|
If you really think about it, the result of the Furman game should not be surprising or disheartening. Anyone who thought we were going to pick up right where we left off last year was not thinking clearly or practically.
What we have is the 2018-2019 team, trying to run the offense of the February and March 2018 team.
1) That’s what we should be doing. The offense of quick ball movement through motion installed by Porter proved to be an equalizer against high quality, major conference programs with superior talent.
2) The fact that it’s not working right now should come as no surprise to any of us – moving the ball around the court quickly and efficiently without turning it over is hard to do! If it were easy, every mid-major team in college basketball would be doing it just like we did in February and March. Right now, we’re not perfect at it (or even great at it) – but we have to keep running it, improving it, and trying to get all our players confident enough in their roles in it for it to work as well as it did for us in February and March. It’s not always going to look pretty for the next couple of months, and it may cost us an at-large bit (which, by the way, we were never going to get), but if every payer “buys in” and learns and perfects their roles in it, we should see dividends in February and March of 2019.
The way I see it, our players are in three different phases, and all three phases of players have things to work on to make this a successful team:
Phase 1 Players: Clayton Custer, Marques Townes, Cameron Krutwig
What they bring: These guys are proven talent, who have not regressed, but in fact, improved since last year. They have the big-game experience and knowledge of the offense, how it works, and how to execute it to perfection. Each of them knows their role in the “ideal” offensive scheme Porter wants to run, and they have faith that if they do what their trained to do, it will work.
What they have to work on: Patience – They are one to two steps ahead of everyone else on the team, and it seems obvious that they want to pick up right where they left off, as if nothing has changed. Clayton was never charged last season with being the go-to guy every play of the game who fires up shots and forces offense. The first time I’ve really seen him do that, single-handedly, was towards the end of the first-half of the Furman game. While I’m glad he was able to provide that spark in a 5-minute spurt – relying on him to do that all season, all game long, is not going to make us a great team. One player’s success will not equal a great season for Loyola. We do not want to get into a situation like the year we were the league favorite in the Horizon, and our plan was to give the ball to Blake Schilb and hope he makes everything all right. The hardest part for these three players, and what they’ll need to do the most, is patiently play their roles and help the others get up to speed. Custer jacking up threes and running into the paint for spot-up shots from the top of the key all game, Townes running at the basket with reckless abandon and trying to lay it in as he falls to the floor every possession, or Krutwig getting the ball and immediately trying to turn and soft touch it at the rim each time he gets it, will not put us in the tournament. Each of these players are great at what they do… but if they get frustrated and try to do what they do best, while abandoning the overall offensive plan, it’s going to result in failure.
Phase 2 Players: Lucas Williamson, Bruno Skokna, Christian Negron, Aher Uguak
What they bring – Experience. All of them, in one form or another, were part of the special run we had last year, based on our ball movement and teamwork. None of these players played as big a role in our success last year as Custer, Townes, Krutwig, Richardson or Jackson; however, they each played some role in our success, and they understand what needs to be done in order to get to where we were at the end of last year.
What they need to work on – This phase of players have two things they need to do: 1) Find their new, improved role in our offense, and 2) bring the phase 3 players up to speed and keep them on task when they have setbacks or make mistakes.
On improving in their roles: None of these guys are going to be mirror images of Richardson or Jackson. All of them are individually talented in their own right. Williamson needs to be more aggressive and take on a leadership role. Negron needs to stay healthy and provide a high energy spark in three to four-minute increments coming off the bench while our starters catch a breather. Uguak needs to play with more control and get better at finishing around the basket. Through two games, Skokna is the only guy I think has his role down the best for this year’s season, and I would probably put him as a “phase 1” guy, except for the fact that he’s not one of our starters.
On helping the phase 3 players – Last year we didn’t have the experience or the accomplishments that we have this year. Guys like Avery and Satterwhite didn’t buy in…. and now they’re gone. The Phase 2 players DID buy in, and they’re still here with knowledge and that Porter has the ability to get the best out of each and every one of them. The new players did not witness, first-hand, the improvement of our star players and what they were at the beginning of last season. The Phase 2 guys need to keep the new guys on task and make sure they buy into Porter’s system and not get frustrated when things aren’t going their way.
Phase 3 Players: Isiah Budjoso, Frank Agannane, Cooper Kaifus
What they bring – Honestly, at this point, the only thing these guys bring to the table is enough athleticism to give the phase 1 and phase 2 guys’ breathers and not let a game get out of hand when our starters are not on the floor.
What they need to work on – Fortitude. Through two games, I already have concerns about Budjoso and Big Frank. Mostly I’m concerned about Budjoso. He has made some pretty bad turnovers and forced some ugly shots (i.e. the wide open 3 point airball shot in the Furman game). There are two paths for him this season – he can be our next Skokna…. or he can be our next Adarius Avery. Skokna is an obvious student of the game. He is a guy that seems to listen to coach and his improvement from the beginning of the last year to the end of last year was huge; whereas, if you saw Avery – he was vastly more talented than Skokna (and Satterwhite), but was not willing to learn. When Avery got in the games early in the season, he made mistakes – and when he made mistakes he got frustrated and didn’t listen. This is precisely why in the tournament, you saw Skokna on the floor as an able reserve, and Avery looking on from the bench and not contributing to our run. Budjuso has talent, but he needs to have the fortitude to continue to get better and not get frustrated and give up on Porter’s plan. Unlike the phase 2 guys, he hasn’t seen, first-hand, the guys evolve in Porter’s system throughout a season, and I’m hoping those phase 2 guys keep his head right and give him the faith to keep working. To a lesser extent, I have the same fear with Big Frank. This guy probably had his way on offense in high school, and the bigger, quicker college game may be shell-shocking him a bit. Every time he’s gotten called for a foul, he looks frustrated like he didn’t do it (but for the record, they have all been fouls). He is another situation, like Avery, where the talent is there, but does he have the fortitude to continue getting coached to improve?
The bottom line is – you can feel bad about the loss, but it is not the time to feel bad about the team. The ability is there if everyone buys in. The fear I have with a loss like the one we had to Furman is that some of these players might want to abandon the plan.
|
Login
Register
FAQ
Search
