Assessment through 5 games

[Gables Canes]

I thought it would be fun to give an assessment of where things are at through the first 5 games. After all, the entire roster and coaching staff is completely new, so there is a lot to learn and evaluate. Keep in mind - we've only played one real team so far. Bethune and Elon are decent for what they are, but it's hard to make snap judgments so early in the season, especially when most of the opponents have been cupcakes.

With that being said, here's what I see as our main strengths and weaknesses SO FAR:

Strengths:
- We have a consistent identity. We've played each game looking to push the tempo offensively and shown an aggressive approach to defense. We are a physical team that consistently slashes and attacks.
- Backcourt/wing depth - Between Donaldson, Washington, Henderson, the 2 Allen's, Malovec, and Dovrat, there's a good amount of depth and versality at the 1 to 3 spots
- Getting to the foul line - 27 FTA a game is **** good
- Playing up tempo - I love that this team recognizes it often has an athleticism advantage and looks to push the tempo. We have a bunch of guys who are dangerous play makers in the open court and who finish well around the rim. We're currently top 75 in tempo per Kenpom. It'll be interesting to see if we maintain this faster pace when we play teams with equal or better talent.
- General team chemistry. There are still kinks to iron out, but the roster appears to have gelled quite well so far. Guys are making unselfish plays, rooting each other on, etc. We're avg. 20+ assists a game - impressive no matter the opponents.
- Rebounding - We are avg +9. We get offensive rebounds on 40% of our misses and we get defensive rebounds on nearly 75% of our opponents' misses. This is a far cry from what we witnessed in recent seasons. We even held our own on the glass vs. UF, who's one of the top rebounding teams in the country.
- Coaching - We've looked like a pretty crisp and organized team from the bunch. Lucas has made great adjustments out of timeouts and has been very active during the games. I'm liking what I see so far

Weaknesses:
- Frontcourt depth - in my opinion, this might be our biggest problem, and this is where things picked off from the L era (we never had good depth up front under his time). It didn't hurt us vs. Elon because it's well, Elon, but if one of Udeh or Reneau gets hurt or has foul trouble, we will have to go small. Malovec plays more like a guard and Altuntas' struggles have already been well documented.
- FT shooting - 69% as a team isn't horrible, but you ideally want that number to be at least in the 73 to 75% range. Udeh (5/12 or 42%) and Henderson (12/23 or 52%) really drag the number down
- 3 pt shooting - 35% is honestly not as bad as I expected. It was encouraging to see Dante Allen hit 3 trey's last night. If we can get a couple guys to be legitimate deep threats, that really raises our ceiling and makes us that much more difficult to defend.
- Committing too many fouls - This is the downside to playing such an aggressive style. We are committing 19 fouls a game and sending opponents to the line 21 times a game. This is too much, especially for a team that only can go 9 or so deep.

Curious if you all agree or disagree with my assessment and if you have anything else to add!

 

[MedleyCane]

I thought it would be fun to give an assessment of where things are at through the first 5 games. After all, the entire roster and coaching staff is completely new, so there is a lot to learn and evaluate. Keep in mind - we've only played one real team so far. Bethune and Elon are decent for what they are, but it's hard to make snap judgments so early in the season, especially when most of the opponents have been cupcakes.

With that being said, here's what I see as our main strengths and weaknesses SO FAR:

Strengths:
- We have a consistent identity. We've played each game looking to push the tempo offensively and shown an aggressive approach to defense. We are a physical team that consistently slashes and attacks.
- Backcourt/wing depth - Between Donaldson, Washington, Henderson, the 2 Allen's, Malovec, and Dovrat, there's a good amount of depth and versality at the 1 to 3 spots
- Getting to the foul line - 27 FTA a game is **** good
- Playing up tempo - I love that this team recognizes it often has an athleticism advantage and looks to push the tempo. We have a bunch of guys who are dangerous play makers in the open court and who finish well around the rim. We're currently top 75 in tempo per Kenpom. It'll be interesting to see if we maintain this faster pace when we play teams with equal or better talent.
- General team chemistry. There are still kinks to iron out, but the roster appears to have gelled quite well so far. Guys are making unselfish plays, rooting each other on, etc. We're avg. 20+ assists a game - impressive no matter the opponents.
- Rebounding - We are avg +9. We get offensive rebounds on 40% of our misses and we get defensive rebounds on nearly 75% of our opponents' misses. This is a far cry from what we witnessed in recent seasons. We even held our own on the glass vs. UF, who's one of the top rebounding teams in the country.
- Coaching - We've looked like a pretty crisp and organized team from the bunch. Lucas has made great adjustments out of timeouts and has been very active during the games. I'm liking what I see so far

Weaknesses:
- Frontcourt depth - in my opinion, this might be our biggest problem, and this is where things picked off from the L era (we never had good depth up front under his time). It didn't hurt us vs. Elon because it's well, Elon, but if one of Udeh or Reneau gets hurt or has foul trouble, we will have to go small. Malovec plays more like a guard and Altuntas' struggles have already been well documented.
- FT shooting - 69% as a team isn't horrible, but you ideally want that number to be at least in the 73 to 75% range. Udeh (5/12 or 42%) and Henderson (12/23 or 52%) really drag the number down
- 3 pt shooting - 35% is honestly not as bad as I expected. It was encouraging to see Dante Allen hit 3 trey's last night. If we can get a couple guys to be legitimate deep threats, that really raises our ceiling and makes us that much more difficult to defend.
- Committing too many fouls - This is the downside to playing such an aggressive style. We are committing 19 fouls a game and sending opponents to the line 21 times a game. This is too much, especially for a team that only can go 9 or so deep.

Curious if you all agree or disagree with my assessment and if you have anything else to add!

Good stuff.
Thanks for sharing.

 

[Memnon]

We've been a very solid team thus far.

We hung in there vs UF for awhile, until we couldn't make shots & hit a cold front.

The 2 biggest issues IMO aside from general 3pt shooting:
- Tre Donaldson's shot selection
- Malik Reneau's aggression/assertiveness

Tre sometimes tries to force it & will go on a run of consecutive missed shots because he's rushing himself. He plays at his best when he let's the game come to him & plays more in control. He's a streaky shooter to begin with, so he's at his best when he's attacking the basket & creating plays. When he's more of a ball distributor, he's a lot more dangerous.

Reneau has been the hands best player on the team thus far, just needs to be a bit more aggressive in those key matchups we'll have coming down the road in ACC play.

There will be times throughout the season where he'll need to take over the game. He has the capability to do so, just a matter of him deciding to do it.

But otherwise, I love what we've gotten from this team thus far. We play good Defense & play the passing lanes. Tru Washington is our best on-ball Defender & he's had 2 steals or more every game this season, all mostly of great Defensive awareness & active hands.

Need Udeh to get back healthy, but we're a very good rebounding team despite not having much traditional size.

What I like most about the Offense is the ball movement vs Zones. Early on, we were getting tons of lobs off good entry passes to the High-Post with backdoor cutting from the baseline.

I'd like to see Washington/Donaldson work some High ball screen pick & roll actions to create more easy more bucket opportunities by making Defenses switch off & either give Reneau mismatch in the Low-post/Short corner or give our Guards an easy look at the basket, with a chance to draw a foul.

It would also open backside perimeter shot opportunities with one of the Allen's or Henderson rotating behind the roll for a penetrate & dish shot.

But thus far we've played well, granted against weaker comp, but considering we have a first time HC with a completely brand new team you couldn't ask for a much better situation as it is now.

ACC play will probably be a different story, but I don’t think we're going to fall off a cliff necessarily.

We'll absolutely be competitive in most games we play, it will just come down to shot making & execution, especially on the road.

 

[Trav]

I would say that's pretty accurate. We don't have any frontcourt depth to speak of really. And outside the starting guards and Reneault scoring is gonna be tough. Henderson needs the game to slow down a lot, and has no midrange game to speak of, but he'll get to the line a ton. (doesn't mean much of he can't hit FTs).

Marcus Allen hustles but looks like a guy from last year's roster honestly. Dovrat hasn't shown a thing yet. Malovec doesn't have much at all but the 3 pointer, and Udeh gives you noting offensively other than catching lobs. They don't even look for him in the post.

I think Jai has done a great job putting together a roster from nothing but it has the obvious holes you would expect and he's relying on a lot of freshmen for depth who would be at the end of the bench or redhsirting on other teams. I think .500 in conference is a reasonable and maybe even a lofty goal.

 

[Notsince1985]

Does anyone know the extent to the injuries (Udeh and Washington)? Will they play against BYU?

 

[hotshot]

Excellent analysis.

A lot to like so far. Would really be a nice squad that could go places if we had another serviceable big man (despite Altuntas play vs Del State, he is not a D1 caliber player) and a lights out 3 point sharpshooter. That 35% three pt number came after the 9 threes against Del St, which is no measure.

 

[GOCANES05]

I’m not a BB guy but , I see moving forward as we get experience we will shock some people by hanging around beating some big teams but also losing some very close games as we prepare for next year to threaten ACC elite as a serious threat next year.

 

[The Sphinx]

We've been a very solid team thus far.

We hung in there vs UF for awhile, until we couldn't make shots & hit a cold front.

The 2 biggest issues IMO aside from general 3pt shooting:
- Tre Donaldson's shot selection
- Malik Reneau's aggression/assertiveness

Tre sometimes tries to force it & will go on a run of consecutive missed shots because he's rushing himself. He plays at his best when he let's the game come to him & plays more in control. He's a streaky shooter to begin with, so he's at his best when he's attacking the basket & creating plays. When he's more of a ball distributor, he's a lot kore dangerous.

Reneau has been the hands best player on the team thus far, just needs to be a bit more aggressive in those key matchups we'll have coming down the road in ACC play.

There will be times throughout the season where he'll need to take over the game. He has the capability to do so, just a matter of him deciding to do it.

But otherwise, I love what we've gotten from this team thus far. We play good Defense & play the passing lanes. Tru Washington is our best on-ball Defender & he's had 2 steals or more every game this season, all mostly of great Defensive awareness & active hands.

Need Udeh to get back healthy, but we're a very good rebounding team despite not having much traditional size.

What I like most about the Offense is the ball movement vs Zones. Early on, we were getting tons of lobs off good entry passes to the High-Post with backdoor cutting from the baseline.

I'd like to see Washington/Donaldson work some High ball screen pick & roll actions to create more easy more bucket opportunities by making Defenses switch off & either give Reneau mismatch in the Low-post/Short corner or give our Guards an easy look at the basket, with a chance to draw a foul.

It would also open backside perimeter shot opportunities with one of the Allen's or Henderson rotating behind the roll for a penetrate & dish shot.

But thus far we've played well, granted against weaker comp, but considering we have a first time HC with a completely brand new team you couldn't ask for a much better situation as it is now.

ACC play will probably be a different story, but I don’t think we're going to fall off a cliff necessarily.

We'll absolutely be competitive in most games we play, it will just come down to shot making & execution, especially on the road.

100% agree with your assessment - especially the ball movement. Guys are moving well without the ball, and I simply like the tempo so much better.

This is a foundational year no doubt, but I like Lucas’ philosophy. I like what he is building.

 

[caneworld]

If we had a good outside shooter, we would be in the dance this year..

 

[Wildnation]

we are up to 44 in KenPom rankings

 

[Canedude08]

Nailed the assessment. The big issue is in the frontcourt, we have absolutely no depth. We are hoping that #11 can be a minutes eater in conference play. Not a legit depth piece, merely someone that can be a neutral on the court against guys with actual talent. Hopefully his experience playing overseas against grown men comes in handy.

 

[AtlAtty]

This is the challenge with an entirely new roster. It’s almost impossible to know how the pieces will fit until they are all together.

But overall it’s hard not to appreciate the job Lucas has done starting from scratch.

 

[casualcane]

Need disrespect to the former staff, but I feel we've improved significantly with the assistants and support personnel

 

[Canedude08]

Need disrespect to the former staff, but I feel we've improved significantly with the assistants and support personnel

Budget is everything. L didn’t get this kind of support, it’s good to see Coach Lucas take full advantage of the opportunity.

 

[AtlAtty]

Budget is everything. L didn’t get this kind of support, it’s good to see Coach Lucas take full advantage of the opportunity.

As a family member of someone who played on the team last season, Coach L wasn’t denied much in terms of NIL. But L didn’t like NIL and was less aggressive with it than he could have been. There is just a generational divide among coaches over NIL as we saw with Saban, Jay Wright, and many others.

 

[Allabouttheu95]

Need disrespect to the former staff, but I feel we've improved significantly with the assistants and support personnel

L’s Rolodex of coaches/relationships were G5 level. That’s no fault of his that is just the reality of coaching in mid major for 30 years. Lucas while extremely young has connections out the *** through his family most importantly but also coached with the big dogs for the last 10

L did great given what he had but it’s refreshing to finally have P4 coaches on the bench. L getting konkel, hugel, and caputo HC gigs is remarkable though

 

[AmherstCane]

As a family member of someone who played on the team last season, Coach L wasn’t denied much in terms of NIL. But L didn’t like NIL and was less aggressive with it than he could have been. There is just a generational divide among coaches over NIL as we saw with Saban, Jay Wright, and many others.

That’s not really accurate. For example, Omier left because we didn’t have the $$ to pay to keep him plus fill the remaining roster. He would have stayed for less than what he was paid at Baylor.

It would be fair to question how NIL was allocated (eg some might say that too much was allocated for mid level players… but L was looking for value propositions out of necessity), but it’s not accurate to say that NIL funds were ample.

Our NIL budget last year was 2.5mm which was shoestring for a p4 contender.

Budget constraints also impacted assistant coach options.

All that has changed (for the much better) this year.

 

[AtlAtty]

That’s not really accurate. For example, Omier left because we didn’t have the $$ to pay to keep him plus fill the remaining roster. He would have stayed for less than what he was paid at Baylor.

It would be fair to question how NIL was allocated (eg some might say that too much was allocated for mid level players… but L was looking for value propositions out of necessity), but it’s not accurate to say that NIL funds were ample.

Our NIL budget last year was 2.5mm which was shoestring for a p4 contender.

Budget constraints also impacted assistant coach options.

All that has changed (for the much better) this year.

I didn’t mean to imply that we were on par with Kansas or Duke, but for my nephew, Um outbid Villanova and Arizona. So without getting into specifics, that tells you we had some money. Was the money well spent last season, no.
But I can tell you for a fact that Coach L was very uncomfortable with NIL and the concept of paying college players. I just think it was too much of a change from the first 40-50 years of his coaching career.

 

[AmherstCane]

I didn’t mean to imply that we were on par with Kansas or Duke, but for my nephew, Um outbid Villanova and Arizona. So without getting into specifics, that tells you we had some money. Was the money well spent last season, no.
But I can tell you for a fact that Coach L was very uncomfortable with NIL and the concept of paying college players. I just think it was too much of a change from the first 40-50 years of his coaching career.

I’m pretty confident saying that Miami offered your nephew a bigger % of available NIL than those other programs. Sucks for all concerned it didn't work out.

But back to the original point… I think it’s fair to say that L wasn’t sufficiently demanding. He was grateful for what he was given and probably didn’t push hard enough for more… maybe thinking he could win with less because he had always been able to before.

But the financial support for the basketball program dwarfs anything L was given before. And necessarily so, because that is an essential condition to consistently competing at the highest level in today’s game.

 

[AtlAtty]

I’m pretty confident saying that Miami offered your nephew a bigger % of available NIL than those other programs. Sucks for all concerned it didn't work out.

But back to the original point… I think it’s fair to say that L wasn’t sufficiently demanding. He was grateful for what he was given and probably didn’t push hard enough for more… maybe thinking he could win with less because he had always been able to before.

But the financial support for the basketball program dwarfs anything L was given before. And necessarily so, because that is an essential condition to consistently competing at the highest level in today’s game.

I’m happy to read this and happy to be wrong about Lucas having more support than L. We need it in the ACC.