Thank you
Thank you
I'm going to watch the game again on DVR, I think... But my take on it, was we went small for the last 10 minutes and could not score. I'm absolutely tired of the 4 guards and Salley lineup. We had a 9 point lead when Sam Singh sat down (I think that's how it went anyway) and it feels like we weren't able to score again. We have bigs and we have to use them... 4 guard should be something we used with some success out of necessity, not the focus of the team.
I'm glad that Sam got in because I noted some of the things that the others did with DC--DC getting out-muscled and not properly postioning himself at either end of the the floor. Sam has more mass and places himself better, however, he is obviously not as quick or as explosive as DC--i.e., DC does have moments as an atheletic 7 footer.
But the most important point is that
both need more playing time. I've been trying to decipher what Les is doing with the line-up, and I figured he starts small in order to try and establish our game. However, we obviously played at MSU's tempo last night, and that looked to be a conscious coaching decision to do so--and I have noticed other stretches of other games this year where this has happened as well. However, Jim has went small in the clutch more than once. This is just plain strange--it does not take a rocket scientist to realize that with such a line up we only have a Matt S to match up to three guys 6'8" or more, and we have bizarre mismatches of Sam M. or JC getting posted up by or trying to outrebound someone half-a-foot taller or more. If DC is getting played with by such players, what the heck makes you think the samll guys are going to do better? Such line-ups obvioulsy do not improve interior defense or rebounding. If going small does not shift the tempo, the only other rationales are improved ball handling and outside shooting--but this really does not result nor does it justify the small lineup--we still turn it over, give up more rebounds, give the opposition stronger or more more posessions, and 4 3-point threats versus 3 does not really give us that much of a positive over having a true 4 and 5 in there.
Another thought as to why we are still not seeing us go big enough and acutally playing who we recruited to address a glaring weekness, is as others have mentioned, the players are still raw, and like we did with POB, Jim is nursing the minutes. DC is a raw juco who may be a diamond in the rough, Will is a frosh from Alaska, and Sam S. is possibly healthy for the first time and actually experiencing his first full and real year of D-I ball. However, there are three of them, and with Salley in that mix, you mean we cannot have two of them on the floor at the same time? Jim had been bringing DC and Will in together at the first time out, but that has not been the case lately, though. I'm still trying to figure out what is going on before I challenge the coaching decisions any more strongly, so as you can see, I'm listing both sides of the coin here, but I am definitely leaning toward a "what the h***?" moment. I was afraid of Jimmy getting beholden to the system he established last year, given some of his comments from last season and in the off-season, especially when it looked like we were bringing in quick small forward types. But when, those fell-through, and it looked like we had real size coming in, I was relieved somewhat, but with some apprehension still.
Bottom-line--yes the big guys need to be developed, but this comes through actual minutes, and with even their raw talent, they are, almost by definition, better at playing 4 and 5 than the small guys that are out there. The concern for their development should not result in a hesitancy to use them that is at the detriment to the team. And, as I noted earlier in the season, there is no reason in any game, yet alone one we willfully play at a slow tempo against a big team, that we should not have a true 4 and 5 out there at the same time.
P.S. Another thought on going small--and in this case not using it properly--where the heck is the ball pressure? If we are supposedly small, quick, and athletic, then where is picking up full court or pressing or trapping? We could have done those things numerous times last year (and I thought we would especially with Chuck on the bench) and did not, and lost. We also could have done that at times last night. When I seen the Mizzou game agaisnt MSU and watched how MSU crumpled under it, I thought to myself, "Hey, I hope Jimmy is watching this, becuase we could do this even better." Well, I guess the only time we decided to seriously do anything full-court defensively last night is when we thought we had to foul really quick. Things are starting to get little odd, but I just hope I am just a little overly anxious and this is not what is going to continue, and that we'll see the big guys develop and get more minutes as the season progresses.
P.S.S. And, maybe on a sad note, this discussion, and not just from my view, but from the others here as well, is leaving out Rashad Austin. I wonder what is happening there--a juco who just is not where he needs to be yet?
