Thoughts on game/Geist.

Posted on: January 14, 2018 at 15:04:01 CT

Just got a chance to watch the game today...never quite as painful when you know the outcome.

Tough shooting in first half, but like the way this team hangs in. While Phillips is still prone to some senseless fouls, thought he played well. Didn't score much, but offense and press break was much better with him handling the ball than Geist.

Geist is so focused on his dribble (and possibly gun shy of making a bad pass after FLA game) that he was almost always late on delivering the ball. Killed the flow of the offense and against the press it allowed them to trap or pressure when Phillips was hitting players as they came open. Offense was initiated consistently late with Geist, and his teammates have to get frustrated working to get the ball only to have the effort wasted because he can't deliver it while dribbling/being pressured. Not to mention one of those late fouls called on a pick on Puryear was more on him for not using it well and forcing Puryear to try again.

I like Geist, and he has a role. Much better scorer than Phillips, but that's not what we really need from that position. But when teams are pressuring like Arkansas, he is not comfortable enough to take care of the ball AND get the offense moving. Pressure him and he will dribble excessively which means more possessions without our best scorers/passers touching the ball. Against more passive teams he can be an asset, but the ball just didn't stick with Phillips like it did with Geist. Coach obviously didn't see it that way as Geist was in at crunch time. But if I was the opposition, I'd play to allow him to have the ball in that position every time.

Edited by Tiger Max at 15:08:50 on 01/14/18