How many times did Nolen...

Donate To GopherHole
D

doncorleone

Gold Member
Joined
Apr 27, 2009
Messages
26
Reaction score
0
Points
1
...drive into the lane last night only to get stopped by a team of defenders at which point he had no idea what to do with the ball?

I'm not a big basketball guy so I am actually asking a legit question. I'm not trying to blanket criticize Nolen, but I've noticed this part of his game in recent weeks and I don't understand the logic and strategy here.

The only thought I had was that the refs were calling a lot of fouls and he was trying to get to the line with this strategy. But, they didn't seem to be calling the fouls when he did this, yet he didn't stop.

Is he doing this on his own, or is Tubby encouraging this?

Thanks for the help, hoopsters....
 

AN

He can beat his man off the dribble, but he has almost no ability to score in the paint...The defense doesn't have to guard him closely, it just has to anticipate his passes.
 


Nolen was the only one that could create anything last night. When he penetrated he had absolutely nothing he could do with the ball. If he didn't penetrate the Gophs didn't get within 30 feet of the basket. Gophs aren't athletic enough to compete with Purdue.

Carter is the other player that created his own shots at times. I hope they start getting Williams more involved with set plays against teams like Purdue.
 

Nolen can beat his man off the dribble but Purdue is sound defensively and did a good job of rotating help so that the only guy left open was on the opposite wing or baseline where Nolen can't pass the ball. It would be nice to see Nolen go up right away and draw a foul our two on these drives. As long as Nolen keeps doing what he's doing teams will assume he is looking to dish and continue to defend that first.
 


Well maybe not ..

Here's a quote from Tubby last night ..

Minnesota coach Tubby Smith said his team didn't take advantage of the havoc its trapping defense caused.

"We forced some turnovers, but we didn't convert," Smith said. "We should have pulled back out instead of driving and doing something stupid. That was the game."
Click to expand...

I know Al wasn't the only one driving last night but this is rather pointed.

http://www.browncountyindiana.com/index.php?id=938
 

I watched the game (again) late last night specifically to see if Al's performance was as bad as his boxscore. On at least 6 different drives he is knocked down or ridden to the floor. I believe he shoots about 10 more FT's if we're at William's Arena. On the other end of the floor Kramer creates contact on a breakaway with Blake, who brushes him, and Kramer gets a call. Westbrook does the same thing (creates real contact on a breakaway) and gets no call. The inconsistency was maddening.
 

In reading the article, I think Tubby was referring to us trying to force something on the break, rather than seeing that we didn't have numbers, and pull it back out. Not that Al shouldn't have been driving in during the set offense.
 

Al gets forced against good defenses to take it to the whole, there is no where to pass the ball with the pressure defense. Al gets to the line when we have decent refs.
 



Nolen

While frustrating. I viewed Al's (and Justin's) aggressive play encouraging. Folks, we lost @ Purdue, one of the 4 or 5 best teams in the country. We lost the game because our open shots were not falling....plain and simple.

I find it very enouraging that our pressure defense actually rattled a top ranked team.
 

Long (long) time lurker here. I generally like Nolen’s defense and how he handles the ball, but one thing that bears mentioning is that he really plays below the rim. So while he is capable of beating his man into the lane, he has difficulty both with scoring and with passing from down low. He doesn’t elevate much as he drives, and as such always looks lost in a forest of limbs and bodies. I also believe that this has to do with the perceived lack of calls – at this level you aren’t going to get many calls against taller stronger players unless you can get up and attack the hoop.

I think Nolen would be well served to work on his pull up jump shot.
 

Berkshire said:
Long (long) time lurker here. I generally like Nolen’s defense and how he handles the ball, but one thing that bears mentioning is that he really plays below the rim. So while he is capable of beating his man into the lane, he has difficulty both with scoring and with passing from down low. He doesn’t elevate much as he drives, and as such always looks lost in a forest of limbs and bodies. I also believe that this has to do with the perceived lack of calls – at this level you aren’t going to get many calls against taller stronger players unless you can get up and attack the hoop.

I think Nolen would be well served to work on his pull up jump shot.
Click to expand...
I am so with you on what you said.
 

Nolen would be well served to not shoot at all and just be a role player who gets other players the ball and plays great defense. Nolen and Westbrook both forced a lot of shots last night. Many times Hoffarber was open in the corner but Westbrook and Nolen couldn't see him because they were barreling into the lane with their heads down. At the last second they needed to do something, which was usually a weak, one handed, fallaway into Jajuan Johnson's armpit. Why can't we run a halfcourt offense with these guys??
 



How many times did Hoffarber...

dex8425 said:
Nolen would be well served to not shoot at all and just be a role player who gets other players the ball and plays great defense. Nolen and Westbrook both forced a lot of shots last night. Many times Hoffarber was open in the corner but Westbrook and Nolen couldn't see him because they were barreling into the lane with their heads down. At the last second they needed to do something, which was usually a weak, one handed, fallaway into Jajuan Johnson's armpit. Why can't we run a halfcourt offense with these guys??
Click to expand...

Guess in a game like the one last night against Purdue, I would have like to see Hoffarber "force" a few more shots, instead of standing outside looking for a pass from Westbrook or Nolen.

Maybe the refs would have called a few more fouls in favor of the Gophers, maybe a few of Hoffarber's shot would have been blocked. Let's stop blaming Nolen, Westbrook or anyone else when Hoffarber doesn't score the big points. The big time players show up in the big time games--good or bad--the big games is where the big time players show up to play.

Hoffarber's stats: 3 pts (none in the 1st half), 1 - 4 shooting (all from 3 pt range), 3 fouls.

Until Hoffarber starts showing up in these types of games, I'd rather not see so many threads about how "great" Hoffarber is and/or less threads about the horrible play of Nolen, Westbrook, Cobbs, Carter, Iverson, etc. Consistency can start on the GH.

JMHO
 

dex8425 said:
Nolen would be well served to not shoot at all and just be a role player who gets other players the ball and plays great defense. Nolen and Westbrook both forced a lot of shots last night. Many times Hoffarber was open in the corner but Westbrook and Nolen couldn't see him because they were barreling into the lane with their heads down. At the last second they needed to do something, which was usually a weak, one handed, fallaway into Jajuan Johnson's armpit. Why can't we run a halfcourt offense with these guys??
Click to expand...


Well that is essentially what he does... when we are unsettled on offense. The problem is, we are a team that either hits a three, or longer shot while in the half-court. Our post players may have added some muscle in the offseason, but they both play really small IMO.

Al is one of the only guys that can beat his man to the hole, granted he does need to work on finishing a little bit. I personally agree completely about a pull-up jump shot. It would serve him very well to develop that.

I think this team either shoots well, or doesn't and that is what decides the game right now. We need to find someone else besides Westbrook who can get by his defender to the basket and FINISH on a consistent basis.
 

AN is a really good point guard in many aspects of the game, he just can't shoot. And that's a major liability in our offense.
 

Listen - until we have a center the guards will have to do what they can. As shooting 3's opens the inside, having an inside game sets up the entire offense. Currently, we do not have an inside game. Period.
 

No doubt Moonlight, I agree on your take, but it could also be said that until our point guard shows some ability to make a shot off the dribble, it's really 5 on 4, and that's not a recipe for success.
 

Nolen is Who He Is...

doncorleone said:
...drive into the lane last night only to get stopped by a team of defenders at which point he had no idea what to do with the ball?

I'm not a big basketball guy so I am actually asking a legit question. I'm not trying to blanket criticize Nolen, but I've noticed this part of his game in recent weeks and I don't understand the logic and strategy here.

The only thought I had was that the refs were calling a lot of fouls and he was trying to get to the line with this strategy. But, they didn't seem to be calling the fouls when he did this, yet he didn't stop.

Is he doing this on his own, or is Tubby encouraging this?

Thanks for the help, hoopsters....
Click to expand...


Nolen does what he is capable of doing. He plays good D, has good quickness/first step, a reasonable ball handler, and he is a decent passer. He does not see a play or two ahead when he drives into the paint so he gets stuck no outlet at times, he is not a good finisher around the bucket or outside shooter, and he is not a natural leader of the team on offense.

He is who he is and I think we must accept that. The challenge is for HIM to realize who he is and play his role.
 

freshtrout said:
No doubt Moonlight, I agree on your take, but it could also be said that until our point guard shows some ability to make a shot off the dribble, it's really 5 on 4, and that's not a recipe for success.
Click to expand...
No - while there are some great scoring point guards, Al is not one of them. He has driven to the basket at Tubby's request and the outcome has not been bad. He is not Taylor Battle. Repeat - he is not Taylor Battle. We can win with a pg who can control the game, make great assists, protect the ball and make timely steals. Oh wait, and rebound better than those 1/2 a foot taller AND drive and score when nothing else is working. But without some kind of inside presence (beyond our guards) forget it.
How many time have our guards led in rebounding? Enough time to give me license to say - let up on the guards, please. They are our best athletes and when they can't do it all, that doesn't make it their fault.
 

An is a very solid player... It's just as Honyocker says, he has limitations. If AN could 'stop and pop' that THREAT would open things up for the inside game... because he can't, the defense is at an advantage (5 on 4).. I really like his total game, he makes up for his limitations by hussle, but hey, if he just was just a bit of a scoring threat, that would open up passes to the inside players, then they could contribute like we all think they are capable of.
 

Can he make the centers be able to catch the ball? Can he make them able to rebound? He is somehow responsible for them scoring... his number: 0?
AN does not play the whole game and we have other scoring threats (Westbrook? Hoffarber?) and still our inside game does not exist. Yes, if AN were superman, our problems would be over. Why oh why can't Al be superman??
 

I agree with you Moonlight, he's not a superman, but if he could just give the defense some thought of guarding him, that would help. You're right, he can't make Colton catch the ball, or Ralph go above the rim and get the ball, but he can create some space if he had a jump shot.
 

Fresh - so you are saying that if he could make up for the lack of skills of most of our other positions, we would be in better shape?
 

No....I'm just saying that if he could shoot, that fact alone would open things up for the other players.
 

He could maybe shoot better than 1-10 once in a while like the purdue game
 

I wish Al would pick his spots better. I think Al gets in the mode of a losing gambler at times. When Al misses a bunch of shots, instead of letting the game come to him, he gets frustrated and starts forcing shots more and more. Its the "throwing good money after bad", "the next roll has just got to go my way" syndrome.

Al plays dumb when he gets frustrated.
 

Personally, I think that Tubby tells Al the game is going to hell and he should go on and work on his drives to the basket and better himself and hopefully draw some fouls in the process. I think this because Al never gets pulled when this is happening, which he would if he were acting contrary to Tubby's orders.
 

Moonlight said:
Personally, I think that Tubby tells Al the game is going to hell and he should go on and work on his drives to the basket and better himself and hopefully draw some fouls in the process. I think this because Al never gets pulled when this is happening, which he would if he were acting contrary to Tubby's orders.
Click to expand...

Exactly.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom