Miami (11/26/21)

[greenminer]

1 hour ago, Andrew said:

🧐

This isn’t necessarily a call for “we need to work more bench”. This is a cry for “we need more bench”. 
 

you have to consider that Grant has already experimented with this (more bench) in practice and doesn’t see anything that would benefit us.  We need to recruit more options.

[GMG_Dallas]

We really do need to recruit more options. If only we had a big with 3 years starting experience in the Pac 12 including starting during a 27-win season. Nevermind...

[greenminer]

6 hours ago, GMG_Dallas said:

We really do need to recruit more options. If only we had a big with 3 years starting experience in the Pac 12 including starting during a 27-win season. Nevermind...

I think of a big as 6'10" or bigger.

To your point though, Wright had a ton of starts and minutes at UW, but was never a production guy.  Not a slam dunk argument for this thread, though it would have been nice to see what he could do in-game at least once or twice.

[emmitt01]

9 minutes ago, greenminer said:

I think of a big as 6'10" or bigger.

To your point though, Wright had a ton of starts and minutes at UW, but was never a production guy.  Not a slam dunk argument for this thread, though it would have been nice to see what he could do in-game at least once or twice.

That’s just it.  We HAVE seen what he can do in a game.  Early in the season he was in the rotation.  I can understand how this leaves @Andrew in quite the conundrum.

 

[Andrew]

20 minutes ago, emmitt01 said:

That’s just it.  We HAVE seen what he can do in a game.  Early in the season he was in the rotation.  I can understand how this leaves @Andrew in quite the conundrum.

 

Other than the Buffalo lose the bench play didn’t affect anything. We played Kansas close with that Bench then played 7 guys against Miami and lost again in a close game. We were not losing games when the bench played and up until that end of season stretch we were not really losing without them. Playing a few guys a couple minutes wasn’t going to cost us a game. Other than Buffalo it never did. The question is how much did it benefit us/how much would it benefit us as the season went on. 

[UNTLifer]

I seem to recall someone stating that he was injured earlier this year. Not sure when, or the nature of the injury, but he hasn’t contributed since. 

[GMG_Dallas]

5 hours ago, greenminer said:

I think of a big as 6'10" or bigger.

To your point though, Wright had a ton of starts and minutes at UW, but was never a production guy.  Not a slam dunk argument for this thread, though it would have been nice to see what he could do in-game at least once or twice.

Define production. You can be productive without filling the stat sheet. The thing with Wright is he was our second tallest guy with minutes and had a defensive presence in the paint at Washington. Our team significantly struggled on defense down low. We're ranked 228th in college D1 in blocks with 86 on the year. We have a guy ranked 6th all-time in blocks at Washington sitting on the bench who could fill a void we desperately need filled. I agree with you, we need another real big. We didn't have that this year and it showed when Ousmane was on the bench.

[Andrew]

5 hours ago, greenminer said:

I think of a big as 6'10" or bigger.

To your point though, Wright had a ton of starts and minutes at UW, but was never a production guy.  Not a slam dunk argument for this thread, though it would have been nice to see what he could do in-game at least once or twice.

We don’t need him to put up 6 points and 6 boards. We need him to give us a solid 10 minutes and grab a couple boards and be a physical presence in the post. That’s all we need. 

[greenminer]

5 hours ago, Andrew said:

We don’t need him to put up 6 points and 6 boards. We need him to give us a solid 10 minutes and grab a couple boards and be a physical presence in the post. That’s all we need. 

That would be nice.  But maybe he doesn't? Maybe our team was -10 during that 14 minute stretch he saw the court? I have no idea.  Maybe you're onto something and he provided that?

Maybe this topic is a trap?

[GMG_Dallas]

Yeah you're right in that these guys definitely got their fair shot at playing time early in the season. Were they that bad on the court? Does McCasland have an incredibly short leash? Maybe he just didn't feel they gave their all. I don't know. From a fan's perspective it's easy to ask "what if." If I had all the answers, I'd be coaching and not posting.

[2020 Sucks]

Is it just me, or did y’all not see how Wright was 2 steps behind on defense? He had an entire season to learn and contribute.  Grant and Ross knew they needed him from a depth perspective, but if he allows 10 on defense and only scores 4 on offense, it’s better to have TB3 miss 4 free throws and keep it on the positive side otherwise.  Wright had to be missing seriously in basketball IQ or fundamental skills.

[greenminer]

Canes have stepped into the E8

[NorthTexasSportsNetwork]

1 hour ago, greenminer said:

Canes have stepped into the E8

We lost to 3 elite 8 teams, if you count the Arkansas exhibition.

Pretty solid work from Mac with getting into that tournament 

[MeanGreen22]

7 hours ago, NorthTexasSportsNetwork said:

We lost to 3 elite 8 teams, if you count the Arkansas exhibition.

Pretty solid work from Mac with getting into that tournament 

And none of those games (except maybe Kansas for parts of the game) did we feel out of place. We were beating Miami by 12 at half. This years team was so damn good. 

[Andrew]

On 3/20/2022 at 12:24 PM, 2020 Sucks said:

Is it just me, or did y’all not see how Wright was 2 steps behind on defense? He had an entire season to learn and contribute.  Grant and Ross knew they needed him from a depth perspective, but if he allows 10 on defense and only scores 4 on offense, it’s better to have TB3 miss 4 free throws and keep it on the positive side otherwise.  Wright had to be missing seriously in basketball IQ or fundamental skills.

You mean a big who could stretch the floor and actually make his free throws? Lol what are you talking about 🤣

On a team that runs on a snails pace and plays a guy like JJ who doesn’t even score…. 🤣

 

what 🤣

[greenminer]

3 hours ago, Andrew said:

You mean a big who could stretch the floor and actually make his free throws? Lol what are you talking about 🤣

On a team that runs on a snails pace and plays a guy like JJ who doesn’t even score…. 🤣

 

what 🤣

If he doesn't play defense, Mac doesn't care what else you do.

[Quoner]

On 3/20/2022 at 12:24 PM, 2020 Sucks said:

Is it just me, or did y’all not see how Wright was 2 steps behind on defense? He had an entire season to learn and contribute.  Grant and Ross knew they needed him from a depth perspective, but if he allows 10 on defense and only scores 4 on offense, it’s better to have TB3 miss 4 free throws and keep it on the positive side otherwise.  Wright had to be missing seriously in basketball IQ or fundamental skills.

When he got time in the Rice tournament game and still looked out of place and couldn’t hold position down low, it was a really telling bummer. He just didn’t fit and I’m sure everyone involved was/is disappointed by it. 

[Andrew]

14 hours ago, greenminer said:

If he doesn't play defense, Mac doesn't care what else you do.

Yeah even though he was an amazing shot blocker perhaps he was not quick enough on defense for what Mac wanted. Not sure but wish Mac would have just said why…. It most certainly wasn’t a lack of offense or a lack of shot blocking. Maybe condition or just not quick enough on defense for what he wanted. 
 

Hopefully next year Mac is more open about decisions being made and other calls made. If he is ever going to go up another level he will most certainly be scrutinized more. Or at least someone ask even if he dodges. Coaches get those once they reach a higher level anyway (ACC, NBA). 
 

one of my favorites from the Mavs season even when Kidd dodges it lol.

 

 

 

Edited March 27, 2022 by Andrew

[Glory to the Green]

10 hours ago, Quoner said:

When he got time in the Rice tournament game and still looked out of place and couldn’t hold position down low, it was a really telling bummer. He just didn’t fit and I’m sure everyone involved was/is disappointed by it. 

Agreed.  He just never looked comfortable…and when compared to the intensity I got used to seeing with the 7 man rotation, his intensity/urgency wasn’t there.  I don’t remember his early season playing time. 

Edited March 28, 2022 by Glory to the Green