Appleby should channel his inner Tre
This year Appleby was going to display a better all around game that included taking the ball to the basket and creating offense for other players. His size and athleticism have always been an issue, but the thought was that his offense and effort overcome these defincencies. Thus far, the Appleby experiment has failed, and he has lost his starting spot to Adrian Oliver. While I do not believe that stats mean everything, Ryan's stats are telling. 16 turnovers to 8 assists. 0.375 from the field (.366 from 3). 8 rebounds. In about half the minutes, Brandon Burmeister has 9 assists to 3 turns, 9 rebounds, and is shooting .476 from the field (.421 from 3).
Although Romar has said that the reason that Oliver is starting is primarily defense, Appleby would still be starting if he was nailing open jumpers, creating easy scores for teammates and limiting his mistakes. Romar basketball is built heavily on the principle of having more easy scores than the other team, so when Appleby is not hitting shots and is giving the ball back to the other team, his liabilities are more glaring. Given the choice of two mistake prone guards, Romar is taking the one that has more upside and can maybe get it back on the defensive end.
Appleby is a streaky shooter, but that is fine for the way Romar coaches basketball. In previous years Romar has shown a great knack for getting the ball into hot hands. Many times when a player hits a three for Romar, he gets a play called for him to shoot another on the next possesion. Tre Simmons benefited from this approach more than anyone in the past. It took Tre much of his first season at UW to figure out how to be effective, with the result often being forced, turnover prone basketball. But eventually, Tre got confidence in his shot, and started looking for that part of his offense more than anything. He would catch the ball with his feet and his body ready to shoot, so that the defense would have to fly out to guard him whenever he caught the ball. With the defense on edge, the rest of the game flowed, but it all started with him believing that he was a dangerous shooter. Tre turned it on at the end of the year, scoring nearly 15 points per game over his last ten, and contributed as much as anyone to UW's dramatic push through the end of the 2004 Pac-10 season.
For much of this season, Appleby has looked lost. He looks like he is catching the ball with an agenda, making a choice of what he is going to do with the basketball regardless of the situation on the court. He doesn't catch the ball in a ready to shoot position as much as last year. The result has been him forcing drives and passes that simply aren't there. Everytime Appleby catches the ball on the perimeter, he should at least pause in the triple threat position to allow the defense to commit to closing on him. Right now, he's trying to operate too fast and is putting the ball on the floor without establishing the threat of a shot. Since he's too small and too slow and to have a successful drive to the hoop without the defense fearing him as a catch and insta-shoot player, he's getting into bad situations.
Although Romar has said that the reason that Oliver is starting is primarily defense, Appleby would still be starting if he was nailing open jumpers, creating easy scores for teammates and limiting his mistakes. Romar basketball is built heavily on the principle of having more easy scores than the other team, so when Appleby is not hitting shots and is giving the ball back to the other team, his liabilities are more glaring. Given the choice of two mistake prone guards, Romar is taking the one that has more upside and can maybe get it back on the defensive end.
Appleby is a streaky shooter, but that is fine for the way Romar coaches basketball. In previous years Romar has shown a great knack for getting the ball into hot hands. Many times when a player hits a three for Romar, he gets a play called for him to shoot another on the next possesion. Tre Simmons benefited from this approach more than anyone in the past. It took Tre much of his first season at UW to figure out how to be effective, with the result often being forced, turnover prone basketball. But eventually, Tre got confidence in his shot, and started looking for that part of his offense more than anything. He would catch the ball with his feet and his body ready to shoot, so that the defense would have to fly out to guard him whenever he caught the ball. With the defense on edge, the rest of the game flowed, but it all started with him believing that he was a dangerous shooter. Tre turned it on at the end of the year, scoring nearly 15 points per game over his last ten, and contributed as much as anyone to UW's dramatic push through the end of the 2004 Pac-10 season.
For much of this season, Appleby has looked lost. He looks like he is catching the ball with an agenda, making a choice of what he is going to do with the basketball regardless of the situation on the court. He doesn't catch the ball in a ready to shoot position as much as last year. The result has been him forcing drives and passes that simply aren't there. Everytime Appleby catches the ball on the perimeter, he should at least pause in the triple threat position to allow the defense to commit to closing on him. Right now, he's trying to operate too fast and is putting the ball on the floor without establishing the threat of a shot. Since he's too small and too slow and to have a successful drive to the hoop without the defense fearing him as a catch and insta-shoot player, he's getting into bad situations.
Labels: Ryan Appleby
posted by Bobby Jones 2.0 at 3:28 PM
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