Game Thread: St Francis vs USF

[outrunner]

Well I'm glad you and the patient passionate fans enjoy accepting mediocrity by no means do I want to get in the way of that. For myself and fans that want to see the program we follow do better this is very frustrating to endure. I don't apologize for anything I say about this basketball team because I'm always proven right in the end.

I promise you this, if we don't start using our athletic ability correctly you will see some sucking that puts Lisa Ann to shame.

I don't think anyone here is accepting mediocrity.  Most of us just realize the truth of the situation and understand that patience is a virtue.  There is a reason USF has been dubbed the "toughest coaching job in college basketball".  This is Stan Heath's 4th season as head coach, and he has shown improvements in the program. Last year was the first 20 win season since 1989-90, and the first trip to the post-season since 2000-01. From sitting through 6 seasons of Bulls basketball, I can tell you that the excitement level for basketball has been on a slow rise since Heath came in.   Were you expecting a Heath to walk in, wave a magic wand, and clean up this disaster of a program in a season or two?   This is a long-term construction project, but it is headed in the right direction.  Practice facilities are being built. Sun Dome renovation plans are in the works. We are slowly turning this ship around.  But this is not to say that mistakes will be made, and constructive criticism is not welcome, but most of us are just sick of hearing the same drum beat against Heath. Its the constant berating of every decision made in this program that has us sick, along with the holier than though attitude.

[Velcro]

I don't undertsand why Gus has been so unproductive so far this season.

I guess what they say is true, a big man is only as good as his guards allow him to be.

This is absolutely the case... i think you do understand it perfectly.

Our guards just could not make a post entry pass to save their lives.  It is very tough on the bigs when they have good position to either have the ball not come in to you, or be passed to the wrong spot forcing you away from your great position.  How many entry passes took our bigs out of position OR were totally tossed away. 

The strength of this team IS the front court, for sure, BUT, we can't utilize them properly.  The only post player that had any success last night was anderson, and he looked phenomenal.  Post moves and footwork better than ANYONE i've seen in a USF uniform since Waldon, and frankly, he looked better the BB too.  But we gotta get these guys the ball in the right place if we are going to play a slow it down game.  It is useless to slow it down if we can't get the ball in properly to them.  it turns into a pass it around the perimeter game with no one moving without the ball very well, and having to jack up ill advised shots. 

Gus is going to suffer in this style of play unless the guards learn how to make a good timely entry pass.  He'll be relegated to points from offensive rebounds or step back jumpers.

Well as you said Ron Anderson had no trouble getting entry passes and scoring in thew post, Gus plays with the same guards as Anderson. The problem with Gilchrist is his approach and lack of effort. As a Big you have to demand the ball fed into you from your guards. You have to go to war in the post to establish position to receive the ball in a prime spot for a basket. Also if you don't have it then kick it back out, re-post, and demand the ball again. Velco you know from watching Gus he shy away from real physical contact and has been that way since he got here. Many times if Gus gets the ball a half step outside the paint he will often turn to face up the man or even try a fade away jumper.

It's a mentality a player has to have in order to want to be the go-to man. Does Gus have that trait? I don't think he does. I believe that is or was the mistake of the coaching staff and why we will continue to struggle until we play to our REAL strength which is team depth. Gus will be more affective getting his points as part of the offense not being forced to be what the offense is built around. He'll relax more like he did last season when Jones was the first option, and then we will see a the important numbers both defensively and offensively out of Gus. Confidence is everything to an athlete and Gus has to be comfortable and confident.

The guards weren't feeding Anderson well... he just dominated when he was able to get the ball.  The guards still threw the ball away even when giving it to anderson.  Gus does need to play more agressive, for certain, as does famous, but the guards have to stop being sloppy and get Gus the ball with quick swing passes and entry passes.

If you swing the ball around and it takes 1-2 seconds too long to get the ball to the other side of the court, the defense adjusts and you have the same problem on the other side that you had on the first side.  Swing that ball around faster and you can get him the ball before the defense has adjusted.  It is all about crisp passing and that is on everyone.  Anderson even looked better than the guards in this category too.

[Vega]

I don't undertsand why Gus has been so unproductive so far this season.

I guess what they say is true, a big man is only as good as his guards allow him to be.

This is absolutely the case... i think you do understand it perfectly.

Our guards just could not make a post entry pass to save their lives.  It is very tough on the bigs when they have good position to either have the ball not come in to you, or be passed to the wrong spot forcing you away from your great position.  How many entry passes took our bigs out of position OR were totally tossed away. 

The strength of this team IS the front court, for sure, BUT, we can't utilize them properly.  The only post player that had any success last night was anderson, and he looked phenomenal.  Post moves and footwork better than ANYONE i've seen in a USF uniform since Waldon, and frankly, he looked better the BB too.  But we gotta get these guys the ball in the right place if we are going to play a slow it down game.  It is useless to slow it down if we can't get the ball in properly to them.  it turns into a pass it around the perimeter game with no one moving without the ball very well, and having to jack up ill advised shots. 

Gus is going to suffer in this style of play unless the guards learn how to make a good timely entry pass.  He'll be relegated to points from offensive rebounds or step back jumpers.

Well as you said Ron Anderson had no trouble getting entry passes and scoring in thew post, Gus plays with the same guards as Anderson. The problem with Gilchrist is his approach and lack of effort. As a Big you have to demand the ball fed into you from your guards. You have to go to war in the post to establish position to receive the ball in a prime spot for a basket. Also if you don't have it then kick it back out, re-post, and demand the ball again. Velco you know from watching Gus he shy away from real physical contact and has been that way since he got here. Many times if Gus gets the ball a half step outside the paint he will often turn to face up the man or even try a fade away jumper.

It's a mentality a player has to have in order to want to be the go-to man. Does Gus have that trait? I don't think he does. I believe that is or was the mistake of the coaching staff and why we will continue to struggle until we play to our REAL strength which is team depth. Gus will be more affective getting his points as part of the offense not being forced to be what the offense is built around. He'll relax more like he did last season when Jones was the first option, and then we will see a the important numbers both defensively and offensively out of Gus. Confidence is everything to an athlete and Gus has to be comfortable and confident.

The guards weren't feeding Anderson well... he just dominated when he was able to get the ball.  The guards still threw the ball away even when giving it to anderson.  Gus does need to play more agressive, for certain, as does famous, but the guards have to stop being sloppy and get Gus the ball with quick swing passes and entry passes.

If you swing the ball around and it takes 1-2 seconds too long to get the ball to the other side of the court, the defense adjusts and you have the same problem on the other side that you had on the first side.  Swing that ball around faster and you can get him the ball before the defense has adjusted.  It is all about crisp passing and that is on everyone.  Anderson even looked better than the guards in this category too.

Well you definitely have to have crisp and precise ball movement. Another way to get Gus open down low is to screen for him. The guards can screen as well as the other bigs which should allow Gus or whoever to flash open for a moment down low. It also will help to establish positioning much easier too. I can't recall off hand if I ever seen a Heath team screen for their Bigs.

[smazza]

did usf win

[Vega]

PG penetration is another way to help the low game. Of course a very proven and effective method is simply have our Big Guys run the floor to beat their man down the court. All of our Bigs are more then capable of running the court.

[Triple B]

did usf win

Bookmark this page ...  http://gousfbulls.com/

[outrunner]

did usf win

Contrary to how this thread looks, the Bulls did win.

USF....74

SFC....71

[Velcro]

There are certainly logs of ways to assist the bigs, but they all start with the guards doing something, be it screens, fast ball movement, crisp accurate passing, penetrating...  our guards, at this point in time, are not that good at these aspects.  They'll get better, but it takes some time and experience for this to happen, as well as talent.  The talent level of the guards is moderate, but the experience is low... so I'm going to attribute Gus's lack of involvement to poor guard play more than lack of effort.  When the guards do a better job getting him the ball and he still has lack of success, then I'll attribute it to lack of effort on his part... right now, he isn't getting any help from the people that are supposed to make his  game flow.  No flow/no rhythm.  His points all came off isolation, gus creating his own shots, or offensive rebounds.  That is a tough way to make a living for someone with his skill set.  Sure, he can hoist 3's all day, but he wants to post up b/c that is what coach wants him to do and he can do it... with help from the back court.