I like Mathis on D but he struggles on offense in the half court - would like more production there. I wonder if McConnell will start again at some point for Mathis.
More production from the 2 spot
- Thread starter RUSCFORMERLYRULOU
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Not sure how long you have followed RU Basketball under Pike, but he appears to be the type of coach that puts emphasis on D first when making player and line-up decisions. Not saying that McConnell does not focus on D, but that Pike likely values Montez superior D when paired alongside Geo. He likely pairs Young and McConnell for the very same reasons.
Makes sense to me. I just feel we underutilize Caleb offensively. He’s got the full package - mid range and three point game, can drive and excels in open court.
We need somebody who can score on the second team. Otherwise it would be Mulcahy, Young, and Mathis at the Guard/wing spots. No shooters there, so I like McConnell on the second team.
Montez is too valuable on D to sit. His lock-down defense on Powell in the first half on Saturday was just the most recent example. He's got the same FG% as Geo and he has excepted his role as a defensive stopper, so he no longer takes crazy shots, but just takes what comes his way. I think he should continue to start.
So far the way I'm seeing it is:
PG: Baker/Mulcahy (gets the offense into its sets, looks to pass to the open man and get shots when open)
2G: Mathis/Young (lock down defender on opponent's top scorer, looks to slash into the paint and draw contact)
WF: Yeboah/McConnell (perimeter offense, rebounding, occasional penetration and points off offensive glass)
PF: Harper/Yeboah (paint and midrange scoring, rebounding, occasional perimeter offense)
C: Johnson/Carter/Doucoure (paint defense, primary rebounding, paint offense)
Our true "shooters" aren't really 2Gs, with our best perimeter shooting coming from the forward spots - and from Baker creating for himself from the point (assuming he gets his shot going again). Our 2G position hews more toward the style of Dwayne Wade than Klay Thompson.
PG: Baker/Mulcahy (gets the offense into its sets, looks to pass to the open man and get shots when open)
2G: Mathis/Young (lock down defender on opponent's top scorer, looks to slash into the paint and draw contact)
WF: Yeboah/McConnell (perimeter offense, rebounding, occasional penetration and points off offensive glass)
PF: Harper/Yeboah (paint and midrange scoring, rebounding, occasional perimeter offense)
C: Johnson/Carter/Doucoure (paint defense, primary rebounding, paint offense)
Our true "shooters" aren't really 2Gs, with our best perimeter shooting coming from the forward spots - and from Baker creating for himself from the point (assuming he gets his shot going again). Our 2G position hews more toward the style of Dwayne Wade than Klay Thompson.
I'm happy with 2G rotation, Mathis and Young are lockdown defenders and the combination of the two can shutdown most backcourts in the B1G, if necessary. In a perfect world, you want more offensively but both guys put so much effort defensively, anything on offense is gravy or icing. We become a dangerous team, if the lightbulb goes on for one or both players offensively.
The minutes can't go fast enough when the second team is on the court because of the absence of scoring threats .The substitutions need to be staggered so that there are at least two scorers on the court at all times taking into account foul trouble and giving players rest.
RU was +25 when Mathis was on the floor against SH, highest on the team.
I love + / - .................................when it helps my agrument
You are really under selling Mathis. The kid gets absolutely no plays run for him, which I know for a fact, and has to create his points in transition, off of defense , hard drives to the tin. If really would be nice to have an offensive set where he curls off a screen and drives to the hole for a short shot or if he has a step , then for a dunk . His rotation on his shot both from three and the foul line is better and he has hit some threes on pitch outs and some he missed were in and out and not wildly missing. He needs more time as does Caleb as they both can give you more offense from their games but are not set up to do so. Their defense is already outstanding. Pike has a tendency to sit both of them for long stretches as I think he forgets about them sometimes . They both will be more impactful as Caleb comes off the bench and if Montes has some players run for him.
Mathis is a solid defender and good on the break, but a 2 really needs to shoot a whole lot better on a tourney team. Just by the threat of the 3 it opens the lane and room for Myles. Notice that other 2's pinch away from him. Really thought he was going to come back this year a better shooter. Hopefully he finds a rhythm going forward and works on technique in off season.
We do not use him like a normal 2 . There are no plays set up for him. I mean none. My point is there should be , have him come off curls and screens, where he can drive to the hole and use his strengths . Watch his 3 point attempts this year compared to last , they are normally in rhythm , and some have gone in and out. No wild misses. He is getting better at this aspect of his game. He gives us a lot more defensively and on the boards. Very solid contributor.
Agree that we should run more sets for both Mathis/Young to get them off curls and screens where they can penetrate to the basket. The only caveat is awareness of the defense and willingness to dump the ball off for the better look. We had a couple of great plays against SHU where we penetrated, got the shot blocker to step up, then dumped for the easy layup/dunk behind the shot blocker - it was beautiful.
Mathis/Young aren't prototypical 2Gs, but are more in the slasher vein. They're not the guys who take kickouts and drain threes - they're looking to penetrate into the lane and get to the rim or draw fouls. There are a few of issues with this, though. One is that both are sub-.700 from the FT line, so drawing fouls isn't as valuable as it could be. Two is that neither have hit consistently enough from the arc to keep defenses honest, which makes it harder to penetrate into the lane. Three is that Young hasn't yet developed a sense of when to pass the ball after he's drawn the defender, which has led to a higher rate of turnovers - and there's no there's no risk in bringing double or even triple teams when he drives.
As it is, the combined stat line for Mathis/Young is:
42.0 min, 14.0 pts (.490 2P%, .195 3P%, .627 FT%), 5.6 rbs, 3.5 ast, 2.0 stl, 3.8 tov, 3.2 pf
Mathis is struggling lately on O, but has been one of our more reliable scorers generally. He'll bounce back IMO.
Young and Mathis must learn to run the fast break, and not to drive through a legal guarding defender. They need to run that drill for hours after practice.
Young is more guilty of this than Mathis. I looked through the ESPN play-by-plays back through Drexel (no play by play was available for our first 2 games). Mathis has had 1 offensive foul called, while Young has had 7.
Must be sitting in the 300s then because his Free Throw definitely has better form, confidence, and rotation. BEsides the higher percentages for him across the board Pi had him on the court late against Wisconsin when we knew we were getting fouled. Also means he's showing it in practice as well.
Mathis is in the first half of his sophomore year. Be happy with his D for now. He will find his way offensively, and when he does, he will have more plays run for him. Amazing that we have so many "coaches" among our posters that think they can spot stuff our coaching staff totally misses.
Yes and the beautiful dump offs were by shot or pump fakes by Akwasi and Caleb to Myles. Young is looking to shoot or score too much, and if it can have it drilled into his head , that if he passes the ball to the more open player, he will possibly get an assist and even if that player does not shoot he will get the ball back. It appears Jacob thinks he only has so many minutes on the floor, so he better score on every opportunity, which is a terrible mind set for a point guard . Montes and Jacob can both be run off curls that can accelerate their drives to the hoop.
Regarding your stats, they are combined shooting almost 50 % from 2 point range which supports my point they should be utilized more there. Although the free throw % is 63 , I believe Young is a better foul shooter and closer to his 5-6 performance in the Pitt game . I also think Montes will continue to improve from the stripe . Regarding their 3 point shooting, Jacob is rushing everything and is out of sorts. His entire offensive game has to slow down, pass first , let the game come to him. Regarding Montes, his rotation and shot selection from three is a ton better than last year and I have more confidence when he takes it this year compared to any time last year. Overall, I think Montes has to be utilized more on offense.
Again, we have Akwasi and Ron that are or should be taking the majority of our shots with Geo. They are one and three or fours . We do not utilize the 2 guard like other teams , that actually run plays for them. Mathis has to do whatever he can to get involved with the offense. If he was coming off screens, like Reggie Miller used to do or Carson Edwards or Ryan Cline of Purdue last year, and was clanging three after three , I would agree with you but he is not doing that nor is he being set up to shoot threes. He should be set up to slash more and get to the hole.
Young is a career .694 from the line on 62 total attempts over 3 seasons. Jury still out on what his true percentage is there with a small sample.
Mathis is a career .565 on 124 attempts over 1.5 seasons, and is only slightly better this season than last. At this point, I'm not expecting much more than him being a 60% shooter.
It's nice where we FINALLY have enough depth where Mathis can afford to let the game come to him on offense, isn't it?
With Young, I'm really trying to be patient with some of the one-on-one stuff when we have the numbers...his slashing would be so much more effective if he'd PASS to the open guy instead of trying some acrobatic shot.
With Young, I'm really trying to be patient with some of the one-on-one stuff when we have the numbers...his slashing would be so much more effective if he'd PASS to the open guy instead of trying some acrobatic shot.
Young needs to:
1. Slow down
2. See the court
3. Dribble less
4. pass more
5. Finish his plays
MO
So Young can shoot 70 % and maybe a little better the more he gets fouled and goes to the line . I am seeing a better rotation on Montes foul shot and he will be above his career 56% and I am thinking he gets to 65% this year . There were stretches last year he was at 35-45 % for games in a row. Definite improvement there.
The thing about Montez is he knows he's not an ace from 3 and usually only takes open looks or if the shot clock is low, Young will take and miss a contested 3 with 20 seconds on the clock. Mathis has made some timely 3s in his time thus far.
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