Tulsa Preview and Game Thread -- 12/5/2023

[bmh_twosix]

I’d like to see Dawson get way more minutes and way more plays drawn up for him after this performance. Obviously won’t be this hot all the time. But I’d rather the upside to what Dolan/Mwamba seem to bring to the table.

[Rambler88]

Too many unforced errors. Too bad we wasted a great night from Dawson.

[goramblers2011]

Positives:

-Jayden. Dawson. Sheesh. He should be playing as many minutes as anyone on this squad. We got a good core for the future with him, Rubin & Watson.

-Team continued to fight. Got down big and didn't just lay down. Last year, we got our doors blown off by a bad Tulsa team and didn't really fight.

Negatives:

-This is a first year head coach with a team of newcomers. They dropped games to Arkansas Little Rock and Oral Roberts. Winning on the road is tough. But this is a game we should have won.

-Momentum after a three game winning stream and a big win of Harvard is dead.

-20 turnovers. We tried getting in a track meet and got completely outgunned. Braden led the way with 5 of them. Can't have that from your starting PG (feel like we have said that a million times).

-If Sheldon isn't hitting his 3s (he wasn't today), he is a net negative. Not a great defender and doesn't do a ton of ball.

-Where was Mwamba? Did he get hurt?

Guess we are what we are at this point. Think best case scenario ceiling for this squad is a .500 finish in thr A10. And that'll take a lot going right for us.

[JC64]

Disgusting .

[m52]

This team is a one step forward (Harvard), two steps back team. Will be lucky to be out of the bottom 4 in the A10.

[goodknight]

Our first real road game this year. Dawson was lights out for the Ramblers from the three range. Four players from Tulsa made at least 2 three balls. Another 4 made one. If we defended the three ball better we actually could have won this game. Need better ball control. Both teams were sloppy with turnovers, but we were worse. On the road that is deadly. Want to see Alston better than 2-6 at the free throw line when he attacks the boards.

[JCT]

We can't let other teams dictate tempo. We have no business trying to run and play faster than high major teams, especially on their own court. Lazy passing let to 8 steals in the 2nd half alone. Besides Dawson, we shot 38%, which isn't going to win too many games. And we put them on the FT line 33 times, and had really bad starts to both halves.

[Cruyff]

Ramblers lose to a team that lights it up from 3 (nothing new), Ramblers turn the ball over 20 times (nothing new), and Ramblers foul at a significantly higher rate than the opponent leading to a big discrepancy in FTAs (nothing new). The good thing is that if The Loyola University cleans up 1 of 3, the Ramblers are in the game. If TLU cleans up 2 of 3, then the Ramblers typically will beat teams like Tulsa and remain in the Top 100 NET and Top 100 Ken Pom rankings. If The Loyola University cleans up 3 of 3, then the Ramblers compete with anyone in the country. I'm an old guy who went to school when The Loyola University had good teams that could compete with anyone. I know national championships for under-funded Jesuit schools happen at intervals less frequently than lunar eclipses. Therefore, I love it when the Ramblers are relevant. The Loyola University has been relevant in the '60s, early '70s, early '80s, and late '20-teens. This is the first period in my adult life where The Loyola University is funding the program at an unthinkable level compared to past history. I desire that The Loyola University can develop into a consistent national brand that can get on the big stage regularly and that the Ramblers are interesting nationally. I believe that helps the profile of the beloved University adjacent to the sparkling lake in a world-class city.

[ahunte1]

We can't let other teams dictate tempo.

This is what's frustrating to me with a pretty experienced team. The mad scramble never works for us, so why are we letting teams speed us up?

[Hitaputt]

Well coached teams know that if they are patient and run screens they will get a mismatch, a foul or an open look against the Ramblers. This has been a characteristic of Drew's defense since Lucas and Aher left. I don't know why he hasen't grown tired of getting lit up and tried something else.

Well coached teams know that if they defend us hard for 10-15 secs we will grow impatient and go one on one, try an ill advised pass or launch a defended shot. This has been a feature of Drew's Offense since Lucas and Aher left. I don't know why he hasn't grown tired of the turnovers and the one on one play. For the past year I have been thinking that Alston could be a superstar once he learned to play inside the system, for whatever reason he won't do it consistently.

IMO, mid-majors like Loyola have to win through excellent, disciplined execution on both ends of the court. It is hard to recruit a team full of athletes that can consistently win one on ones and make contested shots. Unfortunately those 5 stars go to Power Teams so we have to win differently. I don't understand why Drew can't get the team to play more disciplined or chooses not to. Maybe he is overestimating his talent, but something has to give. We can't keep getting our asses kicked. Especially with a roster that appears to be more talented than most that I have seen in my 30+ years of watching.