I agree. We’ve had too many plays where guys just seem kind of lost. New system, new guys, guys playing a lot more minutes – hopefully that gets ironed out. I do like that we’ve been fairly good at limiting 3s and there have been some encouraging individual performances (and some less so).
Nice post @gtfomycourt and mostly I agree with you. However, I don’t share your enthusiasm for CM. He’s still a work in progress and I’m not sure he will become the player we all want to see. But I have to say, he played 37 ;minutes when he was having an off game. JB seems committed to him, so screw it, I agree that CM will be a 35 minute player. If I was the coach it might be different, but I’m not the coach.
Pretty much the same comment applies for Duncan. He has flaws, but JB loves him. So get used to 30-35 minutes of him as well. We need that 3 point shooter and there really isn’t anyone to replace him.
The lineup looks pretty much set to me. Z has won the PG job IMHO. If it’s close, why would a coach go with a grad transfer?? Z will be here next year, Simmons will be gone.
I guess I’d consider below a bubble team to be very very bad. I think our expectations should be to make the tournament every year so that’s my baseline. Hopefully we can right the ship vs. Southern Miss and can explain away the issues on lack of familiarity vs. zone defenses.
A key part of this is that the LSU game is incredibly important for our resume and would be catastrophic for our resume if we end up a bubble team. A loss to LSU not only means you’re going to lose to a bad team, but you also play Chaminade instead of Notre Dame, which will really hurt the SOS. Will be a very important game.
2 Likes
I agree re: Matthews. I admittedly wasn’t able to watch the opener against North Florida, but he took some awful shots last night, especially early. It seemed like he was pretty hesitant after that point. It was only one game and he certainly has the talent on the defensive end and around the basket, but I am not sure he is a ‘go-to guy’ type, at least not yet. That doesn’t mean he shouldn’t play a lot, but the preseason thoughts about him potentially going pro seem very premature to me. How many NBA wings nowadays are not proficient from three and also don’t really excel off the dribble?
I guess it depends on what you were expecting from Matthews. In two games he’s averaging 16.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.5 TOs, shooting 59% on twos but only 22% on threes and 25% from the line, averaging 1 block and 1.5 steals a game. He’s looked pretty hesitant and unsure at times and his outside shooting has been questionable. If you were hoping to see a dominant lottery pick, I could see the disappointment, but considering he hadn’t ever done anything in college it’s also comforting that he seems to at least be a quite solid player with room to grow into more.
3 Likes
That’s quite a leap to think this team is below even the bubble after two games where they won both against quirky zone teams. Has anybody in this thread said they like how the team looks while also saying that they look like they won’t even come close to making the tournament?
And now already surmising what a loss to LSU means before they even play the game. How about we relax and let the season play out before panicking?
4 Likes
Yep, LSU game is massive.
I’m not sure Mo has shown he can be consistent enough to be counted upon as a “go-to” scorer. Setting aside his tendency to take himself out of long stretches of gameplay with silly fouls, and his seeming inability to stop that from disrupting his rhythm, he reminds me a bit of Evan Smotrycz in that you can basically tell where is night is going from his first two shots. He seems to have a hard time staying positive when he has a rough start - and it’s when he misses that he starts committing silly fouls.
Can he carry our offense sometimes? Definitely. Whether he can be relied upon remains to be seen.
I think Matthews will settle in fine. He needs to just do less and not force stuff. It seemed clear from the open practice that he is not a great ball handler but he checks other boxes fine. GR3 wasn’t a great ball handler or outside shooter either…
1 Like
To be fair, Robinson was also never more than a third option.
1 Like
If they continue to play with the same quality they have so far, they will miss the tournament by a wide margin. I don’t think that they WILL continue to play this poorly and expect improvement (hopefully soon) as pretty much everyone looks like they are playing below their ceiling due to poor decision-making and sloppiness. I don’t think this is some crazy over-reactionary hot take. Beilein was harping on the fact that they are a bad team right now all preseason. Charles Matthews’ post-game interview with BTN last night seemed to indicate that the team knows that they have played very very poorly so far (every answer he was saying that the team isn’t panicked about their play despite the questions not really asking him about that). It is what it is. Hopefully the team can not drop too many games as they improve.
The LSU game is a thought I’ve had ever since the bracket was released and I saw we were on the Chaminade side of the bracket. It’s just become more real as we’ve played poorly.
1 Like
Consistency is a thing for Moe (and his shot is broken), but I think he can definitely be a go-to guy in the offense. Figuring out his sweet spots (and how best to get to them) might take some time.
You do come off to me as an excessive worrier. Building up game against LSU as catastrophic if M losses is kinda weird. Bad losses happen. I can’t imagine wringing my hands about a b-ball game months ahead of said game, but to each their own.
1 Like
Fair point. CM does not have the same luxury as GR3 to “let the game come to him” and yet he might struggle to approximate the Stauskas, Levert, Irvin role because he does not have as much ball handling skill. Excited to see how he looks against man to man. (I suspect he will be able to produce at least as well as Irvin.) Plus we have him for 3 years potentially—so I am excited about him.
I’m thinking that part of the reason I was not super worried about replacing Irvin as an initiating playmaker/ late shotclock bucket getter, was I had my fingers crossed that MAAR would take over Irvin’s role last year. I have always believed it was in MAAR. I think it is in Matthews to some extent too…So, I have been waiting for this for awhile…
Eh. The fact that the LSU game is a sort of “double whammy” above a normal bad loss is an interesting quirk in the schedule. I think it’s interesting and reasonable to think about and discuss.
1 Like
Defensive rate.
1 Like
Fixed it, my bad!
CM has barely played since high school I think his handle will come around. Look how Hardaway improved after his 1st year. He is also starting for a team returning three regulars with two being starters. I see all kinds of issues on the court with spacing at times etc. This team will need to jell together and that will take games. CM will get better. He has what you can’t teach, athleticism and want to. Once he figures out when and how to get to the basket more when his shot isn’t falling look out.
3 Likes
I thought the CMU game was a good sign for Wagner staying positive/locked in even when his shot wasn’t falling.
Dylan is making me more worried about his shot than anything else.
3 Likes
re: Matthews last night and shot selection
He took some bad shots. Then he passed on some open ones and IMO, that showed his maturity. I thought some of them would have been rushed even though open. I liked that he knew he wasn’t hitting and rather than keep shooting, he looked for a chance to get to the hoop. Not too long after he ended up getting a bucket on dribble penetration. Then his night essentially turned around and he turned the green light back on to shoot.
Coming off the Irvin years, I appreciate that he waited and looked for a chance to attack the hoop rather than just keep chucking it. Nothing helps more than seeing the ball go through the hoop.
2 Likes