Style of play

[chito_and_leon]

I don't know anything about Konkol. Any of you more astute BB minds have some previews of what we should expect from the team?

I'm really hoping we go back to the offense scoring in the low 50s from the Wojick days. That was fun!

 

[Henry Kendall]

He had me at “we‘re going to play a tough man to man”.

 

[seniorgolfer]

He had me at “we‘re going to play a tough man to man”.

In his early interviews, he talked quite a bit about pushing the ball
in transition out of his man defense...That usually requires a playing
rotation of 9 or 10 players, including a couple of competent 'bigs'....

It will be interesting to see if this season's team has the depth to
do that...If it does, it would mean that this year's recruits will be
pretty deeply involved....That, in it's self, would be a sizeable
departure from Haith...

 

[TU1NNJ]

Hope it isn’t patterned after the Rice offense- sorry I couldn’t help making that reference circa 2004

 

[astonmartin708]

His offense will be somewhat different in the half court this year since he wont have a body the size or skill of Lofton. I’m guessing that it will more closely resemble his first few years at La Techwhere their teams revolved around guards and wings As their primary options.

 

[I.I.]

He is practicing with a short time clock and pushing the ball , so much different from what we have seen here. Trying to up the number of possessions. The Freshman guards from Houston are a couple of the better ones I have seen here. Just hate that they will be NIL recruited by others after game one.

 

[seniorgolfer]

The Freshman guards from Houston are a couple of the better ones I have seen here. Just hate that they will be NIL recruited by others after game one.

That's good news....If they are significant rotation players, that would
possibly free up Gaston-Chapman to rotate with Dalger @ wing....SGC
is an inch or two shorter than some wings, but is a tough, physical player
that can hold his own on the boards.....

 

[loca2874]

As long as they play fundamental basketball and show discipline, I will be fine. His first year with players he didnt recruit. I am not expecting championships.

 

[seniorgolfer]

The Freshman guards from Houston are a couple of the better ones I have seen here. Just hate that they will be NIL recruited by others after game one.

One of many huge problems with the NIL program is that its affect
carries on beyond the initial recruitment.....Since it has no cap, it gives
the power 5 programs a tremendous advantage in buying other schools' players....Thus, giving them an even larger edge than they previously had......Ouch!!

 

[TU_BLA]

The only style I want to see is one that results in TU scoring more points than the other team after 40 minutes have been played

 

[rusty-c]

The only style I want to see is one that results in TU scoring more points than the other team after 40 minutes have been played

Agreed, but we may need to temper our expectations this season while Konkol cleans up Haith's mess. That being said, I do believe that an uptempo style and hard nosed defense will give us the best opportunity for success. We just don't have the quality bigs and sharpshooting guys on the squad to successfully play at a slow pace.

 

[I.I.]

Tubby Smith 1st year 17-13 Second year 15-14
Bill Self 1st year 19-12
Doug Wojcik 1st year 11-17
Danny Manning 1st year 17-16

Other coaches started with nearly a full deck of players like Nolan, JD , Buzz, Phillips, Rob, and Haith
Konkol is starting with very few impact returnees. A team can still be fun to watch without super high expectations.

 

[drboobay]

Tubby Smith 1st year 17-13 Second year 15-14
Bill Self 1st year 19-12
Doug Wojcik 1st year 11-17
Danny Manning 1st year 17-16

Other coaches started with nearly a full deck of players like Nolan, JD , Buzz, Phillips, Rob, and Haith
Konkol is starting with very few impact returnees. A team can still be fun to watch without super high expectations.

We all know Nolan didn't inherit his full deck though!

 

[TU 1978]

We all know Nolan didn't inherit his full deck though!

Nolan brought much of his team with him from West Texas.

 

[nevadanatural]

I think Bob Stevenson was the only player with significant minutes from the previous team.

 

[Weatherdemon]

The only style I want to see is one that results in TU scoring more points than the other team after 40 minutes have been played

And one that doesn’t result in a depleted opponent having a walk-on have a career day from 3 going 9-12… in the 1st half.

 

[TU_BLA]

And one that doesn’t result in a depleted opponent having a walk-on have a career day from 3 going 9-12… in the 1st half.

Again, if said walk on goes 9-12 from 3 and we win the game, I don't care...

 

[seniorgolfer]

I think Bob Stevenson was the only player with significant minutes from the previous team.

Yes, and he got a gigantic tip-in almost at game's end to seal the deal in
the NIT finals against Syracuse.....Polite and friendly young man....

 

[seniorgolfer]

Again, if said walk on goes 9-12 from 3 and we win the game, I don't care...

Yes, except when Haith was here, it was a portend of the future...

 

[TU_BLA]

Yes, except when Haith was here, it was a portend of the future...

The biggest problem with Haith's sides is it not only didn't defend the 3 well, they didn't rebound well enough and we'd have too many defensive possessions where we gave up multiple offensive rebounds. Teams still shot 35% from 3 against us meaning they missed roughly 2/3 of their shots from deep...we just gave them extra shots out of the misses and that's really the big problem, especially when "this year may be our most talented shooting team since we've been here" turned into 35% total FG from the field. If we shoot 45% for the game and limit the offensive rebounds to 6 and under each game, we will win more games than we lose.

 

[chito_and_leon]

Tubby Smith 1st year 17-13 Second year 15-14
Bill Self 1st year 19-12
Doug Wojcik 1st year 11-17
Danny Manning 1st year 17-16

Other coaches started with nearly a full deck of players like Nolan, JD , Buzz, Phillips, Rob, and Haith
Konkol is starting with very few impact returnees. A team can still be fun to watch without super high expectations.

I'd be happy with hard-nosed play, well-coached with no boneheaded coaching decisions and fun to watch. If we get that, 17+ wins will take care of itself.

 

[old.guy]

Nolan brought four members of his junior college national championship team -- Pressey, Stewart, Brown and Spradling -- plus a point guard, Anderson, from the tournament runner-up. Stevenson, a holdover, took to Nolan's system like a duck to water. I remember his beautiful baseline drives to the bucket. He got almost starter's minutes. Two other holdovers got some minutes in relief: Ed Linblad, a big, and Ty Nilsson, a guard.

 

[Henry Kendall]

I will be interested to see which of our current players will improve most under Konk.

 

[TU1NNJ]

Nolan brought four members of his junior college national championship team -- Pressey, Stuart, Brown and Spradling -- plus a point guard, Anderson, from the tournament runner-up. Stevenson, a holdover, took to Nolan's system like a duck to water. I remember his beautiful baseline drives to the bucket. He got almost starter's minutes. Two other holdovers got some minutes in relief: Ed Linblad, a big, and Ty Nillson (not sure of the spelling), a guard.

And Kovach got clean up minutes as well.

 

[I.I.]

The match-up zone was great if every player did it perfectly, but if one lost track it was a "wide open three". And on offense we often got down to 5 seconds on the shot clock and had to take many hurried shots. Konkol seems to want to find an open shot in the first 12-15 seconds.

 

[Gmoney4WW]

I will be interested to see which of our current players will improve most under Konk.

I hope it's Embry Smith, he's in need of most improvement. But on a 10 ft scale of hope, mine is only about 2 1/2 ft high, that this will happen. Hopefully he'll make me eat my words. I'm trying to limit the number of words,(and the space in between) and will copy them really(x2) small. That way I won't eat a whole sht ton of paper if he's successful. Does rice paper count?

 

[drboobay]

The match-up zone was great if every player did it perfectly, but if one lost track it was a "wide open three". And on offense we often got down to 5 seconds on the shot clock and had to take many hurried shots. Konkol seems to want to find an open shot in the first 12-15 seconds.

Korita seemed to hold it together.

 

[seniorgolfer]

I will be interested to see which of our current players will improve most under Konk.

Gaston-Chapman, Dalger, and Pritchard (in that order)....If we are to be
a good rebounding team, both SGC and Dalger need to play well......

 

[Gmoney4WW]

Gaston-Chapman, Dalger, and Pritchard (in that order)....If we are to be
a good rebounding team, G-C and Dalger both need to play well......

Gaston Chapman & Pritchard I think will see a dramatic leap. Dalger, we'll see. New and improved coach, moving to their sophomore effort. Can't see them not making that jump forward.

 

[seniorgolfer]

Gaston Chapman & Pritchard I think will see a dramatic leap. Dalger we'll see. New and improved coach, moving to their sophomore effort. Can't see them not making that jump forward.

In truth, the 3 'bigs' (Selebangue, Chukwu, and Nikita K.), given their
inexperience, could benefit the most from what should be really
good 'big man' coaching from this staff....We could see some definite
improvement there......

Junior Lofton was probably a really good player when he got to LaTech,
but some of that great foot work had to come from this staff.....

 

[Gmoney4WW]

In truth, the 3 'bigs' (Selebangue, Chukwu, and Nikita K.), given their
inexperience, could benefit the most from what should be really
good 'big man' coaching from this staff....We could see some definite
improvement there......

Junior Lofton was probably a really good player when he got to LaTech,
but some of that great foot work had to come from this staff.....

True, but what improvement are we gonna see on Selabangue & Chukwu. They played on a HS and Juco. Not any way to compare improvement against D1. 🙃

I think we"ll see leaps from Chapman, Pritchard, and Special K(Nikita).

 

[loca2874]

What I am most interested in seeing is Keyshawn Embrey-Simpson. What does Konkol do with him. I mean in that initial video he pretty much called him fat. lol. Is Konkol going to change his style of play? Will he get the playing time that he had under Haith since he is a Senior?

We know Pritchard will Thrive as well as Griffin. I also want to see some Urbancic out there!!!!

 

[TU_BLA]

I will be interested to see which of our current players will improve most under Konk.

Big K. One of the coaches is a big man whisperer and Big K already has some decent tools. His biggest drawback really was he didn't really understand the defensive rotations in Haith's blob (and none of the coaches could really teach it). I think a move to man to man defense will help Big K

 

[rusty-c]

The guards will see a great deal of improvement simply because they will be expected to shoot the ball from 3 without the fear of getting planted on the bench for a miss.

 

[I.I.]

I think SGC And Dalger have the ability to improve quickly. SGC can rebound for a guard. Outside shooting still the challenge. Pritchard should shoot better but needs to quit taking it too deep on the dribble. KES is always an unknown. I hope he makes Konkol glad that he kept him around. Has lost some weight but could lose more.

Betson is a wild card. WAC experience but widely traveled. I love the 2 freshmen guards. Rarely have we had great shooting big guards. Bryant S is still new to practice so verdict still out. But Griffin is still the MVP candidate with his experience. I’m sure he will like Konkol’s defense.

The bigs are definitely getting a different approach to offensive moves and defense with this staff. I hope that they can attain some Lofton skills.

 

[TU 1978]

I’m thinking KES gets a lower priority for playing time than he did under Frnak.

 

[nevadanatural]

I think Special K has real possibilities. He’s athletic and works hard but has been held back by his footwork. If the new staff can get his footwork to match the rest of him he could hit that most improved mark and be a really good center. That being said my money would be on Sterling Chapman, he has the tools he just needs the direction and the chance.

 

[seniorgolfer]

True, but what improvement are we gonna see on Selabangue & Chukwu. They played on a HS and Juco. Not any way to compare improvement against D1.
🙃I think we will see leaps from Chapman, Pritchard, and Special K (Nikita)

Where ever they played before, their growth from the time they
started working with Konkol&Co. this summer/spring until the end
of the season will be the improvement accomplished whether we
can evaluate it or not....Since they are probably the rawest of the
recruits, the actual improvement during this period should be substantial....

 

[TU-Ken]

Gaston Chapman & Pritchard I think will see a dramatic leap. Dalger, we'll see. New and improved coach, moving to their sophomore effort. Can't see them not making that jump forward.

 

[Henry Kendall]

Nice thread, thanks everyone for your insight. Makes me excited for bb season.

Just my .02, I think Haith’s defense was so complicated to learn that players ended up thinking too much instead of just playing. Running primarily a man defense allows players to do what comes most naturally. And I‘m a firm believer that good D leads to good transition offense. So I would expect those most athletic players will thrive in Konk’s system.