RE: Drexel game thread
I'm responding here to what you wrote about Scott, JPL, and Dunn in particular. I'll have a separate response about Alani's and others' play:
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Scott's play was a huge surprise to me, too.
The radio commentator mentioned that he had suffered a concussion (during practice, perhaps) a couple of weeks back, and also stated that he didn't have the ball in his hands often enough to score the way he is accustomed to doing.
I know something about concussions and the brain, and the effects can range from mild to severe. It's not unusual for the effects to linger for a few weeks - or longer - depending on the severity. On the positive side, there is often considerable - if not complete - recovery from severe concussions over an extended period, due to the "neuroplasticity" of the brain.
I haven't heard any more about it, though, and player injuries are often glossed over, but maybe this will be of interest to you.
I can't think of any other explanation for him to play so uncharacteristically, except, perhaps that he has been playing a lot of prior minutes as a CG/PG, and needs to make an adjustment to coming off the bench as a backup SG. Part of the adjustment is playing a different position with these specific teammates, and maybe more of the adjustment is coming off the bench when he's accustomed to being a starter.
Also - maybe the exchange of the ball with Alani isn't worked out yet, or maybe Alani isn't getting the ball to him in good scoring position for some reason. If they're competing for the starting PG position, there could also be some tension between them.
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I was very surprised that JPL played at all, particularly for as long as he did. On the plus side he had 2 assists and 1 steal in 5 minutes. However, the team didn't play well at all when he was in the game in the first half. There were a few botched sequences and turnovers during that stretch, which were very frustrating to observe, and in general, the play was chaotic and disruptive, it seemed to both teams. It was a bit like playground bball.
More serious than that, however, JPL's first half minutes began when Temple had an 11 point lead, which gradually diminished until halftime, when the score was tied at 31.
McKie took JPL out of the game after 2-3 minutes, but the damage was done. After that, the whole team played as if they were distracted or completely out of synch. Drexel went on a run that they couldn't stop, and they could hardly hit another shot or do anything effectively during that sequence. In that sense, I had the impression that JPL's play had a negative influence by taking Temple's out of its flow on both ends. It wasn't until the second half that the Owls started to function well again as a unit.
The whole team played much better in the second half, except Rose with his leg cramps, a problem he's had at times in prior seasons. JPL also played a little better, or at least less disruptively in the second half.
JPL may have been upset about only playing 5 minutes, but the team might have been better off if he hadn't played half that amount, even if he did make a couple of assists and a steal.
Basically, McKie made a mistake by inserting him when the team was playing well in the first half, and he probably realizes it. For his morale, he's got to play some minutes, but he might not be able to earn them.
He's apparently been frustrated and expecting opportunities to come to him without needing to give everything he's got to function 100% cooperatively with his teammates on the floor. As you said, he has a "tunnel vision" issue, which could mean that he's narrowly focused on doing the things he knows the he can do best, without full awareness of his teammates across the whole floor. In other words, playing as an individual without a full appreciation of the team concept. As they say, "there's no "I" in team."
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Regarding Dunn, interesting the timing with the boot coming off and all.
The timing seems similar to Rose's description of his recovery from the stress fracture he had last season.
I was trying to ponder what kind of a foot injury a player could recover from only 3 months after having whatever kind of medical procedure he had - especially if there was surgery. Perhaps a broken toe, but it sounded like a non-invasive injury to the foot itself. It couldn't have been a compound fracture. It might have been some kind of ligament damage or severe sprain, but I had the impression that it was a bone fracture of some kind. If so, the process of elimination suggests a possible hairline or stress fracture.
Also, the Coach emphasized that he wouldn't play McKie until the foot was "firmly" healed and strong enough not to risk reinjury. That's the issue with a stress fracture - - the integrity of the bone itself has been weakened and the bone has to be firm and strong enough that the fracture won't re-occur.
If it was a stress fracture, Dunn could be out of action until January, at least, and only allowed to play when CAT scan shows the fracture is completely healed, with no traces of pain in the foot remaining.
On the other hand, some hairline fractures can heal more quickly than true stress fractures. It's good that he's walking without a boot in no pain. I think Rose had to do that for two months before he could start running again. Hopefully, it's shorter than that for Dunn. It'll all be day-by-day with him.
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After game 1, some adjustments will have to be made in order to win more than 6 OOC games. Game 1 was bad enough that Temple might have struggled to win that game if it was played at Drexel.
The main thing the team needs is for Scott to play the way he was capable of playing in pre-season scrimmage games. If he remains as ineffective as in game 1, it's going to be very hard to Temple to beat the better OOC teams it will be facing.
In addition, Alani's play at PG was very problematic during certain stretches of the game when the team played very poorly while he was the floor general. He didn't begin to compare with Shizz Alston as a PG. With Shizz at the point, Temple could have won by 20 points or more.
You and I both agree that Scott should be handling the PG duties most of the way, in part, so that he can have the ball in his hands often enough to hit 7 or 8 shots per game.
There were only a few stretches when Temple's offense played like a smoothly functioning unit. Much of the time, it almost seemed like Temple didn't even have a PG on the floor when Alani was in the game.
Overall, the team's assist to turnover ratio wasn't much higher than 1.0. Ordinarily, Temple's A:T ratio was at least 2 assists per turnover.
Alani may have only made 2 turnovers, but Temple didn't get enough open shots and had too many turnovers as a team. This suggests to me that his teammates weren't getting crisp, clean, confident passes in potential scoring position.
Part of Alani's problem may be that he's too short to see through all of the traffic to find the open man. Some short guys can do it well, but I've never seen Alani operate as an outstanding playmaker. I don't think he distributes the ball well enough to play major PG minutes. He can handle the PG duties for limited stretches, perhaps more in a pinch, but it seems to me that Coach McKie is going to end up learning the hard way if he keeps playing Alani 30 mpg.
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