Buzz's radio show, 2/5

[Ardmore Mug]

Yeah me too.  From now until the end of the season I will not respond to Ners in any way.  A moratorium you can believe in.

Like I had posted in another thread:
Just put him on IGNORE... .IF everyone did that and not engage him, he will be talking to himself and will go away.. I did..  and it is great...

[reinko]

Co-sign NEP (Ners Enabler Pledge)

[mu03eng]

Co-sign NEP (Ners Enabler Pledge)

I like that

[JakeBarnes]

Goooo, take the pledge, you will feel so much better 

I took the pledge! Hitting that ignore button sure made it smell a lot less like dead horse in here.

[MU82]

Yeah me too.  From now until the end of the season I will not respond to Ners in any way.  A moratorium you can believe in.

Sultan: All you have to do is use the ignore button. I'm not at that point with Ners but I used the button with willie and it has made my Scoop experience far more pleasant.

I'm not taking sides here. Ners should ignore you, too, if that would help drive him less crazy. Life is too short. This is supposed to be fun.

[Big Papi]

No, I wouldn't consider Duane a freshman, and I wouldn't think of either Luke or Duane as new guys. By the start of the season, both of them will have around a year in the program, especially practice time. What will be refreshing, however, is that Buzz will have to rely on the talented sophomore class.

I honestly don't expect very much of the freshmen at all, mostly because Buzz doesn't play freshmen. Maybe half a roster's spot worth of contribution, which I'd up to 1.5 if someone transfers.

Other than Hill, the rest of the freshmen will get very limited minutes.  Hill has a chance to play 10 minutes a game.

Duane and Luke will get extended minutes.  Actually after listening to Jerry Wainwright drool over Luke, I think Luke will be a better player next year than any big we have had in a long, long time.

Below is the link to IWB's BrewCityBall radio online broadcasts.  Take a listen to 2/5/14 Inside the Al-3.  It is a long broadcast but they interview Jerry and Shayok and talk about the St. John's, Butler game and internet message boards.  A great listen but my main point is that while trying to temper expectations about Luke, Jerry's comments make me think that Luke is the real deal and will be a big time player next year.

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/brewcityball

[AZWarrior]

I rarely use the ignore button, but I'm really glad it's there.

Thanks, mods.

[BenCat12]

Jeff Reynolds:    Butler showed a different defense in the first half, doubling the post when the pass arrived.    Sooner than anticipated.    Adjustments were made in the second half, going to different sets. 
-  Buzz came up with the 'weave with ball screens' idea for the second half, leading to lay ups.
- Jake and Derrick were outstanding on defense. 
- JaJuan did a nice job of extending the catches (playing defense, forcing him away from the basket) for Woods.    JJJ is 6'3.   
- NBA scouts think there is a Marquette brand.   Tough, versatile, defensively sound.   
- Buzz evaluates toughness, athleticism, character, skill set, in that order.   For prospective recruits.
-Scheme developed at halftime allowed Todd and Deonte to thrive in the second half. 
-Coaches knew going in to season that with the backcourt departures, it would be difficult to replicate back court production.
-Homer still saying 'Nelligan Sports'.
- Difference in last night's game was the coach's and player's ability to make adjustments.   MU's were better. 
-Substitution pattern:   Buzz substitutes based on what the team needs the next 2 possessions.    There has been dialogue about letting players play longer.   Some need longer to get into the flow.
Buzz:   Butler is very sound in their 1/2 court offense/defense. 
-First half was like the game at Hinkle.    Figuring out how Butler was 'monstering the post' was tough.
-Half time talk...make sure 3 pt shots are the right ones.   Make consecutive stops.   Discussed the second half adjustments.
-Inbounds defense is different.   That causes the long in bounds pass to midcourt.   MU has also changed how MU guards in-bounds plays.   Not to get steals, but to disrupt other teams in-bounds plays.   Zoning inbounds is preventive medicine.
-Todd played all 20 minutes...Jake and Jamil in foul trouble.   
-JJJ did a reallllly good job on #31.    Showed great maturity in how he defended.
-Derrick is as good a perimeter defender as Buzz has ever coached.   Strength, center of gravity, intellect.
-MU changed how they attacked, Butler has a shell at 16 feet.   As soon as the ball goes to the post, hard double team.   Better spacing.
-Chris is an offensive lineman.   What he does doesn't show up in stats.   What he does is open space for others by sealing lanes.
-Deonte:  Can't be stopped by one man.  You can count on him.   Needs to have the same presence on the glass as he does offensively.   DB was gassed in the second half.  When he gets tired, he doesn't 'get in there' to rebound.  Can't play 17 minutes and have 2 rebounds.  A future double/double guy.   
- Buzz doesn't like the amount that he has had to rely on the freshmen.   They are still growing up. 
-NCAA tourney talk:  Gotta go 6-2.   11 conference wins should be enough.   Based on history of BCS basketball conferences, only 1 school with 11 conference wins hasn't made it.   

Buzz's evaluation is of concern to me and demonstrates the exact problems we are having this season.  I have no problem with toughness being the #1 attribute. I would also include character with this.  If a kid can't cut it both in the classroom and on the court (take coaching) they shouldn't be here.  But athleticism should be the least valuable attribute.  Skills should be 1b behind toughness/character.  The lack of skills, especially shooting and dribbling are abundantly clear with this year's team.  If Buzz and Co. were better able to improve players shooting I wouldn't have as big of a problem with it, or if he played a style of play closer to Louisville's up tempo style.  But playing a slow tempo offense with a man half court defense doesn't seem to be the best way to utilize all the "athletes" he covets.  Hopefully the style of play matches the style of recruits closer over the next couple of seasons.  I can't stand UW, but they have proven you don't need great athletes to be successful.  

[tower912]

See, picked an item out of the radio show, started a good discussion.   Thanks, River Rat.   I noticed that too and wondered when someone would jump on it.   The eternal debate is whether to recruit athletes and teach them skills, or recruit highly skilled players and hope their athleticism is adequate.   I would argue that on this team, Davante, Jake, and Todd, STjr are more skilled than athletic.   I would argue that Jamil, Deonte, JJJ, and Juan are more athletic than skilled.    I think the challenge this year is once again finding the right combination.   Ideally, a team can get the right combination, even within a player.    Rodman, more athletic than skilled.  Magic, more skilled than athletic.   

[GGGG]

Buzz's evaluation is of concern to me and demonstrates the exact problems we are having this season.  I have no problem with toughness being the #1 attribute. I would also include character with this.  If a kid can't cut it both in the classroom and on the court (take coaching) they shouldn't be here.  But athleticism should be the least valuable attribute.  Skills should be 1b behind toughness/character.  The lack of skills, especially shooting and dribbling are abundantly clear with this year's team.  If Buzz and Co. were better able to improve players shooting I wouldn't have as big of a problem with it, or if he played a style of play closer to Louisville's up tempo style.  But playing a slow tempo offense with a man half court defense doesn't seem to be the best way to utilize all the "athletes" he covets.  Hopefully the style of play matches the style of recruits closer over the next couple of seasons.  I can't stand UW, but they have proven you don't need great athletes to be successful.   

A skilled team without athletes has a cap on its success however.  As does an athletic team without skills of course.

However I guess the philosophy is that you can teach skills, but not athleticism. 

[CTWarrior]

Sorry Goo..I'm not the one who fabricates crap to try to support Derrick's performance "superlatives."  Here's a breakdown of the "improvement" :

Non-Conference averages - 13 games:
5.15 ppg, 4.46 rpg, 4 apg, 1.46 TO/pg

Conference averages  - 10 games:
5.5 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 4.2 apg, 1.9 TO/pg

If you want to call that "improvement," so be it...I just don't see it...and this doesn't even call into question shooting percentages...I suspect those would look roughly the same as well between nonconference and conference play.  

My last comment on Derrick for a while.

First off, to perform a fair comparison, toss out the games against weak teams, which don't tell you a whole lot (10 assists vs Grambling doesn't mean anything useful to me).  We've played 16 games against top tier teams (I'm including all Big East games plus Ohio State, Arizona State, GW, SD State, Wisconsin & New Mexico)

Let's split 'em in half, first 8 vs 2nd 8 and look at numbers per 40 minutes (he averaged 33 mpg in the first 8 and 30.1 mpg in the second 8)

First 8 - 7.4 pts, 37.0 FG%, 0.0 3FG%, 53.6 FT%, 5.0 reb, 3.5 ast, 2.1 TO, 0.9 stl, 1.6 A/TO
Second 8 - 8.5 pts, 46.8 FG%, 0.0 3FG%, 36.8 FT%, 4.0 reb, 6.3 ast, 2.8 TO, 2.2 stl, 2.2 A/TO

Significantly improved FG%, Assists, A/TO Ratio, Steals
Slightly Improved Pts/40
Worse in rebounds, TOs, FT%

The stats sorta agree with what I think I see.  He's playing with more assertiveness, getting more steals and assists and turnovers (but improving A/TO ratio) and less rebounds as he looks to push the ball.

He still can't shoot, but he's improved his points and FG% by taking better shots closer to the basket (46 FGA attempts in first 8 games vs 47 in second 8).

Unfortunately, his foul shooting has gotten even more wretched.

Doesn't add up to a good player, but certainly to an improved one.  He is trying to transition from being a caretaker to a leader, and is having a little success.

One of the things as a fan I know I have trouble with is projecting the future.  I figure these guys have been playing forever and how much better are they really going to get by the time they're juniors?  I certainly didn't see Blue turning out as well as he did going into his junior year and I tended to think around Jan 1 2014 that "Derrick is what he is and he's not going to change that much."  I don't think his skillset has changed much at all, but I think Derrick is figuring out more and more how he can be helpful despite his limitations.

[CTWarrior]

Buzz's evaluation is of concern to me and demonstrates the exact problems we are having this season.  I have no problem with toughness being the #1 attribute. I would also include character with this.  If a kid can't cut it both in the classroom and on the court (take coaching) they shouldn't be here.  But athleticism should be the least valuable attribute.  Skills should be 1b behind toughness/character.  The lack of skills, especially shooting and dribbling are abundantly clear with this year's team.  

I think you have a good point here, and I think Buzz sees it too, and will weight the skills a little more heavily in the future, even if he won't admit it.  In the past some of his toughest guys (Lazar, Crowder, DJO, Butler) were quite skilled as well, even though they may not have been looked at that way when they first arrived.

[GGGG]

Jarvis Garrett is a typical example.  I don't think there is much way that a 5'11" PG would have gotten a second look from Buzz a couple years ago.  But with his outside shooting ability, he very well may be willing to that sacrifice.

[BenCat12]

See, picked an item out of the radio show, started a good discussion.   Thanks, River Rat  BenCat12.   I noticed that too and wondered when someone would jump on it.   The eternal debate is whether to recruit athletes and teach them skills, or recruit highly skilled players and hope their athleticism is adequate.   I would argue that on this team, Davante, Jake, and Todd, STjr are more skilled than athletic.   I would argue that Jamil, Deonte, JJJ, and Juan are more athletic than skilled.    I think the challenge this year is once again finding the right combination.   Ideally, a team can get the right combination, even within a player.    Rodman, more athletic than skilled.  Magic, more skilled than athletic.   

FIFY

[tower912]

MEA CULPA.   Bencat.....river rat.....old, full brain.......

[BenCat12]

A skilled team without athletes has a cap on its success however.  As does an athletic team without skills of course.

However I guess the philosophy is that you can teach skills, but not athleticism. 

This is surely Buzz's philosophy, I just don't believe he does this all that well.  His most skilled overall players have been JUCO's or guys he inherited from TC.  There has not been a great development, of basketball skills, of 3 and 4 year players and this concerns me with his recruiting philosophy.   

I agree going too heavy in one direction does cap your success.  However, we aren't getting the athletes a "Kentucky" gets and we aren't getting the skilled players UW gets, we are somewhere in between.  Yet our success is similar to UW.  An example of a guy I really liked that we didn't even go after, was Matt Thomas who is currently contributing for a very good Iowa State team.  He is averaging 24 min. and 7 points while shooting 35% from the 3pt line as a freshmen.  Granted he isn't the greatest "athlete," but he is skilled.  There are 3 or 4 guys on the current roster I would replace Thomas with in a heartbeat if I could. 

I hope Buzz does start going after guys who are more multi-dimensional.  Duane and Luke are a great start.  I haven't seen enough of the other recruits yet to judge them.  But I can't wait to see them over the next 3 seasons.

[BenCat12]

MEA CULPA.   Bencat.....river rat.....old, full brain.......

Ha, no problem.  I know what you mean, been there a time or two myself.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

I'm with both BenCat and Sultan. You can indeed teach skills whereas you can't teach athleticism. However, I have not seen enough development of basketball skills in the past four years. Some players have improved but not to the level that I would like. Vander is really the only one I can remember completely taking me by surprise. The rest showed marginal development.

If skill development isn't Buzz's strength, then he needs to recruit a few skill guys to balance them out. He needs some snipers and some ball handlers to get the team out of slumps when athleticism isn't cutting it.

[WellsstreetWanderer]

I also have noted Derrick's attempt to elevate his game.  At this stage, all you can ask is for the effort.

[BenCat12]

I also have noted Derrick's attempt to elevate his game.  At this stage, all you can ask is for the effort.

+1  He has seemed to be playing better defense lately, especially in denying the ball, was borderline great against Dunham and Cotton.  Curious as to why he didn't play against Harrison for 25+ minutes.  He also has been much better at getting into the lane.  I just wish he would "try" to shoot a perimeter shot once in awhile.  A little confidence could go a long way for him.

[GGGG]

This is surely Buzz's philosophy, I just don't believe he does this all that well.  His most skilled overall players have been JUCO's or guys he inherited from TC.  There has not been a great development, of basketball skills, of 3 and 4 year players and this concerns me with his recruiting philosophy. 

On the one hand, it is hard to argue with his results.

On the other, I sure wish we could shoot better.

[NotAnAlum]

A skilled team without athletes has a cap on its success however.  As does an athletic team without skills of course. 

I think that Buzz recruited to a particular strategy that went beyond simply preferring athletes over skilled players.  Buzz wanted a team of long versatile players who could take people off the dribble and drive to the hoop with the intent as much on drawing fouls as making clean baskets.  And yes he placed that type of game above kids who had a good stroke from 3. In Buzz's numbers oriented mind this strategy makes a lot of sense.  Each foul is not only 2 high percentage free throws as well as a chance for at 3 point play but you're also depleting your competition by hanging fouls on their players.  The problem is that when you start competing with elite top 10-15 level teams they have players that are as quick as you, can guard your guys AND can shoot.
I'd love to see us get more good shooters because I believe you need both slashers and outside shooters.  The problem on the current team is not so much that they can't shoot.  We haven't been real great at that in several years.  The problem is that now not only can't we shoot but our guards can't drive either. You can be successful not being able to do one or the other but if you can't do either you really have no offense.  You become way too easy to guard because there is nothing to stretch the defense or get it moving.  On the games where our offense has looked good like the first half of New Mexico its been because Derrick was driving instead of standing around the perimeter passing.  Tuesday night the same thing, the offense took off when Todd started driving it to the basket
I'd

[GGGG]

Very well stated.

[BallBoy]

Agreed - I too take the pledge!

I am in on this pledge as well. 

[MU82]

My last comment on Derrick for a while.

First off, to perform a fair comparison, toss out the games against weak teams, which don't tell you a whole lot (10 assists vs Grambling doesn't mean anything useful to me).  We've played 16 games against top tier teams (I'm including all Big East games plus Ohio State, Arizona State, GW, SD State, Wisconsin & New Mexico)

Let's split 'em in half, first 8 vs 2nd 8 and look at numbers per 40 minutes (he averaged 33 mpg in the first 8 and 30.1 mpg in the second 8)

First 8 - 7.4 pts, 37.0 FG%, 0.0 3FG%, 53.6 FT%, 5.0 reb, 3.5 ast, 2.1 TO, 0.9 stl, 1.6 A/TO
Second 8 - 8.5 pts, 46.8 FG%, 0.0 3FG%, 36.8 FT%, 4.0 reb, 6.3 ast, 2.8 TO, 2.2 stl, 2.2 A/TO

Significantly improved FG%, Assists, A/TO Ratio, Steals
Slightly Improved Pts/40
Worse in rebounds, TOs, FT%

The stats sorta agree with what I think I see.  He's playing with more assertiveness, getting more steals and assists and turnovers (but improving A/TO ratio) and less rebounds as he looks to push the ball.

He still can't shoot, but he's improved his points and FG% by taking better shots closer to the basket (46 FGA attempts in first 8 games vs 47 in second 8).

Unfortunately, his foul shooting has gotten even more wretched.

Doesn't add up to a good player, but certainly to an improved one.  He is trying to transition from being a caretaker to a leader, and is having a little success.

One of the things as a fan I know I have trouble with is projecting the future.  I figure these guys have been playing forever and how much better are they really going to get by the time they're juniors?  I certainly didn't see Blue turning out as well as he did going into his junior year and I tended to think around Jan 1 2014 that "Derrick is what he is and he's not going to change that much."  I don't think his skillset has changed much at all, but I think Derrick is figuring out more and more how he can be helpful despite his limitations.

This is a nice statistical study and, I believe, a relevant one.

And that's coming from an observer whose view on Derrick is closer to that of Ners than to that of Derrick's more ardent supporters.

I just don't state my view on Derrick's limitations 30 times in every thread  , and I admit when somebody presents good evidence that might explain something I didn't consider before.