A number of takes , some positive and some negative.
Positives. It should be evident to Pike that Dylan Grant needs to get the ball in different spaces on the floor . Despite being off and short arming his shots in the first half , he ended with 22 points and 11 rebounds . I did not like Pike putting Grant in the corner in the second half while he had Francis running high pick and roll, as he never got him the ball in the paint or at foul line extended. He did hit a big 3 from the corner but his use was not optimized.
Positive and Negative. Nice adjustment by Pike to take away the 3 point shot to start and most of the second half . However , why he let it continue in the first half was bad. Why didn’t he adjust and allow open threes alll half ? American made 9 threes in the first half for 27 of their 33 points. The only reason they got a lead and were in the game. Taking it away sooner would have let RU lead at halftime but instead the team did a good job offensively to get it tied at 33 at the half.
Positive and negative .Although Francis made some shots and scored tonight which was good compared to the other night , he shoots too too damn much. He doesn’t make any attempt to pass the ball or get it to Dylan who had his man sealed down low a few times. I want Dylan taking our shots or the Euros getting open looks . Francis seems to jack up a 3 because he thinks he thinks it is his time to shoot again. Way too much shooting which he will not get away with in conference.
Positive and negative. Bryce Dorsch has become a capable defensive 5 and rebounder but he has to be more offensive minded or when he gets the offensive rebounds he gets, he has to go back up and flush it more often. Which brings me to the negative. Manny got in foul trouble last night which will happen often in conference play and he has to be more careful as he gets called for fouls pushing people and he doesn’t have to. He showed his importance as a rim protector as he had 3 great blocks last night which was such a welcome sight . He needs to stay on the floor especially against the bigger centers in conference.
Pike has to do a better job getting the Euros open shots and open threes . He ran a good play out of a timeout and got Zrno the ball on a team screen and he knocked down the 3. But we need more. In the first half we had 2 threes to American ‘s 9 which is being outscored 27-6 from three. If was very difficult to have leads or hold them and the offense had to do a hell of a lot of good things as we did just to get even at the half. Staggered screens would work.
The freshman Mark and Nwuili are trying hard and are having a difficult time because they are freshman. They will both help this team as the season goes along.
Overall , 4-0 is nice but I would like to see less dribbling from Francis and Buchanan and more quick passing to get an open look. The passing was good in the first game or 2 and not so much the last 2. A little bit too much iso ball , and I know every team does it , but our team needs to pass quicker and get the open look and let it fly.
