Player rotations lately

dmcougar wrote:
Wow, Blue. Would you prefer Martineau? At a critical time in that game last night, when scoring had stalled, he and Noah worked an inside-out approach to perfection on two plays. He got nine points and facilitated Noah getting some shots as well. If they, noah and cusick, don't have that little run, I really doubt we win this game.

Yes, he is not a world beater, and he is not good at breaking the press or high pressure D. BUt a team is rarely going to run that all game.

Rose trusts him enough. He's the second best option at point compared to everyone else he has tried. And sometimes better than Carlino when Carlino is out of control and chucking.

Can Martineau break a press? Coaches aren't stupid. They want to beat BYU in basketball, because it will be a marquee win for a lower program. They will implement the press in pressure situations when Cusick is in after seeing tape of this game. And they don't need to do it all game, they just need to do 5 turnovers worth, to get them a 5-10 point lead. That takes, 2-3 minutes of hustle with most of your bench guys in.



Cusick hit those shots because he was left wide open, on purpose. Do you think Carlino is ever going to get a shot that wide open? They were doubling Noah AND Davies, and leaving Cusick open. To his credit he made open shots tonight. There have been many that he hasn't. Going 3 for 3 puts him somewhere around 30% for the season from 3pt.



And tell me I am wrong in my analysis of his ball handling. Watch him closely, next game. He plays hot potato. I bet he doesn't keep the ball for 3 seconds most possessions, after he walks it up the court.



walking the ball down the court, then - as quickly as you can - giving the ball to Brandon Davies 23-26 feet away from the basket in the high high post (and then going and standing in the corner) isn't good ball handling. There are probably 9 guys on byu's roster that can do that. Hell, I can actually do that (fat as I am ;) )



Like I said, I appreciate the hustle, and am glad he hit shots, but to suggest that he needs to be cutting into Carlino's minutes is asinine. (I'm not saying he shouldn't play. Carlino needs to rest sometime during a game. Cusick should be getting backup minutes, and backup minutes only. There is nothing positive that he brings to the game that you don't already have with carlino or probably even martineau, and there is a whole lot of detriment he brings when he is in - ie no court vision, no upcourt passes, doesn't push the tempo, shoots poorly usually, isn't quick to get into the lane nor does he even try to, etc )

BlueIsBetter wrote:
Cusick hit those shots because he was left wide open, on purpose. Do you think Carlino is ever going to get a shot that wide open? They were doubling Noah AND Davies, and leaving Cusick open. To his credit he made open shots tonight. There have been many that he hasn't. Going 3 for 3 puts him somewhere around 30% for the season from 3pt.

30% or 41.7% or something like that. That's almost as good as Bib2's 60% Cougar is the same as 100% math.

Cusick did what he was supposed to last night. Step up in the moments his team needed him. He's not better than Carlino and the offense is different when he's in. He was left open because teams would rather he beat them than Davies or Hartsock.



But as a backup, he did what backups should do. Make plays to spark the team when necessary.

SpiffCoug wrote:

Cusick hit those shots because he was left wide open, on purpose. Do you think Carlino is ever going to get a shot that wide open? They were doubling Noah AND Davies, and leaving Cusick open. To his credit he made open shots tonight. There have been many that he hasn't. Going 3 for 3 puts him somewhere around 30% for the season from 3pt.

30% or 41.7% or something like that. That's almost as good as Bib2's 60% Cougar is the same as 100% math.

Oh, good for him. Thanks for the correction. I knew he was at 33% before the game, I didn't realize he had so little attempts that 3 makes would put him over 40%.

SpiffCoug wrote:
Cusick did what he was supposed to last night. Step up in the moments his team needed him. He's not better than Carlino and the offense is different when he's in. He was left open because teams would rather he beat them than Davies or Hartsock.



But as a backup, he did what backups should do. Make plays to spark the team when necessary.

Agreed. I like him. He plays for BYU. But to state that he needs to be taking minutes away from Carlino is crazy talk. He needs to be a backup, and if the starter is in foul trouble, or gassed, then step in and do the job. Last night he did, until a press came. Then he sucked on ice.

I don't put the failure to break the press all on Cusick. The box score only show him with one turnover. The team as a whole got exposed in those last couple of minutes, including Hartsock (which was surprising) when he fumbled the ball as he tried to call a TO. And I think it was Zylstra who went Heaps on us with an overthrow pass down the sideline. Let's not forget Carlino's heave to Hartsock (resulted in a TO which Hartsock was blamed for) which was completely unnecessary. I would need to watch those last 3 minutes again to see what individuals could take the blame; though I put some on Rose for not calling a TO after we turn the ball over twice in a row.



You know, I'll take these mistakes in January. We're young and learning. I just don't want to see them in February or March.

Watch them. I would highly recommend it. Cusick folded and was directly responsible for 2 turnovers in a row.



The carlino to Hartsock turnover was due to a wet spot on the floor (or something like that). Hartsock got the ball and then slipped. The TO was all on Noah, but I don't actually think it was him. I think, again, that there was a wet spot or something on the floor causing him to slip.

Maybe a speck of dust in his eye? Maybe he was thinking of ice cream after the game? Maybe he was thinking that Heaps could throw it better Carlino.. ;-)

It could have been any one of those things. I would also accept "lunar invasion" and "Lady Gaga" as acceptable answers.

Gunk wrote:



Cusick, Zylstra and Carlino should never, ever be on the court at the same time unless Winder, Rogers, Abouo and Harrison are all in foul trouble.

Where do I begin... against St. Mary's Rogers was not ready, Abouo was in foul trouble (3 in the first half as I recall). We were getting killed at the 2/3 positions in the first half. So, we had to rotate Zylstra and Harrison at the 3. That leaves Winder, Cusick, and Carlino to rotate on the guard line. Sooner or later, you are going to end up with Cusick, Zylstra and Carlino there.

With regard to Cusick and Zylstra getting minutes, we are a very young team. As such, we make some dumb mistakes. Of the players that play on a regular basis, we have 2 seniors and 4 juniors. Over the last month you can drop off one junior (Rogers). We also have 4 freshmen. Looking closer, if you drop out the 4 and 5, we have 1 senior, 3 juniors (2 without Rogers) and 3 freshmen. So, let's reduce Cusick's playing time, take out 1 junior. Take away Zylstra's playing time, lose one more Junior. As the season progresses, the disparity between pulling out a junior and playing a freshman will subside, however, if you look at what Rose did late in the game against LMU, he was playing his upperclassmen late in the game because he trusted their experience. That should have been the combination that clinched the game. Late in the game, you don't want the ball in the hands of a freshman. However, Cusick didn't have the speed to break the press. So, Rose made a change. I think that as the season progresses, we will start to see more combinations that utilize our Freshmen. We really have a unique group of young players on this team. I could see the possiblity of starting 3 (and maybe 4) sophomores next year. However, this year, we need to rely at least partially on the experienced players. We don't want to see someone pushed into too much of a role too early.