Villanova thoughts

[royceda5 9]

If jake doesn't score in the first five minutes he should see nothin but the bench, he doesn't do anything else and shouldn't be on scholarship. Very frustrating when he's in the game.

[BallBoy]

And Dawson's 3 points in 8 minutes equaled half of Derrick's output in 36 minutes.  Perhaps if Dawson got 36 minutes he would have multiplied is scoring by 4 times, and given us 13 points...sure would have helped...and he's shown he can score 12 in 30 minutes at Georgetown.

Wilson had 7 assists.  Dawson had 0.  Nuff said. 

[NersEllenson]

Wilson had 7 assists.  Dawson had 0.  Nuff said. 

And Derrick Wilson's record as running the point for 30+ minutes per game is 10-9.  John Dawson's:  1-0.  On the road too.

And Derrick Wilson's assists aren't things of beauty in any way such as what Nova's PG did today.  I don't recall 1 GOOD look Derrick got for a teammate through a drive and dish scenario, or even in forcing action in transition.

[Class71]

Lots of reasons why we lost but the team showed heart and will improve. This game could have been won with Steve and John in the game for longer periods and/or erasing a couple of bad passes. Hopefully the coach will play the players more who can win.

Another option to win is motivate the hell out of our best guard so he plays 100% for the full game. It is painful to watch his talent be wasted due to a motivation/focus issue. Few people have his ability.  Come on Todd get your act together, your team needs you. Buzz give him the chance, give him minutes and give him a kick in the butt to get it together.  Todd if not now when, if not you who?

[Lennys Tap]

Really?  Saw Derrick make a couple of ridiculous turnovers, travel late in regulation.  And Dawson's 3 points in 8 minutes equaled half of Derrick's output in 36 minutes.  Perhaps if Dawson got 36 minutes he would have multiplied is scoring by 4 times, and given us 13 points...sure would have helped...and he's shown he can score 12 in 30 minutes at Georgetown.

Nonetheless Lenny - you can keep burying your head in the sand and thinking the teams struggles don't have anything to do with Derrick getting max minutes.  I'm sure at the outset of the season you expected us to be 11-9 with no wins over Top 50 teams.  Clearly Gardner is a disappointment with 29 and 13 in 39 minutes, Mayo hasn't stepped up his game, and Jamil continues to struggle and not be able to build on last season, all because they regressed over the summer.

Your still missing my point, Ners. I don't think that Derrick's 6 points, 5 rebound, 7 assists, 3 turnover line is good (though it's not terrible). Or that we'll hardly ever have the edge at point guard when we line up against top 150 teams. We are hurting there, no disagreement. But right now (though I really like his potential) I don't think Dawson is the answer. If he's shooting well he's an asset, but what else does he do? He gets very few assists and almost no rebounds. A loose ball has to land in his arms for him to get it.

Nobody around here was very excited about our center when his name was Dwight Burke. He was usually inferior to the guy he lined up against. That didn't make Pat Hazel necessarily a better alternative. We didn't lose today's game due to offense. I haven't seen the numbers but my guess is that Derrick quarterbacked a very efficient one today. Defense and rebounding were our Achilles heel today, and those are not John Dawson's strongest suits. Or do you disagree?

[MU82]

3.   Gift call at the end of regulation.   Refs spent the entire overtime compensating.

Please tell me you're not even kind of sort of suggesting that the refs cost MU this game, given that weak foul that let Mayo shoot the tying 3 FTs followed by a worst-call-of-the-season candidate that wiped out Nova's winning hoop.

Had those plays been called against Marquette, we'd be hating on the refs so majorly we'd be ignoring all the crappy play by our Warriors and the questionable coaching decisions by Buzz.

[willie warrior]

A couple questions. I got home late and only saw the OT.

1. Did Dawson foul out

2. As their PG ran wild in OT, why wasn't our defensive specialist PG guarding him? Why is he even in the game if not for his defense?

Becase our Lock Down PG can't guard.

[willie warrior]

I think the thoughts are simple.

Jake, Chris and Derrick should rarely see the floor

Davante, Jamil and Todd should rarely see the bench

Gardner and Mayo were the only two who showed up today. Ja. Wilson with his ole D not much.

[willie warrior]

So for as much credit as Buzz gets (deservedly so) for guys who develop under him (Butler, Blue, Crowder), there has to be some balance for guys that regress.  

J. Wilson, and O'Tule are certainly less productive than last year and if nothing else have not progressed. They needed to progress to compensate for the losses from last season and have not done so.

Everybody's boy, Otule had ZERO rebounds. ZERO. The tallest guy on the floor.

[madtownwarrior]

Blasphemy...

Becase our Lock Down PG can't guard.

[willie warrior]

Thames and Carson scored their points shooting over the top of him, not by beating him off the bounce.  

We are handicapped offensively.  The best thing that could happen to this team is if Jamil would repeated attack the rim off the bounce.  Also, get Oxtule out, too much in the paint.  Its clogging up the lane and limiting penetration.  Switch to Taylor/Ox or Taylor/Otule.  Taylor is capable of shooting from outside so can function more in the mold of Crowder/Butler.

Would also like to see us try.  

Dawson
Mayo
Juan
Jamil
Taylor

Using Juan instead of Burton here solely for defense, if Burton's defense can be trusted put him in at the 3/4 with Jamil.  This would open the lane for a lot of attacks off the bounce with Dawson/Mayo/Jamil (and Burton if used).

Legitimate threads from 3 in Dawson/Mayo/Jamil and Taylor.

Forgetful--your dislike for Gardner shows up in every post. How can you "try" a lineup with Juan in there and exclude Gardner, the best offensive threat we have? You post said "we are handicapped offensively" so your solution is to exclude Gardner?

[willie warrior]

Gardner is awful at help defense in the post.  He does not commit to help defense, rather stays with his man.  He is also poor on rotations.

Taylor I don't fully consider yet when referring to post defenders, he is still getting back into rhythm in the game and we don't have enough minutes to evaluate him with this year.

And some people have said D. Wilson should get 0 minutes.  I have never said he should get 40, I have been very supportive of Dawson when he does well but equally supportive of Wilson when he does well.  

Forgetful with his hate woody for Gardner Gardner rotates plenty, especially in Buzz's stupid rotation up top on D. This puts him/as well as Otule out of position. Forgetful is forgetful about that.

[chapman]

And Derrick Wilson's record as running the point for 30+ minutes per game is 10-9.  John Dawson's:  1-0.  On the road too.

And Derrick Wilson's assists aren't things of beauty in any way such as what Nova's PG did today.  I don't recall 1 GOOD look Derrick got for a teammate through a drive and dish scenario, or even in forcing action in transition.

Yep, Mayo draining an off balance three and taking the bailout passes after Wilson dribbles around and gets stuck then sinking a shot off of it.  Quite the assists.  Of course now the box score is used to try to defend him, but when the box score is bad it's right back to him doing amazing things that can't be shown in the box score.

[pbiflyer]

Game:

MU missed 10 free throws, including three front ends of one/one.
MU missed 8 shots from two feet.
Jake had no points, DWil/others got burned by Archie.  Mayo scored final MU 10 points in regulation, but that bad pass to start OT really set a bad tone. 

Thats ball game.

Kudos to Gardner.  29 and 13 and fought like hell.  

Look, if you are going to use facts, reason,  and common sense, you will have to stop posting here.

[NersEllenson]

Your still missing my point, Ners. I don't think that Derrick's 6 points, 5 rebound, 7 assists, 3 turnover line is good (though it's not terrible). Or that we'll hardly ever have the edge at point guard when we line up against top 150 teams. We are hurting there, no disagreement. But right now (though I really like his potential) I don't think Dawson is the answer. If he's shooting well he's an asset, but what else does he do? He gets very few assists and almost no rebounds. A loose ball has to land in his arms for him to get it.

Nobody around here was very excited about our center when his name was Dwight Burke. He was usually inferior to the guy he lined up against. That didn't make Pat Hazel necessarily a better alternative. We didn't lose today's game due to offense. I haven't seen the numbers but my guess is that Derrick quarterbacked a very efficient one today. Defense and rebounding were our Achilles heel today, and those are not John Dawson's strongest suits. Or do you disagree?

I simply believe Dawson's offensive abilities, and what those do not only for John, but his teammates as well, negate the slight negative Dawson might present at this time from a defensive perspective compared to Derrick.  I also believe strongly that Dawson is a better passer than Derrick, and sees the floor better - and his assists are more of a what an assist truly should be - you create a good* look for a teammate based on your action. 

I cannot stress enough how hard it is to play basketball 4 on 5 at the high major level - and as Buzz has conceded this point - the makeup you get on the defensive end better be truly, truly, elite/lockdown - and the defense of Derrick and Jake aren't elite, though their defense may be slightly better than John and Todd.

[forgetful]

Forgetful--your dislike for Gardner shows up in every post. How can you "try" a lineup with Juan in there and exclude Gardner, the best offensive threat we have? You post said "we are handicapped offensively" so your solution is to exclude Gardner?

Because the point of that lineup is to go with what has worked for us in the past, a true 4 out 1 in lineup where everyone is technically a threat to shoot the three or drive. 

Gardner is not a true threat from outside and would have to post up, that would be a great offense at times, but would like to see us use the 4 out 1 in lineup where the 1 is often at the perimeter threatening to drive.

I don't love Juan in that lineup, but was looking for more defensive intensity and rebounding.  Juan brings that and the lineup has enough offensive fire power so that Gardner is not necessary.  Bring Gardner in for Juan and swap in Derrick for Dawson.  That keeps one defensive stopper in at all times.  Derrick then becomes the intensity/rebounding/defense.

The key is that the lineups have to be balanced on O and on D.  As far as hatred for Gardner, you can go through the posts and I have freely admitted that I am extra hard on Gardner sometimes irrationally, because I think he can be even better than he is.  He is not good on D and is poor on rotations, if you don't see that you are blind.

He has improved, but has a long way to go.  I am very harsh on him because of his great potential.

[jesmu84]

I simply believe Dawson's offensive abilities, and what those do not only for John, but his teammates as well, negate the slight negative Dawson might present at this time from a defensive perspective compared to Derrick.  I also believe strongly that Dawson is a better passer than Derrick, and sees the floor better - and his assists are more of a what an assist truly should be - you create a good* look for a teammate based on your action. 

I cannot stress enough how hard it is to play basketball 4 on 5 at the high major level - and as Buzz has conceded this point - the makeup you get on the defensive end better be truly, truly, elite/lockdown - and the defense of Derrick and Jake aren't elite, though their defense may be slightly better than John and Todd.

I agree with you Ners. I just think in this game tonight, Buzz saw the offense being successful enough with Derrick that he didn't need Dawson and thought the team needed the possible slight defensive boost that Derrick brings. If our offense would have had trouble, and Buzz wouldn't have played Dawson, I would have been pissed.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

That's funny because somehow we were able to beat Georgetown on the road with that lineup.  The whole argument of some of these guys being poor defenders is a reach.  Derrick isn't this amazing defender who never gets beat off the bounce and totally shuts his guy down. See Thames, Xavier.  Carson, Jahi.  

It is clearly evident is that the team is significantly handicapped offensively.  

Actually, the lineup was:

1: Dawson
2: Thomas
3: J Wilson
4: Taylor
5: Gardner

Mayo barely played. He just hit the game tier

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

I didn't see the game. Can someone please explain to me how Nova got 13 offensive boards and no one is upset about it? We should have destroyed them on the glass!

[Norm]

Because the point of that lineup is to go with what has worked for us in the past, a true 4 out 1 in lineup where everyone is technically a threat to shoot the three or drive. 

Gardner is not a true threat from outside and would have to post up, that would be a great offense at times, but would like to see us use the 4 out 1 in lineup where the 1 is often at the perimeter threatening to drive.

I don't love Juan in that lineup, but was looking for more defensive intensity and rebounding.  Juan brings that and the lineup has enough offensive fire power so that Gardner is not necessary.  Bring Gardner in for Juan and swap in Derrick for Dawson.  That keeps one defensive stopper in at all times.  Derrick then becomes the intensity/rebounding/defense.

The key is that the lineups have to be balanced on O and on D.  As far as hatred for Gardner, you can go through the posts and I have freely admitted that I am extra hard on Gardner sometimes irrationally, because I think he can be even better than he is.  He is not good on D and is poor on rotations, if you don't see that you are blind.

He has improved, but has a long way to go.  I am very harsh on him because of his great potential.

If you think we should bring Gardner in off the bench to spell Juan because Juan is adequate on the offensive end, then I am thankful you're not coaching MU, as Juan has shown no offense this year and I think has scored in only one Big East game so far.

As for D Wilson, in what game has he actually neutralized the guy he was guarding this year? I think his D reputation largely comes from the Wisconsin game a couple years back, but he is not really shutting opponents down on D this year.

[Otule's Glass Eye]

That lineup would give up over 90 to Depaul.  Gardner is our worst post defender.  Dawson may be our worst perimeter defender.  Mayo can play solid defense, but gambles too much and then gives up easy scores.  Taylor is not completely mobile yet and is poor at rotating and tends to give up back door buckets.  

Only Wilson in that lineup is solid defensively.

We may score 85 with that lineup, but would lose 92-85 to Depaul.

Because Derrick and Jake really played some excellent defense in the large amount of minutes they played today.

[jtrash37]

A few tidbits I noticed...

Gardner on James Bell was an awful decision, and it was the unfortunate matchup Gardner was saddled with several possessions in the second half.

The last 5 possessions of regulation and the first 2 of OT, Derrick Wilson let Arcidiacono get him turned and didn't funnel him towards the middle of the D... rather, he let him go sideline/baseline and it was horribly frustrating to watch.

Jake Thomas' worst game in an MU uniform.  Poor passing, poor D, and a blatant unwillingness to shoot until the end of regulation.

[forgetful]

If you think we should bring Gardner in off the bench to spell Juan because Juan is adequate on the offensive end, then I am thankful you're not coaching MU, as Juan has shown no offense this year and I think has scored in only one Big East game so far.

As for D Wilson, in what game has he actually neutralized the guy he was guarding this year? I think his D reputation largely comes from the Wisconsin game a couple years back, but he is not really shutting opponents down on D this year.

Gardner and Taylor were the interchangeable ones, not Juan.  Juan would swap with Burton as I specifically mentioned in the post.  I also emphasized that if Burton can improve his defense even a bit, he would be vastly preferred over Juan.  As that lineup stands, Juan is in there for hustle and defensive intensity. 

The whole point, was that if we want to try something to increase offensive production, I would like to see us go small similar to older MU teams.  The lineup I listed is one recommendation for a go small lineup as opposed to what we are doing with Oxtule.

[jesmu84]

Gardner and Taylor were the interchangeable ones, not Juan.  Juan would swap with Burton as I specifically mentioned in the post.  I also emphasized that if Burton can improve his defense even a bit, he would be vastly preferred over Juan.  As that lineup stands, Juan is in there for hustle and defensive intensity. 

The whole point, was that if we want to try something to increase offensive production, I would like to see us go small similar to older MU teams.  The lineup I listed is one recommendation for a go small lineup as opposed to what we are doing with Oxtule.

Small and push the pace. Dawson, Jake, Mayo, Jamil, STJ. If we want a "mid" pace: Dawson, Jake/Mayo, Jamil, STJ, Gardner.

[BallBoy]

The last 5 possessions of regulation and the first 2 of OT, Derrick Wilson let Arcidiacono get him turned and didn't funnel him towards the middle of the D... rather, he let him go sideline/baseline and it was horribly frustrating to watch.

You must not have watch because Mayo was guarding him.