UNLV Game Thread

[wildjays]

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[jaysfor3]

I agree with a lot of what's been said on this board about the game.

And maybe a trap game for the coaches and players before the big home showdown against Bama?

I put this loss mostly on the coaches for not properly scouting, planning for the unexpected (UNLV could have a break-out game), and not preparing the team with a solid game plan, and that includes mentally preparing them to bring their "A" game night in and night out from the start especially when you're an opponents "Super Bowl" due to a Top 10 ranking.

Nearly every team will have strengths and weaknesses, our coaches and their game plan seemed to do very little to emphasize our strengths, minimize our weaknesses, while never really exposing UNLV's weaknesses. We made it easy for UNLV with the poor coaching plan on defense.

Did the coaches (and players) look at the 3-4 UNLV record and past performances and take a too casual approach in their preparation? Yes, I believe so, and we saw the result.

I haven't lost all hope that this team could make a run in March, but it's going to take better coaching with the unique make-up of this team that's different than last year's team.

IMHO we will see a much better performance on Saturday, however, I believe it's a tight, tense game as Bama can bring it, but we pull it out in the end by a a few buckets.

[Chicagojayfan]

Worst defensive game of the year by quite a ways. While the offense wasn't good, it wasn't terrible either, but everything was overwhelmed by us giving up too many open shots and them hitting shots all night

Not a great comparison to any games last year except for the game at Nova in February, but the Colorado State game from 2 years ago is a very good comparison (defense was even worse in that game)

some odd things. They were 12/24 at the rim, which isn't that surprising, but they were even better from long 2's at 10/15. Compare that to 1/6 for us for those shots.

Lots of downsides - Bench mostly played poorly, Alexander still mired in a huge slump, Ashworth didn't bring anything last night (he scored 14 and 27 against UNLV last year, so it's not like it's just a bad matchup for him), Baylor had a very poor start (1/7 firs half), but had a nice second half, Kalk really struggled against their quickness in the post (similar to the game he had versus Nebraska w/ Walker last year)

Plus sides - Baylor's second half. Miller continues to develop. He hit some good shots, a couple contested that he got off with his quick release, and for the second time in 2 game showed a pump fake, dribble and short jumper/floater that went down

A few thoughts:

* What can the team do when the opponent has a very quick 5 who can go after Kalkbrenner like last night or Walker last year? Are there many teams who can do that?
* If the big problem is Ashworth, why did he do so well versus UNLV twice last year, new faces and all, but still same team in the same conference?
* we have a couple of really bad defensive games every year, is this something that will be an ongoing problem? Really this is our only truly poor defensive game so far this year, and we've had those in the last 2 years as well
* What can we do to get Alexander untracked? Do we need to play Dotzler more to give him more time away from the PG duties?

We've had poor games before, and we've had a lot of question marks before - even in the past couple of seasons. Mac is good at getting the most out of a team, even after a terrible performance like last night and, thankfully, we are in the BE so we'll have plenty of time and chances to build the kind of resume we want for the end of the season

[omajay]

Is it possible to play Farabello at point along with Ashworth and Trey as the 2 and 3? What they are doing now against quick, physical defenses is not working. It seems pretty clear we will only beat teams by getting good looks at 3's with our roster, so might as well try to screen for Ashworth to get open. He isn't going to be able to get space with the ball.

They have played this lineup at times. But, Mason and Isaac are our best offensive threats from 3. You have to play Mason/Isaac.

For what it is worth, I have never seen us run the 1-3-1 defense effectively. Last year, we went to a 2-3 a few times, and that seemed more effective. Not great by any standards.

[3ontheway]

Thanks omajay.

Another thing I notice is we seem to get way less than our opponents off the high ball screen for whatever reason(s). We are not getting any space and separation with Ashworth or Trey handling the ball it seems like versus what others are getting against us. Does Kalk and whomever else screening need to do a better job? Do our guards need to be less lateral and more toward the lane from the top? It seems like we use that high screen and our guys are going lateral instead of diagonal and attacking the paint forcing their D to move.

[Django]

One positive: We bumped UNLV up 68 spots in the NET to 146 so it only counts as a Q3 loss rather than a Q4 (and hoping they get better with the return of their star).

[drbluejay]

Mason wins my standout player of the game. Even with Bello playing much better this year, we can't have him as the best backcourt player in games like he was last night. It all starts with Trey and Ash running the show and the curtain seems closed for those 2.
I didn't think Kalk played nearly as bad as some think. He goes 9 for 13 with 22 points, 8 reb. and 5 blocks. Backcourt play was a big reason why we lost the game.

[bluejayfan00]

Mason wins my standout player of the game. Even with Bello playing much better this year, we can't have him as the best backcourt player in games like he was last night. It all starts with Trey and Ash running the show and the curtain seems closed for those 2.
I didn't think Kalk played nearly as bad as some think. He goes 9 for 13 with 22 points, 8 reb. and 5 blocks. Backcourt play was a big reason why we lost the game.

There it is. I was waiting for it.

He got worked.

[ictjay]

Would love to see Dotzler get some (many?) of Ashworth’s minutes. Ash brings little to what others don’t already bring to the floor and Dotzler is the only one I’ve seen on this team to have a semblance of a driving game. Jays desperately need someone who can attack the rim and put pressure on a defense.

Note to Mac, let him play through some mistakes.

Exactly, solid 6'3". Plays D. Watched Ashworth closely in KC/Stillwater. Can't guard his shadow. Defense is breaking down because Mac is trying to mask it, and opponents are gunning for him. Would be a good spark off the bench. Havent read it here but he will not go left. He can spot shoot as good as Miller. After that.........

[HaRdWoOd]

Lots of downsides - Bench mostly played poorly,

Other than Fran, I dont think the bench had much of a chance last night and if the starting PG wasnt so ineffective, Fran might not have got a chance either. Trey played the whole game, Baylor played the whole game. Kalk played 35 minutes. Its not like those guys were playing great and they had to be on the floor. Quite the contrary actually. Seemed like we were hemorrhaging points all over but we stayed with the guys that were responsible for it. Trust me, the guys on the bench can miss shots and lack energy just as good as the starters.
King played 4 minutes. What are you going to do in 4 minutes? Traudt 9 minutes and he has been playing well, along with Mason. 0 minutes for the freshman PG and that is a position that is a glaring weakness right now. At this point Dotzler should have redshirted because all the big east games will be tight and Mac just doesnt use the bench in tight games. We had a rotation going that has been working and not sure why we went away from it. If you play a bench guy, maybe he provides a spark, maybe he doesnt. Maybe he gives a breather to a starter and the starter has fresher legs for a late come back.