Long Suffering Fan wrote:

One thing maybe the next 9 days can bring is a tweaked defense.    The double team is a nice idea but we just don't execute it very well, resulting in far more open looks rather than turnovers or bad shots.  One big difference in the game was Miami moved the ball and thereby was able to neutralize the double team.  Again, we were fortunate to keep the game close in the first half, not so much on our defense but on Miami's poor 3 point shooting.   As someone on the board once pointed out, the defense needs to be more than hoping that the other team misses 3 point shots and fouling.    GW is fairly big and are athletic and should be able to defend better than they do.

I share the same frustration as LSF regarding the defensive shortcomings.  Has nothing to do with NIL, NET, or former dictators.  There was a 5 game span last year when it seemed that the team was playing it's best defense in years.  Don't know if it was a "switch everything" gameplan or some other scheme where everyone was on the same page, but it was very effective and noted on this board.  What we've seen so far are blown covers on a pick and roll where both defenders follow one or the other leaving one wide open.  What happened to clean switches or hard edges making the ballhandler work for space. Are our traps planned or random?  Seems random due to resulting wide open shots.  The best teams in the land hedge very hard and close out quickly on the 3.  Everyone rotates on Q and looks to be connected by a string. We look confused and confused leads to poor decisions and lack of confidence.  Which then leads to poor foul shooting and missed 3's which are based on confidence.  Also very hard to keep the confidence if you get yanked out of the game constantly.

So, I have a bold (controversial) suggestion based on these 12 games.  If substitutions are going to be hockey style line changes, then trap full court for the first 8 minutes. No mystery here for player assignments. No opportunity for opposing player to get comfortable and shoot wide open practice 3's.  If not, then try a 3-2 halfcourt D.  Or anything other than what we've seen.

To shake things up a bit I think Aranguren has earned a starting spot.  Turnovers and shortcomings aside, he brings high energy and competes.  CJ has been inconsistent game to game, lacks full court speed, and I would bring him in off the bench.  Marshall and Bubu start as well, are also high energy and competitive and should be wings on a 3-2 D. I'd also play Castro with Hunger as my 2 bigs in the 3-2.  For instant offense, I'd bring in Autry, Johnson, and Dinkins and run plays to get them the open 3's.

Just sayin that if we want to make noise in the A10 it will require CC to shake things up and maximize the talent he has assembled.  Enough blown assignments! 

Last edited by H&R..71 (12/16/2025 10:41 am)

To LSF’s point. At the risk of proving I’m an idiot. Why not just stop doubling guys above 3 point line?

FWIW if I was the basketball king I’d flatten out the 3 point line by maybe 5 feet so the corner shot is no longer a 3.

I agree with you Gwmayhem.  Florida came out for 2nd half with energy and we were lazy.  Those fastbreaks resulted from poor floor balance, not getting back due to lackadaisical play, and sloppiness.  They say that good D comes from extra effort without fouling or reaching in while keeping your feet on the ground.  Lazy D causes reaching in and biting on upfakes while trying to block everything just a little late.

CC has coached many players with solid fundamentals.  He knows this group.  I look forward to seeing these guys get it right knowing that each season is a work in progress. 

Not to mention our FT shooting.

Free Quebec wrote:

H&R..71 wrote:

I agree with you Gwmayhem.  Florida came out for 2nd half with energy and we were lazy.  Those fastbreaks resulted from poor floor balance, not getting back due to lackadaisical play, and sloppiness.  They say that good D comes from extra effort without fouling or reaching in while keeping your feet on the ground.  Lazy D causes reaching in and biting on upfakes while trying to block everything just a little late.

CC has coached many players with solid fundamentals.  He knows this group.  I look forward to seeing these guys get it right knowing that each season is a work in progress. 

Attributing a poor stretch to being lazy is such a bad message board cliche. They were playing a better team who happens to be the defending national champs, and got overwhelmed over a three minute stretch. It wasn’t because they were lazy, but because they lost focus. It’s very hard for an underdog to maintain laser focus for 40 minutes with no lapses of concentration or execution against bigger, more athletic, better players - that’s why they are underdogs.

But calling them lazy because Florida went on a run is such a classic message board cheap shot. It’s not calling a player Saddam Hussein, but it’s a personal attack, attributing a loss to a moral failing. Not down with that.

Point well taken FQ.  My bad. The effort against Florida was night and day compared to the Delaware debacle.

I should've used "uninspired and sloppy" for those opening 3 minutes of the second half.  Didn't mean to discount the max effort for the remainder of the game.