As encouraging as the Duke loss was, this game erased much of that good will. The effort was terrible. The guys looked clueless. Even on raw talent and athleticism, they looked over matched. It wasn't very fun to watch. Instead of getting into the in-game issue (why bother?), I want to question Jim Christian a bit.
Bad nights happen to teams. The guys are young and it is hard to be 100% focused every game. But when that happens, it is on the coach to try to salvage the game. You put in the guys who are playing well. You try to teach. You scream. You do something. Watching from afar, it felt like Christian threw in the towel with his team. Not a good sign, especially with a roster this young and this early in the season.
Donahue and Skinner both had systems. They were somewhat rigid and also too dependent on offense, but at least they had something. Christian is not married to some offense and said he had an emphasis on D. That is fine. But when things are going bad, you hope the guys can revert to something (great D or an easy basket) to help steady the game. BC doesn't have that. We have the athleticism to be a defensive team. But I don't think the guys have the instincts or length to do it without intense coaching. Where is it?
Christian said this team was a talent upgrade over last year's. On paper it is. In person it looks better. But they are not playing better. Some of that is youth, but these guys also need a lot more coaching.
I hope this would be a fun season as we watched this team grow. So far it is not. I hope that changes soon.
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4 comments:
His quotes after the game were candid. And discouraging.
The commentator said the coach talked about playing zone. I didn't see it in the game. I think we need to play some, we were crushed in the paint. A big reason is we don't have a 4 man. Our best shooter is Milan, but to get him in the game either Carter or Robinson has to come out. If we played zone we could keep those 3 plus Clif and Turner all in the game. This would allow both Carter and Robinson to drive and kick to Milan. Turner has to take and make more shots.
Perhaps the reference was to facing the zone. So far this season, when our youngsters are faced with a zone defense, they look like "deer in the headlights".
When ND switched to a zone,e early in the first half, our offense sputtered and died. We fell behind and couldn't make up the difference.
They have to understand that dribbling the ball at the top of the key is not the way to get open against the zone, especially when the top two from the zone jump out on the ball handler.
Fox Sports Midwest carried the game here. ND last year shot 64%. This year, it was 63%. Carter looks very good going to the basket. They have a good three point shooter. That is about it. ND has one good big man, Auguste. He tore up BC on the boards and hardly played at all.
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