MBB USF vs Memphis Game Discussion

[East lake bull]

What's with the half court inbound passes when being pressed ? All we had to do was find an open man and Memphis was backing off.

[Triple B]

1 minute ago, brybull1970 said:

You get your wager amount returned on a push.

So the betting establishment makes no money at all off bets made with that spread ...

[JTrue]

Since  this thread is probably (I didn't read it since I wasn't in here during the game) filled with either a) "Wow, we took Memphis to the wire" and b) "we're losers" because we've lost close games to good teams lately, I'm sure it's been pointed out that the players we're currently working with are players from either xCOA's classes or CBG's first couple recruiting classes and they aren't as good as our recent opponents. For the column B people, isn't it possible we're just not that good yet and CBG is recruiting to fix some of our problems and our current roster can't just be coached out of said problems no matter how good he is? Yetna is hurt. Dawson looks to be pretty solid. I'd like to think our transfers are above average. Collins is what he is. And the current recruits are more in line with what CBG is trying to do and he's stuck right now trying to make some of our players better, but if they were actually as good as the Memphis players or had the ability to be better they likely wouldn't be with us right now based on who the coach was when they signed OR who USF was.

[Triple B]

17 minutes ago, JTrue said:

Since  this thread is probably (I didn't read it since I wasn't in here during the game) filled with either a) "Wow, we took Memphis to the wire" and b) "we're losers" because we've lost close games to good teams lately, I'm sure it's been pointed out that the players we're currently working with are players from either xCOA's classes or CBG's first couple recruiting classes and they aren't as good as our recent opponents. For the column B people, isn't it possible we're just not that good yet and CBG is recruiting to fix some of our problems and our current roster can't just be coached out of said problems no matter how good he is? Yetna is hurt. Dawson looks to be pretty solid. I'd like to think our transfers are above average. Collins is what he is. And the current recruits are more in line with what CBG is trying to do and he's stuck right now trying to make some of our players better, but if they were actually as good as the Memphis players or had the ability to be better they likely wouldn't be with us right now based on who the coach was when they signed OR who USF was.

COA's players, for all intents and purposes, have contributed nothing after CBG's first year and "is what he is" describes DC to a T ...... and unless something drastically changes, it's going to be more of the same for his last year. CBG has total trust in him and probably a special place in his heart because he was the first player that took the plunge committing to the cluster **** that was USF basketball at the time.

[JTrue]

6 minutes ago, Triple B said:

COA's players, for all intents and purposes, have contributed nothing after CBG's first year and "is what he is" describes DC to a T ...... and unless something drastically changes, it's going to be more of the same for his last year. CBG has total trust in him and probably a special place in his heart because he was the first player that took the plunge committing to the cluster **** that was USF basketball at the time.

Collins reminds me of a guy I knew in HS/college who played some minor league baseball. He was lights out, got drafted, and did some time in the Brewers system. I met up with him a year or two after he was out of baseball and we were talking shop and he was a few beers too many in and started explaining why he washed out...couldn't hit a slider. This is maybe an outdated story based on how minor league baseball works these days, but he was leading the league in batting average after the first 1/3 of the season and then as they rotated through the same teams a second and third time, the scouting report on him was that he couldn't hit any kind of breaking ball on the outer half. From that point on, that's all he saw. Didn't even matter if the opposing pitcher had a slider or a decent breaking ball, he was going to see it. He shook his head and said he hit in the cage and from anyone who would throw BP to him and he just couldn't do it... game over. It was a skill that no matter how much work he put in, no matter how much coaching was given, he was not able to do it. It wasn't a failure of any coach, wasn't for lack of effort, he just wasn't good enough to get out of A ball. That was the end of the road for him.

[CousinRicky]

This was truly a wasted opportunity tonight.  I love me some CBG but I have to agree with brybull that this late game offense is just a mistake.  How many times did DC drive the ball off a pick by Durr and end up trying to shoot (throw) over a kid 10" taller than him.  And Q's shots tonight were just awful.  With all the bricks he put up tonight you could rebuild the Berlin wall.  

[Guest Jonesy Bull]

11 hours ago, CousinRicky said:

This was truly a wasted opportunity tonight.  I love me some CBG but I have to agree with brybull that this late game offense is just a mistake.  How many times did DC drive the ball off a pick by Durr and end up trying to shoot (throw) over a kid 10" taller than him.  And Q's shots tonight were just awful.  With all the bricks he put up tonight you could rebuild the Berlin wall.  

Its an interesting point.  I think it falls more on the players not executing what they have been asked to execute by CBG.  Also we probably are lacking a little bit in talent to pull off what is being asked.  But even though I too love me some CBG.  At least a little bit of the blame has to fall on CBG.  Maybe he is not always putting the players in the best positions to be successful late in games.  I still think he is a great coach and will adjust as needed.  Once we get completely healthy and more talented (next year hopefully), we should be able to win alot of these "missed opportunities".

[CousinRicky]

58 minutes ago, brybull1970 said:

I agree with this. The team is able to generate double digit, second half leads against quality competition through various ways of scoring, and then in the last 10 minutes of games the offense becomes one dimensional. Gregory needs to continue to run off-ball screens to free up shooters or run back screens to get easy baskets. Right now at the end of games, its watching Collins fumble the ball all over the place while the other 4  watch.

If players are disregarding the plays he is calling then they need to sit the bench for a bit, and if they are simply running the offense being called (which is more likely the case) then that's on Gregory. The losses to FSU and Memphis are squarely on his shoulders.

This is NOT a fire Gregory post - quite the contrary. He is our guy, but even he needs to learn and adapt.

Totally agree.  Not like we're going dancing this year.  So if you need to pull Collins after 3 unsuccessful drives to the basket then yank him for a minute or two.  Call some other plays not involving that high screen thing and get other guys involved.  I realize we don't have a lot of offensive choices but, as you said, we got those leads doing other things.

[chapelbull]

I guess it's his fault that he didn't recruit a better PG and didn't make sure Yetna stayed healthy at practice .....  I doubt he's calling a dribble into 3 guys and fall down play, but could be wrong.  

[abochner]

Gregory is not "adapting."  Really?  He lost the best player on his team a few days before their first game and lost his "6th man" to what certainly appeared to be a "discipline" issue.  This left him with virtually no front court.  Memphis played 10 guys.  Only one played over 30 minutes. Collins and Dawson played 38.  The game was lost largely, though not exclusively due to rebounding and fatigue.  They were plus 11 on the boards.  You don't win many games at -11 on the boards.  Coach Gregory does not make excuses.  Memphis has three Top 100 players starting for them.  We have none.  Go ahead blame it on recruiting.  But there is a reason Vitale called the Tampa job, the toughest Division 1 in college basketball.  Already the rumbling has begun.  This is what happened to Gregory at Georgia Tech.  He was building a program and they cut the rug from under him.  How did that work out?  I've been a season ticket holder for 28 years.  I've seen them come and go and Coach Gregory is far and away the best we've had.  Criticism is fair and necessary but the context counts.  Gregory set up a play at the most crucial juncture of the game for Brown and he threw up an air ball.  He did not play well in the second half.  Collins made some bad decisions, but he gave his body for the team throughout the game and without him they lose by double digits.  X did play well and they just didn't get the ball to Dawson down the stretch, who has improved dramatically since the beginning of the season.  They got the ball to Durr for a dunk on a set play and he was filed but missed the dunk (barely).  Instead of a possible 3 point play, he got one. But you also have to give credit to Memphis.  Next year we have some big bodies coming in and a legitimate top 60 guard.  Q is what we have.  He plays hard but his offensive skills are limited to say the least.  This is the most stable the basketball program has been in the last 25 years.  Coach Gregory is building a winner.  Expectations were high this year and I too am disappointed, but the team has earned far more support than they've received.  At least a third of the crowd were from Memphis.  That's pathetic.