I always say, jokingly, that the easiest way to succeed is to lower the requirements for success.
But for our Griz, this is not a joke. After that devastating, lacerating implosion last night over the past five minutes, it's time we took another cold hard look at this team.
And this from a strong proponent of this staff, their recruiting abilities, and this team--arguably one of the most athletic in the history of the program, and playing great defense. From a guy who despite our one-sided loss to Creighton, thought this team fought the good fight, did our program proud, and said so on this board.
But the idea we can knock off a Power Five team? Get a 12-seed? Not gonna happen. Win the Sky again? I think even that is now up for debate.
Here's why--and what I took from last night's game.
--We really miss Krslovic. Because he wasn't as big as Akoh or as athletic as Nicholas, I took him for granted. But last night I saw how much we miss his inside game, those sly moves, clever angles and deft shots he'd mastered, not to mention his toughness and his leadership. I'd hoped Kramer would step in and be a more athletic Krslovic, but then something bad happened--I saw him play. It was instantly evident that Kramer, together with our other young bigs, are long-term projects, not plug-in replacements for Krslovic. Right now, we have no serious post offense, and our inability to get rebounds down the stretch last night was glaring.
--Timmy Falls must play more. I don't know how deep in the doghouse he is with this staff, but he's got to be on the court in critical late-game situations. Simply: He's our best playmaker. You just see better ball movement and more passing lanes opening when he's on the court. Which leads me to perhaps the most glaring part of this team right now....
--Our offense. When DeCuire took over this program, he promised us a wide-open, fast-paced offense, and then when out and recruited the players to make it happen--Oguine, Rorie, Falls. Even national announcers have commented on Oguine's quick first step, and he's proven that again and again by how easily he can use that burst to get to the rim. Rorie's got a great handle, and athleticism to burn. Falls too. But what do we have? An offense that walks the ball up the court. Then passes the ball around and around the perimeter, until somebody launches a shot. There's absolutely no flow to this offense--no movement off the ball, few cuts to the basket, no back-door passes. A fast break? Non-existent. Urgency? Last night as we casually walked the ball up the court with seconds ticking down and up against an almost insurmountable lead, I'm screaming at my i-Pad: "Wake up! Step up! Do something!" This team down the stretch last night seemed dazed and confused, not knowing how to attack on offense, or even trying, with Oguine or Rorie slashing to the basket. For a critical five minute stretch, with the game on the line, that was perhaps the worst stretch of basketball I've ever seen a Griz team play. P.S. I give our coaches credit for one play down the stretch, the lob to Oguine off an out-of-bounds pass. Didn't work, but audacious call, and I liked it.
--Our young bigs. Ideally, we would have redshirted Anderson or Carter or both. But given the situation, I understand why we couldn't. New strategy: Play the young guys, and hope by tournament they're playing like sophomores. But knowing that DeCuire likes short rotations, was this now the best move? Is Carter now the new guy, ahead of Anderson and Kramer? If so, I don't know why this wasn't determined sooner, so we could at least have saved Anderson's redshirt. This may wind up to be the worst of both worlds.
But for our Griz, this is not a joke. After that devastating, lacerating implosion last night over the past five minutes, it's time we took another cold hard look at this team.
And this from a strong proponent of this staff, their recruiting abilities, and this team--arguably one of the most athletic in the history of the program, and playing great defense. From a guy who despite our one-sided loss to Creighton, thought this team fought the good fight, did our program proud, and said so on this board.
But the idea we can knock off a Power Five team? Get a 12-seed? Not gonna happen. Win the Sky again? I think even that is now up for debate.
Here's why--and what I took from last night's game.
--We really miss Krslovic. Because he wasn't as big as Akoh or as athletic as Nicholas, I took him for granted. But last night I saw how much we miss his inside game, those sly moves, clever angles and deft shots he'd mastered, not to mention his toughness and his leadership. I'd hoped Kramer would step in and be a more athletic Krslovic, but then something bad happened--I saw him play. It was instantly evident that Kramer, together with our other young bigs, are long-term projects, not plug-in replacements for Krslovic. Right now, we have no serious post offense, and our inability to get rebounds down the stretch last night was glaring.
--Timmy Falls must play more. I don't know how deep in the doghouse he is with this staff, but he's got to be on the court in critical late-game situations. Simply: He's our best playmaker. You just see better ball movement and more passing lanes opening when he's on the court. Which leads me to perhaps the most glaring part of this team right now....
--Our offense. When DeCuire took over this program, he promised us a wide-open, fast-paced offense, and then when out and recruited the players to make it happen--Oguine, Rorie, Falls. Even national announcers have commented on Oguine's quick first step, and he's proven that again and again by how easily he can use that burst to get to the rim. Rorie's got a great handle, and athleticism to burn. Falls too. But what do we have? An offense that walks the ball up the court. Then passes the ball around and around the perimeter, until somebody launches a shot. There's absolutely no flow to this offense--no movement off the ball, few cuts to the basket, no back-door passes. A fast break? Non-existent. Urgency? Last night as we casually walked the ball up the court with seconds ticking down and up against an almost insurmountable lead, I'm screaming at my i-Pad: "Wake up! Step up! Do something!" This team down the stretch last night seemed dazed and confused, not knowing how to attack on offense, or even trying, with Oguine or Rorie slashing to the basket. For a critical five minute stretch, with the game on the line, that was perhaps the worst stretch of basketball I've ever seen a Griz team play. P.S. I give our coaches credit for one play down the stretch, the lob to Oguine off an out-of-bounds pass. Didn't work, but audacious call, and I liked it.
--Our young bigs. Ideally, we would have redshirted Anderson or Carter or both. But given the situation, I understand why we couldn't. New strategy: Play the young guys, and hope by tournament they're playing like sophomores. But knowing that DeCuire likes short rotations, was this now the best move? Is Carter now the new guy, ahead of Anderson and Kramer? If so, I don't know why this wasn't determined sooner, so we could at least have saved Anderson's redshirt. This may wind up to be the worst of both worlds.