We're not that far off...

[Jason Svoboda]

I know most of you guys are disappointed with the 6-7 start, but we're really not that far off. If we start with a couple baseline assumptions, we're actually probably farther ahead then we should be:

1) Transition year -- This is coach Lansing's first year and it always takes some time to implement a new system. We're going from one extreme to another offensively.

2) Square Peg, Round Hole -- I think it is safe to say that we've got some nice pieces for Lansing's system, but some guys are just not good fits. This is no fault to them or Lansing, it is just an extenuating circumstance of being recruited under one system and now playing in another.

I spent some time last night looking at the cumulative statistics and found some very, very encouraging things:

1) Opponents are only shooting 41% against us -- 275 of 671. As a coach, I think you'd take this all day, every day. We're playing pretty solid defense for the most part and we've pointed out things that can be improved.

2) We lead opponents in pretty much every statistical category -- rebounds, assists, blocks, etc. We're outrebounding our opponents by 3 boards a game. We'd probably be ahead in steals as well if it weren't for our turnovers.

As some bad:

1) Turnovers -- We've committed 199 turnovers on the year, or 15.3 per game. It is imperative that we have better decision-making with better passing and not leaving your feet without a plan.

2) Opponents have almost made as many free throws as we've attempted. We're 172-255 (67.5%) to our opponents 231-326 (70.9%) -- we need to quit bailing teams out. We're giving our opponents nearly 18 ppg at the charity stripe.

Overall, I think we're not too shabby. We could have probably had 2 more wins (EKU and Evansville) right now if we played a full 40 in both of those games. As we continue to develop kids and cut down on the mental mistakes, we'll start winning those close games.

 

[IndyTreeFan]

Good analysis. I like to see numbers behind what's going on. Lots of correctable stuff going on, and the defensive numbers are encouraging...

 

[SycamoreStateofMind]

Not to make an excuse for some of the things that were said the past couple days by me and a few other posters. Speaking for myself only, I probably was a little overly critical in the process of trying to provide "thoughts" on how I saw the game. With that being said, I want to provide maybe a major cause for my frustration:

Take into consideration how well we played in the opener vs. Bradley, the Sycamore go to Evansville 1-0 with an impressive start to conference play. That on the heels of a solid effort vs. a ranked school in Purdue. We are up 17 points and I can actually see light at the end of the tunnel, it was amazing. Here we are looking at 25 minutes away from a 2-0 start with another home game in less than 3 days for a chance at a 3-0 start to Mo Val play. Not sure when the last time we were able to do that?

I guess I really just felt like that was a critical 25 minutes to our season, falling apart like that on the road - I would really be surprised if we won another road game in the Valley this season. Sure nothing is guaranteed and maybe I shouldn't have looked so far ahead. But Evansville was absolutely terrible, no reason we shouldn't have been up by 20 plus points at half.

I think being at the game as opposed to watching it on TV made it all the more depressing. I am sure it was hard to watch on TV, but man in person it was brutal and having to drive home with all those emotions aint much fun either.

These will be my final thoughts on the Evansville game, I refuse to even mention it again this season.

 

[Sackalot]

Good analysis Boda. I think there are good things going on...and improvements too.

Free throws are my biggest thing...I will always beleive in Coach Knight philosophy on free throws...make more than the other team attempts and you will win most of the time. We have to do better at the line and not give so much to the other team.

A free throw should be just about as automatic as a lay-up. We have to hit free throws and we have to keep the opponent off the line. For me that is the starting point and I have to beleive that Coach and the team knows that. All other things will work themselves out, but if the free throw situation isn't addressed, I think that other issues will continue to be problems.

Just my two cents.

 

[Sycamore Proud]

Good analysis Boda. I think there are good things going on...and improvements too.

Free throws are my biggest thing...I will always beleive in Coach Knight philosophy on free throws...make more than the other team attempts and you will win most of the time. We have to do better at the line and not give so much to the other team.

A free throw should be just about as automatic as a lay-up. We have to hit free throws and we have to keep the opponent off the line. For me that is the starting point and I have to beleive that Coach and the team knows that. All other things will work themselves out, but if the free throw situation isn't addressed, I think that other issues will continue to be problems.

Just my two cents.

Not only do we need to increase our team FT %, we need to initiate actions that get us to the line more often. Trips to the line are not often the result of the 3 pt. shot.

 

[SycamoreFan317]

I believe our biggest problem is consistency. We know what to do and how to do it, but we do not come with the focus and intensity that we should night in and night out. That explains the poor free throw shooting as it is mainly concentration, except for Walker. In basketball there is no excuse for any of the following to be awol on any night free throw shooting, rebounding, and defense. I blame this on the team leadership.

 

[Jason Svoboda]

Not only do we need to increase our team FT %, we need to initiate actions that get us to the line more often. Trips to the line are not often the result of the 3 pt. shot.

Agreed. I think Lathan tries to do this and is moderately successful at doing so. Kelly and Odum also are both decent at doing this. Where we could really use more of this is coming from Carl. I'd say space the floor and let him try to take his guy off the dribble to the rim. He's also one of our best free throw shoots -- sitting at 90% right now.

I went back and watched the 2nd half of the Evansville game and our floor spacing was pretty bad while Evansvilles was very good. Going back to Bobby Knight because I'll always consider him the master of the motion offense, he usually required players to be spaced 15-18 feet from each other on the floor. In the 2nd half of the Evansville game, there were numerous times where we were packed in, especially when Lathan made moves to the bucket. In the first half, we really spread Evansville out and it resulted in some wide open or easier looks that just weren't there in the 2nd half. Additionally, Evansville made it a point to force us to shoot by clogging the lane -- this is where we need Printy, RJ, et al to hit buckets and force them out of this.