Some unorganized observations

[Born2Shock]

I think it all, or most of it, hinges on the point guard. When the point guard is dribbling too much, you're going to have problems.

And that's why when Hannah is on his game we do fairly well with him in. The problem is we haven't found anyone to really take over for him when he's out. Chamberlain dribbles WAY TOO MUCH. Hannah does at times but for the most part he's trying to do something. This is where KJ should help us some next season. He'll give us a bigger guard who's primary goal is to create for others. Yes, he'll only be a FR, but it'll be a nice change at times.

Reggie will NOT enter the ball to the post. We do too much passing side to side, not enough inside-outside. I know the post players arent always getting open, but even if they arent in prime scoring position, enter the ball, and collapse the defense. This will create kick-out opportunities, and a chance for the post to re-post after the pass. We did this 3-4 times against drake, and scored everytime, I believe.
Some of our PG problems stem from Hannah and Chamberlain being JUCO guys; they just arent used to playing with true PF's and C's. JUCO ball is much more perimeter oriented.

[RoyalShock]

And is it just me or does Reggie seem almost afraid to make a pass? Not in a ball hog sort of way, but a "I hope this doesn't get stolen before it reaches my teammate" sort of way.

[Kung Wu]

And is it just me or does Reggie seem almost afraid to make a pass? Not in a ball hog sort of way, but a "I hope this doesn't get stolen before it reaches my teammate" sort of way.

Funny you say that .. when reading this thread earlier I was going to mention that he appears to have been bitten on a couple of telegraph passes early on and perhaps that's why he seems to be holding the ball longer now. He seems to be overcompensating trying to make certain of the pass, but at the expense of getting caught with the ball.

[ShockerFever]

Ya, the passing is non-existent with this team. Go figure that passing makes up a key part of running an offense.

Hate to say I told ya so..

[shockmonster]

I think that Reggie is not very quick and in addition is very small. They can pressure him and be physical and push him outside where he wants to be. Reggie isn't quick enough to make them pay with penetration and passing. He is rarely in a position to make an entry pass into the post because of the pressure that the other team applies to him. We are much better when Clevin is in the game because he can make them pay. Therefore, they don't try to apply pressure defense to Clevin like they do Reggie and we are more successful with Clevin playing.

[tropicalshox]

After watching a couple of top 20 teams go after each other for the last hour I have this to say. Good teams have some really good offensive players hitting at least a fair percent of open or poorly contested shots. These shots seem to be there in most games no matter what offense is being run, and even if the offense doesn't look very put together. And, these good players make some very good baskets all on their own.

[ShockCounselor]

Topicalshox ... I assume you are watching TX and OU and I was thinking the same. Frankly, the offenses of both teams don't look much different than the ball screen or motion offense of the Shockers but they have strong posts that are always in good postition and available for an entry pass which sets up the inside/outside game. THEN ... they hit shots. And, as you suggested, if they get late in the shot clock each team has more than one player that can create their own shot.

[n8]

Yeah, and one of those teams has BLAKE GRIFFIN.

If we had a post man on our team that who could so much as pass as well as he can, we'd have turned half of our L's in W's. Then again, it's not hard to find an open man when you're the subject of a triple team.

[wsu789]

I agree that we seem to slog down in our half court motion at times. But its amazing how much better an offense looks when you make shots!

Some of our less experienced players (Reggie springs to mind) seem to be "thinking" their way through the offense, rather than reacting and playing within a series of movements designed to get a player open for a high percentage shot (which is how I think of motion). Sometimes, that means making weaked telegraph passes on the perimeter because that is what they are "supposed to do next" and sometimes it means hesitating or failing to get the ball to the post, perhaps because they are thinking something like "what I am supposed to do next ... oh yeah, I need to swing it to the top, go to the baseline off the posts screen, and look for the ball in the corner coming from the wing.... uh oh, was JT open in the post? Man, I'm going to hear about that when we breakdown the tape, oh wait, I've got to go baseline....oh well, pass to AJ..." (Let it be noted, in addition to other skills, I am a mindreader.)

I see the same thing (at an obviously much different scale) with a fourth grade team I'm coaching. As you teach them an "offense" (i.e. pass to the wing and screen away, which in my case is actually executed perhaps every 1 in 10 times down the floor), they tend to focus on what they are supposed to go, i.e. go set a screen or cut to the middle, rather than on whether they or another player are actually open for a shot. Often, they have a wide open shot or a wide open man, but they simply make the next pass. They lose sight of the ultimate goal...scoring the basketball. (Probably because they have a lousy coach!)

Anyway, this analogy is meant to illustrate that I think the Shocks are struggling to "just play" within the motion. They sometimes seem to be just going through the motion(s) rather than playing basketball. In other words, I think the offense itself is fine, the players just need to become more comfortable in it...and make open shots.

That will come with time.

I hope.

[ShockTalk]

Once in your half court, you don't dribble, or put the ball on the floor, except to penetrate (or attempt to). You don't want to hold the ball, but try to pass it quickly to where your teammate is going to, not where he's already standing. And good post play includes kicking the ball back out before being double or triple teamed. Most of our Valley brethren seem to understand these basics and at least attempted it. Our problems on offense are not caused/forced by our opponents, but self-inflicted. Poor shooting can come from poor offensive execution because there's no flow. As has been mentioned here several times, perhaps there is too much thinking going on on the court.