atrended the game. Put me in the agnostic camp of Bruce coaching. Prefer he be successful for stability of the program but ok if we need to move on if he doesn't get it done. With that out of the way here is what I saw absent of any axe to grind or position on Weber's future:
THE GOOD
* Defense by and large was solid. Was impressed with their M2M and their rotational coverages. A couple times guys found creases and openings but not many. Forced 2-3 clock violations
And contested most shots. Think our D will keep us in most games with chance to win.
*. Dean Wade finally showed up. Nice to see his outside shooting come to life and show some willingness to take it to the cup. Was very tentative at first then got going. He has to be a player for us to be successful.
*. FT shooting. Won the game for us. Very good from the line all night. Will win us games if we stay consistent at the stripe.
*. Composure : Got tight at the end. We handled the press made passes. Hit FT's. Yes game was closer than it should have been but we didn't look or act panicked.
*. Iwandu asserting his leadership. He's the leader of the team clearly. Gets the offense organized and it ran through him as it should. Best most athletic player we have and he was a force on both ends last night.
THE BAD
*. Had opportunities to put this game out of reach and step on their throats with 8 min left and up by 11 had 3-4 possessions where we got stops and were careless at the other end. Can cost you in future games.
*. Weak side rebounding. Gave up a lot of second chance points inside on weak side by DJ and Wade. No box out and got out hustled and out muscled a few times. Can't happen against better teams. Needs to get shored up.
*. No clue how to attack a 1-3-1 half court zone. Got UT back in the game. First thought was horrible strategy by Smart but we had 3-4 bad possessions In a row and let UT bsck in the game. We looked lost when they threw that against us. Guess what we will see the same defense but even better when we play Baylor.
*. Sneed looked like a Freshman. A non factor. Hope he gets it figured out fast because we need his athleticism. He'll face much tougher defenses and players going forward so hope this improves quickly.
*. First 5 minutes and game itself is imo a factor of their non-con. Our outside shots were WAY off all first half. Took awhile to adjust to competition level. Concerns me about the week ahead facing 2 of the best teams in the Big 12 coming up.
THE UGLY
*. Big men can not catch a dump pass to save their life. DJ has hands of stone and Wade not much better when guards dribble drive and dish. DJ falling down on a fast break was indicative of how broad (or not) our athleticism is.
*. Refs were horrible. Beyond bad. Missed calls everywhere. Tic tac fouls. Completely different called game from half to half. These are veteran officials and thought they were horribly inconsistent and were going from one make up call to another all night . Both Weber and Smart were riding them and for good reason .
*. I hate the over coaching. I coach a travel team in BB of middle schoolers and I don't bark as much instruction as Bruce. He yelled during Wade shooting a FT (which he missed). Sit down and let your guys play they should know their role by now at this level. Drives me nuts like he lives and dies with every pass.
THE GOOD
* Defense by and large was solid. Was impressed with their M2M and their rotational coverages. A couple times guys found creases and openings but not many. Forced 2-3 clock violations
And contested most shots. Think our D will keep us in most games with chance to win.
*. Dean Wade finally showed up. Nice to see his outside shooting come to life and show some willingness to take it to the cup. Was very tentative at first then got going. He has to be a player for us to be successful.
*. FT shooting. Won the game for us. Very good from the line all night. Will win us games if we stay consistent at the stripe.
*. Composure : Got tight at the end. We handled the press made passes. Hit FT's. Yes game was closer than it should have been but we didn't look or act panicked.
*. Iwandu asserting his leadership. He's the leader of the team clearly. Gets the offense organized and it ran through him as it should. Best most athletic player we have and he was a force on both ends last night.
THE BAD
*. Had opportunities to put this game out of reach and step on their throats with 8 min left and up by 11 had 3-4 possessions where we got stops and were careless at the other end. Can cost you in future games.
*. Weak side rebounding. Gave up a lot of second chance points inside on weak side by DJ and Wade. No box out and got out hustled and out muscled a few times. Can't happen against better teams. Needs to get shored up.
*. No clue how to attack a 1-3-1 half court zone. Got UT back in the game. First thought was horrible strategy by Smart but we had 3-4 bad possessions In a row and let UT bsck in the game. We looked lost when they threw that against us. Guess what we will see the same defense but even better when we play Baylor.
*. Sneed looked like a Freshman. A non factor. Hope he gets it figured out fast because we need his athleticism. He'll face much tougher defenses and players going forward so hope this improves quickly.
*. First 5 minutes and game itself is imo a factor of their non-con. Our outside shots were WAY off all first half. Took awhile to adjust to competition level. Concerns me about the week ahead facing 2 of the best teams in the Big 12 coming up.
THE UGLY
*. Big men can not catch a dump pass to save their life. DJ has hands of stone and Wade not much better when guards dribble drive and dish. DJ falling down on a fast break was indicative of how broad (or not) our athleticism is.
*. Refs were horrible. Beyond bad. Missed calls everywhere. Tic tac fouls. Completely different called game from half to half. These are veteran officials and thought they were horribly inconsistent and were going from one make up call to another all night . Both Weber and Smart were riding them and for good reason .
*. I hate the over coaching. I coach a travel team in BB of middle schoolers and I don't bark as much instruction as Bruce. He yelled during Wade shooting a FT (which he missed). Sit down and let your guys play they should know their role by now at this level. Drives me nuts like he lives and dies with every pass.
