the offensive problems

[SisyphusMiner]

Something that Teich said clicked with me last night. I don't think he said it direclty but he might have.  What he did say was that every possession Williams should touch it once.  He's not wrong about that, but it points to a bigger point.

The offense tends to stand around the 3 point line.  They look to pass inside and if it's not open they pass to another guard on the perimeter and eventually jack up a 3 that is not in the flow of the offense.

The problem is that if you are not a good 3 point shooting team the other team will throw a zone at you.  We are not a good 3 point shooting team.  Ironically, the easiest way to beat a zone is by shooting threes.  So what do you do if you can't pass it around the perimeter and generate open 3s?

Outside of running a very complex Princeton type offense, you beat them inside out.  The ball has to go into the paint to make the defense collapse on them.  The ball then goes to an open man under the paint or out on the perimeter.

We do look for the interior pass but a lot of the time its not open.  We could run a high low post -- which isn't a bad idea -- but without changing the offense what we need is to have dribble penetration by the guards.  Edwards was doing this a lot early but stopped.  Boum tries about twice a game.  Lathon never tries.  Archie was fairly succesful at this last night except for actually making the shot at the end.

I don't know if CRT is telling them not to dribble penetrate, but if he is he's not a very good offensive coach.  If he's telling them to and they are not, he needs to play the guys that will.  Lathon handles the ball very well and plays good D, but he is a very passive floor general.

I think that we need Efe under the basket, Williams at the 4, Archie at the 3, Edwards at the 2, and Hawkins at the 1. We will give up a little bit of defensive skills but we will generate better offense.

Vila continues to get way too many minutes for what he actually does on the court.  Ditto Boum.  Efe did not get enough last night.  I am starting to get concerned about CRT.  I am not there yet, but we can be much better and he doesn't seem to be doing the things that will get us there.  He seems to be doubling down on things that aren't working and I've seen enough of that from Floyd and the last many years of football.

[SisyphusMiner]

If anyone watched Texas Tech defeat Louisville last night, did you notice how often the Tech guards drove to the elbow of the lane and then kicked the ball back out?  Every time you drive you force the defenders to collapse on you and someone somewhere is open.

[Minermojo]

If anyone watched Texas Tech defeat Louisville last night, did you notice how often the Tech guards drove to the elbow of the lane and then kicked the ball back out?  Every time you drive you force the defenders to collapse on you and someone somewhere is open.

But, the big difference is that Tech was making those 3 pointers and we know now that our guards can only shoot well during practice. They're not the real thing, they get rattled during the actual games. Agree? Anyone can lob threes only the real ones make them.

[SisyphusMiner]

Of course.  But anyone makes a higher percentage of shots when they are generated from the flow of the offense and they are wide open vs when you are jacking them up arbitrarily and while covered because the shot clock is running out or you are trying to make *something* happen.  Yes?

I really don't think we are the #325 3pt shooting team in the country because there are 324 teams with better talent than us.  I think we can move up to #324 at least by changing what we are doing to generate open shots.

[Minermojo]

Oooooh, I remember those Floyd years when the players were always trying to beat the clock because that idiot coach didn't want them to shoot too soon. So what happened? They had to rush the shots because of his stupid basketball ideology. I can't remember how many times we had to shout to the players to shoot because the clock was winding down. Ah, memories.

[Chanson]

I agree that these kids only shoot well against each other. We've seen that time & time again. But, shooting perimeter jumpers is a part of CRT game. He has to keep pushing these kids until it is automatic. Tech couldnt get the shooters to produce against UTEP, but Beard kept pushing his style and the kids responded against the #1 team. Maybe the solution is to give more min to Hawkins & less to Boum. I dont know the answer, but this style wins games.

[kyyote]

I agree that in today's game the three point shot is a critical part of the offense.  In addition to the extra points it generates, it indeed pulls the defense out from under the basket, stretching the defense and opening things up.  Since it is such an integral part of the game today, it is imperative to have a standout sniper able to hit the target from long distance.  I don't think we have one.  I hope I am proven wrong.  I hope we don't have to use the season to develop one, especially during game minutes.

[Miners1]

As for me. I see that CRTs philosophy is shoot the 3 when open regardless. Even in a fast break. But the problem I have is that they aren't a very good 3 point shooting team. Yet the majority of the time our bigs are out in the perimeter as well. Why??? If you know the team isn't a good at hitting the 3s shouldn't our bigs be sitting under the basket waiting for that rebound? It baffles me sometimes. But it's what we are gonna have to get used to...