I'm surprised no one said anything about this ....
Vandy held MU to 13 foul shots, the lowest in Buzz's 2+ years. It seems that Vandys second half zone was every effective in keeping MU from attacking the basket and MU's lack of outside shooting was unable to offset this zone.
MU is quick and athletic so attacking the basket and getting to the foul line is their strong suit. So, now that their is game film of a tight zone working to neutralize this strength, should MU expect more zone defense (how about all the time)? How come we have not seen more EFFECTIVE zone defense before Vandy? Is this a testament to how good Vandy plays the zone versus our other opponents this year?
Here's a guess ...
Until very recently most teams were looking at our shooting stats LAST YEAR when we were one of the top 3 point shooting teams in the nation and DJO was particularly good. They assumed a tight zone that kept us from attacking the basket would leave us too many open looks on the perimeter and we were SUPPOSED to be too good a shooting team to take that risk.
10 to 12 games into this season it has become apparent that were not the sharp shooting team that we were last year do, and until we develop some outside shooting, we should expect four defenders in/near in the paint taking away the driving lanes.
Calling Jamail Jones, your outside shot might be needed really soon.
Good post, Another84. Dead on. MU is 11th in the nation in 2Pt FG% at 55.4%, while middling in 3 PT% (33.3% or 183rd). However, MU's points from three point land are only 17.3% of all our points or #340th. DJO is our only shooter so we are hesitant.
Folks are on bi-polar sides on the Junior debate (need to see more or less of him). Here is the reality: when Junior enters the game, coaches like Few or Stallings went right to a zone. Why? Junior is not yet a good perimeter shooter and he is more effective with his cross-over dribbling against man (see the Pro Am reports). Add in Vander (who can find seams in a zone but is not a great perimeter shooter), and MU is limited.
People ask why Buycks is starting at PG? He can create his own shot or assist, and he gives MU a third scorer on the floor which we desperately need. If Otule or Gardner are established in the low post, we can be effective, but when Buzz goes small ball, the zone will magically appear. When he does go small, Butler and Crowder need to hit the perimeter as an option, and the guards need to hit the the boards. This is why I do not like Buzz's small line-up...we have lost every game so far on stretches when he has gone petite. Our season swings on Otule, Gardner and whatever Joe, Erik or JJ can give us.
Quote from: Dr. Blackheart on December 31, 2010, 10:32:46 AM
Good post, Another84. Dead on. MU is 11th in the nation in 2Pt FG% at 55.4%, while middling in 3 PT% (33.3% or 183rd). However, MU's points from three point land are only 17.3% of all our points or #340th. DJO is our only shooter so we are hesitant.
Folks are on bi-polar sides on the Junior debate (need to see more or less of him). Here is the reality: when Junior enters the game, coaches like Few or Stallings went right to a zone. Why? Junior is not yet a good perimeter shooter and he is more effective with his cross-over dribbling against man (see the Pro Am reports). Add in Vander (who can find seams in a zone but is not a great perimeter shooter), and MU is limited.
People ask why Buycks is starting at PG? He can create his own shot or assist, and he gives MU a third scorer on the floor which we desperately need. If Otule or Gardner are established in the low post, we can be effective, but when Buzz goes small ball, the zone will magically appear. When he does go small, Butler and Crowder need to hit the perimeter as an option, and the guards need to hit the the boards. This is why I do not like Buzz's small line-up...we have lost every game so far on stretches when he has gone petite. Our season swings on Otule, Gardner and whatever Joe, Erik or JJ can give us.
I agree it looks liek when we go small we do not do well - just seems that way to me. In the first half of the Vandy game (second half of the first half) we attacked the rim consistently, drawing fouls, and getting off shots. Not so much in half two. We need Otule and Gardner to perform offensively and defensively. Overall, Otule is the bet option as of late, but we need them both as Otule is not in condition to paly long and still gets fouls called a lot.
Small will not work too well in the Big East, because we do not have the Lazars and the 3 Amigos. . . we don;t. If DJO does not start hitting 3s on a regular basis, and if Jones can;t hit 3s, or others step up for outside shooting, we will see lots of packed in zones that will keep us out of the lanes. How can you keep a defense honest if you can;t score from jsut about anywhere?
It's tough to play small. Especially with our rebounding deficiits.