OSU vs uw

Agree on the out of bound plays. Too often when inbounding under their own basket and UW’s, the ball would go to the corner and the Beaver player would turn his back on the two defenders, essentially giving UW four defenders with the base/end line and the sideline. Was really frustrating to watch.

Another Christmas gift I’d like is for Taylor to go up strong and with a purpose each foray to the basket. Too often he doesn’t have a plan and is just looking for a foul to bail him out. Problem is he isn’t going up strong enough to initiate contact. He had one play last night were the defender just stood there with arms up and didn’t even have to jump to block GTJ’s weak drive. But overall GTJ looked much better tonight and responded well to the benching. Still not where we need him, but his free throws were key and he hit an important 3.

Speaking of responding to a benching, after playing minimal minutes against PSU, Ryuny (as well as Marial to some extent) brought it last night — 14 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists, a block and 5 friggin steals. All of those were team highs or tied for team high in the game. Like him or not, have to give WT credit for pushing the right buttons there and benching 3 of his starters over the course of 2 games. Sends a message to those kids — but possibly more importantly, it sends a clear message to the freshmen. And to their credit, all 3 players improved their play and effort when WT called their numbers again.

And what can you say about Rataj. I think most on here who follow recruiting thought he looked like he could potentially be a good one with versatility for Beavers, and now we’re seeing Rataj gain confidence right before our eyes. Last night he played 30 minutes and had 9 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists. I was most impressed with his being active on the court and his passing. He had more assists last night than he did in previous 7 combined. Bilodeau played far fewer minutes, but he also did a few good things, including hitting a jumper just inside the free throw line — a great skill for a player his size to have.

Next up USC. Haven’t seen them play this year, but on paper they look pretty decent but beatable. Looks like they have some length, including a 6-11 shot blocker. They don’t appear to be real deep though. Interested to see how team responds to first real road game — though those PKL games might have seemed like true road games. Go Beavs!

In-bounding was weak against PSU (2nd game, second half) also. Every opponent should pressure us at those opportunities until we can reliably beat it. 

I think the issue w/ the inbounds play and our half court offense in general (which has been alluded to multiple times) is still simple: LACK OF MOVEMENT. Maybe we need to hire Craig Robinson as a special assistant so he can sit on the bench yelling "MOVE!"

May we’ll be right on the in bounds. Certainly an issue on offense. There were times last night that I concentrated on player movement to see if it was as really as bad as I thought. At one point during 3 straight possessions there was no movement at all except possibly for the center reposting on different sides of the lane. No screening. no flashing to the free throw line, no rotating to other side — and almost no passing around perimeter. It was ridiculous. Next possession, someone — think it was Ryuny — got called for an illegal screen. Thought to myself, well maybe that’s why they don’t screen.

My concern isn't the players getting better or developing. I think that will happen because they're talented freshman. BUT.....what my concern definitely is, is whether the coaching will be there to take advantage of this improvement. Meaning if they're not coached to move better or even have a better offense to run (especially vs man to man), then its going to be difficult to stay in many games.