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Illinois Post Game Thoughts

The sooner DM figures out what a disaster the 4 guard is the sooner we will be more competitive and potentially develop into a solid team as our bigs get more PT and start to assert themselves. If not we will continue to implode and everyone will question if DM has any clue what he is doing when the whole world sees something he cannot. Would love to know if someone on our bench keeps track of +/- when players are on the floor as it won't take long to prove what an absolute disaster that lineup is and if someone is it should be done away with immediately. When Doral is continuing to improve and rebound and clog up the middle and Sarr continues getting acclimated to his teammates and TT give some solid spot mins. there is no way we shouldn't have at least 2 bigs on the floor to help improve D and rebounding. Our 4 guard is GUARANTEED to give up big points and only works if they collectively shoot over 50% from 3 which clearly has not been the case for the start of the year and doubt it will be attainable against ACC comp.
 
CharlotteDeac1 said:
I would really like to see Donovan try to assert himself a little bit more on offense occasionally. He has an absolutely beautiful shot. I wish he, Melo, and Sarr would get more minutes. Melo played some damn good defense for the stretch he was in at the end of the first half. Think he could offer a lot. Also would like to see us continue to use the 3-2 D, rotations were awesome for the most part. I commend Danny and the team for teaching/learning a disciplined zone.
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More Melo!
 
RJKarl said:
People forget that Donovan was All-State in volleyball in by far the best state in the nation for volleyball. To be that, he has to be somewhere between an elite athlete to a freak. I'd be stunned if he can't run the court and fly in for super dunks. I hope he gets more PT.

I have been very pleasantly surprised by his stroke.
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He does have a pretty looking shot.
 
The Mitchell stepback for three against UNCG where he juked the defender was absolutely filthy.
 
Wakeforest22890 said:
The Mitchell stepback for three against UNCG where he juked the defender was absolutely filthy.
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Yes it was, I got hyped up when that happened. As someone else mentioned, his mid range jumper last night was huge. Illinois was on a run and I’m pretty sure that shot was close to the end of the shot clock. Really would like to see him used more in the offense. He has an eFG% of 80.8.
 
MichDeac25 said:
Mitchell's mid-range J was pretty damn critical. It was only 2 points, but I recall it was at a point in time when Illinois had made a run to cut the lead and Wake was in a drought and looking disorganized on offense. Mitchell stepped up and hit a big shot.
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Mitchell could be very dangerous in the high post working a 2 man game with Moore.

I think it was DCDeac who proposed a starting lineup of Childress, Crawford, Brown, Mitchell, and Moore. I could get down with that.

Our bigs are criminally under utilized.
 
Yeah I think it stretched the lead back out to either three or five when Illinois rattled off two or three straight buckets.
 
Would be sweet to see Mitchell become an effective PnR/PnP guy as a secondary offensive option.
 
This was the first game I've watched. I have read all the moaning and groaning on the boards with our very bad start. It's pretty clear a couple things are at play for sure in our early season.....1) the loss of Collins, Dino, and Arians is a major loss in scoring, rebounding, and leadership that won't be overcome easily no matter what. 2) The coaches are still trying to figure out what lineups and style of play will work best with this roster. We have no identity at all right now. 3) Doral Moore is much improved and will get better 4) freshmen are freshmen 5) Crawford and Woods aren't handling the leadership "go to" roles very well and until they do we will likely struggle. Stat lines aren't enough from those two players.
 
6. We need more zone. I have been beating this drum for a while, but I would continue to use more zone. 2-3, 3-2, 1-3-1....I would even introduce a half court 1-2-1-1 and let it collapse into a 2-3 once the offense gets the ball into position. I would also like to see us trap in the corners occasionally just to make the other team think. If we had stuck with m2m last night we would have lost by double digits. The key to this team is keeping Moore in the ball game in an effective defensive position. Woods, Wilbekin, and Crawford just don't defend on ball very well, and Moore is too slow to guard the pick and roll. This is a zone team
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Seemed pretty obvious going into this season...especially with having to rely so much more heavily on Doral to corral rebounds and patrol the lane / alter shots. We won't really "out-athletic" anyone with this current crop of players. They all have certain, unique strengths, and given the right combos can be very effective as a team, but we weren't a very good m2m team for the past two years, and it was painfully obvious going into the season that losing Collins' freakish athleticism, Dinos' grit and Arians' post-grad savvy was going to lead to even more struggles in man. Should have been working feverishly on designing zone concepts for the fall practices as soon as Dinos signed that contract. Actually, as soon as JC declared for the draft IMO.

ETA: if 32 mins played becomes closer to the norm for Doral rather than the exception, that almost by itself is reason enough to stick with zones.
 
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I was extremely psyched to see Sarr on the court with Moore. I would like to see a lineup of Brown, Sarr, Moore, Melo/Woods and Craw/Chill when we need defensive stops. If we are ahead by a healthy chunk, then go with Melo and Chill. In close games in which we need some offense or shouldn't call a timeout after getting the board, then Woods/Craw
 
What would our record be in an alternate universe where Danny committed his stubbornness to playing ONLY 2 guards at a time (craw/Chill/Woods/wilb)?
 
I love when Wrangor posts his thoughts after a game. The comments afterward demonstrates a pretty astute fan base. Thanks to everyone (especially Wrangor) for helping me to better understand and appreciate the game. Even when we lose, I can still somewhat enjoy watching the game by focusing on the details within the game.
 
Rosspeds said:
All that being said, this is the best coaching I have seen by Manning. Not without areas for improvement, but he realized that man to man wasn't working, better substitution patterns, playing Moore and Sarr for more minutes, and, actually, let players stay in the game after committing a foul.
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Must have been reading the boards on the crappy drive back from Lynchburg, VA. :eek:
 
I like D-Mitchell a lot, but we are still looking at a very small sample size of shooting results. His stroke is smooth, but everyone looks good when the ball is going in the basket.

He should definitely be getting minutes, but I still have him relatively low in the rotation. 8th man?
 
DeacsATS said:
I like D-Mitchell a lot, but we are still looking at a very small sample size of shooting results. His stroke is smooth, but everyone looks good when the ball is going in the basket.

He should definitely be getting minutes, but I still have him relatively low in the rotation. 8th man?
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I think Mitchell also has the potential to be a really good defender. I hope we can get that out of him.
 
PhDeac said:
Mitchell could be very dangerous in the high post working a 2 man game with Moore.
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That would be fun to see...Mitchell seems to have a good feel for the game and with his length, vision over the D, and ability to stroke it, he could be the perfect solution to a trapping zone employed against us. He'd be useful in the short corner as well. Haven't seen enough of him to know if he is a keen passer yet, but sounds like folks here think he can do it / play more mins.

Also, Sarr definitely seems to have a nose for passing the ball and making smart plays without the ball, yet another candidate to inject some versatility into a somewhat stagnant (overly guard heavy) and not yet multifaceted enough offense thus far. Although it sounds like it was better last night after the first 10-12 mins.

ETA: and by the way, where is that lovely outside stroke from Sarr that we saw in the practice vids? Seems like he can stroke it from the corner especially, n'est-ce pas?
 
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