early basketball thoughts

[SisyphusMiner]

Obviously this was a vastly inferior opponent so trying to take that into account.

This is a much better shooting team overall. Dos Anjos has a very nice looking shot.  Jones looks promising.  Kalu panics every time he gets the ball and there's any traffic.  Hardy had 10 assists and 0 turnovers.  Powell had a whopping 6 turnovers.  Ham looked improved.

When you're that much better than your opponent, you lose focus and things get sloppy. So you look for the moments when they are focused to see what there is to see.

Offensively, when they went into a half court set there was a lot more ball movement, better spacing, and the guys just looked more like they understood what they were trying to do.  Again, inferior competition.

Defensively, they need work on transition D.  In halfcourt D there was one specific thing I was looking for.  I may post a manifesto on this at some point.  Prevent the next pass.  Last year they were awful at it.  In this game, at the moments when they were focused, they were pretty decent at it.  We'll see how that plays out as we face better opposition.

[SisyphusMiner]

Still very early and against inferior competition.

I'm convinced these guys can shoot much better than previous teams.  We should assume they won't be as hot against better competition, but previous teams couldn't score even against inferior competition.

Defensively, I don't know how much has changed.  We play a high risk high reward defense, and really aggressively try to steal off the dribble and pass.  Worse yet, our guards don't appear great at staying between the ballhandler and the basket.  Every time an opposing guard drives by you, you have enabled a back door cut for a layup resulting in points, fouls, or both.  Our guards will need to play more within themselves against better competition.

I'm not sold on Powell.  He doesn't appear great at D and he forces stuff that isn't there.  Maybe he'll dial it back against better competition as well.  In general I do like our mix of players.  Lots of guys that can play all over the court.

I'm guessing 3rd or 4th in conference and ~18-20 wins.  I do feel like there's more potential upside than downside.  But I don't see us winning the conference.

[SisyphusMiner]

I didn't stay up to watch the game, but here's my current take.  I don't know if we're good or not.  I don't know if we're going to be happy with the final record this year or not.  What I can say is that this is the first team in YEARS that I have thoroughly enjoyed watching. Maybe the first I've enjoyed watching since the Barbee days.  There's just a different vibe and feel that's hard to describe.

[kyyote]

Correct.

[Minermojo]

There has been vast improvements in the last few weeks. Kalu is finally making his free throws and that is a big bonus as he will be needed down the stretch. Even the announcers said that he's making strides in that area. Powell is still playing great and making plays when there's none.

I love their passion on defense. Every opponents possession is a mark for a turnover. There's hands all over the court trying to get at the ball. I love this team and I think Golding is doing a fine job so far. Much, much better than Floyd ever hoped for.

I missed the end of the Cal game because the recording stopped before the end and I had to come here to see the final result and I sure am glad we won.

GO MINERS!

[kyyote]

Did you know it was tied with 6 seconds to go and the time ran out after the shot left his hands as it was going in? 

[Minermojo]

No, I didn't get to see that last play. Who scored the last points? It could have been anyone as all of them are capable of scoring. It's a very equitable (?) team. One thing I see that we need is that in the future when we start playing really good teams that have big man that they'll cram the inside and keep the miners from layups. Because of that we need to improve our three point shots. We don't have any measure of whether we're good in that area. But, Golding likes to drive in with the hope that the big guys foul us and foul out. I think that's his reasoning. Look at Aimequ or whatever his name is, he fouled out at the last minute and that was great because I envisioned his getting the ball underneath for an easy win or two easy foul shots as he was good at that.

I'm glad that we won and now on to Bradley.

[SisyphusMiner]

Hardy scored the winning 3.  You can see highlights here:

https://www.fubo.tv/stream/live/pac12/?season=pac12-mens-cbb-2023&clip=UTEP_Miners_vs_California_Golden_Bears_Game_Highlights_14350369.mp4&sharedid=UTEP_Miners_vs_California_Golden_Bears_Game_Highlights_14350369&irad=399332&irmp=4850684&ftv_campaign=onebox_p12_postgame


Powell is really struggling from 3.  Other guys shooting well.

[MinersWon]

I had my kids in town and we stayed up late to watch the game. We live just outside of San Antonio so it was two hours different and we were up until 3:30 in the morning and it was glorious to have me in my kids screaming at the top of our lungs cheering the Miners in the house, it was so much fun last night. This team is so fun to watch. I?m so happy for Coach Golding and his staff because I know they put a lot of effort into getting these players to play the way they do. I agree that we don?t know what?s gonna happen with this team as the season progresses, but it sure is a breath of fresh air, and I need to dust off my equipment and start making videos again.

[Minermojo]

I was talking to my wife's physical therapist and I was telling him about the Miners and their record and he was very surprised. He said that he was going to make an effort in following them now. He said he was put off by last years team and I don't blame him. I think we're all surprised in the difference in this years Miners. I hope we beat Bradley tonight for the championship trophy.