I (all of us) would rather see him shoot an arching FT for an airball then that line drive approach. Once he learns to shoot with even a bit more arch, it will be better. That really shouldn't be that hard to overcome. But coaching it only goes so far. He has to buy into a compete style of shooting his FT, knowing there may be some airballs until he finds his rhythm if ever. I know they work on it in practice but how much work does he need downlow? Really not much, so maybe it is FTs all day for a while.
Penn State 74, Illinois 59 Postgame
Yes, that's what I'm saying.
The time a player has to dedicate toward scouting is finite. I think we can all agree.
So let's pretend that finite number is 5 hours. In the past, a player could dedicate most of those 5 hours towards understanding how to stop one or two players. Now, a player still has those same 5 hours but he must use them to scout eight players instead of two because he now must be prepared to guard everyone, not just "his guys".
What I'm talking about isn't a "try harder" type of thing. It's about a human's capacity to learn and process information. It's about the trade off between being a specialist and a generalist.
Funk was out of his mind, heck of a shot maker. I'm sure other teams felt the same way about Plummer some games. We looked out of sorts and were apathetic on switches. I told my son in the first couple minutes that if we make this a three point contest we are toast. They couldn't sustain the effort necessary to come back in this one. They are the oldest team in college ball, a less experienced team might have faltered. First game I have left with time on the clock in a long time. I am sure Coach has their attention in practice going forward.
Illinivek23
- Gurnee
How do they most efficiently reconstruct someone's stroke at the FT line? Do the use video and measure the optimal arc until they get repeatable results? Just curious with all the modern analytical tools available
Trent Frazier is Macauley Culkin in Home Alone level ready for Hunter Dickinson to show up at his door in Belgrade right now.
We literally just finished watching this movie.
Here's my take on the game:
Once we had gone on our 8-0? run and cut it to 6 points and THEN (with all the momentum in our pocket and the crowd behind us) were about to force a shot clock violation, I leaned over and told my brother, "If Penn State makes this three with 1 second on the shot clock, they are going to win this game."
Moments later, Funk catches and shoots an off-balance, rushed 3-pointer that hits nothing but net. My brother looked at me and I said "Yup, we will lose". They then went on their 50-0 run after that.
After thinking about the game, I realized it was one we simply weren't going to win. Penn State isn't good. They won't be a tournament team or (at best will be a bubble team looking in) and won't play like that again the rest of the season, especially on the road. This will be a seed anchor for us, pulling us off the 4 line to the 5, or the three line to the 4...or the 6 line to the 7. This was like us in the Groce years where we'd have that one game a year against a better team where we couldn't miss. I remember one against Purdue where Malcolm was just on fire...and another against Iowa in the B1G Tourney. It's super frustrating for better teams to run into the lesser-team-buzz-saw.
The difference between last year and this year is the leadership and effort piece BU talked about. Last year, our guys would have dug deep and said "I don't care that they can't miss, I'm playing my game." They never got discouraged, and never gave up. They had leadership on the floor and it permeated through the ranks. Good or bad, the team could lean on that leadership during any situation. Last year's team still would have lost this game, but not by 15.
This year, when the chips were against them, they folded. I think that off-balance 3 was the first true test of this team's willpower. A bad team comes to your place, and punches you. You respond in the 2nd half because "Hey, we're better than them...they SHOULD wilt away". And when they didn't, and when a circus shot went in, everyone looked around to figure out an answer. Trent was the answer last year. Damonte was the answer last year. Their poise was palpable.
That doesn't exist this year. And until it does (with some offensive flow) we will win a few games we shouldn't and lose a few we should. We are Michigan the last few years, trying to gel with newcomers and out-talent our way through the season.
Without finding consistency in leadership and effort, this team's probably going to be somewhere around 9-11 to 11-9 in conference.
Sorry for the long post.
Trent and Monte knew the scouting report inside and out. Knowing the scouts all about want as well. They went just as hard studying the scout as they did in actual practice.
The switching just becomes about communication communication communication. When you want to be lazy and not move or communicate you will get murdered. We also have this bad habit over over helping, which in theory sounds great but it causes breakdowns
Torvik has him currently ranked as the #2 player in the BIG.
Yeah, the over helping has been a problem. Causes some out of control close outs, leading to blow bys, fouls and open shots.
Hopefully it is just a matter of effort and communication. Those can be fixed with various... shall we say, motivational tactics?
Tacomallini
- Washington State
I can believe it. I read up a bit on Pickett, because he just flat out torched the Illini yesterday and my previous memory of him was Pruman-hazy at best.
-Turnover-free triple double earlier this year vs. Butler: https://www.si.com/college/pennstat...all-jalen-pickett-turnover-free-triple-double
-Spent 3 seasons at Sienna prior to joining PSU last season. Was the MAAC Rookie of the Year his Freshman season; MAAC Player of the Year his sophomore year. Only played in 1/2 the season as a junior due to injury and the 'VID. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jalen_Pickett
-In last year's only game against Illinois, he led all players with 18 points, along with 7 assists, 5 rebounds, and 1 steal. I'm not sure who had main responsibility to guard him last year, but Frazier ended up with 10 points. DMFW led the Illini that day with 14 points, and a narrow 60-55 win for the beloved: https://gopsusports.com/sports/mens-basketball/stats/2021-22/-20-illinois/boxscore/15351
The "best" PG in the league or the "best" PG that Illinois has faced are pretty subjective, but Harris was able to stop Campbell in the UCLA game and Illinois by committee took Carr and Hunter out of the Texas game. Pickett seems to have Illinois' number.
Bingo ... I really wish people could see how hard those two went in practice ... And how Trent reacted when Brad told him to sit out a drill in practice ... Buck has some of those traits that Trent and Monte had ...
I won't call out specific guys ... But when you've got guys showing up late to practice, jogging, not going full speed, clowning around during coaching instruction and film, and then not having someone on the team that holds everyone accountable ... It's a recipe for disaster ...
Let's just say those new treadmills might need some new belts by the time this week is over ... Hope they purchased an extended warranty
Tacomallini
- Washington State
Does Illinois still have team captains? If so, do players vote or coaches assign?
Seems like Harris would be a good one, freshman or not.
It’s one draw back of transfers
Yet Dain circles the ball behind his back before shooting a free throw. So silly.
He stopped doing that mid-game yesterday. The fact that he is changing his routine in the middle of a game is a problem in itself. He needs to be practicing something simple and repeatable and get rid of the extra theatrics.
PizzaHutParkingLot
- McPherson, KS
I can see why Brad went nuclear in the presser yesterday... Must be frustrating to have such a talented group that lacks discipline.
Hopefully someone fills the leadership void or Brad goes full 'Coach Carter' to make the guys respect the process.
If that's the case, we deserved every morsel of yesterday's humble pie. Jeez.
Penn State beat Furman by 5. This is a bad loss in my opinion. But one that we need to learn from. This is not our culture that Trent, Ayo, and Damonte built and established here. I knew that due to our youth, talent, and inexperience, we'd win games that we weren't expected to win, and we'd lose games we weren't expected to lose. Yet hopefully, with growth and experience throughout the season we'll gain consistency and show that everyday guy culture! We have to learn to bring it everyday and every second like Sencire Harris. It's a long season. I have faith in this squad. Let's go baby! I-L-L
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I wouldn't use video or anything like that. Keep it simple. I've always thought the set up at the line is crucial. Square shoulders, I always liked one foot (right for righthanders) slightly in front of the other but everyone is different in that regard but after setting your feet, a repetitive pre-shot routine (i.e. 2 or 3dribbles, spin the ball, deep breath, some like to practice their stroke, whatever but it must be the same one every time). To me, and I'm dating myself here, Rick Barry was one of the best free-throw shooter of all time but how he shot them certainly wasn't for everyone. But he did it exactly the same every time. Then, I've always thought the drill of starting about 4-5 feet in front of the bucket. Do your routine and shoot until it's automatic. Proper rotation, with a nice goose neck finish with your shooting hand. Then move back a foot. Repeat until you are all the way to the line. then repeat. To me, setting yourself up and repetition are the most important components. The great free-throw shooters are like watching a loop of the first FT over and over. No change. But I ain't no coach. That's just the way I was taught.