Let's get to Mizzou, Wednesday's opponent and what we need to do to get back on track. Obviously, the UF game was a disaster as we didn't do anything that we had done the prior 4 victories, so the first thing is to use this opportunity against a weaker opponent to get back to playing our game.
We need to defend better on 3s (we came in a top team in defending the 3 and a 27% 3pt shooting team shot 46% against us, many shots wide open). Maybe we can chalk that up to a statistical anomaly, but I like to think getting a hand in the shooter's face is a better option than relying on statistics.
We need to re-set our offense. UF's 3/4-court trap slowed us down even more than usual, and our guards did a poor job of getting the ball inside (not to mention shooting). We just need to get back to our basics, and make better passes inside, ride Yante and DO.
We have all discussed CM enough. He is starting at the 3 yet still playing pg, although really, in our offense, only when the clock runs down is he killing us the most at pg. (dribble, dribble, dribble, bad shot, bad drive, or bad pass). But here is what we need to see from Turtle, so that CMF and the other coaches are more comfortable with him as JJ's full-time back-up...better shooting. We know Turtle was a scorer in HS, and we know he is a better shot than he has shown. I think it is a freshman thing...just not comfortable with his role/duties and defense, so that his shooting is taking a beating right now. So i want him slashing a bit more. He has shown a very good first step on many occasions, but doesn't drive too much (again, I think he is still "thinking" and not playing so far. But if he drives a few more times, and gets a few close baskets, the confidence will come and he will shoot better overall. But also because he is a guy who can pass. If he penetrates more, I believe in him to get a pass to someone who is open or breaking open.
Mizzou... Mizzou does not look very good. They have lost, and often lost big, to every decent team they played this season. I admit I have only seen about 2 minutes of one of their games, so I am not an expert on them, but this is the kind of SEC team, at home, that we should "get healthy" and whip up on. That is what I want to see...a 15-20point easy victory, with total team shooting around 50% (this means a lot of easy layups) and good rebounding, assist/to ratio and good D numbers. We get to watch LSU at home vs KY tonight, and what is bad is they will not have to travel, and have an extra day for their legs to rest. They played well vs Vandy, but we all know Johnny is not a good on-court coach, but with as much talent as they have, it will still be hard to go on the road at LSU, against most likely the #1 pick in the draft, and just win. Can we win there? Yes, but since Trey and Travis left, we rarely beat that scenario. So Wednesday night is very important to get our confidence back, and to work a couple of things out with the frosh, especially Turtle.
We need to defend better on 3s (we came in a top team in defending the 3 and a 27% 3pt shooting team shot 46% against us, many shots wide open). Maybe we can chalk that up to a statistical anomaly, but I like to think getting a hand in the shooter's face is a better option than relying on statistics.
We need to re-set our offense. UF's 3/4-court trap slowed us down even more than usual, and our guards did a poor job of getting the ball inside (not to mention shooting). We just need to get back to our basics, and make better passes inside, ride Yante and DO.
We have all discussed CM enough. He is starting at the 3 yet still playing pg, although really, in our offense, only when the clock runs down is he killing us the most at pg. (dribble, dribble, dribble, bad shot, bad drive, or bad pass). But here is what we need to see from Turtle, so that CMF and the other coaches are more comfortable with him as JJ's full-time back-up...better shooting. We know Turtle was a scorer in HS, and we know he is a better shot than he has shown. I think it is a freshman thing...just not comfortable with his role/duties and defense, so that his shooting is taking a beating right now. So i want him slashing a bit more. He has shown a very good first step on many occasions, but doesn't drive too much (again, I think he is still "thinking" and not playing so far. But if he drives a few more times, and gets a few close baskets, the confidence will come and he will shoot better overall. But also because he is a guy who can pass. If he penetrates more, I believe in him to get a pass to someone who is open or breaking open.
Mizzou... Mizzou does not look very good. They have lost, and often lost big, to every decent team they played this season. I admit I have only seen about 2 minutes of one of their games, so I am not an expert on them, but this is the kind of SEC team, at home, that we should "get healthy" and whip up on. That is what I want to see...a 15-20point easy victory, with total team shooting around 50% (this means a lot of easy layups) and good rebounding, assist/to ratio and good D numbers. We get to watch LSU at home vs KY tonight, and what is bad is they will not have to travel, and have an extra day for their legs to rest. They played well vs Vandy, but we all know Johnny is not a good on-court coach, but with as much talent as they have, it will still be hard to go on the road at LSU, against most likely the #1 pick in the draft, and just win. Can we win there? Yes, but since Trey and Travis left, we rarely beat that scenario. So Wednesday night is very important to get our confidence back, and to work a couple of things out with the frosh, especially Turtle.
