Coach Mills

[eagle88]

In my opinion the next 3-5+ games for the Eagles will determine how much Coach Mills stock rises. If we win our conference tournament and play at least 1 game in the Big Dance his stock definitely rises but if we win 2 or more games his stock really rises. Let's hope we make a big run and have to pay Mills more $ and then pray he truly wants to get us to a Gonzaga type level. In past years when  ORU gets really good  the coach moves on to bigger things. i sense in this case Mills wants to make ORU a bigger thing. Let's hope!

[OKC Eagle]

Last Coaches show of the year is today at noon at Waldo's Chicken (71st and Yale).  I assume Coach Mills will be there, but OT's comments make me wonder.

[tmh8286]

2 hours ago, theeagleman5 said:

Run and Gun til the end???...I think we have to play smart and let the game dictate the strategy....can't just keep chucking the ball up with a 20 point lead with 5 min to play....watch the last 3 minutes of ORU vs. Kansas in the 1974 Midwest Regional Final....our failure to slow the game down and run the clock cost us a shot at the Final Four.....kept running and gunning and turning the ball over.....agree we don't want to go to the old Four Corners but a team with a comfortable lead also needs to bleed the clock......just smart basketball is all TheEagleman is sayin'......

I'd say stick with what got you the 20 point lead!! Why change strategies then? I've watched countless games at every level where they try to slow the pace down to milk the clock. It leads to turnovers and ill-advised shots which are converted to points at the other end. Slow down the pace to a point where your players are out of rhythm and your 20 lead bleeds to a 10 point lead. I've seen it happen countless times. I guess you win either way, but I prefer going to the locker room up 20+ points.

I completely understand the strategy behind the slowdown. But in practice I've rarely seen it be successful. I have watched the clip you mentioned and there are all sorts of things going on there. I contend, if you play to your strengths, you'll come out ahead more often than not. 

One final thing - we talk about keeping a foot on their necks, exhibiting a killer instinct all the time. If we slow it down to run clock that is the exact opposite of that. You're taking the foot of the gas, so to speak.

I know I'm probably in the minority with my view, but it's not the only thing in basketball in which I take a minority view. I'm open to seeing multiple on court instances that prove me wrong, and then I'll change my perspective. But until I do, you know where I stand!!

[ORUalum]

call me crazy, but once you get up 20 to 25, go deeper into your bench and get your starters some rest.  if the lead is going to evaporate to single digits anyway, at least your key players will come back rested to finish the game.

 

[theeagleman5]

I am just saying play smart.....milk the clock and take good shots when you are up 15-20+ in the final 10 minutes.....again watch how ORU blew an 8 point lead vs. Kansas in 1974 with under 3 min to play....ORU was 180 seconds from a FINAL FOUR in our 3rd year in D-1.......we just never slowed it down and tossed the ball away carelessly four times in a row...still the most painful loss in TheEaglemans' lifetime and that includes many horrible Eagles, Phillies, and Sixers losses.....which are numerous.....

[SonofaLegend]

42 minutes ago, ORUalum said:

call me crazy, but once you get up 20 to 25, go deeper into your bench and get your starters some rest.  if the lead is going to evaporate to single digits anyway, at least your key players will come back rested to finish the game.

 

I would agree with this, but we don't really have a bench beyond the main rotation guys , Mwamba, Weaver, and Phipps. 
 

The rest are redshirts, or maintaining redshirt eligibility was my understanding, could be wrong. I also have a theory that Mills keeps his "players in waiting" on the bench, as not to showcase their talent for the portal. I'm sure we have several bench players that would be offered starting positions at some of our Summit league foes, and promises of playing time could be tempting. 

If we didn't benefit so much from all the covid rules/portal/redshirt rules, I may be more opposed to them!!

[jmg1984]

5 hours ago, tmh8286 said:

I'd say stick with what got you the 20 point lead!! Why change strategies then? I've watched countless games at every level where they try to slow the pace down to milk the clock. It leads to turnovers and ill-advised shots which are converted to points at the other end. Slow down the pace to a point where your players are out of rhythm and your 20 lead bleeds to a 10 point lead. I've seen it happen countless times. I guess you win either way, but I prefer going to the locker room up 20+ points.

I completely understand the strategy behind the slowdown. But in practice I've rarely seen it be successful. I have watched the clip you mentioned and there are all sorts of things going on there. I contend, if you play to your strengths, you'll come out ahead more often than not. 

One final thing - we talk about keeping a foot on their necks, exhibiting a killer instinct all the time. If we slow it down to run clock that is the exact opposite of that. You're taking the foot of the gas, so to speak.

I know I'm probably in the minority with my view, but it's not the only thing in basketball in which I take a minority view. I'm open to seeing multiple on court instances that prove me wrong, and then I'll change my perspective. But until I do, you know where I stand!!

I agree with you for the most part. I hate when Max dribbles the ball wasting clock and tries to make his move almost never works out just run the offense even if a tad slower

[Old Titan]

6 hours ago, eagle88 said:

In past years when ORU almost any mid-major gets really good, the coach moves on to bigger things. 

Fixed ^^^^  

[tmh8286]

1 hour ago, jmg1984 said:

I agree with you for the most part. I hate when Max dribbles the ball wasting clock and tries to make his move almost never works out just run the offense even if a tad slower

I'm not unreasonable about it. I don't say run and gun in the last minutes of the game when sitting on a lead. I just mean take the ball down, pass it around the arc a time or two, then run your offense. Don't wait until the last ten seconds or six seconds in the shot clock and then take a miserable, off-balance, heavily contested shot, only to have your opponent steal the ball, or get an easy defensive rebound, and take it to the other end and score. That's all I'm saying.

 

[jmg1984]

6 hours ago, tmh8286 said:

I'm not unreasonable about it. I don't say run and gun in the last minutes of the game when sitting on a lead. I just mean take the ball down, pass it around the arc a time or two, then run your offense. Don't wait until the last ten seconds or six seconds in the shot clock and then take a miserable, off-balance, heavily contested shot, only to have your opponent steal the ball, or get an easy defensive rebound, and take it to the other end and score. That's all I'm saying.

 

Truth!!!

[ManiacAlum]

Yeah it seems like they're running out of gas at the end of these games more than anything. Nobody could close out on UNDs shooters in the last few minutes and ORU was dragging to the finish against USD.

Seems like they could have at least staggered the rotation patterns A LITTLE. 

Max played 40 minutes in both those games (I think? or close) and do you need Max and Issac on the floor at the same time quite so much in a 20 pt game?

And Trey has gone from maybe getting too many minutes at crucial points in games earlier in the season to almost exclusively coming in offense/defense situations at the end of games. Which seems even tougher when you've been sitting most of the game. 

Somewhere in the middle would have been better but probably not making any changes now.

[Ting]

What I miss is the early season glimpse of what a full team effort would be, and by full team I mean players like Herron, Demari, Clover, getting some meaningful minutes in spurts, in the full court pressure mode. Those guys have length and athleticism that could give another defensive look in short spurts, 3 minutes or so. (I don't mean with those 3 specifically in the game at the same time, but just rotating through with our other guys). 

[theeagleman5]

Basically a 7 man rotation the past couple months....we surely could have used Clover and Williams in there to spell the regulars for a few minutes each half especially if guys are playing dinged up.....both of those dudes appear to have some skills based on the limited minutes we have seen them this season....TheEagleman is kind of scratching his bald head as to why Coach Mills hasn't done it....honestly they look better than Phipps but........do they stink that much in practice, coach????....

[darrenj]

8 hours ago, ManiacAlum said:

Yeah it seems like they're running out of gas at the end of these games more than anything. Nobody could close out on UNDs shooters in the last few minutes and ORU was dragging to the finish against USD.

Seems like they could have at least staggered the rotation patterns A LITTLE. 

Max played 40 minutes in both those games (I think? or close) and do you need Max and Issac on the floor at the same time quite so much in a 20 pt game?

And Trey has gone from maybe getting too many minutes at crucial points in games earlier in the season to almost exclusively coming in offense/defense situations at the end of games. Which seems even tougher when you've been sitting most of the game. 

Somewhere in the middle would have been better but probably not making any changes now.

There is literally no reason for Max to play 40 minutes a game. You should be able to find him a 2-to-3-minute break each half. Haven't watched the games but if he banged up and running out of gas maybe get him a little rest. 

Especially up 20! Run your offense through Issac for a bit. My 2 cents.:)

[darrenj]

16 hours ago, jmg1984 said:

I agree with you for the most part. I hate when Max dribbles the ball wasting clock and tries to make his move almost never works out just run the offense even if a tad slower

I see teams do this all the time and the lead seems to always shrinks! Just run your freaking offense. Or get to the basket and get fouled and shoot some free throws. 

[darrenj]

3 minutes ago, theeagleman5 said:

Basically a 7 man rotation the past couple months....we surely could have used Clover and Williams in there to spell the regulars for a few minutes each half especially if guys are playing dinged up.....both of those dudes appear to have some skills based on the limited minutes we have seen them this season....TheEagleman is kind of scratching his bald head as to why Coach Mills hasn't done it....honestly they look better than Phipps but........do they stink that much in practice, coach????....

That is a really short rotation. Especially with some of the leads they have had. He will have to make a lot of adjustments in the off season with the players he is losing. 

[theeagleman5]

Stuff like this generates commentary that we are seeing at a small low pressure school like ORU....just imagine if the Coach were to step up to something like OU, FSU, Baylor or pick your Power 5 school.....fans would be all over the guy.....

[ORU40]

1 minute ago, darrenj said:

There is literally no reason for Max to play 40 minutes a game. You should be able to find him a 2-to-3-minute break each half. Haven't watched the games but if he banged up and running out of gas maybe get him a little rest. 

Especially up 20! Run your offense through Issac for a bit. My 2 cents.:)

I agree completely, we had a couple total home blowout wins against Denver and SD, won by 41 & 50 and Max played over 30 mins in each. He also played 40 in a lot of our games. That takes a toll over a season.

We have a strong group of veterans that can get the job done! Hopefully, in the first & 2nd conf tourney games he can get reduced minutes and be rested and healthy when needed to seal the championship!