11-17-2021, 10:26 PM
Season ticket holder but my first time to Maples this season. It was great to have an easy W against an overmatched Valpo team missing some key guys, but, sorry, I'm going to zag on this one. This game -- more specifically, how Haase coaches this team -- left a pit in my stomach about the upcoming Pac-12 season. Well, the pit was already there from the prior games, save a short stint in the second half against SJSU maybe, but nothing about this game changed my feelings. I admit that I've been pretty low on Haase for a couple of years now, and it's gotten to the point that I'm questioning why I'm a season ticket holder because I can already envision being driven to distraction more than ever by Haase this season. In general, I don't think Haase can coach offense out of a paper bag, and his player rotations defy understanding. Was true since he got here, and seeing it this year of course.
On the bright side, Ingram and Raynaud are the real deal. Already the best players on the team, and it's not particularly close. I marvel at Ingram's playmaking, scoring and good size, and Raynaud moves shockingly well for a 7'1" freshman and has a decent skill set to go with it. Silva wasn't great tonight, was sloppy with the ball at times, but had his moments and I like his upside. I'm still reasonably high on Jones (would it kill Haase to have the guys set screens to give him more open looks from 3?) and Delaire, and think we have some other useful guys off the bench (e.g., Angel was scorching hot tonight as was Taitz).
On the down side, Haase continues to give A LOT of minutes to guys who aren't what I'd term "Pac-12 quality" players who should be playing meaningful minutes. That's Murrell, Kisunas, Beskind and O'Connell probably in order of worst to relative best. All these guys have limited skills and athleticism and are eaten alive by good Pac-12 teams, and none should at most do more than play limited minutes off the bench. But Haase seems to LOVE these kinds of guys. They seem to be "his" kind of guys, i.e., scrappy but unathletic, and we already saw what happened with last year's late-season collapse what happens when the more talented players get into Haase's doghouse.
By the way, Ingram barely played tonight for a guy who is clearly our best player. We didn't need him, so maybe that was why, but knowing Haase it also made me nervous. For god's sake, give the keys to the kid! If Haase doesn't, it's going to be a long season...
On the bright side, Ingram and Raynaud are the real deal. Already the best players on the team, and it's not particularly close. I marvel at Ingram's playmaking, scoring and good size, and Raynaud moves shockingly well for a 7'1" freshman and has a decent skill set to go with it. Silva wasn't great tonight, was sloppy with the ball at times, but had his moments and I like his upside. I'm still reasonably high on Jones (would it kill Haase to have the guys set screens to give him more open looks from 3?) and Delaire, and think we have some other useful guys off the bench (e.g., Angel was scorching hot tonight as was Taitz).
On the down side, Haase continues to give A LOT of minutes to guys who aren't what I'd term "Pac-12 quality" players who should be playing meaningful minutes. That's Murrell, Kisunas, Beskind and O'Connell probably in order of worst to relative best. All these guys have limited skills and athleticism and are eaten alive by good Pac-12 teams, and none should at most do more than play limited minutes off the bench. But Haase seems to LOVE these kinds of guys. They seem to be "his" kind of guys, i.e., scrappy but unathletic, and we already saw what happened with last year's late-season collapse what happens when the more talented players get into Haase's doghouse.
By the way, Ingram barely played tonight for a guy who is clearly our best player. We didn't need him, so maybe that was why, but knowing Haase it also made me nervous. For god's sake, give the keys to the kid! If Haase doesn't, it's going to be a long season...