“Adrio…took a couple of mid-range shots, that are not in his wheel house, and we discussed that with him”
After watching guys take shots “not in their wheelhouse” on a consistent basis, and Hog fans screaming about it on the radio, on this forum, and to each other, it is sooooooo nice to hear a coach say that!
Man, can’t wait to see this season unfold. I know we’re small and going to have some teams just dominate our tiny frontcourt, but should be exciting anyway. Can we get to 20 wins? can we get to NCAA?
Not even midrange shots for Adrio? What the hell he is supposed to do when he gets on the court? It is not like he is 6-10 and just hang around the basket.
Looking at Nevada stats, it doesn’t appear he adopted that strategy while there.
I can’t wait for the season to start and see how Muss actually coaches the game.
This is a great follow-up to ask Musselman the next time we meet with him. His statement about midrange jumpers not being in Adrio’s wheelhouse certainly caught my attention. Bailey’s numbers in that regard last season weren’t great. From my shot chart project in 2018-19, he shot 35 percent on MR jumpers (27 percent after shooting 9/14 in November) and 8/22 on long 2s (near/on 3-point line).
My best guess as to what Musselman wants from him on the offensive end is to go hard to the glass and battle for extra possessions/clean-up scores. Although undersized at his position, Adrio can be aggressive going after loose balls for stretches.
I would be interested to know what he thinks is a mid-range jumper. I would think anything 15 foot and in would be a “green light” for Bailey. Perhaps Muss thinks it to be 12 ft and in.
Truthfully? I’m conflicted when I hear a coach be so forthcoming in the press. I mean, it’s nice to hear THEY know mid-range jumpers aren’t Dro’s strength, and THEY are taking measures to either improve it or mitigate it. But by putting that out there, didn’t they just hand our opponents his scouting report? If I’m guarding Dro, now I need to just keep him from taking me to the rim.
I guess I just don’t need to hear such candor from a coach to have confidence they know what they’re doing.
If he would be our Dennis Rodman (on-court only!), that would be great. I’m sure if he developed a reliable jump shot, Muss would love to see that also. From what I’ve seen, though, I’d love to see him be our “Worm”
Last season, Adrio had the 3rd best FG% on the team, behind only Gafford and Chaney. Yes, ahead of Joe. Obviously, some of the reason Adrio was 3rd, was because he took very few 3s (12). It looked to me that he was reliable from about 12 ft and in. Even has a decent looking 12 foot jump shot.
I didn’t see the game, but I’d bet the “couple of mid-range shots” that Muss was referring to were probably in the 16-20 ft range. Personally, I hope Adrio keeps shooting those open 12 ft jump shots, and I’ll bet Muss wants him to shoot those.
Adrio slumped badly last year in the midseason when for a while he couldn’t even seem to make a layup, but he looked pretty good shooting that short jumper at the beginning and end of the season.
BTW in three of the last five years we had top 30 offenses with at best a couple of backup NBA talents on any squad. We were top 30 in O in 2016 for most of the season until they ran out of gas with a short bench at the end of the season. However, fans are convinced we couldn’t score under CMA because the last thing they saw was his worst offensive team since his first year.
Then the best thing Muss can do is leave him the bench. Otherwise you either leave Adrio around the basket and the other 4 move around on the wing or you are creating 5 on 4 like the Gabe situation, which you probably had a huge problem with.
I am with NavyHog. It is probably the definition of what is a midrange shot. I think Muss has been around too long to have a situation of having a player than is not allowed to shoot from anywhere except under the basket.
Clearly Muss wants Bailey to take shots from 10-12 feet and closer. So far as aiding our future opponents, Bailey has always had limited range on his jump shot and that has been documented on 3 years of game film. That should be his scouting report and teams will let him take long 2’s and 3’s all game long. His game should be smart aggressive defense and on offense, a garbage player who can get rebounds and put backs. Hopefully, we can get 20 minutes of solid defense, rebounding, and a few put backs and fast break layups. Getting players to play their game is what good coaches do.
