HillbillyCat
11-24-2006, 09:22 AM
Right now we rank 10th out of 12 teams in the SEC in scoring offense. It's really no big deal at this point, but in our 5 games we've played 1 cupcake (Miss.ValleySt.), 2 decent teams (Miami-O. & DePaul), and 2 good teams that like to run and gun (UCLA and Memphis). We're averaging right at 70 points per game. Normally it wouldn't be a big deal but the way we play defense we can't hold opponents under 70 points and win games against good teams.
They're gonna have to make adjustments somewhere. Are they gonna go smaller with the lineup and try to make it a faster game kind of like Villanova's offensive scheme last year and get our average up to 80 or so points per game in order to cover some short coming in our defense, or are they gonna decide to play defense and keep it at 70 points per game. A lot of it really depends on the opponent they're playing. I've never been one to say here's my starting lineup and that's the way it is. What's wrong with changing the lineup, if need be, each game to tailor it to the way we need to play for that game. If we are going up against a big team, then start Morris, Obrzut, Stevenson, Crawford, Jasper......if we're going up against a smaller team start Morris, Crawford, Meeks, Jasper, Bradley...
Personally, I think for time being we need to go a little bigger to address our problems of rebounding. When a team gets 15 more shot attempts per game, there is a good chance they're gonna win. I know Obrzut is Obrzut, but he has looked ok in there so far this year. Why not start Obrzut at center, and put Morris and Stevenson on the sides down there and lay down the law that rebounding needs to be at a premium. Just give it a try and see what happens. You can always pull out of that and mix and match with Perry and Thomas after a 5 to 7 minute spell. This team can rebound if they will. If you got guys in there at 7-0, 6-10, and 6-9 and quick off the floor, and they still can't rebound, then you've got REAL problems. Credit to Morris, he's been rebounding much better so far this year, but he needs help. I just think this may be the way we need to start games for the short term to get off to better starts, meaning letting the other team get one shot and out every time. There will always be times where we can go with a Crawford, Bradley, Meeks, Jasper look on the floor, but we've got to get a foundation poured under that basket so if we start getting hurt on the boards, we know what to go back to........
They're gonna have to make adjustments somewhere. Are they gonna go smaller with the lineup and try to make it a faster game kind of like Villanova's offensive scheme last year and get our average up to 80 or so points per game in order to cover some short coming in our defense, or are they gonna decide to play defense and keep it at 70 points per game. A lot of it really depends on the opponent they're playing. I've never been one to say here's my starting lineup and that's the way it is. What's wrong with changing the lineup, if need be, each game to tailor it to the way we need to play for that game. If we are going up against a big team, then start Morris, Obrzut, Stevenson, Crawford, Jasper......if we're going up against a smaller team start Morris, Crawford, Meeks, Jasper, Bradley...
Personally, I think for time being we need to go a little bigger to address our problems of rebounding. When a team gets 15 more shot attempts per game, there is a good chance they're gonna win. I know Obrzut is Obrzut, but he has looked ok in there so far this year. Why not start Obrzut at center, and put Morris and Stevenson on the sides down there and lay down the law that rebounding needs to be at a premium. Just give it a try and see what happens. You can always pull out of that and mix and match with Perry and Thomas after a 5 to 7 minute spell. This team can rebound if they will. If you got guys in there at 7-0, 6-10, and 6-9 and quick off the floor, and they still can't rebound, then you've got REAL problems. Credit to Morris, he's been rebounding much better so far this year, but he needs help. I just think this may be the way we need to start games for the short term to get off to better starts, meaning letting the other team get one shot and out every time. There will always be times where we can go with a Crawford, Bradley, Meeks, Jasper look on the floor, but we've got to get a foundation poured under that basket so if we start getting hurt on the boards, we know what to go back to........