All the FT talk still comes back to 2 guys...
Jean: 77%
Christon: 81% (22/25 = 88% last year)
All the FT talk still comes back to 2 guys...
Jean: 77%
Christon: 81% (22/25 = 88% last year)
''Don't be a bad dagh..."
That's quite a bit of over-simplification. No doubt, losing those guys hurt, but our FT shooting woes do not boil down to that.
Jean and Christon traded out at the same position, and all of Langston's minutes are coming from their spot in the lineup. Langston is our best FT shooter at 79.1%, which is better than both Jean and Christon were shooting this season.
In addition, Jean and Christon were each averaging less than 3 FTs attempted per game (Jean 2.75 this year, 2.67 last year & Christon 2.6 this year, 0.8 last year) because they aren't attacking offensive players. Guys like that who rarely get to the line can't explain our FT shooting woes. The bulk of our FTs attempted per game are coming from Bracey (4.4), Duruji (3.6), Powell (3.3), and Pemberton (3.2) because those guys are attacking the rim.
Everyone else playing besides Langston (the guy who replaced Jean/Christon) is a sub-70% FT shooter, which is not good.
Just curious will Jean or Christon be eligible for any kind of medical redshirt?
Also, I'm using KenPom's stats, which do not include our games against non-DI opponents.
Christon's FT% in DI games this season was 76.9%, not up in the 80s.
Apparently it's easier to shoot when playing meaningless games against Tougaloo and Harding.
Konkol's coaching performance defies absolute criticisms. He's certainly not a bust but he also hasn't proven an ability to keep his team from strings of bad losses. I think I do sense some stability in the program. I definitely feel like he knows what he's doing in terms of getting the pieces together. But our guys seem fragile in terms of competitive consistency. It's like they aren't sure if they can win in certain situations. Dayday certainly doesn't lack confidence but he's not a natural shooter. I think Archibald is a shooter but he lacks the killer instinct. Duruji is a rhythm guy who can go on tears where he needs to keep to unleash in longer sequences. I really liked the driving jump shots we saw from AA against North Texas. He's got to learn how to assert himself and the coaches should demand it. Langston is a decent filler but he lacks the skill to reliably score. Pemberton plays the right way. Mo plays the right way. I think Powell might be better off the bench. The key for a run in the tournament is Archibald. I always watch him closely and his body language is too tentative in situations where we need him to assert himself.
I think Konkol is looking at having to make some hard decisions in the off-season on some scholarship players who don't appear to be progressing. Especially if we have a shot at two or more big men with potential. We badly need some quality help and depth at the post.
If "mediocre" is your definition of "stability." Tied for 9th place last year, tied for 6th place this year. That's not exactly good stability.
Most concerning to me: Konkol's recruiting has dropped off considerably the last couple years. Konkol's recruiting started out great, but losing Tony Skinn really hurt. The last couple years Konkol has been throwing out hundreds of offers, and nobody is biting. We even lost the Rayville kid to ULL, and we've been signing scraps for two years now. Mike White built a championship program with guys nobody else wanted, and pretty soon we will find out what Konkol can do with "diamonds in the rough."
Last edited by Dawg06; 02-27-2019 at 05:05 PM.
I'm thinking more about what he's attempting to establish in terms of style of play. It has begun to take shape. I can see rhyme and reason to how they are being instructed.
I would enjoy seeing some local players on the squad. That said, it definitely seems easier to find guys who fit Konkol's mold in Texas. He explained his recruiting strategy on Fletcher's show and it's definitely more than just finding guys who can play basketball. Mike White was really good at coaching here. Guys like him are rare. We could do much worse than Konkol. But he definitely needs to prove himself more.
To me, we need athletes who can press with a distributor, a couple shooters and a big that can bang. The role players can be slashers or tweeners but they all need ball skills. Is that too much to ask?
We need a talented big that has hands and finishing ability to get the ball rolling. Unfortunately, those guys are usually 4 stars and up. Maybe we need to develop a guy or two. Is Karl still pissed?