3 things for next year

[Hawkfnntn]

Given our differing stances on Connor as a player, I have no issue in anything you said here.

You might not believe me, but I really have no issue with Connor being Fran’s son, I really don’t. I’ve just never thought he was that great of a basketball player.

I know he’s going to play next year, but my point was Fran hasn’t always been right about managing the roster. I bitched all last season about Fran trying to play all the bigs and making Nunge play out of position. We are lucky we didn’t lose Nunge because of that, but it had nothing to do with someone being Fran’s son and everything to do with it just being a dumb decision. Point being Fran’s not immune to making poor moves.

Actually Fran managed Connor pretty well this year. Connor gave it his all and had some good moments, it’s just like I said I just don’t think very highly of him as a basketball player. With a “promising” PG coming in next year I just am not sure we will need Connor as much. That’s my stance on it, knowing full well he’s going to get minutes.

It'll be interesting if Joe T is all that or not and if so how it affects CMs role. He could easily get squeezed out if Moss is back and JBo/Joe T are playing well. Would Fran 'let' that happen or not.. I thought Fran could have played CM more at times then he did so I don't think he played the 'Dad' card really. But going forward how things could evolve is anyones guess.

 

[hawkeyebob62]

1) If TC returns, STOP having him set picks at top of key. He's zero threat 20' away from the basket - zero jump shot and a liability if he tries to dribble that distance. TC doesn't leave the blocks and refocuses his game on rebounding (positioning and trajectory anticipation are 100% coachable skills; effort is on him.) and dunking. He is NEVER going to develop any reliable jump-shot, so, unless his role changes to strictly this, I hope he leaves.

1a) If you insist on high screens, Nunge / Garza / Kriener / Pemsl are who should be doing it. If they role out, they do offer a jump-shooting threat. If they actually use it appropriately - role the screener toward the basket - these guys can handle it and finish better than Cook. Not to mention, if Cook is where he should be (on the block) they are more capable passers to him.

2) 99% zone defense.

3) Unless they are just crapping the bed, leave starters in for first 8 minutes. STOP the f-ing scripted, platoon rotations at the 4-minute TV timeout. It usually looks like a cluster-F the first few possessions as they get acclimated - especially on offense. This is no time to be squandering the game flow.

The high screens are born of quasi-necessity. We have no guards who can effectively get the ball past opposing guards. Hopefully, Joe Toussaint starts to be the remedy for that. But as of now, a high screen is the only way we can effectively penetrate from up top.

 

[WindsorHawk]

To me it’s not really only about 3pt shooting, granted that’s a part of it.

In B1G play he shot an abysmal 36% from 2, those are mostly when he drives in there hoping to generate a foul.

Secondly in B1G play he had the highest turnover % on the team. He also led in assist % which is good, but he was only slightly ahead of JBo whereas his turnover % was nearly twice Jbo’s in conference play.

Lastly his defensive rating was 7th of the 9 regulars on a bad defensive team.

So when you add it all up, you have a guy who shoots a low percentage from 2, low percentage from 3, below average defensively, good assist guy who also turns the ball over a lot, and is a good intangible guy. For me when you put that on the scale you have a below average player. Granted as I’ve mentioned he helped us this year because we didn’t have any other options at PG, but the hope is that Joe T will come in and be a better player. If Joe T is better, no way is Cmac in our top 8 next year unless we lose a bunch of guys.

Like I said...I want the 8 best players on the floor. Connor was one of those guys this year. It remains to be seen who those 8 will be next year.