It's hard for me not to get into the weeds here with abstract basketball philosophy with this sort of stuff. Outside shooting, I believe, is VERY much a mental game once you've achieved a certain level of shooting competence (for which I would describe pretty much all D1 guards and most frontcourt players as it pertains to outside shooting).
You have to have confidence in your stroke. And, I believe, the most difficult time to manifest that confidence is when the other team is on a big run and has all the momentum. So difficult, in fact, I don't think you should be doin' it!
So many times this year I've begged the Zips on my TV to stop shooting 3's and jumpers, get it inside by either feeding Enrique or penetrating. I know these guys think they can hit that knockdown three that will stop the bleeding, shut up the other team, and get back on track, just by doing the same thing they do thousands of times in practice and dozens of times in games, but it's not that simple. You have to have some sort of understanding of how momentum swings work, and how to break momentum when it's in the other team's favor.
I don't pretend to know how to do that, exactly. I think it has something to do with staying in the moment - there is no yesterday, there is no tomorrow, there is no 2 minutes ago, there is no 2 minutes from now - there is only this shot - but not only is that easier said than done, but how the hell do you immunize yourself as much as possible from the other team's runs while taking advantage of the confidence boosts to your shot that having momentum in your team's favor gets you?
Again, I don't know how to solve that puzzle, but a) if the Zips don't have one already, I would implore Groce, and indeed every Zips coach from now to the end of time to hire a sports psychologist, full time, to work on just this type of thing.
b), Groce needs to stop giving the green light to everyone at all times, which I kind of suspect he gives players. A lot of posters have made great points about how Groce brings in unselfish, good people as players, and the transfer portal so far has hit us far, far less than most programs. This means Groce is earning players' trust, and this is probably one way he is doing it: I believe in you (and therefore, your shot) in all circumstances.
That's obviously well-intentioned, but if I'm coaching a basketball team I am absolutely putting the kibbosh on all jumpers, from anybody, at certain points of the game (namely, as described above, when the other team is on a run).
I would try to instill in my players that such prohibitions have absolutely nothing to do with my faith or belief in them or their game and everything to do with knowing the best way to get ourselves out of hairy game situations. It's an easy and frequent lesson that there's no player bigger than the team. But there's also no player bigger than the GAME. The game works a certain way, and if it's going a way you don't like, you might have to check your ego in order to correct it.
Great post. I think something happened - who knows what, maybe nothing concrete - around the James Madison game that took the venom out of their stingers pretty much permanently. They got their groove back in spurts in the MAC tourney and the first half against Creighton, but this team just stopped playing as well as they can, and definitely not out of a lack of effort. So again, I think a sports psychologist is in order.
To answer your question, the team met my preseason expectations, and fell short of my midway-through-the-season expectations.