I try not to call out specific players on public parts of the site…they are unpaid ameteur athletes after all. They do their best. So, with that in mind, ill try and adress team issues or area issues rather than individuals.
what I felt from day one was going to hold this team back was defense. It was always defense….We cant play man, because we cant defend the pick and roll. Our guards cant get around screens and dont recover and our big men are not athletic enough (foot speed, prob issue no. 1) to contain the ball and recover to their man. This leads to the need for aggressive help, which either doesnt come or is late. This means any player who is the smallest amount of a thread running the pnr against us is nearly a guaranteed open shot. Larry knows this, so we play zone….. (he tried switching everything at the start of the year, but that was a disaster even against lower comp)
Our zone may be one of the most disconnected zones ive ever seen. They dont play together at all and have an incredible lack of discipline. Zone at its best seems to move like a giant school of silverside fish. Like it has one brain. Ours seems to be the opposite. Disjointed. Disconnected. Simple overload, back screen, and a good pass usually leads to an open shot. There is a ton of ball watching and lack of awareness of what the offense is trying to do. Team awareness is a huge issue
Coaching staff is having a hard time balancing our offense and defense. Our offense is truly awful without the same players who when played together cripple our defense. Its not an easy spot to be in. Im not sure how this going to improve without some fresh personnel. We really need a long and athletic 4/5 to defend the PNR. We really need a defensive specialist on the wing who isnt a complete no show on offense. Hopefully some of our awareness/understanding issues can be ironed out over the offseason. Larry has his work cut out for him yet again…
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