Keys to gopher success

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13 striped squirrel

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At the dunkers pregame meeting, an assistant coach took Q & A. The questions fielded were in regards to our point guard play (or lack thereof) and our depth (our resistance to the full court press). The coach stated that Nolen would get the start for the Nothwestern game, but if he did perform that would likely change. He said that Nolen has gotten away from what made him so good in the preseason and got caught up in reading his press clippings - 3rd best PG in the country, etc. Stated he was young and will learn. I am a huge Nolen fan and we need him to pass, score, and be the leader. I wonder what his ppg average in on our 7 losses vs 20 wins???

2nd question was why don't we press given our noted depth and amount of players played. He said that is exactly what Tubby is going to do from this point forward - full court pressure and on the ball defense. I think that was a huge key to this win - Nothwestern had a much reduced shot clock and less time to run their offense, keys to their poor shooting.

Just found this all interesting....see if this carries forward.
 

Excellent post 13 striped squirrel. It's great that we'll continue to use the full court press. With our depth and and ability to score in transition, I never understood why we abandoned it in the first place.
 

He said that Nolen has gotten away from what made him so good in the preseason and got caught up in reading his press clippings - 3rd best PG in the country, etc.
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I think Tubby made a few unfair comparisons with Al. He's a lot like Rajon Rondo, Johnson is like Tayshaun Prince, Westbrook is like ( I don't remember one ).

The guys had a lot of opportunity to think they were better than they actually are. That's not saying that they don't have some talent but it seems Tubby built some big confidence in these guys and maybe it backfired a bit, starting with the 1st Northwestern game and going south from there and it snowballed through several games.
 

Interesting

I was telling someone a couple weeks ago that it was almost like Nolen was taking his press clippings too much to heart. It sounds like I wasn't imagining that. Even though Devoe is not a natural point guard (yet) and can be turnover-prone at times, the offense has run better with him in there lately. That's a direct contrast to earlier in the season, when the half-court didn't operate unless Nolen was in the game. At that time, Al was the MVP of the team, and they couldn't afford for him to be in foul trouble. Now he's in danger of losing his starting job. That's an amazing fall.
 

At that time, Al was the MVP of the team, and they couldn't afford for him to be in foul trouble. Now he's in danger of losing his starting job. That's an amazing fall.
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Next year will be very, very, interesting. I think this is certainly confirmation of what many said earlier in that the players were believing the early hype. I'm inclined to think the coaching staff is at fault here but will have to give them the benefit of the doubt in that perhaps the roster isn't deep with quality backups.
 


Tricky tight-rope to walk...

With young players, it's a very fine line to walk between building up their confidence and giving them a big head. With the youth on this team, you need them to gain confidence. But youth is also prone to taking it too far and getting full of themselves.

Normally, younger players ease into things playing behind older, more experienced players. With the older players keeping them in line until they are ready. Tubby doesn't have that luxury yet, so he has to build up his young players in an attempt to get wins now. Looks like at least Nolen took it too far.

These things will happen. These are the inconsistencies you should expect when you rely on young players. Hopefully, Nolen will learn from this and become a better player from the experience.
 

Nothing disgusts me more about this team is when the bigs do get the ball down low, they often pass it back out. If I were Tubby, I would demand they make a move to the basket unless they are 2 timed. Then have DJ and Carter hit the O board. Especially Sampson as he has shown a nice hook from 5 or 6 feet out. Both Colt and RS are good from the FT and they would get more attempts. Worst case is a missed shot for close in, block or travel. But they have to become much more agressive in the paint and make an effort to make something happen, good, bad, ugly or whatever.

Same with DJ and Carter when they get the ball within 10-12 feet. Make something happen rather than look to pass. Nolan, Westbrook and Joseph are the only players who make an effort to create a shot and aren't afraid to let-er-fly.

I posted this about three weeks ago and the response was the guys are young, blah, blah, blah, The kid from NU does it and so do many of the BT post players. How else will they improve if they don't do it in the game? Our bigs should be putting up 10 FGA's per game.
 

This team needs to press, but mostly because the alternative isn't working. The press is beautiful when it works but most teams when faced with it for an extended time figure out how to break it, and then it starts to hurt you. Thus starting with it and staying with it has the possibility of making it an ineffective strategy late in the game when you most need it. And that's why you don't do it against quality guards in long segments. Plus it does require that you score to be able to run it also, that has been a problem at times.

All in all, it's obvious that defensive aggression improves this team immensely. They seem to carrry it to the offensive side, and that to me is what makes the decision to press more the correct one for this team.
 




FTB.....LMAO on that one. Great line!!!!!!!!!
 

I'm interested in seeing Nolen and the Josephs competing for playing time.
 

I went to the game with a friend who is a former BT point guard. He said he feels for Nolen, because he's playing like he's looking over his shoulder. He said he'd have a tough time playing in this situation - nerve racking to know that if you make a mistake you'll be yanked out. He thinks it would be hard for the PG to get in a game rhythm, overly concerned with losing their job.
 

I love Nolen and everything he has done for this team, but I doubt that Pitino is still asking him to transfer to Louisville.
 



Moonlight said:
I went to the game with a friend who is a former BT point guard. He said he feels for Nolen, because he's playing like he's looking over his shoulder. He said he'd have a tough time playing in this situation - nerve racking to know that if you make a mistake you'll be yanked out. He thinks it would be hard for the PG to get in a game rhythm, overly concerned with losing their job.
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Who does he see over his shoulder? Devoe? Tubby?
 


Tubby does tend to.......

yank people once they make a mistake, and that does hurt confidence, but surely little Al (jefferson being big Al) has to understand that a point guard just can't make as many mistakes, because when he does the ball goes the other way, and often on a fast break!

Joseph is well behind Al in basic ball handling skills, but he has an advantge in other areas. I only see the competition getting tougher for Al with Cobbs on board next year and the talent level raising all our expectations.

If he wants job security he needs to play better, As my old gray pappy used to say, "That's life in the big city."
 

Lefty, and as my Late Father used to say: "Welcome to the Big Time."
 

Moonlight said:
I went to the game with a friend who is a former BT point guard. He said he feels for Nolen, because he's playing like he's looking over his shoulder. He said he'd have a tough time playing in this situation - nerve racking to know that if you make a mistake you'll be yanked out. He thinks it would be hard for the PG to get in a game rhythm, overly concerned with losing their job.
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Although that may be Al's perception, it's BS. Al's early play this season entrenched him in the starting lineup and he continued to get the benefit of the doubt even after a series of poor games. If Al is looking over his shoulder, I hope that's where the mirror is, because he has no one to blame but himself and his own recent play.
 

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