Your title was kinder than mine - 
-At halftime on National TV Ferry proclaims that the way VCU plays (I am paraphrasing) is how the Dukes play and he likes it - they  just have to rebound, etc.).  Did anyone notice the desperation or hidden anger?  He is feeling the pressure.  His basketball team is terrible and he recruited them.
-The AD, who couldn't recruit the coach from Akron, sellted on Ferry and paid him a lot of money
-In years past DU basketball did not do well - RE comes along - does well - then the AD takes away his secretary - won't go to a tournament - those two don't get along - best player leaves - RE can't keep him - the rest as they say is...
-It used to be that DU isn't supporting basketball - no money poor facilities - no outside $$ support.  Well that isn't true anymore.  So what is left?
A coach who can't recruit very good players - gets outcoached - has only one prospect for next year who probably will change his mind since he won't even sign a letter.  So we can now focus on people!  Does the President have enough sense to bring in a new AD?  If Ferry doesn't win next year, what is his buyout.  We now have the facilities, the money, and the support.  Hmm, I guess all we need now are coaches and players!!!!!!

Soko is a talented but, even as a senior, inexperienced player who has the ability to dominate against players with markedly lesser ability but who struggles against players who are at about his same level of athleticism but who have a better grasp of the games intracacies.  His court vision and basketball IQ are below average.

However, he does seem to be a hard worker and good learner who wants to continue to improve.  

Soko would have been a dominant playerin the NEC.  Sometimes it seems as if Ferry thinks he's still in that league.

I would like to see more of Watkins.  He'll be here next year and Ovie won't.  I still expect Ovie to start and get plenty of minutes, but in games where he's struggling (like the last 3) Ovie needs to sit on the bench more.

As to Ovie, why is he getting the ball at the top of the key?  A face up player?  Not so much.  Get him down on the blocks, or at least in that neighborhood.  Looks like some breaking-the-press work is in order.  The half court offense is not working.
I feel for the players, and respect the effort they're putting out.   Keep after it.

ElDuque wrote:

Does anyone think Soko is soft?

I wanted to be kind and avoid using that word.

In racing, thoroughbreds compete in different class levels. Some horses can capably "step up in class" and compete against higher-priced company.  Some, not so much.  Another analogy is baseball hitters, where you have some guys who can crush lesser pitchers, but can't hit good pitching.

Based on the A-10 results thus far, it appears that Soko is not capable of stepping up in class. It always appeared to me that another Duke, Eric Evans, was fabulous against lesser opponents, to the extent that he could have been all-A10 if he could carry that over to Conference play. Evans did have some fine games in-Conference, but he was not the same guy that could steamroller lesser teams.

Maybe Soko will put in some quality A-10 performances as Evans did, but clearly the all-A10 talk was optimistic.

Check Soko's stats during his time at UAB. He logged significant minutes in his sophomore & junior years. His best scoring avg. was 9.1 points per game as a sophomore. His best rebounding avg. was 6.8 as a junior. This all occuring, of course, in Conference USA. These numbers are nothing to sneeze at, nor do they suggest that he would ever dominate the A-10, either.

ElDuque wrote:

Jimmy Ferry called Ovie Soko "an all A-10 player" a couple of weeks ago. Soko was coming off a streak of four or five consecutive 20 point games, was pulling down double digit rebounds, and had a highlight dunk on Sports Center at the time. Since then, he's been completely neutralized in consecutive A-10 losses. It's fair to say at this point that he is not an all-league player. You have to prove that against better players, the way Damien Saunders did. It's clear too that Soko is no Damien Saunders, nor is he Billy Clark, who backed down from no man. So I pose two questions to our posters:

1. What is Ovie Soko? I mean, at what level do you think he can play?

2. What is the cause of his recent drought? Is Ferry simply being outsmarted by better coaches? Is his position coach to blame (and does that extend to the fact that no big men seem to be getting better in this program except McKoy, who came here as a man)? Or is Soko simply not cut out for A-10 play?

3. What should Jimmy Ferry do? Give Watkins minutes? Add a big man to the front line and acknowledge that the three guard system is good for another 1-15 conference system? Or do what he's been doing because if you keep repeating the same thing over and over and it continues to fail, it will one day work?
 

1) I think he could potentially play in a decent league in Europe for a long time given his passport.

2) If you look at what Soko did game by game at UAB, he was inconsistent. I think he just is what is he is. Defenses have focused in on him ruthlessesly because he just doesn't pass the ball anymore.  Maybe there are some issues with coaching or system or lack of cofidence or something else, but I don't see it as talent.

3) I don't know if I see the point in giving his minutes to Watkins. He may have upside long term but right now, Soko is still the better player right now.

Last edited by steve19981 (1/19/2014 10:06 pm)

I'll agree with those that called Ovie inconsistent, but not much else on this thread.  To suggest that he's soft or can't play up, I encourage you to go back and look at what folks were saying about him after WVU (19 points, 12 boards), Pitt (17 points), and Penn State (19 and 9 in 22 minutes before fouling out).  Three BCS teams, and averages of 18.3 and 8.7...both better than his season averages.  Yes, he's had a rough three game patch to start A-10 play but let's not say that he can't play up.  I haven't seen video of the past couple of games, and while he has looked timid at points he's also looked dominant at others.  To me, it's inconsistent and nothing else.

Tejas_Duke wrote:

I've been pretty negative but the thing that really put me over the top into outright depression was that stat someone posted the other day about how Jim Ferry's best teams were never, ever tops in defense, ever!  You can't win in this league without stressing defense.  No hope for the immediate or long term future.

I am so sick of this!
 

Count me among the 99% majority that think that there needs to be much, much more emphasis on the defensive end and teaching defense.  But, let's not overreact to Ferry's defense in the NEC.  You can use stats to sway people in either direction, but I'll take the conference approach.

True, Ferry's teams never led the NEC in defense.  Using adjusted defensive effeciency, this year there are only 2 NEC teams in the top 200 in defense.  Last year, the same - only 2 NEC teams in the top 200.  Ferry's best team was 206th, good for 5th in the NEC.

Ferry's last 5 years in the NEC:
2012:  8th of 12
2011:  5th of 12
2010:  9th of 12
2009:  4th of 12
2008:  5th of 12

Not great, but 3 of the last 5 years Ferry was above average in NEC play in defensive efficiency.

Like I said before, does there IMO need to be a much, much greater emphasis on defense.  ABSOLUTELY.  But to criticize Ferry's LIU teams for their defense is to me a little questionable given his conference.

(Sidenote:  To say that you won't get anywhere in the A10 without defense is a little misleading.  RE's best team - his NIT team - was 260th in the country in adjusted defense, but was 14th in offense.  We got to the NIT despite a horrific 260th adjusted defense...)

Rogabee, Ferry's teams have played poor defense I do not think that is up for debate  He may have won with poor defense in the NEC it won't happen in the A10.  In 2012 he won the NEC and went to the NCAA his team was ranked 331 out of 338 in total defense.  That is not going to cut it in the A10. He may have outscored the NEC teams with that type of defense won't happen in the 10.  I hope you are not suggesting it can.   

Last edited by CLK (1/20/2014 7:17 pm)

rogabee wrote:

I'll agree with those that called Ovie inconsistent, but not much else on this thread.  To suggest that he's soft or can't play up, I encourage you to go back and look at what folks were saying about him after WVU (19 points, 12 boards), Pitt (17 points), and Penn State (19 and 9 in 22 minutes before fouling out).  Three BCS teams, and averages of 18.3 and 8.7...both better than his season averages.  Yes, he's had a rough three game patch to start A-10 play but let's not say that he can't play up.  I haven't seen video of the past couple of games, and while he has looked timid at points he's also looked dominant at others.  To me, it's inconsistent and nothing else.

I do see the games. He got pushed around Saturday by a 6-6 freshman.

You have to look much deeper than points per game to rate a defense. Teams that score a lot, tend to give up a lot of points. You have to look at several factors, including rebounding. If a team can't get defensive rebounds, for example, they will give up a ton of points, even if they play sound defense. The A10 loses a ton of talent after this season. Next year will tell us most of what we want to know.