ElDuque wrote:

Horns?

I haven't seen a Coach Dambrot team in live action, all I know is his reputation and what I read. While I'll leave it to some of the more knowledgeable posters to comment, my initial guesses would be:
1. More "real" (vs. cosmetic) movement through the post.
2. Less aimless dribbling.
3. More emphasis on defense.
4. Less green-lighting on shots from the nether-regions.
5. More in-game and end-of game strategy.
6. Less head-scratching when a player has a string of great games and then gets nailed to the bench for no apparent reason.

I looked up "horns" on Hoop Tactics website. Now I know a little more about offensive sets.

Let's hope El D's 6 guesses turn out right. I believe they will. 

applecorps wrote:

ElDuque wrote:

Horns?

I haven't seen a Coach Dambrot team in live action, all I know is his reputation and what I read. While I'll leave it to some of the more knowledgeable posters to comment, my initial guesses would be:
1. More "real" (vs. cosmetic) movement through the post.
2. Less aimless dribbling.
3. More emphasis on defense.
4. Less green-lighting on shots from the nether-regions.
5. More in-game and end-of game strategy.
6. Less head-scratching when a player has a string of great games and then gets nailed to the bench for no apparent reason.

I looked up "horns" on Hoop Tactics website. Now I know a little more about offensive sets.

Let's hope El D's 6 guesses turn out right. I believe they will. 

1. Kids who can shoot will have "green" light.  It may not look pretty some nights when the team is off but they will still have a chance to win because of the gritty attitude and commitment to "D".
2. The offense will be "inside out" unless the personnel is unable to run it.
3. They will be physical on D....but run very little to no Zone.  Full court pressure will be seldom used.  They will pressure the ball early to take seconds off the shot clock.  If kids don't play defense at 100% they will not see the floor or not be on the floor long.  KD uses playing time to motivate kids to play D.

We won't know anything until he begins formal practices with them.  Heck, he doesn't know them well enough yet to know either!!!  I don't know if the coaches, under NCAA rules, are even permitted to attend these summer leagues, but as we know, these games do NOT give us an accurate interpretation of things to come.

Last edited by FAM (6/13/2017 8:44 am)

Phil...I feel your pain!! I used to wait for the other team to sit down on the floor when he did that, have a cup of coffee, and wait until they were done!!!!!

Wonder what the objectives are for the summer practices. Anyone have insight?

On defense, I think the team will attempt to play only man, but Dambrot has said that he'd use a zone if the team needs it. 

Dambrot will also use his bench pretty liberally. He doesn't have too many players who average 30 minutes a game. 

As for his offense, I think he'll find something that matches the players. If he has ball handlers, it'll involve lots of ball handling. If he has guy who can shoot, they will shoot. I think next year, we'll see a guard oriented offense with lots of ball screens, 3 point and mid range jump shots, and drive and dish rather than the typical inside out people who mentioned in other posts. The post is mostly young and inexperienced. While I think they'll keep opposing front courts honest,  I don't expect them to carry a ton of the burden. I also see them shooting a number of 3's. 

And Horns probably won't go away. It's an extremely popular set. 

steve19981 wrote:

On defense, I think the team will attempt to play only man, but Dambrot has said that he'd use a zone if the team needs it. 

Dambrot will also use his bench pretty liberally. He doesn't have too many players who average 30 minutes a game. 

As for his offense, I think he'll find something that matches the players. If he has ball handlers, it'll involve lots of ball handling. If he has guy who can shoot, they will shoot. I think next year, we'll see a guard oriented offense with lots of ball screens, 3 point and mid range jump shots, and drive and dish rather than the typical inside out people who mentioned in other posts. The post is mostly young and inexperienced. While I think they'll keep opposing front courts honest,  I don't expect them to carry a ton of the burden. I also see them shooting a number of 3's. 

And Horns probably won't go away. It's an extremely popular set. 

On the bigs, Tydus looks like a stretch 4 rather than a post-up player, at least from his HS film. It will be interesting to see what Coach Dambrot puts on the floor, as opposed to the smallish-smaller lineups that Ferry preferred.

Even if the offense works through the post, I expect young Mr. Lewis to lead the team in shooting (and scoring).

​I don't know about anyone else, but I'm getting more excited as the summer rolls on.

I honestly don't know what to expect this season.  I know we will we will have to be better defensively than we were under Ferry.  We need more than just Lewis to score.  Who will step up is the question in my mind.  We may take some lumps, however, I think the A10 teams better get their licks in this season, because the 18-19 team will be loaded (and KD still hunting big game recruits).  Which is why I think Lewis may see a lot more time at the point, as Randall will move into the starting SG in 18-19

CLK wrote:

I honestly don't know what to expect this season.  I know we will we will have to be better defensively than we were under Ferry.  We need more than just Lewis to score.  Who will step up is the question in my mind.  We may take some lumps, however, I think the A10 teams better get their licks in this season, because the 18-19 team will be loaded (and KD still hunting big game recruits).  Which is why I think Lewis may see a lot more time at the point, as Randall will move into the starting SG in 18-19

Well, Lewis has to prove he can play the point. If he can't, he'll be the 2. Randall isn't taking his job, although he'll play a lot, including possibly in some 3 guard sets. I want to see how Smith does under KD as well.
 

CLK wrote:

duq81 wrote:

CLK wrote:

I honestly don't know what to expect this season.  I know we will we will have to be better defensively than we were under Ferry.  We need more than just Lewis to score.  Who will step up is the question in my mind.  We may take some lumps, however, I think the A10 teams better get their licks in this season, because the 18-19 team will be loaded (and KD still hunting big game recruits).  Which is why I think Lewis may see a lot more time at the point, as Randall will move into the starting SG in 18-19

Well, Lewis has to prove he can play the point. If he can't, he'll be the 2. Randall isn't taking his job, although he'll play a lot, including possibly in some 3 guard sets. I want to see how Smith does under KD as well.
 

Lot of speculation here, but what else do we have at this time  I am not say Randall is taking Lewis job.  In my opinion both Lewis and Randall are too good not to be our starting back court and get major minutes. I don't think Randall would have come here if he thought he was going to be a back up for Lewis. I seem to remember Lewis playing the point some last season and doing well, he also played the point in HS. That is my basis for speculating that he would move to the point, and to further qualify this does not mean he won't also play SG at times.  I hope that Smith can make a strong case for himself next season to keep the starting PG job, and that  would be a good thing.  We will have to wait and see.  

We also have to not be too quick to write off Tavian Dunn-Martin. I know he's small, but he followed KD here from Akron. He must have some ability, or KD wouldn't have brought him along. I feel strongest about Lewis, because he's done it at this level. Smith hasn't proven himself as far as I'm concerned, so we'll see if KD can get more out of him.  TD-M is coming from the MAC, so he needs to show he can play at this level, and Randall, while having played in a similar league to the A10, had worse stats than Castro, while playing similar minutes, so he's going to have to pick up his game as well. We will see. I'll try to keep my expectations in check until the fall of 2019. Lewis will be a senior, and we can take a summer trip that year. Anything less than 23-24 wins, and at least being on the bubble, will be a major disappointment to me. The goal is the "next level". Obviously, that means doing better than Ferry, but it also means doing better than Mike Rice, John Carroll, or Ron Everhart did. I can't wait! We have to get this done before the grim reaper starts casting his eye at some of us.