Plavich part III....and other rants

Like Plavich he seems to be playing without confidence. I think there are times when he could put the ball on the floor and get into the lane, even thoe the defense is sagging on him in half court sets. He is so damn quick it is hard to stay in front of him. He is never going to be a great 3 point threat but I still say he can score in other ways. Then again, when one drives the basket, one gets fouled quite a bit. He really should think about revamping his FT form.

UAB wasn't that big so I thought Coach could have gone with a 3 guard lineup a couple of times. This might have allowed us to push the ball and get some transition baskets.

 

I have read this thread and all I agree that Plavich is killing us NOW. But, we need him or we're heading for 13-16 again as ooposed to postseason aspirations.

Panthers' coach John Fox says, "Statistics are for losers". Well, guess what? We're talking stats because we lost again. We should have beat Marquette by 15-20 and UAB by at least 8-9. We aren't very good right now.

But, we always make adjustments.

We quit or plain just didn't show up at Memphis (I didn't see it so I don't know, but it must have been unwatchable) and got drilled in every facet of the game. Saturday, we laid a big FAT EGG. It was hands-down one of the most boring sports events I ever attended. The referees allowed the game to become a football game, gang-style slaying inside and chest-bumping hand checks on the arc. UAB was tougher than us. We gave in and choked. Calvin had a bad game. Again. But, we were not getting any rebounds aside from Superman Withers and he has to able to grab rebounds. Right?

It's time to adjust. We are not going to become the team we can be without Plavich hitting threes in a confident, better yet comfortable manner. And, we aren't going to get better if we can't execute what Bobby is drawing up. Curtis is going to get stopped or have a bad game.

I hope I NEVER see another awful performance like UAB when even 3-of-18 3-pt FG shooting would have been adequate. Free throw shooting like we are doing late in games is inexcusable, too. Those are the stats. We lost.

That said, we will NOT beat Louisville or Cincy (either time) without a better offense and that means Plavich has to be involved. Saint Louis will be another ugly game. At this point, I'll take a mega-ugly win. Because statistics -- especially those assembled Saturday are for losers!

Our best teams were teams that combined outside shooting and one stud interior player. Demon's going to shoot becasue that's his MO. He has trouble at the point because he wanst to score. But, we will only win in this league if he plays point and Plavich becomes a confident shooter again.

 

I'm reading an aweful lot about how Plavich is a "marked" man or how teams are "gameplanning" for him but I'm not sure anyone posting these things actually knows what they are talking about. I would like to hear from someone exactly what is being done to "gameplan" Plavich. Some of you make it sound like they are preparing for Michael Vick and are up to all hours breaking down game film on the kid.

Here is a news flash, no team is killing themselves over Plavich. He doesnt draw a special defender and all they do is extend the defense slightly on him and dare him to put the ball on the floor or shoot from beyond 30' which is exactly what he does and it plays right into the oppositions hand. He is free to run the baseline and come off high screens just like everyone else, however he does not do this well.

Of the 6 three pointers he took against UAB, 4 of them were decent looks that were not even close. He is just not shooting the ball well. He has really only shot it well in 3 or 4 of the 15 games he has played and that is not getting it done.

 

You didn't hear that from me. All I know is his shot looks terrible and we'll only be better if his shot starts dropping again. I didn't think any of his shots against UAB were particularly bad. I just knew when they left his hand, it was already off.

 

You really can tell that he has missed as soon as it leaves his hand. He has shot several from right in front of me over the past few games and his rotation is terrible. His misses are not even close where Demons misses always seem to be on line for the most part.

 

I wasnt singling you out Norman, but I have been reading this theory all oveboth boards and it makes me laugh.

Plavich seems well guarded all the time because he is slow and he is a one-trick pony (allegedly). They smother him out to 25' and dare him to put it on the floor or back up and shoot.

 

I can't speak for the people who are talking about the gameplanning, but it would seem to me that they are talking about knowing his tendancies and playing D on him that way.

For him, it would be play him to shoot and not to drive. It makes him much easier to defend.

 

he was firing short all game.