In my opinion it should be up to the staff to make adjustments now that everyone is waking up to the high double team that teams are trying to force X out of rhythm that can be seeing Trent and AJ going to the basket more but the real benefit would be Troy hitting his wide open 3s or Rup rolling to the basket and hitting shots in the paint basically X has carried them this far and let me know if you have heard this before we need more scorers to be consistent not only game to game but half to halfHuge credit to Xavier Johnson for the game-winner yesterday and the awesome season he has has overall. That said, it is apparent he has struggled more with turnovers and general efficiency for most of January compared to his lights-out play in November and December.
Maybe he’s ailing physically a bit, but he’s definitely also being swarmed defensively by everyone he faces coming off of ball screens. Really wish this team had a second point guard that could be trusted to both give X more (some!) rest and also to allow him to play off the ball for parts of the game. Miller clearly is on a very short leash and Sharp has barely seen the light of day, so not sure what can be done there. But any chance of SIU staying in the top 4 and having a chance to do damage in St. Louis would involve X looking more like he did earlier in the year than he has lately.
In my opinion it should be up to the staff to make adjustments now that everyone is waking up to the high double team that teams are trying to force X out of rhythm that can be seeing Trent and AJ going to the basket more but the real benefit would be Troy hitting his wide open 3s or Rup rolling to the basket and hitting shots in the paint basically X has carried them this far and let me know if you have heard this before we need more scorers to be consistent not only game to game but half to halfHuge credit to Xavier Johnson for the game-winner yesterday and the awesome season he has has overall. That said, it is apparent he has struggled more with turnovers and general efficiency for most of January compared to his lights-out play in November and December.
Maybe he’s ailing physically a bit, but he’s definitely also being swarmed defensively by everyone he faces coming off of ball screens. Really wish this team had a second point guard that could be trusted to both give X more (some!) rest and also to allow him to play off the ball for parts of the game. Miller clearly is on a very short leash and Sharp has barely seen the light of day, so not sure what can be done there. But any chance of SIU staying in the top 4 and having a chance to do damage in St. Louis would involve X looking more like he did earlier in the year than he has lately.
I think more extended Ebube time would greatly benefit X. Nothing against Rupert at all, but Ebube's sheer girth and athleticism forces defenses to be more honest. Opponents can't so easily overplay the pick-and-roll with a secondary lengthy defender if you've got a guy who's such a threat anywhere within 5 feet of the basket.
I'm not sure there's anything physically wrong with X or that its fatigue. He's far more indecisive now that we're in league play and teams have the book on him and what SIU is trying to do offensively. Its on the coaches to find some ways to counter that and help X get back into his early season groove again. Giving Ebube more minutes I think is one way to do that.
Also, more actions beyond pick and roll sets might be wise to look into. Maybe more iso's? The problem with the pick and roll when your point guard is by far your biggest offensive threat is it easily invites double-teams and gets the ball quickly out of his hands. Maybe this is less of a problem if he's 6'6" and not 6'1". Something to ponder.
--Insert something witty here--
Aj’s progress has been very apparent over the last 3 games. He should be our second option to slash to the hoop when X is being clamped.
Trent has also put together two really nice games with most of his points coming inside the 3pt line.
D’Amico continues to underwhelm. Swap him out for Kennard in the starting lineup.
Was within a whisker of flipping off the TV five minutes into the second half, but for some unknown reason, left it on. Very glad I did of course, and like another poster, cannot get the goofy grin off my face. 🤣
Congrats to entire team and staff for staying together, especially TB, X, AF and "the beast," Scottie. Great work by the Dawg Pound too!
I have relatives who have both graduated from, and currently attend, MSU. Always wish them well, except when playing against the Salukis. So, while far from a thing of beauty, any W on the road is a good one, and nice not having to take $h!t from my cousins.
March on triumphantly!
Huge credit to Xavier Johnson for the game-winner yesterday and the awesome season he has has overall. That said, it is apparent he has struggled more with turnovers and general efficiency for most of January compared to his lights-out play in November and December.
Maybe he’s ailing physically a bit, but he’s definitely also being swarmed defensively by everyone he faces coming off of ball screens. Really wish this team had a second point guard that could be trusted to both give X more (some!) rest and also to allow him to play off the ball for parts of the game. Miller clearly is on a very short leash and Sharp has barely seen the light of day, so not sure what can be done there. But any chance of SIU staying in the top 4 and having a chance to do damage in St. Louis would involve X looking more like he did earlier in the year than he has lately.
I don’t have much doubt that SOMETHING is bothering him (maybe his knee that caused him to miss time over the summer). He’s doing a lot of limping while walking and he is struggling a bit more getting to the rim (falling on his drives or struggling with that first step). Some of that is no doubt defensive adjustments, but I don’t think it’s all that. He has definitely struggled with decision making lately, still a positive Asst/Turnover but it’s getting closer to 1:1. It would be nice if he could get more rest, but Miller just doesn’t have close to the same impact, at least right now. He came in at Murray and immediately made a boneheaded turnover…that’s not going to inspire much confidence (it happens sometimes I get it, but man the timing sucked). It would be nice if they had some sets that didn’t require X to create everything…that requires some other guys to step up, which, outside Ferguson, we’ve struggled with. A lot of folks with bigger roles earlier in the year have shrunk along with their playing time. Feels an awful lot like last year on offense now. Mullins has some work to do to get that corrected.
Side note…Miller’s dad doesn’t seem super pleased with the coaching staff right now. Wouldn’t be surprised if he’s gone next year.
Interesting that we outrebounded tham and that most of our turnover damage was friendly fire (like Miller passing directly to one of their players). We were out scored 21-7 on points off turnovers. Had that been a neutral number we win by a comfortable margin.
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James Madison
Huge credit to Xavier Johnson for the game-winner yesterday and the awesome season he has has overall. That said, it is apparent he has struggled more with turnovers and general efficiency for most of January compared to his lights-out play in November and December.
Maybe he’s ailing physically a bit, but he’s definitely also being swarmed defensively by everyone he faces coming off of ball screens. Really wish this team had a second point guard that could be trusted to both give X more (some!) rest and also to allow him to play off the ball for parts of the game. Miller clearly is on a very short leash and Sharp has barely seen the light of day, so not sure what can be done there. But any chance of SIU staying in the top 4 and having a chance to do damage in St. Louis would involve X looking more like he did earlier in the year than he has lately.
I don’t have much doubt that SOMETHING is bothering him (maybe his knee that caused him to miss time over the summer). He’s doing a lot of limping while walking and he is struggling a bit more getting to the rim (falling on his drives or struggling with that first step). Some of that is no doubt defensive adjustments, but I don’t think it’s all that. He has definitely struggled with decision making lately, still a positive Asst/Turnover but it’s getting closer to 1:1. It would be nice if he could get more rest, but Miller just doesn’t have close to the same impact, at least right now. He came in at Murray and immediately made a boneheaded turnover…that’s not going to inspire much confidence (it happens sometimes I get it, but man the timing sucked). It would be nice if they had some sets that didn’t require X to create everything…that requires some other guys to step up, which, outside Ferguson, we’ve struggled with. A lot of folks with bigger roles earlier in the year have shrunk along with their playing time. Feels an awful lot like last year on offense now. Mullins has some work to do to get that corrected.
Side note…Miller’s dad doesn’t seem super pleased with the coaching staff right now. Wouldn’t be surprised if he’s gone next year.
X played 40 minutes yesterday. IF he is injured do you think he would be playing 40 minutes? He might be injured but I sure hope not.
X has not been 100% all year. That makes what he's done even more incredible.Huge credit to Xavier Johnson for the game-winner yesterday and the awesome season he has has overall. That said, it is apparent he has struggled more with turnovers and general efficiency for most of January compared to his lights-out play in November and December.
Maybe he’s ailing physically a bit, but he’s definitely also being swarmed defensively by everyone he faces coming off of ball screens. Really wish this team had a second point guard that could be trusted to both give X more (some!) rest and also to allow him to play off the ball for parts of the game. Miller clearly is on a very short leash and Sharp has barely seen the light of day, so not sure what can be done there. But any chance of SIU staying in the top 4 and having a chance to do damage in St. Louis would involve X looking more like he did earlier in the year than he has lately.
I don’t have much doubt that SOMETHING is bothering him (maybe his knee that caused him to miss time over the summer). He’s doing a lot of limping while walking and he is struggling a bit more getting to the rim (falling on his drives or struggling with that first step). Some of that is no doubt defensive adjustments, but I don’t think it’s all that. He has definitely struggled with decision making lately, still a positive Asst/Turnover but it’s getting closer to 1:1. It would be nice if he could get more rest, but Miller just doesn’t have close to the same impact, at least right now. He came in at Murray and immediately made a boneheaded turnover…that’s not going to inspire much confidence (it happens sometimes I get it, but man the timing sucked). It would be nice if they had some sets that didn’t require X to create everything…that requires some other guys to step up, which, outside Ferguson, we’ve struggled with. A lot of folks with bigger roles earlier in the year have shrunk along with their playing time. Feels an awful lot like last year on offense now. Mullins has some work to do to get that corrected.
Side note…Miller’s dad doesn’t seem super pleased with the coaching staff right now. Wouldn’t be surprised if he’s gone next year.
X played 40 minutes yesterday. IF he is injured do you think he would be playing 40 minutes? He might be injured but I sure hope not.
@siudawgs I believe we need to have X defend the non-point guard perimeter players. He is getting beat up by bigs setting ballscreens on him for 38-40 minutes. Assign him to spot-up shooters. Assign the point guard defense to Ferguson, Davis, Brown. X is our best defender on point guards but this is a way to protect him. Hopefully Miller or Sharpe get a chance also.
Had to tape the game and watch it late last night. Almost turned it off when we were down 20. What a comeback. X, Trent, & Scottie all came up huge the 2nd half. AJ was the only thing keeping us in the game the first half. Almost makes up for the collapse against Bradley....almost!
So, we didn’t win the game, Murray gave it away?
I honestly can't remember the last time I saw so many unforced turnovers. I didn't think we would win so I'm not as frustrated as others. As I said, SIU had virtually no chance at 4th anyway. We're looking like a 6th or 7th place team in Saint Louis..... only slightly better than 9th.
huh?
There is the hindsight, post game posting that I knew was coming. LOL
I stand by my thoughts. I'll be you ANYTHING you want that we don't finish 4th. If you're so confident, put your $$ where your "mouth" is.
I honestly can't remember the last time I saw so many unforced turnovers. I didn't think we would win so I'm not as frustrated as others. As I said, SIU had virtually no chance at 4th anyway. We're looking like a 6th or 7th place team in Saint Louis..... only slightly better than 9th.
huh?
There is the hindsight, post game posting that I knew was coming. LOL
I stand by my thoughts. I'll be you ANYTHING you want that we don't finish 4th. If you're so confident, put your $$ where your "mouth" is.
"slightly better than 9th"...
"BET WE DONT GET 4th!"
that is a large jump
