Frogs vs Raiders Hoops Game Thread

[MTfrog5]

The pass around triangle on the 3pt line is definitely tiresome. We throw 5-6 passes that get us literally nowhere, and occasionally end in a TO. It was all fun and games when we played bad teams that eventually broke down and let us easily drive the ball, but Big 12 teams aren't fooled.

I also do not understand the concept when we in-bound the ball. The player in-bounding (let's say Miller) throws it to ARob who dribbles it about to half-court then passes it up to Bane, who immediately throws it back to the trailing Miller right as he crosses half-court who then passes it back to ARob. It's mind bottling to me why we do it... doesn't really matter one way or another, just confuses me.

Always think about kids basketball camps making them pass the ball 6 times before they can shoot. Only thing missing is kids screaming the number of passes

 

[Purp]

I don't disagree with you - but if you have been watching all year, it is obvious something has happened the last few weeks

Some of that is we are actually playing good basketball teams now vs that crap we played in non-con - which may be part of the problem. That 15-5 stat is worthless and everyone that follows basketball knows it. It was why we had the best record in D1 for unranked teams at one point.

What matters is we are 3-4 in conference. We play in a league where winning at home and trying to steal one on the road is vital to making the tournament and getting a good, if not great seed. And our conference is in a little of a down year or at least one where it is up for grabs.

The issue with this team - regardless of how we got here - is that we seem to be more likely to drop a home game than steal one of the road at the moment. Tech and KSU were blow outs that the team was never in and we held on by our fingernails against our last three home opponents.

I have no idea if JD pushed guys out, if they left because they are cry babies, if Fishers knee is bionic and he would have been back or if he will never play again or if Archie was the next Dr J.

What I know is the guys we have on the team and our coaches need to figure out how to get back to the point where we are a threat to score more and we all need to hope the lack of D we showed against Tech was just a bad night. However Tech supposedly runs the same offense as we do - and they ran it a lot better than we have all year - so there is room for improvement somewhere.

Our offensive output last night was a little better than I expected against Tech's D. It would have been even better had we not forced so many bad shots in the last couple minutes in an effort to get back in the game. The issue last night was not our offense. It could have been better, no doubt. It would be great for Noi to keep his 1st half going in the 2nd and for Bane to duplicate his 2nd half in the 1st. That's really the only big isue I had with our offense last night is that Bane was totally passive in the 1st half and Noi in the 2nd. Conversely, they were unstoppable in the 2nd and 1st half respectively.

I would say that our defense wasn't even really the issue last night. They hurt us most last night hitting shots they haven't hit all season. Their execution beat our game plan. I think our game plan was to limit Culver and make the rest of them shoot from the perimeter to win and they scorched us. If you'd told me before the game Culver would score 18 I'd have been thrilled. But if you'd told me before the game that Tech would shoot 54% from the field and 43% from 3 I'd have laughed even if you meant during warm-ups, let alone the game. Switching to the zone wasn't going to stop them from shooting 3s; the easiest way to beat the zone is to shoot over it. We just didn't think they could shoot like that. Their body of work before last night seemed to make that a solid game plan.

So it backfired. I wouldn't even say we got out coached last night. There's no way Beard thought his team would shoot like that so why should CJD? They scored 27 points last night on 3s and they probably get closer to 9 - 12 per game on average. They haven't approached that level of efficiency all season. We just got waxed last night by a good team playing their best game of the season and doing so in a way totally inconsistent with their season's performance up to this point. There's no way to game plan for that. In this conference there are going to be nights where there's no way you're going to beat your opponent, especially in their gym, when they have their best game.

There's no doubt our team has challenges to work through, but so does every other team in the conference. Kansas is vulnerable to every team in the league; even us. We need to relax a little and enjoy the season for what it is. We still have a lot of talented kids on that floor capable of beating anyone any given night and I'm excited to see how they work through the challenges the rest of the way. It'll make them all better individually and collectively.

 

[Realtorfrog]

And I will never understand why TCU fans always complain about our most successful coaches.

You questioned his recruiting and others have questioned his offensive strategy. And there have a been a [ steaming pile of Orgeron ]load of fans questioning why four players transferred out. Everyone is pointing their fingers at JD.

That is a lot of grumbling for a team that is 15-5. That is my point. Find someone who is going to do better and let me know. That is not an overreaction. It is perspective.

And as I said earlier..... if that bad charging call goes our way the and 1 makes it a 9 point game..... who knows what happens after that!!!!! And Tech played lights out and we struggled and it could have been a game.......what if I know but trying to help some rolled perspective.

 

[Purp]

I definitely agree with this. Frogs were lousy last night. Period. I am sure JD agrees with all us on this. Just tired of hearing all of the pot shots he has been taking the last couple of games. With the exception of JF, the other guys who left were spares.

The biggest thing he needs to do before Saturday is energize Arob and JD. They looked exhausted last night. We can't have that and expect to win in Waco or Ames or even on our home floor in league play.

Hope the guys can pull it together and the days off help them get their legs back.

If you look at Kansas this year and in years past they essentially play 7 - 8 guys the overwhelming majority of minutes. They may have another 1 or 2 get a small number of garbage minutes late, but they roll almost exclusively with 2 or 3 guys off the bench. I get the thought process that says ARob and JD should be tired, but there is a way to play top flight basketball with a short bench and avoid these types of doldrums. I don't know if Bill Self has figured out how to manage time on the floor better than CJD and keep guys fresher even while they're playing, but it can be done and I'd think kids in the best physical condition of their lives could manage to stay fresher.

I think there is a little uncertainty with our offense right now. Guys are thinking more than playing. That split second to think about what should be done next sometimes kills an opportunity for a shot or pass. I think CJD has hinted at this in interviews at various points throughout the season when he says guys are switching around and getting adjusted to new roles and various things we're having to do differently. When everything comes together I think a tired ARob will look fresher even if he's more tired. A little confidence and momentum could make all the difference in the world in our execution.

 

[Eight]

Our offensive output last night was a little better than I expected against Tech's D. It would have been even better had we not forced so many bad shots in the last couple minutes in an effort to get back in the game. The issue last night was not our offense. It could have been better, no doubt. It would be great for Noi to keep his 1st half going in the 2nd and for Bane to duplicate his 2nd half in the 1st. That's really the only big isue I had with our offense last night is that Bane was totally passive in the 1st half and Noi in the 2nd. Conversely, they were unstoppable in the 2nd and 1st half respectively.

I would say that our defense wasn't even really the issue last night. They hurt us most last night hitting shots they haven't hit all season. Their execution beat our game plan. I think our game plan was to limit Culver and make the rest of them shoot from the perimeter to win and they scorched us. If you'd told me before the game Culver would score 18 I'd have been thrilled. But if you'd told me before the game that Tech would shoot 54% from the field and 43% from 3 I'd have laughed even if you meant during warm-ups, let alone the game. Switching to the zone wasn't going to stop them from shooting 3s; the easiest way to beat the zone is to shoot over it. We just didn't think they could shoot like that. Their body of work before last night seemed to make that a solid game plan.

So it backfired. I wouldn't even say we got out coached last night. There's no way Beard thought his team would shoot like that. They scored 27 points last night on 3s and they probably get closer to 9 - 12 per game on average. They haven't approached that level of efficiency all season. We just got waxed last night by a good team playing their best game of the season and doing so in a way totally inconsistent with their season's performance up to this point. There's no way to game plan for that. In this conference there are going to be nights where there's no way you're going to beat your opponent, especially in their gym, when they have their best game.

There's no doubt our team has challenges to work through, but so does every other team in the conference. Kansas is vulnerable to every team in the league; even us. We need to relax a little and enjoy the season for what it is. We still have a lot of talented kids on that floor capable of beating anyone any given night and I'm excited to see how they work through the challenges the rest of the way. It'll make them all better individually and collectively.

not completely accurate. tech against arkansas shot 10 of 19 from behind the arc so that effort didn't completely come out of nowhere.

they actually shot over 50% from the floor against arkansas, but the problem was they turned it over 21 times.

as much as anything the biggest difference was tech only turned the ball over 7 times.

additionally, they shot better from the floor and behind the arc against unc in what most likely was their best offensive game of the year.

tech has shot over 40% from the in roughly a third of their games so while it isn't a staple of their offense it wasn't something that came out of left field so to speak.

they simply executed and as flyfishingfrog pointed out they cut tcu to pieces in the second half with the cuts to the basket int their offense. 20 assists to 7 turnovers and roughly half their baskets made came off an assist.

https://texastech.com/cumestats.aspx?path=mbball&year=2018

 

[helcap]

Our prior three games we scored 55, 65, and 55 points, so last night was not outside of where we have been recently. Also worth noting Tech had been averaging close to 14 turnovers per game, only 7 in this one.

 

[Purp]

Kansas is terrible. Oh wait.

 

[MTfrog5]

Kansas is terrible. Oh wait.

Can make that argument away from home

 

[Purp]

Can make that argument away from home

That's part of my point. They're the best team in the league and they struggle on the road. The sky isn't falling for us.

 

[froggolf65]

Teams go thru stretches where the don't play well. Lets hope this is our bottom and we can start a run and our best is yet to come.

We have a great starting 5 but very limited depth. Foul trouble to our 2 best guys killed us last night.

 

[berryfrog95]

Bout time for NCAA to allow Da Sousa to be eligible for KU........cant have them 1-5 on the road

 

[Purp]

Bout time for NCAA to allow Da Sousa to be eligible for KU........cant have them 1-5 on the road

That'll happen right before they visit FW. Just like they activated their true freshman for our visit to the Phog, EMAW figured out how to play basketball a week or so before we showed up, Tech made all their baskets of the season against us, and Baylor is playing better than anybody thought they could right before we go to their gym. This league is brutal and we're losing a fee battles of timing on top of it.