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Username Post: Where we're at        (Topic#18638)
Bruno 
PhD Student
Posts: 1414

Loc: Brooklyn, NY
Reg: 11-21-04
01-24-16 11:50 PM - Post#200116    

Not sure exactly how we got here but kenpom ranks us as the worst team in the Ivy by a margin. And after getting pasted - pasted - by Yale at home, it doesn't feel like we're much better than that.

Stats never tell the whole story and they probably don't here either. But kenpom suggests that the problem is mostly defensive and rebounding. We don't turn the other team over, we give up offensive rebounds at a very high clip and grab them at an even lower clip, and it results in a few extra possessions they have that we don't. We also get a lot our shots blocked - among the most in the nation. On average opponents take 3 shots per game more than we do, and take 2 more free throws than we do. Since we shoot it roughly as well as we defend it (with better FT shooting which is one area in which we excel), that just about accounts for your -3 ppt differential vs. others.

(For what it's worth the other area we seem to excel is in the pct of fgs that come off of assists. I like that stat, although maybe it's another way of saying we don't have guys who can create for themselves.)

Can a lot of our rebounding issues be connected to the makeup of the lineup? Maybe. Speith has done yeoman's work at the 4, but he is undersized. Although truth be told, while he doesn't grab offensive rebounds, he's rebounding at a very high clip on the defensive end. Save for Ced, and a little from Massey, nobody else rebounds much.

What's also interesting is that we're generally in ball games. That's maybe what's so frustrating. Other than Yale and Georgetown, and maybe Providence to a lesser degree, we have not been blown out by anyone. We play with teams. We're competitive. We don't hold leads well, or execute that well down the stretch. We seem to go long stretches without being able to get big stops.

I honestly don't know. But it's hard to like where the team is right now. I know this team can win - they just don't do it. Maybe we'll see something in the next few weeks that will make me feel differently.
LET'S go BRU-no (duh. nuh. nuh-nuh-nuh)


 
Ever True 
Junior
Posts: 252

Age: 28
Reg: 02-02-15
01-24-16 11:54 PM - Post#200119    
    In response to Bruno

Saturday night against Penn becomes a sort of must-win situation, just for morale's sake, in my mind. Hopefully the team can take some energy from Ced being commemorated as the Ivy's leading shot blocker on that night. Also, just out of curiosity, where do people stand on Mike Martin's job security at the moment? Is he on the hot seat or does he get more time?

 
Old Bear 
Postdoc
Posts: 3988

Reg: 11-23-04
01-25-16 06:31 PM - Post#200174    
    In response to Ever True

It seems to me that he has 3 classes of his own recruits. He was left with one senior last year and one senior this year. This was his first Head Coaching job. I would think he would be give some time to show improvement. Ed Cooley is considered to be doing a great job at PC, but without Dunn he would be in the middle of the back in his conference. Martin needs to get lucky in recruiting to get to the top. I may be more patient than some, but I would give him a couple more years.

 
Bearswin 
Freshman
Posts: 61

Reg: 01-06-14
01-26-16 02:14 AM - Post#200198    
    In response to Old Bear

I admit I am not a big fan of Martin's coaching philosophy nor the way he treats the players. I think he gets out coached during crunch time and really has a hard time getting the players ready to play at the Pizzitola morgue. He has some silly antics in response to official calls and the way he stares at his dad after every questionable call cracks me up. But, after meeting his young family, I would have a hard time seeing him dismissed this early in his career as well.

I don't mean to pick on any player, but playing Hobbie extended minutes is killing this team. Yes, he will hit two or three bombs a game, but he brings very little else to the game. The more minutes he plays each game, the less valuable he becomes. The more minutes he plays early in games, the less he has his legs for late game shooting.

Martin's offense is built around the 3 but he starts 2 players who do not shoot the 3 very well. So, as a coach, you have to move the ego aside and try something new. Unfortunately, due to injuries and transfers, it is just not a good roster make-up at this time. How about this starting line-up... Blackman, Obee, Speith, Fuller and Ced. Bring Massey and JR off the bench. Go big and quit the 4-out-guard offense.

The basketball IQ for most of the players does not seem very high either. Stupid, silly mistakes. Over and over. Game and clock management seems to be a foreign concept to the majority of them.
Too many unforced TO's and poor shot selection by most of the players.

The casual, who cares if we win attitude at this school is concerning. The BDH had a tweet on Saturday that 6 of the 7 Brown teams competing that day had lost by significant amounts. Interesting that you have Harvard recruits family members saying the school will do 'whatever it takes' to win. Yet, you never hear that from a Brown athlete.







 
Bruno 
PhD Student
Posts: 1414

Loc: Brooklyn, NY
Reg: 11-21-04
01-27-16 11:02 PM - Post#200314    
    In response to Bearswin

The state of Brown athletics is a much longer conversation. It is notable that most of our teams seem to be in the bottom half of the league. Jack Hayes has yet to improve the culture around Brown sports - or at least the results.

I love Hobbie and tend to agree that he may have more value coming off the bench. He really is a (fantastic) three point specialist who is there to add a new wrinkle to the offense. He doesn't do much in the rest of his game, I agree, and his defense isn't good enough. His value is in how he can stretch the defense.

Okolie also brings a different look coming off the bench, but my instinct is that he is playing himself into a starting role over Hobbie. He's too versatile to not play more. And I'll just say it - while his game needs refinement, I think he's probably the most talented player on this team. He is still learning to play college defense but the raw ability is there.

I think you need fuller coming off the bench. I like his game but we don't have the depth we need inside after he and Ced. I would also love to see a little bit of Aram Martin in there. Dude blocks and changes shots, despite being a bit of a liability on offense.

I think Massey has got to be in there. He got so much better on offense this year and plays a hard nosed all around game. Plus he's an above average defender and we need more of that, not less.
LET'S go BRU-no (duh. nuh. nuh-nuh-nuh)


 
jst4245 
Freshman
Posts: 63

Age: 50
Reg: 05-23-12
01-28-16 12:20 PM - Post#200329    
    In response to Bruno

Hopefully we see a heavy dose of Okolie, Daugherty, and Fuller the rest of the year. I agree with Bruno that Okolie is our most talented player - and I believe he has the potential (down the road) to get 15 ppg for us and be an All-Ivy player.

Daugherty looks like he has the tools to be a really good Ivy League guard. The game right now is probably moving a little too fast for him, but with reps out there the game will slow and I think we will see a positive spike in his shooting % towards the end of the schedule.

Fuller is not ready to play big minutes BUT he has the tools to be an All-Ivy big. Legitimate size, length, and skill set. Needs to get much tougher. Hopefully the reps he is getting now will set the stage for a big offseason.

I think the staff has "hit" with this class and the same way that they "hit" with the current junior class (the issue with that class is the King defection and how it altered the roles Blackmon, Speith, and Hobbie have had to play).

So while we are a little down in regards to our record - I am still pretty bullish when looking at things holistically.







 
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