Head Coach Mike Davis Teleconference
Before I single out some doosies... a quick count of "missed open shots" references stands at 24. In one teleconference? Are you kidding me?
"We are not making shots. I watched the tape last night. We are getting enough looks to win some games. The problem right now is that we are not making shots. We missed open shots and free throws. We have had opportunities for lay-ups and transition baskets. After watching the tape, it is disappointing. I am not sure why we are not making them. "
So I guess quick, off-balance, NBA 3 pointers are good shots in Mike's offense. That's what we are taking, and since Mike says these are open shots, he must be okay with them. So let's just blame the players for missing them. It's not the offense... couldn't be.
Even Mark Johnson, who always hits his open shots, missed some wide-open shots."
Now this one statement says a lot. Mark Johnson hadn't played a minute all year. Davis puts him in and the first 2 times he touches the ball, he shot long threes. You gotta get adjusted to being out there. Touch the ball a few times... make a few passes... dribble a bit... then think about shooting. If Davis thinks those are good shots, we are doomed!
"We are missing wide-open three-point shots. Sometimes, when you are watching a game you might see a guy force a three-point shot here and there. There were a lot of two-second shots we missed last night where we had two seconds to get the shot off."
Interesting... lot of 2 second shots... Is that how this offense runs? As soon as you get the ball across the 10 second line, you have 2 seconds to get a shot off? That explains the impatient bad shots.
"We are really in the same position we were in last year. Bracey has to make shots for us to win. (Robert) Vaden has been good, but if Bracey and Marshall (Strickland) do not score for us, we need one of them to score for us to win. We have been in the games where they played poorly. If one of them stepped up and made some baskets, that is what your best players are supposed to do. We lost eight games last year we should have won. Both are juniors now, so it is time. Hopefully, they can figure it out. When we played North Carolina here, (Rashad) McCants and (Raymond) Felton stepped up and made some plays. UConn did the same thing. Last night, even though Chris (Thomas) struggled, he stepped up and made two big shots for them last night. Unfortunately, Bracey and Marshall haven't."
Unbelievable. That is unacceptable to heap all of this team's problems on Bracey and Marshall. I feel sorry for these guys. No way could any blame fall on the coach!
"The only thing I don't love is all the tough games we are playing. It has been that way since I have been here. It is the first year it has been recognized that it is a tough schedule. "
Ugh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can't take this anymore. IU has 3 tough games on its pre-B10 schedule. That is it! This is the type of schedule IU has always played. This is not something unique to Davis. If this schedule is too tough, go to Syracuse or Georgetown. They are notorious for playing cupcakes. IU is not.
"Last night, I saw a sign of us cracking a little bit. We missed shots early in the first half and it was a look on their faces that was kind of scared, instead of let's keep playing hard. You had to be here at the game live to see that go on. When you looked at the past two games, you never saw that."
So Mike what are you doing to help the players? Calling them out for missing shots? That won't put any extra pressure on them. Next week you'll probably tell them they are playing for your job. If they don't make shots, it will be their fault you will be fired!
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