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Thoughts/Guesses on Clemson......

NewJerseyHawk

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Jan 11, 2007
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In the spirit of 16 games today and the 4 best sporting days of the Year starting at Noon ET, here is my primary goal to defeat Clemson.....Slowing down Nick Honor.

Aamir Simms is going to be discussed the most, but bigs are only as reliant as the guard play supporting their game....Honor, is the one player strong enough to play through contact on both ends of the floor....he is probably going to draw multiple players from RU on defense, most notably and ideally, he sees Mathis in his way.

I know, I know, there are some fans have already ticketed Mathis to exile or the path that he's not playing well or doesn't like his minutes etc....but in a 40 minute game, you don't have to be good or perfect, just be a piece to the puzzle. Mathis will play as many minutes as he wants to, if he locks in defensively, because Clemson is more quick and shifty than anything.

I see this as a golden opportunity to write your own script, if you are Mathis......my "guess" is for Mathis, slow down Honor and RU significantly increases their likelihood of a W.....even if he doesn't score a bunch, it's more getting stops not scores that win in March.....Mathis getting in Honor's way, even if it means he fouls him a couple of times is fine....that frees up Jacob, Geo and the other players to thrive.

This is a team sport....in the spirit of fans picking sides because they like this player over that player, I don't care who does well, as long as RU wins........this is a pretty good guess on maybe 10 to 12 possessions in a slower tempo game, where you defensively, need to get stops.....and while Mathis may think he needs to score to keep playing....he just needs to defend.....the more he guards and harasses Clemson and their guards, the more minutes he should see tonight.....

The more minutes Mathis figures to earn, will see him eventually scoring....I am not sure Clemson has the size in the backcourt, to slow down Mathis in transition....."oh no, Mathis going 1 on 1, into traffic, that's not good....".....well, some games yes, and some games maybe that's what works.....

Slow down Honor and RU (I believe) comes up with the W.....the one player who has fouls to give and athletic ability to push Honor, is Montez Mathis....
 
Clemson will spread us out and put Myles in the PNR often. It will be a challenge. Five and out will put pressure on our poor perimeter defense from Geo and Paul primarily.

IMO need Geo and Paul to contribute offensively to overcome this. No sense in pretending we will be good at defending the perimeter unless like you say Mathis gets more burn.

Offensively I am worried Pike is content to play a slow half court game.
 
Clemson will spread us out and put Myles in the PNR often. It will be a challenge. Five and out will put pressure on our poor perimeter defense from Geo and Paul primarily.

IMO need Geo and Paul to contribute offensively to overcome this. No sense in pretending we will be good at defending the perimeter unless like you say Mathis gets more burn.

Offensively I am worried Pike is content to play a slow half court game.

There is no better team in the B1G on running pick and roll, than Minnesota.....and while Marcus Carr didn't shoot well, he was defended well in both Gopher matchups.....and I can argue Liam Robbins is pretty good and a similar skill set to Aamir Simms.....

Mulcahy is not going to be anywhere near the perimeter or top of key on pick and roll.....he needs to stay attached to their corner shooters from 3....he is not a factor on pick and roll IMO.....

You can only run pick and roll if you have a lead and have some success with it.....if Clemson falls behind, that action isn't fueling a comeback effort. Teams run that offense to prevent turnovers and maintain a lead, just to ensure they get a shot up.

If someone could tell me who is going to guard RHJ on Clemson, I'd love to hear it.....RHJ and Jacob should cook tonight for any shot they want.....as long as they take care of the ball and aren't sloppy.
 
In the spirit of 16 games today and the 4 best sporting days of the Year starting at Noon ET, here is my primary goal to defeat Clemson.....Slowing down Nick Honor.

Aamir Simms is going to be discussed the most, but bigs are only as reliant as the guard play supporting their game....Honor, is the one player strong enough to play through contact on both ends of the floor....he is probably going to draw multiple players from RU on defense, most notably and ideally, he sees Mathis in his way.

I know, I know, there are some fans have already ticketed Mathis to exile or the path that he's not playing well or doesn't like his minutes etc....but in a 40 minute game, you don't have to be good or perfect, just be a piece to the puzzle. Mathis will play as many minutes as he wants to, if he locks in defensively, because Clemson is more quick and shifty than anything.

I see this as a golden opportunity to write your own script, if you are Mathis......my "guess" is for Mathis, slow down Honor and RU significantly increases their likelihood of a W.....even if he doesn't score a bunch, it's more getting stops not scores that win in March.....Mathis getting in Honor's way, even if it means he fouls him a couple of times is fine....that frees up Jacob, Geo and the other players to thrive.

This is a team sport....in the spirit of fans picking sides because they like this player over that player, I don't care who does well, as long as RU wins........this is a pretty good guess on maybe 10 to 12 possessions in a slower tempo game, where you defensively, need to get stops.....and while Mathis may think he needs to score to keep playing....he just needs to defend.....the more he guards and harasses Clemson and their guards, the more minutes he should see tonight.....

The more minutes Mathis figures to earn, will see him eventually scoring....I am not sure Clemson has the size in the backcourt, to slow down Mathis in transition....."oh no, Mathis going 1 on 1, into traffic, that's not good....".....well, some games yes, and some games maybe that's what works.....

Slow down Honor and RU (I believe) comes up with the W.....the one player who has fouls to give and athletic ability to push Honor, is Montez Mathis....
Obviously Mathis won’t start so who guards him out of the starting 5?
 
Clemson will spread us out and put Myles in the PNR often. It will be a challenge. Five and out will put pressure on our poor perimeter defense from Geo and Paul primarily.

IMO need Geo and Paul to contribute offensively to overcome this. No sense in pretending we will be good at defending the perimeter unless like you say Mathis gets more burn.

Offensively I am worried Pike is content to play a slow half court game.
Soho
Isn’t Paul our best helper for Myles and Cliff when they are put in PNR situations?
 
In the spirit of 16 games today and the 4 best sporting days of the Year starting at Noon ET, here is my primary goal to defeat Clemson.....Slowing down Nick Honor.

Aamir Simms is going to be discussed the most, but bigs are only as reliant as the guard play supporting their game....Honor, is the one player strong enough to play through contact on both ends of the floor....he is probably going to draw multiple players from RU on defense, most notably and ideally, he sees Mathis in his way.

I know, I know, there are some fans have already ticketed Mathis to exile or the path that he's not playing well or doesn't like his minutes etc....but in a 40 minute game, you don't have to be good or perfect, just be a piece to the puzzle. Mathis will play as many minutes as he wants to, if he locks in defensively, because Clemson is more quick and shifty than anything.

I see this as a golden opportunity to write your own script, if you are Mathis......my "guess" is for Mathis, slow down Honor and RU significantly increases their likelihood of a W.....even if he doesn't score a bunch, it's more getting stops not scores that win in March.....Mathis getting in Honor's way, even if it means he fouls him a couple of times is fine....that frees up Jacob, Geo and the other players to thrive.

This is a team sport....in the spirit of fans picking sides because they like this player over that player, I don't care who does well, as long as RU wins........this is a pretty good guess on maybe 10 to 12 possessions in a slower tempo game, where you defensively, need to get stops.....and while Mathis may think he needs to score to keep playing....he just needs to defend.....the more he guards and harasses Clemson and their guards, the more minutes he should see tonight.....

The more minutes Mathis figures to earn, will see him eventually scoring....I am not sure Clemson has the size in the backcourt, to slow down Mathis in transition....."oh no, Mathis going 1 on 1, into traffic, that's not good....".....well, some games yes, and some games maybe that's what works.....

Slow down Honor and RU (I believe) comes up with the W.....the one player who has fouls to give and athletic ability to push Honor, is Montez Mathis....
I have always been very supportive of Mathis but his problem is that he doesn’t focus in on defense. He thinks he’s a scorer and takes many ill advised shots and becomes a turnover machine. If he would let the game come to him instead of forcing things he’d be more productive

Also my guess is Jacob will defend Honor with Mathis as backup. Montez and Geo should remember Honor well when he scorched us at Fordham 2 years ago
 
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I think you hit the nail square on the head. Mathis has a path to make a significant impact on this game. I think he will be up to the task.

On offense I want to see the ball go east west north and south. That means Myles touches.

I feel real good about this game.
 
I think you hit the nail square on the head. Mathis has a path to make a significant impact on this game. I think he will be up to the task.

On offense I want to see the ball go east west north and south. That means Myles touches.

I feel real good about this game.
Myles touches in the high post contribute to extended minutes with no field goals imo
 
Myles touches in the high post contribute to extended minutes with no field goals imo
Even money odds Myles gets an assist tonight hitting a cutter from the high post. Same odds as a MLB 4 hitter striking out in one of his 1st 2 ABs
 
There is no better team in the B1G on running pick and roll, than Minnesota.....and while Marcus Carr didn't shoot well, he was defended well in both Gopher matchups.....and I can argue Liam Robbins is pretty good and a similar skill set to Aamir Simms.....

Mulcahy is not going to be anywhere near the perimeter or top of key on pick and roll.....he needs to stay attached to their corner shooters from 3....he is not a factor on pick and roll IMO.....

You can only run pick and roll if you have a lead and have some success with it.....if Clemson falls behind, that action isn't fueling a comeback effort. Teams run that offense to prevent turnovers and maintain a lead, just to ensure they get a shot up.

If someone could tell me who is going to guard RHJ on Clemson, I'd love to hear it.....RHJ and Jacob should cook tonight for any shot they want.....as long as they take care of the ball and aren't sloppy.
That’s a key Mulcahy HAS TO STAY ON THE CORNER 3’ shooters problem is he never does he always cheats into the lane and leaves his guy wide open
 
I don't, because he can't shoot and doesn't have moves. He's an 'alley-oop' guy or a turnover or missed bunny. If we run offense thru a big in the high post, it should be with Cliff.
 
BTW....
Weekend of Masters, Final 4, and opening day of baseball might narrowly win in my eyes.

something about going to opening day and seeing everyone with 0s and Spring arriving is magical to me.
 
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Nope. If Johnson does not get into foul trouble with Sims Rutgers wins rather easily because Clemson has nothing else inside.
 
I don't, because he can't shoot and doesn't have moves. He's an 'alley-oop' guy or a turnover or missed bunny. If we run offense thru a big in the high post, it should be with Cliff.
You don’t even have to guard Myles In the high post.
 
That’s a key Mulcahy HAS TO STAY ON THE CORNER 3’ shooters problem is he never does he always cheats into the lane and leaves his guy wide open

Paul has to go against instincts to help.....Clemson hopes you leave shooters in the corner.....he absolutely has to stay attached....a 2 is OK to give up.....3s are a no-no.....
 
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As someone posted in another thread, with which I totally agree, if RHJ scores the first time he touches the ball, we win. If he misses, we're in trouble.
 
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Besides our erratic shooting, I think this game all comes down to who defends Simms and how well we do it. Take him out of game and I think we win. If he gets loose or gets MJ in foul trouble it will be a tough game. I wouldn't be surprised to see Pike throw multiple people at him early to see what works.

On offense we need to get the ball in the low post, but we never seem to do that past the first few possessions.
 
Besides our erratic shooting, I think this game all comes down to who defends Simms and how well we do it. Take him out of game and I think we win. If he gets loose or gets MJ in foul trouble it will be a tough game. I wouldn't be surprised to see Pike throw multiple people at him early to see what works.

On offense we need to get the ball in the low post, but we never seem to do that past the first few possessions.
But the erratic shooting is the primary driver of our peeformance
 
Clemson is very tough when they play at home. They've always had probs on the road, though. We got this.
 
In the spirit of 16 games today and the 4 best sporting days of the Year starting at Noon ET, here is my primary goal to defeat Clemson.....Slowing down Nick Honor.

Aamir Simms is going to be discussed the most, but bigs are only as reliant as the guard play supporting their game....Honor, is the one player strong enough to play through contact on both ends of the floor....he is probably going to draw multiple players from RU on defense, most notably and ideally, he sees Mathis in his way.

I know, I know, there are some fans have already ticketed Mathis to exile or the path that he's not playing well or doesn't like his minutes etc....but in a 40 minute game, you don't have to be good or perfect, just be a piece to the puzzle. Mathis will play as many minutes as he wants to, if he locks in defensively, because Clemson is more quick and shifty than anything.

I see this as a golden opportunity to write your own script, if you are Mathis......my "guess" is for Mathis, slow down Honor and RU significantly increases their likelihood of a W.....even if he doesn't score a bunch, it's more getting stops not scores that win in March.....Mathis getting in Honor's way, even if it means he fouls him a couple of times is fine....that frees up Jacob, Geo and the other players to thrive.

This is a team sport....in the spirit of fans picking sides because they like this player over that player, I don't care who does well, as long as RU wins........this is a pretty good guess on maybe 10 to 12 possessions in a slower tempo game, where you defensively, need to get stops.....and while Mathis may think he needs to score to keep playing....he just needs to defend.....the more he guards and harasses Clemson and their guards, the more minutes he should see tonight.....

The more minutes Mathis figures to earn, will see him eventually scoring....I am not sure Clemson has the size in the backcourt, to slow down Mathis in transition....."oh no, Mathis going 1 on 1, into traffic, that's not good....".....well, some games yes, and some games maybe that's what works.....

Slow down Honor and RU (I believe) comes up with the W.....the one player who has fouls to give and athletic ability to push Honor, is Montez Mathis....
I was thinking similarly. I was hoping that Mathis gets the start over Mulchahy because Mulchahy tends to overhelp down low and leave his guy open for three too much. When he does not double down he still sluffs off his guy in the corner too much and he is not fast enough to get back out to him when the kick out comes. I doubt that Pike makes any changes with the starting lineup though
 
Hawk I love your comments on Mathis. 100% agree he is a lockdown defender and if he can be a shut down tonight, his offense will come and he will be a key to a win.

Myles, Mathis, JY and Caleb are 4 of top 10 defenders in B1G. Lets lock Clemson down and take this one!
 
Notice on their 3 Harper jogging back failing to be a part of the D
 
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