I got home from Arkansas at 11PM last night - just dodged an ice storm that delayed school openings this morning in STL. Great trip, and really enjoyed meeting Iona05 and a few of the players. Fabulous young men!
Arkansas is an ascending team, and will end up in the top 20 if they are not there today. Iona did not have its A game (credit to Arkansas), and we were still beating the Hogs deep into 3 quarters. We were handling everything they threw at us, and had the lead at the 15 minute mark. Then the missed chippies started - tired legs. We missed 8, count 'em, 8 LAYUPS in the final 5 minutes - not missed treys, or even FT's. Our legs were gone. Mike Anderson teams (and I know Mike from Mizzou)do not allow layup opportunities in the final 5 minutes of the game. Simply put, our reinforcements did not arrive. I thought Ryden and Grant were badly out of position on D when they got in. I don't know whether or not they do not yet read what is being throw at us.
David Laury was the best big man on the floor. He forced Mike Anderson to protect Portis. And when Portis came back in the stretch run, David still handled him even though his legs were gone. Something else, I have not seen anyone mention is the fact that Walton Arena was uncomfortably hot. I was in an Iona tee shirt and was sweating my ass off just sitting there. Nah, Mike Anderson with his deep squad would not do that - you think? '05, what do you think?
Anderson had a spy (Number 5) on Schad. His 3 pt window of opportunity was small. They were also ready when Schad took it tot he hoop. Holy s**t, is Schad fast. Good luck to any MAAC team that puts the press on Schad and Ibn.
Kelvin is frightening spectacle when he decides to take it to the hole. People just do want to step in front of him - like Matt Snell making it into the backfield.
People said Isaiah was off. His touch was not there, but he was the second best big man on the floor.
This is a really good team. Even with the addition of Cam, we need either Jeylani, Ryden, or Daniel to bring some relief for David.
David was a warrior yesterday - a Mike Gloveresque warrior. Don't know if you could see it on TV, but Sam had to ice David during every time-out in the second half.
Great meeting you too, SLG! Agreed about the heat. It must've been close to 90 degrees in the arena, and we spoke to some local fans who said it's not a secret that they do that as a bit of gamesmanship. Can only imagine how it feels in there when it's a sold out crowd!
I got home from Arkansas at 11PM last night - just dodged an ice storm that delayed school openings this morning in STL. Great trip, and really enjoyed meeting Iona05 and a few of the players. Fabulous young men!
Arkansas is an ascending team, and will end up in the top 20 if they are not there today. Iona did not have its A game (credit to Arkansas), and we were still beating the Hogs deep into 3 quarters. We were handling everything they threw at us, and had the lead at the 15 minute mark. Then the missed chippies started - tired legs. We missed 8, count 'em, 8 LAYUPS in the final 5 minutes - not missed treys, or even FT's. Our legs were gone. Mike Anderson teams (and I know Mike from Mizzou)do not allow layup opportunities in the final 5 minutes of the game. Simply put, our reinforcements did not arrive. I thought Ryden and Grant were badly out of position on D when they got in. I don't know whether or not they do not yet read what is being throw at us.
David Laury was the best big man on the floor. He forced Mike Anderson to protect Portis. And when Portis came back in the stretch run, David still handled him even though his legs were gone. Something else, I have not seen anyone mention is the fact that Walton Arena was uncomfortably hot. I was in an Iona tee shirt and was sweating my ass off just sitting there. Nah, Mike Anderson with his deep squad would not do that - you think? '05, what do you think?
Anderson had a spy (Number 5) on Schad. His 3 pt window of opportunity was small. They were also ready when Schad took it tot he hoop. Holy s**t, is Schad fast. Good luck to any MAAC team that puts the press on Schad and Ibn.
Kelvin is frightening spectacle when he decides to take it to the hole. People just do want to step in front of him - like Matt Snell making it into the backfield.
People said Isaiah was off. His touch was not there, but he was the second best big man on the floor.
This is a really good team. Even with the addition of Cam, we need either Jeylani, Ryden, or Daniel to bring some relief for David.
David was a warrior yesterday - a Mike Gloveresque warrior. Don't know if you could see it on TV, but Sam had to ice David during every time-out in the second half.
Great meeting you too, SLG! Agreed about the heat. It must've been close to 90 degrees in the arena, and we spoke to some local fans who said it's not a secret that they do that as a bit of gamesmanship. Can only imagine how it feels in there when it's a sold out crowd!
I hate the shenanigans that go on at these places. If you're so superior, just play the freakin' game
Great meeting you too, SLG! Agreed about the heat. It must've been close to 90 degrees in the arena, and we spoke to some local fans who said it's not a secret that they do that as a bit of gamesmanship. Can only imagine how it feels in there when it's a sold out crowd!
I hate the shenanigans that go on at these places. If you're so superior, just play the freakin' game
That had a huge effect on the outcome of the game. The heat had to be oppressive on the floor, especially with a short rotation.
Living in St. Louis, I am used to the heat. That was BS.
Some observations from the game after the weekend in Arkansas:
1. While we all wanted to pull off the upset, let's not forget that our performance yesterday is probably a double digit win against most teams in the MAAC, and that's the ultimate goal at the end of the season. Winning the conference.
2. For those who are criticizing the lack of bench use and short leash with Hines and Ellis, let's give it until conference play before we make a judgement on that. I think TC believed that our best chance of winning this game was by playing our starters even if it came at the expense of fatigue late in the game rather than playing bench players who were fresh but seriously overmatched against top competition. If the same trend continues in conference play I could see the cause for concern, but think yesterday's game was a different animal.
3. Biggest bright spot in my mind from yesterday's game was Amayo. You can see him improving and getting more comfortable game after game, and by conference play he will be tough for any MAAC team to stop. Needs to get better at limiting defensive lapses and reading the offense better to find the open man, but once conference play rolls around look out!
4. As SLG mentioned, this is a great group of kids, and really has special chemistry from what we can see from afar. For those worrying about TC's long-term plans, I think upgrading our facilities ASAP will be instrumental in retaining coach Cluess. If it doesn't happen or no commitment is made ASAP, I think we should be a bit worried.
5. The Arkansas team we played yesterday is going to be an elite team by end of season. Would be shocked to see them anywhere below the 5 line come tourney time.
6. Also worth noting how classy the Hogs fans were for the most part, and how respect they had for our program. Ran into a few of their players on the eve of the game and they had nothing but respect for Iona, saying that they are not looking past us and expect it to be their biggest challenge to date.
7. Three reasons why this will be TC's best team hands down by end of season: (1) defensive effort is better than it's been in previous years and it's not even close, (2) rebounding by committee is better than before, and (3) our upgrades at the PG position with Ced and Ibn are light years ahead of where they were with any team before maybe with the exception of the Machado/Jenkins combination in '11-12.
8. I will be shocked if this team doesn't do a better job of holding onto leads than previous teams for the reasons above, as well as the flexibility that Ibn gives us in situations where we have the lead and can manage the game properly.
9. At some point we'll need to grab a marquis OOC win. I think if we played 3-4 games against opponents similar to yesterday we win 1, maybe 2 of them. Be nice to see us schedule a few more Arkansas types every season. I think we can hang in there, and we'll get at least one game where all our guys are clicking, and will be able to steal a win.
10. Still think we'll be in the mix for an at-large, but very little room for error at this point. We're going to have to win all but one OOC game including a statement win such as at UMass, and then tear through the MAAC similar to what we did last year. Not likely, but still think we could be in the conversation.
Lots of good signs out of yesterdays game. The team really competed. David Laury and AJ English really shone yesterday against a very good team. Kelvin Amayo showed us some of what he is capable of when given the opportunity. We did not force up many shots from the outside, but we did unfortunately not finish at the rim very well in the last 10 minutes. Never really saw any intimidation or nervousness from our regulars. The real issue yesterday were the 18 turnovers and the 25 points off those turnovers. Points off turnovers differential was 10 points. In my opinion if we did not turn the ball over during that key stretch in the second half the game would gone to the wire. Hopefully in the future when needed AJ will step-up down the stretch the way Qualls did for Arkansas. Michael Qualls was huge for Arkansas down the stretch. That was the thing about Momo Jones, he was a finisher when needed. Expecting AJ to become more comfortable in that role as the season progresses and Casimir will be in future years. The bench depth will improve once those players get opportunities to succeed. Throwing them to the Lions yesterday really would not have served any purpose in their development. I think Coach Cluess pulled them as soon as he saw they were overwhelmed/hesitant. He wanted/needed to keep them the game competitive as long as possible to have a chance at the end. Looking forward to Conference play and the next big OOC challenge UMass which I feel will feature great guard play. Keep pushing, GO GAELS!
Hope I'm not jinxing him, but the second half's performance of Kelvin Amayo (watched the tape yesterday) was very impressive. He did a bit of everything. He's not a good shooter from the perimeter or the foul line, but no guard on the team can take it to the basket as well as Kelvin. And he also finds the open man (we missed a couple of chippies) or his team high assist total would have been in double digits. Expect him to improve as the season goes on, and his future seems bright.
Arkansas getting whacked by Iowa State losing by 22. Polar opposite of performance against Iona. Turning ball over and defense lapses. Focus not good. Coach Anderson not happy. Big letdown against good team. Iona would have beat this Arkansas team.
Arkansas getting whacked by Iowa State losing by 22. Polar opposite of performance against Iona. Turning ball over and defense lapses. Focus not good. Coach Anderson not happy. Big letdown against good team. Iona would have beat this Arkansas team.
There is 12 minutes left, they are down 14 and they are on the road against another top 20 team. Slight difference.
Unfortunately Iowa State getting to rim at will and open looks on perimeter. Arkansas not playing effective defense and Portis non-factor. Niang is playing great for Iowa State. Arkansas disappointing tonight based upon play against Iona.
Iowa Stste wins 95-77. Qualls only Arkansas player who played well. Was hoping for more tonight. Hopefully Arkansas rebounds and plays well the rest of the season.
Unfortunately Iowa State getting to rim at will and open looks on perimeter. Arkansas not playing effective defense and Portis non-factor. Niang is playing great for Iowa State. Arkansas disappointing tonight based upon play against Iona.
Score about the same as the Iona game. Home team scores 94/95 and the visiting team scores 77. Like they say in Real Estate, location, location, location. Also noticed that former Lincoln HS {Yonkers) player, Darin Hogue starts for Iowa State. Back when he was a soph/junior in HS, I mentioned him to Kevin Willard and Shaheen Holloway. They knew about him but doubted that he would ever become eligible for college. He went JUCO and has had a pretty good college career. Good for him.