Astute points. At first I was as angry as everyone else about the game, but then I became curious as to what the heck was going on. This is a team of *great* players who have no concept of where *their* shots should come from (with the exception of Trent - he knows where is his money.) It reminds me of how much I loathed watching Mike Davis. Every swooned over his rebouding, but when you actually watched him closey - he was the king of running down the easy rebound to pad the stats. The he would hold the ball on his hip and take a breath and make a weak outlet pass that did nothin. Despite his frame and his stats he was absolute liability from a team chemistry and team ball standpoint. Just a selfish flowkiller. We have some strong basketball players that have been overpraised for low value skills and can't breakout of the mindset. I *really* thought Kofi would develop a strong kick-out game. It will benefit him so much a lessen those 3-4 defender scrums that currently hang off of him. Foul or no foul, he needs to play one-one-one bully ball by being a threat to kick it out. It is a multi-million decision byK ofi as ti whether he wants to do this or not, I have a feeling it wll be a main feature fo future practices
We are team of very good shooters where the wrong shooters shoot and the right shooters are taking crazy shots under duress. DMW may not make a 3 this year, See DMF Fr and So,. year for perspective.m His breakout last year was because Ayo got him open looks snd DMW's psyche benefited by more than anyone in college basketball from no fans in the stands. Made it seem like practice to him and he was able to shoot like practice. No chance this year., He's slow, a poor ballhandler and will prompyly revert to previous abysmal form. He needs to play spot defence, get a couple rebounds and ride the pine. HE IS WAS HE IS at this point.
It'a not an insult to say that Curbelo is better off the bench as the sixth man. He gets a chance to feel the game and knows that he wants to do when he's end. He's still a magician with the ball, but the 'Steve Nash' comps have gone straight to his head. He will not shoot better than 15% from 3 this year. And his propencity to try to split thee defenders no longer works. He's not spending enough time patiently running through at least 1 offensive set prior to freelancing. If he actually studied Steve Nash, he'd see how to maximize his skillset and height while still running smooth, unselfish offense. Brad has a tough Challenge with Curbelo. Have to give him the hook when he makes a stupid play and sit for a while. Frazier, Hutch and Plummer can handle adequately while he's out.
We clearly have a team chemistry for the moment because the rotations have not put the right units on the floor to be successful. Payne & Curbelo is a bad mix. Belo feeds him fancy passes in places he cannot finish. Kofi needs to have confidence when he kicks out to a lock down shooter ready to go. If he did that three times in a row, he'd be amazed at how open his footwork will be in the lane the next time down. He's got millions of dollars riding on his ability to do that consistently.
Hutch is one of our best players and needs starters minutes. He is smooth, long, can handle the ball and is a menace on defence. Also him being in the game makes DMW or Plummer sit, which automatically improved flow.
If I was going with the best 5 from a talent and cohesive game standpoint to stand toe-to-toe with Gonzaga it would be:
Frazier
Hutcherson
Grandison
Hawkins
Cockburn
That unit will play some D, has multiple initiators, the ball doesn't stick and we have the size to cause mismatch problems everywhere. Importantly, we then crash down on Kofi, he can kick to any of these guys with an offensive mindset.
Similarly - I need to see more tick from Melendez and Goode. The both look long and athletic and are agrressive on glass and moving the ball. Haven't looked like typical freshmen. I'd use BBV to spell Kofi at this point. Payne seems really raw and has bad hands. Good defensive presence at times.
However - we need to get our best offensive flow in the game and that is the guys above. I'd bring Curbelo off the bench first - he thrived in that role last year - but preserve a quick hook for bad decisions. If he wants to be the leader of the team, he needs to lead by mental toughness and by making the correct plays first - before trying the spectacular plays.
We have plenty of talent on this team. BU is just being stubborn early on with how he's deploying it.