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Post by LIONS90045 on Feb 6, 2016 19:35:01 GMT -5
Main suspense is whether the Pilots will score a century and Jacko get 40!
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Post by lmu2015 on Feb 6, 2016 19:37:07 GMT -5
We don't rebound, don't play defense, and can't shoot... Tough to win games like that.
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Post by LIONS90045 on Feb 6, 2016 19:38:37 GMT -5
The Portland fans are really enjoying watching Jacko even though he is the enemy Would be less fun for them if the Lions weren't down by 14
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Post by LIONS90045 on Feb 6, 2016 20:42:59 GMT -5
Is it just me or are the Lions playing worse each game, excepting Jacko? What has happened to Brown's game - he was a ball of fire early in the season but now seems just ordinary. Are the guys tired? Or discouraged that Dunlap's system isn't producing results? Or are they confused by a different lineup and minutes each game, with a few players excepted?
In any case, the WCC season has been discouraging with the exception of our big weekend up North with our two wins.
On the bright side, it is a real pleasure and worth the price of admission to see Jacko maturing every game and learning his real potential. Today he was a wonder - 35 points and 0 (ZERO) fouls - he is getting it on defense finally. As I noted, even the opponents were thrilled at Jacko's play, jumping up from their seats and holding their heads in awe at one of his spinning dunk late in the game.
Jacko would be WCC player of the week if the Lions had won these two latest games but now he'll be on the weekly team. And Wintering will likely be Player of the Week - deservedly so.
Only a few more games to bear up under disappointing results - key is to lower expectations. Then we can be surprised if we exceed them.
Sorry to be so gloomy but I just need to vent to avoid getting ulcers.
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Post by husky on Feb 6, 2016 21:02:20 GMT -5
Guess I am as ignorant as the odds makers. Jacko did his part and more but Winter is right when he says our coach has scant interest in guarding the arc, if that. Portland hit 15 of 31 from 3 point range (48%) while they made adjustments the second half and effectively shut us down. Throughout the last half we were sluggish and other than giving the ball to Jacko, looked lost offensively spending all kinds of time of time dribbling and passing the ball out front as if hoping Portland would just back off so we could get a shot.
Did not notice and am not familiar with a 1-1-3 zone (do we mean 1-3-1?), but either would not seem to be the way to guard against 3's. Maybe a 3-2 or a 1-2-2. Zones are often prescribed to hide a weak defensive player but at times tonight we had 4 or 5 lead footed players to cover for.
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Post by LIONS90045 on Feb 6, 2016 21:39:52 GMT -5
Portland shot 50% in the first half but we made half time adjustments Portland only shot 57% in the second half
Just venting
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Post by ALioninWinter on Feb 6, 2016 23:47:48 GMT -5
As I mentioned earlier, CMD believes it's important to protect the top of the key area. He's right. That area is important because it's the gateway into the interior of your defense. I think CMD thinks the 1-1-3 zone is an effective defense for accomplishing that. And yes, it's a 1-1-3, not a 1-3-1.
I personally don't like it because I think it gives the offense too many options to penetrate your defense. There are simply too many ways around that exterior defense. And it's certainly not working with this team. Our guys are simply never in the right defensive positions. It is so painful to watch.
Jacko was great and the Pilots had no answer for him. I was most impressed with the zero fouls. Several times I watched him back off rather than draw the foul. I agree. The guy is worth the price of admission. It's been a long time since we've had that level of interior presence. I also appreciated his hustle. I watched him contest a shot and tggn race down the court where he received a long pass that he dunked ... while the other Lions were all back at the defensive 3-point line watching. Every fan in the league now knows who this guy is.
We gave up 45 points from the 3-point line. 45 points!! How do you give up that many 3-pointers and not make some adjustments??!
I really don't blame the players I think they're trying hard. I know there were times when maybe it looked like they were lifeless or not responding well. But I think that may be due more to their confusion. I think they're trying to follow coach's orders. But when things so consistently don't work out, they are doubting what they're doing.
The team has regressed. Other than Jacko, no one is blossoming. The guys are working hard. They're trying to follow (what I suspect are) CMDs myriad of instructions. They aren't allowed to simply respond to the court action and play basketball. Those passing drills way outside the 3-point arc drive me crazy. All the defense has to do is stand there and watch. There's little threat to moving the ball toward the basket.
CMD is supposed to be a great developer of talent. Other than Jacko I don't see any improvements. Brown got killed today on both ends of the court. Hernann's foot work was awful. Nobody understands defensive positioning.
I don't mind rotations that go deep into the bench, but let the guys play enough to get into a groove! Spiers starts, hits 2 three's, doesn't see the ball in two possessions and CMD pulls him to put in some one else. He wasn't tired that early in the game. He had shown a hot hand. Why pull him? It takes a couple times up and down the court sometimes to get into the flow off the game. Under CMD, you make those two trips and then get pulled. That approach makes it very hard to have any team consistency. It allows CMD to control the game but it doesn't give the guys a chance to play the game.
One more thing -- I've been watching a lot of disappointing Lions basketball for more years than j want to count, but CMD has brought a new dimension to Lions basketball. Even with all those crummy years there was always a certain level of excitement. Even losing seasons had their fun moments. These last to seasons have had more boring games than I have ever seen before. Tonight there were close to 160 points scored but the game was still boring! How can that be? Frankly, I can't fully explain it. Maybe it's because these games offer no suspense and (at least in my opinion) don't offer much hope for the future.
Sorry to be so negative, but this is really bad.
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Post by lmu2015 on Feb 7, 2016 1:21:01 GMT -5
For the most part I agree with everything said above, I don't understand why we play offense 25-30 feet from the hoop for half the possession. Brown has the quickness to get to the lane but he has lost his assertiveness, yes he takes some wild shots but we are a better team when he is aggressively attacking on offense, we will never win with him taking 3 shots. As for defense, I have always gave and always will be bias against any zone defense. I personally hate it with a passion and am 100% against anything that isn't straight man to man 100% of the time. I know plenty of teams, like Syracuse and Baylor, have successful zone defenses, but it clearly isn't working for us. I don't know if our man defense is any better but at least the players understand where to be on the court, and it's easier to match up on rebounding. I don't think the gimmicks on defense are necessary, have some basic principles like to defend on ball screens, when to double team the post, and when/when not to switch, and that's it.
As for some positives... Jacko is a stud and it isn't unrealistic to say that he could wear an NBA uniform one day. Tutu had 8 assists and 0 turnovers, not too many players in college basketball, let alone freshman, put up those numbers. He has improved a lot from the beginning of the season along with Jacko.
I can also guarantee you that CMD is also doing everything he can to win, he has lot of thinking to do and things to figure out, and I would suggest to him to keep things simple. No need for 10 different defenses, a complex offense where every player needs to be constantly making the same reads and on the same page to work. Memphis should have won a national title by running straight man on D and a basic open set on offense. I think what's happened is he has thrown too much at the players and they are thinking, not just reacting and playing. This is not a problem that should surface late in the season. They now have 2 very tough road games coming up and I pray they win Thursday at UOP.
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Post by lmu2015 on Feb 7, 2016 1:21:12 GMT -5
For the most part I agree with everything said above, I don't understand why we play offense 25-30 feet from the hoop for half the possession. Brown has the quickness to get to the lane but he has lost his assertiveness, yes he takes some wild shots but we are a better team when he is aggressively attacking on offense, we will never win with him taking 3 shots. As for defense, I have always gave and always will be bias against any zone defense. I personally hate it with a passion and am 100% against anything that isn't straight man to man 100% of the time. I know plenty of teams, like Syracuse and Baylor, have successful zone defenses, but it clearly isn't working for us. I don't know if our man defense is any better but at least the players understand where to be on the court, and it's easier to match up on rebounding. I don't think the gimmicks on defense are necessary, have some basic principles like to defend on ball screens, when to double team the post, and when/when not to switch, and that's it.
As for some positives... Jacko is a stud and it isn't unrealistic to say that he could wear an NBA uniform one day. Tutu had 8 assists and 0 turnovers, not too many players in college basketball, let alone freshman, put up those numbers. He has improved a lot from the beginning of the season along with Jacko.
I can also guarantee you that CMD is also doing everything he can to win, he has lot of thinking to do and things to figure out, and I would suggest to him to keep things simple. No need for 10 different defenses, a complex offense where every player needs to be constantly making the same reads and on the same page to work. Memphis should have won a national title by running straight man on D and a basic open set on offense. I think what's happened is he has thrown too much at the players and they are thinking, not just reacting and playing. This is not a problem that should surface late in the season. They now have 2 very tough road games coming up and I pray they win Thursday at UOP.
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Post by waterboy on Feb 7, 2016 3:21:06 GMT -5
We need better point guards. Thats all I have to say.
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Post by pumpfake on Feb 7, 2016 10:37:04 GMT -5
Halfway through the second half I was so frustrated by our defense that I stopped caring about winning and just wanted to see some stops. If I were the coach, I would have sacrificed offesne (such at it is) to get some stops. We needed to make a statement - show some pride. I would say our best defensive unit would be Tutu, Tuach (why no PT yesterday?), McClendon, Jacko, and Mornar. In coming up with this 5, I realize we don't have ANY inside guys who can claim defense as their calling card. Mornar blocks shots but he gets pushed around and is late on his rotations. Jacko's primary defensive objective is to not get fouls. Shamar is undersized and a step slow. Herman gets confused - his head is on a swivel. The 3 perimeter players in this 5 would, at least, disrupt things a bit. I know that that Tutu and McClendon don't bring much (any?) scoting punch but, they both are capable of wreaking havoc to the other team's offensive set. Bottom line: it seems that in our efforts to bring in some shooters (Spiers and Haney and Matt) we lost sight of the fact that games are won on the defensive end. We have to hope Manuel, Sykes, and Gibson are defensive stoppers.
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Post by pumpfake on Feb 7, 2016 22:34:20 GMT -5
Maybe the Lions should hire Wade Phillips as defensive coordinator....
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