Nick B's Mich St breakdown was as usual spot on. In a paragraph towards the end Nick put up some questions he would ask the staff. IMHO if our coaching staff would look at this questions with and open mind and actually do some positve changes with them we would see a marked improvement.
Nicks comments I refer to in particular are pasted as follows:
Why doesn't Indiana play faster on offense, especially in the half-court? The numbers prove Indiana plays better with more urgency and rhythm. Why didn't IU press sooner on Saturday? Especially after having success in a similar situation at Northwestern, why did it take so long? Why doesn't a quick, under-sized team press more anyway? Indiana has been really good when it has pressed. Why don't the Hoosiers use more creativity in its offense? Indiana's predictability makes it vulnerable to scoring lulls. I'd prefer to see IU's weapons featured in sets and quick-hitters, maybe even some actual "motion". Why aren't players more fundamental? IU players never "see the ball", commit careless turnovers and rarely use ball fakes. Why do Indiana players still not understand what a bad shot is?
If only our coach would give these points serious consideration. For 31 games we continue doing the same thing with no noticeable changes. As Nick pointed out our predictability makes us vunlnerable to scoring problems. More creativity needed is mentioned as well. We are very predictable and show no creative basketball pretty much sums it up. Every possession we drive, attempt to drive or dribble out the clock looking for the drive. Our creative sets consist of a weave at the top and a high ball screen and thats about all there is in our arsenal. Even our inbound sets are limited it appears.
Getting into the paint is a solid concept if you utilize it properly but as pointed out by Nick our kids don't know what a ball fake is or what a bad shot is. For all practicle purposes our paint game is a black hole. We aren't penetrating or creating space etc and driving on thru or kicking it out but instead we put up a bad or altered shot, eat it, or throw it away. Teams average a very high number of blocks against us and most of our turnovers are off bad decisions going into the paint. As pointed out by Nick "careless turnovers".
Just let us get in the middle and squeeze and it's over. Teams are even cheating on the kick out pass in covering the shooters as they know most likely the ball isn't coming back out. For example in one game and there are many similar examples Johnson drove inside and ate the ball two times in succession. No ball fakes, no kick out, just put it up against a 7 footer TWICE. After eating the ball twice in one possession a couple of possessions later he drives inside again only to eat it once again. A few moments later he drives inside and has it stripped for a turnover. He then gets it blocked once again minutes later for a total of four blocks on him alone with numerous turnovers attempting to penetrate. This is a singular example but in reality teams are averaging better than 6 blocks a game against us I believe and most of our turnovers are driving related or trying to put the ball inside when we have no one there to do anything with it.
It doesn't make much difference what defense we face as our game is always the same. It appears like Crean doesn't understand how to attack a zone or can't teach it. How many times in critical possessions have we turned it over trying to get into the paint. Its like the paint is a challenge to our guards and by god they are going to get inside and put it up or else and recently it has been "or else".
There are so many options on offense that can be utilized and taught. Instead of any options or sets we drive, drive, drive and hope for the best. If our outside shot is falling then the defense has to play us honest and the lane options are available. If our shots aren't dropping crowd the middle and we are toast. And lately with the exception of Nick Z are outside game has evaporated to a large extent. Slow us down, congest the paint, and make us attempt a half court game and we are toast. We only know the layup or trey and no midrange game or offensive sets. No creativity and predictibility is our game. Everyone has it figured out but Crean and staff but then again I think one could safely state that Crean doesn't take much input or suggestions from staff.
With all the athletes and talent we have it is so frustrating watching such a singular purpose offense and such dismal defense. It all falls back to coaching or lack of. Many of the better HS teams in Indiana could score successfully against our timid defense and often.
I am certainly no Div 1 coach and an armchair coach like most here but I have read a lot of information such as Nicks breakdowns, listened to sports commentators and talked to coaches who are asking the same questions. I have coached AAU and scouted HS games but that is my limited experience so I don't profess to be a expert on the college game.
Our coach needs to learn, transform and adapt and I don't know if its a case of refusing to and the position that he is correct or whether he knows how to. The proofs in the pudding as they say. He repeatedly mentions getting into the paint and how important it is and moments later criticizing the bad shots, blocked shots and how we need better decisions in getting into the paint. He apparently sees it..........................BUT IT NEVER CHANGES.....sigh.
Nicks comments I refer to in particular are pasted as follows:
Why doesn't Indiana play faster on offense, especially in the half-court? The numbers prove Indiana plays better with more urgency and rhythm. Why didn't IU press sooner on Saturday? Especially after having success in a similar situation at Northwestern, why did it take so long? Why doesn't a quick, under-sized team press more anyway? Indiana has been really good when it has pressed. Why don't the Hoosiers use more creativity in its offense? Indiana's predictability makes it vulnerable to scoring lulls. I'd prefer to see IU's weapons featured in sets and quick-hitters, maybe even some actual "motion". Why aren't players more fundamental? IU players never "see the ball", commit careless turnovers and rarely use ball fakes. Why do Indiana players still not understand what a bad shot is?
If only our coach would give these points serious consideration. For 31 games we continue doing the same thing with no noticeable changes. As Nick pointed out our predictability makes us vunlnerable to scoring problems. More creativity needed is mentioned as well. We are very predictable and show no creative basketball pretty much sums it up. Every possession we drive, attempt to drive or dribble out the clock looking for the drive. Our creative sets consist of a weave at the top and a high ball screen and thats about all there is in our arsenal. Even our inbound sets are limited it appears.
Getting into the paint is a solid concept if you utilize it properly but as pointed out by Nick our kids don't know what a ball fake is or what a bad shot is. For all practicle purposes our paint game is a black hole. We aren't penetrating or creating space etc and driving on thru or kicking it out but instead we put up a bad or altered shot, eat it, or throw it away. Teams average a very high number of blocks against us and most of our turnovers are off bad decisions going into the paint. As pointed out by Nick "careless turnovers".
Just let us get in the middle and squeeze and it's over. Teams are even cheating on the kick out pass in covering the shooters as they know most likely the ball isn't coming back out. For example in one game and there are many similar examples Johnson drove inside and ate the ball two times in succession. No ball fakes, no kick out, just put it up against a 7 footer TWICE. After eating the ball twice in one possession a couple of possessions later he drives inside again only to eat it once again. A few moments later he drives inside and has it stripped for a turnover. He then gets it blocked once again minutes later for a total of four blocks on him alone with numerous turnovers attempting to penetrate. This is a singular example but in reality teams are averaging better than 6 blocks a game against us I believe and most of our turnovers are driving related or trying to put the ball inside when we have no one there to do anything with it.
It doesn't make much difference what defense we face as our game is always the same. It appears like Crean doesn't understand how to attack a zone or can't teach it. How many times in critical possessions have we turned it over trying to get into the paint. Its like the paint is a challenge to our guards and by god they are going to get inside and put it up or else and recently it has been "or else".
There are so many options on offense that can be utilized and taught. Instead of any options or sets we drive, drive, drive and hope for the best. If our outside shot is falling then the defense has to play us honest and the lane options are available. If our shots aren't dropping crowd the middle and we are toast. And lately with the exception of Nick Z are outside game has evaporated to a large extent. Slow us down, congest the paint, and make us attempt a half court game and we are toast. We only know the layup or trey and no midrange game or offensive sets. No creativity and predictibility is our game. Everyone has it figured out but Crean and staff but then again I think one could safely state that Crean doesn't take much input or suggestions from staff.
With all the athletes and talent we have it is so frustrating watching such a singular purpose offense and such dismal defense. It all falls back to coaching or lack of. Many of the better HS teams in Indiana could score successfully against our timid defense and often.
I am certainly no Div 1 coach and an armchair coach like most here but I have read a lot of information such as Nicks breakdowns, listened to sports commentators and talked to coaches who are asking the same questions. I have coached AAU and scouted HS games but that is my limited experience so I don't profess to be a expert on the college game.
Our coach needs to learn, transform and adapt and I don't know if its a case of refusing to and the position that he is correct or whether he knows how to. The proofs in the pudding as they say. He repeatedly mentions getting into the paint and how important it is and moments later criticizing the bad shots, blocked shots and how we need better decisions in getting into the paint. He apparently sees it..........................BUT IT NEVER CHANGES.....sigh.
