a few hoops thoughts

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roanoke
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a few hoops thoughts

Post by roanoke »

Some posters have been a bit rough on this team early - and I get it. It has been a while since we were dominant and it is frustrating getting back to where we want to be.

I have been largely silent as I have not been able to watch much this early season. With all the sports channels, they keep coming up with ways to make you buy more?

I did get to watch the last two and I would advise those on the ledge to drift back inside and try to enjoy what will be an important building year that will still probably leave us wandering outside the NCAA tournament. But should still be fun to watch.

There is a lot of talent on this team. And Stack is patient. Unfortunately, there are some great young players who aren’t quite ready yet - and some currently great players who are being overplayed by defenses because we rarely have five guys who can score on the floor at the same time.

Robbins is a very good player. He was great last night. I think ultimately our best lineup will involve 2 of Robbins, Dort, QMB starting. My most pleasant surprise was seeing that Stack’s patience with Lawrence will be rewarded - he is v good and getting better. That injury takes time and I think there is a lot of upside. Stute has a chance to play in the NBA. He suffers most when we don’t have 5 scoring threats on the floor - because teams are looking for him. He can shoot and also has the swag the team needs. He and Robbins form a deadly inside-outside combo we can build around.

Bottom line, Wright needs to be consistent - he may have been playing banged up last night, but we need him. Every night.

A number of the other pieces look good- but need time. I think it will be fun watching this team get better. If Pippin had stayed, this would be a great team. As it is, coach will have his hands full winning, while giving young guys enough playing time to get better so they can help.

Last night, Robbins, Lawrence and Stute shot about 60%. The rest of the team made about 4 baskets and shot about 20%. Getting more free throws and making them - another issue that must be addressed. Aggressive offense gets foul shots. Passive offense does not. Aggressive, non-settling offense is preferred.


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Re: a few hoops thoughts

Post by Bird75 »

Hate to say it, but conference will be brutal this year. Very few, if any wins. This team is not good and that is unfortunate
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Re: a few hoops thoughts

Post by commadore »

Bird75 wrote: Fri Nov 25, 2022 7:38 am Hate to say it, but conference will be brutal this year. Very few, if any wins. This team is not good and that is unfortunate
Disagree. Yes, there are some teams that will smoke us, but there are several others that have not looked good at all. I think we finish in the 8-10 spot in the conference which is an improvment.
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Re: a few hoops thoughts

Post by roanoke »

There will, no doubt, be some ugly games. And some conference smackdowns.

Just the same, I like the talent.

Honestly, my main concern is defending explosive guards and rebounding. And on offense, if a guy is not a threat to score - I’d like to see him screening more than standing in a spot I don’t want him shooting from….
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Re: a few hoops thoughts

Post by AuricGoldfinger »

The biggest thing this team needs right now is a lead dog, an alpha. That may take some time to emerge. They really have trouble maintaining any sense of offensive rhythm against a variety of defenses.
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Re: a few hoops thoughts

Post by Vandamnit »

I think we have two players who will play at the next level and a bunch of freshmen who will continue to develop and emerge. I think we are going to give some teams quite a headache. I really get frustrated with the level of doomandgloom on this board this early in the season.

Whoever made the comment about Wright being the key to this team...I totally agree. We won't beat many decent teams without him playing well.
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Re: a few hoops thoughts

Post by nyyankeeDore »

Vandamnit wrote: Fri Nov 25, 2022 8:55 am I think we have two players who will play at the next level and a bunch of freshmen who will continue to develop and emerge. I think we are going to give some teams quite a headache. I really get frustrated with the level of doomandgloom on this board this early in the season.

Whoever made the comment about Wright being the key to this team...I totally agree. We won't beat many decent teams without him playing well.
I agree. Chicken Little disciples are tedious.
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Re: a few hoops thoughts

Post by UltimateVUFan »

Agree with just about everything said here so far. This team has talent, though much of it is young with limited college experience. The older players are logging the majority of minutes, but they still need time to gel as a team.

Robbins has been legit after the first two games where he spent more time on the perimeter. It’s almost as if he was asked to play QMB’s role as a high post screener/distributor/pick-and-roll man early. I like the development we’ve seen of him actually establishing in the post and being allowed to create. He is proving the ability to be dominant in that role when he is on.

Wright was clearly significantly limited by the back injury last night. I really hope that doesn’t turn into a nagging, season-long injury. That would be brutal for him, and the team as a whole, because he is definitely a spark who is a very capable glue guy and can be a focal point with his diverse skill set. When he is on, he can do a bit of everything: shoot; pass; play point-forward; post up on smaller guards/forwards. He’s a pretty solid utility player.

Lawrence has really come on strong the past several games. He has shown the ability to finish in traffic and make smart decisions on the drive. The bounce-pass dish to Robbins for the dunk last night after drawing 2 defenders was very well-executed through traffic. He is really letting the game come to him and shows more flashes of the ability to take over and be “the man” in crunch time when we need a basket.

Manjon had the off night against St. Mary’s, but it seems likely that was due to batting the illness. The injuries to Thomas and Lewis did not help at all, because he had to play extended minutes through his own ailment. However, overall he has shown himself to be a capable game manager at PG who doesn’t do anything too flashy. Just a heady player who makes the right decisions and plays within himself. He’s averaging nearly 4 assists per game against just over 1 turnover.

Stute is pretty much a stud. Enough said.

Not sure where QMB has been so far. Not quite the player I’d expected so far; however, he still does many things that do not appear on the stat sheet.

The rest of the squad has shown talent. I think the team will continue to improve. Yes, the conference schedule will be difficult. But it won’t be an utter failure, I don’t think.
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Re: a few hoops thoughts

Post by VUPKS »

Hope we develop and play our freshman. Dort has the look and build of a potential future star. We really need to keep this freshman class around.
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Re: a few hoops thoughts

Post by UltimateVUFan »

VUPKS wrote: Fri Nov 25, 2022 9:48 am Hope we develop and play our freshman. Dort has the look and build of a potential future star. We really need to keep this freshman class around.
True. Long term retention of this class is critical. That has been the biggest challenge for Stack so far given the hand he was dealt when he took over the program. Recruiting is picking up steam, but retaining those players is paramount. It’s a difficult balancing act. Obviously you want to develop your young guys and keep them happy. However, you have to play the older, experienced players who give you the best chance to win and maintain an overall positive trajectory for the program.

The schedule has actually been pretty challenging so far.(opponent’s defensive efficiency ranked #41 in the country according to kenpom - I know, I know: a lot of people hate the metrics and it’s too early for them to tell us much, yada yada. But it is worth noting that complaints about a lack of offense are partially a result of the relative defensive strength of the teams VU has faced.) There are a few games on the horizon that should allow minutes for the freshmen.
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Re: a few hoops thoughts

Post by dore74 »

"There is a lot of talent on this team. And Stack is patient. Unfortunately, there are some great young players who aren’t quite ready yet - and some currently great players who are being overplayed by defenses because we rarely have five guys who can score on the floor at the same time."

Well said Roanoke, we really need a freshman or two to take the big step sooner rather than later. We just don't have enough shooters at this stage. But the team played with heart and a few unneeded viruses out in Anaheim. We'll all need some patience along with the coach.
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Re: a few hoops thoughts

Post by mathguy »

Yet to be determined how good or bad this team is. Early returns have been mixed. I have to suspect some of the freshmen will get more minutes as the season goes on and they acclimate to competitions and team. How much of an impact they are able to make will likely determine where we end up on that good/bad scale.

I have to say though ... under Stack, every year we seem to be better at the end of the year than we are at the beginning. If that trend holds this year, we will be tougher in the SEC than we look now.
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Re: a few hoops thoughts

Post by quasidiehardvandyfan »

It's certainly looking much better than indicated from the first 2 games of the season. I wouldn't put myself in the sky is falling camp; more of the sky isn't the limit camp. Does that make sense? Spare me, it's early...

At the moment (and this could change), I agree with the 8-10 in the SEC projection, possibly picking off a few upsets and showing that late season Stackhouse improvement we've seen in seasons past. We feel like an NIT team, one who wins the majority of the games they're favored in, occasionally craps the bed, but falls short of defeating teams that are better than us (though to be fair, we've only had 2 tests thus far). We have a slate of winnable games coming up, with VCU and NC State being the most challenging ones on paper. If we can somehow

Agree Liam has been everything we could have hoped for beyond the first 2 games. Tyrin Lawrence's improvement also has been awesome to see. I mentioned on another thread, but our bench depth prevents us from being a great team as opposed to a good team. Even if our starters are having great nights, the production off the bench (Liam notwithstanding) is inconsistent, or occasionally non-existent. Getting Trey Thomas back should help, QMB's numbers will likely improve, and as others said, getting more consistency out of Dia and/or Smith would go a long way.
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Re: a few hoops thoughts

Post by geeznotagain »

The most encouraging, and surprising, devolpment to me thus far has been the improvement of Lawrence.
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Re: a few hoops thoughts

Post by dallasdore »

I hope you all are right. I will defer to the more basketball minds on this board, because I just don't see it. Granted, my interest in MBB is nowhere near what it was ten years ago. I guess that's what coach clapper did to me. I just don't see this team going any better than 12-19 or so. But you all have paid more attention to it, so that means I should be wrong...
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Re: a few hoops thoughts

Post by nyyankeeDore »

dallasdore wrote: Sat Nov 26, 2022 10:29 am I hope you all are right. I will defer to the more basketball minds on this board, because I just don't see it. Granted, my interest in MBB is nowhere near what it was ten years ago. I guess that's what coach clapper did to me. I just don't see this team going any better than 12-19 or so. But you all have paid more attention to it, so that means I should be wrong...
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Re: How Many Wins Needed?
Pipe dream guys. 3 [SEC] wins is what we're looking at. We're thin and getting thinner. We'll probably be a better overall everything and that won't translate to wins. We need another two high quality classes like this one to be able to compete. Buffy is right. This program was a bad high school science ...
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Re: a few hoops thoughts

Post by Vandy187187 »

My main concerns revolve around scoring.

We do not have an offense of motion and cutting and getting easy looks. We struggle to pass the ball down low to the block to the bigs. We do not have great shooters (Stute is our best/most consistent), everyone else is hot and cold and needs a lot of space. We don't have many players who can create their own look and hit the shot when we need it. We are not good in the fast break and don't get many points there. And our bigs tend to be far from the basket on offensive rebounds so we don't get many put back buckets. Add in a coach that doesn't seem particularly interested in changing his offense and I suspect we struggle all year long. Some days good, many days bad.
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Re: a few hoops thoughts

Post by cjdore »

VUPKS wrote: Fri Nov 25, 2022 9:48 am Hope we develop and play our freshman. Dort has the look and build of a potential future star. We really need to keep this freshman class around.
Dort will not earn PT until he can play defense without fouling.
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Re: a few hoops thoughts

Post by MrMemorial »

He's a bit of a project, like Will Perdue was. See how that turned out?
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Re: a few hoops thoughts

Post by UltimateVUFan »

Dort has demonstrated amazing physical gifts beyond what we are used to seeing in VU athletes. His ability to explode vertically and block shots is impressive. With further development he could become an absolute beast on the defensive end.
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