This: That we borrow a page from the way football does it and hire an Offensive Coordinator.
We have a Head Coach (and a potentially great one) in Travis DeCuire. We have a Defensive Coordinator and an excellent one, the self-same DeCuire. We have a Recruiting Coordinator and a good one, Chris Cobb.
But we have no offense. And this is not a matter of "early season" or lack of practise games. This has been a hallmark of the entire DeCuire era. His offense sucks. To watch them play last night evoked one word in me: Lacerating!
Specifics.
TEMPO: I remember vividly DeCuire's first press conference when he promised an "up-tempo" offense.
I was thrilled. I grew up as a kid in Salt Lake on "Runnin' Utes" basketball. As an adult I loved watching Magic and his Showtime Lakers, and for the past several years I've had a front row TV seat to watch one of the great NBA dynasties, the Warriors. Fast-paced, wide-open, up-tempo basketball. Fun to watch!
(Come to think of it, the same applies to football. Bill Walsh built a dynasty on up-tempo, pass-first football, as did our own Don Read at Montana.)
Fast-break basketball is not only fun to watch, it depends on one a simple premise: Get the ball up court for an easy shot before the defense can get set.
But I ask: Can you remember the last time Montana ran ONE fast break? Got up the floor before the opponent's defense got set up? Is there ANYBODY on the board that would describe Montana basketball as up-tempo? That's what DeCuire promised.
Back in another era at Montana, we might not have had the athletes to play fast up-tempo basketball. But we do now. Locking these kids in a walk-the-ball--up-the-floor offense is like limiting a race horse to a trot.
TOO MUCH DRIBBLING: As a little kid, I played church league basketball. Our coach was old (he must have been in his 30's!) and he was fat. But first practise, he laid down a challenge: He could beat our fastest player in an end-to-end race down the court.
That challenge fell to our best player, a kid with the unfortunate name of Jimmy Dick. Jimmy went to the baseline and squated down in a sprinter's position. Coach did the same. But before he could blow the whistle, the coach stood up.
"I'm the coach," he said. "My job is to make substitutions. And now I'm going to make one!"
With that he went over and picked up a conveniently placed basketball. Then he blew his whistle.
Jimmy took off. Coach hurled the ball. Before poor Jimmy was to the foul line at his own end, the ball was bouncing off the wall at the other end of the court.
Lesson taken: You can't out-run the ball! And that was his mantra: Pass the damned ball! Hot potato, hot potato, hot potato!
I think of that coach every time I see our point guard dribbling the ball, back and forth, back and forth, at the top of the key. The defense is expending little effort. Our offense is stagnant. Even in a set offense, that ball should be moving, mvoing side to side, in and out, back and forth, with the defense chasing.
You almost never see that in our set offense.
MOVEMENT OFF THE BALL: Steph Curry is the best point guard in basketball. Everybody knows him for his shooting and his off-hand dribbling ability. But if you watch Curry carefully, you also see that he is always moving, racing down the baseline, curling behind screens, in constant constant motion, looking for that one second when he can get off that lethal shot. In fact, the entire Warrior offense is based on constant motion on the part of the entire team, until you get that back-door layup or that wide-open three.
Next time we play, watch our players off the ball. You'll see one kid loping along the baseline, another standing in the corner, maybe one coming up to set screen, the while our point guard dribbles back and forth or we pass the ball around the top of the key. Nothing quick. Nothing sharp. Nothing crisp. In a word: Stagnant.
SHOOTERS: Shooting requires confidence. When a Klay Thompson or a Steph Curry hits a slump, they keep shooting. They have confidence in their shot. Our kids? Even when there's an open shot, they seem tentative, hesitant. You'd like to see confident shooters all over the court. Last night I saw one, Josh Vazquez. I'm hoping Hunter Clarke is a confident shooter. But the rest of our kids? I'm just not seeing it. Most especially, I'm not seeing it when the step up to the free throw line.
POINT GUARD: The most important position on the court in my opinion, and we have a good one: Brandon Whitney. He got 21 minutes last night, half the game. I don't care if he's a true freshman. He's our best, quickest talent, he can get his own shot, and I'm convinced we play better when he's in the game. He started, then came in toward the end, but was MIA during much of the second half. Play him!
LASTLY: A few observations about last night.
I'm not down on the refs. I am in non-conference against Power Five teams but in the Big Sky, where he have superior athletes and a big reputation, we should not be blaming the refs. We lost this game for many reasons, poor free-throw shooting at the top of the list.
Our interior defense was awful. Poor defense to let these guys drive the lane in the first place, and no rim protection once they get to the basket. Part of the reason we picked up so many fouls.
We have a Head Coach (and a potentially great one) in Travis DeCuire. We have a Defensive Coordinator and an excellent one, the self-same DeCuire. We have a Recruiting Coordinator and a good one, Chris Cobb.
But we have no offense. And this is not a matter of "early season" or lack of practise games. This has been a hallmark of the entire DeCuire era. His offense sucks. To watch them play last night evoked one word in me: Lacerating!
Specifics.
TEMPO: I remember vividly DeCuire's first press conference when he promised an "up-tempo" offense.
I was thrilled. I grew up as a kid in Salt Lake on "Runnin' Utes" basketball. As an adult I loved watching Magic and his Showtime Lakers, and for the past several years I've had a front row TV seat to watch one of the great NBA dynasties, the Warriors. Fast-paced, wide-open, up-tempo basketball. Fun to watch!
(Come to think of it, the same applies to football. Bill Walsh built a dynasty on up-tempo, pass-first football, as did our own Don Read at Montana.)
Fast-break basketball is not only fun to watch, it depends on one a simple premise: Get the ball up court for an easy shot before the defense can get set.
But I ask: Can you remember the last time Montana ran ONE fast break? Got up the floor before the opponent's defense got set up? Is there ANYBODY on the board that would describe Montana basketball as up-tempo? That's what DeCuire promised.
Back in another era at Montana, we might not have had the athletes to play fast up-tempo basketball. But we do now. Locking these kids in a walk-the-ball--up-the-floor offense is like limiting a race horse to a trot.
TOO MUCH DRIBBLING: As a little kid, I played church league basketball. Our coach was old (he must have been in his 30's!) and he was fat. But first practise, he laid down a challenge: He could beat our fastest player in an end-to-end race down the court.
That challenge fell to our best player, a kid with the unfortunate name of Jimmy Dick. Jimmy went to the baseline and squated down in a sprinter's position. Coach did the same. But before he could blow the whistle, the coach stood up.
"I'm the coach," he said. "My job is to make substitutions. And now I'm going to make one!"
With that he went over and picked up a conveniently placed basketball. Then he blew his whistle.
Jimmy took off. Coach hurled the ball. Before poor Jimmy was to the foul line at his own end, the ball was bouncing off the wall at the other end of the court.
Lesson taken: You can't out-run the ball! And that was his mantra: Pass the damned ball! Hot potato, hot potato, hot potato!
I think of that coach every time I see our point guard dribbling the ball, back and forth, back and forth, at the top of the key. The defense is expending little effort. Our offense is stagnant. Even in a set offense, that ball should be moving, mvoing side to side, in and out, back and forth, with the defense chasing.
You almost never see that in our set offense.
MOVEMENT OFF THE BALL: Steph Curry is the best point guard in basketball. Everybody knows him for his shooting and his off-hand dribbling ability. But if you watch Curry carefully, you also see that he is always moving, racing down the baseline, curling behind screens, in constant constant motion, looking for that one second when he can get off that lethal shot. In fact, the entire Warrior offense is based on constant motion on the part of the entire team, until you get that back-door layup or that wide-open three.
Next time we play, watch our players off the ball. You'll see one kid loping along the baseline, another standing in the corner, maybe one coming up to set screen, the while our point guard dribbles back and forth or we pass the ball around the top of the key. Nothing quick. Nothing sharp. Nothing crisp. In a word: Stagnant.
SHOOTERS: Shooting requires confidence. When a Klay Thompson or a Steph Curry hits a slump, they keep shooting. They have confidence in their shot. Our kids? Even when there's an open shot, they seem tentative, hesitant. You'd like to see confident shooters all over the court. Last night I saw one, Josh Vazquez. I'm hoping Hunter Clarke is a confident shooter. But the rest of our kids? I'm just not seeing it. Most especially, I'm not seeing it when the step up to the free throw line.
POINT GUARD: The most important position on the court in my opinion, and we have a good one: Brandon Whitney. He got 21 minutes last night, half the game. I don't care if he's a true freshman. He's our best, quickest talent, he can get his own shot, and I'm convinced we play better when he's in the game. He started, then came in toward the end, but was MIA during much of the second half. Play him!
LASTLY: A few observations about last night.
I'm not down on the refs. I am in non-conference against Power Five teams but in the Big Sky, where he have superior athletes and a big reputation, we should not be blaming the refs. We lost this game for many reasons, poor free-throw shooting at the top of the list.
Our interior defense was awful. Poor defense to let these guys drive the lane in the first place, and no rim protection once they get to the basket. Part of the reason we picked up so many fouls.
