Gardner-Webb Game & Other Dribbles ...

[DT_PITT]

** Not often a few games into any sports season do you get to experience the debut of a player who you believe will be a difference maker for your team.

** OK, sure I suppose one can offer Russell Wilson as a better example, but I digress.

** Us Panther Hoops faithful were all looking forward to the debut tonight of the 6-8 Bosnian Bomber. I was all ready to write all kinds of attempts at clever entries describing his sensational shooting and prime play on day one.

** But instead, we got to watch the player we probably should have expected – that is, more or less, he looked like a player who hasn’t played in seven weeks.

** So let’s just offer a pass for now and give him some time to get up to speed.

** But it’s a little tougher to give a pass to the rest of the Panther squad who often looked like a team that hasn’t seen a zone defense in seven years.

** Early on, the Panthers looked like they were really ready to play against the Running Bulldogs, extending to an early 20 point lead. But once the Bulldogs stopped running, and instead took to standing in their 2-3, the Panthers at times looked flummoxed.

** Far too often, the Panthers made the pass against the zone to the foul line, but couldn’t get much more than a jump shot one pass out of it. In other words, when Gardner-Webb was standing in their zone, a bit too often the Panthers were standing in their efforts to attack it.

** For a while, I was uncomfortably reminded about how much trouble Capel’s teams had attacking zones in his first couple years.

** Zones have been a little less of a problem in the last few because of perimeter ball movement and bombs away from Blake and others.

** This night, the same bombs weren’t falling to the standard we hope this team can hold.

** We were able to get some open ones, but not enough went in to make the Bulldogs slide back to man. And with our guys lined on the perimeter, second chances were hard to come by.

** Eventually, however, we found our way to a better attack by screening on the wing instead of trying to play from the foul line. This allowed the Panthers to keep the lead at a very comfortable distance, even if it never quite felt like we were putting away a Big South Conference opponent the way we probably should.

** When assessing this game, once again I’ll offer the confession that I’m judging this team against what I think they can be instead of where they are.

** And wIth that, 19 point wins (which could have been 30 had not Jeff cleared the bench in the final minutes) aren’t problematic.

** But the Panthers were able to score many more points on the break off turnovers than they will get against your ordinary ACC foes.

** In the other direction, Jaland’s shot was just off today. His floater, which is more often money, was misfiring. It’s fair to assume he’ll be back with a vengeance against the Mounties. In most games he’ll be closer to 50% instead of the 27% he offered tonight.

** I do wonder however, if it’s a good thing that GDiaz tied with Jaland leading the Panthers with 11 field goal attempts. It’s understandable why he took 8 threes against the GWebb zone. But it’s also possible there is something of a diminishing returns principle with G’s offense.

** Along the same lines, I might also offer that 29 minutes is about 9 too many for GDG. But if Cam Corhen can’t figure out how to stay out of foul trouble, this is Capel’s reality.

** Cam had plenty of good moments this night too. He ran the court well on the break, and does bring much needed offense. But he needs to develop a stronger base on defense as he’s still letting his man back him down, and slip around him and this is leading to many of his fouls.

** None of the Panthers can be too proud of their second half defensive work. After allowing GW to only shoot 32% in the first half, the Panthers allowed 46% in the second half. From my eye, these numbers are entirely reflective of our effort in the second half as opposed to the first.

** In fact, it didn’t really appear that the Panthers brought much energy at all to start the second half. But that’s why it’s nice to be able to bring Zach Austin off the bench and his entry brought a spark on both ends. It’s only too bad that his heat check ended on his second three attempt of the final 20 minutes.

** Ish Leggett brought the heat all game long. In fact, he was near perfect for 40 minutes. Additionally, Ish didn’t force a shot all game long allowing him to be extremely efficient. Damian was efficient too, but maybe the Panthers would have been a little better served from either trying to assert their offense a little more than they did tonight.

** This might seem a little strange to say for a team who has scored 80 or more points in their first three games, but I think we need to find a bit more half court firepower. At the moment, we really just have a 6 man rotation. And maybe only three high level scorers. I'm not ready to put Cam there yet, especially when he's on the bench in foul trouble.

** Beebah may find his spots as the season goes on, but at the moment, he simply looks like a freshman. And the aforementioned Amsal hopefully only needs time to get up to speed. But it’s too soon to know where he settles in. Because of this, it’s not a surprise that GDG led the Panthers in shots. In the long run, this doesn’t seem to be a high level winning equation.

** Maybe our depth isn't quite the strength we though it could be.

** But that’s what these early games are for, and despite this notably critical review, I still believe this can be a very good Panther team. We just aren’t there yet.

** Hopefully, we can put together better all around effort and execution on Friday. I’m not suggesting that the Panthers we watched tonight would lose to the Hoopies in our upcoming contest. But it would certainly indeed be a contest.

** But if we are to project ourselves as a top 6 ACC team, I’d like to think we should be able to readily dispatch a team predicted to finish 13th in the Big 12 on our home court.

** This team has adopted a motto of “leave no doubt!” I’d rather walk out of the Pete on Friday with a little less doubt than I have at the moment.

 

[Bethlehemjohn]

** Not often a few games into any sports season do you get to experience the debut of a player who you believe will be a difference maker for your team.

** OK, sure I suppose one can offer Russell Wilson as a better example, but I digress.

** Us Panther Hoops faithful were all looking forward to the debut tonight of the 6-8 Bosnian Bomber. I was all ready to write all kinds of attempts at clever entries describing his sensational shooting and prime play on day one.

** But instead, we got to watch the player we probably should have expected – that is, more or less, he looked like a player who hasn’t played in seven weeks.

** So let’s just offer a pass for now and give him some time to get up to speed.

** But it’s a little tougher to give a pass to the rest of the Panther squad who often looked like a team that hasn’t seen a zone defense in seven years.

** Early on, the Panthers looked like they were really ready to play against the Running Bulldogs, extending to an early 20 point lead. But once the Bulldogs stopped running, and instead took to standing in their 2-3, the Panthers at times looked flummoxed.

** Far too often, the Panthers made the pass against the zone to the foul line, but couldn’t get much more than a jump shot one pass out of it. In other words, when Gardner-Webb was standing in their zone, a bit too often the Panthers were standing in their efforts to attack it.

** For a while, I was uncomfortably reminded about how much trouble Capel’s teams had attacking zones in his first couple years.

** Zones have been a little less of a problem in the last few because of perimeter ball movement and bombs away from Blake and others.

** This night, the same bombs weren’t falling to the standard we hope this team can hold.

** We were able to get some open ones, but not enough went in to make the Bulldogs slide back to man. And with our guys lined on the perimeter, second chances were hard to come by.

** Eventually, however, we found our way to a better attack by screening on the wing instead of trying to play from the foul line. This allowed the Panthers to keep the lead at a very comfortable distance, even if it never quite felt like we were putting away a Big South Conference opponent the way we probably should.

** When assessing this game, once again I’ll offer the confession that I’m judging this team against what I think they can be instead of where they are.

** And wIth that, 19 point wins (which could have been 30 had not Jeff cleared the bench in the final minutes) aren’t problematic.

** But the Panthers were able to score many more points on the break off turnovers than they will get against your ordinary ACC foes.

** In the other direction, Jaland’s shot was just off today. His floater, which is more often money, was misfiring. It’s fair to assume he’ll be back with a vengeance against the Mounties. In most games he’ll be closer to 50% instead of the 27% he offered tonight.

** I do wonder however, if it’s a good thing that GDiaz tied with Jaland leading the Panthers with 11 field goal attempts. It’s understandable why he took 8 threes against the GWebb zone. But it’s also possible there is something of a diminishing returns principle with G’s offense.

** Along the same lines, I might also offer that 29 minutes is about 9 too many for GDG. But if Cam Corhen can’t figure out how to stay out of foul trouble, this is Capel’s reality.

** Cam had plenty of good moments this night too. He ran the court well on the break, and does bring much needed offense. But he needs to develop a stronger base on defense as he’s still letting his man back him down, and slip around him and this is leading to many of his fouls.

** None of the Panthers can be too proud of their second half defensive work. After allowing GW to only shoot 32% in the first half, the Panthers allowed 46% in the second half. From my eye, these numbers are entirely reflective of our effort in the second half as opposed to the first.

** In fact, it didn’t really appear that the Panthers brought much energy at all to start the second half. But that’s why it’s nice to be able to bring Zach Austin off the bench and his entry brought a spark on both ends. It’s only too bad that his heat check ended on his second three attempt of the final 20 minutes.

** Ish Leggett brought the heat all game long. In fact, he was near perfect for 40 minutes. Additionally, Ish didn’t force a shot all game long allowing him to be extremely efficient. Damian was efficient too, but maybe the Panthers would have been a little better served from either trying to assert their offense a little more than they did tonight.

** This might seem a little strange to say for a team who has scored 80 or more points in their first three games, but I think we need to find a bit more half court firepower. At the moment, we really just have a 6 man rotation. And maybe only three high level scorers. I'm not ready to put Cam there yet, especially when he on the bench in foul trouble.

** Beebah may find his spots as the season goes on, but at the moment, he simply looks like a freshman. And the aforementioned Amsal hopefully only needs time to get up to speed. But it’s too soon to know where he settles in. Because of this, it’s not a surprise that GDG led the Panthers in shots. In the long run, this doesn’t seem to be a high level winning equation.

** Maybe our depth isn't quite the strength we though it could be.

** But that’s what these early games are for, and despite this notably critical review, I still believe this can be a very good Panther team. We just aren’t there yet.

** Hopefully, we can put together better all around effort and execution on Friday. I’m not suggesting that the Panthers we watched tonight would lose to the Hoopies in our upcoming contest. But it would certainly indeed be a contest.

** But if we are to project ourselves as a top 6 ACC team, I’d like to think we should be able to readily dispatch a team predicted to finish 13th in the Big 12 on our home court.

** This team has adopted a motto of “leave no doubt!” I’d rather walk out of the Pete on Friday with a little less doubt than I have at the moment.

This team gave Tennessee a very good game, so beating this team by 19 and not playing particularly well bode well for us.

 

[DT_PITT]

This team gave Tennessee a very good game, so beating this team by 19 and not playing particularly well bode well for us.

Indeed -- I hope so and acknowledge I'm judging the team against a high standard. I think we need to be better and I think we can get there.

 

[Vader_Storm]

** Not often a few games into any sports season do you get to experience the debut of a player who you believe will be a difference maker for your team.

** OK, sure I suppose one can offer Russell Wilson as a better example, but I digress.

** Us Panther Hoops faithful were all looking forward to the debut tonight of the 6-8 Bosnian Bomber. I was all ready to write all kinds of attempts at clever entries describing his sensational shooting and prime play on day one.

** But instead, we got to watch the player we probably should have expected – that is, more or less, he looked like a player who hasn’t played in seven weeks.

** So let’s just offer a pass for now and give him some time to get up to speed.

** But it’s a little tougher to give a pass to the rest of the Panther squad who often looked like a team that hasn’t seen a zone defense in seven years.

** Early on, the Panthers looked like they were really ready to play against the Running Bulldogs, extending to an early 20 point lead. But once the Bulldogs stopped running, and instead took to standing in their 2-3, the Panthers at times looked flummoxed.

** Far too often, the Panthers made the pass against the zone to the foul line, but couldn’t get much more than a jump shot one pass out of it. In other words, when Gardner-Webb was standing in their zone, a bit too often the Panthers were standing in their efforts to attack it.

** For a while, I was uncomfortably reminded about how much trouble Capel’s teams had attacking zones in his first couple years.

** Zones have been a little less of a problem in the last few because of perimeter ball movement and bombs away from Blake and others.

** This night, the same bombs weren’t falling to the standard we hope this team can hold.

** We were able to get some open ones, but not enough went in to make the Bulldogs slide back to man. And with our guys lined on the perimeter, second chances were hard to come by.

** Eventually, however, we found our way to a better attack by screening on the wing instead of trying to play from the foul line. This allowed the Panthers to keep the lead at a very comfortable distance, even if it never quite felt like we were putting away a Big South Conference opponent the way we probably should.

** When assessing this game, once again I’ll offer the confession that I’m judging this team against what I think they can be instead of where they are.

** And wIth that, 19 point wins (which could have been 30 had not Jeff cleared the bench in the final minutes) aren’t problematic.

** But the Panthers were able to score many more points on the break off turnovers than they will get against your ordinary ACC foes.

** In the other direction, Jaland’s shot was just off today. His floater, which is more often money, was misfiring. It’s fair to assume he’ll be back with a vengeance against the Mounties. In most games he’ll be closer to 50% instead of the 27% he offered tonight.

** I do wonder however, if it’s a good thing that GDiaz tied with Jaland leading the Panthers with 11 field goal attempts. It’s understandable why he took 8 threes against the GWebb zone. But it’s also possible there is something of a diminishing returns principle with G’s offense.

** Along the same lines, I might also offer that 29 minutes is about 9 too many for GDG. But if Cam Corhen can’t figure out how to stay out of foul trouble, this is Capel’s reality.

** Cam had plenty of good moments this night too. He ran the court well on the break, and does bring much needed offense. But he needs to develop a stronger base on defense as he’s still letting his man back him down, and slip around him and this is leading to many of his fouls.

** None of the Panthers can be too proud of their second half defensive work. After allowing GW to only shoot 32% in the first half, the Panthers allowed 46% in the second half. From my eye, these numbers are entirely reflective of our effort in the second half as opposed to the first.

** In fact, it didn’t really appear that the Panthers brought much energy at all to start the second half. But that’s why it’s nice to be able to bring Zach Austin off the bench and his entry brought a spark on both ends. It’s only too bad that his heat check ended on his second three attempt of the final 20 minutes.

** Ish Leggett brought the heat all game long. In fact, he was near perfect for 40 minutes. Additionally, Ish didn’t force a shot all game long allowing him to be extremely efficient. Damian was efficient too, but maybe the Panthers would have been a little better served from either trying to assert their offense a little more than they did tonight.

** This might seem a little strange to say for a team who has scored 80 or more points in their first three games, but I think we need to find a bit more half court firepower. At the moment, we really just have a 6 man rotation. And maybe only three high level scorers. I'm not ready to put Cam there yet, especially when he on the bench in foul trouble.

** Beebah may find his spots as the season goes on, but at the moment, he simply looks like a freshman. And the aforementioned Amsal hopefully only needs time to get up to speed. But it’s too soon to know where he settles in. Because of this, it’s not a surprise that GDG led the Panthers in shots. In the long run, this doesn’t seem to be a high level winning equation.

** Maybe our depth isn't quite the strength we though it could be.

** But that’s what these early games are for, and despite this notably critical review, I still believe this can be a very good Panther team. We just aren’t there yet.

** Hopefully, we can put together better all around effort and execution on Friday. I’m not suggesting that the Panthers we watched tonight would lose to the Hoopies in our upcoming contest. But it would certainly indeed be a contest.

** But if we are to project ourselves as a top 6 ACC team, I’d like to think we should be able to readily dispatch a team predicted to finish 13th in the Big 12 on our home court.

** This team has adopted a motto of “leave no doubt!” I’d rather walk out of the Pete on Friday with a little less doubt than I have at the moment.

-Guillermo currently has the best DR rebound rate on the entire team. We are also getting almost 8 boards per game from him in only 25 minutes of playing time. And he has 1 turnover in 3 games. His shooting will improve as the season moves on.

-Dunn has been great on offense, team leader in offensive efficiency currently. But through 3 full games he has 6 total rebounds. That is painfully low for a Wing 3. Cummings has 1 total rebound in 3 games and Jorge has 3 total rebounds in 3 games. That is extreme weakness on the glass from 3 different players currently in our rotation, regardless of how much 2 of them will play this year. Dunn has to be a lot better here.

-Cummings offense and offensive efficiency are fine. He is deferring out there on offense and thats ok, but he would score a lot more if needed. His defense needs work and his rebounding is hurting us bad. He needs to create turnovers on defense and play more aggressive.

-Through 3 games Corhen is giving us 12.3 points per game, 7 rebounds per game, 2 steals per game, and 1 assist per game while shooting 65% from the floor. That's all good for a center and it would be much better if he just smartened up on defense and stopped committing weak fouls that put him on the bench. He's only playing 26 minutes per game right now. That number needs to be over 30.

-I want Ish to communicate to these guys on defense to keep the intensity up. He's been real good so far on offense and on the glass. His teammates need to follow HIS lead on defense and on the glass with intensity and desire to do so, and its HIS job to make sure they do it.

-Zach Austin has played real solid the last 3 halves of basketball. He's now rebounding the ball again and blocking shots while playing decent defense. He's currently doing his job. And he doesn't mind coming off the bench.

-6 players over 115+ ORTG offensive power rating not including Jorge which would be 7. We need Delalic at 110+ for the season at minimum. We got a 96 today. My expectation preseason was 7 with Kante making up the difference on the defensive end. Kante's role is still small but I still expect it to grow larger as we move forward.

-I like Kante's early season efficiency metrics on defense and the glass. But our Coach does not trust his turnover issues after the first 3 games which is understandable. He had none tonight.

-We keep shooting ourselves in the foot missing the front end of 1 and 1 free throws.

-Gwebb hit a complete circus shot in the first half where the player used his opposite hand as time expired. Doesnt get any luckier than that.

-We have been decent through 3 games, not good, not great, not where we want to be, but decent. We need to turn it up the next game against West Virginia, and that needs to start with our defense and with our rebounding to set the tone in that game. Because that is what we did early on to set the tone in this game which helped built an early big lead. Defense and rebounding will lead to a powerful offense.

-That leaves me to the Bosnian Bomber. He missed his shots but his talent is easy to see. I cant say how his hand feels or how much if any its bothering him, but I would expect him to get a lot better and be a lot better as the hand gets better and he gets more playing time. Tonight's shooting from him was a one off, I wouldnt expect many more like that if he gets clean looks which he did. He will help us a lot against a 2-3 zone, either shooting, playing in the middle, or both.

 

[bobfree]

Appreciate the dribbles as always.

Although there is a bit of a negative tone.

I think sometimes expectations are a persons biggest problem.

My expectation was just to win this game as the team is no doubt looking ahead.

Maybe other peoples expectations were a little to high for this game?

 

[str61166]

Appreciate the dribbles as always.

Although there is a bit of a negative tone.

I think sometimes expectations are a persons biggest problem.

My expectation was just to win this game as the team is no doubt looking ahead.

Maybe other peoples expectations were a little to high for this game?

I feel like we’re nitpicking a bit with these games because we are seeing some things that concern us for when they play tougher teams on the schedule. But now play time is over - 6 of their next 7 games are against teams that, on paper at least, should be much tougher.

 

[DT_PITT]

Appreciate the dribbles as always.

Although there is a bit of a negative tone.

I think sometimes expectations are a persons biggest problem.

My expectation was just to win this game as the team is no doubt looking ahead.

Maybe other peoples expectations were a little to high for this game?

I certainly acknowledge that my expectations are perhaps too high.

 

[OhioPanther99]

I certainly acknowledge that my expectations are perhaps were too high.

My expectations were more around effort of play versus quality of play. The effort appeared to be pretty low for many of the players. Instead of Capel just throwing his hands in the air after a "low effort" play, I'd like to see him make the sub. Lazy play should not be the standard.

 

[Protes]

Re: the zone. I think Delalic is the kind of guy we need out there against the zone. Unfortunately, he wasn't ready last night. But he seems to have some Lamar Patterson in him. Looks like he can be a good facilitator. If we put him in the middle of that zone, I could see him hitting shots and making smart passes to beat the zone down low. And he can obviously knock down the 3 and help bust the zone, too.

At this point, we definitely need better out of Cam on the defensive end. I am seeing a player who just isn't physical enough. There is obvious concern here when thinking ahead to better opponents and ACC play. Can't afford to have him continue racking up fouls like he has been.

 

[DC_Area_Panther]

Result was as predicted right at 19 points. Would have been greater without the off hand 3 ball late in 1st half and the end of time 3 ball in the 2nd half that Gardner Webb threw in.

 

[Chairman Moe]

Result was as predicted right at 19 points. Would have been greater without the off hand 3 ball late in 1st half and the end of time 3 ball in the 2nd half that Gardner Webb threw in.

I was concerned that the last 3 from G-W would be a Sports Center "bad beats" qualifier... until I saw we were favored by 18.5 and won by 19

My positive takeaway from last night was the spreading around of points (we had 5 players in double figures)

 

[PittPharm2002]

Sloppy second half for sure - but got some
PT for the bench.
Jaland was laboring in the second half, looked like his back ached .
Glad he made it back .

 

[bobfree]

I certainly acknowledge that my expectations are perhaps too high.

It wasn't intended to be a shot at you fwiw. Just a thought.

 

[DT_PITT]

It wasn't intended to be a shot at you fwiw. Just a thought.

I didn't take it that way, but thanks. Having said this, it just felt to me like things were just a very little bit "off."

That is ... if one expects a well oiled machine at this point ...

 

[pittbb80]

Its hard to maintain intensity against teams that are outmanned. So its not surprising that the Panthers let up in the second half. Not too worried.

Saw some glimpses of what Delalic can bring to the table. He has a sweet stroke so once he gets back in the groove he should add a deadly option from the perimiter. He also appears to be an excellent passer and has enough of a handle to make plays off the dribble. I expect him to be a factor against the Eers.

 

[Ski11585]

I certainly acknowledge that my expectations are perhaps too high.

I don’t know DT. I think it’s a heck of a lot more fun being able to nit pick a 19 point win. I’m just glad we have these expectations again.

 

[121rum]

Its hard to maintain intensity against teams that are outmanned. So its not surprising that the Panthers let up in the second half. Not too worried.

Saw some glimpses of what Delalic can bring to the table. He has a sweet stroke so once he gets back in the groove he should add a deadly option from the perimiter. He also appears to be an excellent passer and has enough of a handle to make plays off the dribble. I expect him to be a factor against the Eers.

Yeah he managed to draw two fouls off the dribble, hopefully his FT shooting is just cause of the hand. That would be nice, this team should get to the line a lot already.

 

[MarshallGoldberg]

Still very bullish on the back court but concerned about the front court. The twins will likely never be that good, even Guillermo. Cohren isnt a two way player but it's still good we have him at least. I was overly optimistic on Kante probably. Zach is legit, that's the role player you need more of if you're a guard oriented team at least.

The guards are incredible though. Just loaded.

TDB on the Herzegovinan hero.

 

[PittPharm2002]

I didn't take it that way, but thanks. Having said this, it just felt to me like things were just a very little bit "off."

That is ... if one expects a well oiled machine at this point ...

I mean every shot I take

 

[Vader_Storm]

I didn't take it that way, but thanks. Having said this, it just felt to me like things were just a very little bit "off."

That is ... if one expects a well oiled machine at this point ...

What's encouraging is that we have seen significant spurts of high level offense and high level defense. But spurts has led to significant drop offs in play, especially with a lead where the lead went down significantly.

The 2011 team kept the gas pedal down. That team also returned 8 of its top 9 guys and I dont recall any having a major injury in the preseason like Delalic or Kante. I expect both of these players to improve exponentially as we move forward.

The advanced efficiency is now updated this morning.

Kante currently has the best defensive power rating on the entire team. Sample size is small, but that is what I expected. He will get a lot better in time this year. Dunn and Cummings have the worst defensive efficiency on the team by a wide margin. These 2 are almost 10 points below everyone else on the entire team on defense which is significant. They have to rebound much better, especially Dunn since he is going to play a lot. If Dunn's offense starts to slip / he starts to turn the ball over, he can turn into a liability. That's what got him a bench role and in major trouble at Houston where his role shrank as the season went on.


As a team, we currently rank 76th in the country in defensive rebound rate. We are 151st in the nation in rebound margin. We are only 3 games into the season, but both of these numbers have to come up significantly for us to get where we want to be. And the issue is not the frontcourt here. The issue is the backcourt and the wings minus Ish. I think / hope Delalic can be a help here.

We are 26th in the country currently in turnovers per game. I expected / hoped this number would be top 5-10 nationally at worst. Sample size is still small.


As a team, we are shooting the 3 ball at 34%. That number has to be a lot higher. There is hope here with Delalic and Guillermo who will at some point get out of the minor shooting slump.


Advanced efficiency National Team Rankings

Pomeroy-27th
Torvik-40th
Maya-32nd
Massey-29th
Warren-53rd

That's NCAA Tournament worthy. But that's not where we want to be. And that certainly is not leaving no doubt. Again, small sample size.


Additional interesting stats to me.


Jaland Lowe is averaging almost 3 steals per game.


Through 3 games, Ish statistically and on defense is this teams current best player. His job through this season is to communicate better throughout the game. He has been a beast.


The 8 man rotation as of now to me needs to be

Ish
Lowe
Dunn
Corhen
Guillermo
Austin
Delalic
Kante

And then

Cummings until he rebounds / plays better defense

If Cummings does not pick it up on defense and on the glass and Delalic does, then his role shrinks even more. Delalic should eat up a lot of minutes at multiple positions at 100% health. Jorge needs cut out of the rotation starting next game, our team struggles with him in the game and Im not sure our coach fully sees it yet.

 

[DT_PITT]

What's encouraging is that we have seen significant spurts of high level offense and high level defense. But spurts has led to significant drop offs in play, especially with a lead where the lead went down significantly.

The 2011 team kept the gas pedal down. That team also returned 8 of its top 9 guys and I dont recall any having a major injury in the preseason like Delalic or Kante. I expect both of these players to improve exponentially as we move forward.

The advanced efficiency is now updated this morning.

Kante currently has the best defensive power rating on the entire team. Sample size is small, but that is what I expected. He will get a lot better in time this year. Dunn and Cummings have the worst defensive efficiency on the team by a wide margin. These 2 are almost 10 points below everyone else on the entire team on defense which is significant. They have to rebound much better, especially Dunn since he is going to play a lot. If Dunn's offense starts to slip / he starts to turn the ball over, he can turn into a liability. That's what got him a bench role and in major trouble at Houston where his role shrank as the season went on.


As a team, we currently rank 76th in the country in defensive rebound rate. We are 151st in the nation in rebound margin. We are only 3 games into the season, but both of these numbers have to come up significantly for us to get where we want to be. And the issue is not the frontcourt here. The issue is the backcourt and the wings minus Ish. I think / hope Delalic can be a help here.

We are 26th in the country currently in turnovers per game. I expected / hoped this number would be top 5-10 nationally at worst. Sample size is still small.


As a team, we are shooting the 3 ball at 34%. That number has to be a lot higher. There is hope here with Delalic and Guillermo who will at some point get out of the minor shooting slump.


Advanced efficiency National Team Rankings

Pomeroy-27th
Torvik-40th
Maya-32nd
Massey-29th
Warren-53rd

That's NCAA Tournament worthy. But that's not where we want to be. And that certainly is not leaving no doubt. Again, small sample size.


Additional interesting stats to me.


Jaland Lowe is averaging almost 3 steals per game.


Through 3 games, Ish statistically and on defense is this teams current best player. His job through this season is to communicate better throughout the game. He has been a beast.


The 8 man rotation as of now to me needs to be

Ish
Lowe
Dunn
Corhen
Guillermo
Austin
Delalic
Kante

And then

Cummings until he rebounds / plays better defense

If Cummings does not pick it up on defense and on the glass and Delalic does, then his role shrinks even more. Delalic should eat up a lot of minutes at multiple positions at 100% health. Jorge needs cut out of the rotation starting next game, our team struggles with him in the game and Im not sure our coach fully sees it yet.

Based on what I've seen, I don't think Papa is part of rotation plans unless there is significant foul trouble. I also don't think it's worthwhile to put value into a defensive power rating based on 10 minutes of playing time over 2 games, most of which are in the final minutes of blowouts against Big South opponents. Just my opinion.

 

[Vader_Storm]

Based on what I've seen, I don't think Papa is part of rotation plans unless there is significant foul trouble. I also don't think it's worthwhile to put value into a defensive power rating based on 10 minutes of playing time over 2 games, most of which are in the final minutes of blowouts against Big South opponents. Just my opinion.

Your points are fair since the sample size is small but Ill counter with 1.

We saw an injured Jaland Lowe at the start of last season who looked shaky out of the gate. By January, the switch was fully flipped and so was our team.

We also saw an injured Nike Sibande coming off an ACL tear where he was held scoreless his first 4 games of action after his injury. He then fully flipped the switch on offense as he became comfortable again from the leg injury.


I think Delalic can flip the switch with a fully healed hand. And I think Kante with experience and gained confidence will also flip the switch, at least fully on defense and on rebounding and we will not have a liability at center.

My biggest concern right now is team rebounding.

 

[DT_PITT]

Your points are fair since the sample size is small but Ill counter with 1.

We saw an injured Jaland Lowe at the start of last season who looked shaky out of the gate. By January, the switch was fully flipped and so was our team.

We also saw an injured Nike Sibande coming off an ACL tear where he was held scoreless his first 4 games of action after his injury. He then fully flipped the switch on offense as he became comfortable again from the leg injury.


I think Delalic can flip the switch with a fully healed hand. And I think Kante with experience and gained confidence will also flip the switch, at least fully on defense and on rebounding and we will not have a liability at center.

My biggest concern right now is team rebounding.

Jaland was playing double digit minutes from the get-go as part of the regular rotation. He was averaging over 5 PPG and almost 17 MPG in his first four games. He improved as he got healthier and gained more confidence. But it was clear he was part of the regular rotation, and Papa would have further to go to reach that level.

I'm not quite sure to what you are referring with Nike. As soon as he was ready, he played and scored right away. In his second game back against L-ville, he played 26 minutes and scored 8 points in a loss.

 

[Vader_Storm]

Jaland was playing double digit minutes from the get-go as part of the regular rotation. He was averaging over 5 PPG and almost 17 MPG in his first four games. He improved as he got healthier and gained more confidence. But it was clear he was part of the regular rotation, and Papa would have further to go to reach that level.

I'm not quite sure to what you are referring with Nike. As soon as he was ready, he played and scored right away. In his second game back against L-ville, he played 26 minutes and scored 8 points in a loss.

Sibande's first 4 games after the ACL tear was during the 2022-2023 season. He was 2-14 shooting in those games, 3 of them we lost and 2 we were completely blown off the floor. It wasn't really until January where he picked things up significantly with his offense. You are looking at the wrong season.

My point is, with ACL injuries there is a significant mental adjustment that takes place to build confidence on the leg. In Kante's case, its even more significant because he is only a freshmen.

 

[DT_PITT]

Sibande's first 4 games after the ACL tear was during the 2022-2023 season. He was 2-14 shooting in those games, 3 of them we lost and 2 we were completely blown off the floor. It wasn't really until January where he picked things up significantly with his offense. You are looking at the wrong season.

My point is, with ACL injuries there is a significant mental adjustment that takes place to build confidence on the leg. In Kante's case, its even more significant because he is only a freshmen.

OK--I'm with you now on Nike. But I believe Papa and Nike are two different scenarios. Nike was a well experienced Div I player. Papa is still somewhat of a raw big, knee issues or not.

 

[JS School]

Judging by the minutes Kante has played so far, I don't believe Capel sees him as much of a contributor this year. Not just the minimal amount of minutes, but the fact that he's just playing at the end of games. He doesn't seem to be getting meaningful game experience with the starters.

 

[Pitt666]

So what is the best five on the floor right now after 3 games?
Corhen
Lowe
Leggett
Dunn
And XYZ…

Corhen can hopefully get better control, but he is 65% from floor with 27 shots, dunks, etc. Fede at TT, has played about 20 minutes per game is 100% FG with 4 shots attempted through 2 games…

They had a little scoring drought last night, but glad they aren’t as reliant on the 3 to break scoring droughts…

 

[Protes]

So what is the best five on the floor right now after 3 games?
Corhen
Lowe
Leggett
Dunn
And XYZ…

Corhen can hopefully get better control, but he is 65% from floor with 27 shots, dunks, etc. Fede at TT, has played about 20 minutes per game is 100% FG with 4 shots attempted through 2 games…

They had a little scoring drought last night, but glad they aren’t as reliant on the 3 to break scoring droughts…

Offensively, our best lineup right now remains the 5 we are putting out there. Defensively, it’s with Austin and probably without Dunn.

Our hope is our best lineup going forward will be Jaland/Ish/Amsal/GDG/Corhen. How good that lineup is defensively is the big question.

 

[Pitt666]

Offensively, our best lineup right now remains the 5 we are putting out there. Defensively, it’s with Austin and probably without Dunn.

Our hope is our best lineup going forward will be Jaland/Ish/Amsal/GDG/Corhen. How good that lineup is defensively is the big question.

I liked what I saw last night passing wise from Amsal. If the shot falls with a greater sample size, it would be awesome. Cant replicate hinsons shooting, but team chemistry seems present much earlier on this year.