Remember, after tomorrow's game we play 3 more games in the next 40 days and then start conference play. Don't know how you can get in any kind of flow with that.
Got to agree with JoeBird. Iona is rarely up to a OOC game. These teams rankings are usually ranked 100-200. IONA usually can't finish. They pull it together the last half of their games. These are against Maac teams ranked 225 and north.It seems they have the talent for stronger teams than the Maac, but unable to finish. The excuse that they jell late is weak. Their competition is.
Remember, after tomorrow's game we play 3 more games in the next 40 days and then start conference play. Don't know how you can get in any kind of flow with that.
That could prove to be a blessing in disguise assuming we are able to get TC back to help turn things around.
Remember, after tomorrow's game we play 3 more games in the next 40 days and then start conference play. Don't know how you can get in any kind of flow with that.
That could prove to be a blessing in disguise assuming we are able to get TC back to help turn things around.
Yeah. Look at it as an extra long preseason and relax.
If Cluess comes back We can still be special. We are shooting about 30% from 3 and 65% from ft line I think. Cluess will obviously help that, team plays hard , plays D and hustled. Was McNeil there? Don't think Nic leaves but Risto....
Mcneil Played a couple of minutes. Think close game precluded him from playing more.
IW - needs to be in the starting lineup. After today's game, he looked a lot more comfortable with driving and shooting which I enjoyed watching. He finished the game with 7 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, and 1 turnover while playing 28 minutes. I like those numbers as he's starting to look to drive more. Also, his energy was a lot better today providing a spark in the 2nd Half.
Gist - looked okay today. I like his game in the second half when he started becoming more aggressive going to the hoop and being selective with his 3 point shot. Even though he didn't try to lay the ball up, he opened more lanes while doing it. On another note, please stop shooting half court 3's from the top of the key. They tend to be long rebounds on misses that lead to run out fast-breaks.
Agee - looked solid in my opinion again. 15 pts with 12 rebounds while practically dominating underneath the hoop. We need to start playing through him more. He only had 5 shot attempts on the game which is way lower than what he should have. He decided to shoot a 3 today while open and made it which was a rarity for him this season. He needs to let it fly more often.
Van Eyck - Becoming a solid player. I'm starting to really like his game and hustle. Provided a spark at times when we didn't have one. Good defensive effort and even though he only had 3 points, he provided opportunities for others.
Crawford - Crawford is crawford. Typical stats from him. He needs to get some more rest though as he's playing way too many minutes at the beginning of the season. He played like a true warrior again and I love watching his game develop over these last few years.
Ross - A nice surprise. Although he didn't shoot the ball great going 2-6 and 1-5 from 3, he provided a spark with some of his defensive plays especially battling for rebounds.
Perez - I like his effort on the defensive side of the ball and his hustle plays, but he needs to start knocking down shots. If you just look at the box score, it shows him to be practically non-existent. Although his hustle plays don't show up in the box, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt, but he needs to make shots when he's in the lineup for that outside of his defense.
Thiam and McNeil - I figured that McNeil would play limitedly after not playing in the first couple of games as it was a taste test today. He will eventually ramp up in my opinion with the minutes. Thiam however was nowhere to be found today. Although he only played 6 minutes and had limited opportunities, you can't expect him to do anything with limited playing time. I still hold strong with my opinion on him being in the starting lineup to help Agee, but I'm slowly changing my opinion while watching Van Eyck more and more.
Team Thoughts -
(1) For the love of god, when you can't hit a 3, we need to find other ways to score. I can't remember the exact stat, but in the first half we were like 1-11 or 2-11 from 3 and 7-9 or 6-10 from 2 point range. We need to drive more to the hoop and get to the foul line. We can't keep just throwing up 3's for the hell of it. If they're open that is a different story, but when you're 3-5 feet behind the 3 line with 20+ seconds left on the shot clock, we need to do something different.
(2) We need to start playing through crawford and agee in the half court set. 1-4 offensive scheme in man with Agee setting a pick for IW, if IW can't get in the lane than kick and pop. If zone like today, we need to play high low ball with Crawford and Agee. Crawford gets to the basket a ton drawing fouls. Also, he makes great decisions with the ball by feeding agee. We need to execute better with them two in half court sets.
(3) We need to protect the ball better and limit dumb turnovers. In our most recent games, we go on runs and before we can get over the hump and in the lead, we throw the ball away leading to the change in momentum. We need to protect the ball better.
(4) Ross should be first off the bench when Van Eyck is in the starting lineup at this point with Thiam off the bench after. Ross needs to give Crawford a break as they're similar in size and he can matchup against similar players. After Ross should be Thiam to give our big guys a break with Risto and Nikolic not with the team,. They must be lost at disneyland (GUYF Joke) HAHAHA. If Thiam in the starting lineup which I don't see right now, Van Eyck first off the bench and Ross following.
(5) Second half we played practically a 7-man rotation. That is a hell of a lot of minutes early in the season to cut players out. I think we need to do a better job of mixing up minutes with players to keep them fresh. Towards the end of the game, you could see that Agee was gassed running up and down the floor.
(6) Two missed dunks which occurred at key points in the game. I get the excitement to try and finish strong, but Van Eyck has now missed 2/3 dunk opportunities when layups would have gotten us points. Agee missed a wide open dunk which if converted would have been a huge momentum. We need to make sure we convert of those opportunities as we are having a tough time scoring.
(7) A win is a win. No matter how ugly it looks it still goes down as a W on the schedule. I think the pressure to get the first win will allow players to play better as it plays on the psychological mindset of the players when our expectations are set so high. I'm hoping and thinking that players will start feeling more comfortable with each other and playing more relaxed and better team basketball now with 1 win down.
(8) I think we can assume that we weren't going to get an at large bid this year based upon our OOC schedule at the start of the season. For the next couple of OOC games, let's work out all the kinks in our game to get ready for conference play.
(8) Congrats to Tra Arnold on his first win. It is not easy to step in for TC and deliver with the expectations that we have.
Lastly, TC if you're reading this, get well. I'm hoping the health issues that you're dealing with aren't serious. We have a while until we start playing our conference games which are important so take your time to get your health in order. These next couple of OOC games will only help the morale and confidence of the team going into conference games, where we need you most. Get better and come back when ready.
If Cluess comes back We can still be special. We are shooting about 30% from 3 and 65% from ft line I think. Cluess will obviously help that, team plays hard , plays D and hustled. Was McNeil there? Don't think Nic leaves but Risto....
Mcneil Played a couple of minutes. Think close game precluded him from playing more.
Think more or less, he was injured and just getting better into the flow of the game. He needs experience to ramp up especially coming from JUCO. Van Eyck is a rarity like Agee from Juco ball to the NCAA where they can come in and play right away.
McNeil will start getting acclimated more shortly. I'm hoping tomorrow we blow out Kennesaw State so he plays more to get use to the speed of the game and athleticism.
IW - needs to be in the starting lineup. After today's game, he looked a lot more comfortable with driving and shooting which I enjoyed watching. He finished the game with 7 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, and 1 turnover while playing 28 minutes. I like those numbers as he's starting to look to drive more. Also, his energy was a lot better today providing a spark in the 2nd Half.
Gist - looked okay today. I like his game in the second half when he started becoming more aggressive going to the hoop and being selective with his 3 point shot. Even though he didn't try to lay the ball up, he opened more lanes while doing it. On another note, please stop shooting half court 3's from the top of the key. They tend to be long rebounds on misses that lead to run out fast-breaks.
Agee - looked solid in my opinion again. 15 pts with 12 rebounds while practically dominating underneath the hoop. We need to start playing through him more. He only had 5 shot attempts on the game which is way lower than what he should have. He decided to shoot a 3 today while open and made it which was a rarity for him this season. He needs to let it fly more often.
Van Eyck - Becoming a solid player. I'm starting to really like his game and hustle. Provided a spark at times when we didn't have one. Good defensive effort and even though he only had 3 points, he provided opportunities for others.
Crawford - Crawford is crawford. Typical stats from him. He needs to get some more rest though as he's playing way too many minutes at the beginning of the season. He played like a true warrior again and I love watching his game develop over these last few years.
Ross - A nice surprise. Although he didn't shoot the ball great going 2-6 and 1-5 from 3, he provided a spark with some of his defensive plays especially battling for rebounds.
Perez - I like his effort on the defensive side of the ball and his hustle plays, but he needs to start knocking down shots. If you just look at the box score, it shows him to be practically non-existent. Although his hustle plays don't show up in the box, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt, but he needs to make shots when he's in the lineup for that outside of his defense.
Thiam and McNeil - I figured that McNeil would play limitedly after not playing in the first couple of games as it was a taste test today. He will eventually ramp up in my opinion with the minutes. Thiam however was nowhere to be found today. Although he only played 6 minutes and had limited opportunities, you can't expect him to do anything with limited playing time. I still hold strong with my opinion on him being in the starting lineup to help Agee, but I'm slowly changing my opinion while watching Van Eyck more and more.
Team Thoughts -
(1) For the love of god, when you can't hit a 3, we need to find other ways to score. I can't remember the exact stat, but in the first half we were like 1-11 or 2-11 from 3 and 7-9 or 6-10 from 2 point range. We need to drive more to the hoop and get to the foul line. We can't keep just throwing up 3's for the hell of it. If they're open that is a different story, but when you're 3-5 feet behind the 3 line with 20+ seconds left on the shot clock, we need to do something different.
(2) We need to start playing through crawford and agee in the half court set. 1-4 offensive scheme in man with Agee setting a pick for IW, if IW can't get in the lane than kick and pop. If zone like today, we need to play high low ball with Crawford and Agee. Crawford gets to the basket a ton drawing fouls. Also, he makes great decisions with the ball by feeding agee. We need to execute better with them two in half court sets.
(3) We need to protect the ball better and limit dumb turnovers. In our most recent games, we go on runs and before we can get over the hump and in the lead, we throw the ball away leading to the change in momentum. We need to protect the ball better.
(4) Ross should be first off the bench when Van Eyck is in the starting lineup at this point with Thiam off the bench after. Ross needs to give Crawford a break as they're similar in size and he can matchup against similar players. After Ross should be Thiam to give our big guys a break with Risto and Nikolic not with the team,. They must be lost at disneyland (GUYF Joke) HAHAHA. If Thiam in the starting lineup which I don't see right now, Van Eyck first off the bench and Ross following.
(5) Second half we played practically a 7-man rotation. That is a hell of a lot of minutes early in the season to cut players out. I think we need to do a better job of mixing up minutes with players to keep them fresh. Towards the end of the game, you could see that Agee was gassed running up and down the floor.
(6) Two missed dunks which occurred at key points in the game. I get the excitement to try and finish strong, but Van Eyck has now missed 2/3 dunk opportunities when layups would have gotten us points. Agee missed a wide open dunk which if converted would have been a huge momentum. We need to make sure we convert of those opportunities as we are having a tough time scoring.
(7) A win is a win. No matter how ugly it looks it still goes down as a W on the schedule. I think the pressure to get the first win will allow players to play better as it plays on the psychological mindset of the players when our expectations are set so high. I'm hoping and thinking that players will start feeling more comfortable with each other and playing more relaxed and better team basketball now with 1 win down.
(8) I think we can assume that we weren't going to get an at large bid this year based upon our OOC schedule at the start of the season. For the next couple of OOC games, let's work out all the kinks in our game to get ready for conference play.
(8) Congrats to Tra Arnold on his first win. It is not easy to step in for TC and deliver with the expectations that we have.
Lastly, TC if you're reading this, get well. I'm hoping the health issues that you're dealing with aren't serious. We have a while until we start playing our conference games which are important so take your time to get your health in order. These next couple of OOC games will only help the morale and confidence of the team going into conference games, where we need you most. Get better and come back when ready.
Rant/book over
-88
Wow. while some of this I agree with. Allot of these are head-scratchers. Van Eyck's minutes were limited because he did not play well. Period. Although it doesn't show up in the statistics, the second half minutes logged by Ross were the most important. He turned around the game with his effort and intelligence. Forget about the minutes. Non-issue. Except for this weekend we are playing every 10 to 14 days. Not once did Crawford looked gassed tonight and when Agee was gassed he came out. This is a complete non-issue, and besides, get used to it. Crawford will log allot of minutes all year. If we can't hit 3's we won't win. I am VERY confident the 3's will eventually fall. Thiam came out because he did not play defense on a couple of plays. Exactly what Cluess would have done. Tra looked allot more relaxed tonight and seemed to have the team's attention. This is a good sign if we have to go without Cluess for a while more. IMO the biggest keys in the early season are IW improving and Gist getting back to where he was at towards the end of last season. The rest will take time but should sort itself out.
IW - needs to be in the starting lineup. After today's game, he looked a lot more comfortable with driving and shooting which I enjoyed watching. He finished the game with 7 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, and 1 turnover while playing 28 minutes. I like those numbers as he's starting to look to drive more. Also, his energy was a lot better today providing a spark in the 2nd Half.
Gist - looked okay today. I like his game in the second half when he started becoming more aggressive going to the hoop and being selective with his 3 point shot. Even though he didn't try to lay the ball up, he opened more lanes while doing it. On another note, please stop shooting half court 3's from the top of the key. They tend to be long rebounds on misses that lead to run out fast-breaks.
Agee - looked solid in my opinion again. 15 pts with 12 rebounds while practically dominating underneath the hoop. We need to start playing through him more. He only had 5 shot attempts on the game which is way lower than what he should have. He decided to shoot a 3 today while open and made it which was a rarity for him this season. He needs to let it fly more often.
Van Eyck - Becoming a solid player. I'm starting to really like his game and hustle. Provided a spark at times when we didn't have one. Good defensive effort and even though he only had 3 points, he provided opportunities for others.
Crawford - Crawford is crawford. Typical stats from him. He needs to get some more rest though as he's playing way too many minutes at the beginning of the season. He played like a true warrior again and I love watching his game develop over these last few years.
Ross - A nice surprise. Although he didn't shoot the ball great going 2-6 and 1-5 from 3, he provided a spark with some of his defensive plays especially battling for rebounds.
Perez - I like his effort on the defensive side of the ball and his hustle plays, but he needs to start knocking down shots. If you just look at the box score, it shows him to be practically non-existent. Although his hustle plays don't show up in the box, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt, but he needs to make shots when he's in the lineup for that outside of his defense.
Thiam and McNeil - I figured that McNeil would play limitedly after not playing in the first couple of games as it was a taste test today. He will eventually ramp up in my opinion with the minutes. Thiam however was nowhere to be found today. Although he only played 6 minutes and had limited opportunities, you can't expect him to do anything with limited playing time. I still hold strong with my opinion on him being in the starting lineup to help Agee, but I'm slowly changing my opinion while watching Van Eyck more and more.
Team Thoughts -
(1) For the love of god, when you can't hit a 3, we need to find other ways to score. I can't remember the exact stat, but in the first half we were like 1-11 or 2-11 from 3 and 7-9 or 6-10 from 2 point range. We need to drive more to the hoop and get to the foul line. We can't keep just throwing up 3's for the hell of it. If they're open that is a different story, but when you're 3-5 feet behind the 3 line with 20+ seconds left on the shot clock, we need to do something different.
(2) We need to start playing through crawford and agee in the half court set. 1-4 offensive scheme in man with Agee setting a pick for IW, if IW can't get in the lane than kick and pop. If zone like today, we need to play high low ball with Crawford and Agee. Crawford gets to the basket a ton drawing fouls. Also, he makes great decisions with the ball by feeding agee. We need to execute better with them two in half court sets.
(3) We need to protect the ball better and limit dumb turnovers. In our most recent games, we go on runs and before we can get over the hump and in the lead, we throw the ball away leading to the change in momentum. We need to protect the ball better.
(4) Ross should be first off the bench when Van Eyck is in the starting lineup at this point with Thiam off the bench after. Ross needs to give Crawford a break as they're similar in size and he can matchup against similar players. After Ross should be Thiam to give our big guys a break with Risto and Nikolic not with the team,. They must be lost at disneyland (GUYF Joke) HAHAHA. If Thiam in the starting lineup which I don't see right now, Van Eyck first off the bench and Ross following.
(5) Second half we played practically a 7-man rotation. That is a hell of a lot of minutes early in the season to cut players out. I think we need to do a better job of mixing up minutes with players to keep them fresh. Towards the end of the game, you could see that Agee was gassed running up and down the floor.
(6) Two missed dunks which occurred at key points in the game. I get the excitement to try and finish strong, but Van Eyck has now missed 2/3 dunk opportunities when layups would have gotten us points. Agee missed a wide open dunk which if converted would have been a huge momentum. We need to make sure we convert of those opportunities as we are having a tough time scoring.
(7) A win is a win. No matter how ugly it looks it still goes down as a W on the schedule. I think the pressure to get the first win will allow players to play better as it plays on the psychological mindset of the players when our expectations are set so high. I'm hoping and thinking that players will start feeling more comfortable with each other and playing more relaxed and better team basketball now with 1 win down.
(8) I think we can assume that we weren't going to get an at large bid this year based upon our OOC schedule at the start of the season. For the next couple of OOC games, let's work out all the kinks in our game to get ready for conference play.
(8) Congrats to Tra Arnold on his first win. It is not easy to step in for TC and deliver with the expectations that we have.
Lastly, TC if you're reading this, get well. I'm hoping the health issues that you're dealing with aren't serious. We have a while until we start playing our conference games which are important so take your time to get your health in order. These next couple of OOC games will only help the morale and confidence of the team going into conference games, where we need you most. Get better and come back when ready.
Rant/book over
-88
Wow. while some of this I agree with. Allot of these are head-scratchers. Van Eyck's minutes were limited because he did not play well. Period. Although it doesn't show up in the statistics, the second half minutes logged by Ross were the most important. He turned around the game with his effort and intelligence. Forget about the minutes. Non-issue. Except for this weekend we are playing every 10 to 14 days. Not once did Crawford looked gassed tonight and when Agee was gassed he came out. This is a complete non-issue, and besides, get used to it. Crawford will log allot of minutes all year. If we can't hit 3's we won't win. I am VERY confident the 3's will eventually fall. Thiam came out because he did not play defense on a couple of plays. Exactly what Cluess would have done. Tra looked allot more relaxed tonight and seemed to have the team's attention. This is a good sign if we have to go without Cluess for a while more. IMO the biggest keys in the early season are IW improving and Gist getting back to where he was at towards the end of last season. The rest will take time but should sort itself out.
I can see what you mean with regards to some of your points, I'll disagree with others.
(1) EJ definitely looked tired. Although he hit that 3 at the end, he still shot 1-7 from 3 and 5-15 in the game. It was evident at certain points. You state that the minutes are a non-issue but I disagree. When you run and gun like we do and play full court press the majority of the game, players get tired. This isn't a video game where they drink some gatorade and get a full burst of energy.
(2) I can agree with you with Van Eyck on points. It wasn't his best showing, and he did play poorly at times, he did play hard on the defensive side of the ball which resulted in a steal and a block. He also altered a ton of shots by his aggressiveness.
(3) I agree with you on Ross. I didn't say he didn't play well. In fact, I said the opposite "Although he didn't shoot the ball great going 2-6 and 1-5 from 3, he provided a spark with some of his defensive plays especially battling for rebounds."
(4) I disagree on the 3's argument. We take a ton of them which could be a good thing or a bad thing. It has played into our downfall at certain times during the past couple of seasons. So far this season, we haven't been able to shoot it effectively from 3, so maybe we might to switch it up some which would result in less 3's more driving.
(5) I can agree with your point on Thiam. He didn't play defense on some plays, but does this mean he doesn't play the rest of the game? I remember in the past he would sit them for a few plays unless they were really in the dog house. Thiam had a nice showing at Ohio which demonstrated some of his capabilities. It's not like we're a superior defensive team. If you really want to go into depth on our defensive schemes, we can find tons of holes. If Stetson could actually shoot the ball tonight, we would've been in serious trouble as they had a ton of open looks.
(6) Final point. I agree that Gist is starting to come around like last season form and IW is improving. I'm just very critical of Gist's game, because I saw what he did to UNC and when he's play tougher teams, he plays at an elevated level. He has a great stroke from the outside with great ball handling skills. I just want to see him drive more and not be so reliant on the 3 because at times he makes it look so easy to get the hole.