Secret Strategy to help us win another Nattie!
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Okay... I know what you are thinking... drgnslayr is back to hammer down the need for a "chip" moving forward. And, of course, you aren't wrong!
But I'm going to add to my obvious perspective.
We now know we can beat any team in America. We also know we can lose to any team in America. What is the deciding factor? I think most of you now get it. It's all about defense! We shut down Houston, and then besides Tre, no other player had a big offensive night.
Even with Flory in the paint, we are capable of getting pounded in the paint. That still doesn't usually measure up to losing a game. Most of the time, we get beat from the 3s. We are capable of losing, even when our defense isn't too bad on the perimeter.
Last night, I watched the play where Mel took off on a fastbreak at full speed, then he hit the breaks for an almost flat-footed dunk. That gave me an idea, once I meshed what he did with what Houston does constantly... half of their offensive boards are not rebounds as much as they are spiking the ball out to the perimeter.
Have any of you played ball on the perimeter? Do you know how hard it is to focus on netting 3s when you also have to worry about your guy taking off on a fastbreak?
It doesn't seem like we truly utilize the speed Melvin possesses. What if we spiked or tossed him a few touchdown passes for runouts every game? Not only can we pickup some easy baskets... we should make teams think about it throughout the game. I bet we can bring down opposing teams' 3-pt %s considerably, if we play to this strategy. We don't have to use it constantly. But we should keep sending Mel throughout the game so teams think about it.
Self mentioned last night that we are far from reaching the ceiling of this team. Doesn't some of that ceiling involve the potential of using Mel's speed? I'd throw DP's speed in this, too.
And when Flory is out on the perimeter defending? Send him once in a while! He has great speed!
What our guys need to know... sometimes it's smart to charge after a 3-pt shooter like you are going for an aggressive block, when really you are starting to run by him on your way towards a fastbreak!
If you study our defense carefully... you will find that the biggest factor in making us have a great defense is having Flory. It's not just that he swats some balls. It's that he gets into the heads of the teams we play. This was definitely the case against Houston!
Why can't we sometimes run the fastbreak to add one more thing to put in teams' heads? Why won't it work?
