I don't doubt that Pikiell has a ton of basketball knowledge. But he also should not be beyond reproach.
Besides the obvious questions regarding substitution patterns and game-planning, I have to wonder if he's inside his own head. Will Brown obviously sold his team on the fact that SBU folds under pressure. And we were kind enough to oblige.
We could have used Mitchell to force them to close out on a shooter, then get it into McGrew (who was playing great) or Warney. Instead, with Jackson and Coley off their games, we let Albany off the ropes by running the shot-clock down and ask them to shoot jumpers. Alternatively, we could have run inside out, instead of having Warney/McAlister at the top of the key, keep them in the paint, run backscreens, and get open looks that way. Pick and rolls with a PF doesn't work, especially not when everyone knows its coming.
Also, defensively, Coley should've been on Hooley the whole game, keeping Puriefoy on Evans. Instead, the constant shuffling led to open shots. This happened a ton against Vermont too.
Honestly, I think we have better athletes than any other team in the AEast. But Vermont is more technically sound, and Albany is more mentally sound. When the dust settles, we ended up where we should have, losing in the finals. Only I would've expected us to lose @ Patrick instead of Pritchard.
*This rant was brought to you by Section 102 and entirely way too much NyQuil...
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