Correct me if I am wrong, but I think Crean tried this experiment to open up the second half.
The results were less than promising. I think the failure to choke Chaminade with our normal line up at this point of the game is really what allowed them to stay in this game.
I can't imagine why a lineup with four small guys who can't shoot wouldn't be tremendously successful!
I like all of our guards individually very much, but the big problem is that they don't complement one another. If Cubillan (or anybody) could be a consistent threat from the perimeter, I'd feel a lot better about this team, especially when you consider our only true 4/5 guys, Burke and Barro are complementary players themselves.
Quote from: CTWarrior on November 20, 2007, 12:22:07 PM
I can't imagine why a lineup with four small guys who can't shoot wouldn't be tremendously successful!
I like all of our guards individually very much, but the big problem is that they don't complement one another. If Cubillan (or anybody) could be a consistent threat from the perimeter, I'd feel a lot better about this team, especially when you consider our only true 4/5 guys, Burke and Bare complementary players themselves.
They don't even really need a consistent deep threat for it to work, they just need to not be as atrocious as they are. The year Villanova had the 4 guard lineup, none of the them were great 3 point shooters, the best was decent but that's it. Lowry averaged 44% but he only took 18 3 point shots the whole year. Nardi was at 40%(lower than what Cubillan did last year). Ray and Foye were at 37% and 35% respectively.
The problem is that MU's shooting this year has been abysmal. Cubillan is at 30%, James at 18%, McNeal at 20%, Matthews at 16%, Acker at 20%, and Fitz at 33%. Every single one of them is performing below their career average, in some cases well below.
CTWarrior has a point about MU's abysmal shooting. But Nova ran the break effectively! This team is not a shooting team so you have to rule out the 4 guard set. With no bigs hitting the boards in the 4 guard set, you can't have much success when you're busy building building a brickhouse.
http://villanova.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/stats/2005-2006/teamcume.html
It's interesting to look at MU's FG% rankings:
Burke...73
Lazar...65
McNeal...54
Barro...50
Wes...44
Cubillan...40
DJ...37
Fitz...33
MoAck...20
Trend...0
Then compare it to those who attempt the most shots:
Mac...39
DJ...30
Coobs...25
Lazar...23
Wes...18
Burke...11
...
Someone please tell DJ to shoot less and dribble penetrate, or at least draw a driving foul.
Someone tell Lazar and Wes to shoot MORE.
Someone tell Burke to starting putting back more 2nd chance shots.