On what he liked and didn't like in the game: "I liked the way the guys responded a variety of times when I challenged them (to) compete on the defensive end, share the basketball more.
"Defensively, certainly a lot of teachable moments out there. I didn’t like the way we boxed out. But the biggest thing on the defensive end is the overall energy was not consistent. We had runs when we were able to do some nice things. On the offensive end, we didn’t share the basketball well in the first half. Our assist to turnover ratio for the game was not very good. But once we were able to get stops, we got some in transition and had a better balance to what we were doing.
"Certainly discouraged with our motion offense right now. Part of that you have to give Chico State some credit -- they got out and pressured us and we’re not fully prepared for that, yet. So, that’s something we can certainly work on."
This offseason the Cardinal have been implementing a lot of changes to the defense and offense, and Haase said there are some things they haven't spent as much time on, yet. One of those subjects is the offense against zone. He said the Cardinal didn't have a great feel for what he wants them to do, but that adversity led to a positive.
"That was one of the nice things. As we talked through some of the mistakes we were making the guys responded well. They got to the inside better, moved to the weak side, some ball fakes and dribble penetration. Once those things happened better things were happening against the zone."
What are you most concerned about with this team?
(CSR Note: Haase paused for a good ten seconds thinking about his answer)
"Culturally we need to get to a point where we expect to win and we expect to compete at the highest level. We have a group of freshmen and young guys who I think will be able to get there, but they have never experienced college basketball. Everything is new to them and that’s part of the process of growing up. The guys who have been around have not been to the NCAA Tournament. We need to help them understand what it takes to compete at the highest level. Then take both those groups, mesh them together and have the same belief system.
"Getting that whole group together is going to be a challenge, but I also think it’s a solvable problem. It can be really exciting once we do that.
"From an Xs and Os standpoint, there is so much we have to work on. The good part is we can do a lot of good things. We have pretty good ball handlers, we have decent passers, we have decent shooters and I think we have a pretty good inside game. Defensively we have some different defenses we can go to. With all those things there are holes in them right now because we’re not good enough, yet."
About Isaac White's play: “He’s tremendous. I’ve labeled him a little bit, and I don’t if that’s bad or good, but I’ve talked about how he’s a big-time shooter and he’s really tough. Defensively he has a long way to go still to understand the concepts and be in the proper spots, especially with help defense. But the way he works and the confidence he has in himself, he’s going to get there. On the offensive end he has a great presence about himself. He got into the paint and made good decisions as well.”
What about your team's performance maybe surprised you?
"That we didn’t handle pressure really well. I don’t think it’s going to be an Achilles heel for us. We can do better. Part of that again is the preparation with me and the staff putting them in the right situations. I thought that really took us out of everything."
CSR Reaction: Haase is a very candid coach, especially right after games. He made some other comments that suggested he expects the tough offseason schedule to really test this team. It will force them to come together and he expects them to be different looking team in conference play. There is work to do but I think the talent is there that there should be good answers to the questions.
"Defensively, certainly a lot of teachable moments out there. I didn’t like the way we boxed out. But the biggest thing on the defensive end is the overall energy was not consistent. We had runs when we were able to do some nice things. On the offensive end, we didn’t share the basketball well in the first half. Our assist to turnover ratio for the game was not very good. But once we were able to get stops, we got some in transition and had a better balance to what we were doing.
"Certainly discouraged with our motion offense right now. Part of that you have to give Chico State some credit -- they got out and pressured us and we’re not fully prepared for that, yet. So, that’s something we can certainly work on."
This offseason the Cardinal have been implementing a lot of changes to the defense and offense, and Haase said there are some things they haven't spent as much time on, yet. One of those subjects is the offense against zone. He said the Cardinal didn't have a great feel for what he wants them to do, but that adversity led to a positive.
"That was one of the nice things. As we talked through some of the mistakes we were making the guys responded well. They got to the inside better, moved to the weak side, some ball fakes and dribble penetration. Once those things happened better things were happening against the zone."
What are you most concerned about with this team?
(CSR Note: Haase paused for a good ten seconds thinking about his answer)
"Culturally we need to get to a point where we expect to win and we expect to compete at the highest level. We have a group of freshmen and young guys who I think will be able to get there, but they have never experienced college basketball. Everything is new to them and that’s part of the process of growing up. The guys who have been around have not been to the NCAA Tournament. We need to help them understand what it takes to compete at the highest level. Then take both those groups, mesh them together and have the same belief system.
"Getting that whole group together is going to be a challenge, but I also think it’s a solvable problem. It can be really exciting once we do that.
"From an Xs and Os standpoint, there is so much we have to work on. The good part is we can do a lot of good things. We have pretty good ball handlers, we have decent passers, we have decent shooters and I think we have a pretty good inside game. Defensively we have some different defenses we can go to. With all those things there are holes in them right now because we’re not good enough, yet."
About Isaac White's play: “He’s tremendous. I’ve labeled him a little bit, and I don’t if that’s bad or good, but I’ve talked about how he’s a big-time shooter and he’s really tough. Defensively he has a long way to go still to understand the concepts and be in the proper spots, especially with help defense. But the way he works and the confidence he has in himself, he’s going to get there. On the offensive end he has a great presence about himself. He got into the paint and made good decisions as well.”
What about your team's performance maybe surprised you?
"That we didn’t handle pressure really well. I don’t think it’s going to be an Achilles heel for us. We can do better. Part of that again is the preparation with me and the staff putting them in the right situations. I thought that really took us out of everything."
CSR Reaction: Haase is a very candid coach, especially right after games. He made some other comments that suggested he expects the tough offseason schedule to really test this team. It will force them to come together and he expects them to be different looking team in conference play. There is work to do but I think the talent is there that there should be good answers to the questions.
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