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I am not sure if our current players can become significantly more 'athletic' or 'quicker' , but we can get bigger and stronger..

With that being said, I think a good start would be for our returning "bigs" to be required to get their bony white asses over to " Ellie May's Dang Good Ice Cream (and Honky Tonk)" shop each and every day in the upcoming offseason.

https://www.elliemays.com/

If next October, during the season ticket holder gathering preview, the coaches once again tell us three point shooting is much improved and that they’re thirteen deep, I’ll be highly skeptical. They overpromised this year. Rookie coaching mistake.

ScootCat wrote: ↑

Wed Mar 13, 2024 9:17 am

If next October, during the season ticket holder gathering preview, the coaches once again tell us three point shooting is much improved and that they’re thirteen deep, I’ll be highly skeptical. They overpromised this year. Rookie coaching mistake.

One thing I observed this season was that those people who attended practices were more optimistic about the team than those who hadn't. I hadn't thought about it, but that apparently would include coaches.

After watching us miss bunnies, put-backs, short turn-arounds, FTs, and threes this season, the primary question I have is how many shots can our players put up in the off-season. They need to see the ball go through the hoop (a) a LOT; (b) from a lot of different places on the court; (c) consistently; (d) under pressure; and (e) until missing seems surprising and unusual.

I understand that college basketball is physical, shots are contested, and that it's a fricking hard game to play. I also respect that our players have played themselves to the level of Division I college athletics. If they now want the success that we all want for them, they simply have to make buckets. Had the team shot a classic Davidson percentage from the field, the FT line, and from 3, and this season looks really different.

Maybe KenPom isn’t including the W&L game, but it has us at 30.7% from three for the season, good for 322nd out of all teams. Two years ago, we finished with the 4th best percentage from three.

KenPom also calculates the average height for every team, which is an imperfect calculation for many reasons (rosters with more big men will skew the average height), but this season we ranked 14th. It seems like since joining the A10, we have placed more of an emphasis on getting players and guards with size, which has largely worked out (JAG, Kellan, Frampton, MJ, Grant), and it makes sense especially after how our 2015 season, where one of my personal favorite teams just could not handle the size of Iowa.

The last two years, we’ve had real size (and I believe athleticism), but we no longer have the most skilled players on the court, which is historically what gives us a chance at beating anybody. I am hopeful a player like Coval is a sign we’re focusing on skill over size for our ball handlers (getting both size and skill ideal, but for our offense to reach it’s ceiling we need a savant like Foster with the ball in his hands). Our goal should be to have as balanced a roster as possible, which means recruiting many of the players people on this board are clamoring for with athleticism, but right now the balance has been skewed so much away from shooters that it makes it hard to watch at times.

Forgive my ramblings, I love this program and am frustrated like everybody else. I like many of the players on our roster, and think they can be a part of a successful team, but the lack of shooters is killing me, and having a ball-handler who is a threat should open things up for guys like Durkin to improve their shooting stats tremendously. TCC, I am still hopeful for the future, but am more nervous than I was a year ago today.

Shooting, the easiest thing to self improve, and a player can become a good shooter with one summer of practice. No excuse for these players not to get better for next season.
You need at least three shooters in a lineup. The starting lineup after the Skogman injury, only had Durkin and Kochera.

Our shooting was simply atrocious. In my nearly sixty years of watching college basketball, I don’t recall anything quite like it; especially at Davidson. We have to find a way to get guys like Durkin more open looks. A low post presence is imperative for this to happen. If a couple roster spots open up, I believe we should aggressively pursue a proven low post scorer and an established D1 point guard who can hit free throws and three pointers.

ScootCat wrote: ↑

Wed Feb 14, 2024 4:34 pm

Moss has seemed very tentative during his sparse appearances. I sure hope he improves dramatically next year, if he returns.

I'd be tentative too if I knew one mistake would take away 35 of the 45 seconds I am allowed to play.

I’m not shocked if our dunks were down, but I’d see that more as a sign of the offensive system being broken by the bad outside shooting. It’s not like Davidson’s dunks have come from our players dunking over defenders—usually they come off of passes to an open guy in the lane.

seamac77 wrote: ↑

Wed Mar 13, 2024 9:01 am

I am not sure if our current players can become significantly more 'athletic' or 'quicker' , but we can get bigger and stronger..

With that being said, I think a good start would be for our returning "bigs" to be required to get their bony white asses over to " Ellie May's Dang Good Ice Cream (and Honky Tonk)" shop each and every day in the upcoming offseason.

https://www.elliemays.com/

DANG! I don't need the weight gain, but this makes me want to get my fat a** over to Ellie May's for some of this good eating.

MrMac wrote: ↑

Wed Mar 13, 2024 4:58 pm

seamac77 wrote: ↑

Wed Mar 13, 2024 9:01 am

I am not sure if our current players can become significantly more 'athletic' or 'quicker' , but we can get bigger and stronger..

With that being said, I think a good start would be for our returning "bigs" to be required to get their bony white asses over to " Ellie May's Dang Good Ice Cream (and Honky Tonk)" shop each and every day in the upcoming offseason.

https://www.elliemays.com/

DANG! I don't need the weight gain, but this makes me want to get my fat a** over to Ellie May's for some of this good eating.

MrMac.. as Prue on the Great British Baking Show would say... "It's worth the calories."

i77cat wrote: ↑

Sun Feb 11, 2024 9:00 am

32.28%. Good for 256th. Without David Skogman, that percentage is likely to keep dropping.

https://www.ncaa.com/stats/basketball-m ... eam/152/p6

We finished at 31.38%. That's 302nd.

https://www.ncaa.com/stats/basketball-m ... eam/152/p7

Restarting this thread with some numbers via Basketball Reference:

Davidson 3pt% (national rank)
2024: 31.4 (310)
2023: 32.5 (275)
2022: 38.7 (4)
2021: 36.4 (61)
2020: 36.7 (34)
2019: 35.4 (127)
2018: 38.9 (27)

Yowza, that's bad. The last two years have been bad. It makes one wonder whether there has been any change to routine, shooting drills, time committed to shooting or anything else since Matt ascended to the throne?

Purdue was nearly as bad the year before last so Matt Painter simply had each player shoot threes for five minutes after every practice starting in October. The results speak for themselves.