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Niang's Fading Post Presence

Z

ZRF

Well-Known Member
Jan 3, 2015
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Since conference play started we have seen an alarming trend of Niang receiving a large majority of his touches outside the post area. While he CAN make 3s, that is not where he's most effective. Georges has one of the most refined post games in basketball, displaying a wide array of jumpers, pivots, and layups in his repertoire. The defensive attention Niang commands opens up the outside shot for our shooters, as well as cutting lanes for our perimeter players.

As is, Niang is shooting too many 3s and they are often early in our offensive sequence. Our offense runs more smoothly when we get entries early in the possession, using Niang to initiate our ball movement. I think Niang (and Fred) has been way too complacent with being a perimeter presence and has gotten away from commanding the ball in the inside. As a result our offensive consistency has suffered greatly, ESPECIALLY against inferior opponents.

I don't mind Niang shooting a 3 AFTER ball movement and player movement (screening) have naturally brought him out there. Currently however, we are starting him there and he is missing a lot of 3s (that he should not be taking) early in the sequence before we have really run our offense. He is also turnover liability when attacking the basket from the perimeter.

I keep thinking back to the OSU game last season in which Georges dominated the first half with his post play. Inexplicably he spent the entire 2nd half at the 3 point line shooting 3s. Just because he has that ability it doesn't mean he should be playing there. This year I felt like it's been that 2nd half for most of the conference season.

IMO this is also the biggest reason why he has struggled.
 
Agree b12 opponent's have really done a good job at stopping niang. If niang can get it going this team will be very tough
 
I believe Niang had been shooting 66% from the 3 over the 4 previous games, so his wanting to take a couple of outside shots was understandable.

He he probably did take it too far, but there were just so many mistakes by multiple people in this game.

Best to move on.
 
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We lack shooters this year. This is our worst shooting team under Fred, so we are relying even more on Niang to help spread the floor.

Naz is a pretty good shooter, but streaky and certainly not great, even though he usually hits them when we need them the most.

Niang is a good 3 point shooter for a big man, but overall not a great 3 point shooter.

BDJ is ok, but not better than average for a guard.

Morris is really struggling this year, after hitting 40% last year.

Thomas is shooting only around 30% from 3.

Nader has hit some very big shots, but has a horrible percentage.

Hogue has a good percentage, but he's not taking a lot (and that's probably why his percentage is good).
 
Our team wins when Niang scores more than 10 points. In all four losses his point total is 10 points. Our offense goes through George,plain and simple, effect George's game, put him in a funk, and we lose. We need to find a scheme that does not require George and uses someone else as the focal point.

Go CYCLONES!
 
Best thing to do would be to ask to remove Georges from all these post season award watches. Yes, he's a great player, but I can name 10 others immediately better than him. Last years Georges > this years. Dont know what's up with all the missed layups, bad passes, and desire to not want to rebound
 
If true I wonder if it had anything to do with what he'll need to play in his post isu career.

I really like the ball fake he's been bringing out on 3s the last few games. Like a few guys on this team, I think he's at his best when he shoots 2-3 threes a game.
 
I don't know about "post presence" but he's certainly missing his "make the heady play" mojo.


Wouldn't surprise me at all if his time goes down.
 
acgclone said:
We lack shooters this year. This is our worst shooting team under Fred, so we are relying even more on Niang to help spread the floor.

Naz is a pretty good shooter, but streaky and certainly not great, even though he usually hits them when we need them the most. (Missed 6)

Niang is a good 3 point shooter for a big man, but overall not a great 3 point shooter. (Missed 5)

BDJ is ok, but not better than average for a guard. (Missed 4)

Morris is really struggling this year, after hitting 40% last year. (Missed 2)

Thomas is shooting only around 30% from 3. (Missed 6)

Nader has hit some very big shots, but has a horrible percentage. (Missed 1)

Hogue has a good percentage, but he's not taking a lot (and that's probably why his percentage is good). (Missed 1)
Click to expand...
FIFY

How about the max limit is three or four misses a game per player and then go back to work on the 2 pointers since we do well?
 
CyGOLFR said:
Best thing to do would be to ask to remove Georges from all these post season award watches. Yes, he's a great player, but I can name 10 others immediately better than him. Last years Georges > this years. Dont know what's up with all the missed layups, bad passes, and desire to not want to rebound
Click to expand...

Careful, when I posted something similar to this I got hounded from half the board for a night. *shrug*. I've said George's ppg in conference would be closer to 10 and it's looking more and more realistic. He is at his best when he draws attention when he has the ball and then finds the open shooter. If he can get the ball on the block I have full confidence he can use a move to score. I don't feel the same when he has the ball on the perimeter. I want to see him go back to posting up more.
 
All I know is that this team is far too poor at getting to the rim in offensive sets and offensive rebounding to ever be a consistent threat to anyone on the road. I thought the addition of McKay would be a real game changer in both these areas and he has had an impact somewhat, but others have backed off as well.

We laugh when a commentator says ISU lives and die by the three ball. but we've proven it in our losses this year. When you've got a bad shooting night from behind the arc, particularly on the road, you just have to be able to find a consistent scoring option from someplace else on the floor, and you need the extra possessions the offensive boards provide you. Last year's team had Kane, who could always get to the rim and was excellent for his size in posting up. And Melvin was a great offensive rebounder who knew how to finish. Who are those guys on this year's team?
 
Points in the paint is only stat category that has mattered in the last couple years, and that remains true.

That said I'd like to see more assists from Niang. He is facing a lot of double teams
 
Tech's big post players (as well as SC & Maryland) gave us fits. We arent a big tall team so when we play against guys 5"+ taller it affects us as it did yesterday. That combined with Tech's off the chart 3pt shooting proved to much for us. Its tough when you lose to worst team.

I think we have only won 3 road conference games that last 2 years. Im pretty sure both yrs we beat Tech & TCU. Last year we added OSU and the previous yr was WV. We need 4-5 and that doesnt look good now.
 
Georges and the team is struggling right now. We suffered a bad loss. Our confidence is shaken. We need to move on from the loss and support our team. Let's not pile on the team and be overly critical. Don't dwell on the loss. It is over. We need to be ready for our next game. And learn some lessons from our loss.
 
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