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tommy
03-18-2007, 03:01 AM
I watched a bunch today (Saturday) and one thing about the teams really jumped out at me. Almost every team still playing is just filled with very athletic players, all over the court. There is a ton of quickness, jumping ability, ballhandling, and athleticism. OhioSt-Xavier. Louisville-Texas A&M. Of course, VCU. I don't know why but it just struck me.

Maybe it's always this way but I noticed it more now because the lack of athleticism, quickness, and ballhandling were obvious shortcomings of the Blue Devils this year. But it just got me thinking that we are more than just a player here or there away from competing at this level. If it wasn't VCU it would've been somebody else at that level to take us out, because almost all the teams in the tournament seem to be built that way -- loads of quickness, jumping, and athleticism. Our team was very far from the level of these teams, and this is only the 2nd round of the tournament.

I know, we only lost to VCU by two. But watching a lot of teams today, and the last few days, made the gap between most of them and us seem a lot wider. Maybe that's why we really had so few quality wins this year. Especially in the conference, where we only had 3 wins over teams that finished ahead of us in the conference -- 2 vs BC and 1 vs 6th place Ga. Tech. Shut out by the rest of the teams that made the tournament.

Bob Green
03-18-2007, 03:18 AM
We had some shortcomings this year but I'm not sold on the lack of athleticism. Yes, we lacked a super quick point guard who could explode past defenders and score layups (like Lawson against Michigan State today). However, we have many very good athletes. DeMarcus Nelson, Jon Scheyer, & Gerald Henderson are all very athletic. Marty Pocius is athletic as well but he didn't earn many minutes of playing time (his fast break dunk off the long inbounds pass from McRoberts against VCU was very impressive). McClure is very athletic but offensively challenged. His basket in the closing seconds against Clemson demonstrates his athleticism.

As Jason Evans pointed out in a post in a different thread, we lacked a deadly 3-point shooter this year (except Paulus down the stretch). We also lacked a low post presence to compliment McRoberts versatile play.

For the future, Smith is reported to be a super athletic player and Singler appears to run the floor very well and has a good handle. Taylor King has the potential to be the consistent 3-point threat. We don't know where Patrick Patterson is going but I'm still hoping for a decision to attend Duke.

Bob Green
Yokosuka, Japan

Lulu
03-18-2007, 06:33 AM
I watched a bunch today (Saturday) and one thing about the teams really jumped out at me. Almost every team still playing is just filled with very athletic players, all over the court. There is a ton of quickness, jumping ability, ballhandling, and athleticism. OhioSt-Xavier. Louisville-Texas A&M. Of course, VCU. I don't know why but it just struck me.

Maybe it's always this way but I noticed it more now because the lack of athleticism, quickness, and ballhandling were obvious shortcomings of the Blue Devils this year. But it just got me thinking that we are more than just a player here or there away from competing at this level. If it wasn't VCU it would've been somebody else at that level to take us out, because almost all the teams in the tournament seem to be built that way -- loads of quickness, jumping, and athleticism. Our team was very far from the level of these teams, and this is only the 2nd round of the tournament.

I know, we only lost to VCU by two. But watching a lot of teams today, and the last few days, made the gap between most of them and us seem a lot wider. Maybe that's why we really had so few quality wins this year. Especially in the conference, where we only had 3 wins over teams that finished ahead of us in the conference -- 2 vs BC and 1 vs 6th place Ga. Tech. Shut out by the rest of the teams that made the tournament.

I noticed this too today. I was absolutely stunned by Xavier's quickness... thought my digital box was starting to jump frames. The players were so fast it actually looked weird to me, and had me wondering what I had grown accustomed to. I don't even know if the announcers were discussing this or not, as I had no volume at the time. Were they?

vango
03-18-2007, 08:46 AM
I didn't watch a lot of b-ball this year outside our games. But I have to say, of the games I watched Saturday, I too noticed that several of the teams I watched seemed in hyper-overdrive. Not sure if it was just that I was used to watching us by comparison, or if the teams I saw were just exceptionally quick. I have to agree, from what I saw Sat. - by comparison, we seem a bit slow.

You have to play basketball to win basketball games. And to do that you have to have basketball players. But I see some speedy kids on the court breaking down defenses and getting the ball to the basketball players to finish plays and score points.

devildownunder
03-18-2007, 09:26 AM
I didn't watch a lot of b-ball this year outside our games. But I have to say, of the games I watched Saturday, I too noticed that several of the teams I watched seemed in hyper-overdrive. Not sure if it was just that I was used to watching us by comparison, or if the teams I saw were just exceptionally quick. I have to agree, from what I saw Sat. - by comparison, we seem a bit slow.

You have to play basketball to win basketball games. And to do that you have to have basketball players. But I see some speedy kids on the court breaking down defenses and getting the ball to the basketball players to finish plays and score points.



Our overall team quickness is just fine. The problem is that we have serious issues at the one spot where quickness is most important.

vango
03-18-2007, 09:49 AM
I assume you mean PG. That's what I was essentially eluding to in that last paragraph. Love our guys but it would be great to have someone that when need be can step in and break down a defense with dribble penetration. I just do not see us with that type of player out top.

devildownunder
03-18-2007, 09:55 AM
I assume you mean PG. That's what I was essentially eluding to in that last paragraph. Love our guys but it would be great to have someone that when need be can step in and break down a defense with dribble penetration. I just do not see us with that type of player out top.

Agreed. I think that we can have a strong offense next year though, provided:

1. Singler arrives and is the real deal, which I think will happen.
2. Somebody emerges as a low-post scoring threat. Patterson/Zoubek/Thomas/McRoberts (in the highly unlikely event he stays).

As Troublemaker (i think) posted on a different thread, we'd need an offense similar to Georgetown's, where plays run through the forwards, not penetrating guards. We tried that some this year but lacked the personnel. Next year, I think we can do it. And Paulus primary role on offense would be to fill it up from 3pt land, which he has shown that he can do.

tommy
03-18-2007, 11:28 PM
We had some shortcomings this year but I'm not sold on the lack of athleticism. Yes, we lacked a super quick point guard who could explode past defenders and score layups (like Lawson against Michigan State today). However, we have many very good athletes. DeMarcus Nelson, Jon Scheyer, & Gerald Henderson are all very athletic. Marty Pocius is athletic as well but he didn't earn many minutes of playing time (his fast break dunk off the long inbounds pass from McRoberts against VCU was very impressive). McClure is very athletic but offensively challenged. His basket in the closing seconds against Clemson demonstrates his athleticism.

As Jason Evans pointed out in a post in a different thread, we lacked a deadly 3-point shooter this year (except Paulus down the stretch). We also lacked a low post presence to compliment McRoberts versatile play.

For the future, Smith is reported to be a super athletic player and Singler appears to run the floor very well and has a good handle. Taylor King has the potential to be the consistent 3-point threat. We don't know where Patrick Patterson is going but I'm still hoping for a decision to attend Duke.

Bob Green
Yokosuka, Japan

I don't agree that we had "many very good athletes," especially when compared with a lot of these teams making noise in the tournament. Besides Paulus, I didn't see a heck of a lot of athleticism out of Jon Scheyer. I didn't see it out of Dave McClure. Sure he's a scrappy guy who makes some hustle plays, but that's pretty much it, isn't it? As for Nelson, the unfortunate thing is that, while his athleticism is undeniable, his basketball game has so many holes that seriously detract from the contributions that his athleticism brings. Thomas - a little hard to tell. He really didn't play that much or get to display it much. I certainly didn't see a great leaper or a super-quick guy for his size or an instinctive athlete there.

I don't know -- the only standout athletes I saw on this team were Nelson (but see above) and Henderson, who I expect to be the top scoring threat on next year's team. Smith sounds like he'll help in this area, but how many minutes is he really going to get as a freshman tweener, and from whom will they come?

CDu
03-19-2007, 12:28 AM
Agreed. I think that we can have a strong offense next year though, provided:

1. Singler arrives and is the real deal, which I think will happen.
2. Somebody emerges as a low-post scoring threat. Patterson/Zoubek/Thomas/McRoberts (in the highly unlikely event he stays).

As Troublemaker (i think) posted on a different thread, we'd need an offense similar to Georgetown's, where plays run through the forwards, not penetrating guards. We tried that some this year but lacked the personnel. Next year, I think we can do it. And Paulus primary role on offense would be to fill it up from 3pt land, which he has shown that he can do.

Some of our best play this year was when Paulus spent more time "off the ball." It allowed him to do what he does best now (shoot) and minimized his weaknesses. I think you're right on the mark in hoping we adapt the offense to rely more on our wings and forwards handling the ball rather than Paulus.

If Singler and Smith can provide some offensive ability on the ball, and Henderson and Scheyer progress in that regard as well, we should be able to work the ball around more and put less emphasis on Paulus. And hopefully, these two/three frosh and Henderson and Scheyer can become more proficient and consistent offensively, and we'll be less susceptible to long droughts.

captmojo
03-19-2007, 09:47 AM
Ever notice that tourney winners hit their d@#mn free throws? Bet'cha Xavier wishes they had another chance. Tennessee is proud of their line shooters right now. The list could go on but can I get a witness?