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Niang's Fading Post Presence

From my outsider point of view it has been strange watching Niang this year. Last year's Niang was a nightmare to play against because he seemed to be able to go everywhere on the floor and was aggressively looking to take advantage of mismatches. When I heard he had lost a bunch of weight to try to get to the next level I thought "Oh, great, now he'll be faster and can be more aggressive without wearing out."

The Niang I see out there this year isn't nearly as active as he was last year, at least in the first 35 minutes of a game. He seems to turn into last year's Niang in the last five minutes of close games and is immediately more effective. I am not sure what is behind the change in intensity levels but it is pretty noticeable when watching them play. This year's Niang definitely isn't as tough to guard as last year's Niang.
 
Pure speculation but could Niang be trying to showcase his perimeter game since he would have to play the 3/4 in the NBA? I'm not even trying to call the kid out because it could be subconsciously, but I agree with twocoach that he has yet to really get active in the paint.

That is where he thrives. He needs to be inside first to open up the outside game.
 
It does seem like something is off in Georges' game this year, but it's hard to pinpoint exactly what it is. His Offensive Rating is down just slightly from last year 106.1 to 105.7, but his True Shooting % has increased from 54.8 to 55.7%. He's getting to the line more often and shooting better from there. Last year, 31.4% of his shots were 3 pointers and he made 32.7% of those, this year 30.5% of his shots have come from 3, and he's hitting at an improved 36% clip. His 2 point percentage has fallen to 49.6% from 54.2%, but he's finishing at the same rate around the rim, 63.5% this year compared to 63.8% last year, his percentage of shots near the rim has fallen by about 4% while his percentage of 2 point jumpers has increased by the same 4%. So he's not getting to the rim quite as much as last year and settling for more mid range shots. I would like to know where he's catching the ball on his posts up compared to last year, is it possible that's he's not getting as deep of position this year due to the weight loss over the summer?

To me, the biggest change with this team from last year is that we had our highest usage player, a combo guard, taking an incredible 45% of his shots at the rim and finishing two-thirds of those attempts. Having some one that can reliably get good, close range shots covers up a lot of deficiencies.
 
ZRF said:
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.
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One thing I find bizarre is that he seems to be bothered more by taller guys than he has in previous years. I'm not sure if has something to do with having less mass to throw the big guys off balance before going up for a shot, or it has something to do with more coaches and players become familiar with his game?
 
Niang is in his third year here, that means going into this conference season he's gone against Kansas 6 times, Oklahoma 5 times, Baylor 5 times, KState 5 times, and everyone else 4 times. I think we might be starting to see that other coaches can come up with schemes to slow him down.

There's no secrets in conference play. Every team knows the other's pet plays, and strengths & weaknesses.
 
CyJack13 said:
It does seem like something is off in Georges' game this year, but it's hard to pinpoint exactly what it is. His Offensive Rating is down just slightly from last year 106.1 to 105.7, but his True Shooting % has increased from 54.8 to 55.7%. He's getting to the line more often and shooting better from there. Last year, 31.4% of his shots were 3 pointers and he made 32.7% of those, this year 30.5% of his shots have come from 3, and he's hitting at an improved 36% clip. His 2 point percentage has fallen to 49.6% from 54.2%, but he's finishing at the same rate around the rim, 63.5% this year compared to 63.8% last year, his percentage of shots near the rim has fallen by about 4% while his percentage of 2 point jumpers has increased by the same 4%. So he's not getting to the rim quite as much as last year and settling for more mid range shots. I would like to know where he's catching the ball on his posts up compared to last year, is it possible that's he's not getting as deep of position this year due to the weight loss over the summer?

To me, the biggest change with this team from last year is that we had our highest usage player, a combo guard, taking an incredible 45% of his shots at the rim and finishing two-thirds of those attempts. Having some one that can reliably get good, close range shots covers up a lot of deficiencies.
Click to expand...


That's good stuff you posted but it's turnovers that are Georges big problem, especially momentum-zapping unforced ones.
 
WastedTalent said:
Niang is in his third year here, that means going into this conference season he's gone against Kansas 6 times, Oklahoma 5 times, Baylor 5 times, KState 5 times, and everyone else 4 times. I think we might be starting to see that other coaches can come up with schemes to slow him down.

There's no secrets in conference play. Every team knows the other's pet plays, and strengths & weaknesses.
Click to expand...

I agree. Big 12 coaches are smart. And they are learning from each other. So whatever is working against Niang is going to be copied. However, I wouldn't bet against Georges. He will exert himself as the season goes on. If we were making 3s last night, he would have been able to work more of his magic in the paint.
 
I am actually going to commit blasphemy and question CFH. I would like to see Edozie get more minutes against tall teams, or when Niang isn't on. Fred even said Edozie should have played more against Maryland. Why doubt your gut Fred?
 
Here's what I have thought all year long...Melvin Ejim's presence has been most missed by Niang. Here's why...

Starting last year, in his sophomore year, Niang started to see double-teams on most of his post possessions. He has had to learn how to pass out of those double teams since then. Melvin Ejim had the ability to do the following things VERY well...
1. Cut to the open spot, rather down low, or on the perimeter.
2. Make himself "available" by being in the right spot at the right time. Good chemistry.
3. FINISHING. I don't mean just dunking. McKay and Hogue can finish by dunking. But Melvin was very good at taking contact and making the hoop, without having to dipsy-do, double pump, behind the head flip. Took it up strong, with contact, regardless if the foul was called.

When Niang doesn't have that happening on those double teams, he try's to do too much, or avoid the double team by staying outside. Thus, the higher TO's, poorer %, etc.
When he was able to handle the double team, it created more opportunities for others, then the double teams started to come less frequently over the course of a game.

Also, he doesn't have the confidence in his shooters right now to kick it out, perhaps.
 
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Among the eight possible NCAA Tournament teams in the Big 12, there are 50 players who have played over 15 minutes a game in conference play. Among these 50 players, Georges Niang is 49th in ORtg, with a paltry 89.0. His PER and TS% are both among the bottom 20% of these players.

Additionally, Niang is dead last among all Big 12 players who have played over 15 minutes a game in conference play in steals and steal rate, the only player to have not yet recorded a steal.

I'm not sure what the deal is here, but it's pretty clear something has been wrong with Georges this month. Through six conference games, statistically, he's been closer to the worst players in the Big 12 than the best.

(Stats via the wonderful College Basketball Reference)
 
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ZRF said:
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.
Click to expand...

You sure this started with conference play? It seems to me about the time that McKay became eligible. Suddenly, Niang wasn't our biggest player that had to be guarded by the opponent's center. Instead of pulling the team's center out to guard him, he's now getting a quicker perimeter defender. He loses some of that "matchup nightmare" that got him a lot of points in the past.
 
Clonehomer said:
You sure this started with conference play? It seems to me about the time that McKay became eligible. Suddenly, Niang wasn't our biggest player that had to be guarded by the opponent's center. Instead of pulling the team's center out to guard him, he's now getting a quicker perimeter defender. He loses some of that "matchup nightmare" that got him a lot of points in the past.
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Ding Ding. I truly believe Niang is suffering from playing against the opponents 4 instead of their 5. Because of this the smaller quicker player has been able to stay in front of him and also knock balls away from him on his drives, thus negating his outside to inside presence
 
isufbcurt said:
Ding Ding. I truly believe Niang is suffering from playing against the opponents 4 instead of their 5. Because of this the smaller quicker player has been able to stay in front of him and also knock balls away from him on his drives, thus negating his outside to inside presence
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Then maybe he should be getting fed the ball in the post more... He's a good enough passer that if McKay's man moves over to help he can dish the ball.

Addressing the earlier post, Niang's 3's in conference play are not actually the problem. He's shooting 39% on 3.8 3's a game; both reasonable numbers for him. He's had a few games where he shoots too many 3's, but that was a bigger problem for him last year.

The problem right now is that he's shooting 39% on his 2's in conference play. And I find it quite plausible this is because a greater % of his shots are driving, high difficulty shots versus quicker defenders.
 
It seems to me the only players who could limit Georges in the post have been true 7 footers (Withey, Embiid, etc). Of course, Georges' answer to that was just to go outside where he could either shoot 3's, take them off the dribble, or at the very least clear the lane out for his teammates.

Given that, I agree with others that when McKay is out there, Georges NEEDS to be on the block more, where he'll now be getting the other team's 4, whom he will have no problem getting shots off against. If the other post defender doubles, drop it to McKay. If a guard doubles, kick for an open 3. We have been running a large portion of our offense through Georges, and this needs to continue, but I really think this is more effective when we get him the ball on the block or elbow and he can facilitate/score from there.

Giving Georges the ball in these positions and putting the rest of the team in motion around him has, IMO, always been our best offense.
 
kucyclone said:
Among the eight possible NCAA Tournament teams in the Big 12, there are 50 players who have played over 15 minutes a game in conference play. Among these 50 players, Georges Niang is 49th in ORtg, with a paltry 89.0. His PER and TS% are both among the bottom 20% of these players.

Additionally, Niang is dead last among all Big 12 players who have played over 15 minutes a game in conference play in steals and steal rate, the only player to have not yet recorded a steal.

I'm not sure what the deal is here, but it's pretty clear something has been wrong with Georges this month. Through six conference games, statistically, he's been closer to the worst players in the Big 12 than the best.

(Stats via the wonderful College Basketball Reference)
Click to expand...
 
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