I truly believe they'll be better at defense, but probably not enough to make the NCAA tourney. Prove me wrong, Fran.
FRANSCRIPT
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.
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 truly believe they'll be better at defense, but probably not enough to make the NCAA tourney. Prove me wrong, Fran.
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 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 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.
You would assume incorrectly. Competitive nature does not = hard working. Competitive nature does not = unselfishness.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.
No offense but it really was all about poor defense last year. A couple of counter points.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!
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.
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.
You might want to rethink this post. It's incredibly ignorant.So have you coached at the D1 level? If not, you are just assuming just like I was.