GopherWatch
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Let me preface this by saying I've been involved with high school basketball as an assistant and head coach for about 25 years. I've had a reasonable amount of success (a couple of state tournaments and some 20-win seasons, mostly due to good players). This by no means makes me an absolute authority, but I've been around awhile and watch just about every Gopher game. I enjoy this forum, and like reading what other fans have to offer. I've never posted anything, but figured I'd take a shot and give a few ideas on what could be done differently.
Defensively, there are several problems that are difficult to fix. The big lineup makes man-to-man virtually impossible, while the smaller group lacks the fundamental traits of a good man-to-man.
My biggest issue with the zone is the inabilty to defend and close-out shooters. From what I've seen, ball-reversals almost always result in open jump shots for the opposition. Our team, (the big guys in particular), seems to react a second late when this happens, with the result being a rush out to the shooter to try and block shots, which in turn leaves us in faulty rebounding position. The issue could be that we have guys who CAN'T react quickly enough. A solution might be to not have guys packed so tightly into the paint, particualrly against teams that have one or less dominant post players on the floor.
The man defense is also a struggle. The fundamentals are not good. Not defending screens well is very noticeable, and what we're doing away from the ball (beating cutters to a spot, and again being a second late to react while on the helpside) just isn't very good. I'm not sure how to fix such things at this point of the season.
Offensively, it's easy to suggest that we need to run more sets for given players, but this is team that does not run sets well. There could be several reasons for this, but my guess is that we have some players who can't remember plays. This isn't uncommon. I've had many players, even book-smart ones, who struggled with this when they have to perform at game-speed.
My suggestion would be to try a different point guard and run a lot more high/low stuff (which is easy to remember) than what we've been seeing. Put Hoffarber on a wing and let Mbakwe work in the post until somebody stops him. We have some big guys who are good at feeding the post, and having Hoffarber in a shooting position would open up the middle even more. And you wouldn't have to always have Mbakwe down there. A little versatility can also create problems for a defense. I thought vs. Michigan that Rodney Williams could have done some damage inside.
Those are just a few of my thoughts. Obviously there's a lot more to being successful than what I've written. Again, I enjoy reading most of the stuff on here. There's nothing wrong with being a passionate fan.
Defensively, there are several problems that are difficult to fix. The big lineup makes man-to-man virtually impossible, while the smaller group lacks the fundamental traits of a good man-to-man.
My biggest issue with the zone is the inabilty to defend and close-out shooters. From what I've seen, ball-reversals almost always result in open jump shots for the opposition. Our team, (the big guys in particular), seems to react a second late when this happens, with the result being a rush out to the shooter to try and block shots, which in turn leaves us in faulty rebounding position. The issue could be that we have guys who CAN'T react quickly enough. A solution might be to not have guys packed so tightly into the paint, particualrly against teams that have one or less dominant post players on the floor.
The man defense is also a struggle. The fundamentals are not good. Not defending screens well is very noticeable, and what we're doing away from the ball (beating cutters to a spot, and again being a second late to react while on the helpside) just isn't very good. I'm not sure how to fix such things at this point of the season.
Offensively, it's easy to suggest that we need to run more sets for given players, but this is team that does not run sets well. There could be several reasons for this, but my guess is that we have some players who can't remember plays. This isn't uncommon. I've had many players, even book-smart ones, who struggled with this when they have to perform at game-speed.
My suggestion would be to try a different point guard and run a lot more high/low stuff (which is easy to remember) than what we've been seeing. Put Hoffarber on a wing and let Mbakwe work in the post until somebody stops him. We have some big guys who are good at feeding the post, and having Hoffarber in a shooting position would open up the middle even more. And you wouldn't have to always have Mbakwe down there. A little versatility can also create problems for a defense. I thought vs. Michigan that Rodney Williams could have done some damage inside.
Those are just a few of my thoughts. Obviously there's a lot more to being successful than what I've written. Again, I enjoy reading most of the stuff on here. There's nothing wrong with being a passionate fan.
