From #1 to 1 and done

Where’ve ya been, 54b?

Not knowing exactly what to do and when to do it turns Michael Jordan into Michael Jackson on a basketball court.

First year players in college often say the biggest surprise is “the speed of the game.” Conversely, when a player comes into his own, he often says, “the game slowed down for me.” What they’re really saying is, “when I first got here, I didn’t know which way was up, but now that I do, I can go 100% all out.”

I think that explains why guys like AB, Hammy, and J’Brown are having trouble down the stretch…particularly, Hammy who has tasted some success but can’t quite figure out when he’s supposed to shoot. There were lots of examples last night where our guys either didn’t make the extra pass that would have given the ball to someone wide open or passed the ball to guy who was completely blanketed in the lane. But it’s coming.

As for Dogus, I think it’s just confidence with him. Somebody somewhere told him he can’t shoot the mid-range jumper and he is the Jason Kid of college b-ball. Problem is, Jason kid still shoots even though people tell him he can’t. Dogus seems resigned not to shoot it even when the defender is 15 feet off of him. He’s got to shoot it in my mind, otherwise, we really can’t afford to have him out there. J’Covan can shoot and drive so defenders have to play both making him much more dangerous.

My two cents.

Barnes has to regret taking Brown out of the starting lineup to begin with. Sure, we kept winning and were ranked #1 at one point. Was it worth it though? Probably not, considering it came at the expense of developing Brown, who’s going to be the focal point of the team not only this year, but in the future.

To add to that, Barnes changing his starting lineup to include both Mason and Balbay completely disrupted what was at one point our best, most efficient, and most dominant offensive force in Dexter Pittman. Now, we’re left with an inconsistent big man that struggles to play 20 minutes a game, and his NBA draft stock has tumbled into the 2nd round or even worse.

Look for a rejuvenated Pittman with Brown starting at the point with 3 other scorers around him. I would avoid pairing up Pittman and Balbay at all times if possible. With Dexter on the court, the first sub I’d make is Hamilton. Once Dexter goes to the bench for a breather, then I bring in Balbay to increase the tempo. With Dexy and his man not clogging the paint (Johnson would take his man away from the basket), the driving lanes are open for Doge to capitalize and draw fouls. A faster tempo gets Bradley, Hamilton, and the rest of the shooters an opportunity to take better shots with the opposing defense not being set.

Opponents are willing to sag on him because they know he won’t shoot the ball. What happens when he starts shooting the ball and opponents realize he only shoots like 15% (made up but just a guess) from the field? They’ll continue to sag. I don’t think he has any confidence in his jumper and there’s probably lots of evidence in his head that he just cannot shoot the ball.