FanPost

Eniel Polynice: Thank you

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Today's game between the mighty Cowboys of McNeese State (see: 340 RPI) and our Ole Miss Rebels was less than comforting for any of the red and blue faithful (constantly announced at over 5k, but probably closer to 3k).  Were it not for Eniel Polynice (possibly busting out of Andy Kennedy's dog house), we would have lost that game and maybe even in definitive fashion.  Ivory Tower, BWE and I witnessed the embarrassment and heroics.  Comments on this game and the rest of the season are after the jump.

For those of you who have been following our team, it will not be news to you that the Rebels consistently struggle with two major components of the game: defense against athletic guards and offense in the half-court set.  In our single loss and the last two games, both of these things have been exploited. 

Yesterday:

Against #3 Villanova(L 67-79)- Simply put, they are a team full of athletic guards.  It is how they have asserted themselves nationally and they continue to do it this year, even with a fairly young team.  We didn't really get forced into a half-court set as much, Villanova is just the Yoda to our Luke Skywalker.  They played their style better than we did.

Against USM(81-79)- This is a perfect example of our lack of ability to defend athletic guards.  USM used their guards to drive the lane and kick it out to other hot shooting guards.  Were it not for those guards getting a little cold and Chris Warren deciding to show up and drain a couple of threes (and a game-ending dunk - in transition - by Polynice), we would have lost.  On defensive, they worked hard to slow us down using different defensive sets.  We look lost when everyone is settled on offensive.

Today:

I would say that McNeese State just watched film from last week's game against USM.  Though the Cowboys started the game a little lost on offense, uncontestedly turning the ball over twice, the defensive strategy was apparent from the start: slow down the Rebels. 

What happens when we are put into that situation is somewhat embarrassing.  Chris Warren sets up our team; our guards run through lazy screens; maybe they stand around the perimeter and pass the ball back and forth while watching our "post men" haphazardly jockey for position; sometimes they drop it into one of them a good nine feet from the basket; and eventually one of our players decides he will attempt to take control. 

Now I know that sounds awfully negative, but up to this point it is.  What is positive is that more often than not our athletes have the ability to pull something out of nothing, whether it is Terrico White slashing to the basket and floating his five-footer; Eniel Polynice dribbling more awkwardly than that fat kid on your middle school playground through traffic and laying it in; Murphy Holloway making a power move or tiping in; or Chris Warren draining an ill-advised three.  We have athletes, and to this point they have not faced any superior or equal.

On to defense: we have a couple of very good on the ball defenders.  While Terrico White is much improved in this department, he is still not one of them.  Eniel Polynice and Trevor Gaskins are the two.  Unfortunately, Gaskins is a liability on offense (his thing is taking threes and he has not made one since the Indiana game), and Polynice has been in AK's doghouse (for a sore back/walking off the court/AK liking to make long statements) so he doesn't start.  Inside we have the shot blocker, Reginald Buckner, who still shows his youth on offense and pulling down rebounds, and he does not man up very well against physical big man (yes, I know he is a freshman).  We also have Deaundre Cranston, who is just average all-around but has great footwork on D and can generally be relied upon to pull down the rebound when he is in position. 

Sounds ok, right?  Well, it is just that, ok.  Our help is always late, and more than anything we are susceptible to the drive and dish.  Against teams that can sustain three-point shooting, we are sunk.  Against teams will superior guards, they will make us look foolish in the paint.  Against strong offensive-rebounding teams, we are going to give away too many second-chance points and give away to many transition opportunities to sustain our high-paced offense.  All of that and the worst part is that sometimes when teams are failing to guard man-to-man, they will try out different types of zone, but we cannot do that because our zone defense is never a very positive move.  We don't guard as a team enough to play zone.

Eniel Polynice single-handedly won us the game today.  Thank you, thank you, thank you, Eniel.  With about 13 minutes left to play, we were still down by double-digits and Eniel had zero points, 3 assists and zero steals.  From that moment in the game, it seemed like he was a part of every single Rebel basket, and it started with his defense.  He ended the game with 12 points, 9 assists and 4 steals.  He was suffocating on defense, and then did his uncoordinated dribble thing all the way down the court before scoring himself, assisting to another streaking player or drawing a foul.  It was huge.  Think about the loss that could have been.  McNeese State is 340 in RPI...out of 347.  That is terrible to think about.  THANK YOU, Eniel!

The bottom line, however, is that "a win is a win" and we are still finding ways to win....for now.

Tomorrow:

Going forward, the only thing that makes me skeptical about the way we are winning is that it is more indicative of a very young team to win this way.  We are a team chalk full of experience.  Granted, the reason we have so many experienced players is because injuries forced players to step up, and that is also the reason why we have very little team chemistry with regard to that experience.

Be skeptical of the homerism that is running rampant among our Rebel faithful and the deceptive 8-1 record because the remaining teams on our schedule and in the conference are much more athletic, but be supportive and continue to have hope because the things that need to happen can.

  • AK/Villanova ball is face-paced, and we can do it pretty well.  We just need to find a way to dictate that pace rather than continue to let our opponents do so.
  • Our team defense needs to grow, which will come through experience and time, and we have a couple weeks before West Virginia, where we can make a statement, with a game against UTEP this week that could be a good test.  Eniel will need to lead this charge and thus do whatever he needs to do to get out of the doghouse and get back into the starting line-up.  Thank you again, Eniel, but we'll need you to do that more often.
  • Buckner's presence.  He is young and there is a lot of pressure on him to come in and assert himself.  I think he improves fundamentally at moments, but lapses too often.  The good news is that a freshman's learning curve is usually sharp and the more minutes the better.  I would start with working on his rebounding positioning.  If he can just pull down the defensive rebound, that would be a big improvement for us.
  • Chris Warren and Terrico White need to find a way to dismantle teams on offense.  We have seen them both do it by themselves, but now we need them to do it together.  The more time they have on the court together, the better.
  • Some others need to step up.  Someone will, and I would really like it to be Holloway.

Some SEC Tidbit:

  • Florida is obviously doing pretty well with a win over Michigan State and their first loss today against title-contender Syracuse.  I watched the play MSU and that one is going to be tough with Erving Walker
  • Mississippi State is inconsistent, but they have the athletes and one in waiting, so I expect them to still challenge for the SEC West.  Losing to Rider (177 RPI) is embarrassing, but losing to Richmond (25 RPI) is much less so.  Wins against Depaul and UCLA, even in off years, are pretty good.
  • Alabama is very athletic and quick.  Thanks to One Man to Beat's text, I was able to catch the last half of their upset bid against #5 Purdue.  Unfortunately for them, Chris Kramer is a beast and turned that game around for Purdue in the same way Eniel did for us.  Even watching Alabama give this game away, they possess the athleticism that would give us fits if we were to play today.
  • Kentucky is damn good.  John Wall is everything they are saying.  I watched him play against UConn the other day and Indiana today, and as OMTB put it, "I realized that he will be a lottery pick."  We are just going to lose that game.  No big deal though - it's expected that most teams will lose to them.

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