OK, Dixon isn't going anywhere. But just because he may be the coach indefinitely doesn't mean that we have to look at the same thing over and over again forever.
Jamie has given in to his preference for man-to-man D and introduced a zone, using it from time to time. Against good teams, it hasn't worked, so he stays with his man-to-man most of the time.
Which is fine, but he needs to use different man-to-man techniques. Watching his team fail at running his version of it is frustrating the hell of out him, but no matter how many times he says "we have to get better", well, the team isn't getting better.
Much of it is on the players, but its on him too.
What we know and see is this:
1) We watch repeatedly as passes are made to open guys underneath or on the baseline for easy baskets. We blame Young for falling asleep and looking disinterested, which is partially justified.
2) We can't stop the 3. I was shocked when I heard it last night, but teams are shooting 42% against us from beyond the arc. That is atrocious. We have to outscore teams to have a chance to win.
I blame the high hedge for much of it. Having your center stopping a drive off of a pick with the hedge, 30 some feet away from the basket causes switching underneath. Someone has to pick up the center, who set the ball screen and is rolling to the basket. This leaves someone else open underneath, so the wing defender has to drop down to help. If the wing defender is late, we give up an easy basket underneath. But even when he gets there, that leaves a wide open shooter in the corner; thus the 42% shooting percentage.
There was a time when this worked. For one, Dixon had better defenders. But no more. And teams have more 3 point shooters than they used to. A decade ago, the off guard could run to the open corner if that guy could stroke it, meaning you then take your chances leaving the guy up top open. But now generally, both guys on that wing can knock it down, and your screwed.
Having your center stranded 35 feet from the basket just invites this problem. Instead of screaming at his players when they fail, over and over again, he needs to stop exposing them with the hedge technique. It works sometimes, but for 2-3 years now, it fails way too often.
Jamie has given in to his preference for man-to-man D and introduced a zone, using it from time to time. Against good teams, it hasn't worked, so he stays with his man-to-man most of the time.
Which is fine, but he needs to use different man-to-man techniques. Watching his team fail at running his version of it is frustrating the hell of out him, but no matter how many times he says "we have to get better", well, the team isn't getting better.
Much of it is on the players, but its on him too.
What we know and see is this:
1) We watch repeatedly as passes are made to open guys underneath or on the baseline for easy baskets. We blame Young for falling asleep and looking disinterested, which is partially justified.
2) We can't stop the 3. I was shocked when I heard it last night, but teams are shooting 42% against us from beyond the arc. That is atrocious. We have to outscore teams to have a chance to win.
I blame the high hedge for much of it. Having your center stopping a drive off of a pick with the hedge, 30 some feet away from the basket causes switching underneath. Someone has to pick up the center, who set the ball screen and is rolling to the basket. This leaves someone else open underneath, so the wing defender has to drop down to help. If the wing defender is late, we give up an easy basket underneath. But even when he gets there, that leaves a wide open shooter in the corner; thus the 42% shooting percentage.
There was a time when this worked. For one, Dixon had better defenders. But no more. And teams have more 3 point shooters than they used to. A decade ago, the off guard could run to the open corner if that guy could stroke it, meaning you then take your chances leaving the guy up top open. But now generally, both guys on that wing can knock it down, and your screwed.
Having your center stranded 35 feet from the basket just invites this problem. Instead of screaming at his players when they fail, over and over again, he needs to stop exposing them with the hedge technique. It works sometimes, but for 2-3 years now, it fails way too often.
