The major concern I had coming into the season has come to pass.
Feared that the 'Cats wouldn't be as good on the defensive end w/o Sanjay and that the O wouldn't improve enough to make up for it.
This season, thus far (not counting the PU game), the 'Cats are fairly pedestrian when it comes to efficiency on the offensive and on the defensive end.
Offense - 161
Defense - 145
Last season, the 'Cats often won ugly with superior D (as efficiency on O, while better, wasn't particularly good either).
2016
Offense - 122
Defense - 42
Don't know how many times the color guy has stated either that the 'Cats were too slow in rotating or poor communication.
In addition, have seen quick guards/wings slice thru NU's D to the basket (both Skelly and Falzon are too slow to guard athletic wings).
Despite PU being a bigger lineup than what the 'Cats have faced thus far this season (often seen a wing heavy lineup), the 'Cats seemed to play their best when they went with a smaller lineup (w/ either Brown or Ash).
Ash has been a steady hand on D and Brown is just the spark on O that the 'Cats have needed (that thigh injury seemed to have hampered Brown earlier in the season).
We may be seeing more of this as D has always been the core of this team.
Note - CC's 2nd best team in D efficiency was in his very 1st season (79th) when the team had the defensive triangle of Crawford, Lumpkin and a relatively healthy Cobb.
Maybe Falzon is still working his way back (still, it's been 6 gms), but he was shooting a rather poor .300 from the floor and worse from 3pt range (.250) heading into the PU game, and he doesn't have the D to make up for it.
That's a good bit worse than his shooting % from his frosh season which was only OK to begin with (yeah, Falzon avg'd 8.4 pts, but wasn't particularly an efficient scorer).
It's still early and Falzon has plenty of time to work out of his slump, but until he starts hitting more shots, Aaron may be seeing limited minutes; there were those who summarily dismissed the loss of Tap, but his.470% shooting from the arc may have been the difference in the GT and PU games (not to mention that Lumpkin was the 2nd most efficient scorer among the starters).
Never want to expect too much from frosh, but Gaines has been bit of a disappointment thus far.
Wasn't expecting Crawford type play as a frosh, but was hoping for something along the lines of Cobb. Maybe a RS would have been better for Gaines (helped out Demps when he RS'd after his injury shortened frosh campaign).
Too bad Turner isn't eligible now as the 'Cats could really use another skilled wing.
Scottie was a disappointment in the loss to GT; even if his shot wasn't going in, there are other ways to impact the game and as a SR leader he should have redoubled his efforts on D instead of playing listless on both ends (in contrast, Law really impressed me w/ his effort and hustle).
BMac is the engine for the team, but we're seeing some of the same issues we have seen with BMac his entire career - he struggles with the press and waits too long before starting his drive (which often ends up in a hurried shot or bad pass).
In these past 2 games, those late TOs have been absolute killers.
The biggest positive thus far has been Pardon.
The big kid not only has improved on shooting FTs, but he was absolutely clutch on hitting those mid-range (actually on the longer end of mid-range) jumpers against PU.
While burning Pardon's shirt was necessary and likely played a big role in him being a key member of last season's team, imagine what a force Pardon would be w/ a 5th year if he continues to develop his jumper (among other things).
Feared that the 'Cats wouldn't be as good on the defensive end w/o Sanjay and that the O wouldn't improve enough to make up for it.
This season, thus far (not counting the PU game), the 'Cats are fairly pedestrian when it comes to efficiency on the offensive and on the defensive end.
Offense - 161
Defense - 145
Last season, the 'Cats often won ugly with superior D (as efficiency on O, while better, wasn't particularly good either).
2016
Offense - 122
Defense - 42
Don't know how many times the color guy has stated either that the 'Cats were too slow in rotating or poor communication.
In addition, have seen quick guards/wings slice thru NU's D to the basket (both Skelly and Falzon are too slow to guard athletic wings).
Despite PU being a bigger lineup than what the 'Cats have faced thus far this season (often seen a wing heavy lineup), the 'Cats seemed to play their best when they went with a smaller lineup (w/ either Brown or Ash).
Ash has been a steady hand on D and Brown is just the spark on O that the 'Cats have needed (that thigh injury seemed to have hampered Brown earlier in the season).
We may be seeing more of this as D has always been the core of this team.
Note - CC's 2nd best team in D efficiency was in his very 1st season (79th) when the team had the defensive triangle of Crawford, Lumpkin and a relatively healthy Cobb.
Maybe Falzon is still working his way back (still, it's been 6 gms), but he was shooting a rather poor .300 from the floor and worse from 3pt range (.250) heading into the PU game, and he doesn't have the D to make up for it.
That's a good bit worse than his shooting % from his frosh season which was only OK to begin with (yeah, Falzon avg'd 8.4 pts, but wasn't particularly an efficient scorer).
It's still early and Falzon has plenty of time to work out of his slump, but until he starts hitting more shots, Aaron may be seeing limited minutes; there were those who summarily dismissed the loss of Tap, but his.470% shooting from the arc may have been the difference in the GT and PU games (not to mention that Lumpkin was the 2nd most efficient scorer among the starters).
Never want to expect too much from frosh, but Gaines has been bit of a disappointment thus far.
Wasn't expecting Crawford type play as a frosh, but was hoping for something along the lines of Cobb. Maybe a RS would have been better for Gaines (helped out Demps when he RS'd after his injury shortened frosh campaign).
Too bad Turner isn't eligible now as the 'Cats could really use another skilled wing.
Scottie was a disappointment in the loss to GT; even if his shot wasn't going in, there are other ways to impact the game and as a SR leader he should have redoubled his efforts on D instead of playing listless on both ends (in contrast, Law really impressed me w/ his effort and hustle).
BMac is the engine for the team, but we're seeing some of the same issues we have seen with BMac his entire career - he struggles with the press and waits too long before starting his drive (which often ends up in a hurried shot or bad pass).
In these past 2 games, those late TOs have been absolute killers.
The biggest positive thus far has been Pardon.
The big kid not only has improved on shooting FTs, but he was absolutely clutch on hitting those mid-range (actually on the longer end of mid-range) jumpers against PU.
While burning Pardon's shirt was necessary and likely played a big role in him being a key member of last season's team, imagine what a force Pardon would be w/ a 5th year if he continues to develop his jumper (among other things).
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