TRANSCRIPT: Fran McCaffery Media Day
- Thread starter RobHowe
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NikeHawk21
Well-Known Member
FRANSCRIPT
NikeHawk21
Well-Known Member
The good:
-Sounds like Baer back to the bench
-Weiskamp a good defender (according to Fran)
-More emphasis on coaching defense
The Bad:
-Doesn’t sound like any intentions to shorten the rotation
-Sounds like Baer back to the bench
-Weiskamp a good defender (according to Fran)
-More emphasis on coaching defense
The Bad:
-Doesn’t sound like any intentions to shorten the rotation
Northside Hawk
Well-Known Member
Certain players may improve their defensive play, but it remains to be seen how much it will matter if we don't have a quick backcourt defender who can cut down on penetration or a big physical backcourt defender who can deny entry feeds, close out on a shooter, and bang on an offensive player a little bit.
We may still be a recruiting class or two away from truly shoring that up.
We may still be a recruiting class or two away from truly shoring that up.
InGoodCo
Well-Known Member
That's exactly where I am - prove to me that last year was a fluke. I think it was. I think they can be good enough to dance, but they have to prove it before I get a woody over them talking about defense. I get it, what else are they supposed to do, but last years bad taste isn't quite gone from my memory.
InGoodCo
Well-Known Member
LOL, had not heard that one yet.
thedukeofearl
Well-Known Member
How good the D remains to be seen. Wouldn't be difficult to improve a bit, but we will need strong effort the entire game......
I also agree with Fran about what Connor will bring to the mix.....
Q. Speaking as a head coach, what does he bring to your team? We saw him a lot in high school but what are you looking for?
COACH FRAN McCAFFERY: He’s a good fit for the rest of the pieces that we have. He adds something, another dimension. He’s a point guard. He feeds the post. He gets rid of it.
We’ve got a lot of people around him who can score, and he’ll find those people. We have an abundance of post players who can score, and I said this before, but I think we have more three-point shooters now than we did last year, so we can spread the ball around offensively.
You know, it gives us a big, strong presence at that position, physical. Essentially provides a tremendous amount of depth because it’s a long season, and you need that kind of depth. As good as he is at the things I just described, he’s also capable of scoring. So he gives us another scorer.
Connor creating ball movement, which he did last season, will make a huge difference. When Luka returns we could have 4 solid scorers on the floor with a savvy point guard to knows the importance of a motion offense and quick passing to keep the opponents off balance. Ideally, this will translate to an even more efficient scoring machine.....
It will make it difficult to double team Tyler with the ball going from 2 strong perimeter sharpshooters, Jordan and Joe, and two efficient scorers inside, Tyler and Luca, could create nightmares for the opposition.....
If the D does improve drastically, we just might be looking at a very nice season leading to The Dance.....
Getting more and more excited for the season to begin.....
I am going to go out on a limb and predict more than 4 wins in the B1G.....
I also agree with Fran about what Connor will bring to the mix.....
Q. Speaking as a head coach, what does he bring to your team? We saw him a lot in high school but what are you looking for?
COACH FRAN McCAFFERY: He’s a good fit for the rest of the pieces that we have. He adds something, another dimension. He’s a point guard. He feeds the post. He gets rid of it.
We’ve got a lot of people around him who can score, and he’ll find those people. We have an abundance of post players who can score, and I said this before, but I think we have more three-point shooters now than we did last year, so we can spread the ball around offensively.
You know, it gives us a big, strong presence at that position, physical. Essentially provides a tremendous amount of depth because it’s a long season, and you need that kind of depth. As good as he is at the things I just described, he’s also capable of scoring. So he gives us another scorer.
Connor creating ball movement, which he did last season, will make a huge difference. When Luka returns we could have 4 solid scorers on the floor with a savvy point guard to knows the importance of a motion offense and quick passing to keep the opponents off balance. Ideally, this will translate to an even more efficient scoring machine.....
It will make it difficult to double team Tyler with the ball going from 2 strong perimeter sharpshooters, Jordan and Joe, and two efficient scorers inside, Tyler and Luca, could create nightmares for the opposition.....
If the D does improve drastically, we just might be looking at a very nice season leading to The Dance.....
Getting more and more excited for the season to begin.....
I am going to go out on a limb and predict more than 4 wins in the B1G.....
I wont believe they will make the dance until they're in a position where they can lose the rest of their games and still make it in. Marble and Uthoff's senior years taught me that.
lightning1
Well-Known Member
I doubt they will make the NCAA tourney. Playing good defense is a a mind set that certain types have and certain types don't. It can be learned but something really drastic usually has to happen before they get the message. Fran has yet to show any willingness to bench starters for poor defense. Until he does, nothing will change. Nothing meaningful, anyway. The next time they have a really bad defensive effort, Fran is going to have to bench the starting 5 players for the entire next game, before they will hear the message. That's the only way to get them to understand how important it is. Since I don't think Fran feels it's that important, nothing meaningful will change. Fran should recruit defensive minded players and coach offense from here on out.
I've always assumed D1 athletes are usually competitive by nature. That is the reason they need to play better defense. The something drastic you say they need was last year. 4 conference wins and a historically bad defense is something drastic.
InGoodCo
Well-Known Member
Jason Rann
Well-Known Member
Does that mean you don't understand my post?
Jason Rann
Well-Known Member
While I understand the “show me first” mentality of many of the posts here, I am a bit more optimistic. Last season was a debacle and IMO, it went a lot further than not playing defense. If everyone stays reasonably healthy this season, I think we have the potential to make a tourney run. A few comments:
1. JW and Connor are ballers with high basketball IQs. They will contribute immediately.
2. From what I have read, JBo shouldn’t be playing hobbled this year. His lateral quickness is reportedly improved. He is already a lights out shooter.
3. We will have true PG depth with JBo, Connor, Fredrick (assuming he doesn’t redshirt) and Dailey (spot duty).
4. Barring injury, there should be zero reason to play anyone out of position. That means no more Nunge at the #3, less of Dailey at the #1. It should also mean no more lineups that include three bigs like Nunge, Pemsl and Garza. Those lineups killed our defensive rotations.
5. We now have the ability to go “small”. Think of Michigan’s lineup last year, basically four guards along with Wagner. Smaller lineups killed us last year. Consider this lineup:
1 – JBo/Connor
2 – Moss/Connor
3 – Dailey
4 – Wieskamp
5 – Cook/Garza/Nunge
3-point shooters (JBo, Moss, Dailey, JW) along with slashers (Moss, Dailey, JW) along with Cook who will most certainly draw double teams. Good luck defending this group.
6. I expect to have fewer turnovers on offense given our experience. That will cut down on slop possessions and giving up easy points.
I don’t want to sound pollyanna, but we are in prime position to surprise some people this year. We need to come out of the gates strong. Cheers!
1. JW and Connor are ballers with high basketball IQs. They will contribute immediately.
2. From what I have read, JBo shouldn’t be playing hobbled this year. His lateral quickness is reportedly improved. He is already a lights out shooter.
3. We will have true PG depth with JBo, Connor, Fredrick (assuming he doesn’t redshirt) and Dailey (spot duty).
4. Barring injury, there should be zero reason to play anyone out of position. That means no more Nunge at the #3, less of Dailey at the #1. It should also mean no more lineups that include three bigs like Nunge, Pemsl and Garza. Those lineups killed our defensive rotations.
5. We now have the ability to go “small”. Think of Michigan’s lineup last year, basically four guards along with Wagner. Smaller lineups killed us last year. Consider this lineup:
1 – JBo/Connor
2 – Moss/Connor
3 – Dailey
4 – Wieskamp
5 – Cook/Garza/Nunge
3-point shooters (JBo, Moss, Dailey, JW) along with slashers (Moss, Dailey, JW) along with Cook who will most certainly draw double teams. Good luck defending this group.
6. I expect to have fewer turnovers on offense given our experience. That will cut down on slop possessions and giving up easy points.
I don’t want to sound pollyanna, but we are in prime position to surprise some people this year. We need to come out of the gates strong. Cheers!
lightning1
Well-Known Member
You would assume incorrectly. Competitive nature does not = hard working. Competitive nature does not = unselfishness.
I coach and have coached some very talented, athletic players that won't play college basketball at the D-1 level. Even though they absolutely have D-1 and even high D-1 abilities.
lightning1
Well-Known Member
No offense but it really was all about poor defense last year. A couple of counter points.
1. JW and Connor will contribute. I think both are capable defenders if not great defenders.
2. Bohannon was a poor defender as a FR, with a perfectly good foot. I'm not sure he has the chops to be a good defender. The PG should set the tone on defense. That's what highly successful coaches with successful teams want.
3. Bohannon, Connor and CJ might all be fine offensive minded PGs but you still need to defend the 1 and set the tone defensively from that position. I don't know if any of them can do that at this point. need to see Connor and CJ play more to know the answer to that question.
4. Fran has been playing players out of position since he got here. He likes
players that can play multiple positions and will mix and match accordingly. He likes the mismatch it creates on the offensive end and is more than willing to give away the same mismatch on the defensive end.
5. You can go small but you have to be very athletic to do it well enough to succeed at a high level. We do not have that kind of athleticism. You can't be small and slow. That = failure in basketball.
6. Scoring the ball was not the problem last year.
InGoodCo
Well-Known Member
but turning it over was - and that's what the OP's original 6 was about.
So have you coached at the D1 level? If not, you are just assuming just like I was.
lightning1
Well-Known Member
You might want to rethink this post. It's incredibly ignorant.
