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Post by mattg on Jan 25, 2023 7:21:03 GMT -6
I agree, the sky isn’t falling. The talent gap in our conference is not as wide as we think (NIU beating Kent is a good example). But the effort gap between teams can be big…overall for a season and game by game. Our coach needs to needs to fix some things for us to improve effort and he seems to acknowledge that. I think we are talented enough to beat anyone in our conference, but lack of effort or focus makes all of that talent obsolete.
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Post by dc5525 on Jan 25, 2023 7:31:43 GMT -6
This loss will sting awhile. Only positive is that if we are going through a bit of meltdown, now is the time for that to happen as we have a month left in the season to respond and re-set. Coleman continues to impress but he can't do it by himself. A few of the stats that are alarming: Sparks only 2 rebounds. As a team we got outrebounded by 40-26. Our bench had nine poiints.
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Post by cardfan on Jan 25, 2023 8:00:57 GMT -6
This loss will sting awhile. Only positive is that if we are going through a bit of meltdown, now is the time for that to happen as we have a month left in the season to respond and re-set. Coleman continues to impress but he can't do it by himself. A few of the stats that are alarming: Sparks only 2 rebounds. As a team we got outrebounded by 40-26. Our bench had nine poiints. Coleman scored well last night, but, the early turnovers were deadly. Lewis mentioned that winning masks deficiencies and losing over exposes them. Truth. We lack a lot, but, we can also have enough to get the ship righted and get out of this funk. I suspect that Lewis might adjust the lineup and rotation a bit because the leadership and composure has disappeared. Woof, he says even going 5 on zero in practice they can't make 70% of their shots and said he was dead serious about that. He's not happy UB hit 69%. This team is challenged offensively and now the defense is failing. We've all seen us miss lay up after lay up and shots that appear to be good shots and suddenly we're getting beat off the dribble on d. Lewis is flat pissed. Just need to work through it and relocate the mojo. |
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Post by 00hmh on Jan 25, 2023 8:15:57 GMT -6
Loved the press conference. I have faith in coach. basically, "we got punched in the mouth right away and didn't respond and worked too hard this season to play like shit like that in front of the home crowd." Straight talker and the guys need to dig in and get tougher now. The hard part has begun and they need to respond. Anybody knew from preseason that we could have trouble against big and physical teams. Nobody thought we'd have depth up front.
You did not need a PHD in BB to see how we lost, nor is there a simple answer. Everything gets exaggerated in games like this. Fact remains we are not close enough to Kent to beat them without an extraordinary game, and we are in a second tier with 3 other teams as good. The rest of the MAC as is usual can play their best and beat about any other team on their home court or when they shoot lights out.
Against Western we survived because they could not shoot. And we played very tough down the stretch. We've played the last two teams who were always going to be tough for us to match up and both shot well. In neither were we sharp.
This is not good news but also not as bad as it feels either. We have talent, but not enough on the bench, and are a team that needs to play extremely hard to offset size. Lewis has managed to get that done most games. We can play better, will win some games we should not, but no doubt lose some more we think we should not.
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Post by 00hmh on Jan 25, 2023 8:29:28 GMT -6
I agree, the sky isn’t falling. The talent gap in our conference is not as wide as we think (NIU beating Kent is a good example). But the effort gap between teams can be big…overall for a season and game by game. Our coach needs to needs to fix some things for us to improve effort and he seems to acknowledge that. I think we are talented enough to beat anyone in our conference, but lack of effort or focus makes all of that talent obsolete. Good point above that MAC teams have enough talent on a given night to put together a game and beat each other up. If Kent brings their A game, we probably can't beat them, yet we saw them play a team that really controlled them on a bad night. Most others we can match if both bring good games.
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Post by cardfan on Jan 25, 2023 8:47:34 GMT -6
I still think we'll finish around .500 in MAC play. Hopefully that'll be good enough for top 4 after all the dust has cleared. Top 4 would be a nice finish and we could feel decent about the MAC tourney. HAVE to beat all the directional Michigans and NIU to get there. We won't beat UT or Akron again. Definitely won't beat Kent. That'll be 6 losses total right there. Teams with athletic, long, physical guards are just better than we are. We appear to be a 17-20 win team at this point, maybe 9-11/11-9ish in conference.
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Post by bsu1 on Jan 25, 2023 9:56:10 GMT -6
Based on recent games, of our 5 starters, supringly Sparks has been our least effective. I never envisioned last year's MAC player of the year would only get 5 shots, 2 rebounds, and 2 for 10 from the line.
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Post by cardfan on Jan 25, 2023 10:36:56 GMT -6
Based on recent games, of our 5 starters, supringly Sparks has been our least effective. I never envisioned last year's MAC player of the year would only get 5 shots, 2 rebounds, and 2 for 10 from the line. One of the things Lewis said is shots aren't counted if you are fouled while missing the shot, so he's taking more shots (and missing them) they just don't count in the stats. Sparks needs to get his ass going. |
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Post by coastalcard on Jan 25, 2023 10:42:36 GMT -6
In round numbers vs last year, Sparks is averaging one less shot per game one less rebound per game and one more FT per game
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Post by 00hmh on Jan 25, 2023 10:49:33 GMT -6
Based on recent games, of our 5 starters, supringly Sparks has been our least effective. I never envisioned last year's MAC player of the year would only get 5 shots, 2 rebounds, and 2 for 10 from the line. One of the things Lewis said is shots aren't counted if you are fouled while missing the shot, so he's taking more shots (and missing them) they just don't count in the stats. Sparks needs to get his ass going. Being marked man is freaking him out. He gets through this, is the biggest issue.
He is actually good enough on skill handling the double with passing, can improve decisions when to go up strong and when hesitation clears somebody for a pass out. Strength and skill and reflexes aren't going to change quickly, that may all be better in a year, but painful experience helps right now. He's getting plenty of that.
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Post by cardfan on Jan 25, 2023 11:08:55 GMT -6
One of the things Lewis said is shots aren't counted if you are fouled while missing the shot, so he's taking more shots (and missing them) they just don't count in the stats. Sparks needs to get his ass going. Being marked man is freaking him out. He gets through this, is the biggest issue.
He is actually good enough on skill handling the double with passing, can improve decisions when to go up strong and when hesitation clears somebody for a pass out. Strength and skill and reflexes aren't going to change quickly, that may all be better in a year, but painful experience helps right now. He's getting plenty of that.
Lewis said coach Gudino is working with Sparks on how to handle double teams and it's a work in progress. I like the specific coaching these guys are getting. |
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Post by villagepub on Jan 25, 2023 11:58:33 GMT -6
Can't guard, can't pass, can't rebound, can't shoot. Can't move our feet on offense or defense. Are we hitting that traditional time of the year, "The February Fade", a two weeks early this year? Our we not in condition to execute and compete for a full 5-6 month season? |
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Post by JacksonStreetElite on Jan 25, 2023 12:04:43 GMT -6
We’re entering into the easiest stretch we’re going to see this season. Gotta make hay while the sun shines and hope we are clicking on all fires when we hit those last four games.
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Post by cardfan on Jan 25, 2023 12:42:32 GMT -6
Can't guard, can't pass, can't rebound, can't shoot. Can't move our feet on offense or defense. Are we hitting that traditional time of the year, "The February Fade", a two weeks early this year? Our we not in condition to execute and compete for a full 5-6 month season? IMO we are worn out due to lack of depth. They play hard. They get coached hard. We went up against two teams with quick, long, physical guards and we just can't keep them in front of us, we got punched in the mouth, and we folded. I think the WMU game took a lot out of us. A tough game that we really gutted out to finish. Need to get recharged. Lewis alluded to identifying some areas that need addressed in terms of leadership and guys who just aren't holding up their end of the bargain at the moment. Something to work through. Lotta basketball left so we'll see where it goes. |
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Post by prestonp on Jan 25, 2023 12:43:24 GMT -6
It is so good to hear a real coach talk about his team and his expectations in that postgame. IMO that was our best highlight of the evening. If we can be top four it is going to take a lot more work than the last three games have showed.
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