Remember the first rule of HOOS Fight Club….

While watching that shitshow of a performance against Stony Brook last night, and mulling on the late-term abortion that is our offense, I did what I always do and put on my coach hat. I would make several changes for the time being. Most of these I do not expect to be permanent because I hope that the temporary move will inspire a change in the player’s performance (like the way benching Tomas Woldetensae in the Purdue game appeared to motivate him).

First, I would bench Casey Morsell. Not start him. Drop him to the bottom of the active rotation, down there with Chase Coleman and Jayden Nixon. Not as a punishment, but as a teaching tool. I would tell him, “Casey, I love your effort and I love your confidence, but you’re just not performing at the level of a starting guard in the ACC. We need to get you there before we can get you out there. Work hard in practice (on the scout team for now), get your shots up in your spare time, and watch and learn.” His role is too big for him right now. I would ban him from shooting outside the Packline for now. No threes. Just no threes.  No long twos. Get inside the packline then you can shoot. I have come to agree with Jordan Sperber that his decision-making is questionable – and not just on offense. He went under another fucking screen last night and give up an important three. It’s tough because almost every shot he takes is within the offense and taken in isolation is a good look, but when you’re shooting 11% on almost 20% usage, maybe you shouldn’t be acting like an Alpha out there. I was watching him and the thought hit me – he takes shots as if he’s still who he was in high school.  That attitude will be great in two years and he’ll probably be a stud then (my long-term expectations for Casey have not changed at all), but not now.

Second, the lineup I like best right now and what I would start now is Mamadi, Jay, Kody, Tomas and Kihei. If Tomas’s shot is back as two straight games indicate it might be, he and Mamadi give us two guys now – and Kihei three, really – who can be counted on to hit some threes. I still like Jay out there but he just doesn’t look like he thinks he has the green light. Mamadi is over 40%, Kihei is now over 36% and Tomas is two more games like the last two away from being just under 40%. Even Kody is showing encouraging signs as he now has hit a three in two straight games (baby steps). And these guys are getting after it on defense. Tomas was all over the Stony Brook guards last night, making two straight games of high effort defense. Tony rode this lineup the last 11 minutes of the game and they scored at a 76 ppg clip.

Next, and this might sound a little paradoxical given the last paragraph, but I would have a quick hook for Mamadi and freely sub him out for Justin McKoy. This was the third straight game I thought Mamadi got frustrated and checked out. His focus and effort level seemed to drop precipitously at a certain point, and if it weren’t for Jay going all RAMT out there, we could have had real trouble. 

I would play Justin McKoy every half. Maybe not for a long time, but I would get him on the floor. He makes good things happen and he brings an energy that is disruptive to the opponent. When Mamadi goes into a funk and until Braxton is ready to resume his role, I would turn to Justin and tell Mamadi to watch.

Next, I would ease Braxton back in. Not ready for prime time. Not sure how effective he will be as long as he has to wear the cast. His biggest contribution is grabbing rebounds and that’s not as easy with a cast. But he needs some minutes to get back to match fitness. For now, let’s give some of his role to Justin.

Finally, I would get the ball out of Kihei’s hands when the shot clock goes inside ten seconds. Ideally, this would be Casey time, but I’ve already benched him, so I think I want to either dump the ball into the post or get Tomas coming off a pindown and let him do something with it.