Living and dying with the 3

[avabob1]

That has been a phrase describing perimeter oriented teams for years. I look at this Cougar team and it would certainly seem to apply. And yet there us something else I see that goes deeper. Last night we came out looking pretty good on D and played even with Colorado the first 10 minutes. Then Colorado started making 3s and pretty soon the interior opened up and our D turned sour.

Contrast with WSU. Not that we didn't try to get something going inside, we simply do not have anyone who can finish in traffic. Franks has some finesse moves but can't finish through contact. Similar with Pollard and Bernstein sans the finesse moves. Flynn, last year would get at least a couple drives to the hoop. This year he can't seem to finish.

The only guy who looks like he has any ability to finish is Acquaah, and he is still trying to figure out what he can do at the D-1 level.

 

[ElComanche]

The cougs got back into the game by being more aggressive. I do not know how many times i have said that the cougs need to fight on every possession. It may look like a finesse game, but it s sometimes like football without pads in the college game.Last night Franks and Flynn just did not get into it. I was happy to see the other players trading shove for shove ,elbow for elbow,but they need to do that every play and every game.

 

[ElComanche]

The type of offense is importunate but the cougs still need to be aggressive on both offense and defense. They cannot let the other team shove them around the court and disrupt the offense they are running. The bigs still need to fight for position and be in position for offensive rebounds .It is a mindset to not let the other team impose their will on them. Against USC ,they were intimidated and let the other team dominate play at both ends.i just saw what Kent said and i totally agree with him. As a former player,he can see what is going on on the court.