First, I'll get this out of the way: I spent the last week in Minnesota helping my wife care for her father, who has terminal cancer and not much longer. It was rough. For this first time that I can remember, I missed both a FB and BB game (live) in the same week. I was listening to the hoops game live as I drove through Chicago, and then watched it last night after I got home. Unfortunately, watching it was worse than listening to it.
In short, I am just not optimistic.
The names and faces have changed, but the bad tendencies--which are 100% a function of the way they are interpreting what they are being taught--are the same. I hated almost everything I saw, on both ends.
I'll start with D, which was about as unwatchable as I have ever seen. Drake is NOT good, and NOT athletic. But they abused us, over and over.
We look like a 6-year old soccer team the way we watch and follow the ball, defensively. That's clearly how they are interpreting the continuously ridiculous "help" defense they are taught.
McGuirl was among, if not THE worst...how can that POSSIBLY be, the dude is a SR? How can that be anything other than completely ineffective teaching? He and AG got caught over and over again watching and cheating the ball, and then getting beat by their man, including KEY buckets down the stretch, when the game went from tied to out of reach in about 5 minutes. If those help principles actually produced more TOs/Steals or missed shots, I'd feel better about it...but, there just isn't much, if any, evidence that they do. On a PPP basis, our defense has never been special, and more often than not, isn't even good. I simply do not understand the appeal of this system. And even if the system isn't the problem, the coaching is.
I like Nijel. But my instinct is that his size is going to severely limit him, on both sides. Bruce talked about how strong he is, how much he benches...that's great. But it isn't functional strength. He plays as small as he is, on both ends.
My fear for the off-season--which only grew as we learned more about what was happening in practice--was that Bruce would both underuse and mis-use MIguel. And one game in, those fears are already being realized. Bruce put him in some really bad positions, with bad lineup combos. OTOH, if you want to see what he can bring, watch his very first game minutes. That lineup combo was good--and Miguel helped immediately turn a deficit into a positive. He got to the rim and scored on his first offensive possession, and kicked it out to DG to assist a three on his second. Five quick points, he created all of them. He was also pretty good defensively on the ball--he certainly was more physical than anyone else (by far). The charging call against him was a total flop (in fact, the zebras were abysmal in this game, both ways). Worth noting--I don't think he played in the last 5-8 minutes of the game. Inexcusable. Anyone who thinks he is not one of the five best players on this team is ****ing clueless. They need his offense, and Bruce needs to find a way NOT to coach it out of him (which, I have little doubt, he will do).
Most of us were hoping to see some flashes of off-season progression for DG, and I struggled to find that. I suspect that will be common, given the impact of COVID on development--just not a good combo. Unfortunately, this team really needs that from him. Let's hope game experience helps. It was good to see him take and make a couple early threes...but then he started feeling it, and took that contested three that went off the backboard...oof...and that was pretty much it.
I was hoping Bradford would look better. He'll be a legit 5, I think, but like most bigs, he is a year or two out. Still, would like to see him get ~15 minutes a game, all season.
Kaosi is about what I thought he'd be. Love his energy and effort, like his shot blocking, his skill level is about where I thought it would be, but he was not as good on the defensive boards as we need him to be, esp. if we are going to play AG, too.
Playing Rudi off the ball was brutal. I don't see what he brings in that role. We didn't really see him on the ball, so...
Monte was, in a word, the same project he was, offensively, last year. I've revised my ceiling for him pretty substantially. He simply does not have the skill, and he is not a fluid enough athlete to expect that to change, much. I honestly wouldn't start him. Or AG. Our fours just don't bring anything to this team, except length. They don't effectively stretch the floor, they can't set screens, and they can't play in the paint (except, maybe, a couple second-change buckets a game). It was, IMO, unconscionable that AG played 28 minutes, and nearly twice as much as Miguel. It is a TERRIBLE indictment of Bruce.
We need more legit shooting threats. That would seem to mean Kasubke.
If I were handed this team, I'd play a TON of small ball. My starting five would be Pack, McGuirl, DG, Miguel and Kaosi. Those are the five best players on this team, and they need to play more, and together. Yes, it presents challenges defensively, but others manage, and so could we. It would mean mixing in more zone...which is what Bruce should be doing, anyway, IMO, since I hate...HATE...his man principles.
I entered the year resolved to be patient and had marginal expectations. I expected us to finish last in the B12 (said so), and said we'd be hard-pressed to win as many league games this year as we did last. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't beat a MVC team picked 7th, and that also had a lot of turnover. So, one game in, we are playing below my very, very modest expectations.
And I am having a hard time finding optimism. But I will keep watching, so obviously it's hiding in there, somewhere.
In short, I am just not optimistic.
The names and faces have changed, but the bad tendencies--which are 100% a function of the way they are interpreting what they are being taught--are the same. I hated almost everything I saw, on both ends.
I'll start with D, which was about as unwatchable as I have ever seen. Drake is NOT good, and NOT athletic. But they abused us, over and over.
We look like a 6-year old soccer team the way we watch and follow the ball, defensively. That's clearly how they are interpreting the continuously ridiculous "help" defense they are taught.
McGuirl was among, if not THE worst...how can that POSSIBLY be, the dude is a SR? How can that be anything other than completely ineffective teaching? He and AG got caught over and over again watching and cheating the ball, and then getting beat by their man, including KEY buckets down the stretch, when the game went from tied to out of reach in about 5 minutes. If those help principles actually produced more TOs/Steals or missed shots, I'd feel better about it...but, there just isn't much, if any, evidence that they do. On a PPP basis, our defense has never been special, and more often than not, isn't even good. I simply do not understand the appeal of this system. And even if the system isn't the problem, the coaching is.
I like Nijel. But my instinct is that his size is going to severely limit him, on both sides. Bruce talked about how strong he is, how much he benches...that's great. But it isn't functional strength. He plays as small as he is, on both ends.
My fear for the off-season--which only grew as we learned more about what was happening in practice--was that Bruce would both underuse and mis-use MIguel. And one game in, those fears are already being realized. Bruce put him in some really bad positions, with bad lineup combos. OTOH, if you want to see what he can bring, watch his very first game minutes. That lineup combo was good--and Miguel helped immediately turn a deficit into a positive. He got to the rim and scored on his first offensive possession, and kicked it out to DG to assist a three on his second. Five quick points, he created all of them. He was also pretty good defensively on the ball--he certainly was more physical than anyone else (by far). The charging call against him was a total flop (in fact, the zebras were abysmal in this game, both ways). Worth noting--I don't think he played in the last 5-8 minutes of the game. Inexcusable. Anyone who thinks he is not one of the five best players on this team is ****ing clueless. They need his offense, and Bruce needs to find a way NOT to coach it out of him (which, I have little doubt, he will do).
Most of us were hoping to see some flashes of off-season progression for DG, and I struggled to find that. I suspect that will be common, given the impact of COVID on development--just not a good combo. Unfortunately, this team really needs that from him. Let's hope game experience helps. It was good to see him take and make a couple early threes...but then he started feeling it, and took that contested three that went off the backboard...oof...and that was pretty much it.
I was hoping Bradford would look better. He'll be a legit 5, I think, but like most bigs, he is a year or two out. Still, would like to see him get ~15 minutes a game, all season.
Kaosi is about what I thought he'd be. Love his energy and effort, like his shot blocking, his skill level is about where I thought it would be, but he was not as good on the defensive boards as we need him to be, esp. if we are going to play AG, too.
Playing Rudi off the ball was brutal. I don't see what he brings in that role. We didn't really see him on the ball, so...
Monte was, in a word, the same project he was, offensively, last year. I've revised my ceiling for him pretty substantially. He simply does not have the skill, and he is not a fluid enough athlete to expect that to change, much. I honestly wouldn't start him. Or AG. Our fours just don't bring anything to this team, except length. They don't effectively stretch the floor, they can't set screens, and they can't play in the paint (except, maybe, a couple second-change buckets a game). It was, IMO, unconscionable that AG played 28 minutes, and nearly twice as much as Miguel. It is a TERRIBLE indictment of Bruce.
We need more legit shooting threats. That would seem to mean Kasubke.
If I were handed this team, I'd play a TON of small ball. My starting five would be Pack, McGuirl, DG, Miguel and Kaosi. Those are the five best players on this team, and they need to play more, and together. Yes, it presents challenges defensively, but others manage, and so could we. It would mean mixing in more zone...which is what Bruce should be doing, anyway, IMO, since I hate...HATE...his man principles.
I entered the year resolved to be patient and had marginal expectations. I expected us to finish last in the B12 (said so), and said we'd be hard-pressed to win as many league games this year as we did last. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't beat a MVC team picked 7th, and that also had a lot of turnover. So, one game in, we are playing below my very, very modest expectations.
And I am having a hard time finding optimism. But I will keep watching, so obviously it's hiding in there, somewhere.
