Jumbo package didn't work this time

[NotAnAlum]

The team really struggled offensively when DG and Chris were in together yesterday.  It seemed to confuse our players more than it did ND.  DG was getting the ball outside the 3 point line and kind of left alone there to dribble aimlessly.  Either ND had scouted it and were ready or there are just certain teams it isn't going to work against.  I felt Buzz stayed with it a little too long.  It may work better with a really packed in zone.

[radome]

I thought that it was worse from a defensive perspective. DG couldn't get out on the shooters. Nevertheless, it was worth a look.

[dwaderoy2004]

I thought that it was worse from a defensive perspective. DG couldn't get out on the shooters. Nevertheless, it was worth a look.

Agreed.  They just screened Gardner and sent a shooter to the corner.  Gardner was too big/slow to get around the screen and ND hit a few jumpers that way.  It was fine.  I think Buzz had an opportunity yesterday to experiment a little on the offensive end due to the score and he took advantage.

[MU82]

I thought it could have worked offensively if Gardner had just flashed to the free-throw line. There was space in the ND zone and it would have been open. From there, he could have taken his set shot or passed. We did that in previous games when both he and Otule were out there and I'm not sure why we didn't do so this time.

It's a niche lineup that should only play a couple/few minutes of any game, anyway.

[DCWarriors04]

I think this will be a decent line up to show at times in the tourney when teams try to throw a zone D at us.

[tower912]

It won't work against Louisville, IMO, simply because the tempo of the game will be too fast.   

[Ynaught]

I remember Buzz saying that he would never play DG and COToule together because it would not work defensively.  That is, DG can play high post, but cannot guard a quick 4, and OToule has two issues, he gets tired quickly and can only guard a big.  That puts us in the position of needing to rest both DG and Chris O at the same time, making us really small really quick.

The reason it works against a zone is it forces the zone to either collapse (opening up our outside game, and preventing the zone from continuing to move out), or not collapse (opening lane).  As Buzz said after the game, many of DG points in the Syracuse game came from Otoule preventing their big from moving out on Gardner when he got the ball.

The lineup will only work against a zone (and probably a zone like Syracuse, which operates as a 2-2-1 although nominally a 2-3 zone) and only when MU is going to also play a tight zone (so that Davante does not have to move outside against quick player).

Just sayin, it is a lineup that is quite effective, but only in certain circumstances.  I think it was tried against ND because we had a lead and could try it out in a different situation.  If those on this site see the deficiencies, I expect other coaches to see at least as much as we do.