Need to take McDaniel 5'11 and Bufkin 6'4 down into the post and the lane all night long.
Paul, Hyatt and Spencer
- Thread starter billgumpper
- Start date
PM should be doing that every game!!! He is not your traditional PG and he does not have the quickness to beat you off the dribble.
Should be a Pick N roll and post up play for him every time down the court and watch how the entire offense would open up for guys like Cam/Hyatt/Oskar
I am still baffled watching game after game and him not utilizing his strengths
Should be a Pick N roll and post up play for him every time down the court and watch how the entire offense would open up for guys like Cam/Hyatt/Oskar
I am still baffled watching game after game and him not utilizing his strengths
Agreed.
Post up and not driving to the basket are the key words.
Paul driving to the hoop with no intent to pull up, post up or P and R won’t work against Michigan
Paul plays old man basketball which is fine except he’s missing the one thing we all employ against our sons: the hook shot!
Are you seeing what I see? I see Paul blow by guys all the time. Like the rest of the team he is only okay at completing a layup without getting blocked by the rim protector. His first step is plenty good and most guys know better than to get in his way. He's a downhill headed mack truck after that first step.
Paul needs to trust his offense. He's one of our better & craftier scorers when he plays with confidence.
Im surprised he has gone away from that a little more this year than last. When he got hot in that stretch last season I recall a lot more back to the basket post up type play from him. Surly if a team decides to bring the double he is more than a capable passer to make a decision out of it. I would like to see him get to that more to mix it up rather than just the high P&R action with Cliff. It isnt a pretty brand of basketball but it can be effective and that is all I care about.
Really wish Cliff would work on a sky hook rather than his low-percentage shot-put.
Paul posting with Cam, Oskar, and Hyatt spacing the floor should work pretty well. If Cliff's man helps, you have the lob
A couple have like when we played Indiana but he can still take them down but his problem to me more than anything is he just passes up open shots when he receives the ball and then either ends up with a much more difficult shot or has to pass the ball off
Give me your definition of posting, is it Paul with his back to the basket looking to shoot or pass
Paul pulling up and shooting at the foul line/elbow after a screen with momentum facing the basket
Or an all out get to the basket through a sea of bodies waiting for him in an attempt at a lay up?
Or all combined.
I think if he incorporated all 3 he’d be difficult to predict and defend
Illinois put 6'10" Coleman Hawkins on Mulcahy a few games ago in the last 10 minutes of the game.
His posting and backing down defenders had to result in him scoring or getting a close shot that likely goes in , or he should be passing to someone who is open , Cam or Aundre or Derek. If they give help the lob to Cliff or a pass to a cutter will stop that defense.
On PNR he has to be willing to take that 12-14 footer jumper when the defense’s big man does not hedge it and goes onto drop coverage. His failure to shoot cost at least 4 points each half. If he has the step and doesn’t get stopped he has to maintain his dribble and get to the basket like MSU second half. He knows how to do all 3 but his reluctance to shoot and his hesitancy to decide to pass,, shoot or drive leads to turnovers and run outs and that is something a senior should not be doing but unfortunately is still happening. If he just did what he is capable of , this offense would score a lot more points and everybody else would get better shots and we would score even more. With Caleb out along with Mag, it is now essential for Paul to step up if we are going yo have any success the rest of the year , in the Big 10 tourney and the NCAA’s
I would imagine that the coaches study a lot of game film to understand the strengths and weaknesses of the players we're about to play. Some players probably do that as well, right? Presumably, that means that our players go into each game with a much deeper understanding (than us fans) of what can and cannot work well against certain player matchups with certain teams.
Complicating things, coaches probably also prepare their players for different scenarios they think might arise, if guarded by this guy, do this - if guarded by that guy, do that. And sometimes opposing coaches throw in a new wrinkle they think our coaches won't expect and won't have prepared for.
Seems that we fans like to make fairly static proclamations of what we think our players should do but we lack the depth of understanding of the opponents and what they're doing to disrupt what we might try. And it also seems that we fans like to talk mostly about how our players should score without giving nearly as much consideration to how our players will work to prevent the opponent from scoring.
I guess what I'm saying is that I think it's an awful lot harder than just saying "Mulcahy should do this or that" or similar things. If it were as easy as fans make it sound, everybody'd be a D1 hoops player and coaches wouldn't get paid so much.
Complicating things, coaches probably also prepare their players for different scenarios they think might arise, if guarded by this guy, do this - if guarded by that guy, do that. And sometimes opposing coaches throw in a new wrinkle they think our coaches won't expect and won't have prepared for.
Seems that we fans like to make fairly static proclamations of what we think our players should do but we lack the depth of understanding of the opponents and what they're doing to disrupt what we might try. And it also seems that we fans like to talk mostly about how our players should score without giving nearly as much consideration to how our players will work to prevent the opponent from scoring.
I guess what I'm saying is that I think it's an awful lot harder than just saying "Mulcahy should do this or that" or similar things. If it were as easy as fans make it sound, everybody'd be a D1 hoops player and coaches wouldn't get paid so much.
agree. It's baffling why Pike keeps posting Cliff up when other players, especially Paul, are much better at it.
What bugs me is the lack of effort to scheme plays that end up with either Paul or Caleb on the low block receiving an entry pass, as opposed to them starting from the wing with the ball and then just "backing down" their man into the post.
The latter takes way too long, slows the offense to a stop, and allows a double team. The former would give them the ball 8 feet from the hoop with little time for a double team.
The latter takes way too long, slows the offense to a stop, and allows a double team. The former would give them the ball 8 feet from the hoop with little time for a double team.
Give me Paul 2nd half of MSU, Cam vs Wiscy and Hyatt vs Nebraska on O this week and we'll be okay.
Paul tried his second half against MSU success tactic against Indiana.
It resulted in an Indiana defense designed to completely negate it, resulting in stuffs, turnovers and no where to go.
He needs to post up and shoot to open up drives to the basket
McDaniel at 5'11 needs to be posted up every time down the court and work the offense from there.
I was talking about Paul posting on the block but same concept applies to a PnR (if Paul was more aggressive)
Paul maybe more willing to shoot and more likely to draw a double posting up at this point. Teams don't need to help on the PnR as long as Paul is hesitant to shoot. They just back off and give him the shot that he doesn't take
Teams were leaving him alone outside the arc but then he started hitting the 3s he was taking, in the later part of the season. So they're being more cautious with him now.
PM's shooting accuracy seems WAY better this season, especially the last half of the season, than it was in prior years. He still gets himself into trouble on some layups now and then, but overall, it seems better. Not sure how it works out statistically, but I'm guessing the stats would back up my perception.
So... he should shoot, when the opportunity for open looks is there or, as you say, a couple times a game creating by posting up when guarded by smaller players. But he shouldn't be forcing stuff either.
PM needs to have the mindset to weaponize his 6'7" big frame, aggressively get into the paint, fake pump, shoot, draw fouls, or pass to an open man when they collapse on him. At this point with him its mind over matter.
2 things should really happen:
1) someone should ask PM how many points he has scored in a game and ask if he thinks he could beat that…challenge him to have an intentional mindset
2) do what ND did to us in Dayton. Keep everyone outside the 3pt line on offense and take people 1:1 off the dribble with no defending help in the paint. Or post up 1 person in that center area of PM backdown his defender to create that low post all 1:1
If the defense collapses you have open shots for Cam/Hyatt..if they go to zone again you will start seeing open looks
1) someone should ask PM how many points he has scored in a game and ask if he thinks he could beat that…challenge him to have an intentional mindset
2) do what ND did to us in Dayton. Keep everyone outside the 3pt line on offense and take people 1:1 off the dribble with no defending help in the paint. Or post up 1 person in that center area of PM backdown his defender to create that low post all 1:1
If the defense collapses you have open shots for Cam/Hyatt..if they go to zone again you will start seeing open looks
Actually yes they are. That's why he is posting up less. That's the adjustment. He was having smaller guards for lunch or finding the open man for open looks.
I knew they were. I see it when I watch every game. People in this thread are looking for some other reasons and the explanation is very simple.
He can easily back down defenders when the guard is 6'1, 6'2, 6'3, even 6'4. Once the defender hits that 6'5, 6'6 mark it's not that easy.
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