Game #16: St Louis - Tuesday Jan 7 @ 7pm ET

Iggy1979 · Unread post by **Iggy1979** » 10 years ago

Jett won that game single handedly. Gotta tip my hat. Best player on the court tonight.

rambone 78 · Unread post by **rambone 78** » 10 years ago

These are the kind of games that we have to win, especially at home, to get to where we want to go in the future.

I will say though, that we are getting closer and closer. Just have to learn how to finish.

We can't get in a position where the refs can take it away from us. Because they will, more often than not.

BAR, our lack of frontcourt depth is a killer. It cost us tonight, and will again a few more times this year.

Another big man or two would be HUGE. And boy, do we need another X next year!!!!!

rambone 78 · Unread post by **rambone 78** » 10 years ago

EC is going to win a lot of close games for us. That much is certain.

He sees the floor. The only one who can on this team right now.

Hopefully he'll have the ball in his hands the next time we need points in crunch time.

SmartyBarrett · Unread post by **SmartyBarrett** » 10 years ago

I think a lot of folks are screaming foul because they called a ticky-tack one on Jett 50 seconds earlier. If they don't make that call, the no-call doesn't look as bad IMO.

Unread post by **TruePoint** » 10 years ago

ace wrote:

I think this sums it up pretty well.

I understand immediate reaction, but if anyone's eventual takeaway from this game is all or even mostly negative, I don't get that at all.

Coach Hurley took the words out of my mouth. Was saying the same thing earlier in this thread. A little frustrating to lose a game at the end, but in the big picture I can't see how anyone couldn't be encouraged. I think to the extent there is any negativity tonight it is just a visceral reaction to losing. There will always be things to knit pick, even after wins, but the list of knit picks is shrinking.

seanmc94 · Unread post by **seanmc94** » 10 years ago

lot of positives.

Martin is a player. Hard to believe he's as young as he is.

Same with EC.

Big O knows his role and does it very well. Even looks like he's improved his stroke from the line.

Birutas looks like he's getting healthy.

Offense has a lot more flow to it.

URI got boned at the end. The announcer nailed it. He said you cant give all teh contact calls to Jett on one end and not call the exact same thing you just whistled 5 seconds ago.

really like URIs back court

section(105) · Unread post by **section(105)** » 10 years ago

Disappointed we could not have defended better their play to close out the half. They must have run that before and maybe had our kids more ready for an obvious called play coming out of TO with like 3 seconds left......excellent coaching by Jim Crews......

Shinze88 · Unread post by **Shinze88** » 10 years ago

lots of good points being made here but I refuse to blame the officials for this loss.
we were once again our own worst enemy tonight. I love the progress this team is making but we need to learn how to finish games

It looked like X was trying to get fouled instead of trying to score in that last possession.
Id be much more upset with this loss if we had post season aspirations.

Team is improving nicely..onto the nezt game

BPR2010 · Unread post by **BPR2010** » 10 years ago

My biggest issue with tonight was the in-game adjustment with Jett. When you have an opponent playing as well as he was tonight, you NEED to put your best defender on him. Every possession. TJ was in for a good amount of time and limited him. However, the flood gates opened once TJ went out with 5 and change left. Breather or not, Jett didn't take a seat that entire half. To me, that's the difference in this game. We had no answer for a guy who's a good player, but not elite. Especially with their true offensive threat, Evans, out for 8+ minutes in foul trouble. Also, going to a zone for one possession with a 50-49 lead was a head scratcher as well.

That being said, we hung and should've beaten a surefire tournament team tonight. Looking back at November and December, improvements have been made and it seems like Dan finally has a core group that have assumed their roles well. Would love to see EC, not X, with the ball at the end there however. Kid is a special player and the future of this team. From me, just looking forward to Barclays and hopefully seeing this team get hot for a weekend in Brooklyn. I do have more confidence in that now.

section(105) · Unread post by **section(105)** » 10 years ago

Heard in the pregame Alum room, regarding Hare, Coach Carr, " we/re not concerned about a kid that took a tax payer scholarship and left us high and dry......"

rambone 78 · Unread post by **rambone 78** » 10 years ago

Well, we're probably not going Dancing this year anyway [unless we sweep thru the Barclay's, which I guess could happen if we keep improving].

But still a tough game to lose. I want us to finally start winning these types of games. I know we will. It takes time I know, it's coming....

But still......

2010, yes we needed TJ in there, not JR. He wasn't out that long, but just long enough. Somebody ask Dan about that.

Iggy1979 · Unread post by **Iggy1979** » 10 years ago

section(105) wrote:Disappointed we could not have defended better their play to close out the half. They must have run that before and maybe had our kids more ready for an obvious called play coming out of TO with like 3 seconds left......excellent coaching by Jim Crews......

One of the assistants drew up the play

rambone 78 · Unread post by **rambone 78** » 10 years ago

Guess that answers the questions about Hare. He's done. Hopefully no APR issues because of it.

If we had him, we would probably be at least an NIT team this year, the way we're improving.

I know, woulda, shoulda.....pisses me off now. Now I think it was more than just family issues that made him leave.

Couldn't hack it here, for whatever reason. Dan doesn't want that type here, anyway.

hrstrat57 · Unread post by **hrstrat57** » 10 years ago

Jett was a beast....

Rack attack.....

ram1980 · Unread post by **ram1980** » 10 years ago

Another bummer loss.. The rides home to Cumberland are becoming longer with the close but no cigar..Hopefully some day the tide will turn. A loss is a loss period.. Great effort 2nd half.. Another missed free throw at the end hurt.. No way ref was going to call that foul on Jett.. If X drove to the hoop maybe, but he was heading to the sidelines.. Jett was attacking the rim on his foul.. Big difference at the end of the game.. Speaking of Jett averaging 10 a game, career high 19.. There had to be a better way to defend him.. Oh well at least I got a big smooch from my honey on the kiss cam way back in sec 306!!! Yeah!!

Iggy1979 · Unread post by **Iggy1979** » 10 years ago

Giving the ball to X and telling him to run with it is not a play. A play would include a pick and/or pass. X ended up double teamed 30 feet from the basket with no good options.

URIGONZO · Unread post by **URIGONZO** » 10 years ago

I went to the game tonight, you could have heard a pin drop in there most of the night.

I agree that the team is improving, especially EC. He is going to be our best player since Tyson Wheeler. I saw some comments about needling another big and missing Hare or Aaman and I disagree. We needed someone who could stop Jett. Nobody on our team could stop his penetration. I don't think a big is the answer to that. Iffy played GREAT D tonight.

The refs always suck, you can't blame a loss on the refs.

hrstrat57 · Unread post by **hrstrat57** » 10 years ago

Here's the 57 - 57 three....

Picasa has gone to google plus, gonna take me some time to perfect the workflow....more tomorrow I hope busy day tho, do my best....

Stroke:

and boom:

RhowdyRam02 · Unread post by **RhowdyRam02** » 10 years ago

Watched the Munford play at the end a few more times and it's such a fine line. With the way the game had been called it should have been called. But it was such an overreaction to the contact that instead of drawing the refs attention to the bump it probably made the ref think that the contact was lighter than it really was, especially in that situation when everyone in the building knows the play is to try and get to the line. The ref is probably thinking at that point that if Munford was really fouled he wouldn't have needed to react in that way, he would have gone down or lost the ball more naturally. Still very frustrating though considering the calls Jett was getting and how often you see similar plays get whistles.

ram1980 · Unread post by **ram1980** » 10 years ago

We still need someone who can penetrate and score, get fouled or dish off.. How many times did we get into the lane and lose the ball, or throw up a wild shot. Point guard is a must get.. Matthews looks like the real deal and Martin is getting better.. Going to need someone to get them the ball.. One more big is needed too.. We will miss X big time next year..

URIGONZO · Unread post by **URIGONZO** » 10 years ago

1980 I thought Reischel would be that guy at the beginning of the year, now I am not so sure.

section(105) · Unread post by **section(105)** » 10 years ago

Quite a shopping list ya got going there.....

rambone 78 · Unread post by **rambone 78** » 10 years ago

Gonzo, that's what happens when there's no students there.

There would have been close to 6000 tonight with them, and much louder.

Might have made the difference.

ram1980 · Unread post by **ram1980** » 10 years ago

Reischel did a great job getting to the lane multiple times, but he can't finish.. He hit 1 layup and had numerous poor shots without drawing any contact. He seems to have some ability, but confidence level seems low... Was hoping the spurt in 1st half against LSU would get him going, but right back to tentative on his shots tonight.

rambone 78 · Unread post by **rambone 78** » 10 years ago

The shopping list isn't as long as previously thought, but a few more pieces are indeed needed.

EC may end up being the PG after all. Depends on who Dan can or can't get.

We need at least two more guys who can shoot, a wing and a SG.

After all, can't win close games consistently unless we have those types of guys.

EC needs help. I'm not giving up on Biggie, but his handle and ability to see the floor and get the ball to others in position to score, just isn't there. It's a tough thing to learn.

rodfromcranston · Unread post by **rodfromcranston** » 10 years ago

Back from Kingston.
Well, we sucked in the first half. Missed three free throws, and the offense looked like five guys who met at a pickup game.
Second half looked like the team that beat LSU.
Jett had as good a game against us as I can recall. We could not stop him.
The rest of his team shot 25%!
The bad:
I'm beginning to have a problem with a point guard who can't shoot free throws. This is
Biggie's third mediocre game in a row. Could Powell leaving have caused him to take his foot off the pedal?
Gil, with his usual inability to stay on the floor because of fouls.
Reischel hurt us, with some tentative inside offense.
The good:
Our overall defense.
EC Matthews. Let the kid have more shots. Period.
Munford in the second half.
Martin! I love this kid! He's all over the place, hustling and making a difference that doesn't always show
on the scorebook.
I like that this team is showing some grit, and getting down by 12 to this great defensive team
didn't get them down.
We're here, where we want to be, now. Stop whining about the past games.
Stop whining about Jordan Hare. HE'S GONE. End of story!
Let the A-10 take notice. URI is a team to be reckoned with from here on.

UCH21377 · Unread post by **UCH21377** » 10 years ago

That was a tough one. We played well in the second half; Munford was terrific; he got us back into the game. I thought TJ was stopping Jett before he got pulled; thinking maybe he should have remained in the game, with Minnis on bench. Minnis couldn't stop Jett. Foul shots hurt us badly again. Damn! I thought X was fouled at the end. They were calling them all so why stop then? We really need Biruta to be our third scoring option. Didn't happen tonight. Good news is we were every bit as good as them, and they started 5 seniors.

Billyboy78 · Unread post by **Billyboy78** » 10 years ago

That pic that hrstrat posted up there ^ of Jett driving to the hoop shows what he did on every drive, fend off with his free arm. He could have fouled out on his drives to the basket alone. And yes, he had a great game. If the refs aren't going to call offensive when using your free arm, why stop doing it?

RAM67 · Unread post by **RAM67** » 10 years ago

We arrived at the Ryan about 20 minutes before tip off, and it looked like no one was there. By the 10 minute mark, I was pleasantly surprised by the crowd. It was fairly quiet for most of the first half, and the beginning of the second half, but did pick up nicely for the last 10-12 minutes. Without making a big deal out of it, the refs were not as good as the Saturday group, and in my opinion, probably influenced the outcome of the game.

rambone 78 · Unread post by **rambone 78** » 10 years ago

Rod, agree about Hare. He's done.

Biggie concerns me. He does some good things at times, but kills us with mistakes and missing FT's.

He's not the answer. He's OK, but we need more if we're going to be an NCAA tourney team.

We have some serious talent, just not deep enough or consistent enough on a game by game basis.

EC and Hassan are all set, we know how good they are and will be for the next 3 years. And that's great.

Dan needs to find two or three more just like them. Easier said than done, but I think recruits will start to see how good we can be in the future.

Question: If Dan can't find a PG that can tie this all together, will EC take that role? He's the only guard we have, that can do it all.

eli#10 · Unread post by **eli#10** » 10 years ago

Hate to pick on Biggie and TJ but a good team needs a point who can make a jump shot. TJ is a plus on D put there is no way he can play the point against a good team. He did not do anything against LSU and was not effective tonight running the offense. Nobody plays harder but ......
I thought going to the zone was a good move. Going into the game Jett was shooting 22% on his 3s. Playing that zone you would want him to shoot a 3 and he did but he made it. It was his night.
When we were holding for the last shot Jett committed a stupid foul 40 feet from the basket and he and his team got away with it. Worse case the game should have gone to OT.
Sucks to lose like this.
I did not have good view on the X play but I guess minimal contact does not get called at the end--Bull Shit!!!!!!

rodfromcranston · Unread post by **rodfromcranston** » 10 years ago

You never know where help could come from.
GWU has a post grad transfer named Maurice Creek.
He came from Indiana, where he realized he wasn't going to break the lineup,
and is a major contributor for GW.
Post grads don't have to sit out a year, so they don't have that awful period of adjustment.
We also have the strongman, Earl Watson coming in. A guy who allegedly blocked 42 shots in a high school game.
Key is to replace X and find some front court depth, and another PG.
EC would need to improve his handle to be the PG. I think he's better as a hybrid guard, at least as he is now.

adam914 · Unread post by **adam914** » 10 years ago

Hstrat really nice shots youve posted so far. Well done.

ramfan85 · Unread post by **ramfan85** » 10 years ago

"Hybrid guard", I like it. I also think we need a starting point guard. I don't think Minnis is the answer. We can't have a starting pt. who shoots 55% from the line.
I don't know if EC can be it on a regular basis, either. i'd love to see it, though.
This team has improved leaps and bounds from where we were. But, there are too many missing pieces this year.
Our games are getting too predictable. That is, when Gil gets 2 quick fouls and has to sit, it kills us. When he can play for long periods, he seems to get into a good flow.
Also, it doesn't take a genius to defend us on a last second play.
But, EC and Hassan are making this a lot better than past years.

Any chance we pull Hare's scholarship and get someone who wants to be here?

Obadiah · Unread post by **Obadiah** » 10 years ago

Rhody lost this game with the poor play of the first half with atrocious ball handling and shooting.. Reischel seems a liability on fumbling the ball under the basket. Gil getting into foul trouble was a killer. Again Biggie Minnis' development is key to this season. Unfortunately, he had a bad game. I agree that to be an effective PG, you must have the ability to draw fouls and hit them. It would be also desirable to be a threat to score. Biggie was none of that tonight. But I don't miss Powell.

adam914 · Unread post by **adam914** » 10 years ago

I'm not giving up on Biggie yet. I saw enough glimpses to still think he has a chance to be the PG we need. Let's give him some more time to get some game minutes under his belt.

bigappleram · Unread post by **bigappleram** » 10 years ago

agree that strong PG play is paramount for this team or any team to succeed at this level, EC is too valuable as a scorer and not ready yet to assume the reins.

biggie is wildly inconsistent, needs to bring much more stability and bball IQ to the position. we dont need him to score, 4-5 assists, 4-5 rebounds and 2 steals, hit foul shots at 65% clip, and we can win with that. like an old school carlos easterling stat line would work fine for us at this position.

not sure if it is still rust, or if that is why he was at TT and now is here. still seems 1 step forward, two back, in his game. perhaps for some of these transfers like biggie a full year playing for DH will yield the improvement usually seen between FR and SO years. all i know is right know we dont have much of a choice, so i'm hoping for improvement. in the last 2-3 minutes X and EC can do most of the ball handling, but we need someone to manage the game for the other 38.

SmartyBarrett · Unread post by **SmartyBarrett** » 10 years ago

For what it's worth, Biggie shot 59 percent at the line at TT... 55 percent so far this season.
Not sure he's going to become the FT shooter we all want him to be.

rhodyfan3 · Unread post by **rhodyfan3** » 10 years ago

Biggie scares me when he has the ball. He has awful ball handling. However, He shows glimpses of why he is/should be the PG. He has some no look passes and some great moves inside that makes him look great. I want more of that. That would make us a better team.

neil · Unread post by **neil** » 10 years ago

The view from 205

1. McNamara inferred that it was a small crowd - 4500 on a cold weekday evening, maybe my expectations are not very good, but for the last ten minutes the students were not missed.
2. Kudos to 205, I don't know about the other sections but there was some noise tonight. The guy in front of me finally turned to me and said, "I'm worried about you, you are going to get a heart attack"Heck, it's my therapy.
3. Gil has got to give us more than 21 minutes. When he's not in there, we have no low post options. Yes, iffy played good defense, but playing against one the best defensive teams in the country with only 2 offensive options creates problems. It is to the credit of the team that we went on that 21 to 5 run in the second half.
4. Jett was amazing. When we went zone, we actually played off the guy daring him to shoot. Jett actually didn't want to shoot the three (23%) but he finally took two and drained both.
5. Yes, I thought TJ should have played more in the last part of the game. No one else seemed to be able to stop him.
6. Our turnovers in the first half were so bad. Do we lead the league in unforced turnovers. Coach sat Biggie for a number of minutes in the first half based on his sloppy play.
7. EC is so smooth - played all 40 minutes.
8. Shot selection in the first half - it seemed like we were driving to the basket and throwing it up at the backboard hoping it would go in.
9. If our opponents get a tech - who do you want at the foul line? I'll take the freshman.
10. I know I'm reaching on number ten. But driving home I could not accept the loss. I know we are a young team and things will turn around. When we lost to Stanford years ago, there were posts on the chatboard the next day saying that we still had a good year. Are you kidding? Seconds from the final four! How many of you with 7.5 seconds left thought we were going to win? I'm getting tired of close losses, or maybe I'm just impatient. Find a way to win!
11. Go Rhody! Beat GW!

spookydog · Unread post by **spookydog** » 10 years ago

I think Gilvydas Biruta in Lithuanian means "painfully inconsistent".

scine20 · Unread post by **scine20** » 10 years ago

Was it just me or was the analyst clearly pulling for URI? Maybe it was because he coached Biggie Minnis at Texas Tech but it was fairly obvious who he was rooting for.

Gonebarongone · Unread post by **Gonebarongone** » 10 years ago

Iggy1979 wrote:Giving the ball to X and telling him to run with it is not a play. A play would include a pick and/or pass. X ended up double teamed 30 feet from the basket with no good options.

Right. Frustrating to see the last five possessions. The two off-balance threes, the foul on Jett, the end play on the sidelines, and the drive and dish to EC. X driving the middle, breaking down the defense, and dishing to EC for a three was money. Too many times he lets himself get funneled to the sideline and that is a big time problem in late game sets. The drive to pass to EC is exactly what an end game play should look like. Or, EC driving and breaking things down. Especially with these new hand check rules. Dribbling around the perimeter and hoisting threes just doesn't cut it. We were lucky Gil grabbed one and made a nice play to put it back.
As for the no call on the sideline, I have no problem with it. The foul that put Jett on the line was 100 times worse of a call. He bulled into three guys going straight up and got bailed out. That drives me nuts. The play on the sideline is exactly what you are taught from six year old 27.5 inch ball, eight foot hoop ball. Pin the ball handler to the sideline and eventually the baseline. There was just not a lot of contact and, if anything, X was looking to get bailed out and played it up. Again, the call on Jett was the one that was killer and a bad call.
All in all, more positives than negatives for me. EC is a beast. Loved watching Martin alter/block shots.

rodfromcranston · Unread post by **rodfromcranston** » 10 years ago

Rumor has it that we're in the lead for Jarvis Garrett , a PG from Wisconsin.
Many are calling him the best available PG in the 2014 class.
Problem is,it's a long way until April signing period.
Just watching him on film (everyone looks like a star in these)
he reminds me of Jiggy Williamson.
Exactly what we need.
Again, it seems that since Powell left, Biggie's performance has gone
downhill. Could it be that he feels he's got the job, and is letting up a bit?
I don't see Powell being missed on the court, but I wonder about Biggie
after a string of mediocre games.

Keaney.Blue · Unread post by **Keaney.Blue** » 10 years ago

A little note on the referees - the head ref last night, Ed Corbett, was the same referee that didn't make the call against UNC at the Garden in 2010.

spookydog · Unread post by **spookydog** » 10 years ago

rodfromcranston wrote:I don't see Powell being missed on the court...

I know we won that game, but that LSU game when they were pressing and we couldnt get the ball up the court. Definitely could have used him there. That was painful to watch.

rambone 78 · Unread post by **rambone 78** » 10 years ago

The only thing I'll add to this after the fact is this:

At the end of the game with some time on the clock [like last night] give the ball to EC.

He's a creator. Either he'll get a shot, or get someone else a shot. Nobody else on this team can do that very well.

Teams are waiting for when X gets the ball. Who gives a shit who scores the winning basket or makes the foul shots. The bottom line is EC gives us the best chance to win the game.

That's all that matters.

Unread post by **TruePoint** » 10 years ago

Rod, I don't know that Biggie's problems are due to him letting up. I think that now he is being relied on to handle all the PG duties some of his preexisting flaws are being exposed. He does a few things very well, but he isn't as good of a ball handler or FT shooter as Powell, and not having Powell as an optionhas hurt. Overall, I do think Biggie is a better player but their strengths and weaknesses complimented each other (other than the fact that neither of them are real perimeter shooting threats, unfortunately).

section(105) · Unread post by **section(105)** » 10 years ago

Cha-Cing......another rust reference......

rodfromcranston · Unread post by **rodfromcranston** » 10 years ago

Well, Powell playing virtually zero playing time, before deciding to leave,
tells me Hurley had made his decision. Powell knew it, and was likely told as much.
I doubt Powell would have seen much time for the remainder of the season.