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Post by hoyasaxa2003 on Dec 17, 2019 17:52:07 GMT -5
2003, I don't think that's quite fair. I would suggest that only the slower pace is a planned effect for the last 3 games (Ewing has said so in his post-game comments - we are playing with a "less frenetic pace"). I think he always wanted ball movement. He planned BEFORE the transfers, to have a tighter rotation and said so after the Duke game. The closer one is the number of 3 point shots taken. I always think he wanted us to take a lot of 3s. That's the NBA offense these days. He's an NBA product. I think more minutes to more confident shooters (like Mac) lead to more 3 point shots naturally, but the better ball movement is contributing to it too. Still, it's not like we aren't looking to push the ball up the court. We are doing that by pass (as opposed to dribble) much better in the last 3 games. Still, the increase could be by design. I will also call out that saying that ball movement was not planned makes no sense. Then why did Akinjo leave if his style was going to be the way going forward? And how did everyone get so good at ball movement on 48-hour notice that they had to "change styles"? Seems more likely the team always practices that way and got bogged down by Akinjo's overdribbling in games. - From the day he was hired, Ewing has always stated he wanted to run and go fast, and for the most part, we have. I do think the less frenetic pace is an asset to us, and something I'd like to see continue regardless of how many players we have on the bench. - Ewing did not say he planned on a tighter rotation, but rather said in some games he might, and in others he would keep it wide. For the most part, he was non-committal on how many guys he would play. It's really a moot point, but keep in mind a LOT of people on HoyaTalk were critical of Ewing's substitution patterns pre-transfer. This is an area where I'd like to see Ewing improve once we have more than 7 guys. - I agree that Akinjo was likely the biggest culprit for lack of ball movement, but you are basically saying that throughout the course of the first 7 games, Ewing was unable to reign him in and instead of benching him or using Allen, he just let Akinjo keep doing it? If so, then he either needs to pass on recruiting guys like Akinjo or reign them in.
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doc2122
Century (over 100 posts)
Posts: 113
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Post by doc2122 on Dec 17, 2019 21:55:54 GMT -5
Do you think Patrick takes a different approach recruiting? Fit instead of 5 * 4* who may not fit in his style
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SFHoya99
Blue & Gray (over 10,000 posts)
Posts: 17,790
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Post by SFHoya99 on Dec 17, 2019 23:54:19 GMT -5
Do you think Patrick takes a different approach recruiting? Fit instead of 5 * 4* who may not fit in his style I don't think so. For one, while we clearly ran into a situation where a player might not have been coachable, etc., not every highly ranked player is a poor fit or exhibits those characteristics. Yes, better players tend to have an eye on the NBA and are used to getting the ball, but plenty of them can fit within a team just fine. Second -- I think Ewing has a type. It's clear he wants gym rats, higher intensity dudes, etc. Even our departed players fit those attributes, and I don't think that Ewing is going to shift from that, because those are huge positives. Lastly, Ewing is an NBA coach. And while the best NBA coaches understand you absolutely need players to sacrifice me for we, to play as a team, to avoid the disease of me, to quote Pat Riley ... they also all know that talent wins out in the NBA. I think that's less true, but still true in college, but I suspect that as much as Ewing sees how this team is playing, he will still understand that the best team is a team that plays as a team and has a ton of talent. People ask why Ewing just didn't bench Akinjo if this was the issue. And it's because as a coach, Ewing understood that the optimal situation was that James stayed and learned to play within the team concept. As a coach you believe you can get through and help the player get there, and as a coach you understand the best version of your team is that. It's unfortunate it ended like us ... I think without outside influences, it doesn't. It ends better. And I think that maybe there will be a red flag for Ewing on coachability on players in the future, but it's not going to be a blanket kind of thing. Sometimes you can't see this coming.
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