Path to the Hall of Fame

[randy]

The first 2 games reflected the blueprint of the brand of basketball we will play this season:

1. Force turn overs (17.5 opp topg)
2. Force opposition to take low percentage shots (20.5 opp 3PApg, 34% opp FG)
3. Minimize taking low percentage shots (only 1 3PA total for 2 games)
4. Pound it in the paint (36 inside ppg)
5. Crash the offensive glass (37 OR%)

[randy]

11/21/94: Loiusiona Monroe (2-0) @ Sam Houston St (2-0)
ULM has the same team prestige

Pre-game Notes
[INDENT]1. ULM also likes to score inside, esp their starting PF. We must be ready to switch to 2-3, if needed
[/INDENT]
Initial instructions
[INDENT]1. Offense Sets / Focus: Auto (mostly Motion) / Heavy Inside
2. Offense Pace / Freedom: 3 / 75%
3. Off / Def Rebounding Crash: 9 / 10
4. Defense Sets / Intensity: Man / 8 (double on everyone, except PG)
5. Pressure Set / Frequency: Auto / 9
[/INDENT]


Tip off (1st Half)

15:44, Down 6-8
We're 0-4 FG. Their star PF picked up 2 quick fouls.

11:22, Tied at 12
Fouls being called everywhere; Majerus has 3, Carr 2 fouls

6:56, Tied at 20
A total of 25 FTAs combined were already taken

4:37, Up 26-22
At this rate, we'll be running out of front court players soon; Griffin, Majerus - 3 fouls each; Cook, Carr - 2 each


Halftime, Tied at 34
Fouls called: 15-9! ULM is 19-21 FT. Rowles kept us in the game; 11 and 5


Start of 2nd Half

15:59, Down 38-43
We have committed 4 turn overs already in the half

13:22, Up 46-45
It was 36-43 at one point; we went on a 10-2 run. ULM called a time out

8:32, Up 58-51
Cook has taken over; 13 pts in the 2nd half

3:29, Up 69-57
We slow down the game


Final score: Louisiana Monroe - 64, Sam Houston St - 75


Box Score

[INDENT]Cook 21, 3, 1, 3 blks (*)
Rowles 11, 6, 3, 3 stls
Coulibaly 10, 5, 4, 5 tos
Majerus 9, 1, 2
Carr 9, 1, 0
F Griffin 6, 2, 7
K Griffin 5, 2, 1, 3 blks
Granville 4, 0, 3
Smith 0, 0, 0
Belton 0, 0, 0
[/INDENT]
Team Stats Comparisons

[INDENT]FG: 57-37%
REB: -5
TO: -4 (15-19)
Paint: +34 (50-16)
2nd Chance : -5
Fast Break: -4
[/INDENT]


Other Notes

[INDENT]1. Fouls "evened" up at the end; 19 each. Both teams shot well in the FT line; ULM is 25-27 (93%), we shot 19-21 (91%)
2. We didn't do a good job on the offensive glass, despite putting the intensity to maximum (10) in the 2nd half; we only grabbed 2 off rebs
3. ISR = 8.3. 50 inside pts, 6 outside pts. Wow!
[/INDENT]

[jksander]

Nice start on the new season, Coach! We're looking forward to seeing a ranking next to the team's name before too long

[randy]

11/24/94: Sam Houston St (3-0) @ Davidson (2-2)
DAV is +1 in team prestige

Pre-game Notes
[INDENT]1. They have a good rotation of inside players. Also, their PG likes to put up 3PT shots, and he can do some damage as well. In summary, a a balanced team so we don't really know what to expect.
[/INDENT]
Initial instructions
[INDENT]1. Offense Sets / Focus: Auto (mostly Motion) / Heavy Inside
2. Offense Pace / Freedom: 3 / 75%
3. Off / Def Rebounding Crash: 9 / 10
4. Defense Sets / Intensity: Man / 8 (double on everyone, except PG)
5. Pressure Set / Frequency: Auto / 9
[/INDENT]


Tip off (1st Half)

13:59, Up 8-4
Fouls are 5-1. Rowles has 2

8:40, Up 15-10
Cook also has 2 fouls


Halftime, Tied at 30
We went ice cold towards the end of the half. Fouls are 12-5. Cook and Rowles played for a combined 11 mins.
Turnovers are 3-10


Start of 2nd Half

15:35, Down 37-39
Rowles in the bench with 3 fouls. Cook has only 1 pt so far

13:59, Down 40-42
Cook also called for his 3rd. I go to a 2-3 zone

8:19, Down 48-51
I went with a small front court of Cook, Majerus, and Carr

4:33, Up 56-51
8-0 run. Davidson beginning to miss their outside shots. Cook finally getting some inside pts


Final score: Sam Houston St - 64, Davidson - 57


Box Score

[INDENT]Majerus 12, 6, 0
Coulibaly 12, 3, 2
Cook 11, 5, 2, 2 blks (*)
Carr 9, 3, 2
F Griffin 8, 2, 7, 2 blks
Rowles 8, 2, 0
Belton 2, 1, 1
Smith 2, 1, 1
K Griffin 0, 3, 0
Granville 0, 1, 1
[/INDENT]
Team Stats Comparisons

[INDENT]FG: 43-41%
REB: -4
TO: -10 (6-16)
Paint: +24 (36-12)
2nd Chance : -1
Fast Break: +2
[/INDENT]


Other Notes

[INDENT]1. The switch to the 2-3 zone prevented our bigs from going into foul trouble in the 2nd half, but allowed Davidson to shoot 5-13 3PT.
2. Cook scored 10 of his 11 pts in the last 10 mins of the 2nd half
3. Relative o the first 3 games we had, we did not play a good game. The team just found other ways to win; we took care of the ball with only 6 turn overs
3. ISR = 2.6
[/INDENT]

[randy]

11/28/94: Sam Houston St (4-0) @ Denver (0-5)
DEN is +2 in team prestige

Pre-game Notes
[INDENT]1. Five defeats for Denver, all in double figures. They find it hard to score; one of the few teams in the nation with less than 90 pts/100 possessions
[/INDENT]
Initial instructions
[INDENT]1. Offense Sets / Focus: Auto (mostly Motion) / Heavy Inside
2. Offense Pace / Freedom: 3 / 75%
3. Off / Def Rebounding Crash: 9 / 10
4. Defense Sets / Intensity: Auto / 8 (when going man, double on everyone, except PG)
5. Pressure Set / Frequency: Auto / 9
[/INDENT]


Tip off (1st Half)
We'll try to vary our defense, using a mix of man and zone

15:47, Up 12-4
Rowles dominating inside with 3 off rebs, 6 pts

11:30, Up 25-9
Majerus with 5 pts off the bench. Cook has 8, but with 2 fouls; he will sit in the bench

7:52, Up 29-15
Both teams went cold, but DEN hit 2 3PTs during the last stretch


Halftime, Up 41-30
DEN continued its hot shooting from beyond the arc; they nor have 5 3PTs
I brought back Cook with about 3 mins left in the half, and he made sure we still have a double-digit lead by the end of the half; Cook has 16 and 9


Start of 2nd Half

15:45, Up 54-34
Great start, with F Griffin hitting 2 3s.

9:39, Up 60-46
DEN beginning to click again on offense. Cook got his 3rd foul, but I will let him remain on the floor

7:16, Up 68-48
We went on a mini-run again. Majerus continuing his contributions off the bench

Final score: Sam Houston St - 80, Denver - 63


Box Score

[INDENT]Cook 18, 13, 1, 2 stls (*)
Rowles 14, 11, 1
Majerus 13, 5, 1
F Griffin 10, 3, 6
Carr 9, 5, 2
Coulibaly 7, 4, 4
Granville 5, 4, 0
Thomas 2, 3, 2
Belton 2, 1, 1
K Griffin 0, 0, 0
[/INDENT]
Team Stats Comparisons

[INDENT]FG: 44-43%
REB: +27 (19-3 off rebs)
TO: +4
Paint: +24 (42-18)
2nd Chance : +13
Fast Break: +6
[/INDENT]


Other Notes

[INDENT]1. Didn't forced a lot of turnovers, perhaps because of the mix of man and zone defenses we used. Our off rebounding advantage proved to be the difference.
2. We had our first 3 pt shot conversion for the season (and this is our 5th game); we shot 3-8 from 3PT
4. ISR = 3.4
[/INDENT]

[CoachC]

Great start to the season Randy.

[randy]

12/1/94: Sam Houston St (5-0) @ Florida A&M (3-3)
Florida AM has the same team prestige

Pre-game Notes
[INDENT]1. They play very well at home, limiting opponents to 53 ppg. They like to slow down the game. Their SG is the only consistent scorer
[/INDENT]
Initial instructions
[INDENT]1. Offense Sets / Focus: Auto (mostly Motion) / Heavy Inside
2. Offense Pace / Freedom: 3 / 60%
3. Off / Def Rebounding Crash: 9 / 10
4. Defense Sets / Intensity: Man / 8 (double on everyone, except PG)
5. Pressure Set / Frequency: Auto / 9
[/INDENT]


Tip off (1st Half)
We'll go back to using man defense exclusively. We will also run more set plays, and lesser freedom

15:59, Up 10-7
FLAM is going inside in the early goings. Carr has 2 fouls

11:32, Up 18-9
Their star SG picked up 2 fouls; he is still scoreless. Cook has 6 rebs already

7:50, Up 26-19
Fouls are 9 each. 23 combined FTAs already taken

3:53, Up 38-25
Majerus continues to contribute off the bench, with 9 pts.


Halftime, Up 45-32
A total of 27 fouls and 41 FTAs, in just 20 mins of play.
F Griffin leads with 12 pts; Cook has 7 and 10.


Start of 2nd Half

15:59, Up 51-39
Fouls are 5-0 in this half. I get warned by the refs for complaining. Carr, Rowles, and Granville all with 3 fouls.

11:49, Up 61-44
Majerus is having a god game; 16 pts. Cook has another double double, 11 and 11.

3:25, Up 75-61
Cook has picked up his offense, preventing FLAM to cut the lead to single digits. We slow things down


Final score: Sam Houston St - 87, Florida A&M - 69


Box Score

[INDENT]Cook 21, 14, 2 (*)
Majerus 16, 2, 0
F Griffin 15, 3, 6, 4 tos, 2-2 3PT
Coulibaly 7, 2, 4
Rowles 7, 2, 2, 3 stls, 2 blks
K Griffin 6, 7, 1, 2 blks
Carr 6, 1, 1
Granville 4, 0, 1
Jackson 3, 0, 0
Smith 2, 2, 0
Belton 0, 0, 1
Thomas 0, 0, 0
[/INDENT]
Team Stats Comparisons

[INDENT]FG: 54-39%
REB: +11
TO: -3
Paint: +28 (44-16)
2nd Chance : +4
Fast Break: -3
[/INDENT]


Other Notes

[INDENT]1. Final foul count is 22 for each team. Interestingly, no one fouled out. A total of 61 FTs were taken.
2. Two consecutive games were we scored 80 or more pts. 2 reasons: F Griffin and Majerus; both of them providing double digit scoring
3. ISR = 2.1
[/INDENT]

[randy]

Great start to the season Randy.

Thanks Coach. I read your discussions in Wayne's thread regarding the use of slower pace to generate more inside points. I've been using that strategy this new season.

As for the "double everyone" strategy, I get mixed results in forcing turn overs. But in general, opposing teams tend to shoot more outside shots, and hence lower FG%

[randy]

12/5/94: Sam Houston St (6-0) @ Quinnipiac (2-4)
Quinnipiac has the same team prestige

Pre-game Notes
[INDENT]1. Quinnipiac is 2-0 at home, and 0-4 on the road. They get most of their pts from the outside, especially their starting SG; he is averaging almost 20 ppg
[/INDENT]
Initial instructions
[INDENT]1. Offense Sets / Focus: Auto (mostly Motion) / Heavy Inside
2. Offense Pace / Freedom: 3 / 60%
3. Off / Def Rebounding Crash: 9 / 10
4. Defense Sets / Intensity: Man / 8 (double on everyone, except PG)
5. Pressure Set / Frequency: Auto / 9
[/INDENT]


Tip off (1st Half)

15:19, Up 8-5
We started 3-10 FG. Carr goes to bench early again, with 2 fouls

11:32, Up 15-12
Majerus immediately contributing 4 pts off the bench

7:37, Up 21-15
Rowles also with 2 fouls.

4:26, Down 21-25
They go on a 10-0 run, hitting 2 3s


Halftime, Down 29-34
3 of our starters have 2 fouls each, which messed up of our rotation. The bigger problem though is our defense, as we allowed QUIN to shoot 52% FG.


Start of 2nd Half
Increasing def intensity to 9

15:42, Down 33-45
Nothing going right. Shooting 38% FG. Cook even missed a dunk. Gambled with Rowles staying on the floor with 3 fouls; he picked up his 4th less than a minute after his 3rd.
I will switch to full court man-to-man press

11:57, Down 40-50
Cook with 3. Brought back Rowles with 4 fouls. Increasing the pace to 10

9:38, Down 48-58
Rowles fouled out. Damn!

6:45, Down 50-61

4:20, Down 58-63
One last push. I am substituting players regularly, because they tire out easily due to the full court press
Lead back to 7 as we called for a foul again. They hit both FTs

3:35, Down 58-65
Both teams trading missed shots. On the ensuing play, Carr hits a jumper on the right corner

2:45, Down 60-65
Their PG hits a 3. A dagger

2:31, Down 60-68
I called a time out. Designed a play for Carr to shoot a 3
Couldn't get a shot. Passed to Cook instead who hit a long 2

2:09, Down 62-68
We will look for 3 pt shots from now on
They miss. Cook rebounds. We call another time out
We go small with 3 guards. We will look for a 3, with Carr as the 1st option
Can't find an open man to shoot a 3. F Griffin settled a 2 pt jump shot and scores

1:15, Down 64-68
No need to foul yet
They shoot early. Miss. We rebound. Another timeout

0:53, Down 64-68
Same play. Go for 3 if someone is open. This time, I want F Griffin to take it
We turned it over, they hit us on the break. I called my last timeout

0:35, Down 64-70
We will foul intentionally once they get the ball back
They foul Granville while taking a J. Hits both

0:27, Down 66-70
F Griffin has to give up his 5th foul. They hit both FTs
No time outs remaining

0:23, Down 66-72
We turned it over. Another foul. They converted a FT for the final score


Final score: Sam Houston St - 66, Quinnipiac - 73


Box Score

[INDENT]Cook 17, 8, 1, 3 stls, 2 blks
Carr 12, 3, 0
Majerus 11, 2, 1
Coulibaly 9, 5, 2, 5 stls
Granville 6, 3, 8, 5 tos
F Griffin 4, 2, 5
K Griffin 4, 1, 1
Rowles 3, 2, 0, 5 fouls in 10 miins
Belton 0, 2, 0
[/INDENT]
Team Stats Comparisons

[INDENT]FG: 48-45%
REB: +2
TO: +1
Paint: +6 (30-24)
2nd Chance : -1
Fast Break: -5 (14-19)
[/INDENT]


Other Notes

[INDENT]1. We did what we're supposed to do in terms of winning the FG%, inside scoring, and rebounding battles; turn overs were almost even. What killed us is QUIN had a +22 advantage in FTAs, which is difficult to overcome esp on the road.
2. With Rowles spending more time on the bench than on the floor, QUIN's starting C had a field day with 21 pts and 11-16 FTs
3. ISR = 1.0
[/INDENT]

[CoachC]

Hard to overcome that kind of ft disadvantage on the road. Do you use any zone at all, or do you rely on that multi-coverage in man-to-man?