The "Pulse of the Team" is a weekly or whenever-I-get-to-it post about the state of the team, what's going well and what isn't. The Pulse of the Team looks at the week that was, the week ahead, what's trending up, what's trending down and the current player impact, courtesy of StatSheet.
Last Week:
Thursday, November 19, 2009 : Northwestern St. Demons : W : 94-75
Saturday, November 21, 2009 : Lamar Cardinals : W : 77-54
This Week:
Tuesday, November 24, 2009 : @ Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks
Saturday, November 28, 2009 : Samford Bulldogs
Well-Rounded Offense: I think it's important to have a go-to scorer and I think the Red Raiders have one in Mike Singletary, however, it's nice to have 3 guys, including Singletary, scoring in double-figures and 3 guys within in 1.5 points of all scoring in double-figures. David Tairu (10.8), D`Walyn Roberts (10.6), Darko Cohadarevic (9.4), John Roberson (9.2) and Nick Okorie (8.5) are all making contributions on a consistent basis. As is the case with any team that struggles, it's usually about consistency and I think I'll take a wait and see approach, but there's definite improvement.
More Time for Reese and Jenkins: This isn't to say that neither SF Brad Reese or SF Theron Jenkins don't have their faults. They do. Reese tends to settle for the 3-point shot a bit much (3 for 12 for the year) and Jenkins may be a little careless with the ball, but I'd still like to see both Reese and Jenkins get more minutes. I was really impressed with their length and athletic ability when I was able to watch against NW St. and their style of play and athleticism will come into play against Big 12 opponents.
Roberson's Shooting: For John Roberson's 3 year career he's shot 42.2%, 37.9% and this year, it's 38.6%. During Roberson's freshman campaign, I thought that because he was a freshman, he struggled. When Roberson was a sophomore, I thought that it was because he was asked to do too much. And now, I'm not sure what alibi I want to create. Roberson has historically not shot the ball well and at some point, Pat Knight will need to limit his shots and ensure that guys like Tairu and Okorie perhaps get more shots while Roberson becomes a pure point guard.
Offense Struggles . . . A Bit: It's not much, and there's really not much to complain about, but per KenPom, the Red Raiders rank 252nd in the nation in adjusted offensive efficiency. It's a bit worrisome and having not seen the team play much, it doesn't sound as if this is too troublesome. In any event, I'd rather have the offense catch up as the season goes along.
