Post by ALioninWinter on Nov 9, 2024 4:22:36 GMT -5
Lionup2027 - welcome to the blog. Your fresh perspective is welcome! I hope you enjoy the blog, the team and your LMU experience. It’s been a looong time since I was a student but I still relish opportunities to walk our beautiful campus.
I hear what you’re saying about the coaching but can only agree in part. Coach Stan continues to rely upon an offense that works well when you have the better players. The result is that way too often we’re watching a one-on-one drill with the other 4 players watching. Tonight I had a UCI alum say to me, “Isn’t #4 (Will J) the guy who torched Gonzaga for 30 points? How come he only has 2 shots?”
This was late in the game but before Will nailed those 2 late 3s. I explained that he’s an excellent shooter but can’t really create his own shots. UCI knows what he can do so they guarded him closely. You can work around that with plays built for him and by setting effective screens. Unfortunately, we do neither.
Yes, our guys missed a ton of shots tonight but credit UCI with aggressive defense. The Lions didn’t have very many easy, unhurried shots tonight.
On defense - I don’t know if the word I want is unprepared or ill prepared. I know it’s tough to prepare for a team when it’s both teams’ first real games; BUT Coach Turner has been using the same offense ever since he got to UCI. Each year he recruits the same kinds of players that allows him to run HIS offense. He has his guys setting high quality screens around the arc that allow his guards to curl around the screen, drive the key, and either make a lay-up or pass out for a 3-pointer. It’s no secret. It’s always the same. Yet our guys were caught flat footed with no idea as to how to defend it. That’s poor coaching.
Enough on coaching. On to the players ….
NOBODY had a good game. Porter certainly has the body and movement that make him a legit NBA prospect. But too often tonight he tried to do it all himself (I see the Romar Effect here). I can’t really blame him; no one else was stepping up. Somebody needed to do something! He’s got a decent 3-point shot but when he’s out at the arc, we’ve got NOBODY rebounding. What percentage of our possessions tonight were “one shot and done?” We didn’t have very many that weren’t. UCI is big. Porter needs to realize he has to dominate the paint.
Vide was a different player tonight. He passed up numerous outside shot opportunities. I saw why late in the game when he took a long shoot — oh boy, that was painful to watch. I wouldn’t even bother guarding him at the arc. On the other hand, he had some very nice drives ending in effective teardrop shots. And he only had one TO as I recall.
Everyone else was miserable, somewhat due to poor play and somewhat due to poor coaching.
This was just one game, and against a pretty decent team. For now, I’ll consider it an anomaly. But what does bother me is that talent-wise I think the teams are pretty evenly matched at this point. The game was only somewhat competitive because Coach Turner did a much better job of coaching. My concern? We were looking to compete for a tournament bid this year. Tonight showed me we are merely on par talent-wise with a typical UCI team that is highly competitive in the low Division I Big West — a UCI team that typically makes the tournament as a 12 seed that then gets nailed in the first round. Is that our ceiling with this team??
I hear what you’re saying about the coaching but can only agree in part. Coach Stan continues to rely upon an offense that works well when you have the better players. The result is that way too often we’re watching a one-on-one drill with the other 4 players watching. Tonight I had a UCI alum say to me, “Isn’t #4 (Will J) the guy who torched Gonzaga for 30 points? How come he only has 2 shots?”
This was late in the game but before Will nailed those 2 late 3s. I explained that he’s an excellent shooter but can’t really create his own shots. UCI knows what he can do so they guarded him closely. You can work around that with plays built for him and by setting effective screens. Unfortunately, we do neither.
Yes, our guys missed a ton of shots tonight but credit UCI with aggressive defense. The Lions didn’t have very many easy, unhurried shots tonight.
On defense - I don’t know if the word I want is unprepared or ill prepared. I know it’s tough to prepare for a team when it’s both teams’ first real games; BUT Coach Turner has been using the same offense ever since he got to UCI. Each year he recruits the same kinds of players that allows him to run HIS offense. He has his guys setting high quality screens around the arc that allow his guards to curl around the screen, drive the key, and either make a lay-up or pass out for a 3-pointer. It’s no secret. It’s always the same. Yet our guys were caught flat footed with no idea as to how to defend it. That’s poor coaching.
Enough on coaching. On to the players ….
NOBODY had a good game. Porter certainly has the body and movement that make him a legit NBA prospect. But too often tonight he tried to do it all himself (I see the Romar Effect here). I can’t really blame him; no one else was stepping up. Somebody needed to do something! He’s got a decent 3-point shot but when he’s out at the arc, we’ve got NOBODY rebounding. What percentage of our possessions tonight were “one shot and done?” We didn’t have very many that weren’t. UCI is big. Porter needs to realize he has to dominate the paint.
Vide was a different player tonight. He passed up numerous outside shot opportunities. I saw why late in the game when he took a long shoot — oh boy, that was painful to watch. I wouldn’t even bother guarding him at the arc. On the other hand, he had some very nice drives ending in effective teardrop shots. And he only had one TO as I recall.
Everyone else was miserable, somewhat due to poor play and somewhat due to poor coaching.
This was just one game, and against a pretty decent team. For now, I’ll consider it an anomaly. But what does bother me is that talent-wise I think the teams are pretty evenly matched at this point. The game was only somewhat competitive because Coach Turner did a much better job of coaching. My concern? We were looking to compete for a tournament bid this year. Tonight showed me we are merely on par talent-wise with a typical UCI team that is highly competitive in the low Division I Big West — a UCI team that typically makes the tournament as a 12 seed that then gets nailed in the first round. Is that our ceiling with this team??
