Guards?

[tomangelone]

Is this the worst collection of Bona guards we've had since the 1980s? Honestly, this group of guards--save Davenport--is HORRIBLE. There is absolutely no play-making ability, ball-handling, or perimeter scoring threat. St. Joe's just packed it in and DARED us to beat them from the perimeter. We couldn't and we can't. It's becoming more and more evident that this up-tempo style is really killing the Bonnies. At the moment, we just don't have the personnel to play the way Schmidt would like.

[coach]

What worries me is that i'm sure Schmidt would like to adjust some things in the offense, but your right we don't have anyone that can create, and nobody that can shoot the jumper. Teams are going to continue playing off us on D' and daring us to shoot and we won't win. Mr Matthews better take charge this is his second chance to prove he can play. I don't know what to think of Hall, not impressed thus far and don't get me started on the most overhyped Bonnie ever - Eleby!

[portpasses]

Tom, I completely agree, although I'm starting to join the crowd questioning Schmidt's offense. We have run the same halfcourt set the entire season, and it doesn't work. We don't have penetrators who can get inside a zone, and that weave offense doesn't work at all. We need to run some different sets to hide our weak playmakers.

Schmidt seemed to be placing a lot of blame on Nicholson in the postgame for St. Joe's board dominance. Quite frankly, I didn't see it. When he was in the game, he kept Nivens off the glass. It was the rest of the team that was killing us. Nivens got most of his rebounds in the second half when Andrew was sitting on the bench.

Coach - I'm with you on Hall. Why does he seem to get a free pass from Schmidt with all the turnovers? I haven't seen the stats yet, but he must've had 5 more tonight. Why not use Cook or Carter for the minutes they are playing Hall at the 4?

On a positive note, much better defensive effort tonight (except for the boards...) and I for one can't wait to enjoy Nicholson and Davenport for the next 3 years. And I'm in the minority on Matthews I think, but the last few games I have seen a much better performance - good d, some nice passes that are showing up in the assist column, and control on offense. He's not forcing shots and although coming into the season some expected him to carry us offensively, I think we are seeing what he is - a good complementary player. I even saw some leadership tonight.

[Sipowicz]

I was going to wait until tomorrow to post, I wanted to think what I just saw could not have been as terrible as I thought. The unforced tutnovers continued, not getting back on defense continued, and horrific shooting continued. ST JOES did not play that well tonight but we never stood a chance. I am so sick of seeing other teams shoot better than us in our own building and I'm not talking threes. St JOES killed us from the 6-8footers while we missed layups and the same mid range shots. I am not expecting too much too soon, I predicted 12-13 wins while building some identity and cohesiveness-I'm seeing very little of either. This team seems to be regressing the last couple of games. I know this is a young team but look at HALL, MATTHEWS, & THOMAS have about a year and a half left in their careers. I think part of the problem is that the team really feeds off the students and they have not been here for awhile. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

[portpasses]

SIP - I disagree on the defense. I thought we got back much better tonight. St. Joe's shot 40% for the game and as Coach stated in the postgame, how many of those makes were layups off the 19 offensive rebounds? The first shot defense was pretty good IMO. We did get beat downcourt a couple of times off the turnovers, but you can't blame that on the defense.

[blazermaniac5]

The defense was decent, but St. Joes had a 50-30 edge on the glass, with 19 of those rebounds on the offensive side. You can only play good defense for a certain time. This loss is on the offense.

[tomangelone]

Jan 14, 2009 22:32:23 GMT -5 blazermaniac5 said:

This loss is on the offense.

I'd say so. Our guards shot 6-24 from the field tonight. The sad thing is, that's nothing new. These guys alternate between being erratic, passive, careless, and downright stupid.

[ncbonnie15]

Our guards are fine, its the offense that stinks. Too much standing around. Will somebody please set a screen for Matthews so he can get some open looks. We don't set enough screens. I believe Coach will straighten this out. The guards are forced to shoot some bad shots with the clock running down. Hall, I like your scoring ability, but quit throwing the ball away on those jump passes!
We will be tougher when the students get back, I could hear the coaches call out plays it was so dead in there today.

[hamrucker]

Jan 15, 2009 0:06:08 GMT -5 ncbonnie15 said:

Our guards are fine

How are our guards fine? Eleby, Blackburn and Hall are walking turnovers. Eleby literally can't hit an open shot. Hall is totally out of control, plays AWFUL defense and makes Rashaan Palmer's jumper look like Michael Jordan's. Blackburn has the basketball IQ of a 5th grader and is a flat out below average A-10 point guard. Spare me with the running screens for Matthews. He gets his looks and he simply can't hit them. He is strictly a one dimensional player and struggles at that.

They also ALL insist on leaving their feet to throw passes which is maddening. Also, if John Hall throws another lazy one handed shove pass I'm going to lose my mind. Other than that, they're fine.

[triple302]

The offense was down right terrible. It was painful to watch. But I think the worst part about the whole thing is our complete lack of leadership on the floor. The body language of this team is awful right now. They turn the ball over or miss an open shot, then hang their head and trot back up the floor to the defensive end. This is especially true of Hall. No one settles the team down when they are out of control or gets them fired up when they are down. They don't huddle up like most teams do before foul shots. The pregame introductions look like a bunch of guys walking into a dentist's office for root canals rather than a group of college kids getting ready to play a game they supposedly love to play. This team needs an identity and a leader to step up and take charge. A coach can only do so much if a team doesn't really want to succeed. I can't believe that no one showed the killer instinct to step up and bring everything that they can against a very beatable team on your home floor. We desperatle need a Winn, Green, Bremer, or even a Relph on this team.

[mcspin]

Jan 15, 2009 0:06:08 GMT -5 ncbonnie15 said:

Our guards are fine,

I'll say it with a bit more tact than hamrucker, but no, our guards are not fine. They have little A-10 level ability. Not a single one is an above average shooter, playmaker or ball handler in this league.

Well, at least I tried to say it with more tact.