Moving without the ball!!

[dnbman]

I've been saying this all season, and Hubie Brown just reiterated it:

We are successful tonight because we're moving WITHOUT the ball. We will live and die by movement, as we're not good enough to win 1-on-1 battles.

Man, I'm loving all of these passes, especially to the interior.

Playing pretty good right now!

[spectre]

Too bad it didn't last.

You're right, we looked very good in that 2nd quarter, setting nice screens, moving without the ball. Totally different in the 3rd quarter.

[Wallace15]

The 3rd was a disaster :-\

[ALong13]

The 4th quarter is any better either...first half was great, 2nd half was terrible..

[spectre]

It seems that when Crash can't drive to the rim without success he gets frustrated. I know I heard V tell the team NO 3 ptrs, yet when they're passing it around the key Felts passes one up, passes to Crash then "bombs away".

Not all his fault by any means, but we usually live or die by him. Tonight we died.

[davcbow]

Yeah we died really bad in the 2nd half and it all took place on national TV....Bummer.... :ranting:

[TheBeagle]

It seems that when Crash can't drive to the rim without success he gets frustrated. I know I heard V tell the team NO 3 ptrs, yet when they're passing it around the key Felts passes one up, passes to Crash then "bombs away".

Not all his fault by any means, but we usually live or die by him. Tonight we died.
Agreed. And when he drives to the basket and doesn't get a foul called when he gets mugged it further pisses him off, and who can blame him there. I couldn't figure out the Raymond pass either; made no sense. Still, a really good all around game for GW, just poor 2nd half shooting, with nobody else attempting to step up.

[spectre]

It seems that when Crash can't drive to the rim without success he gets frustrated. I know I heard V tell the team NO 3 ptrs, yet when they're passing it around the key Felts passes one up, passes to Crash then "bombs away".

Not all his fault by any means, but we usually live or die by him. Tonight we died.
Agreed. And when he drives to the basket and doesn't get a foul called when he gets mugged it further pisses him off, and who can blame him there. I couldn't figure out the Raymond pass either; made no sense. Still, a really good all around game for GW, just poor 2nd half shooting, with nobody else attempting to step up.


Oh I could (Raymond's pass)...he was afraid to shoot it and miss becuz V told them not to shoot 3s. Probably Hammer and possibly JRich have the green light to shoot the long ball at the end of the game down like that. He almost took it, then seemed to "remember" and passed instead.

And yes, he SHOULD have taken it. He was set and squared up, which is where he's most lethal...not to mention he had the best stroke of anyone last night. This is part of the "down" in the growing process; eventually V will trust them to make the right decisions, cuz those blanket statements usually end up hurting.

[dnbman]

It seems that when Crash can't drive to the rim without success he gets frustrated. I know I heard V tell the team NO 3 ptrs, yet when they're passing it around the key Felts passes one up, passes to Crash then "bombs away".

Not all his fault by any means, but we usually live or die by him. Tonight we died.
Agreed. And when he drives to the basket and doesn't get a foul called when he gets mugged it further pisses him off, and who can blame him there. I couldn't figure out the Raymond pass either; made no sense. Still, a really good all around game for GW, just poor 2nd half shooting, with nobody else attempting to step up.


Oh I could (Raymond's pass)...he was afraid to shoot it and miss becuz V told them not to shoot 3s. Probably Hammer and possibly JRich have the green light to shoot the long ball at the end of the game down like that. He almost took it, then seemed to "remember" and passed instead.

And yes, he SHOULD have taken it. He was set and squared up, which is where he's most lethal...not to mention he had the best stroke of anyone last night. This is part of the "down" in the growing process; eventually V will trust them to make the right decisions, cuz those blanket statements usually end up hurting.


That's basically what annoyed me last year (and this year for that matter) when people kept saying that Felton shouldn't shoot. HE SHOULD SHOOT! He can shoot! He's easily one of our top three point shooters, though that doesn't say a whole lot. He just needed/s to make better decisions. However, if you make a guy play TOO in his head rather than with his natural intuition, you can really screw up his game. That was an example of Felton having to take an extra second to think about what he was supposed to do rather than feel the game and make the quick decision.

I know that sounds stupid, since common wisdom would be want our players to think. However, the game of basketball is so quick and fluid that the decision making process has to work almost subconsciously. In practice, they should be do the thinking and the execution, getting it down to the point where they aren't thinking about it so much in the game. Then in game situations, plays become automatic.

When we were moving last night, good basketball instincts took over and we made great passes. When we slowed it down attempting to make a "good play," we didn't look so good.

[spectre]

Well said, and exactly right.

We do know this team gets flustered and resorts to one on one play and you have to discourage that, but you have to recognize strengths. Felton...at least last night...is who I'd MUCH rather had firing a 3 vs. Crash. He was like 7 of 9 before panic set in.

I don't think Crash & JRich are stupid, so in those situations why doesn't V have both on each side driving thru the paint trying to get free? The movement didn't really seem to improve after the timeouts he called. They passed the ball, but they stayed stationary.

[Muttley]

Good point spectre. The movement in the first half was beautiful. It was basketball. It's plain as day as soon as it stops, and watching, you just get a sense of "here we go again" as the team passes around the arc, but doesn't move. It's almost as though we can't understand how we could still be covered when we pass the ball around the key and back. Guess what. The defender didn't leave you just because you got rid of the ball. This isn't elementary school PE class soccer where all the kids just swarm the ball.

Anyways, I hope we can continue to perform like we did in the 1st half of this game.

[110oldeast]

Agree with all about the movement without the ball in the first half vs. the second half. I loved that play when Felton was coming off the pick and role, about to pull up, and Gerald slipped in under the basket for the bounce pass and finish. I think more of this can help the team, especially Gerald and J-Rich whose athelticism is being wasted hanging out on the perimeter as much as they have been. It's a shame Hermann and Vincent could never get on the same page, b/c he excelled here.

On another point, I've said before and will reiterate again as a previous poster said, when squared, Felton is one of the top shooters on the team. Many people have simply looked at his numbers shooting in a vacuum, without acknowledging when they are dragged down with end of clock situation where he receives the hot potato with 2-4 seconds 3 feet behind the 3 point line, having to force up shots, b/c he has the most isolation ability to get off a shot on the team and others won't take it.

When he is aggressive taking shots, he is at his best. When he takes shots as a last resort, b/c he is wanting to make sure "enough passes have been made," he struggles. It was the same story for him in college.

The tough thing for Gerald is that his best shooting comes when he is a PF with a TRUE PF guarding him, b/c his quickness gives him the advantage. This works for 2 reasons: 1) He can obviously beat his man on the pump and baseline blow by that he loves; and 2) Because of the fear of getting beat off the dribble, the PF will give him a step, allowing him more time to confidently get his jumper off.

Gerald is not a natural shooter, but can be effective when open for a decent amount of time. If you'll notice lots of times when Felton drives and kicks it to Wallace at the 3 pt line, there is almost an instant hesitation, even when he does shoot it. It's the same story with Dudley here (who has a nice midrange shot). This is one reason that I miss Morrison and wonder what he would be like in an instant offense role where he is pulling as soon as it gets to him if he is open.

BTW, I love when Richardson gets points from 10 feet and in in addition to the 3s. He's gotta be willing to do more of this and not come through the lane, receive the ball, and never look towards the goal while dribbling back out to the 3 pt line. How long ago was it that he won the slam dunk contest?

[Melanie]

Guess what. The defender didn't leave you just because you got rid of the ball. This isn't elementary school PE class soccer where all the kids just swarm the ball.


LOL, sorry that just made me chuckle! ::) Very true.

[Muttley]

BTW, I love when Richardson gets points from 10 feet and in in addition to the 3s. He's gotta be willing to do more of this and not come through the lane, receive the ball, and never look towards the goal while dribbling back out to the 3 pt line. How long ago was it that he won the slam dunk contest?


Man, as I recall, he had a sweet move in the Atlanta game last night with a scoop shot under the basket. He got fouled and the ball spun like a top for about 10 seconds before falling in the hoop. I'm not sure why he doesn't attack the rim more.

[dvdbumpus]

BTW, I love when Richardson gets points from 10 feet and in in addition to the 3s. He's gotta be willing to do more of this and not come through the lane, receive the ball, and never look towards the goal while dribbling back out to the 3 pt line. How long ago was it that he won the slam dunk contest?


Man, as I recall, he had a sweet move in the Atlanta game last night with a scoop shot under the basket. He got fouled and the ball spun like a top for about 10 seconds before falling in the hoop. I'm not sure why he doesn't attack the rim more.


I know! WTF doesn't he drive more? He's got the ability and it pays off when he does it, as evidenced by that example.