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(02-05-2023 11:52 PM)Lush Wrote:  this is not a tournament team and that's alright

This is probably right. They dug too big a hole in November and haven't taken advantage of their few really big opportunities since they have been playing really good basketball.

But they have been playing like a tournament team since December 1. They may not be a tournament team when it is all said and done, but they are an NCAA tournament caliber team...and that development has been really fun to watch.

(02-06-2023 08:49 AM)bearcatmark Wrote:  This is probably right. They dug too big a hole in November and haven't taken advantage of their few really big opportunities since they have been playing really good basketball.

But they have been playing like a tournament team since December 1. They may not be a tournament team when it is all said and done, but they are an NCAA tournament caliber team...and that development has been really fun to watch.

I agree. My concern though for the last month is in recent weeks we've become overly reliant on our big 3. If one of them gets hurt or slumps we're in big time trouble. Hopefully with Phinisee back in the rotation MAW can get back the shooting he had up through mid January and we get more consistent performances from Dan. And getting more hot JD performances would obviously help.

(02-06-2023 09:23 AM)RealDeal Wrote:  

(02-06-2023 08:49 AM)bearcatmark Wrote:  This is probably right. They dug too big a hole in November and haven't taken advantage of their few really big opportunities since they have been playing really good basketball.

But they have been playing like a tournament team since December 1. They may not be a tournament team when it is all said and done, but they are an NCAA tournament caliber team...and that development has been really fun to watch.

I agree. My concern though for the last month is in recent weeks we've become overly reliant on our big 3. If one of them gets hurt or slumps we're in big time trouble. Hopefully with Phinisee back in the rotation MAW can get back the shooting he had up through mid January and we get more consistent performances from Dan. And getting more hot JD performances would obviously help.

This is really true when it comes to scoring and creating offense. These three have been unbelievable in recent weeks, but they aren't getting much help on offense. MAW in particular has really dropped off. I think JD is playing the best basketball of his career in every respect except shooting, where we just aren't getting the kind of shot making from him we are used to. Getting more offense from MAW, JD, Ody, and Dan (really need like 2 of them to step up each game) would take a lot of the pressure off of the core 3.

(02-06-2023 09:32 AM)bearcatmark Wrote:  This is really true when it comes to scoring and creating offense. These three have been unbelievable in recent weeks, but they aren't getting much help on offense. MAW in particular has really dropped off. I think JD is playing the best basketball of his career in every respect except shooting, where we just aren't getting the kind of shot making from him we are used to. Getting more offense from MAW, JD, Ody, and Dan (really need like 2 of them to step up each game) would take a lot of the pressure off of the core 3.

i don't have any statistics to back this up but i feel that the outcome of MAW's first 3 pt attempt every game either makes him or breaks him for the rest of the game. Like if he misses, it disrupts everything else about his shooting, but if he makes it he'll be in a good headspace for the rest of the game. He's fallen in love with the open trey when, given his cold streak, he should probably be looking to operate at the rim. He's super crafty and defenders forget he's a southpaw so they are frequently out of position when he gets to the rim. i'd even take him doing a pull up or some type of midrange over a wide open trey even though the analytics say that's a less efficient shot. He just needs to get a few makes. Once he gets loose the entire offense changes.

(02-06-2023 10:29 AM)eroc Wrote:  

(02-06-2023 09:32 AM)bearcatmark Wrote:  This is really true when it comes to scoring and creating offense. These three have been unbelievable in recent weeks, but they aren't getting much help on offense. MAW in particular has really dropped off. I think JD is playing the best basketball of his career in every respect except shooting, where we just aren't getting the kind of shot making from him we are used to. Getting more offense from MAW, JD, Ody, and Dan (really need like 2 of them to step up each game) would take a lot of the pressure off of the core 3.

i don't have any statistics to back this up but i feel that the outcome of MAW's first 3 pt attempt every game either makes him or breaks him for the rest of the game. Like if he misses, it disrupts everything else about his shooting, but if he makes it he'll be in a good headspace for the rest of the game. He's fallen in love with the open trey when, given his cold streak, he should probably be looking to operate at the rim. He's super crafty and defenders forget he's a southpaw so they are frequently out of position when he gets to the rim. i'd even take him doing a pull up or some type of midrange over a wide open trey even though the analytics say that's a less efficient shot. He just needs to get a few makes. Once he gets loose the entire offense changes.

MAW has to hold the world record for number of minutes played as a guard without attempting a running floater

(02-06-2023 10:29 AM)eroc Wrote:  i don't have any statistics to back this up but i feel that the outcome of MAW's first 3 pt attempt every game either makes him or breaks him for the rest of the game. Like if he misses, it disrupts everything else about his shooting, but if he makes it he'll be in a good headspace for the rest of the game. He's fallen in love with the open trey when, given his cold streak, he should probably be looking to operate at the rim. He's super crafty and defenders forget he's a southpaw so they are frequently out of position when he gets to the rim. i'd even take him doing a pull up or some type of midrange over a wide open trey even though the analytics say that's a less efficient shot. He just needs to get a few makes. Once he gets loose the entire offense changes.

I somewhat disagree. I feel like you know what to expect from him. For the first half of the season he was a pretty reliable shooter. After the Jan 14 SMU game his shot completely deserted him. Like I mentioned in the earlier post I'm not sure if he hit a wall with the extra minutes with Phinisee out but the phenomenon you're describing would be more indicative of game to game fluctuations rather than what his game logs show. Not saying it'd not confidence related, very well could be, he's not been erratic game to game.

(02-06-2023 11:06 AM)DownOnRohs Wrote:  MAW has to hold the world record for number of minutes played as a guard without attempting a running floater

Great call. You’d think that’s one every PG would develop at some point in their college career if they don’t come out of high school with it.