Didn't expect the win, so I'll take it, the guys came out with a lot more energy than I thought they would...first ones always tough, glad to get past W&M and onto the next round...great job W&M for a good season, hope they make their first ever dance next year...I would have picked them for an upset this year with their shooters
W&M Game Thread
- Thread starter TU_BLA
- Start date
Curtis by far has the best bball IQ on this team.
Our offense stopped moving entirely. No off the ball movement or screens for a long stretch.
I'm upgrading my season tix fo sho.
Our offense stopped moving entirely. No off the ball movement or screens for a long stretch.
I'm upgrading my season tix fo sho.
We sat right behind the basket in the 2nd half. Why we stopped running the backside cut is beyond me. #3 was the low guy on the off side. Dre, Smith, any of the bigs could have cut to the basket with a pass to the rim and dunked it. Time and time again...no idea why we stopped running it. On the Ray break and dish, he actually should have dropped it to the off side to Curtis who would have dunked it home. Ray brought the defenders to the right side and then dished it to the right to Swanny. Pass to the left was wide open. Curtis has some sneaky athleticism about him. For the first time, Curtis' outside shots had some arc to them hence why they were falling. We didn't adjust well when W&M started bringing the ball to the rim. #3 is a really good player.
21 point lead...then POOF !! TU plays like a bunch of POODLES ! No lead is ever comfortable with the turnovers that they are capable of making. Murray State is going to rip them apart.
Felton was very successful at WKU but never translated it to a higher level. Bigger point is that some guys are great assistants but not great HC.
Posted from Rivals Mobile
Posted from Rivals Mobile
Ultimately the quality of the 2017 class will be the determining factor in Haith staying or going... We will probably make the NCAA based on a weakening AAC, upgraded nc scheduling, and a senior laden team... but will Haith stick and try to develop an inexperienced team?
Well, fortunately someone is or our season would be over. We had an advantage at every position and he took it.
Coach Haith needs to release some players just like Self did his first year at Tulsa, it might not be the popular thing to do but why hang on to players who are ineffective and can't play at this level. They desparately need some players who can finish a tight game..either a clutch shooter or someone who can actually hit two free throws with the game on the line ! If a player on the bench does not have a future or chance of playing for TU , release him so he can play at a D-2 college and find someone better. Right now the tournament forecasters are correct...TU is not good enough to play in the tournament. This bunch just can't finish off any team they play...a good team on the rise doesn't build a 21 point lead then give W & M two chances to go overtime at the end. We really need a couple of 3 point shooters like they had last night.
Aren't most players?
Just sayin...
I don't see any reason to be sh1tty with the guy that saved our ass last night.
I agree. What I can't figure out is if this is a bench thing or if the players just tighten up when the score tightens. W&M made a great adjustment moving the 1-3-1 further away from the basket and creating some difficult passing angles. Ray sort of broke that down because he is so quick, but he made some other poor decisions with the ball. We stood around too much on the baseline. It holds true in most sports that crossing movements behind a defender by one or more players really created confusion. Soccer you can get away with a MF not reacting to it but if a center back doesn't or does and chooses the wrong person to follow, disaster ensues. The same in basketball. Our movement in the first half, especially along the baseline really created holes and openings for Marquel and Shaq. It was there in the 2nd half too even when W&M pushed the zone out. We needed to have that cut with an alley oop pass in there because it was wide open. There were several other opportunities that TU just blew because Swannegan, Wright, and Smith are seemingly never ready to receive a pass correctly. Shaq and Marquel made some great penetrations into the lane and dropped passes off that went off of hands that would have been an easy 2. Both Shaq and Marquel have become so proficient at disrupting a defense and getting the help to think a shot is coming and then dropping a pass off at the last second I have no idea why our bigs are not doing a better job of at least being ready for it. TK is the only one and he didn't play in the 2nd half because he got lost on helping defense that high post screen and hand off to the shooter. Haith yanked him after one of those and I don't think TK was seen the rest of the game although against that zone, he would have been perfect because he does move to the right space and usually finishes strong.
TU-Bla, tend to agree with our comments. We got very tenative with the extended zone trap. Thier length really bothered us. To me the strange thing was we continue to play 4 out 1 in during that time which didn't allow for any screenig at key or baseline so it was all one on one and we could not get to the middle of a good look drive or pass. I wouold like to see Harrison at the circle with Ray and Woodard and Curtis on the wings looking for Harrison to get position to break down the zone. Could put Smith there also but I have seen Haith put Harrison there several times and seems to work well. WE did nothing to break down the zone and made it easy for Wm & Mary to get back in the game. I do not think we were trying to slow it down like we did at UCONN, I just think we never could figure out how to attack the trapping extended 1-3-1 zone
^This. I don't think we played delay like some others. The guy who sat behind us last night said he was a HS coach from Arizona. He was really impressed with #3 from W&M. He also thought Smith looked like an NBA player with NBA athleticism. We talked about how ugly Smith's outside shooting can look at times.
He kept calling for someone to be at the high post to break that extended zone. We have been our most efficient on offense whenever that person is either Shaq or Juice. Both can break down a big on the dribble and both are PLUS passers IMO.
You attack the zone by overloading their weak areas. If they are half court trapping in a 1-3-1 you run a 2-1-2 zone offense. They either are mismatched out front or under the basket.(in this instance it was under the basket). You have to react the minute the trap begins, two angle passes and you should have an open short shot. The KEY is the offense needs to react and move into preset positions the minute the trap starts. Instead Shaq just stood out there like a deer in the headlights and waited for the trap to close, backed him into a corner and then he tried to pass over it. Over it is difficult because it allows the defense time to adjust. Our problem is no one is told to attack. When Shaq would throw it to Juice in the corner, instead of a quick pass to the free throw line or a 1 on 1 drive to the hole, he would wait for the defense to swing and then try to pass it back out.
You must make quick, decisive actions to make a zone trap pay. The only other option is to beat it off the dribble which Shaq should also be able to do (and Ray DID the last two trips down the floor). But I think Shaq is thinking too much and not getting out of the way of his athletic ability.
Either way we really need to stop trying to hold onto leads and just play our game and take what comes. If it is effective for 30 minutes it should be for 10.
Finally, I have seen several comments about how "long" they were including from our coach. I find that a weak excuse, as we didn't seem to worry about their length for quite a while in the second half when we were playing Smith at the center with Curtis as the 4. I do believe however, that that was a contributing factor to their ability to rebound in the last 6 minutes. It doesn't help to have Dre once again sitting because of fouls.
You must make quick, decisive actions to make a zone trap pay. The only other option is to beat it off the dribble which Shaq should also be able to do (and Ray DID the last two trips down the floor). But I think Shaq is thinking too much and not getting out of the way of his athletic ability.
Either way we really need to stop trying to hold onto leads and just play our game and take what comes. If it is effective for 30 minutes it should be for 10.
Finally, I have seen several comments about how "long" they were including from our coach. I find that a weak excuse, as we didn't seem to worry about their length for quite a while in the second half when we were playing Smith at the center with Curtis as the 4. I do believe however, that that was a contributing factor to their ability to rebound in the last 6 minutes. It doesn't help to have Dre once again sitting because of fouls.
We did a really bad job moving the ball against it in the second half. In the first half we were very crisp against it and they came out of it. But when they went back in it, we had this huge lead, and our guys lost their focus. We took bad shots, committed turnovers and let them sneak back in it. We also did a bad job rebounding on the other end. Way too many second chances.
Go back and watch the first 30 minutes when we're attacking that zone, and just notice the ball movement. If you get that zone to move, you can penetrate the gaps and get the ball flat. Once that happens it leads to open threes and dunks which happened several times last night.
