[olldflame]

There's a lot to like. Highly skilled. Savvy with the ball in his hands. Very intuitive. But arrived here with some head scratching deficiencies that are antithetical to basic guard play. Where he spends his summer will be pivotal. Needs to be in a stronger development environment in order to iron some of this stuff out.

A lot of big words there that don't actually say anything about the perceived problems. Not exactly flattering to our coaching staff either. Since you apparently believe you have diagnosed some serious issues with Brody's game which our coaches have missed and/or failed to address, perhaps you could enlighten all of us by actually saying what they are.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying he's totally "ready for prime time" and is a lock to be our next big time scorer, but if you want to talk about something that is "head-scratching", I think the idea that we need to bring in some developmental guru to address these unspecified "deficiencies" when we have one of the best coaching staffs on the planet is just that.

BTW, by way of comparison, as a FR, Darius averaged 2 points a game more than Brody, playing 4 minutes more, but his shooting percentages overall and from 3 were both about 7% lower. I think Ritchie and his crew did a pretty good job of "coaching him up".

[paradox]

Adding a younger pro-level shooting coach would be worth it's weight in gold. McKay has guys in his network. Someone like a Mickey McConnell. It would be a huge advantage. Guys are learning bad habits mostly because they start shooting the long ball too early in their youth. Once these habits set in, they can be difficult to correct. You'll get more value from a high-level specialist like McConnell or someone like him.

[paradox]

There's a lot to like. Highly skilled. Savvy with the ball in his hands. Very intuitive. But arrived here with some head scratching deficiencies that are antithetical to basic guard play. Where he spends his summer will be pivotal. Needs to be in a stronger development environment in order to iron some of this stuff out.

Not exactly flattering to our coaching staff either...

No one one is taking shots at the coaching staff. And don't assume that they are thin-skinned about improvement. Basketball is a game where you're always learning and always looking to improve in any way you can. It's a never-ending process. And that goes for every level and every age.

Motion and release issues were discussed previously, on this forum, mid-season. And for the record, I really like the guy and believe in his potential. But, I also think that this offseason is pivotal. Please don't distort what's being said.

[stokesjokes]

I’m not sure why you’d want to mess around with a 40% 3pt shooters motion and release too much.
All that really matters is if he can get them off and if they go in.

[paradox]

The numbers say little about what they need him to do. In context, RM did a nice job working around it. BP requires a ton of space to get his shot off. RM & KA know this is problematic.

[Tothehoopyall1]

A couple thoughts on the past season and prospects for 22-23.

- We have to do a better job of rebounding. I was amazed at how many times we launched shots and no one went after the offensive rebound (Not 1 player) during our last two games.

- With all the talk of being a defensive team.. WE DID A POOR JOB OF STOPPING PLAYERS. I mean look at the layups we gave Benham (Lipscomb) and Penn (Bellarmine) in the last two games. This was unacceptable and is not championship basketball. Our defense made those guys look like they were 1st team all conference players (Penn may be).

- Blake is a solid defender but at best a D2 offensive threat (right now). I am sure our coaches have worked with him on the offensive end but there seems to be a disconnect. I mean how many dribbles does one need in the lane at 6' 9". If he had a hook shot with his length he could be a force. However, the offensive IQ just doesn't seem to be there. He could be a surprise player in 22-23 if he can get it together offensively. If not, his minutes may continue to dwindle.

- Brody Peebles will start as a sophomore. How can you keep him off the floor? The guy is a natural scorer and we will need scoring. I don't care if he starts his shot from the floor as long as the ball goes in. The kid is a scorer.

- I love Venzant and Warfield defensively but they have got to improve offensively and this has to happen quickly. If not, I could see their minutes actually dwindle depending on our recruiting.

-I love our coaching staff and players. We will get better and get back to championship form.

[stokesjokes]

Welcome @Tothehoopyall1 !

I think the defense will be much better, addition by subtraction. It was especially noticeable in the tourney, but even small guys like Benham just posted up on Darius and shot over him. I don’t think we helped as well as we should have, but next year we’ll be running better defensive line-ups where we will be able to defend well without doubling in just about any scenario.

I don’t think the gain defensively gets anywhere close to the loss on offense, but I think we’ve got guys who have shown they can score if they’re put in the right spots.

[Tothehoopyall1]

You make some great points!
One thing I didn't mention was the inability to close teams out this year.
After the Missouri game I thought we had the makings of something special but the team started to get lackadasical the second half of the season. I hear a lot of excuses from Covid to the A-Sun has some really good teams etc. At the end of the day we just didn't string together a solid 40 minutes of basketball in way too many games. when we played 40 minutes we did well (ex. Missouri and Jacksonville at home).
I love our program but I'm not going to make excuses for them.

[stokesjokes]

the A-Sun has some really good teams

lol

[JK37]

Explanations aren’t necessarily excuses.

COVID missed games and rescheduling seemed like a factor. Inconsistency as individuals led to inconsistency as a team. That’s a nightmare for a coach.

Peebles has to start. Rode has to start. Shiloh has to start. Who else will score?!

Preston is a Putback Post. Never an Anchor Post who can CREATE his own shot on the block. But, I love how he works. I think he missed more time than anyone, and game shape goes FAST. He didn’t look 100% to me ever again after he was back.

DM was a leader in terms of production. I’m pretty sure Rode was the emotional leader. If not him, then who?! And his production inconsistencies would marginalize his emotional leadership. This team played rudderless and failed to adapt. I’m not prepared to call that a coaching problem. Yet.

[Tothehoopyall1]

Good thoughts above.
I may be a little too hard on Preston at times. I will say (IMO) that I thought he outplayed Shiloh the last 4-6 games. I'm just not sure how far we would ever go with a post like Preston, even if we win the ASUN. I'm hopeful that we can eventually bring in some height/skill players and I feel like this could happen soon either through transfer or recruiting.
BTW, I think Bryson Spell will be interesting to watch this coming year. If he can get out there and consistently knock down some 3's he could be a huge addition, not to mention a difficult matchup problem.

[paradox]

Explanations aren’t necessarily excuses.......This team played rudderless and failed to adapt. I’m not prepared to call that a coaching problem. Yet.

In a strange way, the close loses in the holiday tournament to BYU & Stanford are the highlights for me.

The low point was the 10 point loss to JSU at home. Turned out to be an ominous sign. They kept fighting though. Even came close to hosting another title game. Confident we would've won too. But next year is a huge unknown. High expectations wouldn't seem to be realistic. A few things will have to turn in or favor. We'll see.

[Racenut]

To be fair, I did not expect this team to win 22 games this year. Given the youth and lack of a dominant inside player, and all the COVID interruptions, I would say this was a successful year. We have been spoiled to some extent with the high level of play over the last few years, and I'm sure this makes some of the critique on this board sound harsh. Unfortunately the printed word fails to communicate empathy and the respect for the state of the program that Coach McKay has built. Suffice it to say that most people who frequent this board are appreciative of the effort of all athletes that wear the colors at LU. I am most appreciative of the class and character displayed by the players and coaches win or lose. Hope the team can get a well deserved rest and then get back to establishing a new championship winning streak next year.

[Ill flame]

As frustrating as this team was to watch its nice having a 22 win season as a down year. What's concerning for me is the fact that we've gotten worse every year for 4 years now with a very high likelihood of it being 5 years going into a much tougher conference on the 6th year. I would love to bring in a proven grad transfer point guard that can run our offense and help this team perform better than their individual parts.

[olldflame]

As frustrating as this team was to watch its nice having a 22 win season as a down year. What's concerning for me is the fact that we've gotten worse every year for 4 years now with a very high likelihood of it being 5 years going into a much tougher conference on the 6th year. I would love to bring in a proven grad transfer point guard that can run our offense and help this team perform better than their individual parts.

I agree that a veteran PG would be a good addition. Problem right now is someone will need to transfer out to open up a scholarship. There is a logical candidate for that, and we should know something in the next month or so.

[paradox]

The emphasis on team play is a positive. We have good guys and good coaching. But if you wanna get somewhere, you need clutch scoring. If we wanna get back to being competitive in the NCAAs, then we're gonna need at least two guys who are dependable in the clutch. As it stands now, motion offense, with an emphasis on team play. In order to maximize this, we need to shoot better. This entire team needs to improve. Forget the stats. They're only situational at best. And they're based on teams focusing exclusively on Darias and Keegan beyond the arc. Next year the situation changes and they need to get better. There's a reason why we passed up so many open looks in critical moments.

[Tothehoopyall1]

It will be interesting to see who leaves the program and who might come in.

-I'm hearing Abi and Jackson may be gone. I think Abi has some promise but he seems to stay in RM's doghouse. I'm not sure the fit is the best for him here but he certainly seems like a great kid. I saw where WBB just offered his sister who is in 8th grade.
- I would love to know who has expressed interest to our coaches or if there has been any dialogue with players that might transfer here. With the new arena and awesome playing environment we now have, this has to be a very intriguing place for many players that might be thinking about transferring.

[stokesjokes]

I'm taking the offer to Abii's sister as an encouraging sign for him staying. The PT is there for him if he wants it, he was earning bigger minutes mid-season but then seemed to be a victim of the bench shortening by the end. I see him leaving if he either thinks he's going to remain behind Preston or if he sees Spell or Cleveland crowding him out.

For Jackson, it just never seemed to click. We heard about his mythical shooting ability, but he never seemed to have much else to offer and didn't hit enough of the shots he was given when he was in. Of course, with a team in dire need of scoring next year, if he were to be able to give us a quick scoring punch off the bench, we'd have a role for him.

[olldflame]

A couple thoughts on the past season and prospects for 22-23.

- We have to do a better job of rebounding. I was amazed at how many times we launched shots and no one went after the offensive rebound (Not 1 player) during our last two games.

- With all the talk of being a defensive team.. WE DID A POOR JOB OF STOPPING PLAYERS. I mean look at the layups we gave Benham (Lipscomb) and Penn (Bellarmine) in the last two games. This was unacceptable and is not championship basketball. Our defense made those guys look like they were 1st team all conference players (Penn may be).

- Blake is a solid defender but at best a D2 offensive threat (right now). I am sure our coaches have worked with him on the offensive end but there seems to be a disconnect. I mean how many dribbles does one need in the lane at 6' 9". If he had a hook shot with his length he could be a force. However, the offensive IQ just doesn't seem to be there. He could be a surprise player in 22-23 if he can get it together offensively. If not, his minutes may continue to dwindle.

- Brody Peebles will start as a sophomore. How can you keep him off the floor? The guy is a natural scorer and we will need scoring. I don't care if he starts his shot from the floor as long as the ball goes in. The kid is a scorer.

- I love Venzant and Warfield defensively but they have got to improve offensively and this has to happen quickly. If not, I could see their minutes actually dwindle depending on our recruiting.

-I love our coaching staff and players. We will get better and get back to championship form.

Agree with most of that.
Not crashing the offensive boards is by design. The #1 goal of the pack line is to force opponents to use a lot of clock and take contested shots against our half court defense. Crashing the offensive boards with multiple players is not conducive to this goal, as it presents fast break opportunities. Our standard MO is to have one player (usually Shiloh or Blake) go after the offensive rebound while everyone else drops back to set up the pack line.

[olldflame]

It will be interesting to see who leaves the program and who might come in.

-I'm hearing Abi and Jackson may be gone. I think Abi has some promise but he seems to stay in RM's doghouse. I'm not sure the fit is the best for him here but he certainly seems like a great kid. I saw where WBB just offered his sister who is in 8th grade.
- I would love to know who has expressed interest to our coaches or if there has been any dialogue with players that might transfer here. With the new arena and awesome playing environment we now have, this has to be a very intriguing place for many players that might be thinking about transferring.

Ritchie doesn't have a doghouse. If a player doesn't get minutes, it's because they have not earned them in practice.

Dale Layer? Now there is a coach who had a doghouse. I used to refer to it as the Hotel California.

[ballcoach15]

Whatever the reason, it was puzzling most every game, that Abii didn't get more minutes.
As for next season, it's very evident we're going to need more scorers.
Emphasis on defense is good, but basketball is an offense oriented sport.

See UVA vs UNC last night. 13 points in first half, 43 for the game.

[olldflame]

Whatever the reason, it was puzzling most every game, that Abii didn't get more minutes.
As for next season, it's very evident we're going to need more scorers.
Emphasis on defense is good, but basketball is an offense oriented sport.

See UVA vs UNC last night. 13 points in first half, 43 for the game.

It's not our coach's fault that you are "puzzled".

As far as basketball being an "offensive sport" is concerned, it's the only one of the 3 major college sports where the players need to switch from offence to defense and back in an instant throughout the game. Some teams are better at one than the other, but very seldom do you see a champion that doesn't do both well.

[paradox]

See UVA vs UNC last night. 13 points in first half, 43 for the game.

Pitiful. And just a few years removed from a championship?

[ballcoach15]

Whatever the reason, it was puzzling most every game, that Abii didn't get more minutes.
As for next season, it's very evident we're going to need more scorers.
Emphasis on defense is good, but basketball is an offense oriented sport.

See UVA vs UNC last night. 13 points in first half, 43 for the game.

It's not our coach's fault that you are "puzzled".

As far as basketball being an "offensive sport" is concerned, it's the only one of the 3 major college sports where the players need to switch from offence to defense and back in an instant throughout the game. Some teams are better at one than the other, but very seldom do you see a champion that doesn't do both well.

Did I say it's our coaches fault, I'm puzzled ? I seem to recall a similar post on here by someone else, a month or two ago, saying they were puzzled as to why he wasn't getting more minutes.

[paradox]

-I'm hearing Abi and Jackson may be gone....

Ritchie doesn't have a doghouse. If a player doesn't get minutes, it's because they have not earned them in practice.

Players come and go. So, we'll see.

Not much of a stretch to assume all these guys work hard in practice. All good guys.

All three can score at least situationally. But what happens after they make 2 or 3 in a row and the defense adjusts? That's definitive. So, there's a bigger picture in play.