DJO and Defense and other side notes.

[MUCam]

I have noticed recently that DJO's defense, especially his help defense (where we struggle mightily) is lackluster at best.

It seems like DJO is getting very lazy on defense. I have noticed it the past few games, but it really became clear when Vander Blue came in and showed great defensive intensity and aggression.

I don't know what DJO's issue is, but it just doesn't seem like he buys into the "defense first" concept. I would be very interested to see how his +/- looks, although it would be hard to gauge given the substantial number of minutes he plays. He is such an offensive threat (even if he has been pressing and a bit out of control lately), but defensively he leaves much to be desired.

It really is a shame, because at the start of the year, he was struggling offensively, but showing some great defensive intensity.

By the way, Vander looked great defensively with his high energy. Offensively, he continues to look like his confidence is shattered. He hesitated at the top of that three he took from the corner. It was almost like he suddenly wished he had never made the decision to take the shot. Either way, I thought he was a shot of energy the team desperately needed last night. Why Buzz waited so long to bring him in, I don't know.

One final note: Why start Erik Williams and then play him two minutes. That philosophy is mind blowing to me. It clearly didn't work with Reggie Smith earlier this year. It does no one any good. If the kid is "practicing hard enough to earn a start" then he is practicing hard enough to play extended minutes. If he can't play (which might be the case), don't start him. All that does is show Erik he is a pawn.

[NickelDimer]

In those two mins I recall EW saving one ball from going out of bounds to give or save a possession, and getting an offensive rebound/putback..  How does this not earn any additional minutes??  Even Ox played twice as many minutes as EW.

Jae clearly struggled on D and on the boards.  I have no idea what Buzz was thinking that EW didn't earn at least one more minute

[tower912]

Cadougan and Blue were the second and third best players on the floor in the second half.   Blue needs to learn to drive to draw contact rather than avoiding it, but I really liked his aggressiveness.  This bodes well for next year.    DJO still refuses to be the man.   He passed up so many shots when we were down.   It appears that he only wants to shoot the 3 if he is wide open.   Crowder still lets his game get dictated by the size of the other team.   This bodes poorly for next year.  Chris got some rebounds but not nearly enough, particularly on the defensive boards.   If his improvement continues on its current arc, next year he will be the one crashing the boards and getting tips in traffic.  This year, he still doesn't dominate against equal size.   

[Dawson Rental]

Cadougan and Blue were the second and third best players on the floor in the second half.   Blue needs to learn to drive to draw contact rather than avoiding it, but I really liked his aggressiveness.  This bodes well for next year.    DJO still refuses to be the man.   He passed up so many shots when we were down.   It appears that he only wants to shoot the 3 if he is wide open.   Crowder still lets his game get dictated by the size of the other team.   This bodes poorly for next year.  Chris got some rebounds but not nearly enough, particularly on the defensive boards.   If his improvement continues on its current arc, next year he will be the one crashing the boards and getting tips in traffic.  This year, he still doesn't dominate against equal size.  

I'm not sure that this is DJO's fault.  I think he is being coached to not settle for anything less than an open shot.  He and/or the coaching staff need to realize that there has to be more urgency to take a shot late in games with MU down by seven points.

[Boone]

Odd that Blue didn't make his first appearance until the game was 3/4s gone.

[79Warrior]

Odd that Blue didn't make his first appearance until the game was 3/4s gone.

Ask buzz? he plays the mind games.

[groove]

Ask buzz? he plays the mind games.

yeah, i guess he wasn't tough enough in practice, or whatever codeword buzz is using these days.

[Boone]

Those mind games are beyond tedious.

[GGGG]

Just because you don't understand why Buzz does things, that doesn't mean he is playing mind games with his players.  That is quite the assumption.

I don't know what DJO's issue is, but it just doesn't seem like he buys into the "defense first" concept.

We have a "defense first concept???"  Since when???

[Boone]

Vander has never made his first appearance so late in a game and with our poor guard play to that point, I'd be interested to know the thought process behind why he didn't get in earlier.

[MUCam]

We have a "defense first concept???"  Since when???

Touche.

[PE8983]

"Vander has never made his first appearance so late in a game and with our poor guard play to that point, I'd be interested to know the thought process behind why he didn't get in earlier."

Because DB was tearing it up.  It's no coincidence that we went on our major run last year when he was out injured...