IU vs Lamar Post Game Thread

[ou812dude 3,326]

 

We're still going to simply shoot a lot of teams out of the gym.

 

 

 

I think I butchered this quote due to me being an imbecile...but I agreed with your post and and wanted to focus on this point...

 

there will be times when our shooting doesn't bail us out...

I'm curious as to how the team responds to poor shooting...

[Candystriped 67]

We've got a lot of work to do.  Play like tonight and B1G will be a long season.

Seems like all the big ten teams have had a game or two early in which they have struggled like we did tonight, so nothing has changed as far as the big ten.  MSU barely won their first game of the year against Navy, Michigan barely squeaked out a win against Detroit Mercy, Nebraska lost to Rhode Island, etc. So after Wisconsin, the Big Ten will be up for grabs this year

[theriverpilot 5,593]

I think I butchered this quote due to me being an imbecile...but I agreed with your post and and wanted to focus on this point...

there will be times when our shooting doesn't bail us out...
I'm curious as to how the team responds to poor shooting...

I'm hoping that all 4 of our shooters (Yogi, RoJo, Z, and JBJ) aren't all off at the same time! Or that a wildcard like Hartman picks up the slack in a game like that. Another good thing are our slashers. Yogi, Troy, and RoJo can get to the basket off the dribble, so can bail out a bad shooting night.

[Parakeet Jones 3,745]

I think HMP is so focused on not fouling that it hampers his aggression on defense.

[BubbleKnuts 569]

Hartman, first man off the bench. Although his minutes will diminish in conference play, I could see him providing some pushes for victory.

[biteoftheapple 4,115]

Holt and April sure have not good a chance to show much, yet. I di not know why. Its not that our current roster has shown much in the interior. HMP may need minutes, but I have concluded that what he lacks, will not be improved upon. I thiught Holt showed a flash of good in his short minutes. We all know we need thesr guys ready to play in the upcoming schedule.

[Lt. John McClaine 541]

If we are going to play Zone Defense then it has to be much much more active.  Our 2 guys on the perimeter never rotate fast enough, never have active hands, they just kind of stay in a lil area and hope for the best.  I feel that we will have to implement a Zone Defense this year because we are the size of a MAC Conference team in the frontcourt, but if we want to have success then our Zone Defense has to be tightened up.  

 

I think that our offense has shown a lot of improvement, but unless our Defense improves, then that will be our glaring weakness all year.  It just looks to me that we have not practiced our Defensive Fundamentals near as much as our Offense, and if I was the Coaching Staff then I would be dedicating a lot of time to teaching how to play an effective Zone Defense, and how to play affective Transition Defense, and how to play positional Defense under the basket without fouling.  I'd start with that.  

[JSHoosier 19,996]

If we are going to play Zone Defense then it has to be much much more active.  Our 2 guys on the perimeter never rotate fast enough, never have active hands, they just kind of stay in a lil area and hope for the best.  I feel that we will have to implement a Zone Defense this year because we are the size of a MAC Conference team in the frontcourt, but if we want to have success then our Zone Defense has to be tightened up.  

 

I think that our offense has shown a lot of improvement, but unless our Defense improves, then that will be our glaring weakness all year.  It just looks to me that we have not practiced our Defensive Fundamentals near as much as our Offense, and if I was the Coaching Staff then I would be dedicating a lot of time to teaching how to play an effective Zone Defense, and how to play affective Transition Defense, and how to play positional Defense under the basket without fouling.  I'd start with that.  

A zone could help protect our weak front court, although I've never been particularly impressed by our zone, the problem is it's more difficult to rebound out of and we have enough problems on the boards.

[Class of '66 Old Fart 84,321]

Yep we're officially on upset alert on Monday.

 

Eastern Washington gave SMU all they could handle tonight, Mustangs won by 10 I believe.

Au contraire, I think Lamar was a wake-up call and we'll look a whole lot better Monday night.

[Class of '66 Old Fart 84,321]

Lost in all the conversation of how pathetic our defense was (did we even have one?) is the fact that for the second game in a row we protected the ball extremely well with only 9 TO's. 

 

Our ability to shoot the ball is a most welcome relief from last year, but every one of our shooters is going to have 1 or 2 nights where they can't find the basket to save their soul.  Hopefully, those nights will be scattered among the shooters and they all won't happen on the same night.

[Myrmidon76 614]

Strangely, this seems applicable to the defense we exhibited last night....even down to the reference of the game on Monday.

***Warning for language....obviously.

Bobby Knight - Angry half time speech: http://youtu.be/uMVmhI1SUq0

[ziggyiu 559]

Yooooo, SMU is definitely capable of making the tourney...

I never said anything about SMU. I said 3 opponents (Lamar, Texas Southern and Mississippi Valley State.). I think SMU is a solid mid-major. Let's not forget they were waxed by Gonzaga before playing us. They'll be even better when Kennedy can play.

[BGleas 7,880]

You nailed it. The zone could be a really good defense for us this year, but we're not nearly active enough in it. My sophomore year of college we played exclusively zone, and the keys to a good zone are quick/precise rotations and almost manically being active with your arms/hands.

If you're not active with your hands then it allows the offense to both see and pass right through it, hence all the interior passing we've been allowing in the middle of the zone.

If we are going to play Zone Defense then it has to be much much more active.  Our 2 guys on the perimeter never rotate fast enough, never have active hands, they just kind of stay in a lil area and hope for the best.  I feel that we will have to implement a Zone Defense this year because we are the size of a MAC Conference team in the frontcourt, but if we want to have success then our Zone Defense has to be tightened up.  
 
I think that our offense has shown a lot of improvement, but unless our Defense improves, then that will be our glaring weakness all year.  It just looks to me that we have not practiced our Defensive Fundamentals near as much as our Offense, and if I was the Coaching Staff then I would be dedicating a lot of time to teaching how to play an effective Zone Defense, and how to play affective Transition Defense, and how to play positional Defense under the basket without fouling.  I'd start with that.

[Hovadipo 55,461]

You nailed it. The zone could be a really good defense for us this year, but we're not nearly active enough in it. My sophomore year of college we played exclusively zone, and the keys to a good zone are quick/precise rotations and almost manically being active with your arms/hands.

If you're not active with your hands then it allows the offense to both see and pass right through it, hence all the interior passing we've been allowing in the middle of the zone.

I thought there were times against SMU when we rotated beautifully. If we could be consistent with rotations, we could be trouble.

[BGleas 7,880]

Agree. I'm actually more concerned about our hand/arm activity on defense. Last night we primarily played defense with our arms at our sides. That's a horrible habit.

A perfect example is that the three Nic Moore hit late in the second half Thursday. Remember the play? The shot clock was running down and Yogi was actually in good position, but he had his hands down at his sides and allowed Moore to basically shoot uncontested right over him. If Yogi has his hands up and in Moore's face, that shot is almost impossible. That's just one example, there's tons of shots throughout a game where hand activity could be the difference.

Last night too, I was really focusing in on it, and our guys basically always had their hands at their sides.

I thought there were times against SMU when we rotated beautifully. If we could be consistent with rotations, we could be trouble.

[Walking Boot of Doom 18,170]

Agree. I'm actually more concerned about our hand/arm activity on defense. Last night we primarily played defense with our arms at our sides. That's a horrible habit.

A perfect example is that the three Nic Moore hit late in the second half Thursday. Remember the play? The shot clock was running down and Yogi was actually in good position, but he had his hands down at his sides and allowed Moore to basically shoot uncontested right over him. If Yogi has his hands up and in Moore's face, that shot is almost impossible. That's just one example, there's tons of shots throughout a game where hand activity could be the difference.

Last night too, I was really focusing in on it, and our guys basically always had their hands at their sides.

I've noticed the arms as well. I think we're actually playing zone defense fairly well, especially the 1-3-1, but they aren't challenging and closing passing lanes with their arms well enough. This is surprising given how much Crean tracks deflections.

[Hovadipo 55,461]

Agree. I'm actually more concerned about our hand/arm activity on defense. Last night we primarily played defense with our arms at our sides. That's a horrible habit.

A perfect example is that the three Nic Moore hit late in the second half Thursday. Remember the play? The shot clock was running down and Yogi was actually in good position, but he had his hands down at his sides and allowed Moore to basically shoot uncontested right over him. If Yogi has his hands up and in Moore's face, that shot is almost impossible. That's just one example, there's tons of shots throughout a game where hand activity could be the difference.

Last night too, I was really focusing in on it, and our guys basically always had their hands at their sides.

I definitely remember that play. He just sat there above the right wing and dribbled for about 15 seconds. Shoo'd away a ball screen, smirked right at Yogi, and dropped a bomb in his face. That play shut up the student section too.

[BGleas 7,880]

And it all happened because Yogi's hands weren't active. He gave him a clean look in a tough situation.

I definitely remember that play. He just sat there above the right wing and dribbled for about 15 seconds. Shoo'd away a ball screen, smirked right at Yogi, and dropped a bomb in his face. That play shut up the student section too.

[8bucks 6,401]

And it all happened because Yogi's hands weren't active. He gave him a clean look in a tough situation.

it seems to me we do not put any pressure on the opposing teams offense. Whether in zone or man we play a lot of contain. It seems Stan and Yogi are the only ones who can apply pressure though they often do not.

With the athletes we often recruit it seems strange that we are not stronger on D. Was it last year or Vic's last year when we finally had a highly rated D? If last year what did we do differently?

[KingPG21 6,583]

it seems to me we do not put any pressure on the opposing teams offense. Whether in zone or man we play a lot of contain. It seems Stan and Yogi are the only ones who can apply pressure though they often do not.

With the athletes we often recruit it seems strange that we are not stronger on D. Was it last year or Vic's last year when we finally had a highly rated D? If last year what did we do differently?

Pretty sure it was Vic's last year that we had the highly rated defense. We've made progress throughout Crean tenure, which makes sense given the lack of athletes he had at his disposal when he first came here. I think last season was a step back from what we saw in terms of efficiency defensively the year before. Though it might not be showing through the basic numbers