Post by hawaii bill on Oct 14, 2014 22:14:02 GMT -5
From Blue Ribbon
Re AJ - "He is coming in very hungry." Re David - "In the second half last year he played much better. And we're looking to see a lot more of him." Re Isaiah - "I love how hard he plays. He hustles ... and the last 10-11 games he made a difference at both ends of the floor." Re Amayo - "He could be a guy if he gets healthy for us. He can play the one, two, or three and he's built like a tight end." Re Casimir - "He has a great feel for the game, and a great in-between game. He's going to play right away. He doesn't back down from anything." Re Team - "I think depth this year is going to be one of our strengths. I think we'll be able to play 11 guys." Re Robinson - "The last surgery was just a clean up. [He's had three knee surgeries since summer 2013] He will play. He's got a good touch from 17 feet in and could be a game changer."
Blue Ribbon picks us first. 2. Quinny 3. Manhattan 4. Siena 5. St. Peter's
I still like Manhattan for second, but Quinny will be right there. For me their (Blue Ribbon) top five shows that they know their stuff. And that doesn't mean that their predicted order of finish will be the way the season plays out, but it does mean that their choices are reasonable. And if I'm going to give TC any advice in describing his players, I'd go, Re. David-Essential.
Post by hawaii bill on Dec 9, 2014 12:35:26 GMT -5
Check out Cluess's quote in Blue Ribbon about the team. Something has happened since to change this opinion. I'm one to give Cluess the benefit of the doubt. If he feels guys need to earn minutes in practice, I'm fine with that approach.
So you're telling me that like half the roster doesn't earn minutes in practice?
We may as well not bother going to Albany then.
I don't know Guy. Guess we'll have to find out. It might simply be that given how he hates to lose (as any good coach does) he's reluctant to risk losing by playing these guys. Unfortunately that's the only way to develop them. OOC is the time to do that. If these guys aren't cutting it, I'd be surprised to see them much against Rider at home. Against Indiana St., FGU at home, George Mason, UMASS on the road, there should be playing time for these guys, imo.
So you're telling me that like half the roster doesn't earn minutes in practice?
We may as well not bother going to Albany then.
I don't know Guy. Guess we'll have to find out. It might simply be that given how he hates to lose (as any good coach does) he's reluctant to risk losing by playing these guys. Unfortunately that's the only way to develop them. OOC is the time to do that. If these guys aren't cutting it, I'd be surprised to see them much against Rider at home. Against Indiana St., FGU at home, George Mason, UMASS on the road, there should be playing time for these guys, imo.
Yeah, but this is a guy who was up 40 vs Delaware State with 10 minutes to play and still had all the starters in for another 5 minutes. Based on his quotes I'm not sure how willing he is to play beyond the top 6.
The greatest poster in the history of the MAAC as determined by THREE separate polls.
I don't know Guy. Guess we'll have to find out. It might simply be that given how he hates to lose (as any good coach does) he's reluctant to risk losing by playing these guys. Unfortunately that's the only way to develop them. OOC is the time to do that. If these guys aren't cutting it, I'd be surprised to see them much against Rider at home. Against Indiana St., FGU at home, George Mason, UMASS on the road, there should be playing time for these guys, imo.
Yeah, but this is a guy who was up 40 vs Delaware State with 10 minutes to play and still had all the starters in for another 5 minutes. Based on his quotes I'm not sure how willing he is to play beyond the top 6.
Its a good point and btw I take no pleasure out of throttling a MEAC team by 50. Maybe he felt its early on and he wanted to build their confidence ahead of Arkansas. I think we're all in agreement that more than six guys need to contribute for this team to be successful. Not sure if it is a philosophical choice, or a matter of practicality that more guys aren't playing. I'm inclined to think its the latter. I don't see why he would limit his options if he didn't feel like he has to at this point. As Husker has pointed out, maybe playing guys that aren't ready will be harmful in the long run. I think you have to at some point though. The guy that mystifies me at this point in terms of lack of playing time is Dublin. Me personally, I don't think Hines is ever going to be effective as a low post type player and you might as well use him to spell Isaiah on occasion at the three. He had two quick fouls though on Sunday.
Agree that there is a gap in talent level between the top 6 and Hines, Robinson, Dublin, Bebis and Ellis. But TC recruited these kids. I don't believe he was wrong on all 5. He has to play a couple of these kids 5-7 minutes a game to rest the starters. can't play these kids 38 minutes a game. Another factor I noticed in the Monmouth game was fouls. DL and AJ finished with 3 fouls and IBN, IW and Casimir all with 4. yes I understand nobody fouled out but were playing with 3 fouls with lots of game left to play. Defense is not a strong suit to begin with but gets even worse when they play even softer because they can't afford to pick up another foul. I noticed Monmouth players getting to many uncontested drives to the basket as Iona players had to back off. this as also happened a couple of other games. Like Guy mentioned you don't have to play them all at the same time, but there is no reason not to play one with the starters. the question is who steps up.
Dublin-mystery. thought he would at least be a glue type player and get some rebounds and some cheap baskets underneath.
Hines-too me the biggest surprise so far. I felt all preseason that he would compete for a starting spot but has really taken a step back from what I saw last season. Still have hope he works his way back into the rotation.
Robinson-might still be recovering from surgery. showed some signs in the Wofford game that he can contribute on defensive end for minutes a game.
Ellis-make or break season for him. third year in the program and really should be producing more by now. Came into the game at Monmouth and within 30 seconds passed up an open 3 and instead tried to drive to the basket and was called for a travel. out of the game and back into TC'S dog house
Agree that there is a gap in talent level between the top 6 and Hines, Robinson, Dublin, Bebis and Ellis. But TC recruited these kids. I don't believe he was wrong on all 5. He has to play a couple of these kids 5-7 minutes a game to rest the starters. can't play these kids 38 minutes a game. Another factor I noticed in the Monmouth game was fouls. DL and AJ finished with 3 fouls and IBN, IW and Casimir all with 4. yes I understand nobody fouled out but were playing with 3 fouls with lots of game left to play. Defense is not a strong suit to begin with but gets even worse when they play even softer because they can't afford to pick up another foul. I noticed Monmouth players getting to many uncontested drives to the basket as Iona players had to back off. this as also happened a couple of other games. Like Guy mentioned you don't have to play them all at the same time, but there is no reason not to play one with the starters. the question is who steps up.
Dublin-mystery. thought he would at least be a glue type player and get some rebounds and some cheap baskets underneath.
Hines-too me the biggest surprise so far. I felt all preseason that he would compete for a starting spot but has really taken a step back from what I saw last season. Still have hope he works his way back into the rotation.
Robinson-might still be recovering from surgery. showed some signs in the Wofford game that he can contribute on defensive end for minutes a game.
Ellis-make or break season for him. third year in the program and really should be producing more by now. Came into the game at Monmouth and within 30 seconds passed up an open 3 and instead tried to drive to the basket and was called for a travel. out of the game and back into TC'S dog house
I thought Dublin was Mike Poole II. At this point, we just need him to be Mike Poole Lite.
Agree that there is a gap in talent level between the top 6 and Hines, Robinson, Dublin, Bebis and Ellis. But TC recruited these kids. I don't believe he was wrong on all 5. He has to play a couple of these kids 5-7 minutes a game to rest the starters. can't play these kids 38 minutes a game. Another factor I noticed in the Monmouth game was fouls. DL and AJ finished with 3 fouls and IBN, IW and Casimir all with 4. yes I understand nobody fouled out but were playing with 3 fouls with lots of game left to play. Defense is not a strong suit to begin with but gets even worse when they play even softer because they can't afford to pick up another foul. I noticed Monmouth players getting to many uncontested drives to the basket as Iona players had to back off. this as also happened a couple of other games. Like Guy mentioned you don't have to play them all at the same time, but there is no reason not to play one with the starters. the question is who steps up.
Dublin-mystery. thought he would at least be a glue type player and get some rebounds and some cheap baskets underneath.
Hines-too me the biggest surprise so far. I felt all preseason that he would compete for a starting spot but has really taken a step back from what I saw last season. Still have hope he works his way back into the rotation.
Robinson-might still be recovering from surgery. showed some signs in the Wofford game that he can contribute on defensive end for minutes a game.
Ellis-make or break season for him. third year in the program and really should be producing more by now. Came into the game at Monmouth and within 30 seconds passed up an open 3 and instead tried to drive to the basket and was called for a travel. out of the game and back into TC'S dog house
The fouls point is huge. Not only will they play softer on D with 3 or 4 fouls, or 2 in the first half, but guys will foul out or have to sit with 4. Any injury and we are in big trouble. Must have at least 7 contributors period. OT, the big man issue is important too, but without more help things will get worse.
I don't know Guy. Guess we'll have to find out. It might simply be that given how he hates to lose (as any good coach does) he's reluctant to risk losing by playing these guys. Unfortunately that's the only way to develop them. OOC is the time to do that. If these guys aren't cutting it, I'd be surprised to see them much against Rider at home. Against Indiana St., FGU at home, George Mason, UMASS on the road, there should be playing time for these guys, imo.
Yeah, but this is a guy who was up 40 vs Delaware State with 10 minutes to play and still had all the starters in for another 5 minutes. Based on his quotes I'm not sure how willing he is to play beyond the top 6.
i still think if guys rested last year in the first game of the MAAC when we were up by a lot we don't lose in the finals
1970, my memory was that it was the semi-final game against Canisius, that went down to the wire, on Sunday, that caused us to lose on Monday, as Manhattan had a blowout win over "Q" the same evening. But in our first (Saturday) game vs. Rider, we put on an impressive offensive display against Rider, when we were fully rested. Big difference vs. Manhattan. Of course the Jaspers, being a vg defensive team also contributed to the loss. JMO, but we did run out of gas, mostly DL, who was asked to do too much, scoring, rebounding, guarding two bigs, and handling the ball against the press. At least that is how I saw it, from my seat behind the Iona bench.
yes saturday was a close game, but look at the minutes on saturday that were unnecessary and i believe laury played about 35 in the blowout and we all agreed he wasn't in the best of shape to play 100 minutes in 3 days
Correct me if I'm wrong, but weren't we better last year with Laury coming off the bench? He seemed to have more gas and was less likely to get in foul trouble.
Has the cloud over the NYC sports scene dampened everyone's mood? It is way too early in my opinion to be this pessimistic about this team. Just like past Iona teams under Coach Cluess it takes time to find the combinations and right situations to use specific players. I feel patience is needed along with faith in Coach Cluess. His consistent success is not by accident. He has a proven track record in player development. Some of these bench players have to find that role that gets them on the floor and then build from there. This TEAM is a work in progress. We know we have PLAYERS, now they have to come together as a team. That process involves our leaders (AJ, David and Isaiah) stepping it up and helping their team-mates understand what it takes. Coach Cluess' prodding of David Laury I take as his message that to be a leader you have to step it up and lead by example. I am optimistic. I standby "In Cluess we trust".
