I Think We Have a Team Now

[Zaratoughda]

It took a while... and the poor performance against Purdue... but it is sure looking much more like we have a TEAM now rather than just a bunch of players. Well, almost.

It was a bit surprising to see Maia start but seemed like a good idea based on his recent performance.. and it sure worked out good. Dixon... had been taking ANO out after 3 minutes but let THESE starters play for like 7 or 8 minutes and IMO that did the team a LOT of good.... and I hope he continues to do things this way. Players gotta know who they are playing with and what they can expect and where they fit into the overall picture and this works much better if you are playing more time with the same set of players and getting extended minutes along those lines.

So, looks like Robinson, Smith, Artis, Young and Maia, starting and probably will be this way for the rest of the year barring injury.

The only caveat... with the bench.... 'not so much'.

Jeter is scoring... but still making ragged plays... minus plays... out there. But, he is close and closer than any other player coming off the bench.

Jones... has not been putting the ball in the hoop with any level of consistency. Got a big ticked off and took it to the hoop and slammed it down. Maybe he needs some more of that. In any case he is missing way too many open shots right now.

Slim.... has been in a shooting slump. Remember he is just a RS freshman.Had missed maybe 6 in a row but Dixon gave him some extended minutes and Slim let the game come to him and... nailed one so.... we are just gonna have to see what happens here.

Wilson... has a LONG ways to go. Guess is Milligan gets RSed now so Wilson should be getting the minutes. A freshman and missed most of training camp with injuries but you can see the potential.... again he should be seeing the minutes now.

As far as Luther and Nelson-Ododa... I am not a fan of Luther and the number of minus plays he makes but, we will just have to see. ANO will be coming off the bench now so will have to adapt to that.

In short... still a lot of things for fans of the game to keep an eye on.

Otherwise... we looked fantastic against the Dukes in the first half. Not just the O but the D was terrific. Anyone that thinks that we cannot play good man D has gotta shut their mouths now. I think it was good hedging along with the guards getting back on their man fast and playing them tighter than they had been.

The Central Arkansas game is nice now... last of 4 games in 8 days... but not sure how much the games against the next two cupcakes is gonna buy us.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

More Smith. Less Jones. Smith is too much of a weapon. I'd split them 30/10 or 28/12.

 

[Chescat]

Well the Purdue game(minus the horrendous shooting start, and the last three or four minutes) showed
that we have a team, but a rather inconsistent one. We looked great last night, now we have to build on it.
I would like to see Maia continue his upward trajectory and hopefully start and give us 25 minutes or so
of tough D and rebounding. Ano, I cannot figure out...he clearly is athletic, but he's given us nothing so
far. I do think he'll eventually come around. If he does, and can give us 10-15 minutes at C, then Luther
can move to where he belongs...substitute PF. If that were to occur, then our rotation could be more
established with the others knowing their roles off the bench. I realize this is a stretch.
The main problem IMO with Jones. is nothing more than his realizing his role on this team., same with Jeter. They are both substitutes and IMO, it's pretty obvious why. Bringing those two off the bench along with
Cam, Luther. Ano, Milligan (rs?) gives us great depth and quality reserves.

 

[Kaywood105]

Well the Purdue game(minus the horrendous shooting start, and the last three or four minutes) showed
that we have a team, but a rather inconsistent one. We looked great last night, now we have to build on it.
I would like to see Maia continue his upward trajectory and hopefully start and give us 25 minutes or so
of tough D and rebounding. Ano, I cannot figure out...he clearly is athletic, but he's given us nothing so
far. I do think he'll eventually come around. If he does, and can give us 10-15 minutes at C, then Luther
can move to where he belongs...substitute PF. If that were to occur, then our rotation could be more
established with the others knowing their roles off the bench. I realize this is a stretch.
The main problem IMO with Jones. is nothing more than his realizing his role on this team., same with Jeter. They are both substitutes and IMO, it's pretty obvious why. Bringing those two off the bench along with
Cam, Luther. Ano, Milligan (rs?) gives us great depth and quality reserves.

Good post , I have been wondering for a while now about the abilities of the asst. coaches to actually
coach the game. Recruiting is tough for everyone unless you are willing to bend the rules and deal
with the handlers, but we have some kids that are pretty good athletes who just can't seem to grasp
finer points of playing defense.

 

[Zaratoughda]

Well the Purdue game(minus the horrendous shooting start, and the last three or four minutes) showed
that we have a team, but a rather inconsistent one. We looked great last night, now we have to build on it.
I would like to see Maia continue his upward trajectory and hopefully start and give us 25 minutes or so
of tough D and rebounding. Ano, I cannot figure out...he clearly is athletic, but he's given us nothing so
far. I do think he'll eventually come around. If he does, and can give us 10-15 minutes at C, then Luther
can move to where he belongs...substitute PF. If that were to occur, then our rotation could be more
established with the others knowing their roles off the bench. I realize this is a stretch.
The main problem IMO with Jones. is nothing more than his realizing his role on this team., same with Jeter. They are both substitutes and IMO, it's pretty obvious why. Bringing those two off the bench along with
Cam, Luther. Ano, Milligan (rs?) gives us great depth and quality reserves.

By a 'team' I am thinking of players that know what their teammates are gonna do and function as a team rather than just a bunch of individual players. Young's passes to Maia are an excellent example. A matter of the two of them working together as opposed to just one player trying to do it himself. This is significant on both ends of the court, and in no uncertain terms.

When we had Wannamaker, Gibbs, Brown, Nas and McGhee... now THAT was a team. The team was greater than the sum of the individual parts. No ways the sum of the parts there would get them a #1 seed in the NCAAT, but as a team that is exactly what they accomplished.

Didn't get that sense with this team until the game against the Dukes. The loss to Purdue brought some things into perspective and caused Dixon to insert Maia into the starting lineup.... and they looked great (especially the D) and, again, Dixon played those starters 7 minutes to start and... that was huge.

So, really looked like a TEAM and... they can and should get better as a TEAM as time goes along here... and into the ACC regular season.

The caveat... is that the BENCH still needs to come together. I still think Dixon should consider playing Jeter some time at SF, and Young less time at C, but whatever... Jeter seems to be close... just needs to cut down on the ragged plays on D. Jones, on the other hand, has the potential, IMO, to be a major impact player off the bench and that has not happened... just needs to put the ball in the hoop. Johnson and Wilson are not there yet either, especially Wilson. Then there is the whole thing with Luther and Nelson-Ododa at C.

So, still a ways to go here to get to where they can get. If they get there, then the sky is the limit on what they might accomplish.

 

[KiwiJeff]

Well the Purdue game(minus the horrendous shooting start, and the last three or four minutes) showed
that we have a team, but a rather inconsistent one. We looked great last night, now we have to build on it.
I would like to see Maia continue his upward trajectory and hopefully start and give us 25 minutes or so
of tough D and rebounding. Ano, I cannot figure out...he clearly is athletic, but he's given us nothing so
far. I do think he'll eventually come around. If he does, and can give us 10-15 minutes at C, then Luther
can move to where he belongs...substitute PF. If that were to occur, then our rotation could be more
established with the others knowing their roles off the bench. I realize this is a stretch.
The main problem IMO with Jones. is nothing more than his realizing his role on this team., same with Jeter. They are both substitutes and IMO, it's pretty obvious why. Bringing those two off the bench along with
Cam, Luther. Ano, Milligan (rs?) gives us great depth and quality reserves.

I think all basketball teams, at all levels, can be inconsistent game to game. You can consistently run your sets correctly and have an off shooting night. Foul trouble, the opponent, all different can affect each game. I think Jamie is still tinkering it's the lineup, but every game we are seeing th minutes shift from some guys to another. Getting the rotation set will eliminate to some degree one of the variables that could make a team inconsistent. It really isn't surprising a team with 6 (4 contributors) new guys would take a while to gel, so really not surprising for early in the season to be feeling their way.