A Telling Statemtn By Lutz

From the Katz article:

“It’s all mental,” Lutz said. “I don’t have an answer. We know we’re not a great free-throw shooting team so we’ve got to find a way to win games despite that.”

What? Are you just bagging the idea of trying to get better from the line?

This is such a telling statement on Lutz and his ability and/or willingness to teach the FUNDAMENTAL SKILLS necessary to be a successful basketball coach. Free throws are one of the most correctable aspects of the game. It’s simply repetitions. This team can improve its per game scoring average by 6-8 points (which will be the margin of difference in many conference games this year) simply by improving their free thow shooting. Instead of addressing this easily correctable issue, Lutz just writes it off (“We’ve got to find a way to win games despite that.”). It’s not something like height that can’t be changed; it’s free throws and it cost us 2 home wins (and possibly an NCAA birth and a Top 25 ranking) and he just dismisses it as something that is a nuisance.

Obviously whetever he’s doing now is not working. More practice time needs to be dedicated to it and/or a new approach needs to be taken to rectify the situation. Saying “We’re bad and there’s nothing I can do about it” is the worst approach. A very important aspect of coaching is making your team and your players better through practice, not just recruiting the best players you can and throwing them on the floor.

Among other things, passing to the Low Post is also another FUNDAMENTAL SKILL that our team lacks. This can be improved through practice as well, but seems to be neglected by the coaching staff. We have a 6’8" PF who is athletic, strong and skilled and an All-American candidate. He rarely gets the ball on the low block and is not the focal point of our offense. Something is very wrong with that.

So instead of working on another 3 point play for Plavich or a new junk defense or an ineffecitve press, Lutz needs to get back to basics and address the fundamentals that translate to wins (FT’s, Post-Entry, Blocking Out, 1 Reliable defense, time and score situations, etc…).

Haven’t I seen this post before?

In the last 5 games we are 45 of 64 from the line, a 70.3% clip.

[b]Obviously whetever he's doing now is not working. More practice time needs to be dedicated to it and/or a new approach needs to be taken to rectify the situation. Saying "We're bad and there's nothing I can do about it" is the worst approach.[/b]

I don’t know if they shoot this many in EVERY practice, but the Observer had an article a month or so ago on this topic, and everyone shot 100. Plavich made 86 or so, Iti even made 60-something. If you do it well in practice and aren’t doing it in the game, then it is mental when there are no defenders. There are things we can do to simulate crowd noise, pressure, etc., but we are practicing shooting from the charity stripe.

[b]Among other things, passing to the Low Post is also another FUNDAMENTAL SKILL that our team lacks. This can be improved through practice as well, but seems to be neglected by the coaching staff. We have a 6'8" PF who is athletic, strong and skilled and an All-American candidate. He rarely gets the ball on the low block and is not the focal point of our offense. Something is very wrong with that.[/b]

Withers has 27 turnovers this season, and had 7 of those came at Indiana when we were forcing it in to him. That’s 2nd high on the team from someone who hasn’t handled the ball (i.e. bring it up the court/dribble) very much. Not good. The passing isn’t great, but it’s the receiving that needs more work than the pass. Do quarterbacks keep throwing to receivers who drop the ball more than they catch it? :blink: We will continue to feed Withers on the block, but nights when teams are dropping their guards or Curtis is dropping the ball, we can’t continue to beat the horse.

[i]Originally posted by NormanNiner[/i]@Jan 5 2005, 03:08 PM [b] Haven't I seen this post before? [/b]
Yep

If you really believe Lutz is writing off our attempts to hit FTs and doesn’t care if we make them or not, I’ve got a great piece of land out here in New Mexico I’d like to sell ya.

[i]Originally posted by 4AMer[/i]@Jan 5 2005, 02:05 PM [b] This is such a telling statement on Lutz and his ability and/or willingness to teach the FUNDAMENTAL SKILLS necessary to be a successful basketball coach.

[/b]


CLUELESS. I bet all they do in practice is shoot threes and dunk. :rolleyes: :wacko: Have you ever listened to Lutz after a game or on thursdays? He explains all of the work they’ve put in on freethrows. Much better source of info than one comments from Andy Capps.

BP made 92 out of 100 in practice. Hmmm. It’s improving.

By the way it’s Statement not Statemtn. :smiley:

I am told when we practice free throws, Lutz stands behind the goal with a BB gun and takes shots at the shooter after each miss.

[i]Originally posted by BPfor3+Jan 5 2005, 10:44 PM-->
[b]QUOTE[/b] (BPfor3 @ Jan 5 2005, 10:44 PM)