Game 30: Duquesne, March 8th, 7 PM, MASN

[CHRISTOPHER JAMES JOLLAY]

I'm not a fan of Hewitt's switching defense, but I'll tell you this...he yells at his players till he's blue in the face to find the shooters, and they just simply don't do it.

I don't think there's any doubt that L or some other coach would have this team playing better defense, but these guys are really, really, really bad and foolish defenders for the most part.

Edwards can have a role next year simply for his ability to play on the ball defense. Hope the freshmen are ready and willing defenders and guys like Jenkins start to figure out rotations better, or even if this team miraculously is able to score points, we really have no chance.

 

[mrmangos02]

Some more to this than just defense. Our team, at times, lacks that extra pass. I saw a few times where Holloway was open on the wing for a 3 (which could have sparked more momentum) but Wright decided to take a contested 18-footer.

Now, the 18-footer went in and technically speaking an 18-footer has a higher percentage, but what other teams do well against us is finding that extra man on the wing and making the 3.

Its more crushing that they defended for 33 seconds only to have that extra pass break the accomplishment (IMO).

 

[Pablo]

I'm not a fan of Hewitt's switching defense, but I'll tell you this...he yells at his players till he's blue in the face to find the shooters, and they just simply don't do it.

I don't think there's any doubt that L or some other coach would have this team playing better defense, but these guys are really, really, really bad and foolish defenders for the most part.

Edwards can have a role next year simply for his ability to play on the ball defense. Hope the freshmen are ready and willing defenders and guys like Jenkins start to figure out rotations better, or even if this team miraculously is able to score points, we really have no chance.

Jollay,

So, I believe that you are saying that the real problem is not Hewitt's switching defense, but the failure to execute it properly which I assume requires the players to anticipate the screens and effectively communicate. And, as you say, it's critical for the players to find the opponent's best shooters and not continue to give up uncontested shots to them.

 

[GMUgemini]

Jollay,

So, I believe that you are saying that the real problem is not Hewitt's switching defense, but the failure to execute it properly which I assume requires the players to anticipate the switches and effectively communicate. And, as you say, it's critical for the players to find the opponent's best shooters and not continue to give up uncontested shots to them.

That sounds about right. Coach L used the exact same defense to great effect last season at Miami. If you have the players and run it correctly it can be very disrupting to the opposing team's offense.

The question is, how does the communication look in practice? Do the players practice communicating to each other? Because it shouldn't be coming from the sidelines.

 

[GSII]

L's defense may have been the same but his offense was easier/regiment for his guys to run. Hewitt, imo, puts too much on the players on both sides of the ball. Its alot easier when the offense is simple like starting from the inside and working it out for set shots and cuts etc. Mentally you overload the kids and they end up looking like they regress as time goes on. This is part of Hewitts deep thinking bullshit approach mixed with his stubborness to change, sprinkled with getting caught off guard by an opposing coach bc ur so far into your nba heavy system.

 

[Pablo]

L's defense may have been the same but his offense was easier/regiment for his guys to run. Hewitt, imo, puts too much on the players on both sides of the ball. Its alot easier when the offense is simple like starting from the inside and working it out for set shots and cuts etc. Mentally you overload the kids and they end up looking like they regress as time goes on. This is part of Hewitts deep thinking bullshit approach mixed with his stubborness to change, sprinkled with getting caught off guard by an opposing coach bc ur so far into your nba heavy system.

GS,

I'm not a fan of Hewitt's offense. But, do you seriously believe that it's too complex for these players?

 

[Patriotfan49]

GS,

I'm not a fan of Hewitt's offense. But, do you seriously believe that it's too complex for these players?

Watch the games...you tell me?

Not sure if too complex is the word, but there is something with it that severely bogs down players and makes it look like 66 west at about 430pm when we have the ball in the half court. You can see guys confused and running around like robots instead of more natural movements.

 

[GMUgemini]

Watch the games...you tell me?

Not sure if too complex is the word, but there is something with it that severely bogs down players and makes it look like 66 west at about 430pm when we have the ball in the half court. You can see guys confused and running around like robots instead of more natural movements.

I don't know if it's the complexity of the offense per se. I really suspect it is how they practice every day that is the problem. The same with our defense. There are plenty of schools who run a similar defense to ours and it works just fine (including Drexel).

I think the biggest impediment to a pro-style offense in college is that it requires NBA caliber athletes, especially at the 3-5 positions, to succeed. You just are never going to get that at our level ever.

 

[Patriotfan49]

I don't know if it's the complexity of the offense per se. I really suspect it is how they practice every day that is the problem. The same with our defense. There are plenty of schools who run a similar defense to ours and it works just fine (including Drexel).

I think the biggest impediment to a pro-style offense in college is that it requires NBA caliber athletes, especially at the 3-5 positions, to succeed. You just are never going to get that at our level ever.

Agreed, Im not thinking its complexity of system......just more so that the system is not the best run and made to work with such a small percentage of players. The concepts are there, but the lack of adjustments to accomodate the talent you have arent....which makes it so unsucsessful.

 

[Pablo]

Aren't we really saying that the problem is not what they do, but how they do it? If so, wouldn't better teaching of these concepts be the solution? And, if Hewitt can't do it, then he needs to bring in assistant(s) who can teach his systems or install new ones.

 

[GMUgemini]

So, aren't we really saying that the problem is not what they do, but how they do it? If so, wouldn't better teaching of these concepts be the solution? And, Hewitt can't teach it properly, then he needs to bring in assistant(s) who can.

Yes. And this is why I've advocated for a task master hire for an assistant coach, someone who can drill the crap out of these players and make these concepts second nature.

I don't have access to practices every day, but the pieces that have been released over the last several
seasons has been very disheartening to see the utter lackadaisical nature of our assistant coaches and players. And these are highly edited and should be the best highlights.

 

[CHRISTOPHER JAMES JOLLAY]

I think we've run Hewitt's offense pretty well the second half of the season. My only concern with it is when we're left with 10-15 second left on the shot clock and Copes calls a pick and roll. The problem with that is the pick and roll is then with Copes.

Pablo, I don't like defenses that automatically switch on screens. I much prefer defenders communicating on every screen and varying that philosophy based on opponent. But they simply are not identifying those screens (like you say) and no one is getting out on the shooters. That should be something we are able to do regardless of type of man-to-man philosophy. I will be curious to see if that gets better next year.

Hewitt and the assistants aren't that vocal except when it comes to getting out on the shooters. They were very vocal the other night, and it didn't help.

I am shocked Duquesne's simple weave play to open the second half didn't work. It's really almost that easy.

 

[AAUMAN]

Mentally you overload the kids and they end up looking like they regress as time goes on. This is part of Hewitts deep thinking bullshit approach mixed with his stubborness to change, sprinkled with getting caught off guard by an opposing coach bc ur so far into your nba heavy system. .

GSII......I could not have said it any better and especially with this coach being stubborn. Next year this team could win and win BIG but this stubborn coach would never put this starting line up for consideration.

Backcourt starters for 2014-15 season: Holloway,Gray and Edwards or Moore.
Frontcourt starters for 2014-15 season: Cope,Jenkins.

With a backcourt of Holloway and Gray this team could(potentially) have two of the highest scoring guards in the A10 if they could play together and the key word is....together. This coaching staff doesn't have a clue and the starting line up mention above could help this team become a top-3 team in the A10 next year but with a different coaching staff because from head coach on down these DUDES(coaches) are the WORSE in the conference when it comes to coaching.

 

[Bricker]

GSII......I could not have said it any better and especially with this coach being stubborn. Next year this team could win and win BIG but this stubborn coach would never put this starting line up for consideration.

Backcourt starters for 2014-15 season: Holloway,Gray and Edwards or Moore.
Frontcourt starters for 2014-15 season: Cope,Jenkins.

With a backcourt of Holloway and Gray this team could(potentially) have two of the highest scoring guards in the A10 if they could play together and the key word is....together. This coaching staff doesn't have a clue and the starting line up mention above could help this team become a top-3 team in the A10 next year but with a different coaching staff because from head coach on down these DUDES(coaches) are the WORSE in the conference when it comes to coaching.

Unless Gray gets doghoused again, I don't see why we wouldn't see this lineup at some point next year. There's really no way around putting these 5 guys on the floor at the same time for a solid chunk of the 40 minutes we'll need to fill every game.

However, PH is hot n' cold -- even though he has gotten substantial minutes this year. Moore will need to somehow develop a shot. And Gray has shown flashes of greatness but nothing more. This doesn't exactly add up to a highly-potenet backcourt, imho.

 

[Harry]

Amen. Tonight was the only time I have left a game early other than the Creighton blowout in 2006 and the collapse against Fairfield in the CIT. Just couldn't bare to watch any more. Time to channel my energy into the Wizards, the Orioles and the Redskins' offseason Super Bowl. haha

What about the Nationals? Don't tell me you favor the Baltimore over Washington...then again, I thought I heard you yell "O" during the national anthem...

 

[gmutom]

What about the Nationals? Don't tell me you favor the Baltimore over Washington...then again, I thought I heard you yell "O" during the national anthem...

Although I do favor the Orioles over the Nationals, my father — who served in the Army for 21 years before retiring as a Lt. Colonel —would probably disown me if I ever yelled anything during the National Anthem. It's not that I root for the Nats to lose, but it's tough to switch allegiances when you've followed a team for 30 years. I will say that it's nice to see both teams being competitive.

 

[Harry]

I followed the Texas Rangers for about 30 years, and still do, but the Nationals are way out in front. Of course it's harder to root from afar.

Just kidding about you yelling "O"...you definitely have never done it at a Mason game.