Just a few random thoughts on last night's game, based on what I saw and on some of the comments I've read:
Williams was the only starter to show up last night. He was 9-13 from the field. The rest of the team? A blistering 9-33, 27.3%.
We can now stop talking about having a bench. In big games Terry plays his starters for well over 30 minutes a game. Odigie gets significant time, and Hawkins gets a few minutes. Everyone else either sits or only gets spot minutes. This, in my opinion, is a mistake. The one good thing about all of the Div II schools we've played this year is that it's given the bench a chance to play. Hawkins was excellent in the last game. Tarke started out slowly this year, but has improved in each game where he has received time, and played really well against East Central. Stroud has shown flashes. Verhoeven, while not our most talented big man, plays smart, only taking shots he can make, and defends the rim well. Yet last night, when every starter not named Bryson Williams was struggling, Efe plays 12 minutes, Hawkins 7, Archie 2, and Verhoeven a few seconds. Meanwhile all starters play at least 33 minutes. Boum, who hasn't been able to throw it in the ocean all season, played 37 minutes. Terry has used these cupcake games to develop a bench. But that's worthless if he doesn't use them in real games.
Against Pine Bluff, I hope to see a heavy dose of Efe, Hawkins, Tarke, Stroud, and Archie. Efe has been up and down this season, he needs to calm down and start playing better. Hawkins apparently needs to prove himself to the coaching staff yet again. Tarke earned minutes that he didn't receive after the East Central game, he needs to show that his effort there wasn't a fluke. Stroud needs to learn shot selection. If he starts to play within his game he can make some good contributions to the team. And Archie apparently needs to knock the rust off; those rumors about him being the best player on the team so far haven't come close to fruition. Among the starters, Lathon needs to get significant time in order to get his mojo back, he hasn't had it these last couple of games. Williams doesn't need to play a lot unless we need him in there. The bench players that prove themselves on Saturday need receive the minutes they earned in real games. I don't need to see 33 minutes of Vila or 37 minutes of Boum when they're struggling so bad.
Hawkins had a steal for a layup in the first half last night. He's done that a lot so far this season, despite playing limited minutes.
Boum reminds me of a young Randy Culpepper in a way, as he's never seen a shot that he didn't like. The huge difference is that while his poor shot selection often got the young Culpepper in trouble, he sometimes would have a huge game. So far, Boum's shot selection has only hurt us. Yet he still plays monster minutes.
Isn't Vila supposed to be a shooter? On our last possession, he received the ball behind the arc with a great look at the basket, yet passed it to Lathon, who was much further out, and had to put up a contested three. I know that Vila hasn't set the world on fire so far this year, be he had a great look. I wanted to scream "SHOOT THE DAMN BALL!", but my wife wouldn't have appreciated it.
We play pretty good defense, but all too often give up an offensive rebound. We have to stop doing that. We've got size, strength, and quickness, but lack fundamentals on rebounding. Despite what Fili says, we need to learn to block out.
I've seen a couple of posters pointing out that a lot of fans didn't see us sweeping the Aggies before the season started, and that everyone should calm down. There's more to this loss than failing to sweep what has been a pretty good Aggie team for the last several years. There's every starter but Williams playing poorly. There's the poor defensive rebounding that's been an issue all year. There's the coaching staff not trusting the bench, even when the starters are stinking up the joint. If we had played well and lost to an Aggie team that played better I would still be pissed and disappointed, but not so frustrated. However, the only person on the team or coaching staff who did their job well last night was Bryson. That's frustrating.
We have a huge break after Pine Bluff, then play Dec. 16, 17, 19, 22, 23, and 25. If we don't start using our bench, we are going to be exhausted at the end of that run, and it will show on the court.
Williams was the only starter to show up last night. He was 9-13 from the field. The rest of the team? A blistering 9-33, 27.3%.
We can now stop talking about having a bench. In big games Terry plays his starters for well over 30 minutes a game. Odigie gets significant time, and Hawkins gets a few minutes. Everyone else either sits or only gets spot minutes. This, in my opinion, is a mistake. The one good thing about all of the Div II schools we've played this year is that it's given the bench a chance to play. Hawkins was excellent in the last game. Tarke started out slowly this year, but has improved in each game where he has received time, and played really well against East Central. Stroud has shown flashes. Verhoeven, while not our most talented big man, plays smart, only taking shots he can make, and defends the rim well. Yet last night, when every starter not named Bryson Williams was struggling, Efe plays 12 minutes, Hawkins 7, Archie 2, and Verhoeven a few seconds. Meanwhile all starters play at least 33 minutes. Boum, who hasn't been able to throw it in the ocean all season, played 37 minutes. Terry has used these cupcake games to develop a bench. But that's worthless if he doesn't use them in real games.
Against Pine Bluff, I hope to see a heavy dose of Efe, Hawkins, Tarke, Stroud, and Archie. Efe has been up and down this season, he needs to calm down and start playing better. Hawkins apparently needs to prove himself to the coaching staff yet again. Tarke earned minutes that he didn't receive after the East Central game, he needs to show that his effort there wasn't a fluke. Stroud needs to learn shot selection. If he starts to play within his game he can make some good contributions to the team. And Archie apparently needs to knock the rust off; those rumors about him being the best player on the team so far haven't come close to fruition. Among the starters, Lathon needs to get significant time in order to get his mojo back, he hasn't had it these last couple of games. Williams doesn't need to play a lot unless we need him in there. The bench players that prove themselves on Saturday need receive the minutes they earned in real games. I don't need to see 33 minutes of Vila or 37 minutes of Boum when they're struggling so bad.
Hawkins had a steal for a layup in the first half last night. He's done that a lot so far this season, despite playing limited minutes.
Boum reminds me of a young Randy Culpepper in a way, as he's never seen a shot that he didn't like. The huge difference is that while his poor shot selection often got the young Culpepper in trouble, he sometimes would have a huge game. So far, Boum's shot selection has only hurt us. Yet he still plays monster minutes.
Isn't Vila supposed to be a shooter? On our last possession, he received the ball behind the arc with a great look at the basket, yet passed it to Lathon, who was much further out, and had to put up a contested three. I know that Vila hasn't set the world on fire so far this year, be he had a great look. I wanted to scream "SHOOT THE DAMN BALL!", but my wife wouldn't have appreciated it.
We play pretty good defense, but all too often give up an offensive rebound. We have to stop doing that. We've got size, strength, and quickness, but lack fundamentals on rebounding. Despite what Fili says, we need to learn to block out.
I've seen a couple of posters pointing out that a lot of fans didn't see us sweeping the Aggies before the season started, and that everyone should calm down. There's more to this loss than failing to sweep what has been a pretty good Aggie team for the last several years. There's every starter but Williams playing poorly. There's the poor defensive rebounding that's been an issue all year. There's the coaching staff not trusting the bench, even when the starters are stinking up the joint. If we had played well and lost to an Aggie team that played better I would still be pissed and disappointed, but not so frustrated. However, the only person on the team or coaching staff who did their job well last night was Bryson. That's frustrating.
We have a huge break after Pine Bluff, then play Dec. 16, 17, 19, 22, 23, and 25. If we don't start using our bench, we are going to be exhausted at the end of that run, and it will show on the court.