pumpfake

Great TEAM win. Hopefully they can bring this kind of effort for the rest of the season. Gotta believe we're going to start hitting some of those shots that haven't been falling.

The GOOD: the team has played hard and hit shots early. The BAD: rotation not tightened up. Ineffective guard still getting lots of time on the floor. The UGLY: Absolutely dreadful FT shooting.

We've left 8 points at the FT line.

Typical B10 BS - one team is highly ranked and the other isn't.

Fisch just said Hunter was knocking down 3's after practice yesterday (evidently quite well).

Doesn't appear the rotation has been tightened up much

The team finally shows up, plays with purpose and is confronted with 3 crooks with whistles.

Yep. "Hall of calls" my backside!

Who's gonna come in for Al? Team playing hard engaged thus far.. Keep it up guys!

I'm very happy to add AL to the roster. Seems like a competitor and hopefully a guy who'll fit into Archie's system. But, you're right about being the cure to our 3-pt woes. It's always a risk to rely on an incoming recruit to be your sharpshooting savior - regardless of rating. If he can contribute, play within the system, and be a decent shooter that's all I ask. I do agree that we've needed (and still do) another PG and some quality shooters.

While I hate that it would come to that (booting players, encouraging them to transfer, etc.), it's probably time the air was "cleared". Frankly I'm glad he said what needed to be said (assuming this is accurate and I trust it is).

Justin may not have the talent to dominate a game, but he's shown he can be a big contributor. He,and several other members of the team, has missed a number of "easy" near the bucket shots. I suspect he makes them in practice. It might be a confidence thing, IDK. I took notice of the interchange with CAM. It very well may have been just a frustration/explanation thing. Justin is a smart kid and we don't know how he and coach interact. The fact that he played his butt off during the last part of the game and Archie singled he, Trayce, and Joey out for their contributions down the stretch dispels my concern. As someone else mentioned, this came after NU got a easy, uncontested layup. Smith and Hunter appeared to be the two who should have been there. I don't know who fell asleep defensively on the play, but it's likely Justin was frustrated from what caused the breakdown.

Yeah. That's not good if true. It seemed like he (DG) was playing very subdued from the beginning of the game. I wondered if maybe he was trying to avoid playing out of control, "bad Devonte" baketball. Unfortunately, he wasn't doing much of anything during that stretch. Then, later in the first half he had a wild, out of control type play and went to the bench a while later. I don't even remember him playing in the second half.

Yep. Those guys really haven't contributed much of anything and it's not looking like they will. I have to admit that I'm disappointed in Hunter so far. I expected he'd be starting to show some flashes by now, but he's really been terrible shooting the ball (bankshot 3-pointer included).

I did like the lineup playing down the stretch. Sub 40% FG shooting won't win many games. Nobody got injured. That's all I've got.

Did the NW player kick that ball?

Just read an article today in which he says he's healthy and almost back to normal - just not there with conditioning yet. His defense has been solid, but he's been less than stellar with the ball.

I believe there are teams that make FT's at a higher pct than we do on layups.

Smith was going to his seat and Archie was trying to talk with him. Smith started talking back, made some gesture, turned his back and kept on walking.

Pretty comprehensive assessment of our predicament, IMO. We've yet to see a player make a big improvement from one season to the next, especially in the area of shooting accuracy. I'm not at all content to rely on player development alone to cure our play. I also don't see "addition by subtraction" as being enough to make a massive improvement. We have a nice 2020 class coming in, but unspectacular. It's hard to envision them all being immediate contributors. Our track record with transfers had been dismal under CAM, until Brunk. Right now it looks like the only near-term avenue for improved guard play (shooting). Fingers crossed, but each week it gets harder to remain optimistic.

On Saturday, I thought we looked pretty good in the first half except we weren't hitting shots (I'm resigned to the fact we shoot poorly, I guess). Then in the second half we were shooting worse, weren't getting anything down low, making more errors, and Maryland was scoring and viola! I thought we looked like something you scrape off your shoe. The truth is, we struggle to shoot the ball at a mediocre clip, but can otherwise play well. As the game progresses and we miss shots it affects everything else we do, it seems. Because of poor shooting, we have a limited ceiling, but without good defense, valuing the ball, and constantly looking for the good shot we're barely competitive.

Bummer. Tempers my enthusiasm a bit. Thanks for the insight none the less. I've always remembered something an old basketball coach said, I want to say it was Abe Lemons (paraphrasing): I'd rather a player get 10 points every game that 30 one night and nothing the next". We need scorers, consistent scorers.

I have very similar thoughts. Top players are, to some extent, prima donnas and are drawn to being told how important they are. In some of the interviews with recruits they describe him as "solid" and business like - not in a negative way, but not really compelling (charismatic was a good word). Personally, I'd prefer dealing with someone like that, but it probably doesn't sway teenagers.

If this was racing, Deron would get a black flag..

When did Julia Roberts' brother become an assistant coach for Maryland?