...and this one should've never been this close.
- It was obvious Roy's point of emphasis this week has been a) getting the ball inside, and b) having our Bigs make quicker/more decisive moves. That's all well and good until you start telegraphing it, or it comes at the expense of off-ball movement. In the halfcourt game there was too much getting-it-in-and-standing-around almost from the tip, and good grief at some of the brain-dean and/or telegraphed entries in the Secondary.
- It was also obvious Roy thought this game might be a last op to work on Freelance, but it didn't look much if any better, and when the game remained close the set plays came to the rescue. See below.
- Lots of open misses but more decisive movement of ball and men could've made those ops better. Again, see below.
- Whether or not eyes glaze over, there's a reason I harp on effort and personnel continuity. Basketball is an often-improvised team game and knowing/anticipating/trusting what your teammates are doing cannot be oversold --- and that goes for BOTH ends of the floor. Our 20, 30 and 40 defenses are all predicated in not only doing your job, but trusting your teammates are gonna be where they need to be. And obviously, player movement is key in our Freelance offense. In fact, the mere act of moving/being in the right place can be key to the offense functioning, even if you never touch the ball on a given possession. Some of that is as simple as effort,.. and as for effort, again, the lack thereof shows on both ends. We put Wake in a position for an upset with lack of all of the above in the first half.
- the first 5 minutes of the second half showed what improved effort can gain --- and I'm sure was prompted by some vigorous halftime coaching. Unfortunately, we went back into lulls, as well as some low-IQ episodes. Reinvogorated effort helped pull thru at the end. That said, it was close enough to sweat because we never got the continuity thing right.
- The BB-IQ issues popping up still notwithstanding, Caleb is starting to showcase more of his abilities and good to see him have a big scoring night, and despite not always knowing when discretion is called for, he showed some very strong defensive effort.
- I won't even bother to talk about the uncalled Wake walks in the paint, as that's still no excuse for piss-poor defense on their drive-and-kick game.
Anyway, sorry if there aren't more positives here, because frankly, that outing is a loss against pretty much every other ACC team. Make no mistake, we have the ingredients to be pretty good and deep, but those ingredients must all learn to expend effort consistently and together, and they must be blended with more of a purpose that accentuates their strengths and covers their weaknesses. Let's hope that happens going forward...
- It was obvious Roy's point of emphasis this week has been a) getting the ball inside, and b) having our Bigs make quicker/more decisive moves. That's all well and good until you start telegraphing it, or it comes at the expense of off-ball movement. In the halfcourt game there was too much getting-it-in-and-standing-around almost from the tip, and good grief at some of the brain-dean and/or telegraphed entries in the Secondary.
- It was also obvious Roy thought this game might be a last op to work on Freelance, but it didn't look much if any better, and when the game remained close the set plays came to the rescue. See below.
- Lots of open misses but more decisive movement of ball and men could've made those ops better. Again, see below.
- Whether or not eyes glaze over, there's a reason I harp on effort and personnel continuity. Basketball is an often-improvised team game and knowing/anticipating/trusting what your teammates are doing cannot be oversold --- and that goes for BOTH ends of the floor. Our 20, 30 and 40 defenses are all predicated in not only doing your job, but trusting your teammates are gonna be where they need to be. And obviously, player movement is key in our Freelance offense. In fact, the mere act of moving/being in the right place can be key to the offense functioning, even if you never touch the ball on a given possession. Some of that is as simple as effort,.. and as for effort, again, the lack thereof shows on both ends. We put Wake in a position for an upset with lack of all of the above in the first half.
- the first 5 minutes of the second half showed what improved effort can gain --- and I'm sure was prompted by some vigorous halftime coaching. Unfortunately, we went back into lulls, as well as some low-IQ episodes. Reinvogorated effort helped pull thru at the end. That said, it was close enough to sweat because we never got the continuity thing right.
- The BB-IQ issues popping up still notwithstanding, Caleb is starting to showcase more of his abilities and good to see him have a big scoring night, and despite not always knowing when discretion is called for, he showed some very strong defensive effort.
- I won't even bother to talk about the uncalled Wake walks in the paint, as that's still no excuse for piss-poor defense on their drive-and-kick game.
Anyway, sorry if there aren't more positives here, because frankly, that outing is a loss against pretty much every other ACC team. Make no mistake, we have the ingredients to be pretty good and deep, but those ingredients must all learn to expend effort consistently and together, and they must be blended with more of a purpose that accentuates their strengths and covers their weaknesses. Let's hope that happens going forward...
