Tudor and Goodman

A problem with putting some body in the corner is that person already has the baseline and sideline playing defense. And that defense does not require an actual defender.

Unfortunately, the OSU offense often puts multiple players in the corners for entire possessions. I guess it simplifies the offensive options, but it does allow an opposing defender a cardio break when the Beaver(s) is instructed to remain in that corner for all or part of the offensive set.

I have not observed any of the top teams (Oregon, Stanford, UCLA, Arizona, UCONN, South Carolina) waste 2 players by sticking them in the corners with the idea that maybe just maybe they can get a kick out and perhaps hit a 3. May work from time to time, but that strategy certainly creates a stagnant offense.

Tudor was a bad girl and Scott told her to go stand in the corner.

Having a shooter in the corner is a good solid tactic. If it is one that has a quick-release the defender has to play close and that opens up space on that side for drives. The problem is when the shooter in the corner is being ignored by the ball handlers. This is exactly what has happened to the offense. It is the ball handlers responsibility to make sure to get the players in the corners involved. You can do that in a variety of ways. One is to swing the ball around the perimeter via passing. This makes the defense constantly move and that movement should eventually create not only shot openings but also lanes for driving.

What has happened beginning with last season is that the primary ball handlers have not been concerned with getting other players involved. They froze our McWilliams last season. And they are doing that to Kat, Goodman and everyone not in the post this season. When you are not within the flow of the offense it tends to make you force shots when you do get the opportunity and your shooting percentage suffers.

Some of the lack of perimeter passing is because I believe Scott wanted to get the freshman post involved early. So the ball handlers where focused on them. Not a bad idea really. The problem is that it became a pattern that was hard to break out of.

Contrary to what some think, this is not what Scott wants. He spent most of last season getting Slocum to play the point the way he wanted. She did play that way at the beginning of this season but reverted back recently. Mik played really well last season with respect to distributing and making smart decisions but reverted back to the way she played her sophomore season. When you have two ball-dominant players who want to constantly play off the dribble to create their own shots it pretty much freezes out other players, especially those on the corners who rely on their teammates to get them the ball at the right time. in fact, it is their responsibility to make sure that those other players are involved in the offense.

I don't care how good and effective you can be one on one, you still need to get others involved in the offense. Alen Iverson was a perfect example of someone who was exceptional off the dribble. He might have been the best of all time. Well even though he goes great personal numbers the team he was on never seemed to do well in the playoffs so they traded him for basically nothing. Everyone expected the team to really decline, but to everyone's surprise, they actually played better without him. The same scenario repeated itself when he was traded again and fans began to realize that individual numbers often come at the expense of team success.

It is always best to get as many players on the team involved in the offense as possible. I am not referring to individual games because you want to go with the hot player when necessary. But no player is ever going to be hot every game. There will be times when they can not buy a basket and that is when points have to come from another source. But if you have been playing one way for some time, it is not easy to suddenly change your offensive focus. The best teams are those that have offensive balance. Of course, that flies in the face of those that want their favorites to take over and shine individually.

Ideally, all five players touch the ball on offense on every possession and the opposing defense is forced to move and react to the ball movement. I just think that the team's offense doesn't call for that as players are often stationary and watch the action in the same position while the play is executed utilizing only two and three players.

I agree with willtalk in that having players watching on offense whose sole role it is to space the floor isn't sustainable. I enjoy seeing passing and ball movement rather than dribbling. I can only assume that the players are running the offense as called. Virtually every play appears to be called from the bench.

Agreed. The one-handed passes drive me crazy when they result in turnovers. More passing and ball movement would be welcomed.