|
Post by gaelrugby on Nov 18, 2015 6:13:10 GMT -5
Wow, Iona's "D" gave up 93 pts. We've been schooled by two bubble teams. It's may be time to start thinking of beating up on the 150 - 300 level teams in the Maac. Is this Iona's level? I had much higher hopes.
|
|
|
Post by ghostofwillard on Nov 18, 2015 7:01:03 GMT -5
It's only 2 games, weren't we this crazy after Iona lost to Bryant 5 years ago? Relax, take a breath it's early.
|
|
|
Post by Joebird on Nov 18, 2015 7:02:00 GMT -5
If we play anything like the last 2 games we won't beat Delaware.
|
|
|
Post by gregcrow on Nov 18, 2015 7:13:22 GMT -5
It's only 2 games, weren't we this crazy after Iona lost to Bryant 5 years ago? Relax, take a breath it's early. That was different. You could see a semblance of a team that weekend. New coach, new team. This just looks like a big mess. Not saying there is no hope, just that I have seen nothing in these two games to give us any hope.
|
|
|
Post by ic59 on Nov 18, 2015 7:18:21 GMT -5
I think TC is trying to take a page from Steve Masiello's book. "Lose early, win late". Well we have the first part down.
On a serious note, since I didn't see the game, I'm basing my opinions on the stat sheet. Where we improved, all on the offensive end: *FG%- 29% (Valpo) 35.5% (OSU)
*3 Pointers- 6 (Valpo) 11-(OSU)
3-Pt FG% 26.1%(Valpo) 30.6% (OSU)
And while I don't know what caused the double tech on a OSU player and Much, but stat wise, Deyshonee had a pretty good game. He played 23 minutes and shot 5-9, including 3-5 from deep, 2-2 from the foul line. He grabbed three boards and had two assists with zero TO's. Also had a block and four steals. That is a GREAT stat line.
|
|
|
Post by ic59 on Nov 18, 2015 7:21:15 GMT -5
greg, agree the loss to Bryant was different, because we had a great PG (Scotty). We don't have one now/yet.
|
|
|
Post by jerseygael on Nov 18, 2015 7:36:37 GMT -5
IC 59 you nailed it, one of our biggest problems is we don't have a true point guard. The only real pg on this team is Ibn and he is limited in his game. The pg is plain and simple the most important player on the team. This team just doesn't have that floor general that takes care of the ball and calls the plays and settles everyone down. We're just floundering out there. Couple of things that really surprised me: 1. what's up with IW? Not hustling, missing wide open threes, giving the ball away and not leading. This is not the version of the player we all thought was the glue to this team. 2. Ced is hitting the wall early in his sophomore year. Not attacking with the ball and not getting himself in position for any good shots. If you're the point guard you need to take charge. 3. AJ just seems to be stuck in third gear. Not the player we've seen that can take over a game
Can't have this from our three best players and veterans of this team.Just my opinion from a small sampling and I do know that the teams we played have very good defenses but we're suppose to be a high energy offense
|
|
|
Post by ghostofwillard on Nov 18, 2015 7:52:59 GMT -5
It's only 2 games, weren't we this crazy after Iona lost to Bryant 5 years ago? Relax, take a breath it's early. That was different. You could see a semblance of a team that weekend. New coach, new team. This just looks like a big mess. Not saying there is no hope, just that I have seen nothing in these two games to give us any hope. Hang in there, the ship is off course right now, you guys make it sound like they're taking on massive water. Lots of new pieces on this team it may take Cluess time to solve this puzzle. I think Iona will look a lot different in January.
|
|
|
Post by hawaii bill on Nov 18, 2015 8:03:03 GMT -5
To answer Chels question, I still feel good. I like what I see from the new guys in terms of ability. There are no stiffs among the new guys. I stated last week I'm not buying into the pre-season hype. Having said that we opened on the road against two very good teams while integrating five new guys. We haven't played Brown or Lehigh. We played two potential top 50 teams ON THE ROAD. Its hard to beat average teams on the road in college basketball. Hopefully we left last night, got home this morning will get some rest and have a good practice tomorrow to get prepared for Friday. I think getting home will stabilize this team and I expect the veterans will lead us on Friday night. I think their pride will kick in. As for the approach so far, I'm loving that a lot of guys have seen the floor. In the past under Cluess we might have won one or both of these games playing six guys who by the time March rolls around are zombies. Again, if we look like this on January 2nd I'll be deeply worried, but not now. And I think its good that we can put the at-large talk behind us.
In Cluess's first year we played a tournament in Cleveland where we went 0-3 and lost to Bryant. We put that start in a box and threw it out the window came home and beat Richmond and went on to have a really good year and made it to the MAAC final. For me this is a pre-season tournament. I liken it to an exhibition. We're seeing what guys can do. Yes we tried to win but I don't really care that we didn't. I want us to win in March. If you look at the 1998 team that came within 2 seconds of beating Syracuse in the NCAA tournament, I'm guessing you'll see a blow out loss early in November/December. All the new guys can play. Sed, AJ, and IW can play. We need to put the build the team in the OOC for the purpose of winning the MAAC. Obviously I'd rather that we won both games, but its more important to build the team.
|
|
|
Post by hawaii bill on Nov 18, 2015 8:05:14 GMT -5
I think TC is trying to take a page from Steve Masiello's book. "Lose early, win late". Well we have the first part down. I think Mas's book is "Learn early, win late". I hope that's what we are doing.
|
|
|
Post by iona05 on Nov 18, 2015 8:39:53 GMT -5
Just awful, awful basketball. What has been the game plan for two whole games? Didn't have a strategy at all? If we did, we didn't even come close to sniffing it. What plays are we running? The team looks lost and disinterested. No one seems angry at all, other than Washington. Just an embarrassing start. If this is how we are going to show up, stop scheduling like this. Play some struggling local - what's the point of getting destroyed and looking disorganized? +1
|
|
|
Post by Super on Nov 18, 2015 8:58:55 GMT -5
A lot will be cured when we shoot 45% instead of 29 & 36. Several missed shots were uncontested. IW pressing; AJ forcing; both missed several open opportunities.
|
|
|
Post by ic1983 on Nov 18, 2015 9:00:18 GMT -5
What concerns me most is that the present state of play is not primarily due to the difficulty of integrating new players and the loss of DL. Both are factors, but the real problem appears to be that the "book" on how to shut down Iona is now becoming a best seller, and the teams with talent and good coaching (Manhattan, URI, Valpo and OSU, to name our last 4 opponents), are capable of implementing that book.
The team looks disorganized and unprepared because that is exactly the case. We need some coaching adjustments.
|
|
|
Post by IONA86 on Nov 18, 2015 9:00:43 GMT -5
This is why I told you guys to focus on winning the tournament and stop the "at large" talk.
There are many concerns but these are the biggest issues (IMHO) from observing the first two games:
1) Ibn is the only real leader right now. 2) The staff has done nothing to integrate our bigs into the offensive scheme. 3) Cas looks scared to shoot. He needs to shoot and shoot often. 4) Much has potential.. better than I initially thought but he sometimes tries to do to much. If other players actually moved around he might not be forced to push too much. 5) When Washington sets a pick for AJ, AJ needs to look for Washington. It appears that nobody has explained the pick and roll to AJ... time for an introduction. 6) Chemistry is way off. 7) Coach said the team likes to share the ball... he needs to tell them to stop sharing the ball with the other team. How many lazy passes and broken drives to the hoop we see? 8) Playing two bigs at the same time might provide some different results down low. 9) I like Proctor. 10) Our offensive plan has got to be greater in scope than AJ doing what he wants.
With this said it is early. The guards and staff need to learn how to utilize bigs. The refs are also trying to enforce the new rules early to get players to adapt. So we are seeing some calls that won't be called in MAAC play. The staff needs to adapt though as having everyone spread on offense and then charging in for rebounds will create a lot of "over the back" calls against us. Lets see what corrections we see over the next couple of games. As long as we are utilizing our bigs and the offensive flow is humming by the start of conference play we are in good shape.
|
|
|
Post by IONA86 on Nov 18, 2015 9:02:59 GMT -5
What concerns me most is that the present state of play is not primarily due to the difficulty of integrating new players and the loss of DL. Both are factors, but the real problem appears to be that the "book" on how to shut down Iona is now becoming a best seller, and the teams with talent and good coaching (Manhattan, URI, Valpo and OSU, to name our last 4 opponents), are capable of implementing that book. The team looks disorganized and unprepared because that is exactly the case. We need some coaching adjustments. That is why we need to learn to push the ball down low to Washington when they are playing us tight on the perimeter. Instead we try to drive to the hop or take an NBA range three. If you get the ball down low for a few points it will cause the D to fall back. This is not rocket science.
|
|