Jaden Jones at Practice

JMORC2003

All-Conference
Dec 22, 2008
4,609
2,535
0
By saying he has 21 plays he needs to learn in the next 5 minutes tells me something... there's a sense of urgency... ie, getting him in the mix this season.

If the plan wasn't to put him in until next Fall, the quote would have been something more along the lines of he has a lot to learn but it's great he's able to get a head start.
 

Greene Rice FIG

Heisman
Dec 30, 2005
40,437
23,613
0
Time to run stack that everyone knows and is easy to defend. Everybody knows it. Let him be the guy that goes to the wing

🤡
 

RUsojo

Heisman
Dec 17, 2010
29,439
28,589
113
Can’t imagine Pike figures out how to work him into a compatible lineup give his struggles with his existing roster.
 

zappaa

Heisman
Jul 27, 2001
75,024
91,823
103
After watching Jones practice one time, Pike is either thinking, holy ****, I gotta get this kid on the floor, or he’s not.
Pretty simple
 
Last edited:

Zak57

Heisman
Jul 5, 2011
11,108
11,215
113
Not sure if it's a great idea to throw another player into the rotation. I feel like we need to trim down if possible.
 
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Greene Rice FIG

Heisman
Dec 30, 2005
40,437
23,613
0
I doubt it is simple. Mathis has already had his PT cut drastically with Caleb back. Adding Jones to the mix takes minutes from somewhere.

I hope it is a problem Pike has. These are good problems that would show how much we have progressed from the days of 3s like Issa or Jaron Griffin getting default minutes.
 
Sep 29, 2005
14,051
16,131
0
I doubt it is simple. Mathis has already had his PT cut drastically with Caleb back. Adding Jones to the mix takes minutes from somewhere.

I hope it is a problem Pike has. These are good problems that would show how much we have progressed from the days of 3s like Issa or Jaron Griffin getting default minutes.
I would reduce Mulcahy minutes, not Mathis minutes.
 

mildone_rivals

Heisman
Dec 19, 2011
55,607
51,272
0
For those beating up on Mulcahy, watch him when he's not on the ball, or receiving the ball, or defending the player with the ball. He does okay in those situations too, just not as great as we'd all like. But he really shines in how disruptive he is to the other team (particularly on D) when he's off the ball.

I've noticed it a lot and I've heard Pike talk about it in press conferences.

Yeah, it'd be great to have someone that disruptive to the other team who is also a pure shooter, with great ball skills and great one v one defending skills. But other than maybe Young, who's not really a pure shooter either, I don't know that we have that someone. And Mulcahy is even more consistently disruptive off the ball than Young is, IMO. Perhaps that's because Young is often tied up with the fastest guard which requires his complete attention.

I was a wrestler who played my first full court basketball game when I was in my mid-30s. So it'd be fair to say that I lacked ball skills and training at the sport. Plus I'm no kind of pure shooter.

But even before my shooting and defending improved with experience, I learned how to have a big impact on the game by paying attention and learning all the cues for what the other team was about to do and disrupting it constantly. By learning how to play off my man and cut off passing lanes and/or occupy space the other team wanted to be in (e.g. crowd the area into which the other team's attempting to screen for an open shot).

Mulcahy does that stuff really, really well most of the time. Sometimes he gets burned by splitting his attention, which makes it look like he's a really crappy defender. But more often, he's disrupting what the other team's trying to do and forcing them to retreat and try something else. That doesn't show up nearly as obviously as when he screws up, and it doesn't show up on any stat sheet. But it definitely explains why Pike likes having him on the court.

I think we can safely bet that Pike's well aware of his players strengths and weaknesses, and also very aware of how well we play with and without various players, like Mathis and Mulcahy. Pike's no doubt watching and rewatching game film. And when he does that, he's watching everyone and not just focused on the play around the ball.

Doesn't mean Pike is infallible or perfect. But I think a lot of criticism of his player rotations is at least somewhat naïve and unwarranted.
 
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Yeah Baby

All-American
Aug 14, 2001
19,261
6,466
0
For those beating up on Mulcahy, watch him when he's not on the ball, or receiving the ball, or defending the player with the ball. He does okay in those situations too, just not as great as we'd all like. But he really shines in how disruptive he is to the other team (particularly on D) when he's off the ball.

I've noticed it a lot and I've heard Pike talk about it in press conferences.

Yeah, it'd be great to have someone that disruptive to the other team who is also a pure shooter, with great ball skills and great one v one defending skills. But other than maybe Young, who's not really a pure shooter either, I don't know that we have that someone. And Mulcahy is even more consistently disruptive off the ball than Young is, IMO. Perhaps that's because Young is often tied up with the fastest guard which requires his complete attention.

I was a wrestler who played his first full court basketball game when I was in my mid-30s. So it'd be fair to say that I lacked ball skills and training at the sport. Plus I'm no kind of pure shooter.

But even before my shooting and defending improved with experience, I learned how to have a big impact on the game by paying attention and learning all the cues for what the other team was about to do and disrupting it constantly. By learning how to play off my man and cut off passing lanes and/or occupy space the other team wanted to be in (e.g. crowd the area into which the other team's attempting to screen for an open shot).

Mulcahy does that stuff really, really well most of the time. Sometimes he gets burned by splitting his attention, which makes it look like he's a really crappy defender. But more often, he's disrupting what the other team's trying to do and forcing them to retreat and try something else. That doesn't show up nearly as obviously as when he screws up, and it doesn't show up on any stat sheet. But it definitely explains why Pike likes having him on the court.

I think we can safely bet that Pike's well aware of his players strengths and weaknesses, and also very aware of how well we play with and without various players, like Mathis and Mulcahy. Pike's no doubt watching and rewatching game film. And when he does that, he's watching everyone and not just focused on the play around the ball.

Doesn't mean Pike is infallible or perfect. But I think a lot of criticism of his player rotations is at least somewhat naïve and unwarranted.
Agreed. So many of our fans cannot see Defense. Many coaches don’t see it either. Pike does and so do I.
 

Greene Rice FIG

Heisman
Dec 30, 2005
40,437
23,613
0
Mild One,
He is a tough one trying to take all the positive and negatives and identifying net net if he should be a guy on the floor. He does things well, he does things OK and he is a liability in other areas. However same holds true with guys like Mathis, Young and Geo.

I think Paul’s willingness to do what the coaching staff wants is very important.
 

Mr. Magoo1

Heisman
Nov 15, 2001
15,479
16,329
113
Paul has been playing very poorly, but wow Montez' decision making is horrendous.

Run a couple of plays Montez early (not that we really run plays), to get him on the scoreboard. He’s a different player after he’s scored a few.
 
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mildone_rivals

Heisman
Dec 19, 2011
55,607
51,272
0
Run a couple of plays Montez early (not that we really run plays), to get him on the scoreboard. He’s a different player after he’s scored a few.
That's true of most players. I think one of the problems with Baker and Harper is that they're finding it hard to find a rhythm in the game at the moment. Getting them going early would probably help. They might also still be affected by the ankle injuries, which isn't helping any.

Problem is, how to get everyone going early when it's not usually possible to get everyone shot looks early on. I think, and from what I saw in the last game, Pike also thinks, the answer is to back off the high D, played by all our opponents since the MSU game, by getting to the basket early. That helps create open looks outside. But that also makes it hard to get multiple players into an outside shooting rhythm.

So we have to become very efficient getting to the hoop early to open out the outside shooting game early. And that's proved easier said that done since the MSU game.
 

Greene Rice FIG

Heisman
Dec 30, 2005
40,437
23,613
0
We only discuss these issues when balls don’t go throw the hoops when we shoot it...........

Young scores only when the ball is in his hands
Baker mostly scores off his own dribble.

I think it is tough offensively to have both Geo and Young on the floor at the same time. Maybe I am not giving Baker enough credit as a catch and shoot player, but it seems his makes come off a dribble.
 
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MLBash93

All-Conference
Jan 23, 2012
1,507
2,175
113
For those beating up on Mulcahy, watch him when he's not on the ball, or receiving the ball, or defending the player with the ball. He does okay in those situations too, just not as great as we'd all like. But he really shines in how disruptive he is to the other team (particularly on D) when he's off the ball.

I've noticed it a lot and I've heard Pike talk about it in press conferences.

Yeah, it'd be great to have someone that disruptive to the other team who is also a pure shooter, with great ball skills and great one v one defending skills. But other than maybe Young, who's not really a pure shooter either, I don't know that we have that someone. And Mulcahy is even more consistently disruptive off the ball than Young is, IMO. Perhaps that's because Young is often tied up with the fastest guard which requires his complete attention.

I was a wrestler who played my first full court basketball game when I was in my mid-30s. So it'd be fair to say that I lacked ball skills and training at the sport. Plus I'm no kind of pure shooter.

But even before my shooting and defending improved with experience, I learned how to have a big impact on the game by paying attention and learning all the cues for what the other team was about to do and disrupting it constantly. By learning how to play off my man and cut off passing lanes and/or occupy space the other team wanted to be in (e.g. crowd the area into which the other team's attempting to screen for an open shot).

Mulcahy does that stuff really, really well most of the time. Sometimes he gets burned by splitting his attention, which makes it look like he's a really crappy defender. But more often, he's disrupting what the other team's trying to do and forcing them to retreat and try something else. That doesn't show up nearly as obviously as when he screws up, and it doesn't show up on any stat sheet. But it definitely explains why Pike likes having him on the court.

I think we can safely bet that Pike's well aware of his players strengths and weaknesses, and also very aware of how well we play with and without various players, like Mathis and Mulcahy. Pike's no doubt watching and rewatching game film. And when he does that, he's watching everyone and not just focused on the play around the ball.

Doesn't mean Pike is infallible or perfect. But I think a lot of criticism of his player rotations is at least somewhat naïve and unwarranted.

My issues with Paul is he wants to make a pass every time. And gets a screen and then doesn't attack the lane and waits for guys to cut off him. Instead he could get in the lane and either kick or shoot a floater but he rarely does that he waits too long and is predictable