I don’t know I don’t watch the games either.
Gabe shot selection
- Thread starter quasistellar
- Start date
I don’t know I don’t watch the games either.
Gabe's shot selection comes down to one thing and one thing only. He's the closest thing we have right now to a scorer. Jaren is struggling and no one else is capable of getting their own shot. Him getting hot is about our only hope offensively right now.
This is all especially true with Grill out. We have no other options to stretch the floor and keep them honest to keep driving lanes/posts ups available.
This is all especially true with Grill out. We have no other options to stretch the floor and keep them honest to keep driving lanes/posts ups available.
I'm thinking of starting a podcast critiquing movies I haven't seen.
The sweet spot for the team seems to be in the 15-20 range. By breakdown, with a full fleet of healthy players, I think it would breakdown like this ideally:
Gabe 5 attempts
Caleb 5 attempts
Jaz 4 attempts
Jaren 3 attempts
Tamin/Watson/Tre/Osun (as a group) 2-3 attempts
You get any of these guys shooting a larger volume of shots and that's when you see the %'s start to drop. Unforunately, with Caleb out, everyone is going to be leaned on more to take his shot attempts. I think Gabe is taking a lot of that responsibility upon himself, and to his credit, he is the best we have at getting open/moving without the ball. I think Jaz has the best pure stroke of any shooter on the team though.
Tamin only being 4/21 (19%) on the season has really been a killer for us in terms of spreading the floor and keeping defenses honest. I've been beating this horse dead since conference play started, but getting him up to even 30% would do wonders for this team, or any Cyclone team over the next 3 years.
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2nd time through the conference, they have figured out our offense. With Caleb out and no apparent adjustments to our offense, they are loading up on Gabe (many times face guarded). Gabe can do a better job of shot selection, but some overall offense adjustments would be helpful for the whole team.
I think the main thing with our outside shooting is that we need to keep it within the 15-20 shot per game range unless we are just smoking hot out there.
Such as...
And make sure you take into account that ISU's players are going to be limited no matter what you do, and human beings get tired and ISU has to max out on defense that requires energy.
Face guarding is happening, as is constant holding and hand checking. He has really had to work hard for anything he's been getting offensively for the last 5-6 games. He does utilize a lot of the same tactics when he is on defense though, to be fair.
When they struggle moving the ball around, they ALL settle for 3s (often bad ones) because they aren't moving the ball around. That's when you see them lofting 25-30 threes and making about 5 of them...
The real concern is teams who can pressure our guards on the perimeter - that's when they can't move the ball around and the entire offense goes to pot in a hurry. That is absolutely the recipe to beat this team, that's their kryptonite.
I have a theory and I wish I had the time to back it up with numbers but it seems like the more Gabe thinks about a shot, the more likely he is to miss. Like, when he just catches and shoots or those quick mid range jumpers, it seems like he shoots a high percentage. When he's wide open and collects himself it seems like he just gets in his own head.
That's pretty common though too. Even if someone's way open there's not much rhythm to it vs. the motor memory of getting a shot off like you're being guarded.
I would like to see a make/miss % for when he catches the ball at certain spots to start the motion. On the other hand some of his biggest makes are off balance from a scramble like vs. KU when Osun lost it.
It's pretty simple, they just don't move the ball as well without Grill out there. Even if Grill isn't hitting, he's moving a lot and the defense has to stick to him. Without good ball movement or anyone that can really drag defenders away from the paint, Gabe and Holmes can't get good looks inside or outside. Also, the defense doesn't click as well without Grill out there, so, the other team scoring more leads to more desperation for our guys on offense.
It would help if we had more guys comfortable with the ball in their hands. With the exception of Tamin, nobody is. Jaren tries, but Gabe and Caleb are one dribble and pass, or simply catch and pass. I don't understand how they are both like that still with all the experience they have. Gabe is in his 5th season playing in a P6 conference, Caleb allegedly handled PG duties for UNLV in his one year etc. But it's one dribble and pass or catch and pass every time.
Meanwhile, in Iowa City, even though it's a freak show, you've got 6'7'' Payton Sandfort bringing the ball up the court half the time, or the almost always out of control Tony Perkins. If those guys can do it, I have to think Caleb and Gabe can.
Love the guys but watching them dribble when they do especially in traffic makes it a good idea to dribble once and pass.
Do people not remember Gabe playing backup PG last year? Neither he or Grill are strong with the ball in their hands unless it's a quick shot or quick drive to the basket, and especially so under duress.
Do I wish that ISU had more than one guard who shoots the 3 at a decent clip and more than one or two guards who can reasonably handle the ball? Sure, but that's not solvable in season. Unfortunately, we gotta just ride it out and enjoy whatever the season has left in store, still a lot to play for. Fingers crossed NCAA matchups don't have ISU against teams with strong perimeter defenders all over the place.
ISU is an excellent offensive rebounding team(37 in kenpom) and are pretty bad at turning the ball over(especially lately). I would rather we get a darn shot up than turn it over.
the team has gone through at least 3 cycles of "what's our main action" due to injuries and T King.
Still feel that PnR with Lipsey and Osun as 1a or 1b action could free up a lot. Not smart enough to know what opposing coaches are doing from a scheme standpoint, other than I know they're content to funnel our offense through BRE anytime he steps on the floor.
