*Kinsey going into the game last night led CUSA in scoring with nearly 21 per game, first in minutes played, 5th in assists, 5th in offensive boards, and 8th in field goal percentage. (I borrowed those numbers from another board so I assume they are correct.) UAB has always been a tough out for us. They usually bring in more talented athletes. So without the contribution of our most effective player statistically, I really didn’t have a lot of confidence in our chances last night. I was pleasantly surprised to say the least.
Our offensive movement was the best it’s been all season and resembled what we expect from a DD offense. Some are speculating that maybe we play better without Kinsey. I think that’s kind of unfair to our most talented and productive player, but I really believe we need to learn from it. Our lack of offensive movement this season has caused us to do way too much isolation of Kinsey and it has literally robbed us of any offensive rhythm and flow. We need Kinsey back, because…he’s our best player. But I really believe we need to abandon the iso stuff and allow Kinsey to get his production the way we see OAK getting his…through offensive boards and put backs, shots that are created by offensive movement and rotation and not brute force isolation stuff where he does that spinning, high dribble in the paint where he shoots that fall away mid range shot that’s susceptible to being stripped before he gets off the ground. In other words, let’s let Kinsey play in the flow of the game and not try to place the scoring entirely on his shoulder.
* Braun is picking up some confidence. This kid can really help us in the shooting department where we have struggled a bit this year. I like him getting the minutes he has the last few games. He has decent hops, but he is low average in quickness so he needs to play smart defensively. I though he stepped up defensively last night and kept his guy in front of him most of the time. His three threes were important and two came at critical times. We really need that to continue. He did make a rookie mistake with that late foul that gave UAB two points without the time running. He knew he made a bad decision immediately. I think the kid learns from that.
*DD vs Beyers…come on DD…Beyers makes some bad decisions (and I was one of his biggest critics the last few years), but on a team that has had a plethora of poor decisions on the floor from everyone, I don’t know how you can single out his mistakes only. DD’s fuse on Beyers is way shorter than for anyone else. I think you have to take some of the bad (and he has improved his decision making from early in the season) in order to give you all that offensive potential that he brings. Let’s face it. We just struggle at times putting the ball in the basket. If we had someone else we would have the luxury to put him on the bench. But we really need to get scorers on the floor.
*Early…I like him, but I really don’t think he should play the point when the other team presses. He just doesn’t have the handles. It’s okay to let him spot point when other teams aren’t pressing, but he really struggles against pressure right now. Kinsey being out hurt last night against the pressure, because although he doesn’t look point guardesque, he gets the ball up the floor decent and also has better vision finding open players on the floor.
*Taylor…last night was his best game and he had a good series including MTSU. This is what we have to have if we want to win games. The difference last night is his taking the ball to the rim. We’ve lacked this element since Elmore. Teams extend their defensive coverage on us three to five feet above the top of the key. Why wouldn’t they? Because it forces our ball rotation deep and takes us out of our offense. That leaves teams susceptible to being driven on, but we never really tried to take it to the rim with our guards. Taylor did a great job of taking the ball to the rim last night and that just opens up so many other things. Taylor needs to keep playing like this for us to have a chance to win some games. I was happy for him.
*I‘d give all of Goran’s minutes to George.
*Speaking of Braun, after the game I was in Calamty Js upstairs, and he and Toussaint came in. We had a brief conversation with them and they were such good kids. Respectful and friendly. Braun’s father, the famous jazz trumpeter, stayed and talked to us for a bit. He was extremely nice and when asked when he would be performing for us, he said they had something in the works. He was extremely proud of his son and it made me happy that he played well in front of his dad.
Anyway…last night was fun and it was great to get the victory. I’m not so disillusioned to believe we’ve turned any corner, but coming into last night, MTSU lead the east and UAB was a half a game out of first in the west at 7-1. So we played two decent teams to the wire and took a victory out if the week. That’s positive right? Our hopes (and everyone else‘s) are tied to the tournament anyway, so at least we know we can play with the better teams. No team completely out classes us.
Our offensive movement was the best it’s been all season and resembled what we expect from a DD offense. Some are speculating that maybe we play better without Kinsey. I think that’s kind of unfair to our most talented and productive player, but I really believe we need to learn from it. Our lack of offensive movement this season has caused us to do way too much isolation of Kinsey and it has literally robbed us of any offensive rhythm and flow. We need Kinsey back, because…he’s our best player. But I really believe we need to abandon the iso stuff and allow Kinsey to get his production the way we see OAK getting his…through offensive boards and put backs, shots that are created by offensive movement and rotation and not brute force isolation stuff where he does that spinning, high dribble in the paint where he shoots that fall away mid range shot that’s susceptible to being stripped before he gets off the ground. In other words, let’s let Kinsey play in the flow of the game and not try to place the scoring entirely on his shoulder.
* Braun is picking up some confidence. This kid can really help us in the shooting department where we have struggled a bit this year. I like him getting the minutes he has the last few games. He has decent hops, but he is low average in quickness so he needs to play smart defensively. I though he stepped up defensively last night and kept his guy in front of him most of the time. His three threes were important and two came at critical times. We really need that to continue. He did make a rookie mistake with that late foul that gave UAB two points without the time running. He knew he made a bad decision immediately. I think the kid learns from that.
*DD vs Beyers…come on DD…Beyers makes some bad decisions (and I was one of his biggest critics the last few years), but on a team that has had a plethora of poor decisions on the floor from everyone, I don’t know how you can single out his mistakes only. DD’s fuse on Beyers is way shorter than for anyone else. I think you have to take some of the bad (and he has improved his decision making from early in the season) in order to give you all that offensive potential that he brings. Let’s face it. We just struggle at times putting the ball in the basket. If we had someone else we would have the luxury to put him on the bench. But we really need to get scorers on the floor.
*Early…I like him, but I really don’t think he should play the point when the other team presses. He just doesn’t have the handles. It’s okay to let him spot point when other teams aren’t pressing, but he really struggles against pressure right now. Kinsey being out hurt last night against the pressure, because although he doesn’t look point guardesque, he gets the ball up the floor decent and also has better vision finding open players on the floor.
*Taylor…last night was his best game and he had a good series including MTSU. This is what we have to have if we want to win games. The difference last night is his taking the ball to the rim. We’ve lacked this element since Elmore. Teams extend their defensive coverage on us three to five feet above the top of the key. Why wouldn’t they? Because it forces our ball rotation deep and takes us out of our offense. That leaves teams susceptible to being driven on, but we never really tried to take it to the rim with our guards. Taylor did a great job of taking the ball to the rim last night and that just opens up so many other things. Taylor needs to keep playing like this for us to have a chance to win some games. I was happy for him.
*I‘d give all of Goran’s minutes to George.
*Speaking of Braun, after the game I was in Calamty Js upstairs, and he and Toussaint came in. We had a brief conversation with them and they were such good kids. Respectful and friendly. Braun’s father, the famous jazz trumpeter, stayed and talked to us for a bit. He was extremely nice and when asked when he would be performing for us, he said they had something in the works. He was extremely proud of his son and it made me happy that he played well in front of his dad.
Anyway…last night was fun and it was great to get the victory. I’m not so disillusioned to believe we’ve turned any corner, but coming into last night, MTSU lead the east and UAB was a half a game out of first in the west at 7-1. So we played two decent teams to the wire and took a victory out if the week. That’s positive right? Our hopes (and everyone else‘s) are tied to the tournament anyway, so at least we know we can play with the better teams. No team completely out classes us.
