Mayo and Blue

[OrangeGreenGolden]

On a night with no offense whatsoever mainly due to Nova's defense why were Mayo and Blue never on the court together?? They are the teams to best scorers from the outside but when they are out their alone the team lacks the ability to score. Also a few more set plays in a game where the free flowing offense is not working seems like it should happen, but it never did.

[ChicosBailBonds]

Blue was nonexistent today...unfortunately.

[Nukem2]

Agree, they should have been on the court together.  Would have eliminated the press...

[westcoastwarrior]

How would putting mayo an blue eliminated the press when they both would dribble into the trap at the half court corners?  In fact those, along with junior were the reason the trap was kept.

[mu_hilltopper]

Vander with 7 + Gardner with 2 = LOSS

[OrangeGreenGolden]

The problem for press/ full court trap is not the players. Its has to do with the fact that they have no press breakers in place it seems. Every press break consists of looking around, dribbling, and over the top lob passes.. All effective ways to make a full court press/trap look dang good.

[ecompt]

Syracuse won't press us Monday because it isn't their style, but God help us if we face any kind of press in the tournament.

[avalanche]

Where is Buzz's press break?   i have about 6 different plays I could give him.

Also why don't we do a full court zone trap press instead of the ineffective man to man.   I always think of Buzz as being such a prepared coach, but I don't see it in this phase of the game.

[Nukem2]

How would putting mayo an blue eliminated the press when they both would dribble into the trap at the half court corners?  In fact those, along with junior were the reason the trap was kept.

Quite simply ist takes Junior out as he tries to split the double teams or tries to lob over.  May does well in getting around a press.

[MauraDay]

The problem for press/ full court trap is not the players. Its has to do with the fact that they have no press breakers in place it seems. Every press break consists of looking around, dribbling, and over the top lob passes.. All effective ways to make a full court press/trap look dang good.

This.

[NickelDimer]

I can't believe Buzz doesn't even experiment with this lineup.  It's baffling honestly. Especially on a night when our "pg's" were so horrible

[We R Final Four]

The problem for press/ full court trap is not the players. Its has to do with the fact that they have no press breakers in place it seems. Every press break consists of looking around, dribbling, and over the top lob passes.. All effective ways to make a full court press/trap look dang good.

+1.  Press break inbound passess and inbound passes under our own basket are pathetic and unfortunately have improved very little this year.

[TJ]

I don't see how it would have helped.  I don't think Mayo played particularly well today.

[avid1010]

Where is Buzz's press break?   i have about 6 different plays I could give him.

i've watched many college coaches work on breaking the press...you can't just run a press breaker like you would in high school.  it's not like buzz can just run a 1-3-1 press breaker when nova comes out in a 2-3 3/4 court.  it's like saying anyone that loses to cuse doesn't know how to run a 1-3-1. 

in my opinion, we've watched mu struggle all year long with not being a smart team...that shows up in turnovers, attacking zone's, dealing with teams that throw multiple defenses at them, poor fouls, stupid decisions at the end of games, etc. 

[MUfan12]

i've watched many college coaches work on breaking the press...you can't just run a press breaker like you would in high school.  it's not like buzz can just run a 1-3-1 press breaker when nova comes out in a 2-3 3/4 court.  it's like saying anyone that loses to cuse doesn't know how to run a 1-3-1. 

That's all well and good... but there has to be something better than lobbed cross court passes, and dribbling into two defenders (with the sideline as a third).

There may not be a set press break, but I'd definitely start with quicker ball movement. The lobs allow the trap to move and get set.

[The Equalizer]

i've watched many college coaches work on breaking the press...you can't just run a press breaker like you would in high school.  it's not like buzz can just run a 1-3-1 press breaker when nova comes out in a 2-3 3/4 court.  it's like saying anyone that loses to cuse doesn't know how to run a 1-3-1. 

in my opinion, we've watched mu struggle all year long with not being a smart team...that shows up in turnovers, attacking zone's, dealing with teams that throw multiple defenses at them, poor fouls, stupid decisions at the end of games, etc. 

I don't think its that we're not smart.

I think the problem is that we rely too much on our own quickness. 

One could easliy see the assumption that "we're so quick, nobody would dare press us".  When somebody does, we're flummoxed.

We see that in overall gameplan as well.  One can see an assumption that "we're so quick we can always just score in transition".   Hence, we struggle when an opposing team can force us into a half-court game.

[real chili 83]

Just for kicks and giggles....why not put dwilson and Jr on the floor to break the press.  Presumably our two best ball handlers.

Anyone remember doc breaking the press singlehandedly? 

[ChicosBailBonds]

Just for kicks and giggles....why not put dwilson and Jr on the floor to break the press.  Presumably our two best ball handlers.

Anyone remember doc breaking the press singlehandedly? 

I remember Tony Miller breaking it single handedly, but he's a better PG than Junior.

[MarquetteDano]

Just for kicks and giggles....why not put dwilson and Jr on the floor to break the press.  Presumably our two best ball handlers.

Anyone remember doc breaking the press singlehandedly? 

What I don't understand is Buzz himself stated that Jamil is our best option for pressing and breaking a press and yet he only played 19 minutes.  Added, Wilson seemed to be in the frontcourt when we were pressed.

Maybe it slipped my mind... was he in foul trouble at some point?

[TinyTimsLittleBrother]

Just for kicks and giggles....why not put dwilson and Jr on the floor to break the press.  Presumably our two best ball handlers.

Because you take too much offense off the court.

[Stretchdeltsig]

Junior holds the whole team back with his high dribble and slow motion mode.  We need Blue and Mayo in the game more; but, the key is to return to Marquette's fast pace attacking offense.  Sad to say, but, Cadugan should see limited action hereafter.  He's the problem period. 

[MarquetteDano]

Junior holds the whole team back with his high dribble and slow motion mode.  We need Blue and Mayo in the game more; but, the key is to return to Marquette's fast pace attacking offense.  Sad to say, but, Cadugan should see limited action hereafter.  He's the problem period. 

He has faults but who do you want playing point for 25+ minutes a game?  Blue?  Then that takes away from his offense.  D Wilson... teams will not respect his shooting.  Cadougan is still our best, if imperfect, option.

[avid1010]

That's all well and good... but there has to be something better than lobbed cross court passes, and dribbling into two defenders (with the sideline as a third).

There may not be a set press break, but I'd definitely start with quicker ball movement. The lobs allow the trap to move and get set.

there wasn't anywhere to move the ball to because mu wasn't getting the ball into the correct spaces on the floor.  it's not like any d1 college player or coach is thinking to break the press with lob passes and slow ball movement.  the type of zone nova played yesterday is broken off the dribble, not the pass...junior couldn't do it, and everyone knows this, which is why nova was in that zone.  to nova's credit, they were pretty good with it. 

[MU82]

I don't see how it would have helped.

I don't see how it would have hurt.

I'm not one who thinks a Mayo/Blue combo solves all the problems. And it might have fared horribly against Nova. But I don't see why it wouldn't have been worth a try for a couple minutes. I mean, Buzz did finally try Gardner/Otule after 2+ years of pooh-poohing it. That hasn't been great guns, either, but, again, it was worth a try.

[GGGG]

I'm as frustrated as anyone with Junior at point guard, but honestly I can't see how Blue would be a good option right now.  He doesn't have the greatest handle either.  And I don't think Mayo nor Blue have the mentality for the position.  Maybe try it out for a bit to see how it goes, but I would be surprised if it works any better.

And I would stop the DG/CO bit too.  Nothing like slowing down even more a team that lacks foot-speed.  And DG at the high post isn't doing anything for me on offense.  I would rather see more of Steve Taylor.