I didn't go back and track threads from previous years, but this has to be the most upset the board has been during any 1-2 stretch in Chris Beard's tenure as the head coach. I'm not saying it's unfair, just an observation, and I think it comes down to two things:
1) Expectations
2) How it looks
This team has final four expectations, and has looked like a bubble team, that's going to cause some problems. Add in just how the struggles have looked, the basketball offense has made long for a David Yost drive.
With all that being said, I decided to combine every offensive possession in the final two and a halfish minutes (and overtime) from the three conference games this season, and see if the problem(s) could be identified.
First, Kansas, the thing that stands out to me every time I watch this clip is the lack of movement. No one seems to be moving with a purpose to score, well at least one person does every possession, but that's it. It looks almost like they are taking turns, no two people are allowed to move offensively at once. Obviously, the zone has something to do with this, and as much as I hate to give Bill Self a compliment, it was a a great move by him. The best two ways to beat a zone, in my opinion, are to either overload one side or use dribble penetration to disrupt it.
At 10 seconds, McClung drives, and the moment he enters the paint he has three options, bounce pass to MSS, Burton corner three, or Kyler free throw line extended three. I like those options in that order, instead, he pivots around in the paint, giving the defense time to recover, and gets it to Shannon who starts the passing around process all over again.
Burton has gotten a lot of, deserved, flack, but watch his movement starting at 26 seconds, he's all over the place. He finally gets the ball, forces the issue, and gets a relatively easy layup. I'll take that over a deep contested three every day.
Finally, at 52 seconds, the last possession(s) starts. I like the idea of not calling a timeout and trying to get a good shot in transition, but it doesn't really pan out because, again, who's trying to score there? Then the out of bounds play for the win, Beard mentioned that it wasn't run correctly and that is was supposed to go to McClung, which makes sense, but, now he's getting it sprinting away from the basket with 6 seconds left? I don't know, all of those options leave a lot to be desired. Especially after seeing the two plays Self drew up to give Kansas the lead.
The one difference between this clip and the Kansas clip, to me, is that OU is playing man instead of zone. You can still watch the guys without the ball and think,
I know this was a win, but it almost wasn't, and that's because of not being able to capitalize on these possessions and put OU away. Every time I watch this clip, I focus on the screeners, go back, watch the video again, and focus on the guys setting ball screens. They put no pressure on the defense, no hard rolls, no pops, no seals or at least none with conviction. I'm sure everyone is a little timid and unsure, especially the new guys, and you can see it in all of these clips. Everyone looks like they are thinking instead of just playing basketball, nothing looks natural.
The first possession in this clip is, in a nutshell, what has driven me nuts about the offense in late game situations. Watch Nimari, he makes a great cut off the screen and it should be good enough for an easy layup or foul. Shannon sees it, he pumps it, but decides instead to give the ball to Mac fifty feet from the basket. If Tech is up eight, great plan, only three... it's worth the risk for the points.
The rest of the clip is more of the same, it feels more like random movement than a coherent offense, which I understand it part of running a motion offense, the randomness of it, but the random nature is really disjointed when trying to integrate numerous new pieces into the team.
It's easy to say, "if the team can just shoot better, they'll be alright," and to an extent that's obviously true, but I can't find many shots in these clips that are "good." I'd rather find a way to create "good" looks for average shooters, then to expect average shooters to hit "okay" shots.
I'm sure, in a month or so, this will all look incredibly dumb. The team will be a cohesive unit and the randomness of the offense will be easier to anticipate between the players, but it still hurts to be sitting at 1-2 in the league with both losses coming at home. I'd love to see some more basic pick and roll type situations to bridge the gap until the motion has had time to gel.
1) Expectations
2) How it looks
This team has final four expectations, and has looked like a bubble team, that's going to cause some problems. Add in just how the struggles have looked, the basketball offense has made long for a David Yost drive.
With all that being said, I decided to combine every offensive possession in the final two and a halfish minutes (and overtime) from the three conference games this season, and see if the problem(s) could be identified.
First, Kansas, the thing that stands out to me every time I watch this clip is the lack of movement. No one seems to be moving with a purpose to score, well at least one person does every possession, but that's it. It looks almost like they are taking turns, no two people are allowed to move offensively at once. Obviously, the zone has something to do with this, and as much as I hate to give Bill Self a compliment, it was a a great move by him. The best two ways to beat a zone, in my opinion, are to either overload one side or use dribble penetration to disrupt it.
At 10 seconds, McClung drives, and the moment he enters the paint he has three options, bounce pass to MSS, Burton corner three, or Kyler free throw line extended three. I like those options in that order, instead, he pivots around in the paint, giving the defense time to recover, and gets it to Shannon who starts the passing around process all over again.
Burton has gotten a lot of, deserved, flack, but watch his movement starting at 26 seconds, he's all over the place. He finally gets the ball, forces the issue, and gets a relatively easy layup. I'll take that over a deep contested three every day.
Finally, at 52 seconds, the last possession(s) starts. I like the idea of not calling a timeout and trying to get a good shot in transition, but it doesn't really pan out because, again, who's trying to score there? Then the out of bounds play for the win, Beard mentioned that it wasn't run correctly and that is was supposed to go to McClung, which makes sense, but, now he's getting it sprinting away from the basket with 6 seconds left? I don't know, all of those options leave a lot to be desired. Especially after seeing the two plays Self drew up to give Kansas the lead.
The one difference between this clip and the Kansas clip, to me, is that OU is playing man instead of zone. You can still watch the guys without the ball and think,
I know this was a win, but it almost wasn't, and that's because of not being able to capitalize on these possessions and put OU away. Every time I watch this clip, I focus on the screeners, go back, watch the video again, and focus on the guys setting ball screens. They put no pressure on the defense, no hard rolls, no pops, no seals or at least none with conviction. I'm sure everyone is a little timid and unsure, especially the new guys, and you can see it in all of these clips. Everyone looks like they are thinking instead of just playing basketball, nothing looks natural.
The first possession in this clip is, in a nutshell, what has driven me nuts about the offense in late game situations. Watch Nimari, he makes a great cut off the screen and it should be good enough for an easy layup or foul. Shannon sees it, he pumps it, but decides instead to give the ball to Mac fifty feet from the basket. If Tech is up eight, great plan, only three... it's worth the risk for the points.
The rest of the clip is more of the same, it feels more like random movement than a coherent offense, which I understand it part of running a motion offense, the randomness of it, but the random nature is really disjointed when trying to integrate numerous new pieces into the team.
It's easy to say, "if the team can just shoot better, they'll be alright," and to an extent that's obviously true, but I can't find many shots in these clips that are "good." I'd rather find a way to create "good" looks for average shooters, then to expect average shooters to hit "okay" shots.
I'm sure, in a month or so, this will all look incredibly dumb. The team will be a cohesive unit and the randomness of the offense will be easier to anticipate between the players, but it still hurts to be sitting at 1-2 in the league with both losses coming at home. I'd love to see some more basic pick and roll type situations to bridge the gap until the motion has had time to gel.
