jmiller2794 wrote:
... That being said, on paper, the Des/Quinn/Welch/Dolan/Schweiger/Mwamba rotation should be enough to win this game. Those are 6 guys that have shooting, size, quickness, and the ability to defend. They looked lost out there on offense. A little better defensively but there were a lot of blown rotations that led to open threes. But god damn, in the final possessions we got one good shot to Dolan that he missed and then it was a junkshow after that until the whistle blew. It seems like a coaching problem to me that they were not able to execute any coherent sets down the stretch when the game was still in reach.
...This is the first game where I think I caught the vision on what Rubin can be. He looked like the only player in white not scared to go at the rim for long stretches of the game, and there were a lot of shots he affected on the other end. The two blocks on the stat sheet dramatically understates his defensive impact. That being said, he let a couple guys blow by him and tried to clean it up by trailing and going for the block and I never saw that work. It might have in high school but he's going to either need to get faster laterally or they need to stop switching those screens. I'd love to see them develop the pick and role game with him.
Agree with this. Dolan shot one of the flattest threes I've ever seen, which really surprised me at the improbability of it going in. I'd read that he was a 42% three point shooter, and that shot looked like a Brad Tice free throw (deep cut from the 90s). Des and Welch had some urgency in their play, but not many others. That's a motivation, confidence, play-calling, and execution issue that goes to coaching and player development, I think.
Rubin is going to be fantastic if he develops right in some areas. You're right about him staying in front of players who sometimes slip by. That should be easy to address. Footwork is really advanced, and physicality will improve-- possibly even by the end of the season. Very long, and he's got some hops for a big man. I'm wondering about his knee, though. Welch is great against EIU and give some good minutes against better teams. But he can't hold down the center spot alone against long and mobile players like Okani and Vlad. Dame and Rubin need to get healthy.