Elite Passing

[Psiclone]

One thing not many people have brought up are the passing skills of nearly everyone in the rotation. I can't remember any other team going back to Orr's teams with this many good passers on the team. Certainly a team-first mentality contributes to the players wanting to pass in the first place, but I'm talking about talent/ability here.

Perhaps the most surprising has been Lard who, though in limited minutes, has been making some great passes. Wigg has improved immensely from last year and has made some of the best passes I've seen all year. TH and THT just have a natural ability which was clear from their HS clips.

The free-flowing offense Prohm has installed is a perfect fit for the talents. Next year's recruits also appear to have similar passing skills.

 

[Bigman38]

One thing not many people have brought up are the passing skills of nearly everyone in the rotation. I can't remember any other team going back to Orr's teams with this many good passers on the team. Certainly a team-first mentality contributes to the players wanting to pass in the first place, but I'm talking about talent/ability here.

Perhaps the most surprising has been Lard who, though in limited minutes, has been making some great passes. Wigg has improved immensely from last year and has made some of the best passes I've seen all year. TH and THT just have a natural ability which was clear from their HS clips.

The free-flowing offense Prohm has installed is a perfect fit for the talents. Next year's recruits also appear to have similar passing skills.

I don't know if I've seen better passing at the college level than the year Kane was on the team. Hogue, Ejim, and Niang's interior passing was pretty special.

 

[CycloneErik]

Definitely shows that Prohm is able to coach the offensive side and instill a team-first mentality with his guys. We have some possessions where the passing is just jaw-dropping.

 

[cyyote15]

Passes that move the ball around the perimeter and gets the defense out of position is better than porn!

 

[SolarGarlic]

Perhaps not as flashy, but the team passing in the Hoiberg years was about as good as it gets.

 

[knowlesjam]

There were some rapid fire passes last night where the ball ended up in the 3 point shooters hands and the nearest defender, basically 10 feet or more away, just said **** it. Patience is definitely needed on some rotations, but the shot will open up eventually if you pass it well.

 

[cyfanatic13]

Passes that move the ball around the perimeter and gets the defense out of position is better than porn!

You must not be watching the right.. never mind

 

[Cyclonepride]

They anticipate each other really well, which sometimes leads to balls thrown away, but for the most part, they're all on the same page. Hard to defend when players are in synch like that.

 

[FinalFourCy]

Adding Shayok, Jacobson, TH, and THT helped a lot and Prohm was preaching it from Day 1. Some of the best ball movement we've had was early in the season out in Maui.

We've got some skilled passers, but it wasn't swinging or clicking at the start of conference play. Not too surprising that happens when you add Lindell. We have three guys that have the burden of discerning when they're creating vs taking the air out of the ball, PLUS pgs in Babb and Haliburton. Talley positionally is another good driver, particularly as a small-ball four.

That's a lot of capable guys that can get to the bucket. That abundance of wealth can easily be a famine rather than a feast and Prohm should get a lot of credit if this team finishes by playing the Prohmball from 2015-17.

 

[CascadeClone]

I don't think I would have agreed with this earlier in the year. I felt like they were struggling to move the ball around, and said once how spoiled we were with Georges, Monte, Naz and that team that was so good moving the ball around.

But now it is much better. I think just the freshmen getting more experienced, and especially the chemistry as the team has changed and finally starting to gel.

 

[MJ271]

I don't think I would have agreed with this earlier in the year. I felt like they were struggling to move the ball around, and said once how spoiled we were with Georges, Monte, Naz and that team that was so good moving the ball around.

But now it is much better. I think just the freshmen getting more experienced, and especially the chemistry as the team has changed and finally starting to gel.

I think it's also important to remember how much Prohm thinks long-term over the course of a season, especially on the offensive side. Since he focuses a lot more on defense than the Hoiberg teams did, he's focusing a lot more on defense before the season and in non conference play. As the team moves forward into conference play, he adds in or adjusts offensive sets to play best to his players' strengths. It has seemed like pretty consistently fans have been concerned about the offense, or at least about the structure of the offense, early in the season, but by the middle of Big 12 play it isn't really a problem.

 

[clonehenge]

Passes that move the ball around the perimeter and gets the defense out of position is better than porn!

Dude, I'm totally into pass porn...

 

[LarryISU]

I am impressed with how many long passes they make with such crispness that no defender can jump in and cut it off. Haliburton gets a rebound, turns and after two dribbles he throws a pass to Shayok who is waiting at the three point line. Things like that are commonplace and rarely do they miss or let a defender interfere.

I also can't believe how many long passes we make perfectly to a guy breaking behind the defense. You see so many other teams try those but heave it too far or leave it short and the defense intercepts. We drop those passes right over the shoulder to a teammate. Just incredible and entertaining to watch.

 

[WIB]

Lindell has made some real nice passes. Wouldn't mind seeing him run the point more often.

 

[jbindm]

It's cliche, but good passing is contagious. One guy makes the extra pass and pretty soon all five guys are sacrificing good looks in order to set a teammate up with a great look. Fun to watch.

 

[isutrevman]

I thought Lard's passing was underrated last year. He forced some at times that ended up as turnovers but I was surprised by his vision and willingness to pass out of the post. He does a good job of playing with his eyes up all the time and seems to have good passing instincts. His spin move and dump off to Wigginton under the hoop after the double team came against Ole Miss is not something many big guys can pull off.

 

[VeloClone]

There was one fast break last night that was 2 on 2 with Shayok and Haliburton, I believe. Shayok gave up the ball to Haliburton late but they were too close together on the same side of the lane and both of them had nothing but Haliburton made the touch pass right back to Shayok and the two passes moved the defense just enough to give Shayok an open lane to the rim. It was so simple but so beautiful. Even though the positioning of the players on the break was flawed exceptional passing made something out of nothing.

 

[madguy30]

I thought Lard's passing was underrated last year. He forced some at times that ended up as turnovers but I was surprised by his vision and willingness to pass out of the post. He does a good job of playing with his eyes up all the time and seems to have good passing instincts. His spin move and dump off to Wigginton under the hoop after the double team came against Ole Miss is not something many big guys can pull off.

He seems like a super good athlete who is really light on his feet...also underrated at shooting apparently. That quick jumper the last two games has been smooth.

 

[isufbcurt]

It's funny that Prohm said they didn't run any set plays against WV, they just ran an action they call "open" where they spread the floor and read/drive off the p&r.

 

[cyrocksmypants]

Definitely some great flashy passing. And last night they were great. But there’s been some games lately where the passing around the perimeter has been flat out lazy.