Last night was fun.
It was incredibly enjoyable to watch a team play so hard. It's why (as @Baller-Status has said) I have a hard on for DJG. That kid plays so hard. He isn't the most skilled wing, but every coach in America wants that kid on their team. There are so many plays that don't even show up in the box score (I bet he crushes the play hard chart). For example, on the play in the second half where Linguard gets the offensive rebound and the easy putback. The Iowa State defender had that rebound but DJG came from underneath and tipped the ball out of his hands and it went right to Carlton for the score. In close games, those are game changing types of plays.
Now, I don't want to get it twisted, Iowa State is bad (and ultimately probably not as bad as K-State). They are basically the perfect matchup for K-State. Basketball is the ultimate game when it comes to matchups and this one favors the Cats in a big way. As @ksu_FAN has pointed out, K-State really struggles defending two point shots and simply put, other than Bolton, nobody from Iowa State had any interest in even trying to attempt to attack K-State in the paint. They are happy to stand on the perimeter and shoot as many shots as possible even when they are not falling like last night. Just to illustrate the point, Iowa State was 18-29 (62%) from two point range. That's absurd. And what happens is that when you pair it with Iowa State's unwillingness to even try and rebound, you end up with a huge discrepancy in free throw attempts.
I mentioned this is jest last night, but if the Baylor game gets canceled, K-State has a legitimate chance to win both games next week and enter the Xmas break on a 4 game winning streak. And the reason, coaching. Yep, I said it. The difference in the last two games between the first 5 games of the season is the adjustments that Bruce and his staff have made in both lineups and approach.
Now, whether those adjustments were forced on Bruce because of injuries and circumstances can be debated and whether or not he goes back to his comfort zone when it's available to him will be something to watch closely. But for now, Bruce has gone to a 4 guard 1 Big lineup that for sure best fits the personnel of this team. If he had done the same thing last year, I honestly think that could have been an 8 win team in conference.
And it's not just the small ball lineup, it's been a slight tweak to the defensive philosophy that while still has a bunch of breakdowns, it allows the guys to play a little bit more free from a mindset standpoint. Just a couple of weeks ago, Bruce was saying in the press conference that Bradford couldn't get more minutes because he only wants to defend around the rim. Well, in the last two games, he was forced to abandon that and they have started switching everything on the perimeter and not asking the big (whether it's Bradford or Linguard at this point) to move out above the freethrow line.
The help principles are still bad and that's just something that takes time. Whether it's Pack dropping too far in help (which @ccox pointed out multiple times) or Mike not dropping far enough and reaching in for a foul (which happened twice last night), there are plenty of breakdowns, but in all honesty, you would rather have the Pack breakdown where he over helps and gives up a long jump shot versus the opposite which allows for layups and free throws.
One of the other adjustments so far has been Bruce running more sets on the offensive end rather than ball screens. There hasn't been nearly as much use of the shot clock just to limit possessions. I think he has realized that he doesn't really have a guy that can go get his shot on a consistent basis. When they have run ball screens they have basically stuck to pick and roll, forcing the opposing big to make a choice on who he was going to defend. As I read back through a lot of the posts about last night, there are tons of posts about DJG not being able to shoot and forcing/taking too many shots. That's simply not the case. On every three he took last night, it was either a play run for him by Bruce or a wide open shot where nobody was within 10 feet of him. He has to take those shots. They will start to fall. You can't pass up wide open threes from one of your perimeter players. McGuirl, Pack and Miguel were a combined 1-15 from three last night.
The only other thing I would like to address is the thought that Bruce could play Lingard at the 4 as a stretch 4. That is out of the question. He simply can't guard. The only option is to keep using a small ball lineup with Bradford and Lingard as your 5's for about 25 and 15 minutes respectively. If you have foul trouble or one of them needs a break, you have no choice but to play AG, but you have to do your best to hide him.
Let's hope Bruce has it in him to keep running this lineup out there.
It was incredibly enjoyable to watch a team play so hard. It's why (as @Baller-Status has said) I have a hard on for DJG. That kid plays so hard. He isn't the most skilled wing, but every coach in America wants that kid on their team. There are so many plays that don't even show up in the box score (I bet he crushes the play hard chart). For example, on the play in the second half where Linguard gets the offensive rebound and the easy putback. The Iowa State defender had that rebound but DJG came from underneath and tipped the ball out of his hands and it went right to Carlton for the score. In close games, those are game changing types of plays.
Now, I don't want to get it twisted, Iowa State is bad (and ultimately probably not as bad as K-State). They are basically the perfect matchup for K-State. Basketball is the ultimate game when it comes to matchups and this one favors the Cats in a big way. As @ksu_FAN has pointed out, K-State really struggles defending two point shots and simply put, other than Bolton, nobody from Iowa State had any interest in even trying to attempt to attack K-State in the paint. They are happy to stand on the perimeter and shoot as many shots as possible even when they are not falling like last night. Just to illustrate the point, Iowa State was 18-29 (62%) from two point range. That's absurd. And what happens is that when you pair it with Iowa State's unwillingness to even try and rebound, you end up with a huge discrepancy in free throw attempts.
I mentioned this is jest last night, but if the Baylor game gets canceled, K-State has a legitimate chance to win both games next week and enter the Xmas break on a 4 game winning streak. And the reason, coaching. Yep, I said it. The difference in the last two games between the first 5 games of the season is the adjustments that Bruce and his staff have made in both lineups and approach.
Now, whether those adjustments were forced on Bruce because of injuries and circumstances can be debated and whether or not he goes back to his comfort zone when it's available to him will be something to watch closely. But for now, Bruce has gone to a 4 guard 1 Big lineup that for sure best fits the personnel of this team. If he had done the same thing last year, I honestly think that could have been an 8 win team in conference.
And it's not just the small ball lineup, it's been a slight tweak to the defensive philosophy that while still has a bunch of breakdowns, it allows the guys to play a little bit more free from a mindset standpoint. Just a couple of weeks ago, Bruce was saying in the press conference that Bradford couldn't get more minutes because he only wants to defend around the rim. Well, in the last two games, he was forced to abandon that and they have started switching everything on the perimeter and not asking the big (whether it's Bradford or Linguard at this point) to move out above the freethrow line.
The help principles are still bad and that's just something that takes time. Whether it's Pack dropping too far in help (which @ccox pointed out multiple times) or Mike not dropping far enough and reaching in for a foul (which happened twice last night), there are plenty of breakdowns, but in all honesty, you would rather have the Pack breakdown where he over helps and gives up a long jump shot versus the opposite which allows for layups and free throws.
One of the other adjustments so far has been Bruce running more sets on the offensive end rather than ball screens. There hasn't been nearly as much use of the shot clock just to limit possessions. I think he has realized that he doesn't really have a guy that can go get his shot on a consistent basis. When they have run ball screens they have basically stuck to pick and roll, forcing the opposing big to make a choice on who he was going to defend. As I read back through a lot of the posts about last night, there are tons of posts about DJG not being able to shoot and forcing/taking too many shots. That's simply not the case. On every three he took last night, it was either a play run for him by Bruce or a wide open shot where nobody was within 10 feet of him. He has to take those shots. They will start to fall. You can't pass up wide open threes from one of your perimeter players. McGuirl, Pack and Miguel were a combined 1-15 from three last night.
The only other thing I would like to address is the thought that Bruce could play Lingard at the 4 as a stretch 4. That is out of the question. He simply can't guard. The only option is to keep using a small ball lineup with Bradford and Lingard as your 5's for about 25 and 15 minutes respectively. If you have foul trouble or one of them needs a break, you have no choice but to play AG, but you have to do your best to hide him.
Let's hope Bruce has it in him to keep running this lineup out there.
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