Folks will think I should be fitted with a straight jacket and committed to a sanitarium, but the team took a positive important step forward Saturday versus Bama. I am serious and sincere in observing that we once again expanded and improved the sets we ran. Obviously we did not improve our efficiency or score often out of the schemes, but that was more a reflection on how Bama was jamming rather than a reflection on the wisdom of the schemes we were running.
We added more off-ball screens and passes to the wings in White's Split Action scheme that he ran successfully at UF. We polished the adjustments made to our high post pick and roll after the Vandy loss. And more importantly, added to what we implemented after the USC game to take advantage of teams' double teaming Roberts when he initiates the O and when he drives past a high post ball screen.
Here is link to my USC game post discussing what we needed to do to expand our sets and become a more efficient O. I had feared before the USC game that White was going backwards in narrowing our options on O and reducing the playbook in order to simplify our O as a way to reduce turnovers. The last two games show he did not overreact and shrink our playbook.
It was essential that we depend upon Hill more in distributing the ball and move Roberts off the ball in order to avoid the double teams on Roberts that prevented us from repeating the success he had in our high post screen early in the season. While I fear that Roberts is still suffering the effects of his Texas A&M concussion, his reduced output is also a natural function of opponents now building their D to take away his drives into the lane. They always always hedge him hard and double him out of any high post screens. Opponents doubled him as soon as he brought the ball over half court in the final minutes of close games.
So White smartly has started using off ball screens to free up our wings and is involving our wings more in the deep corners. We had open shots on Sat, we just didn't hit them and often didn't take advantage of open wings getting free coming out of off-ball screens. But that will come. The offense finally made logical sense and resembled his successful Gator schemes in what he was attempting to do. The players will grow more confident down the home stretch and the expanded sets should allow us to beat SEC opponents even when Roberts is not playing well.
Bama with its elite bigger talent and aggressive D simply was not going to allow us to run the simplified HORNS double high post and would not allow us to get Kario free to drive the lane off the 3-guard weave. If that game had taken place in early January, we would have devolved into playing helter-skelter one on one ball to try to catch up. Instead, we actually showed discipline and patience by running the Split action seeking to get the ball to and create open shots for our wings. We ran the single high post pick and roll in recognition that our post would remain unguarded out of the screen.
Perhaps the single biggest indicator of progress is that we only had 8 turnovers and no ballhandling guard or wing had more than one. Bridges and Anselem had 2 each but I would have expected more from the way that Bama was playing. Hill did a relatively fine job of protecting the ball.
Watch tonight for a similar reliance on off-ball screens and more passing from guards to wings rather than dribble hand-offs. See if we don't attack more off the wings and deep corner as a way to prevent doubling of Roberts at the top of the lane. It's the smart way for us to play against coaches who've examined enough game film to recognize how Vandy, Bama and TA&M shut us down. I'd have been disappointed if White hadn't added options in response. Don't get fooled into thinking that our recent problems are failures of design and planning rather than resulting from inefficient individual play and poor shooting.
We may not like the final scores, but we ought to find hope and promise in what we are now trying to run. Once our other players find their shooting eye and start scoring regularly from the wing, we will spread the court D to allow for Roberts to drive an unclogged lane again. Bridges will continue his good low block play and Anselem is improving off the pick and roll. I sense that our O will soon improve and that will allow White to work on restoring our rebounding and team D.
We added more off-ball screens and passes to the wings in White's Split Action scheme that he ran successfully at UF. We polished the adjustments made to our high post pick and roll after the Vandy loss. And more importantly, added to what we implemented after the USC game to take advantage of teams' double teaming Roberts when he initiates the O and when he drives past a high post ball screen.
Here is link to my USC game post discussing what we needed to do to expand our sets and become a more efficient O. I had feared before the USC game that White was going backwards in narrowing our options on O and reducing the playbook in order to simplify our O as a way to reduce turnovers. The last two games show he did not overreact and shrink our playbook.
It was essential that we depend upon Hill more in distributing the ball and move Roberts off the ball in order to avoid the double teams on Roberts that prevented us from repeating the success he had in our high post screen early in the season. While I fear that Roberts is still suffering the effects of his Texas A&M concussion, his reduced output is also a natural function of opponents now building their D to take away his drives into the lane. They always always hedge him hard and double him out of any high post screens. Opponents doubled him as soon as he brought the ball over half court in the final minutes of close games.
So White smartly has started using off ball screens to free up our wings and is involving our wings more in the deep corners. We had open shots on Sat, we just didn't hit them and often didn't take advantage of open wings getting free coming out of off-ball screens. But that will come. The offense finally made logical sense and resembled his successful Gator schemes in what he was attempting to do. The players will grow more confident down the home stretch and the expanded sets should allow us to beat SEC opponents even when Roberts is not playing well.
Bama with its elite bigger talent and aggressive D simply was not going to allow us to run the simplified HORNS double high post and would not allow us to get Kario free to drive the lane off the 3-guard weave. If that game had taken place in early January, we would have devolved into playing helter-skelter one on one ball to try to catch up. Instead, we actually showed discipline and patience by running the Split action seeking to get the ball to and create open shots for our wings. We ran the single high post pick and roll in recognition that our post would remain unguarded out of the screen.
Perhaps the single biggest indicator of progress is that we only had 8 turnovers and no ballhandling guard or wing had more than one. Bridges and Anselem had 2 each but I would have expected more from the way that Bama was playing. Hill did a relatively fine job of protecting the ball.
Watch tonight for a similar reliance on off-ball screens and more passing from guards to wings rather than dribble hand-offs. See if we don't attack more off the wings and deep corner as a way to prevent doubling of Roberts at the top of the lane. It's the smart way for us to play against coaches who've examined enough game film to recognize how Vandy, Bama and TA&M shut us down. I'd have been disappointed if White hadn't added options in response. Don't get fooled into thinking that our recent problems are failures of design and planning rather than resulting from inefficient individual play and poor shooting.
We may not like the final scores, but we ought to find hope and promise in what we are now trying to run. Once our other players find their shooting eye and start scoring regularly from the wing, we will spread the court D to allow for Roberts to drive an unclogged lane again. Bridges will continue his good low block play and Anselem is improving off the pick and roll. I sense that our O will soon improve and that will allow White to work on restoring our rebounding and team D.
