I know this seems like 'rubbing salt in the wound' and that is absolutely not my intention.. But I do like the way Wisconsin runs their offense, even though they seem to lack some talent...They have options on every play and can reasonably replace a player and still keep the basic identity of their offense. Personnel is important to all teams and the Badgers miss Trice but not like we miss, Curry, Lynch, Coffey, and even a healthy McBrayer. That amount of players out changes any squad but even if we were completely healthy, I think we miss an identity. Granted, if any of those 4 were playing last night, I am convinced we would have won that game.
The 'HELP ME UNDERSTAND' part is to describe the GOPHERS' IDENTITY in the offense. When we go into those long scoring droughts(it has happened other times as well), it just doesn't seem to be missing personnel as much as we dont know where the ball should be going, at any given time.. For instance, when Happ was out of the game, we should have a plan in place to get Murphy the ball as much as possible in positions to score where he should not have to have any more than one dribble to get to the rim unless the opponent denies him the ball with the double or triple team.
I dont want to be overly critical or dramatic here. But even the handoffs and reverses are not real effective because I have noticed the opponent's defenders take a few steps back towards the basket when we run the reverse handoffs/weaves.(.BESIDES, MANY TIMES, NO GOPHER IS READY TO RECEIVE A PASS ON THE PERIMETER TO CATCH AND SHOOT AS AN OPTION, so the opponent defender knows he has plenty of time to recover to the perimeter by the time the Gopher shooter is ready to take the shot.) No advantage to the Gophers when that happens because you cant really get past the defender that way.. It becomes more of "ok it is now your turn to dribble until you get the feeling we should drive/dish or take the shot." That stuff drives me crazy.
I am going to contrast that with a totally different offense of Wisconsin.. They dont do much off the dribble as they run a lot of motion sets.. But when Happ gets the ball on the block, he reads the double team if there is one and makes the appropriate pass.. Exploits 4 on 3 basketball the rest of the court. Wisconsin saw the double team come from the taller wing(Hurt), so they put Iverson on the wing opposite of Happ. When Hurt doubled, Iverson slid down the baseline towards the basket looking for the pass out of the post from Happ. If Minnesota rotates, they pass to the open shooter from the post and, if need be, reverse the ball until the open shooter takes the shot. All the other shooters were in front of Happ and here is the KEY FUNDAMENTAL... Watch Wisconsin's shooters. Their toes are pointed at the rim when they are not screening or cutting... THAT IS HUGE because it squares the shoulders of the shooter towards the rim so when they receive a pass, they are in the "TRIPLE THREAT POSITION"(can catch and shoot, drive, or pass TOWARDS THE BASKET).. That is a fundamental all teams should have whether you are a motion offense or 'drive and kick', post up, whatever.. All their players face the basket looking for the next pass to be closer to the basket. I am willing to admit it is a 'style thing' for me but I encourage you to watch at about 8:45 left in the 2nd half when Hurt scored a 3... His feet were square to the basket and he was looking towards the basket the whole time.. SO MINNESOTA IS CAPABLE OF DOING IT AS WELL!! . He caught the pass in the shooter's pocket and he scored on what was one of the easier shots.. The point being that HE WAS PREPARED TO ACCEPT THE PASS AND ALL THE OPTIONS WERE AVAILABLE TO HIM BECAUSE HIS TOES WERE POINTED AT THE RIM!!.
My confusion is I just dont know what we are trying to do, offensively, sometimes.. I am not trying to trash Richard Pitino.. That is not my heart nor my intent. I realize that losing players makes you have to adjust to the game and its difficult.. But just giving it to Nate Mason and saying, "Nate, make something happen. If Jordan is open, pass him the ball. Otherwise if you are double teamed pass it to one of the other guys and have them make something happen". Far too often, Nate takes an unbalanced, difficult jumpshot.. I dont like the odds when that is the offense and that is how I PERCEIVE IT as a fan though I know that is not the case. Yes we are shorthanded and we need to recruit 1-13 for scholarship players to be able to put the ball in the hole... At least BK is catching the ball better but honestly, this is a senior we are talking about and saying he can catch the ball better is something we would offer up analyzing a 3rd or 4th grader, not a D1 basketball player in college..
I would just like to hear your comments on what we are trying to do on offense and what we should do to improve.. I obviously have my own thoughts that I shared and some that I have not yet.. But would love to hear your thoughts on offense... We shouldn't only score 1 point in the last 5 and a half minutes in a game against a team like this.. It was more about our offensive inefficiency than Wisconsin playing 'lockdown' defense.
The 'HELP ME UNDERSTAND' part is to describe the GOPHERS' IDENTITY in the offense. When we go into those long scoring droughts(it has happened other times as well), it just doesn't seem to be missing personnel as much as we dont know where the ball should be going, at any given time.. For instance, when Happ was out of the game, we should have a plan in place to get Murphy the ball as much as possible in positions to score where he should not have to have any more than one dribble to get to the rim unless the opponent denies him the ball with the double or triple team.
I dont want to be overly critical or dramatic here. But even the handoffs and reverses are not real effective because I have noticed the opponent's defenders take a few steps back towards the basket when we run the reverse handoffs/weaves.(.BESIDES, MANY TIMES, NO GOPHER IS READY TO RECEIVE A PASS ON THE PERIMETER TO CATCH AND SHOOT AS AN OPTION, so the opponent defender knows he has plenty of time to recover to the perimeter by the time the Gopher shooter is ready to take the shot.) No advantage to the Gophers when that happens because you cant really get past the defender that way.. It becomes more of "ok it is now your turn to dribble until you get the feeling we should drive/dish or take the shot." That stuff drives me crazy.
I am going to contrast that with a totally different offense of Wisconsin.. They dont do much off the dribble as they run a lot of motion sets.. But when Happ gets the ball on the block, he reads the double team if there is one and makes the appropriate pass.. Exploits 4 on 3 basketball the rest of the court. Wisconsin saw the double team come from the taller wing(Hurt), so they put Iverson on the wing opposite of Happ. When Hurt doubled, Iverson slid down the baseline towards the basket looking for the pass out of the post from Happ. If Minnesota rotates, they pass to the open shooter from the post and, if need be, reverse the ball until the open shooter takes the shot. All the other shooters were in front of Happ and here is the KEY FUNDAMENTAL... Watch Wisconsin's shooters. Their toes are pointed at the rim when they are not screening or cutting... THAT IS HUGE because it squares the shoulders of the shooter towards the rim so when they receive a pass, they are in the "TRIPLE THREAT POSITION"(can catch and shoot, drive, or pass TOWARDS THE BASKET).. That is a fundamental all teams should have whether you are a motion offense or 'drive and kick', post up, whatever.. All their players face the basket looking for the next pass to be closer to the basket. I am willing to admit it is a 'style thing' for me but I encourage you to watch at about 8:45 left in the 2nd half when Hurt scored a 3... His feet were square to the basket and he was looking towards the basket the whole time.. SO MINNESOTA IS CAPABLE OF DOING IT AS WELL!! . He caught the pass in the shooter's pocket and he scored on what was one of the easier shots.. The point being that HE WAS PREPARED TO ACCEPT THE PASS AND ALL THE OPTIONS WERE AVAILABLE TO HIM BECAUSE HIS TOES WERE POINTED AT THE RIM!!.
My confusion is I just dont know what we are trying to do, offensively, sometimes.. I am not trying to trash Richard Pitino.. That is not my heart nor my intent. I realize that losing players makes you have to adjust to the game and its difficult.. But just giving it to Nate Mason and saying, "Nate, make something happen. If Jordan is open, pass him the ball. Otherwise if you are double teamed pass it to one of the other guys and have them make something happen". Far too often, Nate takes an unbalanced, difficult jumpshot.. I dont like the odds when that is the offense and that is how I PERCEIVE IT as a fan though I know that is not the case. Yes we are shorthanded and we need to recruit 1-13 for scholarship players to be able to put the ball in the hole... At least BK is catching the ball better but honestly, this is a senior we are talking about and saying he can catch the ball better is something we would offer up analyzing a 3rd or 4th grader, not a D1 basketball player in college..
I would just like to hear your comments on what we are trying to do on offense and what we should do to improve.. I obviously have my own thoughts that I shared and some that I have not yet.. But would love to hear your thoughts on offense... We shouldn't only score 1 point in the last 5 and a half minutes in a game against a team like this.. It was more about our offensive inefficiency than Wisconsin playing 'lockdown' defense.
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