When you look for what separates UL from meeting preseason expectations; each game may provide various limitations, however the one constant that I see is our inability to rebound; particularly on the opponents offensive glass. Yesterday's loss to FSU was one of the more obvious examples, as the 42 to 33 discrepancy was the only statistic between the two teams that was significant. Turnovers, missed Free-throws, Team Fouls, shooting percentages, etc were all very close to identical ......... just being out-rebounded so decisively turns into a home loss.
This is the tallest UL BB team that I can recall, but one of the least physical in terms of weight, girth and strength. With that said; simple re-positioning could better protect the defensive glass. Failure to use fundamentals in positioning their bodies to block out the opponents is what I suspect will keep this team from winning. I have no way of knowing our opponents offensive strategy, but I suspect a part of the instruction is to take advantage of our propensity for trying to block every inside shot. Even when successful blocking the shot, it more often results in the opponent having an offensive rebound as our kids left their feet and are out of position, or a foul.
Padgett has very little time left, but if he can go back and show our film to Ray, Anas and Malik as to how important defensive rebounding is ........... perhaps moving their feet for positioning instead of leaving their feet to block shots can increase our defensive rebounding and reduce the number of fouls. Neither Wes Unseld or Charles Barkley were taller than 6’7”, but both used the width of their bodies and fundamental positioning to block out the opponent and focus on rebounding every missed shot on the defensive boards.
This is the tallest UL BB team that I can recall, but one of the least physical in terms of weight, girth and strength. With that said; simple re-positioning could better protect the defensive glass. Failure to use fundamentals in positioning their bodies to block out the opponents is what I suspect will keep this team from winning. I have no way of knowing our opponents offensive strategy, but I suspect a part of the instruction is to take advantage of our propensity for trying to block every inside shot. Even when successful blocking the shot, it more often results in the opponent having an offensive rebound as our kids left their feet and are out of position, or a foul.
Padgett has very little time left, but if he can go back and show our film to Ray, Anas and Malik as to how important defensive rebounding is ........... perhaps moving their feet for positioning instead of leaving their feet to block shots can increase our defensive rebounding and reduce the number of fouls. Neither Wes Unseld or Charles Barkley were taller than 6’7”, but both used the width of their bodies and fundamental positioning to block out the opponent and focus on rebounding every missed shot on the defensive boards.
