Originally posted by GoNtheDistance:
the good news is that everybody returns, the bad news is that everybody returns.
i say that somewhat tongue in cheek, however, there's a lot of truth to that statement. this is a team with many holes, and none of these holes are going to get plugged with summer work. The types of holes we have get plugged with new players that have the ability to do the things we need. things like a legit shooter from the wing. a post player who can protect the rim on the defensive end, and get easy baskets on the offensive end. Those are just a few.
Things we can work on with what we have is toughness and consistency. I think the consistency issue we had this year had a lot to do with injuries, but frankly, had a lot to do with Roy's god awful sub patterns. We never developed a cohesive first unit, and wave of 2nd tier players that could be productive consistently. also, defensively, we have to be a lot better in the post and with our post players defending both in the paint and on the perimeter. it's been highlighted numerous times that this was the first time in forever that our opponents shot more free throws than us. it wasn't uncommon for us to have at least 2 bigs in foul trouble damn near every game. If you look at those fouls, they were stupid fouls on ball screens, getting out of position then slapping at the opponent going in for a layup, etc. we will miss assignments and make mistakes on defense, but we've got to limit the really stupid ones. same goes for the offensive end. limit the dumb mistakes and unforced errors. This team played really stupid a lot this year, especially late in the game. We did some things consistently bad late in games (under 4 mins) that cost us 5-6 wins this year easily.
Themes for the summer should be toughness, good repetition, and situational IQ. We have some kids that shouldn't see the floor but Roy chooses to play them so he should at least run them through situations drills to continue and hammer home fundamental things that make basketball teams successful. I'm not saying he doesn't do that already, but he needs to continue and hammer it home, or don't play the kids who continue to run around with the "I'm lost" look on their face.
