MBB Improvements Needed? (Non-complaining thread)

[cycloneworld]

Instead of ******** about the team and how the sky is falling, I thought we could discuss some of the things the team needs to work on (which is a lot of things).

Obviously #1 is scoring. We won't win many games scoring 48 points. I understand Garrett is a freshman, but why not have him out there for 30 minutes per game instead of letting Peterson bring the ball up? Other coaches have figured out that simple pressure on Peterson works wonders. It seems that when BP brings the ball up, we dribble around the perimeter until there are about 8 seconds on the shot clock and we end up putting up a terrible shot.

#2 - Getting the ball down into the Bigs. Our bigs are by far the best part of our game. Mac and some of the players said they need to be smart with shot selection. I think the big problem is that the guards can't get the ball down low (WJ did this well last night so that will be a big help) and once they do, the Bigs know that if they kick it out, they won't see it again for a few possessions.

#3 - Rebounding. Enough said.

#4 - Conditioning - This one shocked me...a couple of the players on the post game show mentioned conditioning as an issue. Why is that? Are the freshman still trying to get their legs? I would have thought Mac would have taken care of that in practice...

One thing we have done well is on the defensive side of the ball. If we could eliminate 1/2 of the second chance points/offensive rebounds, we would be in much better shape. UNI shot 42% in our house and won...that says a lot. AND we only had 7 turnovers.

Your thoughts?

 

[ISUFan22]

1. Sadly, we miss what Mike Taylor did for us last year. Score and do it by creating his own shot.

2. Guards are hurting us here, not feeding the ball down low. As you could tell, in the 2nd half we committed to doing that. Then Jiri and Craig picked up more fouls, we went away from that game plan and were not disciplined to go back to it. Also, having Jiri and Craig battling injuries doesn't help.

3. Yup, 2nd chance points for the other team is killing us. Heck, we've given up 3rd and 4th chance points (most notably against Minnesota). I do think we did a lot better rebounding in the 2nd half. No, I don't think - we did.

4. I'm not too shocked. Injury list has been Wes, Jiri, Clark and Brackins. 4 of our best players have missed practice, some more than others. That takes a toll on conditioning obviously. Can't practice, can't get in shape.

The real big thing we need to work on and comes with more games - experience. Most of our guys, especially key players (Garrett and Brackins come to mind) are very young and of course are going to be streaky. Brackins didn't have a good game last night, even when he was on the court and not in foul trouble. He was a beast a week ago.

That's what you get when you rely on freshmen.

I liked the fact that we only had 7 turnovers last night. I know they didn't press us like some other teams have, but we still did a much better job there. And in the 2nd half, we came out and fought like bloody hell. That's what this team needs, a mean streak and to fight like hell on every possession.

 

[Knownothing]

Talent, Talent, and more talent. You can win with all of those new guys and Jiri as your leader. Jiri is a good player, he is not a leader though. I am so mad right now about ISU sports. I hate losing. I am going to be patient (again) and hope it get's better the next few years. Greg need's to bring in more talent and the talent needs to get older fast. I hope there is a Juco Big man for next year. I don't want to go into next year with Vette, Thompson, and Hamilton down low. I know Brackins is a down low guy but he is more finess than banger. That is O.K. if you have a banger to go along with it.

 

[cycloneworld]

Talent, Talent, and more talent. You can win with all of those new guys and Jiri as your leader. Jiri is a good player, he is not a leader though. I am so mad right now about ISU sports. I hate losing. I am going to be patient (again) and hope it get's better the next few years. Greg need's to bring in more talent and the talent needs to get older fast. I hope there is a Juco Big man for next year. I don't want to go into next year with Vette, Thompson, and Hamilton down low. I know Brackins is a down low guy but he is more finess than banger. That is O.K. if you have a banger to go along with it.

We have a lot of talent but its young talent. Coach Mac needs some time to mold these players.

 

[cycloneworld]

On another positive note, Wesley looked great on the offensive end last night. You can tell he has worked on his shot all summer. The defense will come back after getting back into the swing of things.

Both him and Coach Mac said that he couldn't really drive to the hole like he wants to. When he gets healthy and can drive AND shoot, look out.

 

[rd4isu]

1. Sadly, we miss what Mike Taylor did for us last year. Score and do it by creating his own shot.

I agree, but when do we get another Mike (minus the issues)? I think this is going to be a problem yet again next year. We'll continue to struggle with teams who have athletic/quick guards until we can get some of our own.

 

[ISUFan22]

And remember about Wes, he's just one game in to his 2nd season. The guy is still "young", being only a sophomore. He still has much to learn.

We really only have two what I would call experienced players. Jiri and Clark.

 

[snowcraig2.0]

PG is terrible right now. Garret needs to be playing as much as his body can handle it.

 

[isuforlife]

We have a lot of talent but its young talent. Coach Mac needs some time to mold these players.

WE can't accept the old saying wait to next year, we have a AD that will do everything he can to be a winner and respectful in the Big 12

 

[jdoggivjc]

Besides more talent (which comes from years of recruiting, not just on a leftover class and one full class), I think the biggest thing the MBB team needs to improve is time - something a segment of this fanbase isn't willing to give McDermott.

 

[cycloneworld]

WE can't accept the old saying wait to next year, we have a AD that will do everything he can to be a winner and respectful in the Big 12

What can WE do then?

 

[MJAnderson]

Originally Posted by erikbj
I almost threw my controler through my TV tonight watching this game. ISU is a better team, they seem to play with tons of emotion for 5 minutes and then quit. Great example tonight, start off the first 4 minutes full of fire and then took the next 12 minutes off. Come out after halftime and on fire, didn't let UNI score for the first 7 minutes of the 2nd half. Then they got complacent.

Look at the brightside, Coleman is gone - he is a STUD (as long as the referees do not call any charges on him).



This was a quote from the sky is falling thread but I thought this was a better thread so I decided to move it.


I agree with you that ISU was, as good, if not the better team. I feel this way about all of our losses. We are starting to look like a broken record always starting out playing good and then seeming to lose intensity. On the way home I was listening to the post game and Eric Heft thought it was a lack of focus. I think he is exactly right. It seems like whenever we get a small lead we get into a comfort zone and get a little lackadaisical. Wesely also mentioned in the post game that we need to play with a little more attitude. Aside from all of the turnovers, off the court problems, and inabilty to get along with our own players, this is one thing Mike Taylor had. I'm not saying I miss him, because I don't, but he played with a sense of urgency and hated to lose. This is something I think Diante needs to develope. He is still very young and learning but I think he has the athleticism to be a team leader. Jiri also needs to develope a little attitude. He needs to become a mean force down low like Jared Homan. He showed he's capable of doing it last year againt Maric. I think that if we can maintain focus and develope a "refuse to lose" attitude we could be a pretty good team.

Some other thoughts on the game:

I thought Wesely played a great for his first game back. Some other posts state that he can't creat his own shot but I think this is false. Creating your own shot doesn't mean that you have to take it to the rack every time. It may only mean taking a dribble or two to get an open shot. He showed this a few times last night, and as his foot continues to heal, I think we'll see a lot more of it.

I also thought Rashon played another solid game. He continues to play within himself and provide consistant numbers. He plays with a lot intensity and needs to pass it on to some of the other players.

Craig did not have a very good game. He is a freshman and this sometimes happens, but our success relies on his consistency. If he gets his average we probably win the game. I'm not saying he is the reason we lost, I'm just saying that for us to be successful, we need to be hitting on all cylinders.

 

[DaddyMac]

PG is terrible right now. Garret needs to be playing as much as his body can handle it.

I'm not really getting this love affair with Garrett. I understand he's a freshman, Peterson a junior - so there is an experience/inexperience factor. But look at some of the lines.

Garrett has 9 TOs, Peterson 10.
Garrett has 11 assists, Peterson 15 (ratio of 1.2 to 1.5)

Garrett has played almost exactly 1/3 less minutes than Peterson - and has only one less TO while a equal ratio of assists.

To be fair, Garrett has better scoring numbers by .2 pts/game. Peterson has Diante almost doubled up in boards (7 to 12) and is our only 3 pt threat (.455) - Wesley's first game back not withstanding (4-8, .500), Rashon following (.333).

But the main gripe seems to be Bryan's ball handling. Now, I'm not impressed with his decisions and fully comply with the aggrevation of the getting trapped just after half court. And 3 assists/game out of our PG isn't going to get it done.

At this point, I just don't see Diante as any better.

"At this point"

 

[mjlane]

From what I can tell from G-Mac's days at UNI, his teams are predicated on a few things:

1) A PG who can penetrate and hit the open wing for a 3 or dish to a big man for an easy shot/layup. We obviously don't have one of these on this team. Maybe Garrett can become that guy, maybe it's Buckley next year. Picking up your dribble 35 feet from the basket kind of prevents this (you listening BP?).

2) Guards who can hit the open shot. When the PG drives and draws defenders, you need someone who can hit that shot, otherwise the defense will just sag inside to stop penetration. Other than Wes, and sometimes Peterson, we don't have anyone who can hit the broadside of a barn from outside the paint. Seriously, these guys wouldn't hit water if they fell out of a boat. Besides Wes, I really don't think there's anyone on the team that can do this consistently. If Lucca wasn't being held hostage by the NCAA, he might be that guy. Maybe Eikmeier is that guy next year.

3) Guards who can feed the post when they are open. Nothing irritates the big guy in the paint more than when you've got good position are calling for the ball and it never comes. Or it comes 3 feet over your head, or at your feet, etc. Don't see too many guys being able to do this on a consistent basis either.

4) Post players who will be physical, post up and demand the ball, get some easy buckets on offensive rebounds, and clean up on the defensive glass. Jiri could be one of those guys, but he commits some stupid fouls too often, leading to pine time. As someone else stated, Brackins isn't physical enough to fit this role. Corey Johnson SHOULD be this guy, he hustles and works harder than most, but for some reason just doesn't get it done. Vette might be this guy some day, but I think he's at least a year or two away.

So the way I see it, we have maybe 1 or 2 guys who fit into this mold/system right now, and maybe 3 or 4 on the team that could develop into players who fit it. That's not a lot, and it's a big reason we are going to struggle mightily this year.

 

[Oldgeezer]

Jiri isn't mean enough or aggressive enough to ever be a good inside player. And Brakins doesn't have the muscle (yet) or the experience to compete at this level. Unless Vette or CJ make a lot of improvement, we are still in troble in the frontcourt next year. GMac need to take the Brister schollie and recruit the biggest, meanest PF in the JC's, ready to play next winter. A year of experience, plus Staiger, Buckley and Eichmeier, and we will be OK at guard. Meanwhile, I watched Oregon State and Portland on TV Sat. night. OSU is neither talented or physical. That is one we could win, and then we have a few cupcakes at home, not counting Drake, to gain some confidence

 

[larry]

Anybody notice how Peterson was guarded either full court or at least at half court all while Garrett wasn't pressured as hard. Don't expect that to end until Peterson can show more confidence in his dribble and protecting the ball--major disruption to the offense.

I'm not complaining. I didn't see the end of the game last night, but I saw the score and knew this morning that there would be a number of "interesting threads".

Maybe we need a new forum topic(to be kept off the front page, like politics) titled "******** about the team when ABSOLUTELY NOTHING CAN BE DONE", i.e. replacing players who don't perform well. I think the next time we'll see some new players is next November. Sorry.

 

[Cydole]

Here are the things I've noticed this year and last year:

1. The guards need to attack the basket when pressured. I get the feeling that Garrett can do this but Petersen can't. It will make the offense look alot better when we do it. Are we not attacking because we want to milk the clock and shorten the game?

2. The bigs need to be more aggressive when shooting. We seem to fade away on our shots. Good teams do not do this. Good teams take it strong to the rack and make the hoop or get fouled (i.e. Coleman).

3. We seem to have a lack of urgency at the end of the game when we're down 5-10 points. It seems like every game I'm thinking "What are we waiting for? Why are we just dribbling around the top of the key?"

I'm not a coach, so feel free to tell me why I'm off base.

 

[snowcraig2.0]

Jiri isn't mean enough or aggressive enough to ever be a good inside player. And Brakins doesn't have the muscle (yet) or the experience to compete at this level. Unless Vette or CJ make a lot of improvement, we are still in troble in the frontcourt next year. GMac need to take the Brister schollie and recruit the biggest, meanest PF in the JC's, ready to play next winter. A year of experience, plus Staiger, Buckley and Eichmeier, and we will be OK at guard. Meanwhile, I watched Oregon State and Portland on TV Sat. night. OSU is neither talented or physical. That is one we could win, and then we have a few cupcakes at home, not counting Drake, to gain some confidence

Did you watch Jiri in Big 12 play last year? He was great inside. Brackins can't compete at this level? Did you watch the Minnesota game? Be informed before making statements like this.

 

[snowcraig2.0]

Anybody notice how Peterson was guarded either full court or at least at half court all while Garrett wasn't pressured as hard. Don't expect that to end until Peterson can show more confidence in his dribble and protecting the ball--major disruption to the offense.

I'm not complaining. I didn't see the end of the game last night, but I saw the score and knew this morning that there would be a number of "interesting threads".

Maybe we need a new forum topic(to be kept off the front page, like politics) titled "******** about the team when ABSOLUTELY NOTHING CAN BE DONE", i.e. replacing players who don't perform well. I think the next time we'll see some new players is next November. Sorry.

Exactly. BP actually doesn't have that bad of a handle, but he is no threat to go around anyone. Teams pressure him because of this, and it completely disrupts our offense.

 

[cybsball20]

Exactly. BP actually doesn't have that bad of a handle, but he is no threat to go around anyone. Teams pressure him because of this, and it completely disrupts our offense.

What really aggrevated me with Peterson were the times where he would back the ball out, THEN pick up his dribble, causing panick mode with 20 seconds left... A point guard should NEVER pick up his dribble, better yet back it out and do it... Even Cory Mac didnt do that...