Re: FW: Huggins thinks UC can make Sweet 16

[jon breiner]

We will never have a fluid offense playing Hicks, Kirkland, Bobbitt 
(although he's getting much better) etc.  We talk about playing 4 on 5 
offensively, but these 3 are out of position so often of on offense it 
is crazy.  Go back and watch games on tape and look and see how often 
one of those 3 guys strays over to the lane when they have a clear out 
for Leonard.  Leonard beats his man, but all of the sudden there is 
Hicks guy, or Kirk's guy ect. to cut the penetration off.  If you want 
to be realistic, it is more like 2 or 3 on 5 (unless we are hitting our 
shots!).  Huggins has not been running his traditional offense this year 
as he has tried to "dumb" it down.  I agree with what he said earlier. 
The problem is he dumbed it down, he was too lax early on, and perhaps 
they would be better at the sets had he made them work harder earlier.

Also, one of the keys for Huggins offense is to have a guy (forward or 
center) who can hit the 10-15 foot jump shot from the baseline or free 
throw line.  Someone a few days ago posted Hicks can do that, but since 
I have only seen games, I have not seen him do that,  he has made one 
that I recall and bricked about 10 that I can recall.  Johnson has been 
trying to hit that shot lately, but also bricks it.  I cannot believe 
Kirk cannot make that shot, but he misses them also.  Flowers may be the 
best at hitting the shot, but he scores 10, gives up 20, so I do not 
understand calling for him to play.  He should play about 5 minutes a 
game as after that he seems tired.

I also agree with what jason says below:  This may be the worst passing 
team UC has had in Huggins tenure.  Unfortunately, we can armchair coach 
all we want, but I think Huggins is trying to get the most out of the 
guys most likely to do the most.  It gets pretty ugly when we go to the 
"bench" lineup, so I do not understand why people think it will be 
better.  To me it only looks different and that is not necessarily better.

jon b, still enjoying not being 3-25.

MURPHY, T. JASON wrote:

> All great points. The one thing that really stands out is the lack of fluid offensive movement. Huggs' teams have never really had the smoothest flowing offenses but they have typically had a talented enough scorer or too to overshadow that. I just dont see guys working hard to get open or great screening. Additionally, when a guy gets open momentarily on a perimeter screen the only option is a quick long shot since nobody is really good at getting open off a screen and then taking it to the hoop.  Lastly, this team does not have any great passers. Passing is an underrated skill. Nobody makes quick passes to inside guys. Typically the only inside passes come when a guy Max has been posting his guy up. I like Taron but I really am tired of hearing how well he rebounds. I'd trade a few rebounds for a few more points, drives to the basket, or fast breaks.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Brad Holdheide [mailto:address@hidden
> Sent: Monday, March 03, 2003 3:02 PM
> To: 'address@hidden'
> Subject: RE: FW: [UC Basketball] Huggins thinks UC can make Sweet 16
>
>
> Hard to shoot better than 35% when your taking long jump shots on the move
> or with a defender in your face all game long.
>
> UC has players that can and will shoot better than 35%, it's just that our
> offense doesn't get them in position to get good looks.  No dribble
> penetration from our point guard, Stokes can't pass off his drives, Max has
> limited passing ability, etc etc.
>
> Everyone on this team has shot better than 35% in their career, so ask
> yourself, why are they shooting so poorly this year.  Did they all forget
> how to shoot.  Did someone break all their wrists.
>
> The excuse of "making shots" has been beaten like a drum.  We better come up
> with a different excuse quick or someone's gonna figure out that we have a
> piss poor offensive game plan with the players we have.
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Keith Wedinger [mailto:address@hidden
> Sent: Monday, March 03, 2003 2:49 PM
> To: address@hidden
> Subject: RE: FW: [UC Basketball] Huggins thinks UC can make Sweet 16
>
>
> Actually, I think the team has tried to adjust.  But, when UC's outside
> shooting is a inconsistent as it has been this season and CBC is not
> scoring, there isn't much else to try.  You simply cannot shoot under 35%
> and expect to win.
>
> J. Keith Wedinger 
> Senior Software Developer 
> Sterling Commerce 
>  
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Darryl Gilliam [mailto:address@hidden 
> Sent: Monday, March 03, 2003 2:41 PM
> To: address@hidden
> Subject: Re: FW: [UC Basketball] Huggins thinks UC can make Sweet 16
>
>
> He is not crazy at all.  The bottom line is that we are not playing to our
> strengths right now.  We are still playing offense and defense as if Danny
> Fortson or Kenyon Martin is still wearing the red and black.  
> The more I watch this team play the more I realize that our lack of sucess
> has less to do with effort and more to do with the fact that we have not
> acknowledged are weaknesses and made adjustments accordingly.  
> Rob Anderson <address@hidden> wrote:Given this teams' ability
> to play in big games against highly ranked teams, maybe Huggins isn't that
> crazy. IF we happen to make the tourney, and get an 8-10 seed, we could fair
> pretty well against a 1 or 2 seed. However, if they play like they played
> Saturday, they could lose the 8/9 game.
>
> Rob
>
>  
>
> > > > address@hidden 03/03/03 02:09PM >>>
> > > >        
> Theoretically, our best shot at a Sweet 16 perch would be to enter the
> tournament as an 11, 12, or 13 seed. But since at-large bubble teams rarely
> get a seed lower than an 11, I will follow this line of thinking. We would
> then play a number #6 seed in the first round. This gets us to the #3 seed
> in the second round. A victory would give us the right of playing either #2
> or an upset winner. A 10 -8 seed, would match us against a #2 or #1 in the
> second round and I couldn't see us getting anything lower than an 8 seed. An
> 8 or 9 gives us a match with a #1 in the second round.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Richmond, Dean [mailto:address@hidden 
> Sent: Monday, March 03, 2003 1:08 PM
> To: address@hidden 
> Subject: RE: [UC Basketball] Huggins thinks UC can make Sweet 16
>
>
> I will stick with the prediction that 18 wins will get us in. Either win the
> last two regular season games (highly unlikely) or split the last two and
> win one in the tourney. 17 wins would put us (IMHO) squarely on the bottom
> of the bubble. Our fate is still in our hands.
>
> Dean Richmond
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Wedinger, Keith [mailto:address@hidden 
> Sent: Monday, March 03, 2003 8:26 AM
> To: address@hidden 
> Subject: [UC Basketball] Huggins thinks UC can make Sweet 16
>
>
> There is an article in today's Cincy Enquirer where Huggins states that this
> team can make the Sweet 16. He concedes that UC still needs to win a couple
> more games to secure the NCAA tourney bid (I agree) and that if the
> match-ups are favorable AND if UC makes shots (that's a HUGE if), UC can
> advance.
>
>
>
> Personally, I think the UAB game is absolutely critical because I don't
> think UC is going to beat Marquette on Saturday. I loss to UAB would put a
> dagger into UC's NCAA tourney hopes.
>
> J. Keith Wedinger 
> Senior Software Developer 
> Sterling Commerce 
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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