DePaul Game Thread II

[psychojaysfan3]

The 3 point shooting slump continues. Not sure if I remember another slump that was this bad in recent years. Not even just a few guys, its pretty much everyone excluding Traudt.

McAndrew shooting 24% over the past 5 games on fairly heavy volume. I know Mac likes to let guys play through it but at this point, its tough to justify keeping him on the floor for extended minutes. We definitely lose some rebounding without him but we desperately need more offensive production.

Miller and McAndrew minutes need to go down, Green and Fedor minutes need to go up. And by Miller's minutes going down, I mean he needs to sit on the bench for 40 minutes a game.

If Traudt could play defense, I'd say give him some McAndrew minutes but way too much of a liability on the defensive end.

I think our shooting explodes on Saturday. 40%+ on 12 or more made 3s on Saturday, you heard it here first.

[Alphawalt]

This game was a very underwhelming victory. Kalk had a good game, but really he did what he should have done given DePaul had no big to guard him. In my view, the game at Xavier is a must win, mainly for the team’s confidence going into BE and NCAA tourneys. If they lose, that is three straight losses against the upper half of BE. A victory against X would be a great springboard into the tourney season. It will be tough to win in the tourneys if the three point percentage stays where it is, at this point seems like it is not likely we will get a 40% 3 point % game as we have not had that level of shooting very often this year. Let it fly is not resulting in the swishes it used to.

[JaysLifer]

The 3 point shooting slump continues. Not sure if I remember another slump that was this bad in recent years. Not even just a few guys, its pretty much everyone excluding Traudt.

McAndrew shooting 24% over the past 5 games on fairly heavy volume. I know Mac likes to let guys play through it but at this point, its tough to justify keeping him on the floor for extended minutes. We definitely lose some rebounding without him but we desperately need more offensive production.

Miller and McAndrew minutes need to go down, Green and Fedor minutes need to go up. And by Miller's minutes going down, I mean he needs to sit on the bench for 40 minutes a game.

If Traudt could play defense, I'd say give him some McAndrew minutes but way too much of a liability on the defensive end.

I think our shooting explodes on Saturday. 40%+ on 12 or more made 3s on Saturday, you heard it here first.

Traudt's defense has improved dramatically, in my opinion. He still struggles against faster guys on the perimeter, naturally, but he has turned himself into a more than serviceable team defender for what we need from him. McAndrew also does a lot more than shoot spot-up threes - he's more than deserving of the minutes he gets. As for Miller, his offensive game and confidence are completely gone - it's really sad to see. Even with that, though, he has shown a lot of grit to do the little things. The 0-fer notwithstanding, I thought Wednesday was one of his better games of the year (which, I recognize, says a lot about how bad he's been this year). He played good defense and pulled down three rebounds, with two coming on the offensive glass and led to 5 second-chance points. I know the bar is low, but that's good production from a guy whom we simply need to bridge the gap when Neal inevitably gets into foul trouble.

[psychojaysfan3]

The 3 point shooting slump continues. Not sure if I remember another slump that was this bad in recent years. Not even just a few guys, its pretty much everyone excluding Traudt.

McAndrew shooting 24% over the past 5 games on fairly heavy volume. I know Mac likes to let guys play through it but at this point, its tough to justify keeping him on the floor for extended minutes. We definitely lose some rebounding without him but we desperately need more offensive production.

Miller and McAndrew minutes need to go down, Green and Fedor minutes need to go up. And by Miller's minutes going down, I mean he needs to sit on the bench for 40 minutes a game.

If Traudt could play defense, I'd say give him some McAndrew minutes but way too much of a liability on the defensive end.

I think our shooting explodes on Saturday. 40%+ on 12 or more made 3s on Saturday, you heard it here first.

Traudt's defense has improved dramatically, in my opinion. He still struggles against faster guys on the perimeter, naturally, but he has turned himself into a more than serviceable team defender for what we need from him. McAndrew also does a lot more than shoot spot-up threes - he's more than deserving of the minutes he gets. As for Miller, his offensive game and confidence are completely gone - it's really sad to see. Even with that, though, he has shown a lot of grit to do the little things. The 0-fer notwithstanding, I thought Wednesday was one of his better games of the year (which, I recognize, says a lot about how bad he's been this year). He played good defense and pulled down three rebounds, with two coming on the offensive glass and led to 5 second-chance points. I know the bar is low, but that's good production from a guy whom we simply need to bridge the gap when Neal inevitably gets into foul trouble.

Agree that Traudt has improved on defense...but he is still a liability.

My issues with McAndrew have less to do with him and more to do with what this team needs. He's a good rebounder and his one v one defense is actually pretty solid for a bid, lanky freshman. But we need scoring, plain and simple. Over his past 9 games, the most FGs he's made in a single game is 3. Way too many games where he makes 1 basket. And he offers zero scoring value outside of 3 point shooting.

That just isn't going to cut it. Would rather play a guy like Green, who might not be a great offensive player, but is capable of scoring in multiple ways. Same goes for Fedor. Feels like he could go off for 15+ pts at any time if he can just get into a rhythm.

[SeattleJay]

It would be interesting to see a starting lineup with Green at the 4 and Fedor and Neal at the 2 and 3. Unfortunately, it might screw up team chemistry. With that said, I have a lot of faith in Mac that he will get it to where it needs to be, and that he will build on the success that we have already seen this year.

[creightonotter]

Fedor's passing into the post (and around the perimeter after / if he gets the pass back from the post) is necessary imo for this team to play at its best.