Guard Play

Discussion in 'Men’s Basketball' started by LikeMike, Dec 12, 2017.

  1. LikeMike

    LikeMike 500+ Posts

    Coach has recruited a bunch of super athletic guards, who can't shoot-- threes or free throws and when they get to the rim often miss the layup (I know they are contested). They seem to have little concept for a set offense (new point guard my fix that with some more experience) so why do we not press all over the court like a better VCU?
     
  2. Horns11

    Horns11 10,000+ Posts

    I think you'll see the press more as the season goes on, especially if Jones is hurt for a while.

    1. We have WAY more of a system in 2018 than we did in 2017. Relying on Kerwin Roach and Yancy to move the ball around is pretty much the direct cause of the 11-22 record. Jones was improving last year and playing pretty well so far this season until last game. Coleman is also helping in that regard.

    2. We have the personnel to go inside-out this year. Last year, we were relying on Banks and Cleare to get the ball near the block and either spin around and shoot or finish in their own fashion. Allen pretty much just did his own thing all year. It was a bad strategy. This year, we have Bamba, Osetkowski, and Sims, who are far more capable than the 2017 edition bigs to get the ball back outside. Hence, we don't need the guards to play the half court sets in a way that some people prefer.

    3. It seems as though Smart recruits guys who CAN shoot (Febres comes to mind) but then they have some sort of mental thing when they're not in practice. I'm not sure if it's a game mindset or what that's causing it. I think we'll see more Davis and Young when we need shots.
     
  3. LikeMike

    LikeMike 500+ Posts

    Texas guards can't shoot from beyond 3 feet during the Smart era and free throws#??# That's a hold over from the Barnes era. Makes me think that the practice court rims are not set to 10 feet.

    Guard play has not been at torunament level in years. Too bad.
     
  4. SAMMCHornfan

    SAMMCHornfan 250+ Posts

    Kinda makes you miss Bevan Felix, huh?
     
  5. caryhorn

    caryhorn 5,000+ Posts

    The team sure could use the shooting touch of Jevan Felix; or could use the offense of Isaiah Taylor, who was very good at driving and hitting the floater from inside the paint.

    The team could use any sort of offensive spark.

    But, and I don't want to start anything, its just a worry that is gnawing at me; I am concerned that Shaka hasn't been able to develop a reliable half court offensive game in the two+ years he's been here.

    You cannot live by the fast break alone. Good teams must have a half court game. Look at TCU since Dixon arrived. Look at how BU gets the ball inside. Look at KU.

    The announcer's were constantly calling for Texas to get the ball in the paint to the bigs last night, and we just don't know how to do that consistently. That must be emphasized while we have two really good ones on campus: THIS YEAR is the year.
     
  6. LikeMike

    LikeMike 500+ Posts

    Part of the issue with getting the ball inside is that we run the offense through the bigs positoned above the arc. They can't very well get a layup if they are 20 feet from the hoop. Our guards should be out front and the bigs setting picks for each other. Our two bigs should be getting 25 layup or turn around chances (combined) per game. Then, the big passes the ball from the base line to an open three point shooter. Haven't seen that yet.

    Either coach knows that the guards are not capable or he needs to change the positiioning of the bigs.
     
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  7. duff_man

    duff_man 250+ Posts

    More recently over the years (even during the Barnes era), it seems for any weakness that our team has, the opposing team sure finds a way to expose it which last night was a perfect example. It's either our staff can't find a way to mitigate it during the game or there's a poor job done in recruiting.
     
  8. SAMMCHornfan

    SAMMCHornfan 250+ Posts

    As I am sure you have all nticed, but they have been missing way, way too many easy shots right around the basket, especially Oski. That one he missed against Duke when Duke was rallying really hurt and he missed a couple early last night too. Got to finish!
     
  9. LikeMike

    LikeMike 500+ Posts

    Fixed by recruiting tournament ready guards. A rare animal at UT for years.
     
  10. txlandagent

    txlandagent 500+ Posts

    MSM transfer Elijah Long’s career average is 13 ppg (15ppg last season) @ 38.0 percent from 3Pt and 74% FT. He played in two tournament games as a sophomore. I’d say going into next season he’d be a veteran guard that could fit this bill. My concern is the potential for regression though, seeing that he’ll more than likely be in an inferior scheme where he won’t develop offensively and will have to compete for PT with guys who may not be as qualified but get more minutes anyway because the coach doesn’t want to hurt their feelings..
     

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