Conference thread

3rdShayCripSet said:
If this team with all its returning pieces and heralded transfers can't get it done with Schmidt this year, there's no reason to think he will ever get it done again in this new age
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Im not ready to get this doom and gloom just yet. Continuity isn’t created equal. We returned 6 guys, but from a team that finished 14-18 in the worst A10 in years, if not ever.

The biggest hesitancy preseason, was that the jury was still out on how good our returners were. Flowers is well rounded, but the rest have at least one glaring weakness.

In other words, I don’t see it as impossible that in the near future we return 3-4 key pieces from much better team than last years, with 2 big transfers, putting us in a position to succeed.

At least I have to believe that. Because if I don’t, what’s the point of any of this?
 
Yea I think its a little early for doom. Our team has flaws that can be exposed but every team does. We have a couple of get right games coming up before the toughest part of our schedule. Winn those and then see what happens. On a given night we can beat or lose to anyone in the A10.

I am starting to get concerned about YFAE. Preseason we heard about how he has added to his game and will put the ball on the deck. We havent really seen that at all and his shot has faded too. His minutes are dropping as a result. Could just be the sophomore slump? Id love to see him get back to himself more.
 
Bona03 said:
Yea I think its a little early for doom. Our team has flaws that can be exposed but every team does. We have a couple of get right games coming up before the toughest part of our schedule. Winn those and then see what happens. On a given night we can beat or lose to anyone in the A10.

I am starting to get concerned about YFAE. Preseason we heard about how he has added to his game and will put the ball on the deck. We havent really seen that at all and his shot has faded too. His minutes are dropping as a result. Could just be the sophomore slump? Id love to see him get back to himself more.
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Agreed. It's not close to throw in the towel, but we really need a bounce back performance these next two games to be in a good position to stay in the top 4 in the conference.

Regarding YFAE, I think he's just not as big of a part of the offense as he was last year. We have three or maybe four scoring threats this year, so we don't need him as much as we did last year. His high in shot attempts this season is 10 and he hasn't done that since November 16.
 
Brooklyn or bust. The last 70 min of basketball have been pretty terrible. I cant believe they can just get shut down by a little bit of on ball pressure but here we are. I thought they played decently defensively but then I saw FU shot 50%. There isnt any excuse to lose to them at home. I thought the turning point was when Assa took that 3 instead of making the extra pass to Pride who was also wide open and heating up. I feel Pride buries that, gives us the lead and then things are different. Alas, he missed the shot. The fact that we never had a lead in the 2nd half was sticking in my craw the most. MAW missed a couple close ones he usually finishes, also got clobbered one of them with no call.

That was very deflating though. There isnt much to be excited about right now.
 
The failure to gain ground in the second half irked me as well. The first half was ugly, but until the last couple of minutes seemed like it would trend toward them eventually figuring things out. I texted a friend that if we have any balls, we come out with our hair on fire in the second half, because this would be a season altering loss. We didn't, and it's a good possibility we don't have balls.

I don't know what the explanation is, and the truth is it's probably a combination of several things that we've all griped about. The bottom line is, there's no excuse for losing to that team at home, in that manner.
 
Archie is I think 8-2 against old Schmidtty in his career.

If we lose tomorrow and drop to 1-3, the wheels might come off this team or maybe we are in line for 12-straight wins like we experienced in 2018.
 
Not much to say other than its great they removed their heads from their asses and dominated a shitty team again. Banks coming off the bench might be what we need. I liked Flowers in that role since he heats up so quickly but Banks has been scuffling all year so that might be the jolt he needed to at least be a good contributor again. We saw cutting to the basket and not just standing around! Pride is a man, and he needs to be the focal point of the offense. We still need to get it low to Venning and Brown when the matchup dictates but we have see Pride get into stride these last couple games and he can just take over a game. Let him cook.

Its annoying that it took 70 min of shit to get back into this but it gives me a little confidence they can go into Mason and win.
 
Inconsistency is the only thing in which we are consistent, or so it goes. VCU and Rhody don't play and D, and Fordham and Richmond do. But surely, VCU and Rhody's d can't be that bad, and Fordham and Richmond's D can't be that good. Yet here we are. It's hard to believe it's the same team, especially on offense. Then again, it was hard to believe the team that beat Miami by 30+, was the same team that didn't score a FG for 6.5 minutes in a 6 point thriller against Bucknell.
 
CB3, I think it really is that fine a line. Against a team that plays good D they struggle to get good shots and miss often on the shots they take. Against a team that doesn't play D (or plays bad D) they get open and make shots - which is what should be expected of D1 BB players. Couple that with spotty defensive efforts of their own and you get these mind-blowing results.

This team destroys bad clubs (mainly). They have trouble with opponents that get up in their grill and disrupt. So what do you do? Make shots? If it was that easy they'd just make all their shots. They write on the site that shall remain nameless, in essence, "we're so good when we shoot well" .. umm, no shit. The issue is shooting well and creating offense when the other team is actually capable of defending you. And that's what we lack - is it talent, adjustments, coaching, what will get this group to score when it's not easy to score? And defensively, like the FU game, when you're having trouble defending what needs to happen to turn that around, in-game, to adjust and get stops? Does this team have those answers? You could look to the coaching staff, but.. oh well here we are.

You know all this, but I figured I'd opine positive, seeing as I'm a glass is 1/4 full kinda guy.
 
brownindians85 said:
CB3, I think it really is that fine a line. Against a team that plays good D they struggle to get good shots and miss often on the shots they take. Against a team that doesn't play D (or plays bad D) they get open and make shots - which is what should be expected of D1 BB players. Couple that with spotty defensive efforts of their own and you get these mind-blowing results.

This team destroys bad clubs (mainly). They have trouble with opponents that get up in their grill and disrupt. So what do you do? Make shots? If it was that easy they'd just make all their shots. They write on the site that shall remain nameless, in essence, "we're so good when we shoot well" .. umm, no shit. The issue is shooting well and creating offense when the other team is actually capable of defending you. And that's what we lack - is it talent, adjustments, coaching, what will get this group to score when it's not easy to score? And defensively, like the FU game, when you're having trouble defending what needs to happen to turn that around, in-game, to adjust and get stops? Does this team have those answers? You could look to the coaching staff, but.. oh well here we are.

You know all this, but I figured I'd opine positive, seeing as I'm a glass is 1/4 full kinda guy.
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Pretty good summary. I'm not sure we've done anything to date that was all that unexpected besides losing to Canisius.

Like you said, we've beaten the bad to mediocre teams and lost to all the good teams we've faced besides Akron. Our next eight games are tough and mostly against stronger teams. Anything less than 5-3 and I will pretty much come to the conclusion this team isn't going anywhere. I still think this team has a good amount of talent. Hopefully as the year goes on they can put it together.

Looking way ahead, but if we can get a 2, 3 or 6 seed, I like our chances at making a run in Brooklyn. Obviously don't know the matchups, but have to assume UD will be the 1 seed. Besides them, we can beat anyone in this conference without question.
 
Agree with all of that BI85. What is frustrating to me is the stark contrast when facing high pressure vs a more laxed d. How are we suddenly that ineffective from the opponent employing such a simple strategy? The lack of middle ground there is puzzling.

Take VCU and Rhody as examples- things are clicking with poor defensive pressure, and we’re moving freely without the ball. Cuts, pick and roll, extra pass. All the good stuff that a properly flowing offense does. As soon as pressure comes, we stop all of that. No movement. Just standing around, iso ball, bad shot selection. It’s like you want to shake them and say he guys- don’t abandon what you know can be effective just because the defensive effort is ramped up. You still need to do all that to create shots. Sure, you might only score 70, but that’s better than scoring 55 and wasting 27 seconds of clock before firing up a contested brick.

The understanding and ability to create is there, but why is it seemingly impossible to see that against a good defensive effort? Whether they can find a solution to that problem will ultimately define the season.
 
On a brighter note, I see we are currently predicted as an 8-seed in the NIT...The Lord gives in mysterious ways, doesn't he???
 
3rd, I do think you don't want to be on the 1 line because Dayton is that much better than the rest, but really it will be about the matchups. A team with a big capable of taking Chad 1-on-1 will inherently make us struggle (some). Teams that move the ball well give us fits.

We need another consistent effort on D today against GMU - who's going backwards. Hopefully we see something on offense. Hot shooting nights are nice, but let's see them shoot 60% because they cut the shit out of Mason's defense, and turn them over all day for easy buckets. A road Winn is on the table.
 
Don’t get me wrong, I know SBU isn’t the easiest place to recruit, but is it really that awful? When did that narrative come into the fold? In the 50s, 60s and 70s and even half of the 80s, SBU was a strong program.

I get they didn’t make the NCAAs between 1978 and 2000, but they did field some decent teams during that time period. Since 1998, SBU has been mostly solid besides the Solomon era. I get the drawbacks to the location, but there is also minimal peer institutions from Cleveland to Rochester and there is a ton of players in that area.

The general public really doesn’t get it. The kids that want to play high level D1 hoops don’t have all that much time to hit the town up and check out the cute shops. Same with a head coach. JVB left MALIBU to go to Olean? Why? Because no one gives a shit about CBB in southern California. If location was what matters, then why is Pepperdine, San Diego, etc. never good?

If your life revolves around basketball and it is your obsession, would you want to play in front of 200 people in Malibu, Philly or DC or would you rather play in front of near capacity crowds in Olean, Ames, Spokane or South Bend?

I just get annoyed when people from La Salle, Fordham or Duquesne are like, WOW if shit stain Bona can do it, anyone can when in reality the thing they believe is their biggest advantage (location) is what makes their programs irrelevant year after year.
 
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