It was like our kids got run over by a truck. The Bonnies just wanted it more. They out hustled us and out fought us for what seemed like every loose ball and opportunity. They increasingly frustrated us as the game wore on. Our body language was as bad as our play. We looked desperate with no answers. I thought Tavon provided us with an offensive spark. When we got it down to 10 it looked like comeback city, but the Bonnies went on an immediate 7-0 run . Plus the Bonnies were relentless and offensively aggressive with their lead which is something we can learn from. A nightmare performance by the Gaels.
We are the Dr. Jeckyll and Mr Hyde of college basketball...We are without doubt one of the best offensive teams, and also without doubt among the worst defensively...To give up over 100 points to a slightly above average team on your home court is disgraceful.
The trance like stance our staff goes into whenever we are met with a run is hard to understand...IMO to much effort is spent on offensive coaching, and very little on defense...In the little time we are allowed at a practice session, I have observed very little time spent teaching it...When is the last time you have seen a Iona player give a aggressive foul. Its as if they have been told not to dare foul out. Unless this mind set changes prepare for a few more disapointments.
Poole once again contributed about 20 minutes of nothing which could have been much more useful in development especially with Robinson, who shows promise...
I have found these words useful and have always helped...''And this to shall pass''
Saw the game live. Overall I think Joebird's comments are really on target. Some additional observations:
1. Defense was horrendous. Primary cause was the failure of Iona's players to stay between their man and the basket. 2. Rebounding was nonexistent for Iona. Hines would have helped, but the rest of the team needed to do a much better job. 3. Iona failed to contest outside shots and waved the Bonnie's past them to basket in the lane. Lots of open looks for the Bonnie's, and they hit them. 4. Between all the shots the Bonnie's hit and their offensive rebounding, Iona was never really able to run. 5. Sledge's defense was terrible, and his offensive game isn't much better. He can't keep his man in front of him on D. Sledge is not our PG, he's a sub, and Gomez (remember him) should be the first PG off the bench if he's healthy. 6. Pool hit one 3 early but he should not be allowed to take an outside shot. We have too many other options that are far better. 7. Team look dazed from the start, like someone just woke them up after a long night out. 8. We were never in this game. 9. Subdued games from Bowman and Laury. 10. Armand had a good game overall, but even he had some inexplicable screw ups. Two horrible air balls. Very unlike him. 11. At different points in the game our guards had a lot of trouble with their handle. 12. The Bonnie's are not terrible, and tonight they out played Iona by a wide margin. They really wanted this game. Iona didn't seem to care. The Bonnie's are a team we should beat. 13. Some positives. Robinson contributed and got some valuable experience. Laury's foul shooting was better.
We'll have a few very bad games each season. This was sure one of them.
Let's hope the team gets their collective heads out of their asses.
ic1983, spot on. just a poor effort today. hard to understand how they came out flat on their home court facing 3 tough OOC games on the road. Big difference going into those games 5-3 instead of 6-2. Anyway, hopefully the team learned they have to play from the opening tip, especially against teams with some length. These next 3 games are going to be very difficult. All of the teams are solid and have a lot of length. The one thing I will take out of this game is Robinson. I know its only one game but for the first time I felt like he played with some confidence and was aggressive at times getting some rebounds and blocks. Iona is going to need Robinson and Hines to continue to develop and contribute some solid minutes. Looking forward to Thursday night at Dayton to see how they respond
A couple of comments on comments. Hines wasn't dressed so that is why he didn't play but this was the perfect game to see if Gomez or Ellis could help, they each should have got minutes. Cluess is very stubborn.
Old timer I love your it shall pass quote, it is so true, and is something everyone should remember who is an avid fan of any team.
Poole I think is a good sixth man if he is never to shoot from outside.
This reminded me of the hofstra game from 2 years ago, except this was at home and fat ass wasn't at the game.
We are the Dr. Jeckyll and Mr Hyde of college basketball...We are without doubt one of the best offensive teams, and also without doubt among the worst defensively...To give up over 100 points to a slightly above average team on your home court is disgraceful.
The trance like stance our staff goes into whenever we are met with a run is hard to understand...IMO to much effort is spent on offensive coaching, and very little on defense...In the little time we are allowed at a practice session, I have observed very little time spent teaching it...When is the last time you have seen a Iona player give a aggressive foul. Its as if they have been told not to dare foul out. Unless this mind set changes prepare for a few more disapointments.
Poole once again contributed about 20 minutes of nothing which could have been much more useful in development especially with Robinson, who shows promise...
I have found these words useful and have always helped...''And this to shall pass''
OT, it appears you were right all along about Poole. His best offensive game was against us last year. Too bad he can't play against our "D" all the time.
Horrible effort all around today. Not much to say that hasn't been pointed out by others already, but in the spirit of keeping tradition alive here are some more observations from being at the game today:
1. Only thing that was more pathetic than the team's performance was the fans' performance today. The student section did a nice job, but Bonnies fans were louder today than our fans have been in any game I can remember in the past few years. The fact that the Bonnies gave their fans more reason to cheer than ours is no excuse in my mind. As always the reserved side was like a morgue. These guys deserve more support, and to be out cheered by the opposing team in your own building is nothing short of an embarassment. We have a D1 program with a D3 fan base.
2. It was clear from the first minute that the Bonnies wanted the game more than our guys did. Hopefully they will learn from this experience that if they don't have fire in their belly every game we will lose to anybody.
3. Sledge by far our best defensive player today but remains a major liability on offense and simply doesn't fit in well in Cluess' system. When he's on the floor it's too easy for the defense to plan against us.
4. Ellis and Gomez clearly in the dog house IMO. Don't believe Gomez's lack of playing time has anything to do with his health at this point. I'm convinced he's simply on coach's shit list, and he's slowly drifting into a Curtis Dennis type situation where he will become a non factor by end of season.
5. Very unimpressed with Isaiah Williams to this point. My read 8 games into the season is that he's talented offensively and his size creates match-up problems, however he's extremely lazy on the defensive end, plays without urgency or passion, is very streaky, and is in outer space 80% of the time. Too many dumb fouls, laziness on defense and lack of passion on the boards. 8 games is a small sample size, but still enough to make a fair assessment that he needs to get his act together if we want to go far this year.
6. Speaking of dumb fouls, DL3 has to be a bit smarter on the defensive end. Picked up his 3rd foul on a reach about 30 feet away from the basket. Needs to know better than that.
7. Although this was clearly AJ's worst game this season (way too many turnovers and defensive lapses), still convinced that he's our #1 option at point guard without a doubt.
8. Our inbounding is a total joke and an embarassment. Seems like it's either a five second violation, an intercepted pass, or a hail mary backcourt pass every time.
9. Think everyone would agree that Poole's role on this team is as a reliable 12-15 minute back-up to spell the starters when needed, and to come in and provide a defensive spark and crash the boards. He's effective in that role, but once he starts taking outside shots and we need to rely on him to step up as a go-to option we're screwed.
10. Bowman needs to be more selfish and we need to run more plays to get him some open looks. Bottom line.
Need to go 2-1 on this road trip to make up for today's disgrace and put us in position to have a respectable resume at end of season.
05, agree with most of what you said, but disagree with #3,4, and 5. (3) thought that Robinson, six rebounds and three blocks in limited PT was our best defensive player, today. In fact someone posted that Sledge played terrible on "D" today. On offense he did have six assists and zero TO's, b/t/w. Of course using best defensive player about an Iona guy is like saying that Guy is the best looking poster on this Board. (4) Don't know how two guys who get next to no PT could get into the coach's dog house. Especially, Grant Ellis who is just starting his college career. I think that TC was just nervous to go with so much inexperience, and being stubborn doesn't help.(5) IW, imo, has always gotten by on talent, but DI bb, is different, and his play reflects someone who is new at his craft. On offense he can always fall back on his shot, but on defense he is lost, and improvement will take time, as I'm sure he wasn't asked to play "D" in HS or JUCO.
And my friend who attended the game with me, thought that SBU didn't miss a shot at the start of the game. So I looked at the Play by Play, and in the first seven minutes, the Bonnies made ten shots and missed four. Unfortunately, their four misses resulted in THREE OFFENSIVE REBOUNDS and ONE STEAL, with all resulting in made baskets. And when we go with one center and four guards we will be killed on the boards if the other team has TWO good BIGS. Doesn't mean we can't win, but have to compensate on the offensive end (and that includes not making a lot of unforced TO's).
05, agree with most of what you said, but disagree with #3,4, and 5. (3) thought that Robinson, six rebounds and three blocks in limited PT was our best defensive player, today. In fact someone posted that Sledge played terrible on "D" today. On offense he did have six assists and zero TO's, b/t/w. Of course using best defensive player about an Iona guy is like saying that Guy is the best looking poster on this Board. (4) Don't know how two guys who get next to no PT could get into the coach's dog house. Especially, Grant Ellis who is just starting his college career. I think that TC was just nervous to go with so much inexperience, and being stubborn doesn't help.(5) IW, imo, has always gotten by on talent, but DI bb, is different, and his play reflects someone who is new at his craft. On offense he can always fall back on his shot, but on defense he is lost, and improvement will take time, as I'm sure he wasn't asked to play "D" in HS or JUCO.
And my friend who attended the game with me, thought that SBU didn't miss a shot at the start of the game. So I looked at the Play by Play, and in the first seven minutes, the Bonnies made ten shots and missed four. Unfortunately, their four misses resulted in THREE OFFENSIVE REBOUNDS and ONE STEAL, with all resulting in made baskets. And when we go with one center and four guards we will be killed on the boards if the other team has TWO good BIGS. Doesn't mean we can't win, but have to compensate on the offensive end (and that includes not making a lot of unforced TO's).
IC, You were right but really wrong about "Don't know how guys who get next to no PT could get into the coach's doghouse". Most of the time that is spent with the coach is at practice. They can "doghouse" themselves there. Also, there may be "off court" issues that occur that we are not privy to.
Time to move on boys. Sometimes these type of losses are a wakeup call to the players and staff. I would rather have it happen now then against a MAAC team. Lets see how the team responds.
I attended the game....bonnies were very big and controlled the boards .....they shot very well....I will give them credit for beating us.....more then us not playing well.......they brought a lot of very vocal fans who were ...well , to be honest , annoying....
Much has been said of ''He is in the doghouse''...To run a sport team or any business with that lurking is one of the major downfalls of that effort...Cluess is a very good coach, but with faults.....It breeds discontent especially among the young who have had little experience with lifes give and take...Along with stubbornness it can lead to leadership trouble...
A little more understanding and effort into that dilemma would lead to a happy ship and many rewards...Young people are resentful of being left out of something they love especially that entails a fleeting 4 years...
Coaches want to, and must win...It is their livelihood...Players want to, and must play...It is their ambition.......A compromise?...Now there's the problem........
It is the exceptional leader that understands this...Life's trials will experience the young.........