It's not how many you make

[GIGAFAN99]

sfhoya99 said:

A quick response to all the long posts:

I can't speak for the UTEP game, blind as I was to it (although I swear there was a DJ steal and layin -- how was that not fast break? And I know we blew a two on one earlier in the game).

I realize that a GREAT offense has outside shooting, post play, pentration and fast break skills. We're no so special on the latter two so we end up taking a lot more of the former. Seems like playing within ourselves rather than forcing it, to me.

A DJ layup, eh? We better reign it in with that kind of running.

Seriously though, why aren't we "special" on the latter two? Could we even strive to be "adequate?" Wouldn't that help balance the offense and even further open up the first two aspects of the game?

There seems to be an enormous underestimation of our guards' ability to break. It doesn't take sprinter speed to run a break. It takes anticipation, good spacing, and good decisions more than anything. Somehow we won a few games on a break last year when we were forced to do so. Tell 'Nova and ND Cook and Owens can't run a break.

I just want to see us take some easy ones because you need all the cheapies you can get in the Big East and I think right now we're too reluctant to push the ball selectively.

[MCIGuy]

I just want to see us take some easy ones because you need all the cheapies you can get in the Big East and I think right now we're too reluctant to push the ball selectively.

Amen.

[njcoach]

It's really nice to be able to have this sort of debate about finer points when your team is 8 and 2. I peaked at the UTEP board and there is some real despair over there.

That said, MCI, there are two issues I think should be considered separately. One is tempo - pushing the ball up the floor and pulling the trigger earlier in the possession when opportunities arise. The other has to do with driving the ball to the tin. I think you are likely to see more of the prior before you see much more of the latter. This offense is very much a passing game that emphasizes cuts and movement without the ball more than taking your man off the dribble. Catch and shoot, flash to high and low post.

My two cents. Division I coaches are smart and they will do everything they can to stop you from doing what you want to. That will happen and, when it does, guys just have to be basketball players - feel the game and react. I saw Thompson's teams at Princeton do just that and win an Ivy Championship. Will Venable, a 6'5" guard, took it to the rim a lot and Thompson let him because he could finish and because the threat of the drive opened more opportunities for the three. It's funny because at Princeton Thompson was criticized for deviating too much from the familiar Princeton motion. I don't think JT is telling Owens or anybody else not to drive. I just think that they found that, for now, they can win by just taking the shots that the offensive flow (and defense) is offering.

[CO_Hoya]

While I'm perfectly content with JTIII's current philosophy, I suspect things are going to get a whole lot more interesting when Mr. Freeman arrives.