TJ plays 26 minutes, and one minute of overtime, in another loss

[URSpider65]

The pattern continues. The guy who scores the first 5 points of each regulation half plays 26 minutes (yes, he did have 4 fouls at the end) and scores 18 points. In overtime, when we needed him the very most, CM plays TJ for O N E M I N U T E!
One minute! Unbelievable lack of coaching ability when one leaves your high scorer for the game on the bench during the very most important 5 minutes of the game. And, so what if he had 4 fouls; you give him a chance to contribute offensively for a team victory, instead of leaving so many defensive minded players on the court who have significantly greater difficulty putting the ball in the basket. Befuddled and discouraged over the decisions I see constantly played out by CM.

 

[Ulla1]

TJ's minutes had more to do with his foul situation than anything else.

 

[ur2K]

Good thing we can carry over that one last foul to the next game...

 

[whampas]

He was in foul trouble because he can't play defense. Coach was trying to sub offense for defense and vise versa.

 

[SpiderK]

We were out rebounded by 15 and George Mason shot 21 more foul shots than we did. This team is just not good.

 

[SpiderGuy]

Originally posted by URSpider65:
The pattern continues. The guy who scores the first 5 points of each regulation half plays 26 minutes (yes, he did have 4 fouls at the end) and scores 18 points. In overtime, when we needed him the very most, CM plays TJ for O N E M I N U T E!
One minute! Unbelievable lack of coaching ability when one leaves your high scorer for the game on the bench during the very most important 5 minutes of the game. And, so what if he had 4 fouls; you give him a chance to contribute offensively for a team victory, instead of leaving so many defensive minded players on the court who have significantly greater difficulty putting the ball in the basket. Befuddled and discouraged over the decisions I see constantly played out by CM.

"In overtime, when we needed him the very most, CM plays TJ for O N E M I N U T E!"

The above line stands out and screams that something in the strategy is just wrong. When we need TJ the most, CM has him on the bench. Guess CM was saving him for a second overtime if we ever got there, or maybe the coach's thinking is that we win with defense. Go figure.

 

[URSpider65]

I seem to remember some very good defensive plays by TJ; did you watch the game?

 

[97spiderfan]

You play tj in ot till he fouls out. Deion and trey shouldn't be in the game with under 4 minutes left ever. Maybe if we tried that we would actually score in the last 4 minutes of the game. This offense defense crap does not work. Completely disrupts the flow of the game and Deion and trey are not the lock down defenders CM thinks they are. I swear Deion gets scores on everytime he comes in as our defensive sub at the end of games.

 

[URSpider65]

So you play him for one minute of the last 5 minutes because he has 4 fouls? High scorer for the game, great shooting percentages, one who knows where the basket is hung. Come on. CM has never appreciated the total package that TJ adds to the team and offense, choosing to instead worry more about fouls and a defensive stops.

 

[SpiderGuy]

Originally posted by URSpider65:
I seem to remember some very good defensive plays by TJ; did you watch the game?

If you were referring to my post prior to yours, I was saying the defense thing tongue-in-cheek. I did see his defense and believe it was certainly as good as those subbed for him. He should have been in the game until he fouled out...especially in OT where we needed points.

 

[coachfezz]

again 65 , you need to write more posts because you say what I can think. Thank you. I agree with what you are saying.

 

[PhiDeltaSpider]

As do I.

 

[SpiderRick]

Originally posted by whampas:
He was in foul trouble because he can't play defense. Coach was trying to sub offense for defense and vise versa.

First of all, I disagree that he can't play defense. He is being asked to play out of position, he's a forward, not a center. And he is still learning the game. Four years ago he was on his high school JV team. I see him getting better and better.

Second of all, we have plenty of guys who play good defense, we need reliable offensive players out there.

Third, I love the kids energy and enthusiasm when he is on the court, I think he makes his teammates better players. But then, I'm just one of those morons.....

 

[SpiderK]

I agree Rick, Cline exudes positive energy to his teammates both before and during the game. He will and should be the team leader next year.

 

[Not-A-Homer]

The "T.J. can't play defense" mantra is just not true.

He gets beat sometimes, but so does everyone else including the so-called lock down defenders.

T.J. Cline's net positives "far" outweigh his net negatives. He is too valuable offensively to be sitting on the bench as much as he does.

 

[whampas]

Of course everyone on the team gets beat on defense, we don't throw many shutouts. TJ almost always gets reaching fouls sfter he gets beat to the rim. He gets beat nore often than the others. No one on the Spiders team is a lock down defender IMO. Davis is close but not great.

 

[ThePhysician]

Well, I just can't see Coach not playing TJ more unless there is a good reason .

I give him the benefit of the doubt here , I have an idea but it is no help to speculate about it. I think TJ will always have the minutes he does about 25 max and I'm glad we have that because the season is not panning out , as some have said with the non-emergence of our Juniors. Coach is trying his best I feel and he looks pained about it. SO Im giving him the benefit of the doubt.

We will never hear Look, I have a good reason why TJ cant play more minutes so just trust me , but I really think this is the case.

 

[Eight Legger]

I am not going to nickle and dime Mooney on this one, for the most part. It took him too long to start giving TJ lots of minutes earlier in the season, but he finally fixed that. I did find it mystifying that he only played 1 minute in OT, though. Not sure about the logic on that one. If he fouls out, he fouls out. But he has to be in there on offense.

I would say that when he commits a foul early in a game, it's smart to pull him so that he doesn't get another one right away. I have no problem with that. TJ also needs to do a better job not fouling carelessly, and his defense needs a little work, but he's a huge net positive for us, and I would love to see him on the court for as many minutes a game as he is able to provide.

 

[97spiderfan]

Originally posted by Eight Legger:
I am not going to nickle and dime Mooney on this one, for the most part. It took him too long to start giving TJ lots of minutes earlier in the season, but he finally fixed that. I did find it mystifying that he only played 1 minute in OT, though. Not sure about the logic on that one. If he fouls out, he fouls out. But he has to be in there on offense.

I would say that when he commits a foul early in a game, it's smart to pull him so that he doesn't get another one right away. I have no problem with that. TJ also needs to do a better job not fouling carelessly, and his defense needs a little work, but he's a huge net positive for us, and I would love to see him on the court for as many minutes a game as he is able to provide.

Agreed. TJ's minutes are a symptom of the larger illness. Mooney values defense significantly more than offense. This makes little sense to me, because they are both 50% of the game.

This is why freshman rarely play, because they haven't "learned" our complex defense, this is why Josh Jones and TJ both get yanked out more frequently, and similarly why Deion and Trey don't. This is also why when a guy makes a big shot and CM calls a timeout that player often goes to the bench and why a player with a hot hand often finds himself on the bench. If you want to play in our system, you had better show it on defense. Good offensive players almost get penalized, except Kendall, he can do whatever the heck he wants and play as much as he wants.

 

[SpiderRick]

Cline's pluses far outweigh his minuses. He should be playing 30 minutes or 5 fouls, whichever comes first. Period

 

[SpiderK]

SpiderRick, absolutely true. Any minutes that TJ or JJ get that DT doesn't get is a blessing.

This post was edited on 2/18 9:45 AM by SpiderK

 

[URSpider65]

The GOOD REASON might be because we are losing many games that we might have won had TJ been in the game more than the 22 he is averaging!!!!!!! And, one minute of 5 in overtime???? Amazing.