.
No question Terry wants to Run & Gun. As we saw, the kids can shoot when they are in a zone.
I hope to see more of what I saw last night, except some better stops on D.
Go Miners
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Get well soon Chans. Good thing you didn't go it was a wise move. I just hope that they gave you the right size neck brace we wouldn't want you looking like those African women with the rings around their necks. Take care and don't do dumb things until you recover.
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I wanted to mention another thing none of us are looking at and that is recruiting. While it looks like Vila will sit out this year, Williams looks to be the only scholar shipped player leaving after this year. That being said, I see no prospects for next year. I hope he's saving it for a stud like Bieniemy or another Williams/Hunter type.
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i accidentally posted to the wrong topic.
But I agree with what's been said. Bienemy may be one of the top handful of PGs to play here and that is saying something.
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Wow when we are bad we are just awful.
1. How can we shoot so bad in a game where we are getting open shots? we shot 40% from 3 but just awful from closer in, especially layups.
2. Officiating was just awful -- not so much because of bad calls but they were SO inconsistent.
3. BW back to not looking right. Is he hurting? Tired? Guess who shot the most 3s, and missed the most? He was 1-6 from 3.
4. This loss is still on Terry. There is no excuse for having Vuk run point for 6 minutes in the first half. There is no excuse for us to get destroyed by the pick and roll game after game and not address it. Every team knows we can't defend it.
Only thing in CRT favor on the pick and roll is that BW is just awful at covering it. But we have to come up with something. If we are going to hang our hat on defense we can't let such a glaring problem continue without addressing it. Verhoeven came halfway across the court some possessions to cover for BW losing his man on the pick and roll, but he can't always get there. Nor can Sjolund.
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Good Lord. That was a shit show. Terry wants to run & gun, but doesnt have the kids to do it. They are talented, but not for this kind of ball. Lots of shooting & piss poor defense. Hell, that's Rice's game.
Today's game is the 1st game I've really seen. I hate to say it, but I dont think this is the year Terry takes this team to the NCAA Tournament. Boum falls apart, Williams cant play D, Kennedy shoots, but is not a shooter, & the team just cant protect the ball or consistantly hit a jumper.
I hope year 4 is the year Terry can make something happen.
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Terry is a decent recruiter but a terrible developer of his young talent. He is also a terrible Xs and Os coach who like Dimel doesn?t seem to have the capacity to make any adjustments.
With Williams departure this season there is no way they will be better next year. I have given up on Terry and i look forward to the day when he is replaced.
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I welcome you with the traditional ?smite? and agree.
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Oink, I gave you a karma because I agree with you about Terry.
This is counter-intuitive and I may be 100% wrong, but I think there is a chance we are as good or better without Williams. He is an excellent player offensively and good rebounder. He's not a particularly good defender. Also as the senior and the guy that the offense revolves around, he is not much of an emotional leader. I think next year this is Bienemy's team and it will be interesting to see. Terry has to find some 4s and 5s that can play. I guess they will have to be transfers. Verhoeven and Onyema can't do it by themselves. gotta get Onyema some court time.
On the pick and roll, we do a "hedge and recover". You can google it. We break down because no one picks up the rolling big man. This is a known vulnerability. Some teams have the weak side forward drop his man to cover the rolling guy automatically, and I have seen Verhoeven do it sometimes and we saw Sjolunds spectacular block. Not every team does this though, and expects the big guy on the pick to drop back quickly enough to cover his guy, and should be in the way of the pass as he is doing it. BW does not drop back fast enough. I am not 100% sure if that's because he is overcommitting, slow to react to the roll, just foot slow, if the guard isn't communicating, or if the other forward is in fact supposed to cover. I am tempted to go back and watch game film and analyze, but UTEP is delinquent in their consulting fees to me...
I do know one thing from years of playing. If the other team is picking, you have to communicate. Constantly. Loudly. It's the job of the big men, who can see things developing to call the pick. This alerts the guarding player, and also the supporting weak side help. The guard has to call out when he is back in coverage. The big has to yell for help when he loses contain.
My guess is that BW is just not fast enough, doesn't fill the passing lane, and doesn't communicate. I will watch for this in future games where every team is guaranteed to P&R on us. If this is the case, someone has to call it and Verhoeven needs to drop his guy (who probably isn't a 3 gunner anyway) and cover the roll. Sjolund isn't a great defender, but he is a smart player and can cover the roller.
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Welcome, Orange. For your 1st post, I also gave you karma. It was bold, but true. I also think think that we will be OK without BW. The only think we lose is his ability to shoot the long ball. Verho & Onyema should be OK with the scoring in the paint.
On a 2 on 2 pick & roll, they are supposed to switch off & Bieniemy did a couple of times & was successful, but he only did it twice. Also, BW was guarding the big man too high which allowed him to V line towards the rim. Yes the big kid could shoot, but off of a pass & all alone. I think if BW played the big man loose at the top, we would have won. Also, we couldnt D up any kid under the rim. It seemed like they were laying up at will. That was the most frustrating for me. I understand running & gunning makes up a lot for piss poor defense, but nothing was falling in the last 5min. Hell, Rice had a few 12-0 runs in the game. That really tore at me.
The only thing we can do is hope Terry calls up his mentor, coach Barnes, & asks him how to defend, before the other schools catch on & make him look like a fool.
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This ain't CRTs first rodeo. If he hasn't accepted by now that he doesn't have the Xs and Os, I don't think it's happening. That was the knock on him at Fresno. We just better hope he can significantly out recruit the rest of CUSA.
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The team was so reliant on BW that this year has been the first time they?re doing things completely different and they are still finding their way and learning new roles. I think that has something to do with the inconsistency.
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Good point, KY. BW has been compromised. Other coaches are that Xs & Os savvy have made the adjustments. I hope the Miners figure it out. I don't think they will. As a matter of a fact, beers on me if they figure it out & win CUSA tourney. Ask Austin & KY. I'm good for it.
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I think the one thing in our favor is that when things are working, we are good enough offensively to overcome whatever the other guys throw at us. It's not good enough to go 10-2 in conference, but there is a chance that it is good enough to win 3 in a row.
I really wish we had Barbee or Gillispie coaching this group.