This weekend we saw (or, to be more accurate, heard) the Jekyll and Hyde that coexist within the heart of the Minutemen's Run 'n Gun offensive philosophy.
For the first two games, everything seemed to click, and UMass played like the greatest show on hardwood; fast-breaking, burying opponents in an avalanche of treys, and racking up the assists like an extraterrestrial team visiting Earth from Planet Steve Nash. It's the kind of basketball that feels like it will never get dusty and tiresome because it comes at you so fast and with so much energy and from all different directions.
What a blast.
But then... what happens the next day, when the shots aren't falling?
The Minutemen found out yesterday, during a 75-68 loss to Northern Iowa. UMass shot a paltry 5-28 from behind the three-point line. Thats 18 percent.
What that big twenty-eight tells you is that not only were the Minutemen ice-cold, but they were ice cold for the entire game and they continued to play bombs-away regardless of all the clanging it produced.
As Bob Behler rightly pointed out in the radio broadcast, the shooter's mentality is that with each miss you are one shot closer to breaking out of your funk. In other words: just keep shooting.
What that mindset doesn't take into account is situational decision-making. As the Minutemen mounted a frantic second-half comeback, it seemed that every time they drew within one basket of really knocking the Panthers to the ropes, they jacked up a three. Four out of five, the shot missed, and the Panthers, being a resilient bunch themselves, rebounded and responded with a basket, or some foul shots, to re-claim their footing and expand their lead.
As a fan, it's frustrating. The thing is, despite rumors to the contrary, the Minutemen did not have a terrible game shooting the ball. Only from outside. Inside the arc they went a perfectly respectable 19-40, or 48 percent. That was how they managed to pull themselves up by their bootstraps and score 48 points in the 2nd half to make it an exciting game.
Believe it or not, UMass shot a blazing 16 of 28 on 2-pointers in the 2nd half. Given that information, it's difficult for me to wrap my head around an approach that maintains a heavy emphasis on the outside shot 35-odd minutes into the game, shooting percentages be damned.
I guess it's not only the players that have to learn to adjust to a new philosophy and style of play. It's the fans, too. Hoping and praying for this year's team to take fewer threes is a probably a waste of energy. It's just going to take a couple more games for it to sink in -- hopefully ones more like the first two.