Travis Discussion

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by xuwillie

Steele the right guy or not I’m not sure. Just tired of watching crappy offensive sets for 2+ years now. I think regardless he needs to hire a better offensive coach.

---

The offensive sets are fine and they can score fine but it would be nice if Kunkel could make an open look. Xavier through their offense gets good looks from inside and outside but you have to make shots. Johnson was uncharacteristic from three last night too.

The problem with this team is they do not communicate well on defense, they lack toughness and they have no help right now down low to protect the rim and rebound the ball. Next game I would not start Carter and have Griffin off the bench first instead of Carter, Which not only would help the defense because you have a more athletic defender and rebounder, but probably also helps the offense a bit. Probably time to go small and start Scruggs, Johnson, Wilcher, Jones and Free, bring Tandy, Kunkel and Griffin off the bench. Shorten the rotation to 8 guys.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Drew

Legit giving the team a pass on this one. They had a ton of open looks, if they had been playing for the past month enough of those go in that we win against a good St. John's team. 11/38 from 3 only happens because of this COVID nonsense.

---

What? They gave up 90 points?

I really don't know enough about basketball to gauge the impact that all the time off (particularly from practice) has had on the team, particularly on defense. I'm kind of hoping for all of our sake that good defensive play relies heavily on experience and communication.

I can't see us giving up on Steele and hiring a new coach after this season for a variety of reasons. I don't necessarily have a strong opinion either way, but I do think that the quality of play under Travis definitely needs to improve noticeably.

He’s going to get at least next year. Hopefully between now and then he figures out how to improve drastically, and knocks it off with the Croninesque coach speak.

The coach speak is definitely something that Steele can control now, and needs to. The buck stops with you, coach.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by xavierj

The offensive sets are fine and they can score fine but it would be nice if Kunkel could make an open look. Xavier through their offense gets good looks from inside and outside but you have to make shots. Johnson was uncharacteristic from three last night too.

The problem with this team is they do not communicate well on defense, they lack toughness and they have no help right now down low to protect the rim and rebound the ball. Next game I would not start Carter and have Griffin off the bench first instead of Carter, Which not only would help the defense because you have a more athletic defender and rebounder, but probably also helps the offense a bit. Probably time to go small and start Scruggs, Johnson, Wilcher, Jones and Free, bring Tandy, Kunkel and Griffin off the bench. Shorten the rotation to 8 guys.

---

The offensive sets are fine when we actually run them. I would say that the majority of time that we run something, it results in success. However, it rarely happens because we settle for the first 3 pointer we see.

And more problematic, Steele seems perfectly fine with this. If Steele is demanding better execution in the halfcourt, there's zero chance we shoot over 40 threes in any game - ever. This tells me that part of Steele's own thought process is we're going to get hot and go on a run - so keep shooting them 6 seconds into the shot clock. It was baffling how many times we took a quick 3 and completely bailed St Johns out from having to play any defense in the halfcourt. Baffling.

And then to compound that, watch them get an easy bucket or open jumper on the other end as it opened up the court for them to create. Completely played right into their game, and it was never put to a stop. In fact, it got worse as the game played out. How he can stand on the sideline and watch us chuck up so many quick bricks without reigning that in is problematic - we saw it last year too.

The final score itself (besides the fact that we lost) is telling. Steele let them determine the tempo. He played their game. He was out-coached pre-game, in-game and post-game.

What is it about Steele's stamp on this team that warrants any confidence or consideration?

Covid is not just a local phenomenon.

Deal with it. Adjust. Plan. Implement. Improve. Execute. It's what good coaches do.

Why should we expect less?

I thought we had progressed way beyond mid-major 'settling'.

He also said in the post game presser that he's not worried about offense but the defense was unacceptable.

Does he not realize that his team's actions on offense completely put his team in a terrible spot to defend St Johns? I mean, cmon, this is the coach of a top 25 college program (at least we were) - and doesn't even realize his own offensive strategy was a detriment to his team.

It's just easier to blame "toughness" - welcome to Mick world.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by drudy23

He also said in the post game presser that he's not worried about offense but the defense was unacceptable.

---

Last year he wasn't worried about the 3 point shooting, or the decision making from Quentin McAfee and Naji. But the cold 3 point shooting and terrible decision making were the biggest issues with last year's team. It is hard to watch our team make the same mistakes each game, on multiple possessions with out adjustment.

There are a lot of things to point to and fairly be concerned about with Steele, but I don't think I quite get picking apart press conferences. Does any coach ever say anything tethered to reality or valuable in those?