Paul Mills Not Hot Seat

[Stickboy46]

So, the only competent players are not his recruits and Mills only plays Ballard 6th in MPG.

Also, all of his recruits that he plays must, too, be incompetent, 2 others of his recruits he seldom plays because they're not as good as the others and another is a redshirt.

Makes total sense that the loss (or losses) are not on him.

I'm gonna defend Mills here a bit. This particular loss isn't on him.

The team being as shitty as it is overall for the year is 100% on him for those reason you stated. As I stated in the offseason, he recruited a bunch of backup players. That's proven 100% true (with Ridgnal being the lone bright spot from the new players). He has to fix that next year.

That said, this game should have been won with the strategy that was put out there. Unlike in previous games, we missed a lot of really GOOD layups (by players that normally make them like Beverly) In previous games those were forced and bad but the majority of these misses today are the shots we wanted to take. That's because Memphis has had trouble keeping teams away from the rim. So i think our normal game plan actually played well here. I'm sure there could have been minor tweaks that could have been made to strategy that won it but it basically came down the misses and well frankly Cortes completely blowing everything up in the like 2 minutes he played (for which he was appropriately pulled very quickly).

Though, I'm not sure we actually played better than the first game .. i think Memphis just played WAY worse.

[forevershockerfan]

We kept hearing that we might very well get ABMAS. When that dissolved, I was asking myself this. "Will that recruiting loss define HCPM first Season?" I'm not against him at all and am for him to succeed. However, the jump to this improved Conference will be one he himself must conquer in around 3 Seasons or so to maintain employment..

[ShockTalk]

I'm gonna defend Mills here a bit. This particular loss isn't on him.

The team being as shitty as it is overall for the year is 100% on him for those reason you stated. As I stated in the offseason, he recruited a bunch of backup players. That's proven 100% true (with Ridgnal being the lone bright spot from the new players). He has to fix that next year.

That said, this game should have been won with the strategy that was put out there. Unlike in previous games, we missed a lot of really GOOD layups (by players that normally make them like Beverly) In previous games those were forced and bad but the majority of these misses today are the shots we wanted to take. That's because Memphis has had trouble keeping teams away from the rim. So i think our normal game plan actually played well here. I'm sure there could have been minor tweaks that could have been made to strategy that won it but it basically came down the misses and well frankly Cortes completely blowing everything up in the like 2 minutes he played (for which he was appropriately pulled very quickly).

Though, I'm not sure we actually played better than the first game .. i think Memphis just played WAY worse.

I agree...............for the most part. A coach cannot do it for the players. Yet, it is the coach's preparation for games, his practices and preparation, not for just this game, but any game is done.

Also, what is said during timeouts. I'd love to know what the players were told coming out of that last TO before the Memphis free throws. Obviously, little about what was to be done on the Memphis end. They're shooting free throws. I would think plays and time management with the lead and the ball should he make none, one, or both throws. We are going to be up 2, 3, or 4 points. The last thing I'd want is for them to have 2 positions in any of those cases. If he misses both, Memphis is going to foul and who do I prefer to have on the FT line. If he makes 1 or 2 they are not going to foul. What can we do to make sure we don't give them 2 cracks at the basket and get 4-6 points. Other than that, worst case is that they hit a three, and we want the last shot. Just saying.

[Aargh]

Remember that cookie cake Cortes got on his recruiting visit? That was his NIL. And it was the best offer he had.

[WuDrWu]

I see what you’re saying, but I challenge you to give me a coach who can make something much better out of our **** players. I don’t think even Marshall could’ve done much with them.

You serious Clark?

[ShockHat]

You serious Clark?

Unironically I am. We’ve got quite a few black holes, of players who create atomic bombs so repeatedly. Can’t punish heavily because we don’t have enough talent to keep on the floor. I’m not sure what you do with a team who can’t make FT, can’t pass well, can’t dribble well, and misses open shots. Yes you can drill down into defense, but our players, I don’t trust them to pull a Marshall defense off.

Also, Marshall’s offensive scheme wasn’t particularly great. It was complicated, and again, we’ve seen how low our player iq is. So yeah, I stand by what I said.

[Atxshoxfan]

Remember when HCPM said that they were working on developing player skills and not on resolving weaknesses? That's exactly what you have to do with players who have yet to develop a skill. And we have many of those.

The skills I have seen so far are;
1- Ballard rim protection
2- Rogers shooting
3- Ridgnal junk yard dog
4- Bells 5 ft floaters
And that about sums it up. I would need to write a book for a list of weaknesses.

[bleednblackngold]

https://tulsaworld.com/sports/college/tu/bill-haisten-as-tu-builds-momentum-paul-mills-endures-a-last-place-run-at-wichita/article_f22b9fc6-c142-11ee-b544-3751129a1044.html

Takes time.

[BOBB]

Unironically I am. We’ve got quite a few black holes, of players who create atomic bombs so repeatedly. Can’t punish heavily because we don’t have enough talent to keep on the floor. I’m not sure what you do with a team who can’t make FT, can’t pass well, can’t dribble well, and misses open shots. Yes you can drill down into defense, but our players, I don’t trust them to pull a Marshall defense off.

Also, Marshall’s offensive scheme wasn’t particularly great. It was complicated, and again, we’ve seen how low our player iq is. So yeah, I stand by what I said.

Marshall’s zone was so complicated high BBIQ players couldn’t pull it off. One of the good things Brown did was put in a zone the players could execute when needed.

I tend to agree with ShockHat that Marshall probably doesn’t outperform his 11 wins (4 in the Valley) from his first season. Aaron Ellis, Matt Brauer, PJ, Proto-Shaq Durley, Gal Mekel, Ramon Clemente: tell me they aren’t taking major minutes from this current team?

And though I wanted him fired from a cannon back to Houston, I do think the coaching and team had improved with Mills. Remember when Marshall thought the players were all too bulky his first season and cut down the weights only for our players to get the **** beat out of them his first season in the Valley? Back when he could publicly admit a mistake. Let’s see what mistakes Mills remedies and how we end up. He ain’t going anywhere for a couple of seasons.

[Kung Wu]

After the first year when 3GM joined the MVC he realized he needed to be a defense first coach. That never stopped, and we would win games we shouldn't on paper by junking it up and being fierce on defense.

His first and second half starters were nearly always selected based on their defensive ability. That set a tone for the rest of the match.

He also got caught one season with his pants down on the PG front and admitted as much and said it would never happen again. I don't remember what season that was but it was frustrating. Anybody remember that?

The Final Four experienced 3GM gets more out of this group than HCPM, because he would have been defense first from the outset. Imagine Rogers playing decent defense?

That said, I have a feeling HCPM will learn and evolve into the same mindset just as 3GM did.

[forevershockerfan]

Sometimes it's the little things that help not losing big leads. When Dalen Ridgnal was inserted in the line up, it helped us with his high octane motor and energy. Below are stats that he has earned even more minutes, especially at the end of the game when often he is not playing as much.

DR is our best rebounder.

DR is first with our regular players with only 11 turnovers

DR is 2nd in blocked shots.

DR is 2nd among our regular rotation players in 3 pt.%

DR is 3rd in FT % behind Rogers and only .02% behind Bell.

The Solution? In the opinion of FSF who has never made a thin dime coaching, Play DR more minutes, especially at the end of the game. I also like DeGray, but that doesn't stop both of them being in there at crunch time if you want.
Just Do It and play a little more zone.

[SubGod22]

He also got caught one season with his pants down on the PG front and admitted as much and said it would never happen again. I don't remember what season that was but it was frustrating. Anybody remember that?

Pretty sure that was year one. We lacked depth and Sparky had the concussion issues that really complicated things.

[CBB_Fan]

I think the rotation is a big reason we struggle to close games. Colby Rogers in particular basically never rests. I believe this contributes to our lapses in defensive intensity, as well as offensive efficiency.

Similarly, I don't think that either of our bigs have the endurance to slog through 8 minute stretches. But we don't seem to trust Abidde and Germany to get even minor minutes.

I don't know if this is a recruiting issue, a coaching issue, or a player issue. But I think this season's post-mortem look will see far too many losses where we held a lead in the second half, and in each of those you'll find arms down, box outs missed, and shots falling short.

[Topshock]

I think the rotation is a big reason we struggle to close games. Colby Rogers in particular basically never rests. I believe this contributes to our lapses in defensive intensity, as well as offensive efficiency.

Similarly, I don't think that either of our bigs have the endurance to slog through 8 minute stretches. But we don't seem to trust Abidde and Germany to get even minor minutes.

I don't know if this is a recruiting issue, a coaching issue, or a player issue. But I think this season's post-mortem look will see far too many losses where we held a lead in the second half, and in each of those you'll find arms down, box outs missed, and shots falling short.

I don't disagree but why? Many teams in the past and even some now play with 6 or 7 players getting most of the minutes. Why are our players so tired? I tend to think it is the mental makeup of our players.

[Aargh]

I think the rotation is a big reason we struggle to close games. Colby Rogers in particular basically never rests. I believe this contributes to our lapses in defensive intensity, as well as offensive efficiency.

Similarly, I don't think that either of our bigs have the endurance to slog through 8 minute stretches. But we don't seem to trust Abidde and Germany to get even minor minutes.

I don't know if this is a recruiting issue, a coaching issue, or a player issue. But I think this season's post-mortem look will see far too many losses where we held a lead in the second half, and in each of those you'll find arms down, box outs missed, and shots falling short.

Remember when the Shox had a deep rotation and could play 10 guys? It seemed like the Shox always won the last 5 minutes of each half. I think fatigue is a factor in some of the losses.

Strength and conditioning doesn't seem to have the emphasis it used to have. That's mainly speculation, but I see a lot of guys getting balls ripped away from them

Coming out lethargic after the half, running out of gas late in games, and losing 4 or 5 possessions to someone who just takes a rebound away from a Hocker when they appear to have it will lose a lot of games.