Bottom line. You can’t beat really good teams if you can’t shoot the 3 ball in this day and age. It’s amazing to me that Alabama can get 4-5 shooters and we can’t get 1.
You Have to Have Shooters
- Thread starter Team America
- Start date
You have to have movement and spacing to get shots. We have no idea how well this team could shoot because we fail to run anything to generate open looks. The floor looks like one giant cluster 90% of the time.
We aren’t running his system because we don’t have enough shooters. No clue why he put together the roster the way he did.
I think this year is a result of an overcorrection in roster construction by Pope.
Last year, the team could score and had multiple shooters, but they lost due to lack of defense/athleticism/rebounding.
In the offseason, Pope was determined to fix that, but he undervalued shooting too much.
That has created zero offensive movement/flow. Pope teams have always scored the ball, so it isn’t like he just forgot how to coach that…but with so few perimeter threats, the ball/player movement is completely absent or ineffective.
Last year, the team could score and had multiple shooters, but they lost due to lack of defense/athleticism/rebounding.
In the offseason, Pope was determined to fix that, but he undervalued shooting too much.
That has created zero offensive movement/flow. Pope teams have always scored the ball, so it isn’t like he just forgot how to coach that…but with so few perimeter threats, the ball/player movement is completely absent or ineffective.
like someone once said we have plenty of shooters we don’t have any makers
Yeap. Just guys standing around. Alabama didn't stand around at all. No movement from us.
I've not personally heard that he was an offensive savant, just that his teams score a lot. I did read that his assistant was an offensive savant, seems Pope even pointed that out in the introduction at Rupp.
We don’t have ball handlers. Minus Lowe.
We don’t have dribble drive players.
So how do you play? Run a 2 in 3 out motion or even a 1 in 4 out motion when JQ is in.
Movement off the ball by everyone. Crisp passing. Everything pick and roll. If they blow it up back out and do it again. Catch and shoot off screens. Not off the dribble.
We do have shot makers if they come off a screen ready to shoot.
Crash the offensive boards. Drive to pass. Not to shoot.
That’s how a team like this scores in the half court.
But run at every opportunity to avoid having to set up in the half court.
We have much better players than they are playing.
They look lost out there because they are lost out there.
They are not being coached. Or, they are not being coached to their strengths.
I have no idea what they are trying to do on offense.
I’ve seen more organized offense at the Y.
You know why Utah ran the pick and roll with Stockton and Malone as their only play? Because it worked.
JQ looks to me like a fabulous pick and roll guy. Lowe and JQ should be unstoppable because Lowe can shoot. And he can drive.
It wouldn’t be Malone because JQ can’t pick and pop like that. But who in college could stop his roll?
They would just foul him and take their chances on him making free throws. That’s fine. But stick with it anyway and foul them all out.
Obviously Pope doesn’t want to play like that. So why recruit these guys then?
We don’t have dribble drive players.
So how do you play? Run a 2 in 3 out motion or even a 1 in 4 out motion when JQ is in.
Movement off the ball by everyone. Crisp passing. Everything pick and roll. If they blow it up back out and do it again. Catch and shoot off screens. Not off the dribble.
We do have shot makers if they come off a screen ready to shoot.
Crash the offensive boards. Drive to pass. Not to shoot.
That’s how a team like this scores in the half court.
But run at every opportunity to avoid having to set up in the half court.
We have much better players than they are playing.
They look lost out there because they are lost out there.
They are not being coached. Or, they are not being coached to their strengths.
I have no idea what they are trying to do on offense.
I’ve seen more organized offense at the Y.
You know why Utah ran the pick and roll with Stockton and Malone as their only play? Because it worked.
JQ looks to me like a fabulous pick and roll guy. Lowe and JQ should be unstoppable because Lowe can shoot. And he can drive.
It wouldn’t be Malone because JQ can’t pick and pop like that. But who in college could stop his roll?
They would just foul him and take their chances on him making free throws. That’s fine. But stick with it anyway and foul them all out.
Obviously Pope doesn’t want to play like that. So why recruit these guys then?
And he has hit 9 the rest of the season. One game does not make him a great shooter.
