Nothing Earth-Shattering But One Thing I've Noticed...

[DirtyRU]

... with Ron... and this is just going off of memory without actually confirming by looking back at matchups, etc. But it seems like when the other team has a player who is at least an inch or two taller than Ron, he gets shut down very easily. If, on the other hand, the player is either equal to his height or giving up at least an inch or two, he dominates.

Could it be that simple? Am I just not doing the research? Seems too simple, but if it is true, then he really needs to tweak that part of his game and find ways to score on taller defenders. Too easy to gameplan against if that's the case.

 

[NewJerseyHawk]

I think it depends on what the matchup is across the board because RHJ can just as easily play the 2 or the 3, along with the 4....

If Mag can continue to progress, it will allow RHJ to freelance more to get a matchup away from the basket and use his skills elsewhere....

 

[BKIn118]

Major criticism of our offensive approach with me is that we can’t get our best offensive threat the ball in a position to score often enough. Even worse, we seem to end up with 4th or 5th options being forced into shots far too much.

Ron needs to demand (and be given) the ball more if we are to get to where we want to be more often moving forward

 

[zappaa]

We have a problem with collapsing zone defenses that clog up our ability to get the ball inside.
How does that not translate into open shots for Ron?

 

[Colbert17!]

Am I the only one that cringes when the ball gets swung to Caleb outside the three point arc and he’s looking for his shot.
It’s 50-50 he misses everything

Reminds me of a story Coach K told at a clinic I went to. When he was at Army he took two jump shots in a row that of course he missed. The next trip down the floor there was a foul. As the teams lined up Knight called him over to the sideline, put his arm around his shoulders and said , If you take another shot I'll break your arm.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

Geo and Ron need to work harder off the ball.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

We have a problem with collapsing zone defenses that clog up our ability to get the ball inside.
How does that not translate into open shots for Ron?

Was a possession ball got dumped to Cliff. Ron was at the top of the key. Instead of moving to his right so he was a diagonal option for a pass from Cliff he didn’t move.

 

[MLBash93]

Major criticism of our offensive approach with me is that we can’t get our best offensive threat the ball in a position to score often enough. Even worse, we seem to end up with 4th or 5th options being forced into shots far too much.

Ron needs to demand (and be given) the ball more if we are to get to where we want to be more often moving forward

This is it.

Every good offensive coach in this league (painter and Fran especially) seem to be able to get there guys good looks consistently.

Pike or whoever runs the offense doesn't draw up good enough sets for us to get our guys those same looks

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

This is it.

Every good offensive coach in this league (painter and Fran especially) seem to be able to get there guys good looks consistently.

Pike or whoever runs the offense doesn't draw up good enough sets for us to get our guys those same looks

Let’s not compare painter and Fran when they aren’t starting Caleb and Paul.

 

[RedTeamUpstream94]

This is it.

Every good offensive coach in this league (painter and Fran especially) seem to be able to get there guys good looks consistently.

Pike or whoever runs the offense doesn't draw up good enough sets for us to get our guys those same looks

i don’t know.

early in the season I found myself yelling “move” “move” whenever we are on offense.

this second third of this season however i feel they are moving much better on offense - actually seem to have a semblance of a plan on offense - and the players are commonly just missing open shots. But maybe that has something to do with some of the points raised above (eg Ron and geo it working hard enough off the ball and/or coaches not setting up plays to get balls in our scorers in a position to score and our 3rd 4th 5th options are given tool y opportunities?)

 

[Scarlet Shack]

Major criticism of our offensive approach with me is that we can’t get our best offensive threat the ball in a position to score often enough. Even worse, we seem to end up with 4th or 5th options being forced into shots far too much.

Ron needs to demand (and be given) the ball more if we are to get to where we want to be more often moving forward

This

We have to get the ball more in the basket...period

We have lost four games giving up less than 70 and even had to win two games scoring less than 70

For us to get 70...it means Harper has to be getting 20. And that means touches in a place that he can score off of one dribble tops

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink. You also can’t start 2 guys who defense can sag off of to focus on baker and Harper. You also can’t play guys who can’t defend and won’t or can’t get out on shooters. That is the dilemma.

 

[Scarlet Blind_rivals]

One thing I noticed today, Geo has played 530 minutes, 757 offensive possessions, has 8 total offensive rebounds on the year, and as infrequently as Jaden Jones has played, he has 11 offensive rebounds in 175 minutes, 220 offensive possessions.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

One thing I noticed today, Geo has played 530 minutes, 757 offensive possessions, has 8 total offensive rebounds on the year, and as infrequently as Jaden Jones has played, he has 11 offensive rebounds in 175 minutes, 220 offensive possessions.

Ron has 11 B1G OREB this year.

 

[Anon1751594821]

Reminds me of a story Coach K told at a clinic I went to. When he was at Army he took two jump shots in a row that of course he missed. The next trip down the floor there was a foul. As the teams lined up Knight called him over to the sideline, put his arm around his shoulders and said , If you take another shot I'll break your arm.

Along those lines, I remember seeing Depaul on TV(they were on often) in their heyday. During a timeout near the end of a close game, old Man Ray Meyer tells his team to get the ball to Mark Aguirre and for him to take the shot. Meyer also said that if anyone else takes the shot, he will break their arm.....

Best of Luck,
Groz

 

[Rutgers25]

We don’t do much to get Ron opportunities to score. Lots of standing around and the occasional post up. Need to at least play some two man game and run him off the occasional screen. He doesn’t do well from the perimeter when he’s forced to go one on one.

 

[DirtyRU]

This is a good thread, with a lot of great points, but my OP wasn't really directly addressed as the thread kinda shifted to diff. things. My only point was Ron REALLY struggles against mobile defenders that are taller than him, and he REALLY excels against players who are 6'6" or less. He needs to evolve that portion of his game ASAP. He needs to be able to score against taller defenders. Just curious if the masses agree or not on this observation.

Re: other points, absolutely. Not getting "our guy" into better situations, him not demanding the rock, stagnant off the ball movement, problems against a cluttered zone, all great points. I mean geez, look at the stud Husker frosh. Granted they lost but sh#t, he dropped, what, 29 on us? And was the featured go-to-guy for a large majority of the 2nd half. And made a living at the line from it. So yeah Nebby had no problem getting that dude touches. Sigh.

 

[goru7]

This is a good thread, with a lot of great points, but my OP wasn't really directly addressed as the thread kinda shifted to diff. things. My only point was Ron REALLY struggles against mobile defenders that are taller than him, and he REALLY excels against players who are 6'6" or less. He needs to evolve that portion of his game ASAP. He needs to be able to score against taller defenders. Just curious if the masses agree or not on this observation.

Re: other points, absolutely. Not getting "our guy" into better situations, him not demanding the rock, stagnant off the ball movement, problems against a cluttered zone, all great points. I mean geez, look at the stud Husker frosh. Granted they lost but sh#t, he dropped, what, 29 on us? And was the featured go-to-guy for a large majority of the 2nd half. And made a living at the line from it. So yeah Nebby had no problem getting that dude touches. Sigh.

I guess you missed or forgot the first Nebraska game when Ron scored 29. Ron was not going to have trouble scoring because of anyone Nebraska put on him , but the refs that is a different story. From the very first play of the game , we set up Ron and he missed a close 8 footer. Next time , trying to be aggressive , he gets called for a questionable foul on a charge. That is followed up with another foul. He gets 2 fouls and had to sit and when he returned his mindset changed. He got passive , hung on the perimeter and became ineffective. He has to camp inside and get some offensive rebounds and easy put backs to get him going but instead he has chosen to stay on the perimeter. That has to be corrected. Later in the game , he tried to be aggressive again and got called for that terrible charge when the defender hurled his body at Ron that should have been 2 foul shots and got him going again. The referees affected his entire game and he let it mentally affect his ability to impact the game in other ways , rebounding , passing or playing defense and blocking shots ( although he was tentative on defense too because of foul trouble ).

Not sure taller guys affect him at all but similar size quick defenders like Seth Lundy did give him trouble. When Giorgi of Illinois played Ron, Ron ate him for lunch. He has to be less passive and not get lazy and hang out on the perimeter waiting for the ball to swing to him but go down low or cut to the lane to get the ball more. If he makes that correction we will be in good shape down the stretch.

 

[RUtrumpet92_rivals498139]

Those o-rebound numbers for Ron and Geo are shockingly low.

 

[kupuna133]

I don't think it matters who guards Ron. If he "wants to" take over a game he can. The problem with Ron recently is he is doing very little to demand the ball. He is not moving effectively off the ball ( he camps out in the corner and meanders to foul line extended). When he has a mismatch he is doing the opposite of what is needed. When he has a smaller player he is not posting up, a larger player not taking them off the dribble. He can't disappear when his shot is not falling. That is when the team needs him the most. Do the little things to get back in the game. Hit the offensive boards, screen away/screen down, move without the ball, take your man off the dribble. If he thinks he is going to play at the next level those are things that every GM/coach will demand to see.

 

[Caliknight]

Major criticism of our offensive approach with me is that we can’t get our best offensive threat the ball in a position to score often enough. Even worse, we seem to end up with 4th or 5th options being forced into shots far too much.

Ron needs to demand (and be given) the ball more if we are to get to where we want to be more often moving forward

He’s too streaky to demand the ball like a superstar. He is completely missing some games. As soon as that happens the team goes into a tailspin.

I’d like to see us run some crisp offense like we did a few games this season. It’s all very basic. There is so little ball movement and player moment that we become easy to guard. For a bad shooting team that’s death. The ball dies in hands and we dribble way too much. For whatever reason we just don’t do the things that lead to open shots, which we must do with our shooting inabilities.

This isn’t rocket science. At this level we should be able to do these things easily. I really don’t get it.

 

[Scarlet Blind_rivals]

Ron has had 3 noticeable games single digit points scored,
Dec 3 2021 @ Illinois, 26m, 1-9, 1-3, 5pts, 4reb (Hawkins, 6'10, 200-210)
Jan 11, 2022 @ PSU, 36m, 2-9, 2-4, 7pts, 5reb (Greg Lee 6'9 210)
Jan 29,_2022 @ Neb, 28m, 1-9, 1-5, 7pts, 2reb (Lat Mayan 6'9 205)
Home Nebraska game I think Bryce guarded Ron more, Lat/Paul.

@ SHU 3-12, 1-4 (Yetna 6'8 234) & vs Lafayette 4-14, 2-7, couple 6'7 213, 220 forwards with the 7 foot center. He did struggle against the 7'0 210 Treyton Thompson, Minn, too. Not sure how Pike can combat teams guarding Ron with a 4 other than Ron drives and beats 4s alot or post guys like Mag, Hyatt, Jaden or Dean along side Cliff.

 

[goru7]

He’s too streaky to demand the ball like a superstar. He is completely missing some games. As soon as that happens the team goes into a tailspin.

I’d like to see us run some crisp offense like we did a few games this season. It’s all very basic. There is so little ball movement and player moment that we become easy to guard. For a bad shooting team that’s death. The ball dies in hands and we dribble way too much. For whatever reason we just don’t do the things that lead to open shots, which we must do with our shooting inabilities.

This isn’t rocket science. At this level we should be able to do these things easily. I really don’t get it.

Except we did do it less than 2-3 weeks ago during the 4 game winning streak. 20 or more assists 4 straight games. Ball movement , extra pass to wide open shooter , no hesitation and shots released. Crash the boards on both ends but especially on the defensive end because if any of the 4 of the 5 starters can get the rebound , no need for an outlet just start your fast break and secondary break. Sometimes the simplest things are harder to do.

 

[RUChoppin]

Ron has 11 B1G OREB this year.

Which puts him at 3rd on the team, behind Omoruyi (24) and Mulcahy (16).

B1G ORB numbers:
24 - Omoruyi
16 - Mulcahy
11 - Harper
8 - McConnell
7 - Mag
7 - Hyatt
4 - Baker
4 - Jones
3 - Palmquist
2 - Reiber
2 - Miller

I think I might be most surprised at Reiber.... Played in every B1G game and averaged 8.1 minutes at the 5.... and only has 2 ORB.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

the op is right..ron struggles against longer players.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

If we really want to be honest...

Is Ron in enough shape to.......
Play 34 minutes
defend
work hard off the ball for better looks
get offensive rebounds

Mag does it for 4 minutes and motions to the bench for a rest. My point is to not say mag isnt in shape. It just requires a tremendous amount of fitness to do it all.

 

[kupuna133]

If we really want to be honest...

Is Ron in enough shape to.......
Play 34 minutes
defend
work hard off the ball for better looks
get offensive rebounds

Mag does it for 4 minutes and motions to the bench for a rest. My point is to not say mag isnt in shape. It just requires a tremendous amount of fitness to do it all.

If he wants to get to the next level he better be in that shape. Because that's what it takes.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

Ron has 11 B1G OREB this year.

Ron had 16 last year in B1G so he is improving.....on pace for 22. I don't want to see geo getting OREB, because we can't send 5 to the offensive glass. Ron not getting more than 1 OREB per conference game is an effort/desire issue,

 

[RUsojo]

Just ask yourself what was Rons best game without shooting well from 3 and I think that tells you he isn’t taking advantage of any particular 1 on 1 matchups whether they are taller or smaller and faster than him. Life of a tweener.

 

[NickRU714]

Ron had 16 last year in B1G so he is improving.....on pace for 22. I don't want to see geo getting OREB, because we can't send 5 to the offensive glass. Ron not getting more than 1 OREB per conference game is an effort/desire issue,

Exactly - he is up in offensive rebounding from last year and has already surpassed last years total OREBs in less games.

Overall (last year to this year)
27 in 27 games (1.0 OREB/game) to 28 in 20 games (1.4OREB/game)

BIG (last year to this year):
16 in 19 games (0.8OREB/game) to 11 in 10 games (1.1OREB/game).

https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/players/ron-harperjr-1.html

 

[Scangg]

If we really want to be honest...

Is Ron in enough shape to.......
Play 34 minutes
defend
work hard off the ball for better looks
get offensive rebounds

Mag does it for 4 minutes and motions to the bench for a rest. My point is to not say mag isnt in shape. It just requires a tremendous amount of fitness to do it all.

Ron may be more effective in less minutes. He looks to be taking plays off to conserve energy at times