Welcome to Hogville!      Do Not Sell My Personal Information

Exhibition thoughts

Started by Rbill, October 27, 2017, 09:53:20 pm

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Rbill

I don't know much but from my perspective it seemed for most of the game we only knew how to score if it was a breakaway. Mostly in the half court we settled for attempts at 3 and declined entry pass opportunities. Macon and Barford got a lot of those breakaways and 3s but Gafford stood out to me as the primary source of energy and interest whenever he was in. Still feels like we need to improve on a half court game plan on offense like always. I hope Gafford is a big part of those plans down low.

azhog10

Quote from: Rbill on October 27, 2017, 09:53:20 pm
I don't know much but from my perspective it seemed for most of the game we only knew how to score if it was a breakaway. Mostly in the half court we settled for attempts at 3 and declined entry pass opportunities. Macon and Barford got a lot of those breakaways and 3s but Gafford stood out to me as the primary source of energy and interest whenever he was in. Still feels like we need to improve on a half court game plan on offense like always. I hope Gafford is a big part of those plans down low.
New guys and new roles. Offense may struggle early if we can't get easy offense in transition.

 

Pinto

Quote from: Rbill on October 27, 2017, 09:53:20 pm
I don't know much but from my perspective it seemed for most of the game we only knew how to score if it was a breakaway. Mostly in the half court we settled for attempts at 3 and declined entry pass opportunities. Macon and Barford got a lot of those breakaways and 3s but Gafford stood out to me as the primary source of energy and interest whenever he was in. Still feels like we need to improve on a half court game plan on offense like always. I hope Gafford is a big part of those plans down low.

Agreed. Hall will be another critical source of energy also. No need to panic over an exhibition game...

010HogFan

I thought the same thing in the red white game. Without a true point this will be a huge problem. I saw too many jacked up 3's with the shot clock running down for my liking. Sure would be nice to get Garland back

Rbill

Quote from: Pinto on October 27, 2017, 10:09:25 pm
Agreed. Hall will be another critical source of energy also. No need to panic over an exhibition game...

Yeah, I'm certainly not panicked. But it's discouraging to see familiar issues against such an opponent. I just want someone to finally buy in that passing to the paint is a possibility.

Pinto

Quote from: Rbill on October 27, 2017, 11:03:38 pm
Yeah, I'm certainly not panicked. But it's discouraging to see familiar issues against such an opponent. I just want someone to finally buy in that passing to the paint is a possibility.

Yup...I was hoping Ton developed some floor general instincts over the offseason.

Letsroll1200

Quote from: Pinto on October 28, 2017, 12:16:49 am
Yup...I was hoping Ton developed some floor general instincts over the offseason.

13 shots for Anton is too many. Most players have developed under this coaching staff but the jury is still out on Anton. We will need a better Anton going forward.

Im hoping that Bailey can take over at the 4. I dont know if Dustin want to rap or play basketball.

hogwood

Any highlights from the game available?

The_Iceman

Quote from: hogwood on October 28, 2017, 04:12:04 am
Any highlights from the game available?

Check the official Twitter or the website.

The_Bionic_Pig

Thanks for the insight guy's...
█ ▆ ▅ ▄ ▃ ▂ ▁ *Mute*

hawg66

20 assists on 26 fg's. Beard had a bad shooting night. The rest of the team shot 50%. Hall and Thomas didn't play. It was an exhibition game. Lots of reasons not to worry. I'm sure we all will anyway. This team will be a work in progress but they have a lot of nice pieces.

Youngsta71701

Steve Sullivan on channel 7 said they were sloppy. But that may be expected early on considering all the new faces. The veterans have no excuse. Play inside out rather it's driving to the basket or dumping it down in the post.
"The more things change the more they stay the same"

Pinto

Quote from: Youngsta71701 on October 28, 2017, 06:19:04 am
Steve Sullivan on channel 7 said they were sloppy. But that may be expected early on considering all the new faces. The veterans have no excuse. Play inside out rather it's driving to the basket or dumping it down in the post.

Very sloppy and frustrating. Barford looked as if he improved his range. He looked very confident shooting the rock. Macon does what he does. I was hoping the other two seniors improved over the offseason, but I guess they are what they are...

 

Letsroll1200

Quote from: Youngsta71701 on October 28, 2017, 06:19:04 am
Steve Sullivan on channel 7 said they were sloppy. But that may be expected early on considering all the new faces. The veterans have no excuse. Play inside out rather it's driving to the basket or dumping it down in the post.

Who are they dumping it down to the post too?

Youngsta71701

Quote from: Letsroll1200 on October 28, 2017, 07:16:48 am
Who are they dumping it down to the post too?
Just because you dump it down to someone doesn't mean they have to shoot it. Just work it inside out. Gafford can score in the post by the way and Thomas is decent down low although I'm thinking he didn't play last night.
"The more things change the more they stay the same"

Letsroll1200

Quote from: Youngsta71701 on October 28, 2017, 07:18:54 am
Just because you dump it down to someone doesn't mean they have to shoot it. Just work it inside out. Gafford can score in the post by the way and Thomas is decent down low although I'm thinking he didn't play last night.

We're not dumping it down to anyone in the post. This team will be a drive and kick team. Gafford is all energy right now and his offensive game has to develop. I like Gafford because unlike Kingsley he's not going to become frustrated when he's not scoring.

parallaxpig

Hard to tell anything when basically 7 guys played. Other than we want win many if we had to to that all year. Typical first game sloppiness, took too many outside shots, didn't drive to basket much. Free throw shooting needs work by non guards.
noun: parallax<br />the effect whereby the position or direction of an object appears to differ when viewed from different positions,

Hogimus Prime

Even if everyone that satout last night returns to the court this team will have some struggles early. Once this team jells look out. IMO getting Hall and Garland cleared are the big keys. They both bring a different dynamic that MA's past teams have lacked.

Rbill

Quote from: Youngsta71701 on October 28, 2017, 07:18:54 am
Just because you dump it down to someone doesn't mean they have to shoot it. Just work it inside out.

This is exactly how I feel on every possession.

RedRover10

How did they only win by 12? Were the starters playing for the most part just don't understand. Hopefully just bad game

parallaxpig

Quote from: RedRover10 on October 28, 2017, 09:29:33 am
How did they only win by 12? Were the starters playing for the most part just don't understand. Hopefully just bad game

Only had 8 available players........
noun: parallax<br />the effect whereby the position or direction of an object appears to differ when viewed from different positions,

TheRazorback500

UCO had most of its team back and seemed to play better team ball. Our chemistry should improve as we work our way through the next couple of games and the injured and suspended players return.
Do you wanna get Rocked?

rogersvillemohog

Looked like a team that's still trying to gel a little bit, but has a lot of talent and could actually be improved from last year if the cards fall right. Gafford and Bailey have to get better with their shot, but overall I was actually pretty impressed from a raw talent standpoint. I really like the way they play defense. They aren't slapping for the ball or playing with their body, but playing with their feet. Hopefully that comment doesn't come back to haunt me. We'll learn a lot more next Friday in my opinion.
Arkansas Football: It's the players running through the A, Hog Hats, and Big Red. It's more than 70,000 fans calling, "WOO PIG SOOIE!"

Arkansas Football: It's the State of Arkansas banding together behind one team, and a mascot like no other. Those select few who put on the jersey are... chosen. They wear the colors, they pay the price, and they succeed. They are exceptional, they are Razorbacks.

Together we stand as tall as the towers of Old Main. Our memories are etched in stone like names on Senior Walk. And our blood flows Razorbacks Red. For 100 years we've been Hogwild and today we continue the tradition.

We are Arkansas Razorbacks!

hobhog

How the frock do we not have a point guard?

This game was not a good look. MA can't afford a bad start to the season....hope it wasn't sign of things to come.

 

ShadowHawg

You run your offense through your best threats. That would be Barford and Macon.

You inside out people are ridiculous. There is more than one way to play basketball at a high level.

Breems

Quote from: RedRover10 on October 28, 2017, 09:29:33 am
How did they only win by 12? Were the starters playing for the most part just don't understand. Hopefully just bad game

Not sure who the starters are. Lineups were fairly consistent. Biggest issues to me were:

1. Shot selection
2. 0 low-post offense
3. Poor low-post defense

1. Beard needs to take less contested shots in the paint. Bailey doesn't need to take as many jumpers and would contribute more as a slasher. Barford and Macon looked mature and know their role very well. Barford is so smooth, smart, and simple in transition.

2. Gafford didn't utilize his huge size advantage. They didn't feed him a lot, but he also wasn't demanding the ball and was posting up too far from the basket. We already know Thompson isn't assertive on offense and thus isn't a threat to score. We really need some production from the low-post, and it'll have to be Gafford unless Thomas has improved.

3. Gafford tended to follow the ball in the low-post and missed some help defense opportunities. He should be able to cover a lot of space in the post due to his athleticism and quickness. He played pretty good on-ball defense in the post without fouling. It won't be easy to post him up and score unless you're pretty built. Thompson played pretty good defense but is limited on athleticism.

Hard to draw conclusions until we see our full team.
Proud member of the "Left Before Halftime" football club.

Quote from: Breems on January 27, 2011, 08:42:29 pm<br />SCREW VANDERBILT<br />

Rbill

Quote from: ShadowHawg on October 28, 2017, 10:59:35 am


You inside out people are ridiculous. There is more than one way to play basketball at a high level.

Being scared to make any kind of pass that accomplishes anything and always settling for a 3 in the half court offense is not one of those ways.

mhuff

Couple of years ago we had maybe the two best 3p shooters in the SEC. how did that season end? If you don't score in the paint, you don't win. Look at UNC. All i Heard the commentators were talking  about their scoring in the paint the whole season. We went 5 points ahead because our defense disrupted their game plan. If Macon doesn't get the cramps, we would have won that game.

jackflash

it just a game don't put to much into it

niels_boar

Beard appears to be in a shooting slump. Better now than later.  Being a free shooter has never been one of his problems.  He was fifth in shot rate last season, which is where he should have been on that team as a solid mid-30's arc shooter and getting shots behind Barford, Macon, Hannahs, and Kingsley.  His eFG% at a respectable 48% was actually higher than both Kingsley and Barford last season, which would argue against Beard being prone to illogically bad shot selection.  My guess is that CMA is giving him an unrestricted green light in these games that don't count in the hopes that he will shoot his way out of a slump.

Every year the boards pick a player whose every flaw is gnawed on and whose positive contributions are largely ignored.  I can already tell that Beard is going to get the Alandise Harris-Manny Watkins treatment unless he plays lights out to begin the season.  Beard played some of the worst ball of his career in the last month of the season last year.  However, he played quite well during the first half of the season.  He also flipped the script and was outstanding against UNC.  Had we not gotten jobbed out of that game by the refs he was second in line for game hero behind Macon.  Beard was the only other player besides Macon in double figures and shot 50% to boot to go with 5 boards (second on team), 3 assists (team high), and 0 TOs (only Watkins also managed 0 TOs).  Meanwhile, Barford, Kingsley, and Hannahs combined for 11 of 33 and 12 TOs.  The Portis team got turned around when he was inserted into the starting lineup as a frosh.  Beard has been wildly inconsistent in his career with long stretches on either end of the spectrum, but many act as if the highs never happen.  He's a gutty player that has come up big on the road against quality teams quite often in his career.

If you look at Beard's game logs in his two full seasons, he's had a tendency to start slow, play lights out between Christmas and mid-February, and then disappear.  Reports are that he is in the best shape of his career.  Hopefully that will cure that late-season swoon.  Our O needs Beard to make some treys and handle without TO's.  He's proven that he's capable of that.  He's consistently been one of the least TO prone players on the team and shot 35%+ from the arc in both his frosh and junior campaigns.
The jawbone of an ass is just as dangerous a weapon today as in Sampson's time.

FineAsSwine

Quote from: niels_boar on October 29, 2017, 10:39:07 am
Every year the boards pick a player whose every flaw is gnawed on and whose positive contributions are largely ignored. I can already tell that Beard is going to get the Alandise Harris-Manny Watkins treatment unless he plays lights out to begin the season. 

I'm already bracing myself for it. Lol.
Hogs up! Covid down!

ShadowHawg

Quote from: Rbill on October 28, 2017, 02:30:48 pm
Being scared to make any kind of pass that accomplishes anything and always settling for a 3 in the half court offense is not one of those ways.

Better tell NBA coaches.

You don't get 20 assists by making meaningless passes.

The_Bionic_Pig

October 29, 2017, 03:55:53 pm #32 Last Edit: October 29, 2017, 06:53:18 pm by The_Bionic_Pig
Your correct I shouldn't have called out Beard personally because if he shoots 40% he would have been the talk of this board.

My original point does stand....I am holding out hope that a interior scoring threat will elevate itself this season.

Thompson, Bailey & Gafford combined had 13 shots attempts.



█ ▆ ▅ ▄ ▃ ▂ ▁ *Mute*

niels_boar

Quote from: Rbill on October 28, 2017, 02:30:48 pm
Being scared to make any kind of pass that accomplishes anything and always settling for a 3 in the half court offense is not one of those ways.

In the last three years Arkansas has been #254, #330, and #321 out of 351 teams in percentage of FGAs that are treys.  This myth that Arkansas chunks up a bunch of treys is about as accurate as claiming that Arkansas is year-in and year-out one of the best rebounding teams in the nation. 

The other 180-degree-opposite-to-reality myth that gets bandied about concerning our O every year is that Arkansas is careless with the ball.  CMA's worst ballhandling teams have been top 50 in fewest TOs per possession and are frequently top 20.  That's actually a concern with this team, but CMA usually gets TOs fixed.
The jawbone of an ass is just as dangerous a weapon today as in Sampson's time.

niels_boar

Quote from: The_Bionic_Pig on October 29, 2017, 03:55:53 pm
Your correct I shouldn't have called out Beard personally because if he shoots 40% he would have been the talk of this board.

My original point does stand....I am holding out hope that a interior scoring threat will elevate itself this season.

Thompson, Bailey & Gafford combined took 13 shots total.

If you're talking about my post on Beard, it wasn't aimed at anybody in particular.  It was motivated by posts on many threads on multiple boards.
The jawbone of an ass is just as dangerous a weapon today as in Sampson's time.

rzrbkman

Only 8 players were dressed out. Of that 8, Gafford who is supposed to be one of the main inside players inside only played 15 minutes and then another inside player could only get 1 minute on the court. Is the team going to wind up with enough players to contribute?

The_Bionic_Pig

Quote from: niels_boar on October 29, 2017, 04:05:45 pm
If you're talking about my post on Beard, it wasn't aimed at anybody in particular.  It was motivated by posts on many threads on multiple boards.

Actually I was talking about my previous post calling for Beard to personally take fewer shots (that was wrong) and focus on getting the ball into the interior.... It's the guards as a unit not just him. (not necessarily 3's)
█ ▆ ▅ ▄ ▃ ▂ ▁ *Mute*

The_Bionic_Pig

Quote from: niels_boar on October 29, 2017, 04:01:47 pm
In the last three years Arkansas has been #254, #330, and #321 out of 351 teams in percentage of FGAs that are treys.  This myth that Arkansas chunks up a bunch of treys is about as accurate as claiming that Arkansas is year-in and year-out one of the best rebounding teams in the nation. 

The other 180-degree-opposite-to-reality myth that gets bandied about concerning our O every year is that Arkansas is careless with the ball.  CMA's worst ballhandling teams have been top 50 in fewest TOs per possession and are frequently top 20.  That's actually a concern with this team, but CMA usually gets TOs fixed.

Now that I didn't know...good info.
█ ▆ ▅ ▄ ▃ ▂ ▁ *Mute*

Fan701

Quote from: niels_boar on October 29, 2017, 04:01:47 pm
In the last three years Arkansas has been #254, #330, and #321 out of 351 teams in percentage of FGAs that are treys.  This myth that Arkansas chunks up a bunch of treys is about as accurate as claiming that Arkansas is year-in and year-out one of the best rebounding teams in the nation. 

The other 180-degree-opposite-to-reality myth that gets bandied about concerning our O every year is that Arkansas is careless with the ball.  CMA's worst ballhandling teams have been top 50 in fewest TOs per possession and are frequently top 20.  That's actually a concern with this team, but CMA usually gets TOs fixed.
Myths die hard once they've become "common knowledge," no matter how untrue or out of date.  Just watch, when we lose a few on the road the old canard will raise its head about MA's system can't win on the road, despite our 15-12 record in true SEC road games over the past three years - second only to Kentucky, and that includes the horrendous '15-'16 season.

Rbill

Quote from: niels_boar on October 29, 2017, 04:01:47 pm
In the last three years Arkansas has been #254, #330, and #321 out of 351 teams in percentage of FGAs that are treys.  This myth that Arkansas chunks up a bunch of treys is about as accurate as claiming that Arkansas is year-in and year-out one of the best rebounding teams in the nation. 



How about "we chunk up a bunch of treys when we get stuck in a half court offense" which we generally do our hardest to avoid getting stuck in. Look up that stat. Throw in lots of "I give up on penetrating this zone" long 2s as well. Of course we prefer breakaway layups. The point still stands we need a general and more consistent ability to penetrate in the half court. Thompson seemed like our best passer last year and surprisingly the most consistent at looking for this concept and making this happen.

Hogs49ers

Quote from: Letsroll1200 on October 28, 2017, 07:57:47 am
We're not dumping it down to anyone in the post. This team will be a drive and kick team. Gafford is all energy right now and his offensive game has to develop. I like Gafford because unlike Kingsley he's not going to become frustrated when he's not scoring.

I had not thought about that, but that is a really good point.  Gafford should continue to play extremely hard on defense all game whether he has any points or not.  Apparently he is like a jack rabbit and has an absolute ton of energy at all times, that will show up early on and continue throughout his time here.
SCREW Vandy!

niels_boar

Quote from: Rbill on October 29, 2017, 09:17:28 pm
How about "we chunk up a bunch of treys when we get stuck in a half court offense" which we generally do our hardest to avoid getting stuck in. Look up that stat. Throw in lots of "I give up on penetrating this zone" long 2s as well. Of course we prefer breakaway layups. The point still stands we need a general and more consistent ability to penetrate in the half court. Thompson seemed like our best passer last year and surprisingly the most consistent at looking for this concept and making this happen.

We didn't even play at a fast pace last season.  In conference we were ninth in pace in the SEC.  This notion that our offense is predicated on run-and-gun is an echo of the 90's, not current reality unfortunately.  It is impossible to be at the very bottom of all college basketball in percentage of attempts that are treys and be abnormally prone to settling for the threes in halfcourt.  Transition is only 30% of our attempts.  You also aren't third in the league and top-100 nationally in FTA rate if you "settle" for a bunch of threes in the halfcourt.  Hannahs, Macon, Barford, and Kingsley drew a lot of fouls and knocked them down, which was a key to our top-30 offensive efficiency. 

I wish we got out on the break more.  The time that you are overwhelmingly most likely to get to the rim is in transition off a TO, but we were only #181 in forcing TOs last season.  Since we are trying to force TOs, that's one reason why our D struggled, especially the first half of the season.

There are legitimate criticisms of our offense, but taking too many treys in any situation is not one of them.  In fact, taking too few treys was a symptom of not having a dynamic penetrator.  We need more, not less, kickouts to the perimeter.  Hannahs, Macon, and Barford were quite good at creating a two for themselves or getting fouled.  Kicking out, not so much.  The guards penetrated often, but we didn't get many assists out of it.  You're right that Thompson was the only player on the team that had a PGesque assist rate.

We didn't and probably still don't have a great back-to-the-basket scorer.  I'm hoping that Macon and Barford will up their assists.  However, until proven otherwise, we may not have an assist machine in the backcourt.  Maybe next season with Harris.  That's one reason why in my opinion Thompson's role is being underestimated by most.  He's going to be a weapon in our halfcourt offense at the high post because of his passing.  That's just our personnel, and CMA can't fit a square peg into a round hole.  Personally I think CMA deserves a lot of credit for squeezing all he can out of the offense the last three years.  It's not like he has had the luxury to roll the ball out to a couple of lottery picks and tell them to get a bucket.

My guess is that a successful offense this year will be Macon and Barford as clear 1 and 1A options.  They are going to have to be the gravity that draws the defense out of position, and they will need to get to the line often.  Hopefully they will up their ability to get their teammates involved.  Jones and Beard should be the beneficiaries on the perimeter.  Thompson can draw bigs out of the lane and get free points for the athletic cutters.  We are probably going to need to get more out of transition this season, and I hope that we have the long athletes that can force more TOs.  We might also do a more damage on the offensive glass with Gafford, Bailey, and more athletic wings.  The x-factor is getting more points than expected from the forwards.

A reliable double figures from Kingsley on the baseline is going to be difficult to replace.  So will the ability of Hannahs to generate a deuce in critical situations with a runner or two FTs.  I'm guessing this team could look challenged on O to start the season but may improve rapidly as roles get sorted out.  I'm also concerned that we may not have reliable ballhandlers on the wing.  Few noticed that Watkins had a nice assist rate last season without hardly ever turning the ball over.  That helped our scorers.
The jawbone of an ass is just as dangerous a weapon today as in Sampson's time.

Fan701

Quote from: niels_boar on October 30, 2017, 01:20:22 pm
We didn't even play at a fast pace last season.  In conference we were ninth in pace in the SEC.  This notion that our offense is predicated on run-and-gun is an echo of the 90's, not current reality unfortunately.  It is impossible to be at the very bottom of all college basketball in percentage of attempts that are treys and be abnormally prone to settling for the threes in halfcourt.  Transition is only 30% of our attempts.  You also aren't third in the league and top-100 nationally in FTA rate if you "settle" for a bunch of threes in the halfcourt.  Hannahs, Macon, Barford, and Kingsley drew a lot of fouls and knocked them down, which was a key to our top-30 offensive efficiency. 

I wish we got out on the break more.  The time that you are overwhelmingly most likely to get to the rim is in transition off a TO, but we were only #181 in forcing TOs last season.  Since we are trying to force TOs, that's one reason why our D struggled, especially the first half of the season.

There are legitimate criticisms of our offense, but taking too many treys in any situation is not one of them.  In fact, taking too few treys was a symptom of not having a dynamic penetrator.  We need more, not less, kickouts to the perimeter.  Hannahs, Macon, and Barford were quite good at creating a two for themselves or getting fouled.  Kicking out, not so much.  The guards penetrated often, but we didn't get many assists out of it.  You're right that Thompson was the only player on the team that had a PGesque assist rate.

We didn't and probably still don't have a great back-to-the-basket scorer.  I'm hoping that Macon and Barford will up their assists.  However, until proven otherwise, we may not have an assist machine in the backcourt.  Maybe next season with Harris.  That's one reason why in my opinion Thompson's role is being underestimated by most.  He's going to be a weapon in our halfcourt offense at the high post because of his passing.  That's just our personnel, and CMA can't fit a square peg into a round hole.  Personally I think CMA deserves a lot of credit for squeezing all he can out of the offense the last three years.  It's not like he has had the luxury to roll the ball out to a couple of lottery picks and tell them to get a bucket.

My guess is that a successful offense this year will be Macon and Barford as clear 1 and 1A options.  They are going to have to be the gravity that draws the defense out of position, and they will need to get to the line often.  Hopefully they will up their ability to get their teammates involved.  Jones and Beard should be the beneficiaries on the perimeter.  Thompson can draw bigs out of the lane and get free points for the athletic cutters.  We are probably going to need to get more out of transition this season, and I hope that we have the long athletes that can force more TOs.  We might also do a more damage on the offensive glass with Gafford, Bailey, and more athletic wings.  The x-factor is getting more points than expected from the forwards.

A reliable double figures from Kingsley on the baseline is going to be difficult to replace.  So will the ability of Hannahs to generate a deuce in critical situations with a runner or two FTs.  I'm guessing this team could look challenged on O to start the season but may improve rapidly as roles get sorted out.  I'm also concerned that we may not have reliable ballhandlers on the wing.  Few noticed that Watkins had a nice assist rate last season without hardly ever turning the ball over.  That helped our scorers.

You're arguing with someone who's mind is already made up, no matter the facts of the situation.  He probably heard someone in a bar once say that MA's teams are no good because they just jack up a bunch of threes.  It sounded sage, so he's repeated it ever since.

sickboy

Just looking at the numbers, because I didn't see the game or hear it or have any duck in that hunt, but I like Gafford's stat line. 12 points in fifteen minutes, with 7 boards and 3 steals. Excited to see how he progresses.

Youngsta71701

Quote from: Letsroll1200 on October 28, 2017, 07:57:47 am
We're not dumping it down to anyone in the post. This team will be a drive and kick team. Gafford is all energy right now and his offensive game has to develop. I like Gafford because unlike Kingsley he's not going to become frustrated when he's not scoring.
If you say so. BTW did you not read my whole post? I said, and I quote...Play inside out rather it's driving to the basket or dumping it down in the post.
"The more things change the more they stay the same"

rzrbackramsfan

Quote from: niels_boar on October 30, 2017, 01:20:22 pm
We didn't even play at a fast pace last season.  In conference we were ninth in pace in the SEC.  This notion that our offense is predicated on run-and-gun is an echo of the 90's, not current reality unfortunately.  It is impossible to be at the very bottom of all college basketball in percentage of attempts that are treys and be abnormally prone to settling for the threes in halfcourt.  Transition is only 30% of our attempts.  You also aren't third in the league and top-100 nationally in FTA rate if you "settle" for a bunch of threes in the halfcourt.  Hannahs, Macon, Barford, and Kingsley drew a lot of fouls and knocked them down, which was a key to our top-30 offensive efficiency. 

I wish we got out on the break more.  The time that you are overwhelmingly most likely to get to the rim is in transition off a TO, but we were only #181 in forcing TOs last season.  Since we are trying to force TOs, that's one reason why our D struggled, especially the first half of the season.

There are legitimate criticisms of our offense, but taking too many treys in any situation is not one of them.  In fact, taking too few treys was a symptom of not having a dynamic penetrator.  We need more, not less, kickouts to the perimeter.  Hannahs, Macon, and Barford were quite good at creating a two for themselves or getting fouled.  Kicking out, not so much.  The guards penetrated often, but we didn't get many assists out of it.  You're right that Thompson was the only player on the team that had a PGesque assist rate.

We didn't and probably still don't have a great back-to-the-basket scorer.  I'm hoping that Macon and Barford will up their assists.  However, until proven otherwise, we may not have an assist machine in the backcourt.  Maybe next season with Harris.  That's one reason why in my opinion Thompson's role is being underestimated by most.  He's going to be a weapon in our halfcourt offense at the high post because of his passing.  That's just our personnel, and CMA can't fit a square peg into a round hole.  Personally I think CMA deserves a lot of credit for squeezing all he can out of the offense the last three years.  It's not like he has had the luxury to roll the ball out to a couple of lottery picks and tell them to get a bucket.

My guess is that a successful offense this year will be Macon and Barford as clear 1 and 1A options.  They are going to have to be the gravity that draws the defense out of position, and they will need to get to the line often.  Hopefully they will up their ability to get their teammates involved.  Jones and Beard should be the beneficiaries on the perimeter.  Thompson can draw bigs out of the lane and get free points for the athletic cutters.  We are probably going to need to get more out of transition this season, and I hope that we have the long athletes that can force more TOs.  We might also do a more damage on the offensive glass with Gafford, Bailey, and more athletic wings.  The x-factor is getting more points than expected from the forwards.

A reliable double figures from Kingsley on the baseline is going to be difficult to replace.  So will the ability of Hannahs to generate a deuce in critical situations with a runner or two FTs.  I'm guessing this team could look challenged on O to start the season but may improve rapidly as roles get sorted out.  I'm also concerned that we may not have reliable ballhandlers on the wing.  Few noticed that Watkins had a nice assist rate last season without hardly ever turning the ball over.  That helped our scorers.

Man... nice post.  Niels Boar knows his stuff!!

Pinto

Quote from: niels_boar on October 30, 2017, 01:20:22 pm
We didn't even play at a fast pace last season.  In conference we were ninth in pace in the SEC.  This notion that our offense is predicated on run-and-gun is an echo of the 90's, not current reality unfortunately.  It is impossible to be at the very bottom of all college basketball in percentage of attempts that are treys and be abnormally prone to settling for the threes in halfcourt.  Transition is only 30% of our attempts.  You also aren't third in the league and top-100 nationally in FTA rate if you "settle" for a bunch of threes in the halfcourt.  Hannahs, Macon, Barford, and Kingsley drew a lot of fouls and knocked them down, which was a key to our top-30 offensive efficiency. 

I wish we got out on the break more.  The time that you are overwhelmingly most likely to get to the rim is in transition off a TO, but we were only #181 in forcing TOs last season.  Since we are trying to force TOs, that's one reason why our D struggled, especially the first half of the season.

There are legitimate criticisms of our offense, but taking too many treys in any situation is not one of them.  In fact, taking too few treys was a symptom of not having a dynamic penetrator.  We need more, not less, kickouts to the perimeter.  Hannahs, Macon, and Barford were quite good at creating a two for themselves or getting fouled.  Kicking out, not so much.  The guards penetrated often, but we didn't get many assists out of it.  You're right that Thompson was the only player on the team that had a PGesque assist rate.

We didn't and probably still don't have a great back-to-the-basket scorer.  I'm hoping that Macon and Barford will up their assists.  However, until proven otherwise, we may not have an assist machine in the backcourt.  Maybe next season with Harris.  That's one reason why in my opinion Thompson's role is being underestimated by most.  He's going to be a weapon in our halfcourt offense at the high post because of his passing.  That's just our personnel, and CMA can't fit a square peg into a round hole.  Personally I think CMA deserves a lot of credit for squeezing all he can out of the offense the last three years.  It's not like he has had the luxury to roll the ball out to a couple of lottery picks and tell them to get a bucket.

My guess is that a successful offense this year will be Macon and Barford as clear 1 and 1A options.  They are going to have to be the gravity that draws the defense out of position, and they will need to get to the line often.  Hopefully they will up their ability to get their teammates involved.  Jones and Beard should be the beneficiaries on the perimeter.  Thompson can draw bigs out of the lane and get free points for the athletic cutters.  We are probably going to need to get more out of transition this season, and I hope that we have the long athletes that can force more TOs.  We might also do a more damage on the offensive glass with Gafford, Bailey, and more athletic wings.  The x-factor is getting more points than expected from the forwards.

A reliable double figures from Kingsley on the baseline is going to be difficult to replace.  So will the ability of Hannahs to generate a deuce in critical situations with a runner or two FTs.  I'm guessing this team could look challenged on O to start the season but may improve rapidly as roles get sorted out.  I'm also concerned that we may not have reliable ballhandlers on the wing.  Few noticed that Watkins had a nice assist rate last season without hardly ever turning the ball over.  That helped our scorers.

I agree with most of your post but if we had a guard who could consistently beat the defender off the dribble to penetrate and create for others, our offense wouldn't be so stagnant. We also don't run enough PNR or we don't have the personnel who knows how to run an effective one.

I think Dayday can handle ball pretty well and more confidently than Manny could. Hopefully he will make smart decisions like Manny did last year. I'm very anxious to see him in action on Friday because I truly believe he is the glue guy.


azhog10

Quote from: hobhog on October 28, 2017, 10:56:35 am
How the frock do we not have a point guard?

This game was not a good look. MA can't afford a bad start to the season....hope it wasn't sign of things to come.
We have our starting PG back from last year......i keep seeing people say this but Barford was our PG last year and he's our PG this year. He may not be your typical 'pg' but he is more than capable of handling the rock and doing what we need.

rzrbkman

Quote from: sickboy on October 30, 2017, 05:01:34 pm
Just looking at the numbers, because I didn't see the game or hear it or have any duck in that hunt, but I like Gafford's stat line. 12 points in fifteen minutes, with 7 boards and 3 steals. Excited to see how he progresses.

Why did Gafford only play for 15 minutes when there were only 8 players total dressed out and 1 of those remaining 7 players only played 1 minute?

Rbill

Quote from: niels_boar on October 30, 2017, 01:20:22 pm
We didn't even play at a fast pace last season.  In conference we were ninth in pace in the SEC.  This notion that our offense is predicated on run-and-gun is an echo of the 90's, not current reality unfortunately.  It is impossible to be at the very bottom of all college basketball in percentage of attempts that are treys and be abnormally prone to settling for the threes in halfcourt.  Transition is only 30% of our attempts.  You also aren't third in the league and top-100 nationally in FTA rate if you "settle" for a bunch of threes in the halfcourt.  Hannahs, Macon, Barford, and Kingsley drew a lot of fouls and knocked them down, which was a key to our top-30 offensive efficiency. 

I wish we got out on the break more.  The time that you are overwhelmingly most likely to get to the rim is in transition off a TO, but we were only #181 in forcing TOs last season.  Since we are trying to force TOs, that's one reason why our D struggled, especially the first half of the season.

There are legitimate criticisms of our offense, but taking too many treys in any situation is not one of them.  In fact, taking too few treys was a symptom of not having a dynamic penetrator.  We need more, not less, kickouts to the perimeter.  Hannahs, Macon, and Barford were quite good at creating a two for themselves or getting fouled.  Kicking out, not so much.  The guards penetrated often, but we didn't get many assists out of it.  You're right that Thompson was the only player on the team that had a PGesque assist rate.

We didn't and probably still don't have a great back-to-the-basket scorer.  I'm hoping that Macon and Barford will up their assists.  However, until proven otherwise, we may not have an assist machine in the backcourt.  Maybe next season with Harris.  That's one reason why in my opinion Thompson's role is being underestimated by most.  He's going to be a weapon in our halfcourt offense at the high post because of his passing.  That's just our personnel, and CMA can't fit a square peg into a round hole.  Personally I think CMA deserves a lot of credit for squeezing all he can out of the offense the last three years.  It's not like he has had the luxury to roll the ball out to a couple of lottery picks and tell them to get a bucket.

My guess is that a successful offense this year will be Macon and Barford as clear 1 and 1A options.  They are going to have to be the gravity that draws the defense out of position, and they will need to get to the line often.  Hopefully they will up their ability to get their teammates involved.  Jones and Beard should be the beneficiaries on the perimeter.  Thompson can draw bigs out of the lane and get free points for the athletic cutters.  We are probably going to need to get more out of transition this season, and I hope that we have the long athletes that can force more TOs.  We might also do a more damage on the offensive glass with Gafford, Bailey, and more athletic wings.  The x-factor is getting more points than expected from the forwards.

A reliable double figures from Kingsley on the baseline is going to be difficult to replace.  So will the ability of Hannahs to generate a deuce in critical situations with a runner or two FTs.  I'm guessing this team could look challenged on O to start the season but may improve rapidly as roles get sorted out.  I'm also concerned that we may not have reliable ballhandlers on the wing.  Few noticed that Watkins had a nice assist rate last season without hardly ever turning the ball over.  That helped our scorers.

Nice post Niels Boar. Going back many years it has felt like our primary weakness is half-court offense operations. That has been a knock for a while. Bobby Portis himself said we don't really run plays. Trey became our best point guard-esque passer as you say and it was cool to see that come out of nowhere but we simply need an actual point guard with no esque. I love Mike Anderson and the guy who said my mind is made up and I think Mike's teams stink is dead wrong. My critique is not about our percentage of 3s as I said in my last post. You can throw in desperation 2s and desperation drives straight into the defense as well. I just don't like looking clueless on offense. When we do struggle- over the last several years off and on - it's because we just weave and play hot potato waiting for someone to decide to do it himself. Hannahs figured out a way to do it himself last year and of course Barford and Macon can, but we need more than hot potato do it yourself. Whether it's a 2 or 3 they do themselves doesn't matter. This team will figure out their roles and will get great production from their forwards if we use them properly and get them involved instead of passing it to them outside the arc.
Your paragraph on what successful offense looks like for us this year is spot on.