Dear TJD,
- Thread starter wi_hoosier
- Start date
Shot fakes work all the time. I was never a good shooter, but I had a good shot fake and I made just enough to keep people honest. Besides, he's down low, and that's when they are even more effective. None of our guys utilize shot fakes enough. As hard as IL was defending last night, a g shot fake from 3 could have freed up most any of our perimeter players, or gotten a guy in the air for FTs. Basketball 101, but it seems much of our team was absent that day.
Does have to be from outside. In the 4 games has has struggled, Texas, Purdue, Rutgers, Illinois each had aggressive big men that he could have sat on the bench with foul trouble just by a simple pump-fake.
Yeah, I know. I'm just fed up with watching him wide open out front from 16' and not shooting it, let alone being able to hit it. That's kind of the MO for the entire team though, so I shouldn't be focused on just him.
We rarely use any fakes... pass fakes, jab steps... I brought it up before because I feel it has to be the offensive approach being taught. All I can think is trying to sacrifice speed of moving the ball to try and get it to the open guy, but I think any fractional seconds you might gain by getting the ball around the horn quicker is lost because you're becoming so predictable the defender doesn't have to make a decision as to who the threat is or what's going to happen with the ball.
We pass up a ton of looks before you even get to the point where you need to utilize a fake. I'd said something a few weeks ago about taking your favorite shooter from the past and watching the game with the idea of that player getting the looks that our current guys do. Then ask yourself if he'd shoot it or not, because other than Franklin (before his ankle) nobody is looking for their shots on a remotely consistent basis.
well, naturally you're assuming we have shooters on this team... remind me again who that is? Before anyone says Jerome Hunter, bear in mind I believe he is 2-9 on FTs for the year. Now ask yourself which one of your favorite shooters from years past, ever had a 2-9 stretch from the FT line. I think I can comfortably answer that.
And, that's not to say no one should shoot, but you have to do what you're comfortable with and capable of. About the only guys I really feel comfortable shooting an open 3 are Durham and Hunter. Leal might develop into that, but not a big track record. We need those 3 and Phin, Franklin and Lander to be taking really good open shots they can step in to, and maybe the first 2 and Franklin a little more leeway on shots they are confident of. But, I think all those guys should be shot faking and looking for driving opportunities. None of these guys are probably on my top 50 list of shooters from the past.
