MBB Game 4 - @ San Jose State, 11/17/22, 10 PM EST

[Polito]

I definitely understand the approach, we are mixing up things here, discussing over each other. Let me clarify:

I know that this team has a strength beyond the arc, and I'm not looking for that to be taken away - on the contrary I absolutely want them shooting good shots. And I'm fully aware we have little inside presence, although Nelson has done an admirable job overall, considering.

What I don't like is guards not driving and attacking the basket and instead taking the lazy route of throwing up 3's when they don't need to. What I don't like is foregoing ball movement to shoot NBA 3's when there is plenty of time on the clock to find higher % shots. That is NOT ok. Sorry not sorry. ATTACK THE LANE. FINISH AT THE BASKET. PULL UP FOR JUMPERS. It doesn't hurt the 3, it compliments it. And this team has a million guards with the skill to do this, no excuse not to.

THAT is a strategy, and what HU was doing the first 3 games. They got away from their plan in the entire first half, Speedy literally said so in the post game - did you listen to that?! They realized the big mistake and went back to what they've been winning with and low and behold crushed the 2nd half.

There was NO reason to change in the first - NONE. That's on the staff, that's what drove me nuts, and I'm not sorry about holding them accountable for it. This team IMO has the potential to be SUPER. There was NO reason for this game to be a come from 14 points behind deal - HU did that to themselves, and it was totally unnecessary / preventable. Again, not sorry. Staff and team need to be better.

You and we and the hoops world all know you cannot keep putting yourself in a hole to dig out of - it puts tremendous added strain on the team - and with a somewhat shorter bench due to whatever is going on, that's very silly to do. HU has done that repeatedly now - it will catch up, and almost did vs a pretty poor opponent.

You want HU doing that on Sat? Don't think so. It was a terrible plan first half, and it was crazy considering HU's bread and butter is WORKING against good comp.

Speedy and Co have done a fantastic job getting this team ready to roll out of the gate - I am seriously impressed - and now what I see is a team that could be next level good. I can certainly 'allow' them to learn from this one and grow from it - I just get very passionate about being smart and not beating ourselves!! They have found a groove, STICK to the right plan for this team, and go execute it. Do that on Sat night baby, and this team is absolutely good enough to go national when that final buzzer sounds! ROLL PRIDE!!

[Wags]

I didn't see the game so elated to see a win in the morning. Thanks for all the perspectives on the game for sure a tale of two halves. I think we have to realize that this is a team that for the most part will rely on shooting the three ball. We don't like to admit it but look at our stats after our first three games we were ranked number 5 in the country in 3 point percentage. Maybe the coaching staff is buying into this but such a small sample size. If it ain't broke why try to fix it could be the philosophy and a 3 is definitely better then a two any way you look at it. What I've seen from this team like no other team certainly in recent memory is their ball movement and working for open shots. This is a philosophy the coaches have preached and the team has bought into so hopefully we keep this approach and hit OPEN three's not try to make CIRCUS shots like we had to in the past. This is no longer a one and two player team it seems like everyone is capable of scoring but without the constant ONE ON ONE OFFENSIVE PHILOSOPHY. So great win its a 40 minute game so lets just dwell on the final score because after all that's all that counts and D-Stone stop shooting so many three's too streaky a shooter to rely on the three.

Right now we are relying on the three because we have virtually no insde presence...especially last night when Speedy sat Dubar and that's whenb we went on our winning run...did you guys listen to the San Jose coach's press conference? Very insighful re: the difficulty in preparing for and guarding us.
If Williams ever comes back...and what's with the other bigs...we will be more of an inside/outside threat...LOOKIN FORWARD!

I’ll have to listen to the post presser from San Jose coach. I wonder if they’re getting Willians ready for the Purdue game surely there will be a height disadvantage in that game. It doesn’t make sense to rush him back only for him to re- injure himself.

I was told "soon" with Williams but really, they want him back for January, making sure he's healthy. I know everyone is impatient and wants to see him out there, but Jan-Mar is when they really need him. So, if it's then, and as you say, making sure that when he's back, he stays in the lineup, that's the prudent thing to do with him. No sense in sacrificing what could be a big help for the most important part of the season just to see him sooner than he's ready during the least important part of the season. And this is also giving Boachie-Yiadom a good opportunity right now, so that when Williams is back, it's another big in Boachie-Yiadom who can contribute better when called upon in Jan-Mar because of the seasoning he's getting in Nov (and possibly Dec).

[Wags]

What I don't like is guards not driving and attacking the basket and instead taking the lazy route of throwing up 3's when they don't need to. What I don't like is foregoing ball movement to shoot NBA 3's when there is plenty of time on the clock to find higher % shots. That is NOT ok. Sorry not sorry. ATTACK THE LANE. FINISH AT THE BASKET. PULL UP FOR JUMPERS. It doesn't hurt the 3, it compliments it. And this team has a million guards with the skill to do this, no excuse not to.

THAT is a strategy, and what HU was doing the first 3 games. They got away from their plan in the entire first half, Speedy literally said so in the post game - did you listen to that?! They realized the big mistake and went back to what they've been winning with and low and behold crushed the 2nd half.

There was NO reason to change in the first - NONE. That's on the staff, that's what drove me nuts, and I'm not sorry about holding them accountable for it.

I think we are all in agreement with this. Take as many 3s as you want as long as you're taking and making the right 3s - same as Pitino said about them after Iona lost in Hempstead last week. But I think when they do what they did in the first half last night, the reaction also shouldn't be like they've been doing it for 10 games. It was only for a half, and down only 10 (instead of say, 16-18 at the half), I was confident they'd correct course, get back to what they were doing prior and get the win. And they did. I think the intense passion (which is great) sometimes leads to some hasty overreaction around here.

[triplec2195]

What I don't like is guards not driving and attacking the basket and instead taking the lazy route of throwing up 3's when they don't need to. What I don't like is foregoing ball movement to shoot NBA 3's when there is plenty of time on the clock to find higher % shots. That is NOT ok. Sorry not sorry. ATTACK THE LANE. FINISH AT THE BASKET. PULL UP FOR JUMPERS. It doesn't hurt the 3, it compliments it. And this team has a million guards with the skill to do this, no excuse not to.

THAT is a strategy, and what HU was doing the first 3 games. They got away from their plan in the entire first half, Speedy literally said so in the post game - did you listen to that?! They realized the big mistake and went back to what they've been winning with and low and behold crushed the 2nd half.

There was NO reason to change in the first - NONE. That's on the staff, that's what drove me nuts, and I'm not sorry about holding them accountable for it.

I think we are all in agreement with this. Take as many 3s as you want as long as you're taking and making the right 3s - same as Pitino said about them after Iona lost in Hempstead last week. But I think when they do what they did in the first half last night, the reaction also shouldn't be like they've been doing it for 10 games. It was only for a half, and down only 10 (instead of say, 16-18 at the half), I was confident they'd correct course, get back to what they were doing prior and get the win. And they did. I think the intense passion (which is great) sometimes leads to some hasty overreaction around here.

We have had a bit of a lingering bad taste in our mouths over the years with too much one on one reliance along with taking bad perimeter shots. This is a different team so far who I believe have a pass first mentality. I also believe that we have a more confident Estrada who has worked on his three point proficiency and is clearly a better shooter from beyond the arc then last year and Thomas is a proven three point shooter. You throw Plotnikov into the mix and you have another guy who can shoot the three along with Dubar at 6'8. We're not even mentioning Bryce Washington if healthy can also shoot from beyond the arc. This appears to be a much better shooting bunch then last year and you can't sleep on Carlos who has shown in the early going he can hit big three's as well.

[Wags]

What I don't like is guards not driving and attacking the basket and instead taking the lazy route of throwing up 3's when they don't need to. What I don't like is foregoing ball movement to shoot NBA 3's when there is plenty of time on the clock to find higher % shots. That is NOT ok. Sorry not sorry. ATTACK THE LANE. FINISH AT THE BASKET. PULL UP FOR JUMPERS. It doesn't hurt the 3, it compliments it. And this team has a million guards with the skill to do this, no excuse not to.

THAT is a strategy, and what HU was doing the first 3 games. They got away from their plan in the entire first half, Speedy literally said so in the post game - did you listen to that?! They realized the big mistake and went back to what they've been winning with and low and behold crushed the 2nd half.

There was NO reason to change in the first - NONE. That's on the staff, that's what drove me nuts, and I'm not sorry about holding them accountable for it.

I think we are all in agreement with this. Take as many 3s as you want as long as you're taking and making the right 3s - same as Pitino said about them after Iona lost in Hempstead last week. But I think when they do what they did in the first half last night, the reaction also shouldn't be like they've been doing it for 10 games. It was only for a half, and down only 10 (instead of say, 16-18 at the half), I was confident they'd correct course, get back to what they were doing prior and get the win. And they did. I think the intense passion (which is great) sometimes leads to some hasty overreaction around here.

We have had a bit of a lingering bad taste in our mouths over the years with too much one on one reliance along with taking bad perimeter shots. This is a different team so far who I believe have a pass first mentality. I also believe that we have a more confident Estrada who has worked on his three point proficiency and is clearly a better shooter from beyond the arc then last year and Thomas is a proven three point shooter. You throw Plotnikov into the mix and you have another guy who can shoot the three along with Dubar at 6'8. We're not even mentioning Bryce Washington if healthy can also shoot from beyond the arc. This appears to be a much better shooting bunch then last year and you can't sleep on Carlos who has shown in the early going he can hit big three's as well.

I get the PTSD, but that's why I think last night was encouraging, not discouraging, because as soon as they started the game returning to their old ways that didn't benefit them, they were very wiling and able to get back to what worked over the first three games. Regarding Estrada, remember he was a terrible 3-point shooter for more than the first half of last season before he suddenly figured it out and just about doubled his 3-pt. percentage after that point from before that point. This year, he's shooting 50% from 3, including 6/10 and 5/9 in his last two games. So, whereas we had to wait a while for him to add that to his game last year, he seems to already have that as a strong part of his game from the start this season. Add that to his other great skills offensively and the other guys you mention above with shooting the 3, and it's almost like adding an additional perimeter weapon from the start that they didn't have in him last year. It's a big part of why they've yet to be held under 83 points (although that could change a lot tomorrow night with SMC's slower pace and very solid D).

[Polito]

Certainly valid points wags the team adjusted, the team weathered, the team came back, and they followed through with a key W on the road to go 4-0 for the first time in 18 years. That's WILD, and I am definitely onboard with the positives noted - let's keep this thing rocking, onward and upward we go!!

[Cards]

I wonder how much of AE short venture into testing the NBA draft waters last season led him to the realization that he had better be a lights out 3-pt shooter or he had no chance. Hence, his good shooting now that builds upon the second half of last season. My guess is that: 1) he is a hard worker and really put in the time since last season ended, and 2) that he was told by scouts (likely and Speedy) how he needed to improve to be considered a legit pro prospect.

As we discussed after the first two games, the 3-pt shots taken this year are primarily open 3s (a result of pass first mentality and hard work) when compared to last season of one on one. As we also said, as long as they are willing to adjust on days when even the open 3's are not falling, we are OK with that approach. I think thats some of what we saw last night, meaning HU making the halftime adjustment. Maybe it took longer than it should have (that was a brutal first half) but they did eventually adjust. This team (including the staff) have to keep on learning from these early season games when the adjustments need to be implemented. I'm confident they will. And in the end, "learning" while you are sitting with a 4-0 record "aint so bad".