Haas...
- Thread starter *4purdue*
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Yeah we really need him. He is essential for our inside outside game to really thrive.
You can tell he's frustrated big time. As I posted a week or so, he really needs work on footwork
I don't think he's necessarily in a funk per se, but I think when we face a team where he doesn't necessarily have a traditional match-up, he can sometimes struggle to find his role on the court and gets frustrated.
The thing with Isaac is there are teams that he's not a good fit for playing. He can still make contributions - he was a little shaky today, but NW went with a double and has a pretty athletic guy he was playing against. And some of that has to do with the feeds he's getting from teammates. And sometimes in these tournaments, we're going to play against teams that don't have size. While this can be an advantage, it can also be a problem - we saw it a bit last year against Arkansas Little Rock.
Going into both tournaments, we need guys like Haas to figure out ways to make positive contributions (which is no criticism of Isaac - he usually does). We're going to be as good in this tournament as guys like Haas and Vince play. We can't have both of those guys not contribute.
I think we're going to see a lot of doubles on Swanigan and teams are going to try to force us to beat them in other ways.
If you watch Haas earlier in the year, he seldom missed a three foot bunny, and today I'm guessing he missed four from within five feet. But I do agree that we do need both he and Vince to play big.
He was also dunking the ball and going much stronger to the basket. Somewhere along the way he went back to becoming a finesse player, which is bad with his size.
NW threw bodies at us inside. Typically when teams do that against Haas at least, it works. Usually teams can't afford to do that, or do it effectively. NW is a sound fundamental basketball team - I don't think most teams are as effective as they are. Keep in mind in our previous game against NW, Haas also struggled - that's not a coincidence.
I think part of it also has to do with Swanigan. I know it's absurd because he puts up big stats, but Swanigan has not been terribly efficient himself lately either. Swanigan had 17 points off FGs tonight, but it was with 15 attempts. That's not terribly efficient.
When we're efficient inside, it really frees things up for other players. Neither Swanigan or Haas have been really efficient, so it's gotten a bit messy at times. But with NW focusing so much on the inside (and other teams as well), it's given Vince and Dakota opportunity that they have seized of late. While I'm perfectly fine with Swanigan/Haas being able to go ham inside, people like Vince, Dakota, etc. need to continue taking these opportunities.
I doubt this is anywhere to be found other than watching game tapes, but it seems to me that Haas is always surprised by how far from the rim he is. Maybe due to being "pushed' out by the D since his footwork is not that strong. I know all his misses today hit the front of the rim and I have though often before that he is always short. Someone above said he went back to a finesse game ... that may be saying the same thing. He is probably ref-trained to not move toward the basket with his shot, but it seems to me that would really help him.
He needs to look more to pass out of the post and then re-post. Being a better and more frequent passer would help him and the team as a whole. When we truly play inside out, we are a really good team. When Haas and Biggie go NBA on us, we are not as effective.
When judging Caleb's efficiency tonight, be sure to factor in the 3 assists he had which I believe all resulted in layups and dunks at the rim.
These last ten games or so Haas should have been playing 25 minutes a game. Instead he comes out when he gets too aggressive per the refs or he makes a mistake per the coaches. Instead of working through his problems on the floor he hardly had been playing and has lost confidence and I can't blame him. We can win the Big 10 and get more fans with an up tempo game, but we need Haas in the tournament when it gets more physical and we match up against bigger opponents.
Today was one of Haas' worst performances and it had nothing to do with the match ups. As a matter of fact, he should have creamed the match ups. Haas has great hands and a fine array of moves. His confidence is beat and the problem is that Haas was too wishy washy in defending the pick and roll. He had been playing them great and was very aggressive. When ref's called fouls, he needs to learn how to adjust. Today he was in no man's land.
Also about ten games ago, Haas was getting very aggressive on the boards. He was learning how to use his body, was doing a great job getting in the mix and keeping the offensive boards alive. He also seemed to be more focused in going after defensive boards. Haas was playing exactly how we needed him to play to get to at least the sweet 16 and maybe even into the final four.
BTW, the real pity today is that we did not have Haas, Biggie and Vince in at the same time. Together, we have one of the top front courts in the country. Vince is really upping his post game and we need to exploit that against SF's in the tournament.
The best explanation is that Haas has a minor physical problem and the staff is not discussing it. This is why Haas has been passive. Hopefully, come the tournament, they will turn Haas loose and we can really surprise some teams.
Today was one of Haas' worst performances and it had nothing to do with the match ups. As a matter of fact, he should have creamed the match ups. Haas has great hands and a fine array of moves. His confidence is beat and the problem is that Haas was too wishy washy in defending the pick and roll. He had been playing them great and was very aggressive. When ref's called fouls, he needs to learn how to adjust. Today he was in no man's land.
Also about ten games ago, Haas was getting very aggressive on the boards. He was learning how to use his body, was doing a great job getting in the mix and keeping the offensive boards alive. He also seemed to be more focused in going after defensive boards. Haas was playing exactly how we needed him to play to get to at least the sweet 16 and maybe even into the final four.
BTW, the real pity today is that we did not have Haas, Biggie and Vince in at the same time. Together, we have one of the top front courts in the country. Vince is really upping his post game and we need to exploit that against SF's in the tournament.
The best explanation is that Haas has a minor physical problem and the staff is not discussing it. This is why Haas has been passive. Hopefully, come the tournament, they will turn Haas loose and we can really surprise some teams.
My guess, a lot of folks will disagree with you about liking an up tempo game.
I think most fans like scoring. I like D.
I don't watch the NBA anymore, because it is mostly about going 1 on 1. With Purdue, I like the picks, the extra passes and the passes in and out of the post.
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