The physical building blocks are there for this team to be a solid defensive team given the big/long wings and guards most w/ decent athleticism. Plus a long shot blocker in Bukky, and a strong and athletic Tadjo.
But effort, focus and commitment/determination to shut down your opponent is also needed.
And scheme matters as well….would help if Sendek employed more than vanilla straight up man 99.9% of time. But I haven’t seen a willingness from Sendek to get creative on D so not holding my breath on that front.
Good Interview with Thierry Darlan’s Agent. He was very complimentary of Santa Clara and discusses how Darlan’s experience here would aid his development.
For the coaches on this board: given that we can field a tall but perhaps collectively slightly slower lineup (Hammond/Ensminger/Mahi/Graves/Oboye), would a matchup zone be effective to plug the gaping hole we seem to have with opponents’ success driving the key? It seems a matchup zone is so similar to M2M that it might not deviate much from HS’s insistence on playing one way.
I definitely agree with sliding Hammond to the 1 moving Knapper/Sash to back up roles until and unless both reduce their turnovers, improve their on-ball D, not to mention shooting and play making.
Hammond is probably a better on-ball defender….taller than Knapper, quicker and better lateral movement than Sash.
Re: the overall lineup…..I know this may not be popular here but I’d insert either Darlan or Cochran, primarily rotate Bukky and Graves at the 5 and only play them together for few minutes. Darlan has been far less than perfect, but he’s a more versatile defender, can guard the 2 through 4 spots, allowing you to switch screens more often, plus he’s a decent shot blocker and rebounder. He’s also a little better ball handler and passer so the combination of Mahi/Ensminger/Darlan providing ball handling assistance to Hammond who’s more of a combo guard would be a positive.
At the offensive end, Darlan has been inconsistent and inefficient but that’s a bit because of how he’s been used and I do think there’s upside for him to work out some of the kinks. I do think the pre-season All-WCC pick for Darlan was grossly premature and a reach but he does have some ability to contribute. From a coaching perspective, there are things he can do as a result of his wingspan and height to go with decent athleticism that you can’t teach or develop. With a player like him, you have to live with some of the mistakes and rough edges and hope they are polished a bit over time. And Darlan instead of both Graves/Bukky at the same time also improves your overall team speed and transition D; both Graves and Bukky have been guilty of getting beaten back on D.
And if not Darlan, then give Cochran the shot as another biggish guard.
I won’t spend much time contemplating the match up zone as it’s a pipe dream to think Sendek would be that flexible.
I think Gehrig Normand could signifciantly help us. He is the ace in the hole. He is a terrific shooter (watch him warm up) and an intense player on both ends. His energy and aggressiveness is exactly what we have needed in all the the second-half slumps that have cost us critical games. If you allow yourself to agree with my assessment of him and his potential, I ask you pundits how could we give him significant minutes to show what he cam do without taking minutes from Elijah and Christian? i think everyone is going to be really amazed to see this guy play.
I know Normand was regarded as a high end shooter coming out of high school which is what I assume led Izzy and MSU to recruit him. The question is defense and athleticism???
I assume he’s still working in to shape after being out 2 months. I’d like to seem him play a little before anointing him as the solution to our problems.
Moving to a bigger lineup with more Hammond at point and less Knapper/Sash opens up minutes at the 2/3/4 for others (Normand, Darlan, Cochran) without cutting in to Hammond or Mahi’s minutes.
