One of the most enjoyable things about the CTB tenure over the years is when we just absolutely break the will of a team through our defense. Yes, I’m talking about holding Harvard to 27 points back in 2014, but I’m more talking about snatching the morale of one of your conference rivals and watching them suffocate under the weight of your defensive tenacity and system. We haven’t seen a lot of that to that level recently… not really since the 2020 team that was SO good defensively and SO bad offensively, but we sat that on Monday night and it manifested itself both on the scoreboard and in Miami’s head coach, Jim Larrañaga; whose 30 second press conference after the game was a thing of comic beauty.
Asked what changed after they started the game ahead 7-2, Larrañaga said, “The Game,” prior to a few more clarifying remarks, a, “thank you for your attention,” and an exit. Yikes. But what prompted the team to go on a 12-0 run from that point (and then string together several more runs throughout the contest) was a dive into our playable frontcourt depth along with the versatility of our pieces.
We’re going to start off this one and spend the bulk focusing on the difference between how we opened the game and after we went to our Big 3 lineup, and jump into focusing on that lineup again (along with the variability within it). I’m also going to do a deeper dive on where Blake Buchanan’s game stands, along with a few more quick hitters. Let’s get into it!
Game Opening
It’s always interesting, to me, when things in basketball that logically make sense and that you expect to be true turn out to be the opposite. Prior to the season starting, when news of Jordan Minor joining the team broke… well, I didn’t know much about him so I watched his game tape and wrote a break down about it… but after I did that I came away immediately thinking about this game and the matchup with Miami’s small-ball Center, the 6’7″ Norchad Omier. Last year, Omier’s physicality and quickness gave some of our bigs, especially Shedrick and Gardner, some issues and it wasn’t until we went small ourselves, with Ben Vander Plas at the 5 and Ryan Dunn at the 4 that we got back into the game. I immediately pictured Minor (who I thought could struggle against players like PJ Hall and Efton Reid due to his lack of length) being a great and comprehensive response to Omier.
And it wasn’t like he was terrible but, counter-intuitively, Minor has been at his best defensively using his strength to control longer, slower, players like Hall, Reid, and DJ Burns, and struggled a bit to bother the quicker and similarly sized Omier. On the other hand, Blake Buchanan, who has conceded some strength to those other players, ended up being a great response to Omier in this one, combined with surrounding him with collective size. Sometimes you think you know something about a matchup and it turns out, it’s actually the opposite. What matters is how quickly you react. CTB started the game by mirroring Minor with Omier, ostensibly with the same thought, but he was quick to adapt and switch to Buchanan as the issues became visible, ultimately playing Buchanan 22 minutes (9 above his average) to Minor’s 16. This was a relatively quick adjustment that broke with, I’m sure, commonly held preconceptions about what would be good, which was really cool to see. It also speaks to Blake’s growth that, while not perfect, he’s a viable answer to questions that an opposition can pose.
But, let’s first take a look at our starting lineup, and then contrast that with the group that got us back in the game.
This first bucket of the game comes with Miami using Omier (#15) to use a ball screen multiple times. The second time, Minor moves to flat hedge but Beekman had already gotten through the screen, with Omier popping out to the three-point line (he’s a 37% shooter from out there) rather than rolling to the hoop. Minor attempts to recover the distance but, in so doing, gives up the driving lane as the quicker Omier exploits his momentum on the close out.
Check out the design on this play, below. Miami runs multiple screens through Omier at the start to make our defense chase the dribbler, occupying them and moving them to the bottom side of the floor. Nijel Pack (#24) then dribbles at Omier, using a ball screen moving to the top of the screen and forcing Minor to react. He passes back to Omier with Minor and Beekman still seeking to recover on the hedge, but then he runs BACK at Omier going toward the center of the floor, taking the hand off and using yet another ball screen. This time Minor drop hedges to stop ball progress but there is no one on the back end to help on Omier’s role because of the design. Pause the clip at 6 seconds, literally all three of Miami’s other players are standing in a straight-line outside of the three-point line. If there was any confusion about the design of this play, that should eliminate it. Dunn attempts to get as much depth as he can, but the back side is open for the lob to Omier who finishes with a layup at the rim.
Clever stuff with the entire purpose being to occupy help defense and put Minor in space against Omier’s mobility.
This next one was a combination of McKneely getting beaten off of the dribble to the baseline, Dunn sagging to help, and neither Rohde collapsing/reacting to the Matthew Cleveland (#0) dive enough, nor Minor having the length to get into the play and bother the shot.
That one was just kind of one of those situations where one break down on the ball can’t be made up for through our rotations because of lack of awareness/collective length.
Finally, Miami just puts Omier in the post and his quickness/savvy get Minor to jump at him on the shot fake, drawing the foul.
Minor has been pivotal to our improved defense through his strength bolstering the interior of our defense but here, Omier’s quickness and movement/ability to shoot the ball gave him issues.
I focused on the defensive side of the ball, above, but it’s very important to also note that we’re 5 minutes into the game and only have two points. Omier hit one free throw to make the game 7-2. From here, our BIG lineup entered the game with Dunn shifting up to SF, Groves entering at PF, and Buchanan entering at Center with Rohde and Minor heading to the bench. So, let’s take a look at how the team responded from there on both sides.
Big 3 Lineup
The first defensive possession after the move to the lineup came here, and you can just notice at, with the enhanced size, how little headway Miami was able to make into the lane. Notice how well Buchanan moves with Omier, how Miami wants no part of the kick out to Dunn’s man in the corner, and the quality contest that Groves gets on Cleveland on the poor shot.
I think that clip above is notable because of the collective unease and lack of purpose that Miami is playing with while facing down such increased size.
Okay, this is the first offensive possession. A huge point of note here, these are the only two-points of the twelve consecutive that came with Reece Beekman in the game. The rest came with Dante Harris at the point, which we’ll talk about momentarily and I think is encouraging. But here, we run Sides with Beekman in the game. Jake Groves is playing as the mover this time as opposed to early in the Clemson game where he was a blocker and Dunn was the mover. He gets the ball at the point and does have to retreat out to the logo, but his size and quality passing allows him to throw the ball over Cleveland’s head to hit McKneely in stride on his curl. McKneely backs the ball out to the point, setting up Beekman for another curl, this time around Dunn. With Cleveland having to track Groves’s shooting and Miami needing to stay home on Dunn with the roll, the advantage created through a quality Dunn screen allows Beekman to get all the way to the rack for the finish.
The next play, below, you’ve got the same group but with Dante Harris in rather than Beekman. Notice that as soon as Beekman left and Harris came in, we switched from Sides to Inside Triangle. This is probably a sign that we like Harris’s ability to isolate on that wing but also that we like Beekman’s ability to weave into a lane and run the pick and roll better. Groves and McKneely do a good job, as we’ll see later, playing off of each other throughout the screening process. Here McKneely takes the back screen but Omier sags, not worried about Buchanan taking a pass for a jumper. McKneely settles short of the three-point line, though, and Groves takes another back screen from Buchanan. While Omier also shades this, Groves settles and stays put, while Cleveland thought they had called out a switch, apparently incorrectly. Harris also whips a nice pass in there so that Groves can finish with the layup prior to Omier recovering.
You have three non-three-point shooters in this line up with Dunn, Harris, and Buchanan; but by placing Harris and Dunn on each wing and using Buchanan as the primary screener, McKneely and Groves can be creative to either look for space for a shot, or play a diversion for driving lanes from the wing.
Here’s a Groves special and illustrates the confidence with which he’s playing. Now, this was NOT good defense by Miami. It was a clear miscommunication on the screening action (which wasn’t that effective to begin with) and both players left Groves.
Now, I’ll just say that sometimes defending so many screens can cause miscommunication, but this was a very clear mistake. What I like about it is that Groves is keyed in to take advantage of the mistake not just by rising and shooting, but by first backing up so that the shot is worth more points. It shows he’s hunting his looks now and it’s kind of the opposite of the issue we’ve been facing where players step inside of the three-point line to get their looks, he’s stepping back behind it.
This, below, is a much better look at the Groves/McKneely combination being deadly and I say that simply because you can’t let your guard down for a second even on a possession that looks like it’s not making much headway. One action to call out at the beginning of this, Groves starts low and then Buchanan and McKneely set an double screen for him to pop outside. Be on the look out for this moving forward because I think this is something. McKneely doesn’t really set the screen that well nor does Groves set it up as well as he could, but most of the screening action to this point has been with guards moving toward the hoop, and now this is the big moving away from the hoop off of a double screen. Anyway, Groves doesn’t get a clean look and has his pass disrupted so the offense resets and the ball rests with Dante. But then McKneely runs off of a casual flare screen from Buchanan only to come right back to the ball, this time Buchanan lands a very obstructive pick, and McKneely drills the long distance shot.
Such a threat to have the two of them playing off of each other like that where they can read the defense and improvise a bit.
And this is a cool look where they don’t initially get much going so Groves breaks out while Buchanan attempts to set a ball screen for McKneely. The ball whips back to Groves who immediately shoots on the catch despite an intrusive close out.
That closed out the offensive part of the 12-0 run and there were a couple of encouraging things about it. For one, your best offensive player and initiator was on the bench for most of it. Secondly, Groves and McKneely being such snipers allowed for highly efficient offense despite many of the offensive sets looking stagnant early on. As the shot clock dwindled, they often were able to find enough space to make a play. It was good to see Dante lead this group to such convincing results.
Accompanying all of those offensive sets, let’s take a look at one more defensive possession. Harris definitely seems more active, working to get over the screen and stay plastered to Pack. Pack is able to get a drive and runner, but Harris stays in front of him and contests the shot (he actually got credit for a block on this shot). Pack was held to 0-8 shooting from the floor in this one and 2 points, despite seeing both Beekman AND Harris on him at times – so both defended him well. But the rebound highlights one of the key strengths of the lineup as both Groves and Buchanan attempt to box out (Buchanan gets shoved under the hoop), but Dunn is able to crash down from the perimeter, leaving his man to soar above everyone else and snatch the board.
Recall how much we struggled on the glass when Groves was trying to box out the opposing center and Dunn still had to box the opposing PF the majority of the time. Freeing up Dunn to track and hunt the boards while allowing Groves a more reasonably sized player to try to keep off of the glass has helped to take rebounding from a clear weakness of the team to an area where we’ve been competitive for a while now.
Okay, so we were down 7-2 when this lineup came in, now we’re up 14-7 after a 12-0 run and then there are some bulk subs with iMac, Dunn, and Buchanan leaving the floor and Beekman, Murray, and Minor coming on. Immediately, Miami started finding success again, scoring an early bucket. Groves missed two free throws, and McKneely came back in the game for Harris (I liked how, despite CTB going to this combo, he was quick to pull it), but there was still this possession, below, where we really defended this pretty well throughout. Minor, specifically, hedged and recovered well on three separate occasions. But then, when he settles on Omier, he just gives him too much space, likely worried about the drive, and Omier just takes the jump shot.
Minor had some moments in this game on both ends, but I think it’s safe to say that this wasn’t the best matchup for him and he had his least effective performance (2 points on 1-4 shooting with 1 rebound and 2 fouls in 16 minutes) since entering the starting lineup.
But, on the flip side, this highlighted our playable frontcourt depth as we had three of our four guys on the floor for most of that run with Dunn playing the SF. We have the flexibility now to feel out matchups and mix and match from this group, as we did here. Additionally, we turned to the Big 3 lineup in a game against a team that’s pretty small by ACC standards. It appears that CTB just recognizes that this lineup can be good now and isn’t just matching it up against size as I believe he was earlier in the season when he used it. One of the biggest developments is the playability and positive impact that Blake Buchanan has started to have again. So, considering he saw a whopping 22 minutes in this one, let’s take a closer look.
The Rebirth of Blake Buchanan
It’s been one of the more fascinating developments of the season. We remember the immediate impact and aggressiveness that Buchanan played with in the Florida game during the second game of the season. But there was a regression from there to the point where, during our slump, he looked like his confidence was gone entirely. He started seeing his minutes dip despite Minor not having yet worked his way into the lineup, which put an increased burden on our small ball lineups and was a key part of our mid-season slump. His offensive game went from mostly catching the ball and trying to dunk it, to fade away hook shots that had no arc.
But now, quietly in the background as Minor took over the starting role and there was less pressure on him to perform, it’s clear that Buchanan has been grinding in the gym and it has been showing up in his performance for a little while now. Monday, with more playing time due to matchup, was just a bigger showcase.
His length and mobility on defense has been his most consistent strength this year. Here we see it, below, as he initially hedges pretty far out after the ball screen from Omier. Reece plays that drop coverage a bit but doesn’t want to leave Pack for too long, so Buchanan races back and is quick to recover (with Dunn doing a good job of being present on the back end). Miami tries it again, this time with Omier slipping the screen more aggressively. Buchanan recovers and Dunn is there with a timely double team but, and this is different, rather than hold it throughout and force him to pass out of it, once Buchanan is back in pretty good defensive position, Dunn finds his man and recovers to him while Omier still has the ball. This leaves Blake to defend from the post one-on-one, but he’s more than up for the task. A subtle thing at first, his active hands disrupt Omier’s dribble and throw him off of his timing, and then he just stays tall and blocks the shot over to Beekman.
When you think about it, it makes perfect sense in hindsight that Buchanan would be a tough matchup for Norchad Omier as he’s quicker and longer than Minor which makes life much harder on the quicker player than strength does.
This is a great look at him hustling and getting back on defense with Dunn (Dunn is at the PF in these with Murray at the SF) to disrupt Miami’s fast break. He blocks this shot and, not only that, but then is aware enough to get back into the play and tip the rebound to himself/secure it.
I absolutely love that play! The hustle is great as is the ability to get to that shot (as is the visual of both Buchanan and Dunn protecting the rim at the same time), but these are both areas where Buchanan was playing more timidly earlier in the season. He wasn’t as likely to get into a play vertically earlier in the year and he also had a tendency to ball watch on rebounds. Here, he took it on himself despite Dunn being there (which is good because he got there first) to block the shot and then had very quick reflexes/awareness to collect the board.
Here he is with the disruptive hands on Omier again and, while this run out is a Beekman/Dunn highlight, they were able to make this play because of Buchanan’s defense:
Now, it wasn’t all perfect. He’s still got a lot of room for growth within the defense and within his technique. Here, below, for example, he starts out with a solid hedge riding Pack after the ball screen. You’ll notice our new technique of Beekman sinking in with Omier… he’s actually between him and the basket early on, pressing on him and disrupting his dive, which is great. Pause at about 3 seconds and you’ll see good positioning from both Beekman and Buchanan based on our defensive changes. Buchanan needs to trust his recovery from here, though, as he should just turn and race back to Omier and trust Beekman to pick up his man. Instead, he starts to slide away from the ball handler and, at one point, actually hesitates and starts to go back toward him prior to trying to get back to Norchad. It’s too late, and Omier gets the dunk.
I think that play highlights as well as any the slim margin for error with these kinds of defenses and why knowing what to do and exactly when to do it is so difficult for a new big man. If Buchanan turns and sprints back to Omier from his early hedge defense, this would have been defended perfectly based on our recent defensive adjustments. His defensive shuffle, worried that he might have to go back to Pack and even hesitating to do so at one point, is the root cause of this break down.
And here, below, he just over-hedges and takes too extreme of an angle, allowing the ball handler to shoot the gap between him and go down hill right at the rim before drawing the foul.
Simply reigning it in a little and showing less hard is the easy adjustment here, but one he will need to make.
Still, far more positives from his defensive contributions in this game than from his mistakes.
He’s also been developing a little bit of an offensive repertoire, too, though. This play, below, is really sweet and I would have had to show it even if it hadn’t ended with a Buchanan finish. It’s like a clock or a gear. Dunn and Buchanan set not one, not two, but three stagger screens for all of the guards on the floor. First Taine, then iMac, then Reece. They all just cycle through. But as they do so, they keep getting closer to the basket. Omier is guarding Buchanan and he’s watching all of this and playing high/in the lane so that whoever is running off of the screen can’t curl to the middle of the floor, but with the continual depth they’re getting, by the last time Beekman comes off of the screen, Dunn has cut through to the other side, and Blake can just open and immediately take the return pass, already within striking distance of the basket. And this is where he shows off this little push shot that he’s developed which has been very effective and he’s made at a high clip. Rather than having to gather himself and let the defender get into the play, he can just fluidly take it right into the push, punishing the space that Omier was playing him with.
That play design was absolutely sick, but the finish was also very impressive from a player who hasn’t been very refined or efficient over the span of the season – that’s improving.
Here’s another push shot, just to emphasize its reliability, this time with Taine Murray giving the return pass off of the pick and roll and this time from a little farther out. As an aside, we’re killing clock which is probably why Taine passed the shot up early in the shot clock – but I would like to see him take his shot when given that much space, especially because I think we’re going to be increasingly using him at SF.
But if Buchanan can hit that shot from there, it’s a pretty easy one for him to get off and he doesn’t need a lot of space. It becomes a nice supplemental place to get some offense.
Lastly, he’s also developed and starting hitting this little turnaround jumper in the lane recently. I showed one last week where he pivoted a few times and got himself right into this shot from a standstill, this time he gets into it from a few back down dribbles.
Honestly, these two moves (and trying to dunk it when he gets the ball with momentum) are probably all he needs for this season to contribute in the way we need him to.
I expected that he could round his defensive game into form to help us this year, and I think he continues to do that, bolstered by having Minor to back him up (really he’s backing Minor up) if he doesn’t have a great matchup or gets into foul trouble. But the added offensive contributions not just as a finisher but as someone who has a few things he can go to in a pinch are a welcome boon I wasn’t expecting and that he didn’t have a month or so ago.
Alright, a few quick-hitters from here:
Taine Murray Check-In
With Andrew Rohde continuing to struggle with his shot and being inconsistent with the rest of his game, including his defense (sometimes it’s quite good, other times, a weakness), I expect we’ll see the use of Dunn at the SF more often. In fact, I think that’s just our best lineup now, although I don’t mind going to it after a few minutes to throw a wrench into the other team’s game flow rather than starting the game with it. But, it also seems increasingly likely that Taine Murray will be the relied on alternative at the SF if/when Rohde isn’t on his game. Taine out-paced Rohde 19 to 16 minutes in this one despite Rohde getting the start. His defense has improved while I wouldn’t call it an asset, it’s often been better than Rohde’s of late, and having him as a second shooting option to pair with McKneely when Groves is off of the floor (or having three when he’s on) can keep quality spacing. We saw where he can make a play on his own from time to time with that quality pass earlier to Buchanan, but he’s more filling the role of solid piece that isn’t hurting you when he’s on the floor and who can take advantage of the opportunities that present themselves.
Two quick demonstrations of this. This is a Dunn play. He blocks the shot and then runs the floor with a quality finish at the rim, but Taine throws the outlet pass and it’s a really good one. He doesn’t put too much air under it and hits Dunn in stride, greasing the wheels of the whole thing, and allowing him to keep up his speed while the play reaches its logical conclusion.
And then, below, this was his only shot of the game and his only points, but it was a BIG momentum play. Taine did a really good job of sneaking to the corner and spotting up, and Beekman did a good job of seeing him, Dunn directs traffic and sets a screen for him (although I wouldn’t have minded a little more forceful screen rather than the premature celebration… but, as I say that, it was kind of fun and for a team that struggles with confidence at times you want the swagger… so, I retract this parenthetical), and Taine takes advantage of the opportunity as a quality role player is wont to do.
I’m not sure exactly what to expect. CTB has stayed with Rohde in the starting lineup despite the emergence of Dunn at the SF and with Murray being more solid, on average, when he’s played of late. It still seems like CTB thinks Rohde is the guy who offers more to the team’s upside at the spot, which I’d agree with if he was consistently playing well… but he, along with Dante, have been the most inconsistent players getting time lately, and the highs haven’t been that high lately, so at some point that may change. I could envision a time where Murray is the starter but we play Dunn at SF and Groves at PF more minutes throughout a game. Of course, there’s also the possibility that Rohde could start playing better again. But, for now…
Two Fast Breaks
Just wanted to include this as it was something I noticed live and it’s a continuation of the point above regarding Rohde. These are two fast breaks that we ran in the game and neither resulted in a made bucket, but one was a mess of confusion and the other looked downright lethal.
On this play, Rohde gets beaten by his man into the lane off of the curl but Dunn blocks the shot from his helping position. Rohde grabs it and outlets to Beekman who pushes the ball ahead to McKneely. McKneely reads the defense and throws a cross-court pass to the trailing Rohde who has numbers with a late Miami player trailing the play. On the catch it’s a two-on-one with Rohde and Dunn with Dunn crashing down from the corner. What Rohde should do is continue in, draw the defender, and then lob to Dunn at the rim (or at least pass it to him). This should almost always result in a bucket from either Rohde or Dunn. Instead what happens is Rohde immediately passes it to Dunn, eliminating the advantage, allowing the defender in flux to cut off his path to the hoop and the trailing defender to get back into the play. That player crashes down into the lane, bypassing Rohde, who floats out near the elbow and actually takes the return pass from Dunn but still doesn’t look to shoot it despite being open, instead resetting the offense.
Now, I don’t want to overstate this, but in my opinion that’s an example of a terrible two-way possession from Rohde even though the end result wasn’t terrible itself; we got a block and a ball and got to run offense. But he was slow-footed and beaten on defense and his handling of that secondary break was timid and wasteful.
Contrast with this, below, Beekman runs out after a long rebound and Dunn runs the floor, this time with McKneely as the trailer. Watch this purposeful spacing and what a nightmare this is for the defense to cover. Dunn pressures the rim for the threat of a lob pass, Beekman forces a defender to step up and take him, and McKneely trails the play, spotting up from three. McKneely takes the pass and misses the shot, but that’s one he’s going to hit a lot of the time and is a very quality look, and one he good aggressively and confidently.
I just love the visual of how clear that dual threat is in that one. Dunn pressuring the rim, McKneely pressuring the collapse with his shooting. Theoretically, Taine would also be a great option in this McKneely slot… but Rohde wouldn’t at this point, and illustrated with how he handled the break above, I think it’s a good visual to conceptualize why the offense feels more bogged down when he’s been in the game lately; a big reason we only had 2 points through 5 minutes to open the game.
Zone Buster
Miami tried out zone a couple of possessions but Jake Groves proved a competent middle-man; passing out of the spot just fine but, even more importantly, being comfortable as a shooter throughout that area. You can see him here, initially setting up a ball screen for Harris and, when that option isn’t taken, floating into the open space and being ready to shoot on the catch.
Miami got away from this pretty quickly, but it’s good to see Groves emerge as a likely response in the middle of the floor, especially if Leon Bond isn’t getting minutes.
Eli!
And I don’t want to spend a ton of time on this topic considering it’s pretty clear that he’s been on the outside of the rotation looking in, but I still want to call out the spectacular when we see it and reiterate that I do not agree with not finding a way to work Elijah Gertrude into the rotation. This kind of defensive ability:
And this kind of explosion around pressure and acrobatic finishing despite getting fouled:
Along with his rebounding (he had another impressive one), and the pressure he puts on teams in transition… it feels like the kind of thing you want to try out and see what benefit you can find on a game-by-game basis. If nothing else, the spark, the energy, and the access to the type of athleticism that you’re not getting from the guard position anywhere else on the team is valuable. Especially with Rohde struggling, and especially as an alternative to playing Harris and Beekman together, the potential to catch lightning in a bottle just for a few minutes a game (and more if it’s going well) seems apparently worth it, at least to me. Again, the risk really isn’t that much. If he has a bad turnover or two, you can pull him that game and try him in another – but it’s very clearly not a guarantee to be an issue in every game. Consider that fast break play from Rohde earlier – Gertrude is defending that better initially and might have just straight-up dunked on that defender with that much momentum moving toward the hoop in a two-on-one. At the very least, you have to speculate that we’re getting a shot at the rim with him in that position from either he or Dunn.
It’s the opportunity cost of not trying to tap into this potential that we’re missing, and I really wish we’d go back to just trying it out in real game situations. While that ship appears to have sailed, you never know. It was his late game play against N.C. State that earned Jordan Minor the opportunity to start and, while I didn’t agree with it last year, Taine Murray went from a non-factor most of the season to playing significant stretches to close the year. If that change happens for Elijah, even if it’s in short spurts, I expect we’ll be pretty happy both this year and down the road.
In Conclusion
The defense is back! On the back of the Big 3 lineup and the ability to mix and match a versatile group of front court guys depending on the opponent, we’re allowing our collective size and athleticism to influence the game while playing our two best shooters together more often, while keeping from asking Groves to do the unrealistic on the defensive end. There’s still a lot to sort through as a team, but the improved utilization and play of that group raises our floor (and ceiling) while we sort through it. It makes the upcoming contest @FSU seem less daunting, as we have a proven response to combat their collective size.
Aside from the whole Gertrude thing, I’ve really liked the adjustments and tweaks that CTB has continued to make. Yes, leaning more into that big lineup, but also the decision to turn to Minor in general, being willing to scale back on Rohde, the confidence in and effective emergence of Taine as a viable alternative, using Harris more as a backup PG option and seemingly making an effort to play he and Beekman together less, while also having the confidence to rest Beekman a little more (which should be beneficial in the long-run). It’s all felt relatively open to change and the changes themselves have progressed perhaps more patiently than we as fans clamor for, but also intuitively and, in some cases (like with Taine) counter-intuitively but still positively. I’m still holding out hope that we’ll flip that Gertrude switch again at some point, especially if our new baseline allows us to play such oppressive defense there could be more opportunity. At this point, with Dunn playing so much and so well at the SF now, I think we have to accept that Leon Bond’s role might shift in more earnestness to next year. But, all things considered, I really like where we are and where we appear to be headed.
This has the potential to close the year as a consistently great and versatile defensive team with enough offense to supplement, and Monday was an impressive glimpse into that hopeful future.
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