Florida A&M Game Notes and Thread

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tmcats
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Re: Florida A&M Game Notes and Thread

Post by tmcats » December 3rd, 2019, 12:23 pm

xtrawildcat wrote:
December 3rd, 2019, 12:09 pm
tmcats wrote:
December 3rd, 2019, 11:27 am
from my 5th-row seat last night, here are some observations which are for the most part the same as many above.

mike had a break-out shooting game and continues to defend well
mike also showed some leadership this team sorely needs
x was solid
carti's apathetic attitude bothers me even as his game improves
5-spot at times seems hopeless and that's being kind
murphy is really the missing link now
will the other two bigs ever play here again?
more students than i expected but an otherwise dismal crowd - reminded me of wooly days
with that few in the gym does the p.a. guy really need an amp maybe a megaphone would do?
marquette game will be interesting, won't it.

We won the Big 12 with those same two guys playing the 5 last year.
yep, with dean wade and barry brown, two nba dudes today.
Why is there something rather than nothing?

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Post by pulitzerdave » December 3rd, 2019, 12:45 pm

xtrawildcat wrote:
December 3rd, 2019, 12:09 pm
tmcats wrote:
December 3rd, 2019, 11:27 am
from my 5th-row seat last night, here are some observations which are for the most part the same as many above.

mike had a break-out shooting game and continues to defend well
mike also showed some leadership this team sorely needs
x was solid
carti's apathetic attitude bothers me even as his game improves
5-spot at times seems hopeless and that's being kind
murphy is really the missing link now
will the other two bigs ever play here again?
more students than i expected but an otherwise dismal crowd - reminded me of wooly days
with that few in the gym does the p.a. guy really need an amp maybe a megaphone would do?
marquette game will be interesting, won't it.

We won the Big 12 with those same two guys playing the 5 last year.
Yes we did, however, Dean Wade's interior passing and attention to him, as well as Brown's driving opened things up for our two bigs. This year? What do we have? Diarra driving, then kicking out to a player 23 feet from the basket, trying to catch one of his wild slings. No interior passing big man. All this shows is how important TEAM is in connecting the parts and making it all work. Right now we are, as a few others have stated, dispassionate in our play, lazy with our passing and wanton in our leadership. This team doesn't seem to care that much. It's one thing to express disgust with one's play AFTER losses and vow to do better, it's quite another to actually carry through with that promise.

Diarra's nonchalance is troubling. Sneed's streaky shooting is troubling, especially when he's counted on in ALL games to be a primary scorer. Mak still can't consistently catch the ball, and commits silly fouls which limits what little he contributes. AND THOSE ARE OUR VETERANS!

I'd say the biggest issue for this team right now is attitude. There's probably enough "talent" and good coaching for this team to finish 6th or 7th in the conference, but also enough apparent apathy for us to finish dead last.

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Post by xtrawildcat » December 3rd, 2019, 2:44 pm

tmcats wrote:
December 3rd, 2019, 11:27 am
from my 5th-row seat last night, here are some observations which are for the most part the same as many above.

mike had a break-out shooting game and continues to defend well
mike also showed some leadership this team sorely needs
x was solid
carti's apathetic attitude bothers me even as his game improves
5-spot at times seems hopeless and that's being kind
murphy is really the missing link now
will the other two bigs ever play here again?
more students than i expected but an otherwise dismal crowd - reminded me of wooly days
with that few in the gym does the p.a. guy really need an amp maybe a megaphone would do?
marquette game will be interesting, won't it.

/quote]
Seriously, Diarra had 5 steals, 7 assists and 3 turnovers last night. What part of his play tells you his attitude is apathetic. He is averaging 3 tuvs a game. Dotson at KU is averaging 3 with 4 assists per game.
Diarra needs to reduce the turnovers but I expect he will. For the most part he is not being stripped off the dribble like last year. Some of his turnovers are charges when forcing drives and bad passes on kick outs. Barry Brown did the same thing his junior year and averaged 2.6 turnovers that year. We went to the elite 8 that year.
Kam average 3 turnovers his sophomore year. We went to the tournament that year.

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Post by tmcats » December 3rd, 2019, 3:31 pm

karti's body language tells me that. sometimes he acts like he's doing everyone a favor. i know i'm critical of the kid. but last night while others were warming up he's sitting on the table watching. just made me shake my head. not the language of a leader he could be if he chose.
Why is there something rather than nothing?

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Post by pulitzerdave » December 3rd, 2019, 4:33 pm

Cartier tries to be too cool out there. He acts like fundamental basketball is boring to him. He's always trying to make the spectacular play. He's a showman, not a leader. This team plays off of him - lots of one handed passes, casual coolness and placid expressions. Someone out there needs to show emotion. We're a team of Mr. Cool's - Cartier and Shaun Williams leading the way. Let's go guys. Even Dean Wade showed emotion at times.

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Post by wazucat » December 3rd, 2019, 5:46 pm

Cartier is an extremely gifted talent that may be misused out of necessity, the coaching staff needs to work some magic with his attitude IMO. Playing the point you must value the ball much more than he seems to.

Unfortunately I have to agree with PDave on Dajuan, where is the 4 star talent hidden? Player of the year in Chicago should show some wow plays from time to time IMO.

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Post by learnin » December 3rd, 2019, 5:50 pm

wild@nite wrote:
December 3rd, 2019, 11:15 am
xtrawildcat wrote:
December 3rd, 2019, 10:53 am
We are up by 27 early in the second half and Weber subbed in mostly newcomers including Williams who had a bad game and Sloan. That andlet them go on a 11 to 2 run.

Diarra had 3 turnovers last night. Because a couple of them were so obvious on bad kickout passes, he is being called out more than he should for a guy who is making plays (7 assists) for others. He also had 5 steals.

McGuirl and Sneed extremely solid games.

A Gordons defense was OK but he wasn't able to guard the 300 pound guy. Did fine other than that.

Florida A and M was a bad team but contrary to comments, both teams played extremely hard.
Exactly. That team has no business going on an 11-2 run, I don't care who we had on the floor. "Williams who had a bad game and Sloan. So? What kind of excuse is that? They are P5 players, correct? Nobody on the other team is, correct? So my point is, inspiration, and confidence are missing. Those two should be itching to get on the floor and play with their hair on fire. I don't see it. Not with every single player, but overall, yes. 11-2 run from that team will be 25-2 run vs teams in our conference. Again, we are 1/4 way through the season. It's time to quit making excuses and get better. The score was better last night, the overall play was not. That effort isn't beating anybody in this conference, imo.

"Both teams played hard." I would hope so. They are Division 1 players. I still don't see much passion and leadership.

I get it that some people can't handle any type of criticism towards our teams. Again, I'm going to remain patient, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't call a spade a spade and start expecting a little more. We played a crappy team last night and I'm still not sure what we are going to be good at.

This isn't meant as a knock on our staff, but more so on our players needing to grow up a bit. At this level, "playing hard" isn't enough. I feel like nobody has any expectations for this team, including themselves. That is a recipe for disaster.
I agree with you that some of our players are playing with less than proper attitudes. Shaun Williams reminds me of Jevon Can'tthinkofhislastname. You know the guy. The point guard who had a poor attitude. Shaun has a lot more upside than Jevon, but he pouts and his attitude is going to do him in. It's a shame because Shaun has some ability, but is often too nonchalant.

As Weber says, Cartier plays comfortable. He doesn't get shook, but sometimes, IMHO, he is too comfortable. As pdave posted, he's still too much one handed with his passing, etc. Having said that, he is producing a high number of assists and you're going to turn the ball over once, in a while, if you're passing to set other players up.

Now. Every season, at this point, I hear the same cries. "We're going to get clobbered when conference play begins." "The Big XII is going to eat us up." Every year. Who would have thought that the team, who looked horrible losing to Tulsa and Texas A&M (last year) would have ended up winniing a share of the conference? Our teams seem to play up to the competition with few exceptions. We may finish in last place this year, but I'm not ready to make any predictions based on the non conference.

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Post by learnin » December 3rd, 2019, 5:52 pm

pulitzerdave wrote:
December 3rd, 2019, 4:33 pm
Cartier tries to be too cool out there. He acts like fundamental basketball is boring to him. He's always trying to make the spectacular play. He's a showman, not a leader. This team plays off of him - lots of one handed passes, casual coolness and placid expressions. Someone out there needs to show emotion. We're a team of Mr. Cool's - Cartier and Shaun Williams leading the way. Let's go guys. Even Dean Wade showed emotion at times.
Coach says Cartier is comfortable, doesn't get shook and that's true. This is a good asset except when one gets too cool as you stated.

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Post by pulitzerdave » December 3rd, 2019, 6:28 pm

learnin, I'm not sure what coach means by comfortable. Does that mean that he's too casual? Too careless? What? I'd like to see him take ownership of the team. Somebody better. These freshmen may need some a$$ kicking at times to shake them out of their deference. Maybe one of the upper classmen needs to hold one particular freshman accountable.

We need more from the Chicago Player of the Year. Much, much more. If he's that good, he'd better start showing it. We need his scoring. Isn't he supposed to be a scorer? This team struggles to score, and yet we have a big city MVP who hardly ever looks at the basket. Time's up D. Gordon. One fourth of the season is over. Before you know it, another fourth will pass. LET'S GO!!!!

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Post by wild@nite » December 3rd, 2019, 8:36 pm

I seem to remember another fantastic scorer who often deferred and quit looking at the basket. He did that for 4 years. It was my only complaint on a great, great KSU player. This kid is 7 games in. I believe it's the style of coaching. More team oriented, less one on one stuff like a lot of programs. We aren't going to out one on one people, so perhaps the style of play is new and he is doing what the staff is asking of him? I believe he is probably being coached to "let the game come to him" early in the year. Now, 20 games in, I'd hope he is scoring 10-15 pts per game fairly regularly.

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