Central Florida (Thurs Jan 23rd)

[#BearcatNation]

Originally Posted by Patrick Bateman

If JJ plays like he did last night against UL, we are going to get destroyed inside. There were several times Blair drove around him. There were also several times Sykes drove in pulled JJ out and then passed to low block for layup/dunk.

I agree to an extent. I think the reason his D looked very poor at times is he was very worried about fouling. I'm sure Mick has been on him lately about not giving up fouls early in the game. To do that, his defense has to suffer a little. Can't just slide over and run into a guy trying to go around him. They'll call that a blocking foul every time.

[Patrick Bateman]

Originally Posted by #BearcatNation

I agree to an extent. I think the reason his D looked very poor at times is he was very worried about fouling. I'm sure Mick has been on him lately about not giving up fouls early in the game. To do that, his defense has to suffer a little. Can't just slide over and run into a guy trying to go around him. They'll call that a blocking foul every time.

I saw him talking to a referee in the second half and the ref showed him that he slid over and ran into him exactly as you are describing. If he is worried about fouling then he needs to get rid of the gimme's, the illegal screens are horrible, foul and turnover.

[TheLongHaul]

Originally Posted by WAITE HOYT 2

Guys I might point out that we out rebounded them 36-31. JJ did tie his career high in Blocks. My point is while JJ didn't lite up the board rebounding others did. Blocking shots at the rate he does sometimes can leave him out of position but if he is going to cover for there mistakes defensively by swatting away shots at the rim them crashing the boards isn't out of the question. As a team we boarded well.

Agreed, rebounding overall was pretty good. Then again, it didn't seem like UCF took many outside shots and those are the hardest to rebound. But, as for JJ's blocks, a lot of his blocks come from having to cover from his own mistakes. He had at least 3 of those last night, maybe more. Don't get me wrong, he has been great covering for others but I'd still prefer him to play good on the ball defense first, and then rely on the block if/when needed.

[bearcat jeff]

Originally Posted by TheLongHaul

Shouldn't be playing the 4? Hell, for the first three years everyone here thought he should be a 3. He hasn't been playing out of position lately, he just hasn't been playing as good as he is capable of playing.

And GG thinks he is a gunslinger. You could tell every time on offense he was just itching to get a 3 point shot off. You'd think with his percentages and the fact that he isn't even close on half of them that he'd stop and realize that maybe he should act like a PG.

I said he should play the four. But necessity drives what we have and the team is making the most of it.

[TheLongHaul]

Originally Posted by bearcat jeff

I said he should play the four. But necessity drives what we have and the team is making the most of it.

My fault, misread you.

[Not Guilty]

Originally Posted by bearcat jeff

I said he should play the four. But necessity drives what we have and the team is making the most of it.

I disagree. Justin is a 5 in the system we want to run. And he has been great at it. We should have made him one earlier. We could have really used this version of Justin last year.

[TheLongHaul]

Originally Posted by Not Guilty

I disagree. Justin is a 5 in the system we want to run. And he has been great at it. We should have made him one earlier. We could have really used this version of Justin last year.

He should be on the low block or in the high post. Whether that means at a 4 or 5 doesn't really matter. Last year too much of his time was spent around the arc dribbling the ball and that is where he fails.

[ralph1950]

JJ, star of the game!

[Patrick Bateman]

Originally Posted by TheLongHaul

He should be on the low block or in the high post. Whether that means at a 4 or 5 doesn't really matter. Last year too much of his time was spent around the arc dribbling the ball and that is where he fails.

That was the system that Cronin had in place last year, the 4 out 1 in. Wanted JJ to be a wing player.

[Not Guilty]

Originally Posted by TheLongHaul

He should be on the low block or in the high post. Whether that means at a 4 or 5 doesn't really matter. Last year too much of his time was spent around the arc dribbling the ball and that is where he fails.

Agreed. And defensively, even though he is undersized, he protects the rim about as well as any big man in the country and uses his quickness to often deflect or steal balls from bigs that are trying to post him up.

I'm not sure there is a better combination of defensive big men in the country than Justin Jackson and Titus Rubles. Both can block shots (Titus' 4.3% block rate is solid. Justin's 14.6% block rate is absurd). Both create a lot of steals. And both have the lateral quickness to switch out on perimeter players if necessary, making it extremely difficult to run the pick and roll against us.