Start of the Second Half Stat

[rochclone]

The start of the second half as measured from the 20:00 minute mark to the first TV timeout has been brutal in the last six games. So I did some digging tonight.

I'm going to preface this by saying I like Steve Prohm as a person. I know he cares deeply about his players both former and current. But what I continually struggle with is how he adjusts (or doesn't) out of the half or timeouts. These are areas where coaches can have the biggest impact within the game. IMO Coach Prohm is below average in these areas. Most coaches will come out of half with 2-3 designed sets or plays. You see this a lot with Self, Webber, Kruger, Huggins and Drew.

We have been outscored by 101 points in Big 12 play through 17 games. We have played 690 minutes during those 17 games.

In the approximately 85 minutes to start the 2nd half (17 games) we have been outscored 154-111 for a -43 point differential.
During that segment of time we have shot 45-129 from the field for 34.9%. That number is nothing short of stunning given the fact that our team (however short-handed) is fresh coming out of the locker room.
Love to see some more motion sets from Prohm coming out of halftime to get us some easy buckets and force some ball movement.

 

[Cyclonepride]

Part of our problem is in timing, and part is in simply not knowing the play well. There were at least a couple times tonight where someone wasn't where they were supposed to be, and I'm sure the timing was well off in many others.

 

[acgclone]

There are several troubling signs this year. I’m hoping it’s more due to player personnel and not the coach or scheme.

Both sides of the ball we were terrible. I guess that’s what you can expect when you finish last in the conference.

 

[BryceC]

I mentioned this yesterday in a thread, thanks for pulling the numbers. I'm confident Steve can win again here and I expect it to start next season. I also don't expect our coaches to be perfect.

However, we absolutely suck right after halftime and have for a month. It's a crapshow every time. That isn't something that can be explained by tired legs.

 

[cayin]

There is a lot of great coaches in our league, we should expect our coach to be competent enough to hang with these guys. We are a basketball school, basketball culture. It is extremely important that our coach can strategize and scheme against these guys. It is perplexing that with fresh legs after half time, we are getting schooled so bad. That is poor coaching. With that said, I'm giving our coach a pass for this season. We will see what he can do with a full roster and better talent and experience next year.

 

[FinalFourCy]

The start of the second half as measured from the 20:00 minute mark to the first TV timeout has been brutal in the last six games. So I did some digging tonight.

I'm going to preface this by saying I like Steve Prohm as a person. I know he cares deeply about his players both former and current. But what I continually struggle with is how he adjusts (or doesn't) out of the half or timeouts. These are areas where coaches can have the biggest impact within the game. IMO Coach Prohm is below average in these areas. Most coaches will come out of half with 2-3 designed sets or plays. You see this a lot with Self, Webber, Kruger, Huggins and Drew.

We have been outscored by 101 points in Big 12 play through 17 games. We have played 690 minutes during those 17 games.

In the approximately 85 minutes to start the 2nd half (17 games) we have been outscored 154-111 for a -43 point differential.
During that segment of time we have shot 45-129 from the field for 34.9%. That number is nothing short of stunning given the fact that our team (however short-handed) is fresh coming out of the locker room.
Love to see some more motion sets from Prohm coming out of halftime to get us some easy buckets and force some ball movement.

Well, that’s not good, but also not surprising. If you’re an out-manned team, your bluffs will eventually be called. It would make sense that happens after half. Then, we slow the bleeding as the other team plays the clock and maybe even sneak in a backdoor cover.

That said, I would not disagree with anyone disappointed that Prohm couldn’t add more value. There are some teams that are not the more talented team, but the coaching keeps it a mostly even matchup. Maybe we just have a roster of guys that don’t work hard or listen, as there are some basic errors repeatedly happening.

 

[JJ4ISU]

Just getting the ball inbounds is an adventure with this team. Our inbounds plays were terrible this year, and I think they have been since Prohm arrived. Seems like that is something that could be easily corrected.

 

[Cyclonepride]

Just getting the ball inbounds is an adventure with this team. Our inbounds plays were terrible this year, and I think they have been since Prohm arrived. Seems like that is something that could be easily corrected.

That one is easily corrected. Decisiveness would do it. Decisiveness comes with knowing your teammates and knowing the plays well. Most of the time we were more open early than late.

 

[Die4Cy]

Watching a lot of college basketball this year, having a post that is a great passer or can step out on the wing and make shots just gives you so much more you can do, and have the opposing team prepare for. Call it ISU's "Georges Problem", teams that don't have that look slower and are stuck with more contested shots.

I don't know why ISU is so poor at rebounding for long stretches, but it was hair pullingly bad all year. It's possible that recruiting the last few years for high octane offense has created something of a blind spot in that area. Extra possessions for the opponent prevent you from getting easy transition scores, which is something a team that struggles in the half court sort of needs desperately.

 

[allfourcy]

Just getting the ball inbounds is an adventure with this team. Our inbounds plays were terrible this year, and I think they have been since Prohm arrived. Seems like that is something that could be easily corrected.

Agree several (not all) in bounds were frustrating. Someone can correct me, but I really don't remember it being an issue last year at all. But maybe I've just forgotten. Hope its just a personnel issue.

 

[isubb79]

Agree several (not all) in bounds were frustrating. Someone can correct me, but I really don't remember it being an issue last year at all. But maybe I've just forgotten. Hope its just a personnel issue.

There are so many things to be disappointed in when it comes to coaching and the team this year. Lack of getting back on defense bugs the heck out of me because it is all about effort. Our in ability to effectively defense a simple pick and roll in unbelievable. As someone already mentioned our poor in bounds plays particularly on the offensive end. Not screening out when rebounding. Lack of an offense with a purpose most of the time. The list goes on and on. I don't understand why none of these things have been addressed throughout the year as most of been a problem all year long. I wonder if the talent that Fred had left for CSP helped to mask his coaching short comings?
Some times I wonder if his being a nice guy is keeping him from getting the most out of some of the players as he rarely seems to challenge to perform better.

 

[Cyclonepride]

There are so many things to be disappointed in when it comes to coaching and the team this year. Lack of getting back on defense bugs the heck out of me because it is all about effort. Our in ability to effectively defense a simple pick and roll in unbelievable. As someone already mentioned our poor in bounds plays particularly on the offensive end. Not screening out when rebounding. Lack of an offense with a purpose most of the time. The list goes on and on. I don't understand why none of these things have been addressed throughout the year as most of been a problem all year long. I wonder if the talent that Fred had left for CSP helped to mask his coaching short comings?
Some times I wonder if his being a nice guy is keeping him from getting the most out of some of the players as he rarely seems to challenge to perform better.

If you were entirely oblivious to the fact that we had massive turnover from last year, or have had no experience with previous teams that had that kind of turnover, I suppose you might be disappointed.

We returned one starter (late season starter, as a freshman) and our 6th and 7th man. Basically our 5th, 6th and 7th player. That's it.

 

[herbicide]

Agree several (not all) in bounds were frustrating. Someone can correct me, but I really don't remember it being an issue last year at all. But maybe I've just forgotten. Hope its just a personnel issue.

When the team is unable to practice 5 on 5, they can't practice inbound plays properly. I'll guarantee that a (or the) major factor.

 

[isubb79]

If you were entirely oblivious to the fact that we had massive turnover from last year, or have had no experience with previous teams that had that kind of turnover, I suppose you might be disappointed.

We returned one starter (late season starter, as a freshman) and our 6th and 7th man. Basically our 5th, 6th and 7th player. That's it.

So you don't think an expectation of improvement during the season is reasonable. We are making the same mistakes now that we were at the beginning of the season and frankly one of the players that can't defense a simple pick and roll was a starter last year.

 

[isubb79]

When the team is unable to practice 5 on 5, they can't practice inbound plays properly. I'll guarantee that a (or the) major factor.

Do you really believe that? They have managers, grad assistants and assistant coaches, they can practice a simple in bounds play plus most of the time you teach the players with only the offense on the court to start with.

 

[acgclone]

If you were entirely oblivious to the fact that we had massive turnover from last year, or have had no experience with previous teams that had that kind of turnover, I suppose you might be disappointed.

We returned one starter (late season starter, as a freshman) and our 6th and 7th man. Basically our 5th, 6th and 7th player. That's it.

I think most people will excuse this year because of all that roster turnover and lack of experience.

Next year that should be the opposite. We bring back 5 of our top 6 from this year + 2 sit outs that are expected to start or be in the top 7-8.

We should expect huge improvements on both ends of the floor.

Hopefully these guys work their behinds off on the court, and in the film room to figure out their physical and mental shortcomings from this year.

 

[Cyclonepride]

So you don't think an expectation of improvement during the season is reasonable. We are making the same mistakes now that we were at the beginning of the season and frankly one of the players that can't defense a simple pick and roll was a starter last year.

I think our schedule difficulty ramped up quite a bit, don't you? Sure, some of the same mistakes, against vastly better competition, and some of the same mistakes with a completely different lineup due to having two of our most experienced guys out. If we were trotting along all healthy, and were doing this, I'd be more upset. As it stands, we've had to lean on three freshman more than you'd like to, and like it or not, the composition of our team's skill sets was not particularly great, and even worse with the injury bug throughout the year.

 

[jsb]

So you don't think an expectation of improvement during the season is reasonable. We are making the same mistakes now that we were at the beginning of the season and frankly one of the players that can't defense a simple pick and roll was a starter last year.

I think that’s reasonable. But it’s also reasonable to acknowledge and expect the following:

1. Almost no non blue blood programs don’t have a rebuild season.

2. Coaching changes do have an effect. No blue blood program (and thus never having a rebuild year) has coaching changes every 5 years.

3. In addition, almost no team can overcome the loss of 2 starters. Especially two starters with expirence.

I just don’t think any of us are smart enough to know that this team should be better.

The same coach that you think is so terrible out together three pretty amazing game plans to beat ranked teams.

 

[Cyclonepride]

I think most people will excuse this year because of all that roster turnover and lack of experience.

Next year that should be the opposite. We bring back 5 of our top 6 from this year + 2 sit outs that are expected to start or be in the top 7-8.

We should expect huge improvements on both ends of the floor.

Hopefully these guys work their behinds off on the court, and in the film room to figure out their physical and mental shortcomings from this year.

I think that's perfectly reasonable. Still young, but vastly more experience than we had this year. The only teams that I can think of with a similar lack of experience were Fred's first team and maybe one of Floyd's teams. Fred's first team at least had a dynamic and very experienced point guard. Floyd's team went heavy in jucos, but he still did a remarkable job with that one.

 

[pdxclone]

There is a lot of great coaches in our league, we should expect our coach to be competent enough to hang with these guys. We are a basketball school, basketball culture. It is extremely important that our coach can strategize and scheme against these guys. It is perplexing that with fresh legs after half time, we are getting schooled so bad. That is poor coaching. With that said, I'm giving our coach a pass for this season. We will see what he can do with a full roster and better talent and experience next year.

I'm starting to think the issue is there is a communication gap. I think Prohm uses language that the players don't understand. Coming out of half time, the adjustments are not there and actually confuse them. (Last night's starts with a Beverly air ball). I think Prohm is competent in knowing basketball but falls short in being able to explain it in terms the players understand. Hopefully, the six newcomers next year have a higher basketball IQ or at least Prohm figures out a common language.