Moe-observations - regarding GT ACC Game #2

[Chairman Moe]

## Thank you to the grad transfers - Maia was huge (no pun intended) last night on the glass, and Smith (Sterling) was pretty active all game - he actually looked like he was defending (Adam) Smith pretty closely; the latter Smith was just unconscious from beyond the arc

## Thank you Jamie and the coaching staff for the great job you're doing keeping this group of players as a team; it would be easy for a few "egos" to change the chemistry, but I'm not seeing it on my 55" flat screen 4K TV

## Thank you James Robinson for ignoring any of the previous comments made in the past year(s) via "social media" (meant, this board and/or newspaper blogs, etc) about your ability to play this game, and lead a team as their point guard. Your progress as a Panther PG is exemplary. I'm sure there are those here who would continue to argue that your name should not be mentioned among the more notable PG's during the Howland/Dixon (or should we now say, Dixon/Howland) era. The Chairman thinks you should

## Is this team a little bit similar to the Panther teams of the 1980's (i.e., Paul Evans era) only with a much better coach and chemistry? I'm not sure I can recall any Panther team with as much athletic ability than this one, since that era - maybe in Howland's second or third season?

## No panic; despite all of the big threes that Adam Smith hit in the final minutes, and seeing the 78-63 score get down to within a two possession game at the 1:17 mark, our guys never looked "scared" or "panicky". Will be anxious to see how this "demeanor" plays out on the road in tight games

## Agree with the other "seasoned" Panther-Lair BB Board posters here who say that this team's defense will need to improve before March; I'm sure that Jamie knows that, and that practices will continue to emphasize that point - but I need to watch how the other Top 25 teams play (offense and defense) before I knock the Panthers down too much

## Free throws - not sure what the change(s) was/are, but I sure do enjoy watching the confidence of our guys when they have to shoot FT's; and maybe that's it: confidence! Paraphrasing Yogi Berra a bit, 90% of shooting free throws is mental; the other half is physical

## Next two games will play a big part in the confidence level of this team as the season progresses; as well as that of its fans

Great win guys!

 

[cruzer]

One point I would add to your comments about Jamie keeping the players together as a team is that Jamie is really letting these guys play their game. That doesn't mean that he's not driving the bus, but this is a team that likes to play at a slightly faster pace and for the first time in a long time, we have a group of guys who can actually shoot. What's different is that Jamie isn't going crazy and giving guys the quick hook when they throw up a 3 pointer and miss. The guys aren't looking over their shoulders. The message is that we're confident in your ability to hit these shots. Anyone who has ever played the game knows that a large part of being a decent shooter is simply confidence. Kudos to Jamie for this approach.

Cruzer

 

[KiwiJeff]

One point I would add to your comments about Jamie keeping the players together as a team is that Jamie is really letting these guys play their game. That doesn't mean that he's not driving the bus, but this is a team that likes to play at a slightly faster pace and for the first time in a long time, we have a group of guys who can actually shoot. What's different is that Jamie isn't going crazy and giving guys the quick hook when they throw up a 3 pointer and miss. The guys aren't looking over their shoulders. The message is that we're confident in your ability to hit these shots. Anyone who has ever played the game knows that a large part of being a decent shooter is simply confidence. Kudos to Jamie for this approach.

Cruzer

Given our roster last year, small wonder coach was reluctant to let anyone shoot.

How many players have had a perpetual quick hook? Only one I can think of is JJ Moore. Maybe John Johnson. But these guys would make horrible decisions on both ends. I think any coach would yank them.

 

[KiwiJeff]

## Thank you to the grad transfers - Maia was huge (no pun intended) last night on the glass, and Smith (Sterling) was pretty active all game - he actually looked like he was defending (Adam) Smith pretty closely; the latter Smith was just unconscious from beyond the arc

## Thank you Jamie and the coaching staff for the great job you're doing keeping this group of players as a team; it would be easy for a few "egos" to change the chemistry, but I'm not seeing it on my 55" flat screen 4K TV

## Thank you James Robinson for ignoring any of the previous comments made in the past year(s) via "social media" (meant, this board and/or newspaper blogs, etc) about your ability to play this game, and lead a team as their point guard. Your progress as a Panther PG is exemplary. I'm sure there are those here who would continue to argue that your name should not be mentioned among the more notable PG's during the Howland/Dixon (or should we now say, Dixon/Howland) era. The Chairman thinks you should

## Is this team a little bit similar to the Panther teams of the 1980's (i.e., Paul Evans era) only with a much better coach and chemistry? I'm not sure I can recall any Panther team with as much athletic ability than this one, since that era - maybe in Howland's second or third season?

## No panic; despite all of the big threes that Adam Smith hit in the final minutes, and seeing the 78-63 score get down to within a two possession game at the 1:17 mark, our guys never looked "scared" or "panicky". Will be anxious to see how this "demeanor" plays out on the road in tight games

## Agree with the other "seasoned" Panther-Lair BB Board posters here who say that this team's defense will need to improve before March; I'm sure that Jamie knows that, and that practices will continue to emphasize that point - but I need to watch how the other Top 25 teams play (offense and defense) before I knock the Panthers down too much

## Free throws - not sure what the change(s) was/are, but I sure do enjoy watching the confidence of our guys when they have to shoot FT's; and maybe that's it: confidence! Paraphrasing Yogi Berra a bit, 90% of shooting free throws is mental; the other half is physical

## Next two games will play a big part in the confidence level of this team as the season progresses; as well as that of its fans

Great win guys!

Nice post.

W/R/T FTs, we have players that can actually shoot them. Jamie isn't coaching it more or anything. We have notoriously had guys (Nasr, Cam, McGhee...really most bigs have stunk) who would get to the line a good bit, but hit like 50%. Smartly, Jamie often had them off the court when the game was in the balance and we had a small lead. We now have 3 big men (Young, Artis, Jeter) who excel at FTs and SGs that can actually hit them (having a SG that can't is sad, sorry Cam). When the current guys graduate/leave, our numbers will go back to "normal" again. Not many teams (maybe no teams) boast 3 big men who shoot it even close to how well our guys do. That's why we lead the nation. It will be interesting to see the rhetoric when our 3 big men leave and we are back to high 60, low 70 figures and people wondering what Jamie is doing differently

 

[Chairman Moe]

Nice post.

W/R/T FTs, we have players that can actually shoot them. Jamie isn't coaching it more or anything. We have notoriously had guys (Nasr, Cam, McGhee...really most bigs have stunk) who would get to the line a good bit, but hit like 50%. Smartly, Jamie often had them off the court when the game was in the balance and we had a small lead. We now have 3 big men (Young, Artis, Jeter) who excel at FTs and SGs that can actually hit them (having a SG that can't is sad, sorry Cam). When the current guys graduate/leave, our numbers will go back to "normal" again. Not many teams (maybe no teams) boast 3 big men who shoot it even close to how well our guys do. That's why we lead the nation. It will be interesting to see the rhetoric when our 3 big men leave and we are back to high 60, low 70 figures and people wondering what Jamie is doing differently

Mike Young is probably the most improved at the FT line; IIRC he was in the high '60's/low '70's percentage-wise last year. I love Sheldon's game, too. Easy to sub him in at the end of the game.

Thanks for the reply

 

[jimsavio]

Mike Young's FT percentage last year was a bit of an anomaly. His freshman year he was 80+ percent.

 

[Harve74]

## Thank you to the grad transfers - Maia was huge (no pun intended) last night on the glass, and Smith (Sterling) was pretty active all game - he actually looked like he was defending (Adam) Smith pretty closely; the latter Smith was just unconscious from beyond the arc

## Thank you Jamie and the coaching staff for the great job you're doing keeping this group of players as a team; it would be easy for a few "egos" to change the chemistry, but I'm not seeing it on my 55" flat screen 4K TV

## Thank you James Robinson for ignoring any of the previous comments made in the past year(s) via "social media" (meant, this board and/or newspaper blogs, etc) about your ability to play this game, and lead a team as their point guard. Your progress as a Panther PG is exemplary. I'm sure there are those here who would continue to argue that your name should not be mentioned among the more notable PG's during the Howland/Dixon (or should we now say, Dixon/Howland) era. The Chairman thinks you should

## Is this team a little bit similar to the Panther teams of the 1980's (i.e., Paul Evans era) only with a much better coach and chemistry? I'm not sure I can recall any Panther team with as much athletic ability than this one, since that era - maybe in Howland's second or third season?

## No panic; despite all of the big threes that Adam Smith hit in the final minutes, and seeing the 78-63 score get down to within a two possession game at the 1:17 mark, our guys never looked "scared" or "panicky". Will be anxious to see how this "demeanor" plays out on the road in tight games

## Agree with the other "seasoned" Panther-Lair BB Board posters here who say that this team's defense will need to improve before March; I'm sure that Jamie knows that, and that practices will continue to emphasize that point - but I need to watch how the other Top 25 teams play (offense and defense) before I knock the Panthers down too much

## Free throws - not sure what the change(s) was/are, but I sure do enjoy watching the confidence of our guys when they have to shoot FT's; and maybe that's it: confidence! Paraphrasing Yogi Berra a bit, 90% of shooting free throws is mental; the other half is physical

## Next two games will play a big part in the confidence level of this team as the season progresses; as well as that of its fans

Great win guys!

Hi Moe.
Hope all is well with you. Fun watching this team, isn't it? It's hard to tell exactly how good this team is, but we can score a lot of points.

Like DT, I fear we will be found to have feet of clay based on our defense. But, after the disappointment of a few recent seasons, I'm going to enjoy it while it lasts.

I think we will have bad games like the Purdue game, when we play teams we can't just outscore. They may start as soon as ND or the Ville. I thought we would be a typical Dixon Top 25 level team, and that's what I still expect ultimately. I don't think there has been an overwhelming change because of a change in offensive style.

Just scoring at a higher pace is not going to make us a Final Four team. There's still two parts to the game. Simply running on offense and having more shooters doesn't really change the basic dynamics of the game. Ultimately, offensive efficiency AND defensive efficiency both combine to determine if we win or lose. If we continue to give up points at the rate we have against relatively ordinary teams like Cuse and GT, I think we'll have real problems against a lot of the better teams still on our schedule.

I still think we beat all those outstanding old BE teams, in the past 15 years, mostly by making them play OUR game. I hope I'm wrong, but I don't think we quite have the horses to beat that caliber teams at THEIR game as consistently as we did the old way.

But, back in our day, we used to be reasonably happy being around a .500 team, maybe playing PSU or WVU close. Our expectations have changed. I'll try to be satisfied with whatever we do, but I'll be happier if Jamie can keep us around the Top 25 area with the occasional chance at better.

I don't much care what style we play. As the saying goes, just win, baby!

 

[Fsgolfdr]

Isn't Jamie's ideal team five interchangeable 6'7" guys ? Their just about there. ( Young ,Artis Jeter, CJohnson ) !
On the defensive end if guys are making tough 3's like Smith was doing I can live with that I'm more concerned with the defense around the bucket.