Few Thoughts:
1. Can you play better and still lose by almost 20? Yes. We had a season low in TOs and probably in fouls as well. You would think we would have been right in the game, but we weren't. Why? Keep reading.
2. Shooting. We got plenty of inside looks and shots in the paint that didn't go. Our three inside scorers were 5-20.Alston was 4-13, Golden was 0-4, and Welch was 1-3. It appeared there may have been a couple of non-calls, but 5-20 doesn't cut it. Overall, we were 19-48 from the floor. We had only 4 less shots than SLU. So, 39% with the big three and rest of the team shot 14-28 or 50%. Some of the misses included layups by Quinn, Quise, Norris. We shot the three well, 8-18 or 44%. We left some points at the FT line going 13-20 for 65%. Alston was rough going 6-12 frim the line. We took some extremely quick shots that allowed SLU to get out in transition for some easy open looks. I will get to our defense next, but the culprit tonight was poor shooting from 2 where, despite everything, we normally are solid.
3. Defense was nice for first 10 or 12 Minutes of the game and then got worse. Second half was not good at all. This includes some sloppy work on the defensive glass. We are terrible playing screen roll. We consistently go underneath the screen and our defender guarding the screener just does not show to stop the dribbler. SLU was consistently coming off screen and doing one of 2 things. First they would penetrate a dribble or two, elevate and shoot an open 10 or 12 footer. The second thing they would do is to either stop and shoot or flatten out a bit and shoot the 3. These shots were basically uncontested. Now, you have to credit SLU. They were really coming tight off the screen there was no space for a defender to get through. This is a well coached team. We never adjusted. I have already mentioned the defensive glass.
4. I know we had some injuries, but I was actually OK with the new starting lineup. It's obvious that Quise is not physically right . They have been managing his minutes the whole year. I like Quinn starting with Norris. It gives us a bigger 2 guard. When Quise gets back, pair him Dawson when he gets back. Each freshman thus has a veteran guard and it gives you chance to rest Norris. I also like Welch, Jermil on the second grouping. It gives us more offense with either Alston or Ben.
5. We are not mentally strong as a group. We are like the dog that has been kicked too much. We normally start out in good shape. Once the other team punches back and gets into the game, we start to really decline. It's as if we are waiting for bad things to happen to us. Once we get to this point, we start to dribble too much and we don't move the ball or our bodies.
6. DREW MUST STOP TALKING AFTER THE GAMES. His comments are not painting him in good light. I get he's a young passionate guy, but he's also frustrated and it comes out. He's also too truthful. He should have played Quise off and said he tweaked his leg and we will know more tomorrow. Coach speak 101. His other comments should have been we made good progress with TOs and Fouls, but we just didn't shoot well tonight and we did better on defense, but need to clean up some stuff still. Bam, 45 seconds and get out!
7. The team looked like they were into the game while it was close they were excited. This is a good sign.
8. Miles Rubin was at the game. He's probably thinking he will be a starter next year if he stays with us. He would be correct.
9. The conference season is a bust. These games are now nothing more than exhibitions and practice to get ready for the A10 tournament. Keep getting better, scratch out a few wins and let's be dangerous in March.
Last edited by Mudville21 on Thu Jan 19, 2023 9:48 am, edited 3 times in total.
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