Old Titan Posted January 15, 2017 Share Posted January 15, 2017 After five games in conference play (2 home; 3 road) Opponent Scoring Average...........88.8 Opponent Field Goal Pct...............51.1 Opponent 3PT Percentage............48.4 Nationally, ORU's stats are slightly better with non-conference games figured in, yet they still put ORU in the Bottom 50 in the country among the 347 schools in Division 1. These are historically bad numbers - and with three games remaining vs. Omaha (2) and IPFW (1), two of the highest-scoring teams in the country. And, typically, aren't there more points scored on average the second time around in a conference schedule, as teams become familiar with each other? Can someone please tell me it's unthinkable those numbers could get worse? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EagleManiac Posted January 15, 2017 Share Posted January 15, 2017 Team defense and defensive movements and rotations can be taught, and I actually think we are pretty good in that respect. Where we fail is on-the-ball defense. We are just too slow and small. Our defensive problems are easy to fix. But they can't be fixed with this group. Have to be better at recruiting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Cornelius Posted January 15, 2017 Share Posted January 15, 2017 1 minute ago, EagleManiac said: Team defense and defensive movements and rotations can be taught, and I actually think we are pretty good in that respect. Where we fail is on-the-ball defense. We are just too slow and small. Our defensive problems are easy to fix. But they can't be fixed with this group. Have to be better at recruiting. Yeah, we always have at least one defensive mismatch out there (sometimes even two or three). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EagleManiac Posted January 15, 2017 Share Posted January 15, 2017 39 minutes ago, Dr. Cornelius said: Yeah, we always have at least one defensive mismatch out there (sometimes even two or three). As much as I've defended Jalen Bradley, I think maybe it's time to switch things up. We would miss his presence offensively, But he is not a very good defender. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORUTerry Posted January 15, 2017 Share Posted January 15, 2017 Did you notice the start of the IUPUI game? #22 made Kris Martin look silly. I think he scored 3 or 4 straight times on Martin. It's not just Bradley. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORUJason Posted January 16, 2017 Share Posted January 16, 2017 Dez McDaniel is pretty short too. So is Aaron Young. Who do you replace Jalen with? Jalen is in the Top 5 in the Summit League in total assists and as Old Titan mentioned was keeping ORU in the last game offensively. How I would change the player rotation: 1. Always have 2 of the following 3 in the game at all times: Albert Owens, Chris Miller, and Emanuel Nzekwesi. 2. Start Darian Harris, Kris Martin, and Jalen Bradley. 3. Sub-in Dez McDaniel for Jalen Bradley, Aaron Anderson for Darian Harris, and Aaron Young for Kris Martin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EagleManiac Posted January 16, 2017 Share Posted January 16, 2017 He's an asset on offense, but AY was our best shooter last year and Dez can hold his own as we saw last night. I think he's enough of a liability on defense that it's at least worth a look. Jalen has to stay 2-3 steps off of his man (and still gets blown by relatively often) giving the offense time to examine everything and wait for something to open up. AY and Dez are quick enough to get up on their man and create pressure, which makes things easier for the rest of the defense. Maybe I'm way off. But allowing 90+ points a game isn't working, obviously. It's time to change something, and maybe this is it. Sacrifice marginally better offense for marginally better defense? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theeagleman5 Posted January 16, 2017 Share Posted January 16, 2017 Keep Sam McCants in town and enroll him in classes since I am fairly certain he has at least 1-2 years of eligibility left....he looks a big aged but at 6-3 he still has to have more speed than Bradley and the rest of these guards...Sam always was a decent defender and I'll be he can still pass the rock....this is a no brainer...he could be the difference against South Dakota and Omaha this week...and what a great story this would be for ESPN....ORU would get lots of national press.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oruvoice Posted January 16, 2017 Share Posted January 16, 2017 I've been a proponent of going "big", but with this group, I think I've changed my mind. Play either Albert or Chris in the post, then surround him with our 3-point shooters, which we have a fair abundance of. 1 in - 4 out - and just become a 3-point shooting team (K-Mart, Darian, Jalen, & either AY or Dez). Push tempo. Run and gun. At this point (5-14), it can't hurt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theeagleman5 Posted January 16, 2017 Share Posted January 16, 2017 ...and who better to lead the Run and Gun offense than Sudden Sam McCants....get the paperwork done today and maybe he still has that crib over on Peoria so he can be a commuter student....I guarantee that at 65 years old he is still quicker than Bradley and the rest of this crew..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORUJason Posted January 16, 2017 Share Posted January 16, 2017 The problem with the 4-guard lineup that ORUVoice suggests is that Albert needs another big man down low or the defense falls apart. When it is just Albert and 4 guards, for some reason opposing teams seem to be able to run around screens and either drive to the basket for an easy layup or pass to the open player who Albert is not defending for an easy layup. Also, the rebounding really slides when we only have one big man in the game. At the end of the IUPUI game, Eman and Chris were on the bench and we gave up 3 offensive rebounds that led to 2 IUPUI buckets. That ended up being the difference in the game because if we had been up by two instead of down by two, they would have been fouling us and we would have been shooting FTs. With the 4 guard lineup we become a jump shooting team instead of a drive to the basket and draw fouls type of team. Jalen is willing to drive at times but it often doesn't work out. Perhaps the biggest issue with this team is the lack of players who have the quickness and height to successfully drive to the hole on offense and play tight "in your grill" defense. Right now we don't defend the perimeter well both because of the lack of height and length and because the defenders have to back off a little in order to prevent the offensive player from driving around them to the basket. We could sure use a shot blocking presence down low to counter the other weaknesses we have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORU82 Posted January 16, 2017 Share Posted January 16, 2017 Agree with Jason, we have been using the 4 guard set going back at least a year and probably more and I do not think it has helped at all. Go "big" and get physical. Bradley, AY and AA are all gone after this year. At this point why continue riding the same horses instead of doing something else and preparing for the future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Cornelius Posted January 16, 2017 Share Posted January 16, 2017 No Young and Bradley on the court at the same time. Play Dez more. Agree with going bigger and having at least 2 of the 3 bigs (Owens, Miller, EMan) out there. Plus, when EMan is on the floor he is another outside shooter. Would be nice for him to get more minutes to work on defending without fouling in game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Titan Posted January 16, 2017 Author Share Posted January 16, 2017 4 hours ago, oruvoice said: I've been a proponent of going "big", but with this group, I think I've changed my mind. Play either Albert or Chris in the post, then surround him with our 3-point shooters, which we have a fair abundance of. 1 in - 4 out - and just become a 3-point shooting team (K-Mart, Darian, Jalen, & either AY or Dez). Push tempo. Run and gun. At this point (5-14), it can't hurt. Couldn't disagree more. This team either can't or won't play defense. They can't outscore better teams in a high-paced game - they just don't get enough stops to keep pace Need to shorten the game, which means work the shot clock with deliberate offensive sets, resulting in fewer possessions for the opposition and better chance to get back on D. Make the extra pass, lots of screens to get mismatches down low, pound it inside, get to the free throw line. Take open 3's when the ball gets kicked out from a double team underneath. In other words, get back to the bread-and-butter of what worked so well a decade ago for ORU, and start playing defense with your offense. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theeagleman5 Posted January 16, 2017 Share Posted January 16, 2017 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORU82 Posted January 16, 2017 Share Posted January 16, 2017 Could not agree more OT! Look, if we run the tables and win ALL of the remaining 11 regular season games we finish at 16-14. I do not think that is going to happen, so get back to the bread and butter and prepare for the future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oruvoice Posted January 16, 2017 Share Posted January 16, 2017 Maybe a 5 guard line-up? Shoot nothing but 3's. Start a new trend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORUIllini Posted January 16, 2017 Share Posted January 16, 2017 I wonder how much of these types of conversations we are having in January, if at all, with a healthy Javan White all season? Or dare I mention, DaQuan Jeffries? The reality of this season is the strong possibility of not even making the conference tournament, along with maybe a single digit win season, but I do believe in the Coaches Sutton, and I like most of the pieces on this team...when you think about Martin, Nzekwesi, White, McDaniel, Miller, J & D Harris, and Owens being around for another year, some two, plus the unknown possibilities of Manek and Smith...I do believe.... AY, Jalen, and Deuce have contributed in their own ways at times, but I don't see them as game changes like some of the names mentioned above....to me I think ORU needs them merely out of necessity the reminder of the season, with only 9-10 players, I don't see any way you can get along with not playing them... I think the wild card in the future of ORU basketball is the the two new assistant coaches, Coach Perry and Coach Stricker...let's give them a couple of years of their recruiting classes and see the types of players they are able to bring in to ORU...I believe this thing can be turned around quickly with the addition of 1 or 2 impact players....let's give these guys a chance.......oh yeah, and play some gall dang defense! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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