Let the Young Kids play

redbirdron1

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Thoroughly enjoyed the quartet of Flem, Washington, Horne and Reeves in yesterday's second half against Valpo.
These 4 should become the norm as they understand the Zone concept of coverage and using their length to maximize
deflections. IMO, the key to Zone D is the athleticism of wings to sag and annoy the opponents Bigs with reach in steals.

These 4 kids can also drive the ball on offense. They all need to hone their free throw % as they'll be at the line quite often - so
no excuses not to drain the freebies.

Guys like Boyd and Strong are fine but if they ain't hittin - gotta be sittin cause they don't bring the other intangibles.

Watch Washington closely - the kid has a knack of getting his hands on the ball for O rebounds and actually checks out on the D end.
He needs to play.

Mahorcic needs this quartet to hide his D deficiencies. Abdou and H - we need ya but you gotta figure out your niche and deliver that so
called skill on a night by night basis.

Everyone knows we are hurting in the front court and sorely missing a traditional 4. So be it - let the 2 frosh/2 Sophs rotate the 4 perimeter slots
- the key in my limited opinion is Sissoko/Abdou. Either need to embrace the Enforcer role and just become a nasty, sweaty, smelly dude who gives you 5
hard fouls/game, REBOUND and be a shutdown D guy. U don't have to shoot the ball as we got plenty of guys to hoist.

Go Birds.
 

Redbirdfan76

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RedbirdRon, I agree 100%. Let the young guns play. Get them ready for STL. A win on Thursday and then you never know.
 

Loyl2u

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I generally agree with RedbirdRon- Washington appears to think/react to get to the boards more than even our frontline players. Div 1 teams have to be able to play man. The lack of ability to teach solid man to man defense limits this team tremendously- early on I said they were a young team and would get better and yes, I was happy to see the zone introduced, but they will never get better at man, if they never play it. Each game, I hope for them to come out in man and show improvement from practice🤷‍♂️.

I’m not sure that this team can be competitive with good teams on the Boards and on Defense without a #4. I think that some of the problem with getting a #4 to perform well on the O end is that they don’t change the offensive set -which is designed for 4 guards, when they actual put 2 frontline players in the game at the same time. Ron is right on target with Boyd/Strong & Sissoko/Abdou - again, though I think we do the #4/#5s a disservice by putting them away from the block, where they can’t rebound and don’t have the needed ball handling skills.

If they had both Fisher and Rey(and played them both at the same time) I honestly believe this team would have played with Loyola, etc., but the seeming lack of support/emphasis on the front line impacts on recruiting/retainment. At the end of last season, I said that something( staff, off/def sets) needed to change; that didn’t happen and unfortunately they lost their two best front line players.

Still hopeful that the Birds can find a way to win games, but you can’t beat good teams without being able to 1) play some man defense at least to give a different look, 2) rebound competitively- how many times do you see every redbird running away after a shot, 3) run offense that fits who is on the floor, 4) shoot free throws reasonably well ( they said Dusan was shooting 100 free throws each practice which is great-now can someone teach him to put enough arc on the ball, way to flat to shoot competitive avg.)
 

Bird Friend

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I generally agree with RedbirdRon- Washington appears to think/react to get to the boards more than even our frontline players. Div 1 teams have to be able to play man. The lack of ability to teach solid man to man defense limits this team tremendously- early on I said they were a young team and would get better and yes, I was happy to see the zone introduced, but they will never get better at man, if they never play it. Each game, I hope for them to come out in man and show improvement from practice🤷‍♂️.

I’m not sure that this team can be competitive with good teams on the Boards and on Defense without a #4. I think that some of the problem with getting a #4 to perform well on the O end is that they don’t change the offensive set -which is designed for 4 guards, when they actual put 2 frontline players in the game at the same time. Ron is right on target with Boyd/Strong & Sissoko/Abdou - again, though I think we do the #4/#5s a disservice by putting them away from the block, where they can’t rebound and don’t have the needed ball handling skills.

If they had both Fisher and Rey(and played them both at the same time) I honestly believe this team would have played with Loyola, etc., but the seeming lack of support/emphasis on the front line impacts on recruiting/retainment. At the end of last season, I said that something( staff, off/def sets) needed to change; that didn’t happen and unfortunately they lost their two best front line players.

Still hopeful that the Birds can find a way to win games, but you can’t beat good teams without being able to 1) play some man defense at least to give a different look, 2) rebound competitively- how many times do you see every redbird running away after a shot, 3) run offense that fits who is on the floor, 4) shoot free throws reasonably well ( they said Dusan was shooting 100 free throws each practice which is great-now can someone teach him to put enough arc on the ball, way to flat to shoot competitive avg.)
in general, you’re probably right, though Jim Boeheim might disagree with having to play man D.
 

stats

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I like being able to play a good man defense because many of the principles can translate into a good zone or a good press. Boeheim had some great zones.
It would be nice to have an identity on defense that scares our opponents when they have the ball. Instead our defenses seem to be dictated (on a game to game basis) by how much we are scared of our opponent's offense.
 

Loyl2u

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Watched Drake-(SW)MSU last night. After long layoff, Drake’s comeback fueled by their defense was impressive. I also came away wondering if (SW)Missouri State isnt In the top 3. Next couple of weekends look to be difficult match ups for the Redbirds.
 

SgtHulka

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Watched Drake-(SW)MSU last night. After long layoff, Drake’s comeback fueled by their defense was impressive. I also came away wondering if (SW)Missouri State isnt In the top 3. Next couple of weekends look to be difficult match ups for the Redbirds.
It was the tale of 2 halves, MOST blew a huge lead. I was wondering what the drake fuss was about the first half.
 

Adunk33

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It was the tale of 2 halves, MOST blew a huge lead. I was wondering what the drake fuss was about the first half.
It seems like Dana might have taken a page out of one of his mentor's playbooks in that game. At any rate, Drake ought to be ranked next week.
 

ISU86

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It seems like Dana might have taken a page out of one of his mentor's playbooks in that game. At any rate, Drake ought to be ranked next week.
MSU led 41-24 with about two minutes left in first half, DU led 51-49 at about nine minutes remaining in second half (27-8 run in a thirteen minute span). The storyline did seem eerily familiar.

MSU appeared to have more talent, but DU is very disciplined ~ and this was coming off a twenty-three day layoff for the Bulldogs as well.
 

DoubleDeuce

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That Darnell Brodie is a big dude for Drake. He has potential to be a real enforcer in the lane. Sorry if this is a little off topic.
 

CaliRdBrd

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I love how this forum has now become a proxy board for better teams (Drake).
 

redbirdron1

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With a follow up to my original post - I truly believe the intangible of these kids will bring more competitiveness to each game. Today's
second game against Drake will be tough due to their strength/maturity but you can't discount our youth/energy.

Let's reduce the turnovers and hopefully the coaches can impart some confidence in Dusan with his make able shots he's missing -
we need 15 points from the this lad night in/out. He's the best we got so........

Here's to hoping Emon Washington continues to gain confidence - someone mentioned he's glue like to the team and similar to Tony Wills. Emon is way more athletic than Tony and can do so much more though I do support the fact that Emon's intangibles make those around him so much better as did
Tony. Remember, Emon shared 6A player of the year honors in Georgia just last year - just imagine what'll happen when he gets his mojo in D1 and begins the drive/dunk.........that's not Tony - that's Rickie Johnson like.

Don't you see a marked improvement in Zone D since Fleming/Washington have logging heavy minutes? Guys like Reeves don't have to play baseline, checkout on D boards and cover the bigger guys. It's a beautiful thing having the wingspan of Reeves, Emon and Flem on a Zone D - passing lanes are definitely being hawked which leaves the quick guy like Horne to play sneaky interceptor.

Go Birds.
 

Denali2x

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With a follow up to my original post - I truly believe the intangible of these kids will bring more competitiveness to each game. Today's
second game against Drake will be tough due to their strength/maturity but you can't discount our youth/energy.

Let's reduce the turnovers and hopefully the coaches can impart some confidence in Dusan with his make able shots he's missing -
we need 15 points from the this lad night in/out. He's the best we got so........

Here's to hoping Emon Washington continues to gain confidence - someone mentioned he's glue like to the team and similar to Tony Wills. Emon is way more athletic than Tony and can do so much more though I do support the fact that Emon's intangibles make those around him so much better as did
Tony. Remember, Emon shared 6A player of the year honors in Georgia just last year - just imagine what'll happen when he gets his mojo in D1 and begins the drive/dunk.........that's not Tony - that's Rickie Johnson like.

Don't you see a marked improvement in Zone D since Fleming/Washington have logging heavy minutes? Guys like Reeves don't have to play baseline, checkout on D boards and cover the bigger guys. It's a beautiful thing having the wingspan of Reeves, Emon and Flem on a Zone D - passing lanes are definitely being hawked which leaves the quick guy like Horne to play sneaky interceptor.

Go Birds.
Any comparison to Rickie Johnson dunks is a good sign. Never forget the back to back dunks over WSU ... two of Carr, McDaniel and Livingston ... don't recall which two, but all good there .... right behind Doug Collins in my favorite redbirds list ...
 

Adunk33

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Here's to hoping Emon Washington continues to gain confidence - someone mentioned he's glue like to the team and similar to Tony Wills. Emon is way more athletic than Tony and can do so much more though I do support the fact that Emon's intangibles make those around him so much better as did
Tony. Remember, Emon shared 6A player of the year honors in Georgia just last year - just imagine what'll happen when he gets his mojo in D1 and begins the drive/dunk.........that's not Tony - that's Rickie Johnson like.
My comp with Emon and Tony was that intangible aspect that he brings. When Emon is on the court, it seems like the team plays better. He's definitely more athletic than Tony. Overall, their games are different. It just that diving for loose balls, getting in the passing lane, and just doing the right thing. I look forward to his development.
 

Redbird Alum 2004

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My comp with Emon and Tony was that intangible aspect that he brings. When Emon is on the court, it seems like the team plays better. He's definitely more athletic than Tony. Overall, their games are different. It just that diving for loose balls, getting in the passing lane, and just doing the right thing. I look forward to his development.
Yeah drive to win is there with Emon just like it was with Tony. Emon had a much higher ceiling in offense. These last two recruiting classes have been hits in my opinion. These are classes Dan can build around and get us back in the dance in a year or two.
 
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