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WHOOPASS! & 20 Things

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  • WHOOPASS! & 20 Things

    Yup. That - was a can of whoopass. it's not all bad. We're 13-4, and in second place in the PAC-12 with 3 games to go. ...but HOLY JEEBUS THIS ONE HURT!!!

    20 things I noticed:

    1-Referees hate us. As bad as ever. Totally inconsistent, and one-sided.
    2-PAC-12 Referees are ridiculously terrible.
    3-Did I mention #2?
    4-Our free throw shooting is going to be our downfall.
    5-Colorado made a lot of shots. They share the ball well, but hit big outside shots all night long.
    6-Tad Boyle is on my naughty list.
    7-Evan will be on the side of a milk carton somewhere tomorrow morning. MIA tonight
    8-We did not finish at the basket at all. I know it was frustrating, no calls, deficit all night, etc., but you've just got to finish.
    9-Other teams run better half court offensive sets than we do. The good ones, anyway. True. Motion sets run against us are often beautiful. We stagnate.
    10-Ethan Anderson still picks up his dribble too much.
    11-Isaiah and Max can be soft. Charmin soft. GET DIRTY BOYS! ...before it's too late.
    12-We are absolutely loose-ball deficient. it's ridiculous. Every other team outworks us to make loose balls theirs. ....and lately, we've been a little unlucky.
    13-We haven't learned how to lean on Evan in the low post, so that he can dominate/get to the FT line, or kick out for open 3's out of double teams. We should see more of both in tough games.
    14-Where the hell is Reese Waters? He was MIA tonight...and this might have been a great time to give him 5 minutes.
    15-Coach Andy Enfield does not take enough technicals. I know it's not his demeanor, but sometimes, it's just necessary.
    16-Our stellar season long defense was absent tonight.
    17-Drew Peterson is still rushing his shots. (Use your legs, Drew.)
    18-Colorado has our #. (6-0 vs USC over the past 3 seasons.) Damn.
    19-We need one more player who can create his own shot. - somebody who can score. That's the second time in 2 games where we're endured long stretches absent of scoring. That's worrisome.
    20-Evan needs to assert himself. He's a stud. When the tough get going.....

    BONUS:

    21-Stop the presses. Agbonkpolo can play basketball. The whole "Max" thing is absolutely not that the kid can't play. It's that his offense is just missing, and it's adding up. Between his offensive inefficiency and his miscues, those possessions are piling up. His 3PT% is atrocious. (You think opponents don't scout? He's being left wide open for a reason fellas.) And despite his defensive positives, Max continues to make the most maddening mistakes doing mere fundamental things.... and they are deflating. I'll get ridiculed for this, but it's self evident to anybody not looking through rose-colored glasses. It's not just deflating for USC basketball fans. It's got to be deflating for the team. You could put together a highlight reel from this season of Max flailing his hands at something after the fact....of him losing control of the ball doing the simplest of things...missing short shots....dropping a rebound....having the ball roll through his legs as he attempts to corral it...bobbling a pass that's right in his hands...running over a defender while trying to maintain the basketball...losing the ball while he's attacking from the wing...doing that again...fouling late reaching...passing the ball late on the break and losing a scoring opportunity...stepping out of bounds when he's all by himself....passing the ball at a bad angle for a TO...etc., etc. Another noticeable mistake - tonight, Max had the top of the press late, and McKinley Wright received the ball in the corner. Max neglected use his right foot to cut off the sideline, and instead of forcing him back to the middle (to help), he straddled behind him - leaned to baseline, and Wright just pivoted and blew by everybody down the sideline. Just one more frustrating miscue. Look. These kids are all young. That said, this is D1 big-boy basketball, and you would be hard pressed to find another player with a comparable highlight reel. Max is absolutely contributing more on D wit his length, and with much better success of late....but when he's not putting it in on the other end of the court - his miscues make it harder watch.

    At this point, he's "practicing his jump shot on company time." This team has a real chance to make a run. Those chances don't come often.

    17 min; 0 pts; 2 reb; 0 ast; 0 stl; 0 blk; 2 TOs; 2 PF

    Keeping it real.
    Last edited by SC MOJO; 02-25-2021, 09:49 PM.

  • #2
    No one is saying that Max is a world beater. Most people understand his deficiencies and know his role.

    But your obsession with criticizing the seventh or eight guy in our rotation is way overwrought and little weird. Get a grip.

    Comment


    • SC MOJO
      SC MOJO commented
      Editing a comment
      Those 17 MPG are critical. ...and it's becoming more and more obvious that other players can likely contribute more with some of them.

    • MeltonNotHelton
      MeltonNotHelton commented
      Editing a comment
      Reese Waters played the last 2 minutes and couldn’t run an offensive set without a turnover. Did you not see?

    • SC MOJO
      SC MOJO commented
      Editing a comment
      OK MHN. So bench Reese. Never let him play again. Dungeon. Ghosted for a late game TO in a lost game.

      Why are those last 2 minutes proof of much? ...and why are you not open minded about the possibility that other Trojans might be able to offer more? ...have fewer turnovers? ...score more points? Check the mirror for obsession. I'm just looking for answers. I Love CAE, but I don't think he's perfect. I think there are still answers to be found on our bench...in our rotation...with minutes to distribute, and the obvious need for outside shooting.

      Hammer me all you want. I'm just looking for answers, and even though you dispute my biggest concern (Max's MPG), and live to ridicule me for my criticism, I do think there are other players who could potentially contribute more. Most of all, I want us to win a chip! I'd be happy with anybody playing any minutes. Just win the chip.
      Last edited by SC MOJO; 02-25-2021, 09:50 PM.

  • #3
    Very good review, enjoyable to read and kept it realistic.

    Max points were good tonight - Oregon he had a good game, but tonight he had a bad one. Late February we CANNOT be dishing the ball to max for him to lose it on a dribble or step out of bounds. Just kills our momentum; walking the other way when you're already down 10 is humiliating.

    At this point I WANT to say throw Reese in there for Max, but I think I'd be biased cause Max just had a bad game and Reese has had only 2 months to learn our entire offensive and defensive programme. But what you said worries me, teams are scouting max and saying "you dont gotta worry about that guy on offense" and thats a damn shame.

    I honestly wish we played Noah more tonight: full court press, switch guys out quickly when they get gassed and just start chucking up threes until someone gets hot... might as well when your defense isn't gonna show up.

    I'm struggling to understand how this Colorado team handles us so easily and I would really, really like to understand. Their guards have a nice balance of size and quickness and a senior pg like Wright (and to a lesser extent, Akinjo of AZ) can kind of carve us up I guess.

    Regardless, I like us in the next three games, so lets do a signature Trojan bounceback and slap the Utes on Saturday please.

    Fight on.

    Comment


    • engineerTrojan9
      engineerTrojan9 commented
      Editing a comment
      Max had a good game? For him, it was a good game relative to his other many bad games. As a 4 star recruit and playing substantial minutes, his si called good game was so so.

  • #4
    Max is no better or worse than any other option at the moment. He is just unfairly picked on as if he’s stealing minutes from someone performing much better than him.

    Comment


    • engineerTrojan9
      engineerTrojan9 commented
      Editing a comment
      Not so. Max is consistently net minus performer relative to our other players with equal or more playing time.

      I hope he works hard during the upcoming off season to be a net positive player.

  • #5
    Originally posted by PxPxTrojan View Post
    Max is no better or worse than any other option at the moment. He is just unfairly picked on as if he’s stealing minutes from someone performing much better than him.
    Yeah, I agree with this. Weakest link theory maybe? It's a shame, but we're all just looking for answers here...

    Comment


    • SC MOJO
      SC MOJO commented
      Editing a comment
      Absolutely weakest link. How valuable might those minutes be if 10 of them went to Tahj, Drew and Evan? ...and if we gave 4-5 to Noah? or Waters? IDK. I'm not certain of the perfect mix or answer. I just know what I see.

  • #6
    Originally posted by Trojan2021 View Post

    Yeah, I agree with this. Weakest link theory maybe? It's a shame, but we're all just looking for answers here...
    Why are we looking for answers as if this season is in a crisis? We are in the thick of the hunt for a conference title. Full steam ahead. Whatever it is we’ve been doing has been very successful this season.

    Comment


    • SC MOJO
      SC MOJO commented
      Editing a comment
      If you're a head coach, shouldn't you be relentless in trying to continue to be better? ...make better choices? ...find better lineups? fix things? Improve as a team?
      As coaches? MNH - nobody is saying the team is in trouble. Quite contrary. (Read the top line of my post.) Basketball is not a game of perfection - max did not lose the game for us tonight. It is, however, in our teams best interest for CAE to make changes when things aren't working as well as they might otherwise. ....so I push against the powers that be on this message board, because I see talent sitting on our bench who might help us....and Max's mistakes and lack of offense are holding us back a bit. I agree that Noah should get more minutes. ...I'd love to see Reese play a bit. I'd love to see Peterson get 5 more, and Tahj 2-3 more.

  • #7
    Originally posted by MeltonNotHelton View Post

    Why are we looking for answers as if this season is in a crisis? We are in the thick of the hunt for a conference title. Full steam ahead. Whatever it is we’ve been doing has been very successful this season.
    Ah, well, the appetite grows with eating I suppose...

    Look, talking about improvement is half the fun of coming on the boards. I don't want to keel over and just say "Colorado is always going to beat us because thats who they are." That's no fun.

    I want to understand the game of basketball better, understand our team better, our strengths, weaknesses, playstyles and so on.

    Speculating solutions to "problems" is just a fun way to do that. No more, no less.

    Comment


    • #8
      Drew was 1-7 tonight with 4pts in 24 minutes. Isiah Mobley was 1-4 in 19 minutes with 2pts. The Mobleys combined for 7 turnovers.

      Max is never the only bad performance on a losing night, yet he’s always singled out. Mojo wrote a whole novel on Max and didn’t even touch on the Mobley’s turnovers in his analysis.

      Comment


      • #9
        Originally posted by PxPxTrojan View Post
        Max is no better or worse than any other option at the moment.
        I respect your opinion. I just don't see it that way at all. "any other player?" What about Tahj? What about Evan? What if Peterson got 5 more MPG - maybe find his early season confidence? To say that Max's 17 mpg are just the same as anybody else is incorrect.

        Regarding the bench - the benefit of Max on D is absolutely not outweighing the lack of offense and turnovers. If Noah played 17 minutes, I don't think he'd make as many turnovers, but I'm fairly certain he would not make as many mistakes....and I could easily argue that his potential on offense outweighs deficiencies on D. you might disagree, but I'm looking for a chip. it's just not happening if we don't find another outside threat, open up the offense, and somehow limit Max's turnovers and deflating miscues.

        Comment


        • Trojan2021
          Trojan2021 commented
          Editing a comment
          Tahj and Evan clearly aren't alternative "options" for Max, so pxpx was reffering to bench players...

          If Tahj and Evan are out while Max is in sometimes, maybe is cause they need a break? idk

        • SC MOJO
          SC MOJO commented
          Editing a comment
          They definitely need breaks, but you could easily bump Tahj, Evan's minutes by 2-3 and Peterson's minutes by 5. That's honestly the secret sauce, imo. Maybe the answer lies somewhere on the bench, or Noah, or Reese...but I think we'd be better off if MA ran 8 MPG instead of 17.5 and more proven commodities from the starting lineup received the balance. The bench, and our talent there, does still intrigue me, but let's go a few more with our guns, and let the chips fall where they may.

          Just one man's opnion.

      • #10
        Agree with MOJO here. When the offense is struggling why have Max play so many minutes? He isn't that dynamic a defender who creates steals to overcome his lack of offense. USC is playing 4 against 5 on offense when Max is on the court and standing in the corner. As a USC fan, you don't want him taking that shot. He's shooting an abysmal 21.7 percent from the three. If I was playing defense against him I would let him shoot all day. He doesn't handle the ball well or create anything for others. When things are going well offensively, Max is a decent defender and contributes there. IMO, USC goes as Drew Peterson goes. When he is stuffing the stat sheet, we win. Unfortunately, except for a game here or there, his play the second half of the season has been nothing like the first half. Evan and Tajh have been pretty consistent throughout. Everyone else is a crap shoot.

        Comment


        • SC MOJO
          SC MOJO commented
          Editing a comment
          Tanks Marty46r. (Be careful though. You take one for me, some boardsters will be after you.)

          I totally agree with you on Drew. Just gotta get him going and comfortable. I would love to see him handling the ball a little more with PG responsibilities - while Ethan could maybe slide to the 2 for a few? Drew is so good getting to the basket. When we get those buckets, this team rolls!! FIGHT ON!

      • #11
        Originally posted by PxPxTrojan View Post
        Drew was 1-7 tonight with 4pts in 24 minutes. Isiah Mobley was 1-4 in 19 minutes with 2pts. The Mobleys combined for 7 turnovers.

        Max is never the only bad performance on a losing night, yet he’s always singled out. Mojo wrote a whole novel on Max and didn’t even touch on the Mobley’s turnovers in his analysis.
        Exactly this. It’s really kinda nuts.

        Comment


        • #12
          Max isn’t taking minutes from Tahj or Evan, so that’s a silly argument.

          Would 5 more minutes given to Drew REALLY make 1-7 or 2-8 much better (his FG’s in the last two losses)? By that logic, maybe Max would hit the next couple of open looks teams would give him too if he had more playing time?

          Baumann is the one legitimate person you can question when it comes to minutes. I too believe his potential from outside can open things up. But, if we’re singling out max as the major reason for losses...Baumann would have had to shoot 50%+ from 3 to offset the drop off in defense when we were already not playing much defense in the AZ and CO losses.

          Taking 5 minutes from Max to give to anyone else would not have magically turned the last two butt kickings into wins.

          Comment


          • SC MOJO
            SC MOJO commented
            Editing a comment
            PxPxTrojan - why can't you shorten your bench in FEB? We could easily play max 5 minutes, and Noah 5 more and distribute those other 7 to Drew, Tahj and Evan. It happens all the time. It's almost March? To ignore coaches tightening their bench at this time of the year is absurd. It happens quite often.

            Max didn't lose this game for us! Most everybody played poorly tonight. Colorado took it to us again, and we wilted ...as a team.

            You can't stop looking for ways to be better. Not much question we're better if Evan gets 35 MPG, Tahj gets 35 MPG and Drew gets 30-32 MPG. Those are our horses. They all play D, and can score - and all put us on their backs for short stretches. Sure Drew was terrible tonight. He had one terrible turnover vs Oregon. He's still an amazing player who seems to be the straw that stirs our drink. When he's balling, we win. No?

          • PxPxTrojan
            PxPxTrojan commented
            Editing a comment
            Yes, I agree we look much better when Drew is a legitimate 3rd option. The problem is for the second half of the season he really hasn’t proven he can do that consistently. His minutes could just as likely turn out bad as good.

            I would love the bench to be shortened if we had enough guys who could consistently prove they can give 20+ min of solid to great basketball. We don’t have that right now. It’s a crapshoot how anyone outside of Evan and Tahj will play.


            Of course a team should always look for ways to get better. Well just have to agree to disagree that singling out Max is the way to do that. I’m sure the coaches won’t stop tinkering, and if they believe max needs to be in there or take minutes away from him...I will give them the benefit of the doubt given how this season has gone so far.
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