How Do You Have a Basketball Team That Can't Shoot?

[kyyote]

I love defense but damn!  I just don't know how the offense can be as bad as it is.  I just don't understand soft big men.  Sure, the offense is different nowadays.  Yep.  Nonexistent it seems. Passing up shots in the paint??  Probably looking for an opening to run out beyond the arc to chuck up a brick.  Or maybe a sweet hook shot.  Dunk?  What's that.  Oh you mean where the big guy runs out beyond the arc and sets a pick for a guard to pass up a layup and a feed to a big man for a dunk(which they would avoid) to feed it to another big man for a three from the corner.  Clunk off the side of the backboard.  Seriously, could anyone go get the starting guards from any of the local high schools and get more baskets out of them?

The team shot 57 shots.  Twenty-four of them were from 3 point range.  Thirty-three shots from inside the arc. Twenty-four from beyond the arc.  Fourteen of 33 went in from inside the arc.  Forty-two percent shooting is ok.  But let's shoot twenty-four three pointers and make one.  How is it that you can be that bad at shooting and be a basketball player? lol  I am not trying to be mean to any of the players.  I am seriously shocked that it seems to me to be damned near impossible for a D! basketball team to shoot 1 for 24 from the three point line.  But seriously folks, I have to question the coach.  Are you in charge?  Did you ok the 1 for 24 shooting or did they just go crazy on their own?  Somehow, someway, it seems to me that the coach is responsible for being able to mount a better offense.  I understand the best player was out.  It seems he is damned near the only player.  I don't believe that. 

I know it is early.  Think back to four or five games into last season.  It was early then, too.  Which early team was better, Terry's or Golding's?  I don't think itis too early to have an offense.  One that is way better than shooting 24 three pointers to make three points would be a sign that there is someone controlling the offense and that there is an actual offense other than the Chunk and Pray offense.

The fact that Boum was out is no excuse.  What team losses thirty points of production because the best player is out?   Next man up?  Bueler, z-man, anyone?  I'm 73 and was always a poor shot(defense was a different story) but I swear I am pretty sure I could do better than 1 for 24 from beyond the arc.  I know damned well that some of you could do way better than that.  But, I am really more concerned that big men seem to be unwilling or something that I just can't explain to play like big dudes on little dudes.  The big dudes want to play like little guys or the coach's offense wants them to be out where they can set picks so that guards can pass to someone to chunk a brick.

For those who are shocked at my take, trust me, I'm shocked too!

[SisyphusMiner]

Wow, 40 points.  If you had told me they would hold UCR to 52 points I'd have guaranteed a win.
This is a real problem and it may be a very long season.  Will Boum be back for next game?

[kyyote]

No. He and Agnew both out for Wednesday?s game. COVID protocols I believe.

[Chanson]

I left with 2min left in the game. Offense was a sh!t show.
Let's get the good stuff out of the way. Defense was all Golding. Riverside was frustrated because they are used to scoring the heck out of that ball. I believe they were held to the lowest points in any game they had this year. That was a fantastic job by the Miner defense & I hope it is a staple. Also, Bieniemy played his tail off & kept the team in it.

Now for the bad.
Even Golding said that was the worst display of Offense he has ever seen. Not only could no one sink a shot, but most didn't even want to take the shot.
Bieniemy: Played well. Needs to protect rock better.
White: Went through motions, but still can't figure it out.
Kennedy: Has no business shooting from beyond. His O game is the short jumper.
Giffa: Needs confidence. Plays to not screw up instead of aggressive.
Satterfield: Was played tight, but needs to do what he was brought her for. Hit shots.
Hollins: Did great against Pacific then was a no show last night.
Sibley: Had 7 open shots with 5 in the paint & he passed out. WTF is that?
Maring: Is slow and has no post moves
Kalu: Had his hands full, but no post moves
Verho: Acts like a leader, but hasn't played like one yet. Yes the other team was big, but that means he should be hitting short jumpers

There is a silver lining here. Even though our best perimeter defender & best scorer were out, it opened the eyes of the kids & coaches that others need to be coached up to compete. Sibley & Kennedy are 4☆'s and they should be more aggressive. The other part that works in our favor is that this happened early in the season. This is when you iron out the kinks & not in the middle of Conf play like some Miner teams in the past.
Let's hope this team responds better on Wednesday with the same line up.

[kyyote]

? We just have to figure out a way to get the ball in the basket.?-Coach Golding

I never coached basketball but I would tell kids missing shots to get closer to the basket where it is easier. Now, if I were a coach I would have set offensive plays to run to get those open closer shots.

I have to wonder if the lack of desire in the paint is an indication of something else. I realize and understand that not all big guys are the same. Some play with more aggression than others. Nowadays a seven footer that can take it out and hit bombs creates hell to defend the entire team. But I trust The Bear. He would sit what?s his name for shooting threes. It is the coach?s job to get open layups and dunks for front line players. And they better take the open shots.

[zyxwvutsru]

Kyy, I would have made maybe 3 of 24 from beyond the arc. Which would have been an improvement. LOL

[kyyote]

Three times better!  That?s about what I figured. I think I could maybe match you and with serious concentration maybe even a fourth one(an undeclared bank shot).

[liebestraum]

In the Pacific game, the team took 23 shots and made 10.  Against the Aggies, they were 5 for 19.  Could it be this game is an outlier?  Or do we need Boum that much?

We have a small sample size right now; I would hesitate to say the team ?cannot shoot? at this point.  Maybe we will  find out the Riverside game was closer to our true potential.  But what if it is the Pacific game? 

I am going to wait and see.

lieb

[kyyote]

Very level headed.  I figure we have a good chance of scoring more than 40 points most of the time.
Taking Boum and Bienemy off of the stats list the team shot 71 three pointers and made 17 for 24%

GP   GS   Min  MinAvg FGM FGA  FG% 3m   3at     % Kennedy, Keonte  5   4   152   30.4   17   54   .315   4   23   .174    Hollins, Alfred      5   1   85   17.0   11   23   .478   2   10   .200    Verhoeven, Tydus  5   5   114   22.8   12   27   .444   0   2   .000    Sibley, Jamari      4   1   81   20.3   8   13   .615   2   4   .500    Saterfield , Jorell   4   0   56   14.0   7   17   .412   5   12   .417 Agnew, Christian   4   3   56   14.0   5   14   .357   1   5   .200    Maring, Bonke     5   1   53   10.6   8   17   .471   2   7   .286    Kalu, Kevin         5   2   45   9.0   5   7   .714   0   0   .000    White, Emmanuel 5   1   63   12.6   6   13   .462   1   5   .200

The table shows the main players other than Bienemy and Boum.



Kennedy and TV, 4 starts and 5 starts are 4 of 25 from three point range.  Next up is Agnew who has started 3 games and is 1 of 5, The three main players after Boum and Bienemy are 5 of 30 for 16.6%  Saterfield is obviously the next best 3 point shooter after Boum and Bienemy and Bienemy may be unreliable.  The thing is, look at the shooting percentage in the paint.  Pretty darned good.

The reason I kept Boum and Bienemy off of the list was to look at them separately.  Boum has shown to be the scoring leader and the reliable 3 point shooter on the team.  Bienemy lost his job at OU because he couldn't make his shots.  Great everywhere else but that, but with Williams that was just fine. He was great at getting it to Williams.  All of a sudden he appeared to have found his shot.
                     

Min PTS    FG    3ptrs Western N.M.   23   25   8-15   5-9    New Mexico St.   13   35   5-15   0-5    Northern N.M.   15   23   5-9   3-6    Pacific           18   31   7-12   3-6    UC Riverside   11   35   5-15   1-5

But notice he was hot against WNM, but NMSU was cold shooting 25% and 0-5 from beyond the arc.  Back to hot against NNM and Pacific!.  Back to cold against UCR.  So, against the lower level competition he was good and the Pacific game, I consider to be a level above in competition than directional NM schools.  But against NMSU and UCR he looked like the shooter of the past.  Too early to tell.
And that leaves Boum.  He has only played three games and just 18 minutes of one of those.  So, in 2and a half of the five games we have played, we have been without Boum.  That left a h/c Bienemy and the 3 point shooting above from the rest.  You do the work to sort it out with who was on the floor at what times, but the overwhelming time we had  a team that couldn't hit the three point shot.  So maybe I was hyperbolic about the not being able to shoot. But, it isn't too much bs to call the 3 point shooting we have seen from the Miners as damned close to not being able to shoot.

Like I said, you are the even keeled one.  Me, I get hot!  You're a math guy and are always right.  Me, I'm nucking futs.  Probably shouldn't be allowed anywhere near a keyboard.  And I like stirring the shit!   

[Minermojo]

Does the team even have shooting sets? That is do they practice shooting the basket without interruptions. Layup after layup should be the end game. Drive in for a layup practice shots without stopping. Also, if any big player prefers to throw it out to the outside perhaps he's afraid of missing and maybe that's why they do it to keep from embarrasing themselves. If I was the coach and I saw the bigs throwing it out when they had an easy layup I'd be sitting them down until they got the message. Oh, and I would let them know why they're on their butts instead of on the court.

One big grievance I have is when a tall guy can't make an easy layup. There's no excuse for that other than that the coach hasn't made him practice it again and again until they have it down pat. Layups are the easiest shot in the world and no one should ever miss one especially if you're so tall that you can just reach out and touch the rim.

[Chanson]

I have had 24hrs to get over the offensive catastrophe we all witnessed & this may be a blessing in disguise.

This team was exposed without Boum & I think Golding will hold those accountable & demand a better performance tomorrow night. I'm not going to call out those who were guilty, because these kids & coaches were harder on themselves than we ever could be. I think we see a totally different offensive team tomorrow night & I also betting we see better post play & open men taking shots without fear.
Trust me. I saw last night's game coming & I think we destroy Florida A&M. If I'm wrong, please feel free to smite my ugly ass.

Go freaking Miners

[kyyote]

I have no intention to say anything bad about the kids. If you look at their numbers inside the arc they are fine. Nope. I put the blame on the coach. If he has a team that can?t hit three pointers but does alright inside the arc do what you can do. Play inside. But I also figure the threes being taken may not be being taken as they should be.

It is early yet and I don?t think that the world is coming to an end or anything. But I think I have concerns about the offense.

[SisyphusMiner]

I only caught a couple minutes of the 2nd half.  But what I saw was same as CRT.  Everybody standing in one spot on the wings waiting for someone else to do something.  Surely Golding at least has a couple plays they could run so they aren't static?

Agree with Kyyote.  End of the world, no.  Concerning, yes.

[liebestraum]

So we see in this game, UTEP took 23 treys and hit eight for 34.8%.  The FG percentage for the game wasn?t much different:  35.6%

Based on this particular game, our 3-pt FGs improved dramatically (yay!) but our overall percentage is not all that great.

lieb

[kyyote]

Three point shooting is unreliable. Points in the paint are easier shots to hit, but the real magic is inside play gets you fouled and gives you free extra points at the free throw line. That fouls out star players and causes them to play softer defense. We won the game but only because we hit those threes. I think that if we depend on three pointers we are going to be in for a roller coaster ride.
On a side note what has happened to TV?s shooting?  I?m beginning to wonder if Bienemy stole it.