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Ritchie McKay's coaching philosophy?

Posted: March 25th, 2007, 12:04 pm
by olldflame
I'd be interesting in hearing from our visitors from Loboland (or anyone else who knows for that matter), how coach McKay approaches the game.

Defensively: Does he like to press? Zone or man to man in the half court?

Offensively: Run and gun or more methodical? Set plays in the half court or more of a system like the motion offense?

Posted: March 25th, 2007, 12:19 pm
by biglobo
Defense is an issue with Coach McKay and hat is one of he reasons it just did not work out here. Hi teams never seemed to play great defense. He's always talked aboutthe desire to run and pressure but I don't think he had the personnel to do so in ABQ (which because of its elevation woudl ceate a HUGE home court advantage).

On the offensive end his squads rely a lot on the three. He'll try and recruit shooters and run a combo of the motion and half-court set. We really lacked a presence inside so we never got to see any emphasis on the inside game outside of an above-average David Chiotti through last year but even the the three was the primay offensive weapon.

Posted: March 25th, 2007, 12:33 pm
by PAmedic
biglobo wrote: On the offensive end his squads rely a lot on the three. He'll try and recruit shooters and run a combo of the motion and half-court set. We really lacked a presence inside so we never got to see any emphasis on the inside game outside of an above-average David Chiotti through last year but even the the three was the primay offensive weapon.
hmm.

sounds familiar :evil:

Posted: March 26th, 2007, 10:19 am
by jcmanson
Well he answered this question in the press conference by stating he would play however it best suited the team he had.

Posted: March 26th, 2007, 10:55 am
by Hold My Own
From what I hear he's running a tight ship


My guess is the next time there is a press conference there wont be any players wearing ear rings :wink:



and that makes me happy! We need discipline...and we're going to get it...I just hope you guys are ready for it...some of you would get on RD so much because of on the court tirades...this is what the program needs

Posted: March 26th, 2007, 10:57 am
by TallyW
In that regard does anyone know the stylistic/disciplinary differences the team will be seeing with RMC?

Posted: March 26th, 2007, 12:01 pm
by 505Cherry_and_Silver
RM was a disciplinarian at UNM and I don't see him changing his philosphy. He will not tolerate behavior unbecoming of a student athlete and will not be afraid to sit a player for an infraction (example: JR Giddens, McDonald's AA). That being said, he will also show grace and mercy to any student athlete who may make a mistake (example: Aaron Johnson, bar fight with local law enforcement).

The knock on RM's basketball style was that he tended to be guard oriented (live and die by the trey) and didn't recruit the big guys. I don't think he couldn't recruit them, he just had bad luck keeping them here and keeping them healthy.

When I would watch the games at the Pit, I would see a lot of players standing around waiting for someone to make something happen (most of the time). I don't blame this on the coach b/c RM has stated many times that the players were not doing what he would ask them to do on the court.

Time will tell, but if I were a Liberty fan (which I am now), I would be excited. Everyone needs a break and I think this is RM's! Rally around him and he will do good things for Liberty Basketball.

Posted: March 26th, 2007, 12:46 pm
by jcmanson
We are really making alot of fans out west! Maybe we should schedule some games out that way.

Posted: March 27th, 2007, 9:52 am
by TDDance234
Looking at the numbers --

RM's offense at NM tied for 48th in the country (with Winthrop, interestingly enough) at 75.3 points per game.
RM's offense came in at #9 (in all of MBB) in 3 pointers made per game, at 9.3.
Lastly, RM's offense shot 37% from the arc as a team last season, good for 8th in the country.

Posted: March 27th, 2007, 9:55 am
by Hold My Own
TDDance234 wrote:Looking at the numbers --

RM's offense at NM tied for 48th in the country (with Winthrop, interestingly enough) at 75.3 points per game.
RM's offense came in at #9 (in all of MBB) in 3 pointers made per game, at 9.3.
Lastly, RM's offense shot 37% from the arc as a team last season, good for 8th in the country.


Wow :shock:

those are the facts and they cannot be disputed.

Posted: March 27th, 2007, 10:01 am
by TallyW
Lets just keep in mind that the PPG weren't against the Big South... but rather the MWC

The Strength of Schedule for New Mexico was 105.
The Strength of Schedule for Winthrop was 227.

101. Rhode Island (17-14) 0.5278
102. Hawaii (18-13) 0.5276
103. Marshall (13-19) 0.5270
104. Illinois St (14-16) 0.5246
105. New Mexico (14-17) 0.5234
106. Drexel (22-9) 0.5224
107. Charlotte (14-16) 0.5208
108. Nevada (28-5) 0.5196
109. Boise St (16-14) 0.5196
110. TCU (13-17) 0.5184
-----------

221. Mo Kansas City (11-19) 0.4704
222. Tex San Antonio (4-22) 0.4702
223. Eastern Wash (12-14) 0.4693
224. Delaware St (20-13) 0.4692
225. Iupui (13-15) 0.4689
226. Texas A&M-CC (24-7) 0.4685
227. Winthrop (25-5) 0.4685
228. Tennessee Tech (18-13) 0.4676
229. Northwestern St (16-15) 0.4674
230. Navy (12-16) 0.4669

Posted: March 27th, 2007, 10:13 am
by LUconn
While we're spitting out stats, here are some important ones from our friend KenPom.com

http://kenpom.com/sr.php?team=New%20Mexico
Offense Defense
Raw Efficiency : 108.5 ( 55) 107.6 (286)
Adj Efficiency : 110.0 ( 73) 104.5 (197)

Effective FG% : 53.6 ( 41) 53.8 (301)
Turnover Pct. : 17.8 ( 26) 19.9 (231)
Off. Rebound% : 29.6 (284) 32.4 (115)
Free Throw Rate: 22.1 (266) 34.7 (123)

3-Point FG% : 37.3 ( 63) 36.3 (251)
2-Point FG% : 51.8 ( 57) 53.5 (314)
Free Throw Pct.: 66.1 (263) 68.8 (141)
Block Pct. : 8.3 (113) 6.5 (272)
Steal Pct. : 8.6 ( 66) 8.2 (285)

3PA/FGA : 42.2 ( 28 ) 36.9 (262)
A/FGM : 55.9 (150) 59.4 (269)
Defense doesn't look like a priority :cry:

Posted: March 27th, 2007, 10:16 am
by Fumblerooskies
Sounds like this style will be a great fit in the Big South. Other than Bradshaw, there have not been many dominating big men in the league in recent years.

Posted: March 27th, 2007, 10:16 am
by LUconn
that didnt format very well but the key figures are the national rankings in the parentheses.

Posted: March 27th, 2007, 10:19 am
by TallyW
It would work... But on the other hand I'd suggest that it means all the more that we should get bigger. Aluma and company helped our cause and now with Winthrop's bigs... it makes sense to go after the big man... but then again... they are fewer and farther between.

Posted: March 27th, 2007, 11:33 am
by Fumblerooskies
TallyW wrote:It would work... But on the other hand I'd suggest that it means all the more that we should get bigger. Aluma and company helped our cause and now with Winthrop's bigs... it makes sense to go after the big man... but then again... they are fewer and farther between.
Not unlike Rocco and the 3-4 scheme...as he said finding the big athletic linemen was tougher than finding the athletic LB.

Because I'm in love w/ you LUconn

Posted: March 27th, 2007, 12:53 pm
by PAmedic
LUconn wrote:that didnt format very well but the key figures are the national rankings in the parentheses.
http://kenpom.com/sr.php?team=New%20Mexico
Code: Select all
                  Offense     Defense 

Raw Efficiency : 108.5 ( 55) 107.6 (286) 
Adj Efficiency : 110.0 ( 73) 104.5 (197) 

Effective FG% :   53.6 ( 41)  53.8 (301) 
Turnover Pct. :   17.8 ( 26)  19.9 (231) 
Off. Rebound% :   29.6 (284)  32.4 (115) 
Free Throw Rate:  22.1 (266)  34.7 (123) 

3-Point FG% :     37.3 ( 63)  36.3 (251) 
2-Point FG% :     51.8 ( 57)  53.5 (314) 
Free Throw Pct.:  66.1 (263)  68.8 (141) 
Block Pct. :       8.3 (113)   6.5 (272) 
Steal Pct. :       8.6 ( 66)   8.2 (285) 

3PA/FGA :         42.2 ( 28)  36.9 (262) 
A/FGM :           55.9 (150)  59.4 (269) 

Posted: March 27th, 2007, 12:55 pm
by PAmedic
LU was actually ok on the boards, and FTs are fixable

I feel better already

Posted: March 27th, 2007, 2:59 pm
by olldflame
Winthrop's bigs (Bradshaw & Williams) are both gone, the fans there don't hold out much hope for the big Irish kid, and they may actually have to play Taj McCullough in the post next year. I still agree that any really good team needs a legit post presence, whether it's a 7 footer, an athlete like Ace or a wide body with good post moves like the kids George Mason had.