ShowinGoldyLove
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I'm not going to analyze the game tonight, players, defense (which I could write a novel on no doubt)etc.; but I want to address Joseph's return. Despite much of the excitement with our season up until tonight, writers, fans, even players have often said "just wait until Joseph gets back!"
However, count me as one person that is extremely concerned about his contributions to our team moving forward. This isn't to denigrate how well he played towards the end of last year; instead, it's meant to address how he will attempt to fit in with the 2010-2011 team, especially offensively. If we're going to contend for a Big 10 title, we're not only going to need production from Joseph, but we're going to need him to develop/learn some skills I don't believe we've seen from him at the PG spot. My concerns about Joseph at the PG/SG combo spot (depending on where he's playing):
Concern #1: Joseph is a player that needs the ball to excel:
He's very similar to a Westbrook-type player, doesn't move well without the ball, doesn't make strong cuts, can't pass very well, but loves dribbling the ball up the court, getting a screen, either popping the 3, or shooting a 15 ft jumper (he doesn't get to the rim like Westbrook however).
Yet, the reason our offense was so successful in the first 6 games this year was because Nolen, Hoffarber, Armelin and even Ahamnisi were getting rid of the ball quickly, were hitting the open man, and were making passes ON TIME (not late, not after the defender has closed on the ball, etc.). With Joseph, he either 1) doesn't see these open players, especially our posts 2) gets it to them too late or 3) doesn't care to pass it to them. This is a major problem.
Concern #2: Joseph's shots are rarely within the flow of the offense:
Joseph isn't a player that will come off a double screen, nor run a UCLA cut and get the ball going to the hoop...his shots are often ill-timed, where the big men are away from the basket and don't have the ability to get the rebound.
Unlike Nolen, Hollins, Hoffarber, Armelin, even Williams, who will regularly take a shot within the flow of the offense, make a pass on time, reverse it, cut to the hoop, etc., when Joseph is constantly dribbling on top of the key or shooting ill-timed shots, our guys no longer make cuts...they watch the ball, simply because Joseph keeps motioning for the bigs to set a screen. This obviously doesn't appear to be any play/offense that we're running, so the rest of the guys on the floor don't know where to go.
Concern #3: Joseph's ability to get others involved is very poor:
Along the lines of #1 and 2, by always holding on to the ball, shooting ill-timed shots, and perhaps most importantly, not passing to the post, Joseph is limiting arguably our biggest strength in our phenomenal posts.
Despite playing PG a majority of his minutes tonight, Joseph had 2 assists (I was surprised it was that many). Nolen is typically getting 5-7 every game. Hoffarber had the ball 1/2 as much as Joseph tonight and recorded 5 assists.
How many times did Joseph make a post pass today? I didn't see one. Similarly, I don't remember him making any post passes last year, nor any reversal passes over the top. Unlike Nolen and Hoffarber (as well as Ahamnisi and Hollins from what I've seen so far), Joseph doesn't involve our posts or wings AT ALL. The only time they are involved in the offense when he's on the floor is when they are out front setting a screen for him. When our other guards get out posts involved, it not only helps their confidence in getting touches and shots, but gives us the proper rebound positioning when a shot goes up. Instead of setting screens at the 3 point line, they are in the paint banging away for rebounds.
In the game tonight, how many times did Joseph shoot outside shots where we simply had no bigs rebounding? For Pete's sake, Hoffarber had the 2nd most rebounds on the team tonight with 5 because Iverson and Sampson weren't even close to the basket when Joseph was jacking outside shots off of the screens.
Conclusion: The result of Concerns #1-3 cause the offense to stagnate, sputter, and look like it did tonight in the 2nd half where he logged a majority of his minutes/shots.
I know everyone was hoping Joseph would be an additional weapon to our arsenal upon his return, but what I saw tonight was typical of his style of play, and it concerns me. Nolen, despite being inferior offensively scoring-wise, is actually a better fit for our offensive flow in my opinion (and I'm not even mentioning his superior defensive ability).
Simply put, for us to be as good of a team as we've been before tonight, we need Joseph to study Nolen and his play, and why we're a better team with those skills leading our offense (in addition to his ability to hit the outside jumper). I understand Nolen is out for a few weeks, it's Joseph's first game back, he brings different talents to the table, etc., but we're going to continue to struggle offensively if he can't rectify these issues.
If he is taking over the PG duties for the next few weeks, we're really going to need the rest of the team involved, especially the posts.
However, count me as one person that is extremely concerned about his contributions to our team moving forward. This isn't to denigrate how well he played towards the end of last year; instead, it's meant to address how he will attempt to fit in with the 2010-2011 team, especially offensively. If we're going to contend for a Big 10 title, we're not only going to need production from Joseph, but we're going to need him to develop/learn some skills I don't believe we've seen from him at the PG spot. My concerns about Joseph at the PG/SG combo spot (depending on where he's playing):
Concern #1: Joseph is a player that needs the ball to excel:
He's very similar to a Westbrook-type player, doesn't move well without the ball, doesn't make strong cuts, can't pass very well, but loves dribbling the ball up the court, getting a screen, either popping the 3, or shooting a 15 ft jumper (he doesn't get to the rim like Westbrook however).
Yet, the reason our offense was so successful in the first 6 games this year was because Nolen, Hoffarber, Armelin and even Ahamnisi were getting rid of the ball quickly, were hitting the open man, and were making passes ON TIME (not late, not after the defender has closed on the ball, etc.). With Joseph, he either 1) doesn't see these open players, especially our posts 2) gets it to them too late or 3) doesn't care to pass it to them. This is a major problem.
Concern #2: Joseph's shots are rarely within the flow of the offense:
Joseph isn't a player that will come off a double screen, nor run a UCLA cut and get the ball going to the hoop...his shots are often ill-timed, where the big men are away from the basket and don't have the ability to get the rebound.
Unlike Nolen, Hollins, Hoffarber, Armelin, even Williams, who will regularly take a shot within the flow of the offense, make a pass on time, reverse it, cut to the hoop, etc., when Joseph is constantly dribbling on top of the key or shooting ill-timed shots, our guys no longer make cuts...they watch the ball, simply because Joseph keeps motioning for the bigs to set a screen. This obviously doesn't appear to be any play/offense that we're running, so the rest of the guys on the floor don't know where to go.
Concern #3: Joseph's ability to get others involved is very poor:
Along the lines of #1 and 2, by always holding on to the ball, shooting ill-timed shots, and perhaps most importantly, not passing to the post, Joseph is limiting arguably our biggest strength in our phenomenal posts.
Despite playing PG a majority of his minutes tonight, Joseph had 2 assists (I was surprised it was that many). Nolen is typically getting 5-7 every game. Hoffarber had the ball 1/2 as much as Joseph tonight and recorded 5 assists.
How many times did Joseph make a post pass today? I didn't see one. Similarly, I don't remember him making any post passes last year, nor any reversal passes over the top. Unlike Nolen and Hoffarber (as well as Ahamnisi and Hollins from what I've seen so far), Joseph doesn't involve our posts or wings AT ALL. The only time they are involved in the offense when he's on the floor is when they are out front setting a screen for him. When our other guards get out posts involved, it not only helps their confidence in getting touches and shots, but gives us the proper rebound positioning when a shot goes up. Instead of setting screens at the 3 point line, they are in the paint banging away for rebounds.
In the game tonight, how many times did Joseph shoot outside shots where we simply had no bigs rebounding? For Pete's sake, Hoffarber had the 2nd most rebounds on the team tonight with 5 because Iverson and Sampson weren't even close to the basket when Joseph was jacking outside shots off of the screens.
Conclusion: The result of Concerns #1-3 cause the offense to stagnate, sputter, and look like it did tonight in the 2nd half where he logged a majority of his minutes/shots.
I know everyone was hoping Joseph would be an additional weapon to our arsenal upon his return, but what I saw tonight was typical of his style of play, and it concerns me. Nolen, despite being inferior offensively scoring-wise, is actually a better fit for our offensive flow in my opinion (and I'm not even mentioning his superior defensive ability).
Simply put, for us to be as good of a team as we've been before tonight, we need Joseph to study Nolen and his play, and why we're a better team with those skills leading our offense (in addition to his ability to hit the outside jumper). I understand Nolen is out for a few weeks, it's Joseph's first game back, he brings different talents to the table, etc., but we're going to continue to struggle offensively if he can't rectify these issues.
If he is taking over the PG duties for the next few weeks, we're really going to need the rest of the team involved, especially the posts.
