Quote:
Originally Posted by skyblade
Yeah, athletically our team has improved over last year. Williams and Scott are equal to or better then Evans and Clark in terms of athleticism. Brooks is a major upgrade over Washington.
The mental, effort and experience side are where we lack. Clark and Evans and even to a degree Washington communicated and didn't make mental mistakes. They also covered for others mistakes. We just don't have that this year. Not sure if it is team communication breakdowns or individual mental breakdowns (probably a combination of the two).
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Evans was a great defender as was Clark. We have no answer for them two this year on defense. Whereas Brooks and Scott combined might hold down the interior as well as Clark and Washington combined did based on length and athleticism, we still are missing Gary's ability to space himself right as well as lead the defense. If you ever watched him off the ball on defense he was always telling guys where to be. With him and Evans both, we were pretty much always in rhythm defensively with the starters on the floor, save for when Washington had to guard a scoring big cause he'd often let the guy get loose. But last year the guards didnt have to scramble as much as you see them doing this year. Teams aren't beating us in the paint this year. Rebounding might be lacking but again I attribute that to lots of long shots creating long rebounds.
Justin is good in Micks system but he cant cover two players. While Williams is long and quick, he still hasn't mastered where to be, but for the most part he can be effective. But he gets himself in foul trouble and Jenifer himself has been ineffective running the offense leading himself to seeing the bench more. And Jarron can be lazy on D. Last night I watched him stand and watch 3 defensive rebounds near him and not go after them. I think he is using his energy on offense and resting on D somewhat and tbh we might have to accept that. But when we go to the bench it can be a crapshoot on defense. Whereas we have quickness and athleticism off the bench, we are chasing people on D rather than being in position. There's a big difference there.
I think our defense looked so good in the nonconference because many teams were just inferior and also those teams aren't used to us. You can't scout our defense in two days and learn to beat it. Conference teams are used to us and know how to best try and expose us. And this year we have some weaknesses. I saw one play last night where SMU brought the ball up and three players ran out to guard the ball and a screener and Justin quickly had to tell guys where to go. You just cant have that in conference play. Granted that's one possession but it goes to show the lack of understanding from the younger players and the importance of having everybody on the floor on the same page.