Oxen ball... Brot's bete noire... If that's the style that's best for winning, I'm all for it, and please give me more. Taking the other team out of their preferred pace, and making the game get played at the pace that's best for your team is a tried and true strategy for winning games. We used a brutally slow pace to beat Boise State, and we slowed down the pace to beat Evansville. When you're dealing with a team that doesn't play much defense and loves to score, that's usually the way to go. Our problem against SIU wasn't necessarily the pace, it was 1. Not even any token offensive rebounding work, 2. Not using all the weapons we have (Doyle's two field goal attempts, James out for most of the 2nd half, almost no press against a team prone to turnovers), and 3. Not taking advantage of in-game conditions (getting the 5th foul on Beane, getting to the line more while in the bonus for the last 11 minutes, etc.). We also had almost nothing on fast break points.
Guard play/Balance. Our starting backcourt had eight field goal attempts for the game (Turk 6, Doyle 2, Crisman 0), and only ONE two point field goal attempt (one make by Doyle). The guards off the bench didn't do any better-- Peterson, Richardson, and White had seven shots on goal, with only four (all by White) inside the arc. Some of that was done by SIU extending the defense and ball pressure out from the arc, but we seemed to have a game plan to go inside repeatedly, and we didn't adjust. No screens on the perimeter, only a couple pull-up jumpers in the gap between the paint and the arc (one missed open 14 foot jumper by Thomas, one make by Knuth that I recall), etc.
Having fun/improvising. From the beginning of the game and increasingly throughout, it looked like the team was dreading every single minute of the game. There were nothing but grim expressions all around, and even the congratulations for good plays looked subdued and fatalistic. The team played like it was under strict orders to not do certain things, even if the opportunity clearly presented itself. We saw that a lot last season, and this is the first game where it's been obvious and pervasive this year. I don't know the personalities well enough to know how to go about it, but something has to be done to lighten things up and change the vibe. Maybe I'd bring in somebody with a good sense of humor and the ability to inspire to talk to the players before Evansville. Maybe the coaches need to dial it down a notch on the regimentation.
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