We’re a Good Team

Really good question. It’s hard to say until we face some league teams that will give us fits on the ball (Tennessee, A&M, plenty of others), but so far I wouldn’t say we are a “positionless PG by committee.” Clayton is our point guard, but he is a scoring point guard. He doesn’t look to pass off the pick roll, or on most of his drives, frankly, but he looks to score (and does so at a pretty efficient clip: 58% effective fg%, team leading 70% from 2). However, he is exceptional at pushing the ball in transition and making advance passes on the break. If we ever got consistent from the arc, his assists would be higher.

Aberdeen and Klavzwar get the backup minutes at the one, and occasionally let Clayton get a rest off the ball, and I think the returns are mixed there. Martin has been phenomenal as a secondary handler.

As long as we don’t expect Clayton to be some 12-5 guy, we are gonna be pleased with the results. He has weaknesses, and those come out from time to time, but his unbelievable range, aggressiveness getting in the lane, ability to finish drives, and explosiveness and vision in the open court are really, really good.

 

Now that's the team potential from the center position I was hoping for. Props to Chin for his best game yet. When teams try to collapse on Condo early as Wichita did, it opens up for Chin. He proved he can handle the ball and convert those inside passes for points. Another plus was seeing Chin outplay and out hustle a much taller center. The talking heads said from the start that Wichita needs to get their center going, but nothing came of it once Chin took over. It will only get more difficult in the weeks to come but if we can get that kind of consistent play out of Chin, this is going to be quite the season.

 

Getting it all together.......love it!

 

Now we just need Richard to figure out his shot. His mechanics just seem off.

 

yeah - I don't know what's going on with his shot, but he doesn't look confident or his normal self on that stroke. He's stepped into some shots where the body mechanics / set-up look great, but the stroke/release is just... off.

11-45 on the season now. 24.4%. He keeps playing hard, taking it to the rack, and playing great D. It will (hopefully) come. My guess is he's over thinking it now. He needs to push through and just shoot. Thoughtlessly. Like Walt.

 

Apparently he can nail them in practice. Im getting the sense because it wasn't part of his normal "on the court" game, when he does do it he's suddenly thinking about it really hard/self-conscious rather than playing loose and fluid like the rest of his game that he's used to. Thus his shot isn't fluid, its forced. With the difference being in practice, he's not thinking about it because it doesn't "count" so he doesn't feel any pressure just "messing around"
Edit: I should mention Im talking about his 3 pointer.

 

That one game where he was burying them, his shot looked smooth and effortless. Apart from that game, the shot form just looks ... off. Like he's leaning slightly backward.

 

Virginia at home on Wednesday, then 10 days off before we play Arizona State in Atlanta and then 3 days later North Carolina in Charlotte. Can we win all 3??!! That would be an incredible start if they can pull it off.
Virginia is 5-2 with wins over Campbell, Coppin State, Villanova, Manhattan and Holy Cross. Losses are to Tennessee by 22 and St. Johns by 25.
Arizona State is 7-1 with an game vs. San Diego before they play us. They have wins over Idaho State, Santa Clara, Grand Canyon, St. Thomas, Cal Poly, New Mexico and St. Marys. Their loss was to Gonzaga by 10. Pretty good team.
North Carolina is 4-3 with games against Alabama, Georgia Tech & LaSalle before we play them. They have beaten Elon, American, Hawaii and Dayon (by 2), and have lost to Kansas by 3, Auburn by 13 and Michigan State by 3 in OT.

 

The gift that keeps on giving.

 

I'm not above going for the cheap laughs.

 

Like these guys:

 

im afraid that we’re relying on that for every game and we’re going to lose several when it doesn’t happen. I think that’s why Clayton takes so many ridiculously long shots and has 1 or 2 brain fart TOs every game. He doesn’t value each possession since he “knows”” we have a spurt coming up.

don’t get me wrong, he’s our MVG, but he needs to not be so reckless

 

Yeah, rather than firing a 30-footer the second you touch the ball, see if we can get the ball in the post at least once. Once Chinyelu and Condon learn to channel their inner Horfords, we'll get a lot of open 3s from the inside-out passes. From 21 feet, not 30.