Player Development vs Team Development

[GSII]

What is everyones thoughts on team growth vs individual growth? How is it being or not being properly balanced? How is it translating or not translating into better team building. Discuss.

 

[gmu05]

When we see either then we can dicuss

 

[GSII]

You must be blind if you don't think guys like Morrison and Pearson didn't benefit in some individual devlopment. Coach Houston did a few noticeable things with both.

 

[Pikapppatri8]

Don't forget Marko - he is a different player from last year.

 

[gmu05]

You must be blind if you don't think guys like Morrison and Pearson didn't benefit in some individual devlopment. Coach Houston did a few noticeable things with both.

So you're saying it was Hewitt's 4 months working them instead of Larranaga's 3 years?

 

[gmutom]

I'm going to assume this thread was started to start an actual dialogue rather than turn into another Hewitt bashing, so I'll bite. I'll start with the positive:

There is no question the staff has made Pearson, Morrison, Allen, Wright and Arledge better offensive players. With the exception of of one or two players over the years, I don't think we saw players get much better under Coach L's watch.

I also think our offense is getting much better this year. Maybe Hewitt dumbed it down or the players started buying in, but we are seeing much more movement and penetration by the guards. Our shot selection against Iona was actually very good; it was our execution that sucked.

Now the bad, and almost all of it is on the defensive end. Although I do see some improvement individually, our team concept sucks. We should be playing more zone, pressing less until we get guys like Lockett and Mayimba here, coordinating better on screens and rebounding better.

 

[MasonFanatic]

Hewitt and co. definitely got more out of Morrison than the OCM ever did or would have. He made a huge jump in maturity and realizing his potential.

I'm not so sure about Pearson, his career seemed to make an equal progression all 4 years.

 

[gmutom]

I'm not so sure about Pearson, his career seemed to make an equal progression all 4 years.

If I'm not mistaken, Pearson was Mason's first POY since George Evans. A lot of his increased production his senior year was due to Hewitt moving him out of the post and having him play more out top. He still scored a lot of his points in the paint, but it made it more difficult to game plan against him — which every opposing coach tried to do.

 

[Pikapppatri8]

So you're saying it was Hewitt's 4 months working them instead of Larranaga's 3 years?

We only saw significant improvement after OCM left. So I would put the weight of it on the four months under Hewitt.

 

[Five Two]

I think I've seen a lot more player development than team development. As many have pointed out, there are players who have gotten noticeably better.

But as a team, I've not seen anything drastically better in the first 5 games this year than what we saw the first 5 games in Nov/Dec of the 2011-2012 season. That is very frustrating and I won't post here all the issues. We have 20+ threads devoted to all of them.

So even though the individuals have improved, the team hasn't, IMO. If that makes any sense.

 

[gmutom]

So even though the individuals have improved, the team hasn't, IMO. If that makes any sense.

I think that's a fair assessment. Just doesn't seem to be a lot of chemistry amongst the players, which is pretty sad when you have that many upperclassmen. Too much "me" and not enough "we."

Our guards play too much one-on-one on offense, which leads to the astronomical amount of turnovers; and there's not enough sharing the ball, which explains the minimal amount of assists.

 

[Bricker]

I think that's a fair assessment. Just doesn't seem to be a lot of chemistry amongst the players, which is pretty sad when you have that many upperclassmen. Too much "me" and not enough "we."

Our guards play too much one-on-one on offense, which leads to the astronomical amount of turnovers; and there's not enough sharing the ball, which explains the minimal amount of assists.

Yeah, I have to agree with this. It feels like every time we "need something" in a game it has to come from Bryon or Sherrod slashing in for a circus shot, rather than a solid offensive set with good ball movement.

 

[Pablo]

Fast break points:

AU 6- Mason 2
Lamar 8-Mason 4
UNI 7-Mason 2
St. Francis (PA) 8-Mason 2
Iona 8-Mason 4

 

[MasonFanatic]

Fast break points:

AU 6- Mason 2
Lamar 8-Mason 4
UNI 7-Mason 2
St. Francis (PA) 8-Mason 2
Iona 8-Mason 4

Wow. I had no idea it was that bad. So much for being a running team, lol.

 

[gmutom]

A lot of not running has to do with giving up too many points. You can only really run on a rebound or a steal. Some of that is also attributed to us missing our starting frontcourt. Hopefully, we can get our break going more after Copes returns next weekend.

 

[Pablo]

A lot of not running has to do with giving up too many points. You can only really run on a rebound or a steal. Some of that is also attributed to us missing our starting frontcourt. Hopefully, we can get our press going more after Copes returns next weekend.

While this team has not been proficient at forcing turnovers so far this season, its defensive rebounding percentage is 74.1% (3rd in the A-10). IMO, there have been opportunities to score more on fast breaks with better passing. Hopefully, this facet of the game will improve with the return of Copes as you suggest.

 

[GMUgemini]

Tom, I think some of that is trust, not chemistry. We have some players who are just not very good shooters on this team: Okoloji, Moore; some who are very inconsistent: Holloway, Gray; and some who are very timid with the ball: Williams, Edwards.

So given the choice between making something happen yourself and giving it up to a teammate, what would you do?

ps. let's also face the fact that Allen isn't the best shooter from outside we have, so he's naturally going to try to break his man down and get to the rim.

 

[GSII]

Great point on that fast break stat. Good find. Team defense seems like it needs major attention. Cant run unless we get steals. Btw...Wright should count as a Hewitt recruit since he was recruited to Ga Tech.

 

[MasonFanatic]

I kind of wonder if their tendency to turn the ball over leads to trust issues... or to being afraid to pass it.

 

[Five Two]

I kind of wonder if their tendency to turn the ball over leads to trust issues... or to being afraid to pass it.

and afraid to push tempo when given the opportunity