Brackins square peg round hole

[mcblogerson]

His best attribute is his midrange jumper, and when he ends up in the NBA, he'll primarily play a wing shooting position IMO. He doesn't post up well, against good post players with his height. He rarely outrebounds his man, and Gilstrap, Dendy and Ham are always more physical and active in the paint.

He likes shooting jumpers at 15-20ft, and seems to be really good at them. Push him out to the wing, let him play his style, and take a big man out of the paint to defend him. We have Colvin, DG and Christo which can all get by defenders off the dribble, and it would only improve their chances of getting to the hoop if another big is forced to play outside.

I still think he's a great player and NBA material, he just isn't good at the spot he's playing. It reminds me of watching Hubalek getting manhandled down low where he was never comfortable. Except in this situation we have other guys who can get it done in the paint and Brackins is a much better shooter.

 

[DMCYFAN]

Last year it seemed our best offensive possessions were where we isolated Brackins and let him create, this year they seem to be our worst.

 

[cyclonenum1]

His best attribute is his midrange jumper, and when he ends up in the NBA, he'll primarily play a wing shooting position IMO. He doesn't post up well, against good post players with his height. He rarely outrebounds his man, and Gilstrap, Dendy and Ham are always more physical and active in the paint.

He likes shooting jumpers at 15-20ft, and seems to be really good at them. Push him out to the wing, let him play his style, and take a big man out of the paint to defend him. We have Colvin, DG and Christo which can all get by defenders off the dribble, and it would only improve their chances of getting to the hoop if another big is forced to play outside.

I still think he's a great player and NBA material, he just isn't good at the spot he's playing. It reminds me of watching Hubalek getting manhandled down low where he was never comfortable. Except in this situation we have other guys who can get it done in the paint and Brackins is a much better shooter.

Yeah, that's great coaching...trying to make someone into something they are not...as opposed to exploiting their obvious strengths!

 

[Ames]

Mac has let him shoot from wherever he wants. He is often away from the basket shooting. Problem is this year his shooting is very hot/cold; too cold most of the time.

 

[DRCHIRO]

He's a tweener. Like they said last night, he is all over the board according to GM's in the league (and that was last year too). When he can get the ball down on the block, he's as good as anyone down there. The problem is he can't sustain his position and far to often gets pushed away from the basket. How many times have we seen him posting up, trying to establish position and ending up catching the ball 15-20 feet from the basket? It happens all the time. It doesn't take a John Wooden to know that he is much more effective from 5ft away than he is from 15-20.

 

[broncocy5321]

From what I've seen this year - Brackins has not impoved in any way - his NBA stock is a 2nd rounder - he'll play in Europe.

We need him to improve - make better decisions and play closer to the hoop.

 

[Clonebydesign]

I guess maybe?

 

[ajk4st8]

Im a little surprised we dont do more to get craig the ball 15-23 away from the hoop to get him jump shots. Maybe we are and are just bad at it.

Posting up big guys is not so much working. Craigs biggest games (against good teams with a solid Center) include Craig taking the ball to the rack and making jump shots. Of course he will get the occasional post up when its open.

Against horrible teams.. Craig is super effective on the block.

 

[wonkadog]

Last night he played like a little girl when trying to post up. Duke was pretty much grabbing him around the neck everytime he tried to post up down low and he would let them shove him out to the 3-point line by the time he got the ball. He needed to push them back down to the basket with his butt and get the ball down there...especially since the reffing crew had decided not to call any low post fouls before the ball was received.

 

[clone52]

Im a little surprised we dont do more to get craig the ball 15-23 away from the hoop to get him jump shots. Maybe we are and are just bad at it.

Posting up big guys is not so much working. Craigs biggest games (against good teams with a solid Center) include Craig taking the ball to the rack and making jump shots. Of course he will get the occasional post up when its open.

Against horrible teams.. Craig is super effective on the block.

His best games last year were when he would post up and attack the basket. He hasn't done that much this year. His slight fadeaway shot last year turned into a 6 foot fadeaway shot this year.

He had great effort in the second half last night. Unfortunately he had horrible effort in the first half. I was so disappointed in him in that first half. The rest of the team played hard, but Brackins waited to put in that kind of effort until the second half. Its not too often that Brackins gets benched for the last 3.5 minutes of a half.

We are just not a smart basketball team. Dendy has Sheyer hemmed in down low. Instead of standing his ground between him and the basket, he goes around him to try for a steal and gives up a layup.

 

[cjclone]

His best games last year were when he would post up and attack the basket. He hasn't done that much this year. His slight fadeaway shot last year turned into a 6 foot fadeaway shot this year.

He had great effort in the second half last night. Unfortunately he had horrible effort in the first half. I was so disappointed in him in that first half. The rest of the team played hard, but Brackins waited to put in that kind of effort until the second half. Its not too often that Brackins gets benched for the last 3.5 minutes of a half.

We are just not a smart basketball team. Dendy has Sheyer hemmed in down low. Instead of standing his ground between him and the basket, he goes around him to try for a steal and gives up a layup.

In the first half Brackins was open several times and DG would not even look at him let alone pass the ball. he was working his tail off and the ball did not go to him and he was really getting mad. In the second half they started looking for him but the other players did not understand spacing and moving without the ball so they jammed up his area with their defender and it was almost impossible to get him the ball. He was telling other players where to go because they were not running the offense correctly. He also had fouls and that is why he sat the last 3.5 minutes. There was not a lot of basketball IQ demonstrated last night. Understanding of the game and each players role was not evident a lot of the time on the floor so I agree with the not very smart basketball team as evidenced by last night.

There was a lot of improvement on the defensive end with rotations to help so it is improving in some areas. Also the rebounding was better than the stats look. We missed a lot of shots, took poor shots, and they had a lot of offensive rebounds where the defense put Duke too far under the basket on the shot and they would miss and just keep going up and trying again since they in perfect rebounding position after missing the shot.

 

[mcblogerson]

In the first half Brackins was open several times and DG would not even look at him let alone pass the ball. he was working his tail off and the ball did not go to him and he was really getting mad. In the second half they started looking for him but the other players did not understand spacing and moving without the ball so they jammed up his area with their defender and it was almost impossible to get him the ball. He was telling other players where to go because they were not running the offense correctly. He also had fouls and that is why he sat the last 3.5 minutes. There was not a lot of basketball IQ demonstrated last night. Understanding of the game and each players role was not evident a lot of the time on the floor so I agree with the not very smart basketball team as evidenced by last night.

There was a lot of improvement on the defensive end with rotations to help so it is improving in some areas. Also the rebounding was better than the stats look. We missed a lot of shots, took poor shots, and they had a lot of offensive rebounds where the defense put Duke too far under the basket on the shot and they would miss and just keep going up and trying again since they in perfect rebounding position after missing the shot.

Why was Brackins yelling at all the players to huddle up after all the dead balls? I've watched and attended quite a few of the games this year, and he doesn't do normally do that. My guess is he's trying to all of a sudden show leadership for all the scouts at the game last night. When he all of a sudden assumes that role for the spotlight it probably pisses off the players like DG who are actually leading this team like a PG should. It all spells bad team chemistry combined with "Colvin" problem that wasn't apparent watching the game, but he's clearly on McD's short list.

I've been a McD backer and will continue until this year is over. If a team with this talent, can't play together and at least see an NIT bid, it's time for some change. Locker room unrest and calling out players in the media doesn't happen under the watch of good coaches.

 

[IcSyU]

From what I've seen this year - Brackins has not impoved in any way - his NBA stock is a 2nd rounder - he'll play in Europe.

We need him to improve - make better decisions and play closer to the hoop.

Please, report back to me his shooting percentage from last year to this year and his three point shooting from last year to this year. Thanks!

 

[cyclonenate]

He seemed to be a lot better last year

 

[cyclonenum1]

He seemed to be a lot better last year

I believe that is a matter of perception.

Last year he "broke out" and had a better season than many thought he would and had some very dominating games.

This year he surprisingly spurned the NBA and came back and many thought he would be dominating every night ala Blake Griffin.