Have we had any player tweets yet about how their haters are their motivation
*** Boogs v Ole Miss ***
- Thread starter Denim Vest
- Start date
yeah, mine were definitely too high - but I’ve already adjusted them... I have infinite trust in BRUCE... and I think he’s a much better technical, tactical coach than most people like to give him credit for
I’m willing to give him and our HYG’s a lot of rope... I get frustrated watching us piss away a game we could win with just a B or B+ effort, but it’s not fatal... yet
I blame Washington... they beat Nevada in a “secret scrimmage” and were supposed to be a defensive juggernaut, and we ripped their spine out like a Mortal Kombat fatality and shit on the flopping carcass for 40 minutes
how were we supposed to know the entire PAC 12 and west coast - aside from Gonzaga - was the equivalent of Alabama 3A ball?
we’ll adjust
It’s definitely mental. All off season all we heard was about the Maui invitational and getting to play duke. We were mentally prepared for that and ever since then we haven’t been as crazy at competitive and smart play. Too many turnovers, too many losses in 50/50 balls, continue to get out rebounded. We are kind of soft too. Especially down low.
idk is soft is the right word just because it has such a harsh connotation
I don’t think Horace is soft, he’s just limited
I don’t think Mac is soft, I’m guessing he’s not 100% physically or mentally, and when you’re undersized, you can’t afford the slightest hesitation or loss of athleticism
I don’t think Austin is soft, he’s just not explosive, and he’s a little robotic which comes across as clunky and unathletic
Chuma... it hurts me too much to consider... the lightbulb is going to go off and he’s going to play like he’s the baddest motherfvcker on the court at some point... hopefully it’s next week and not 5 years from now when he’s settled into an NBA rotation... but until then, I’m not going to say he’s soft, but if you want to say it, who am I to stop you
I don’t think Horace is soft, he’s just limited
I don’t think Mac is soft, I’m guessing he’s not 100% physically or mentally, and when you’re undersized, you can’t afford the slightest hesitation or loss of athleticism
I don’t think Austin is soft, he’s just not explosive, and he’s a little robotic which comes across as clunky and unathletic
Chuma... it hurts me too much to consider... the lightbulb is going to go off and he’s going to play like he’s the baddest motherfvcker on the court at some point... hopefully it’s next week and not 5 years from now when he’s settled into an NBA rotation... but until then, I’m not going to say he’s soft, but if you want to say it, who am I to stop you
One thing now for sure, no one on this team is ready to depart for the NBA. Wiley would have issues in the D League right now.
I expect much more from this team than what I’m seeing and I’m terribly disappointed in how they have played of late.
They better get their shit together or I may have a come apart at The Clam at some point this season. I can take a loss and of course it is basketball so I don’t freak if we do lose.
What I can’t take is this mentally weak crap and beating ourselves as opposed to actually being beat. This has got to stop.
They better get their shit together or I may have a come apart at The Clam at some point this season. I can take a loss and of course it is basketball so I don’t freak if we do lose.
What I can’t take is this mentally weak crap and beating ourselves as opposed to actually being beat. This has got to stop.
IMO Bruce needs to light some people up and needs to take a look at how dependent his offense has become on Harp and Bryce hitting tough shots and 3’s. They shot 28 by themselves from deep last night. I know we are going to jack them up but that’s too much and almost comical from 2 guys.
We’re not getting others involved and when we do they aren’t making shots they should make. We’re playing those guards WAY too many minutes and they play like exhausted boys late. Shots don’t fall when your legs are gone. If we stay this reliant on the guards we’re going to be a 7/8 seed and that’s sad. Tons of time to fix this but it’s harder now than it would have been 2 weeks ago.
We’re not getting others involved and when we do they aren’t making shots they should make. We’re playing those guards WAY too many minutes and they play like exhausted boys late. Shots don’t fall when your legs are gone. If we stay this reliant on the guards we’re going to be a 7/8 seed and that’s sad. Tons of time to fix this but it’s harder now than it would have been 2 weeks ago.
I don’t ever think you change who you are as a coach and I love the fast tempo. I don’t mind shooting a lot of 3’s either. With that said, I believe you play at a fast pace, and you shoot 3’s at opportune times. It all comes down to recognition and discipline. When the numbers are not in your favor, then pull the ball out and run set plays; actual plays. Harper at the top of the key 38ft from the basket while everyone stands around isn’t what I have in mind. I would like to see ball movement with off the ball screens. Have our guards screen for Chuma and Austin on the box, then set up a screen for them after setting the screen. I would like to see good Fundamental passes. A lot of times last night we had guys open in the corner or wing, but the pass was poor, so the defender was able to get back into position by the time the shooter collected the ball and set his feet. I would like to add that players are trying to prove they are something they’re not and it’s costing us. Preparation for the next level needs to be done at practice, not in games to the detriment of the team. If you are a spot up shooter, then you be a spot up shooter and work on your skill set at practice, not during the game.
Well, PAM is clearly reading my posts from the boog board and stealing my content. But it's not just Heron that we're missing, it Murray too. Murray was never confused with being the best player on the court. Far, far from it. But dood cleaned up trash. Just got in the way on defense and his personality drew eyeballs on offense. Heron, though most of the team disliked him and with good reason, was the defacto leader of the team last year. The team knew his talent, skills, and abilities. And they knew that if he was on the floor, we were at least in the ball game. Yeah, shit kinda went sideways at the end of last year but I attribute that mostly with the paradigm shift in chemistry when Ant went down and then the entire team just flamed out due to fatigue. Heron was respected on the court because of how he could play when he wasn't pouting. He made things happen. He demanded that his teammates get their heads out of their asses. His presence alone opened up Bryce and Jared's game. Teams had to defend the entire perimeter and be prepared for Heron and Jared to drive. Now, they just sit at the arc and lock down Jared and Bryce knowing that Doughty and whoever else plays the 3 is going to go buck wild and turn the ball over and clank one off the rim. And sure, give Wiley and Ant 8 touches a piece. They'll hit a few. But the amount of time we waste trying to get the ball into them takes about 7 or 8 three attempts away from our shooters. And we recognize that, thus throwing up shots from the parking lot with defenders in our hip pockets. We have no identity now because the guy that was our leader took his efforts to NYC. Jared, Bryce, and Malik are very well liked guys by the rest of the team. And that's cool. But none of those three have a single ounce of leadership in their bones. Heron didn't care if he was liked. But he did care about how we played and everyone doing their jobs. Yall can point to his poutiness and selfishness all you want, but that guy made this team go. And without him, we're lost. Simple as that.
I’ll not be agreeing with this take until St Js advances past us in the tourney. The fact it’s PAMs trash take validates that. Stapha could get to the goal a little but he struggles against athletic defenders. Member the game at Jordan Clam West last year? Good lord he got trashed by Herb Jones. Our best game was when he had HIV or whatever and we slapped Bama at home. He did very little to improve the team.
I thought wed look much better by now but I much prefer the pieces and experience we have this year compared to last.
if Mustapha was here our record would be the exact same
the only difference would be people complaining that he needs to understand his role and play to his strengths rather than settling for 19 footers when he actually faces a defender that can keep him from going left every single time he touches the ball... and that he turns it over too much and dribbles too much to accomplish nothing... and if he’d play his role and stop trying to be a creator or ball hog, then this team could really take off
his 20something minutes are just going to guys with different weaknesses for people to bitch about... we have more than enough guys to distribute his shots and minutes across... arguing otherwise is lazy, intellectually bankrupt, low hanging fruit
I wish him nothing but the best though
the only difference would be people complaining that he needs to understand his role and play to his strengths rather than settling for 19 footers when he actually faces a defender that can keep him from going left every single time he touches the ball... and that he turns it over too much and dribbles too much to accomplish nothing... and if he’d play his role and stop trying to be a creator or ball hog, then this team could really take off
his 20something minutes are just going to guys with different weaknesses for people to bitch about... we have more than enough guys to distribute his shots and minutes across... arguing otherwise is lazy, intellectually bankrupt, low hanging fruit
I wish him nothing but the best though
Agreed. We need Chuma and Wiley to be a major factor. Honestly though, I think that was the plan last night and Chuma and Wiley just played poorly. Wiley missed 4 dunks which is astonishing even with fouls. Chuma was too timid to assert himself to attack the basket. The one time he did so in the second half, he made that incredible move from the high post to score and draw a foul. He can do that on a consistent basis so its maddening that we have that in our arsenal and aren't properly utilizing it.
Last night was a very frustrating loss. After an 11 day lay off with more time to prepare for a single opponent than we will have all year, I expected us to play much better. I think the game plan was to go to the post as evidence by us doing that out of the gate, but when it didn't work we seemed to abandon it. Silver lining is our next two opponents are trash so hopefully we can get our shit together and put together 2 Ws to build some momentum going into the UK match up next weekend.
we have a glaring issue that we never expected when we want to “get the ball into the post”...
if Austin isn’t drawing fouls, it’s a grossly inefficient possession... period
he’s not polished enough to score against smart positional defenders, and he’s not explosive enough to punish dumb ones... now off offensive rebounds, in the midst of chaos - he’s a monster... galaxies better than Horace or Mac... and he can draw fouls like crazy... so we need to get him touches... but I’d bet his numbers - and our numbers as a team - on possessions that result in a FGA following a Wiley post touch, are shockingly bad
if Austin isn’t drawing fouls, it’s a grossly inefficient possession... period
he’s not polished enough to score against smart positional defenders, and he’s not explosive enough to punish dumb ones... now off offensive rebounds, in the midst of chaos - he’s a monster... galaxies better than Horace or Mac... and he can draw fouls like crazy... so we need to get him touches... but I’d bet his numbers - and our numbers as a team - on possessions that result in a FGA following a Wiley post touch, are shockingly bad
to add... on the season:
Austin - 1 assist, 19 turnovers
if he’s not able to hit a cutting Chuma or corner shooter when the double comes quickly - the possession is dead in the water... and if he’s not able to diagnose where the double is coming from quickly - the possession is dead in the water... and if he’s not able to score consistently when the double doesn’t come - the possession is wasted
if anything, you could argue Wiley needs fewer post touches... at least fewer traditional, on the block, back to the basket, let the big man go to work, post touches... if nothing else, keep him off the right block... because turning over his left shoulder on the baseline has been a fugging disaster... at least when he’s turned over his left shoulder - towards the middle - from the left block, that 8-10 footer looks smooth and athletic
if we want to throw the ball to someone in the post and let them go to work for a good shot - it should be Chuma... and I wish we’d do it 15 times a night... but he hasn’t shown any desire to be that guy... yet...
Austin - 1 assist, 19 turnovers
if he’s not able to hit a cutting Chuma or corner shooter when the double comes quickly - the possession is dead in the water... and if he’s not able to diagnose where the double is coming from quickly - the possession is dead in the water... and if he’s not able to score consistently when the double doesn’t come - the possession is wasted
if anything, you could argue Wiley needs fewer post touches... at least fewer traditional, on the block, back to the basket, let the big man go to work, post touches... if nothing else, keep him off the right block... because turning over his left shoulder on the baseline has been a fugging disaster... at least when he’s turned over his left shoulder - towards the middle - from the left block, that 8-10 footer looks smooth and athletic
if we want to throw the ball to someone in the post and let them go to work for a good shot - it should be Chuma... and I wish we’d do it 15 times a night... but he hasn’t shown any desire to be that guy... yet...
He has been scoring in the paint efficiently prior to last night. Was that a function of the big white guy being better than anyone he's faced lately? Possibly, but I doubt it. Austin missed 4 dunks last night and was hacked on all of them, but those are still plays he normally finishes. He had a shit game on offense and if it continues, we will know that his good play of late was due to over-matched competition. Although last night, we really only got him a couple of post feeds where he had a chance to take a shot. Most of the rest were rebounds where he was fouled on the put back and the ref ignored it.
I think the recipe for success going forward is still Wiley and/or Chuma having a solid game + some combination of our other scorers. Last night, we win easily if Wiley and Chuma don't have horrific nights on offense. Give us 14-18 points from one of those two guys + Jared or Bryce having a good game and we are going to beat almost anyone given that we have numerous other guys who are going to chip in with big games on an ad hoc basis. We need 2-3 guys who are giving us consistent scoring though so that we have an identity on offense.
I think this is an overreaction based on one bad game. Prior to last night, Wiley was scoring very efficiently. Against NC State, we win easily if we get him another 5-7 post feeds if he continued to score at the rate he was on the opportunities we gave him.
I do agree that the element that is missing in Austin's game is assisting others when he draws a double or has someone wide open. He needs to be able to pass more effectively to Chuma or open shooters for our offense to be as good as it can be.
I'm with you here. I feel like Bruce early on was trying to get Wiley to become more of a part of his offense, and this was the first game he settled on trying to just see if he was good enough to just throw the ball in the post and help us win a road victory. This team (IMO) has the highest ceiling when we find ways to get Austin the ball through ball movement and dumping it off to him when players break down the defense. I think the only time Austin is good enough to win games by himself is when we play teams that are very weak in the post. Along the same lines of getting him the ball through actually doing a good job moving the ball around, I think this is the biggest weakness of our team in general. When we move the ball and get good looks, we are tough to beat. When we slowly pass the ball around and then someone creates a shot, we aren't nearly as good. Last year the ball movement felt better until the end of the season, but maybe that's just me not remembering what actually happened.
whatever it is the offense isn't working, and they need to have something better to fallback on than crap 3 looks or throwing up Hail Mary Alley-Oop attempts.
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We’ve seemed to be in a bit of a funk most of the early season. We played well in Maui when everyone was watching so that will influence some people who matter come tourney time. I hate to lose but I’d rather finish 22-3 than start 22-3. We still have that in us if we don’t have some weird locker room issues that none of us know about. I still believe we’ll play the second weekend. Very much ready to see us get on that roll.
You make a good point. This team's ceiling is still much higher than last year. Its a matter of figuring out rotations and which guys we need to lean on for scoring. Malik has looked really good a lot of the time this year and I think it may be time to give him a shot to start and play more minutes. We win the game last night if Malik plays 8 more minutes, imo. Move Samir to the 1/2 combo role.
Well that ended up pretty well & made a bit of sense. At least he didn't say the hay's in the barn & can laugh it off cause it's in the rear view.
I need more Malik in my life after last night. He’s been consistently solid against better comp. I expect Bruce and Steven to start incorporating him in at the 4. He’s better at everything than Desean and Ho should not be getting run there. That’s Bruce’s showcase position and we should be dominating that matchup with regularity. Obviously Chuma can do it when he’s engaged but it’s been a black hole when he’s not on or not on the court.
Ho should be at 5 and ahead of Ant in the rotation right now.
Other than that just stop doing spazzy ridiculous shit when we get in a tough spot.
Ho should be at 5 and ahead of Ant in the rotation right now.
Other than that just stop doing spazzy ridiculous shit when we get in a tough spot.
i think this is the biggest thing, the HYGs just make it harder on themselves trying to force stuff. Why the hell do they pass the ball with so much mustard? Back it down a bit and maybe you don't cause a stupid turnover.
This! I don't believe Mustapha's departure is the reason we lost to Duke, NC State or Ole Miss.
We don’t value possessions and have been turning the ball over at an alarming rate. I don’t think we miss staph that much. We miss sesean Murray and his tough as nails attitude when it comes to rebounding more. Ant hasn’t been as good this year rebounding and chuma has been a disappointment so far imo.
But we scored a ton on 2nd chance offensive rebounds last year. This year rebounding isn’t good enough.
But we scored a ton on 2nd chance offensive rebounds last year. This year rebounding isn’t good enough.
