mobrien
Masters Student
Posts: 403
Loc: New York
Reg: 04-18-17
|
03-03-24 11:47 PM - Post#364439
In response to CrimsonBlood
Disappointing end to another disappointing season, especially given that, somewhat surprisingly, it started with so much promise.
This is the third year in a row that we've finished with the second-to-worst offense during Ivy play. Once again, we turned the ball over too much (19% in conference play), and simply couldn't make shots; the 30% we shot on threes in Ivy play was actually our worst mark of the last three years.
There are problems. First and foremost, we don't have enough shooting. Part of that is that we haven't recruited enough shooters, another is that some of the shooters we have gotten haven't have gotten hurt (Lesmond last year and Nelson this year), and the last part is that guys who, at one point, were among our best shooters have subsequently gone through long cold stretches (Sakota last year and Mack this year after returning from mono).
The good news is we're trying to rectify that. Dowdell, Barbour, and Hunt all profile as plus shooters. The fact that Princeton was after Hinton as well suggests that he should as well (in addition to what I think will be some Bassey-like defense and rebounding from the wing). Hopefully we don't forget this moving forward. It's hard to have a good offense without having at least four shooters on the court.
It doesn't help that the system is so stale. We don't add any wrinkles to the basic motion offense, like Coach K did when he added double high screens, so what we end up doing is weakly passing it around the perimeter for 20 seconds before calling for a late ball screen. The basic motion would be fine if we actually executed it, which is to say if we really moved it from side to side, if guys took at most 2 seconds to pass or shoot, if we got the defense out of position by even just half a step to create driving lanes. But we don't. The ball sticks; or guys think they can drive, only to realize there isn't any room once they get doubled or tripled in the lane, and then they end up flailing around for a few seconds because they have no passing angle. Turnovers are the result. We have to focus on actually moving the ball, moving our players, and moving them fast. Anything else just lets the defense load up against any drives (especially when we don't have the shooting to punish them for it).
The last three years should be humbling. Yes, injuries have played a big part in our struggles. The offense wouldn't look as bad if we had Pitcher grabbing offensive rebounds and stretching the defense, or if Kirkwood and Ledlum had gotten to play together. But even then, it shouldn't have been as bad as it's been. I think Amaker is still a very good recruiter, and I think he understands the types of guys we need to get. That, plus health, would go a long way. But I also hope he's willing to think about adding some variety to the offense. We need it. If only to keep the rest of the Ivies off balance. They know our system better than we do sometimes.
|
