Author Topic: Game 15: vs. Maine 1/3  (Read 691 times)

Checkmate

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Re: Game 15: vs. Maine 1/3
« Reply #30 on: January 04, 2018, 11:22:40 am »
I thought during the "Good SBU" stretches they did a nice job of...I guess I'll use the word "establishing" an inside presence first before taking outside shots. As COB noted, I do think we have a platoon of players who can be effective inside (for the AE), Yeboah being the primary force (and I wish Sturdy would plant inside rather than roaming around the 3, which makes me nervous every time he touches the ball). SBU did well the first ten minutes or so running a set offense while appearing to look/throw inside first before kicking out for some open shots.

From where I sit, leadership appears to be lacking. Boals seems to still be experimenting with combinations on the floor, and when a game shifts/goes south as they always will SBU players seem like they look to each other for someone to do something. They toss up 3's hoping a couple will stop the bleeding and they over-rotate on defense leaving guys open for shots. I don't know...I guess this is still a "young" team despite the first-year players not playing much recently? It seems natural that a ball handler should take on a leadership role. We had a pretty long run of Dougher/Coley/Jackson/Tre/Woodhouse players who, better or worse, handled game management. This SBU team has a lot of talented, athletic guards but I don't see anyone taking a leadership role, yet. (note Calixte played all 40 mins for Maine, a steady, aggressive leader all game).

Four obvious candidates in Cornish, UC, Almonacy, Mac. Playing time among this group has fluctuated wildly this season, and I don't know if a platoon of these guys is going to cut it in terms of making a serious run in March. I think someone has to develop or step up as *the* guy to lead the team.

What a wacky ending to this game and a head-scratching loss by UA on the first night (speaking of shooting, Hartford went 50% from the field including 3's and 100% from the foul line). I couldn't keep track of what happened with that potential 5-point play by Maine. I thought the 3-pt shot went up after the whistle, but I guess he was in the process of shooting? I have no idea what happened with the foul call on the opposite side of the shot. Crazy. And then was Calixte tripped at the end or did he just fall down? That 2.5 seconds felt like it lasted two minutes with him weaving through SBU players at breakneck speed.

Based on last night it feels now that even without Lamb UVM will go undefeated in AE, but no doubt things will swing wildly in some other direction in a week. Maybe everyone goes 8-8 this year?

I thought the same thing about Calixte's mad dash at the end – how has the buzzer not sounded?!?!? – but learned afterward that they'd bumped the clock up to 4.2 seconds. There wasn't a lot of contact, but there was enough to make you worry about two free throws at the end to beat us. Calixte's a nice player; we don't have anybody who takes charge like that.

The minutes and substitution patterns have been near impossible to predict. If you take out Yeboah, there really isn't a huge gap in ability from 2 through 8 or 10, but still, it feels like it's a different five on the floor down the stretch of every game. It's almost like a closer-by-committee situation, which always make me uncomfortable.
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Seawolf97

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Re: Game 15: vs. Maine 1/3
« Reply #31 on: January 04, 2018, 11:41:15 am »
Small consolation but UNH lost last night at UMBC  .   I kind of see our team right now as group of guys showing to play in the gym with no real leadership and no real hussle.  I am concerned about our new guys  with the exception of Cornish and maybe Olaniy  there isn't much motivation .