I really enjoy watching this team, but its obvious they are very limited on offense by the lack of an inside presence. That could change easily next year if we land some recruits, but I'm wondering how we can improve this year. What is everyone watching to see from the development of our current players?
Watching the games and looking at Kenpom data, I feel good about our defense (as long as the focus and effort is there). Offensively, our guards are good at slashing, drawing contact, and getting to the foul line.This is great considering we have 3 freshman all shooting over 80% free throws. The result of having slashing guards attacking taller players however is that we have one of the highest rates of blocked shots in the NCAA (13.5%). I think right now the offense relies too much on Johnson's quickness to create open looks for his teammates.
I think from an individual standpoint, Xavier Johnson is damn good and should just keep doing what he's doing. Ellison (13%), McGowens (26%), and Toney (25%) need to improve their 3P% or take less 3's. I love McGowens, but he also has the highest turnover rate on the team and I hope to see this improve as the year goes on. McGowens continued development is so important for this year and future years. Toney is a guy I feel like just gets things done. He's playing out of position a bit this year as a 6'6 PF so I don't know where he will end up in the future. But he reminds me somewhat of Nasir Robinson, not so much in skillset, but as a hard-nosed guy who can do whatever needs to get done to win. Ellison is a little one-dimensional as a slasher, and he is good at getting to the free throw line, but he's only making 53%, and that is 15 missed points. Sidy N'Dir plays great defense and pretty good contributor on offense but also 46% FT% currently, whereas his career average is over 70%, so I think that will regress back to his average over the year.
Any other thoughts about improving the offense?
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Watching the games and looking at Kenpom data, I feel good about our defense (as long as the focus and effort is there). Offensively, our guards are good at slashing, drawing contact, and getting to the foul line.This is great considering we have 3 freshman all shooting over 80% free throws. The result of having slashing guards attacking taller players however is that we have one of the highest rates of blocked shots in the NCAA (13.5%). I think right now the offense relies too much on Johnson's quickness to create open looks for his teammates.
I think from an individual standpoint, Xavier Johnson is damn good and should just keep doing what he's doing. Ellison (13%), McGowens (26%), and Toney (25%) need to improve their 3P% or take less 3's. I love McGowens, but he also has the highest turnover rate on the team and I hope to see this improve as the year goes on. McGowens continued development is so important for this year and future years. Toney is a guy I feel like just gets things done. He's playing out of position a bit this year as a 6'6 PF so I don't know where he will end up in the future. But he reminds me somewhat of Nasir Robinson, not so much in skillset, but as a hard-nosed guy who can do whatever needs to get done to win. Ellison is a little one-dimensional as a slasher, and he is good at getting to the free throw line, but he's only making 53%, and that is 15 missed points. Sidy N'Dir plays great defense and pretty good contributor on offense but also 46% FT% currently, whereas his career average is over 70%, so I think that will regress back to his average over the year.
Any other thoughts about improving the offense?
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