When James goes down and Buzz tells the media "the team needs to play better", it doesn't mean McNeal needs to throw up terrible shots. The numbers are shocking. Since DJ went down, JM's 3 point attempts have been in the double digits in the last three games. MU is 1-3 when JM shoots 10+ 3's. That also means that JM has only shot 10+ 3's in one other game (Georgetown). Since DJ went down, in the last 4 games, he has shot 23, 19, 24, and 24 FG's. The team is 1-5 when McNeal shoots 20+ FG's.
An obvious problem is our defense but I think McNeal needs to STOP SHOOTING 3's THAT ARE NOT WITHIN THE PLAY. MU was fortunate that McNeal's second to last 3 went in because both of those 3's were God Awful shots. MU needs to start playing like a team. IF a player has an open shot or driving lane, TAKE IT! I would rather have Butler, Acker, Cubillan shoot an open shot than McNeal shoot a fade away/ drifting three.
Our half courts sets are stagnant out there. We seem unwilling to dribble-drive-kick out, and a lot of that has to do with the way games as a whole have been called. Is it just me or has the frequency of body-contact fouls being called plummeted over the last few weeks? It KILLS me when the other team's big man bodies up our guy on the drive, and the ref simply puts his hands in the air, indicating that the big man had his hands up, completely neglecting the fact that players are unfairly using their bodies to disrupt plays. I don't have a problem with this "let them play mentality", it's just too bad that we don't have the big man tools to play the same way on the other end.
There's already a thread on this matter
http://www.muscoop.com/index.php?topic=13365.0