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Topic: SN's Midseason All-Americans - and a couple player traits

Topic: SN's Midseason All-Americans - and a couple player traits

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OU_Country
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Member Since: 12/6/2005
Location: On the road between Athens and Madison County
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SN's Midseason All-Americans - and a couple player traits

Posted: 1/14/2015 11:04:41 AM

http://www.sportingnews.com/ncaa-basketball/story/2015-01...

I read Mike DeCourcy a lot, and flipped through the Mid-Season All American list. In doing so, a couple players and their games caught my eye:

Delon Wright: "He still is not a long-range shooter, but has improved to the point where it�s at least a remote threat. In transition, he is an outstanding playmaker and he is superb at breaking down halfcourt defenses and delivering scoring passes. He has had a direct hand in 43 percent of the team�s made baskets. Wright showed his complete value in outdueling Wichita�s respected Fred VanVleet in the team�s December meeting, with the 5-11 guard held to just 5-of-19 from the floor."

Melo Trimble: If you look at the All-Americans from last season, such as UConn�s Shabazz Napier, Louisville�s Russ Smith, Creighton�s Doug McDermott and Cincinnati�s Sean Kilpatrick, one thing they had in common was understanding how to get fouled. They also were seniors.

Trimble shot 14 free throws in his fourth college game, and he�s had double figures in that category five times. And he converts just under 89 percent of his foul shots. More than four of every 10 of Trimble�s points come from the line."

So the two things I pull from that are things we're not getting enough of right now, that we did get from recently graduate players. 1) Guys who get into the lane that then deliver scoring passes, or passes that give teammates a really good look. 2) Guys that find a way to get fouled, and get to the line and make some.

Of the two of those, I'd like to think that getting to the line is something that's "teachable", and it drives me nuts when I see a guy in the paint pass out of a one on one match-up instead of drawing fouls. I'm really interested to hear the thoughts of those more versed in coaching & recruiting share their thoughts on these in terms of developing teams to make that extra pass and learn how to get to the line. I feel like when Ohio had DJ, Nick, Walt, and Reggie, Ricardo, those guys were pretty darn good at doing this.

OUVan
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Member Since: 12/20/2004
Location: Bethesda, MD
Post Count: 5,580

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RE: SN's Midseason All-Americans - and a couple player traits

Posted: 1/14/2015 11:50:43 AM

OU_Country wrote:

So the two things I pull from that are things we're not getting enough of right now, that we did get from recently graduate players. 1) Guys who get into the lane that then deliver scoring passes, or passes that give teammates a really good look. 2) Guys that find a way to get fouled, and get to the line and make some.

Of the two of those, I'd like to think that getting to the line is something that's "teachable", and it drives me nuts when I see a guy in the paint pass out of a one on one match-up instead of drawing fouls. I'm really interested to hear the thoughts of those more versed in coaching & recruiting share their thoughts on these in terms of developing teams to make that extra pass and learn how to get to the line. I feel like when Ohio had DJ, Nick, Walt, and Reggie, Ricardo, those guys were pretty darn good at doing this.

These are excellent points and I think fall under the Basketball IQ problem. We are dead last in the MAC in free throws attempted. Only BG is even remotely close to us. The next team beyond them has attempted about 70 free throws more than we have. But it's not something you really can teach overnight. Some kids have it naturally but 90% of kids try to avoid contact while driving. They'll jump away at the last second to try to clear space to get their shot off but that is ten times easier to block than putting your shoulder into the defender's chest just as they are about to go for the block. Once they get to college it's going to be really hard to change their stripes. The other factor in this is knowing when to drive. You have to recognize when a defender is most vulnerable and when his help is going to have a hard time getting there. This, again, is something learned over years and years of experience. But not getting to the line has another trick-down effect. We aren't making teams go deep into their bench because half their team is in foul trouble.

Another thing that Melo Trimble has been really good at this year (and something we have been terrible doing) is recognizing when his offensive rebounders have inside position and getting a shot off. We have good offensive rebounders but we take a ton of shots where we don't have prayer of getting a rebound. I grew up a Maryland fan and still follow them so I've seen most of their games this year. I've seen Trimble on a couple of occasions just throw floaters off the backboard because he had two guys with inside position for the put-backs.

The frustrating thing is that we have some players that have a high Basketball IQ. But all it takes is one or two that don't to make a team not have a high one.

Last Edited: 1/14/2015 11:51:04 AM by OUVan

OU_Country
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Member Since: 12/6/2005
Location: On the road between Athens and Madison County
Post Count: 8,370

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RE: SN's Midseason All-Americans - and a couple player traits

Posted: 1/15/2015 9:59:41 AM

OUVan, my hope is that the incoming freshmen, at least with Dartis and Block, can be better in terms of these things and the much discussed BBIQ than we're seemingly getting from a couple guys now.

OUVan
General User

Member Since: 12/20/2004
Location: Bethesda, MD
Post Count: 5,580

Status: Offline

RE: SN's Midseason All-Americans - and a couple player traits

Posted: 1/15/2015 12:08:23 PM

OU_Country wrote:

OUVan, my hope is that the incoming freshmen, at least with Dartis and Block, can be better in terms of these things and the much discussed BBIQ than we're seemingly getting from a couple guys now.

I agree. It can be as simple as two guys understanding how quick passing and good spacing opens things up and it gets contageous. It, unfortunately, can work in the opposite way to. If you pass it to a teammate and know there is very little chance the ball ever comes back to you you'll be less likely to pass it. There was a play last night where I think Harley went through that thought process. He was on the baseline just outside the arc and he turned to pass it to one player but stopped himself and flicked it to Treg at the top of the key and he immediately dumped it low (forget to whom) for a lay in. Obviously, I can't tell what he was thinking but it sure looked like he was thinking that if he passed it to the original target that it was going to die there and he changed his mind. Treg is not a perfect player but he does move the ball quickly. And if we can fix this next year RT and Laster could be huge because they both can slash if given the opportunity.

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