Bonnies vs. Davidson (Friday 02/14/20 @ 7:00)

I don’t have any real gripes about Davidson. Our kind of program, classy coach, small private school. They are a perfect fit for the ideal A10.

It would just be nice if they could not bury repeated perimeter daggers into our collective chest for once.
You’re a better man than I am, that’s for sure.

I know it seems a little off base, but two of those defeats were so damn crushing. Talk to a few of the guys that played ‘em, they’ll tell you.

This year’s Bonnies can beat them due to depth, length where it counts, and scoring prowess.
 
I don’t have any real gripes about Davidson. Our kind of program, classy coach, small private school. They are a perfect fit for the ideal A10.

It would just be nice if they could not bury repeated perimeter daggers into our collective chest for once.

I don't disagree that they are a good fit for the conference.

I think the problem lies in the fact that they are the type of team that will always bury daggers in our chest from deep. Teams beat us by shooting threes. Davidson shoots threes in a way that gives them open looks and supreme confidence.
 
I mentioned it on the pod (listen ya bastards), but we have to really be careful with our three-point defense. According to that nerd KenPom, we're now 23rd in highest percentage of our points allowed being 3 pointers. 36.9% of points we give up come from 3s, 43.8% come from 2s and 19.2% come from free throws. Our 2-point distribution is 20th best in the country, I wonder whOO is responsible for that...

You see the way teams score on us in the gameplans of our last 4 opponents. Here's how they shot from deep:

at Fordham - 12/33 (36.4%)
Mason - 8/27 (29.6%)
GW - 7/20 (35%)
at Duquesne - 14/34 (41.2%)
at St. Joe's - 6/28 (21.4%)

Those teams took 28.4 3s per game, while our offense averages 20 3s a game. Some of those shitsipper teams cannot make 3s like Davidson can, obviously. You guys mentioned the times they roasted us from deep. With their small lineup, we need to be able to match when they spread the floor. Winston has been playing well, but if he's not able to close out on their shooters, we may need to go to a lineup of Lofton/English/Vasquez/Welch/Osun. Also, remember Schmidt gave Alpha a couple huge minutes at the end of the first half when we opened up the game, before falling apart in the second.
 
Gibbs and Grady soured me on their program a little. Gibbs because he acted like a hand check was a violent assault. I never saw a guy nearly break his neck so many times by throwing his had back to initiate a flop. And Grady is a punk. So combine that with a pair of A10 losses - 2016 was a complete collapse down the stretch too, I don't have much love for them right now. Provided we can get a good win tonight, it'd be nice to see their asses set in place for a year.
 
Gibbs and Grady soured me on their program a little. Gibbs because he acted like a hand check was a violent assault. I never saw a guy nearly break his neck so many times by throwing his had back to initiate a flop. And Grady is a punk. So combine that with a pair of A10 losses - 2016 was a complete collapse down the stretch too, I don't have much love for them right now. Provided we can get a good win tonight, it'd be nice to see their asses set in place for a year.

Yeah. There have been a couple DC players who have irked me quite a bit—especially Grady, who has every last James Harden-esque gyration gimmick if someone breathes on him.

Still, when I consider some of the corner-cutting public monoliths in this league, I have trouble truly resenting a program like Davidson’s. I think our schools’ relationship is more of a competitive, respectful “rivalry”.
 
When Davidson has things rolling there is no team I like to watch more, stylistically. I hate when the Bonnies play Davidson because I've seen Davidson school the Bonnies too many times. All three times Bonnies have beaten Davidson since they joined the league took superhuman performances by someone. The Posley buzzer beater, the 3 OT/3x30 game, and Adams hung 30 on them back in 2016 pt. 1. We want to call this a rivalry and it might be but Davidson has the upper hand.

As far as the basketball goes...
JAG and Grady are so good at getting to the rim without a ball screen, which means Schmidt has the wing defenders sag a step off their man to help cut off driving lanes. Which then opens up the flare screen and an open 3 for the Framptons, Hungjung Lees. If you have the 4/5 man help on to the shooter to take away the 3 from the wing, the big cuts to the rim and is wide open or has a smaller defender switched onto him.

On the other end Davidson often traps the initial ball screen and throws off the timing of the Schmidt offense. I wonder if Winston will be used as the screener more and find himself with the ball in the Andoh/Ayeni zone (one step inside the 3pt line at the top of the key), to make a 4 on 3 play. I think of all the guys we have had in that role Winston is the best suited for making those plays however I worry he will be a liability on the other end. I would have liked Bobby in that spot until his questionable decision making the last couple of games.

OO also played Brajkovic? off the court, so that could be a favorable matchup for us again. Although I think we might want Brajkovic on the court as much as possible otherwise we will be looking at a 5 out lineup similar to what Joes threw at us Tuesday. We eventually adjusted to that style mostly by putting Lofton on Daly and neutralizing their ability to drive, however with two guards that can get to the rim whenever they want the answer isn't as easy.

In summary this game goes one of two ways, Davidson wins by a healthy margin or it is another cardiac Bonnies game, I don't see a third option where we control the game from tip to buzzer. (I hope I'm wrong).
 
When Davidson has things rolling there is no team I like to watch more, stylistically. I hate when the Bonnies play Davidson because I've seen Davidson school the Bonnies too many times. All three times Bonnies have beaten Davidson since they joined the league took superhuman performances by someone. The Posley buzzer beater, the 3 OT/3x30 game, and Adams hung 30 on them back in 2016 pt. 1. We want to call this a rivalry and it might be but Davidson has the upper hand.

As far as the basketball goes...
JAG and Grady are so good at getting to the rim without a ball screen, which means Schmidt has the wing defenders sag a step off their man to help cut off driving lanes. Which then opens up the flare screen and an open 3 for the Framptons, Hungjung Lees. If you have the 4/5 man help on to the shooter to take away the 3 from the wing, the big cuts to the rim and is wide open or has a smaller defender switched onto him.

On the other end Davidson often traps the initial ball screen and throws off the timing of the Schmidt offense. I wonder if Winston will be used as the screener more and find himself with the ball in the Andoh/Ayeni zone (one step inside the 3pt line at the top of the key), to make a 4 on 3 play. I think of all the guys we have had in that role Winston is the best suited for making those plays however I worry he will be a liability on the other end. I would have liked Bobby in that spot until his questionable decision making the last couple of games.

OO also played Brajkovic? off the court, so that could be a favorable matchup for us again. Although I think we might want Brajkovic on the court as much as possible otherwise we will be looking at a 5 out lineup similar to what Joes threw at us Tuesday. We eventually adjusted to that style mostly by putting Lofton on Daly and neutralizing their ability to drive, however with two guards that can get to the rim whenever they want the answer isn't as easy.

In summary this game goes one of two ways, Davidson wins by a healthy margin or it is another cardiac Bonnies game, I don't see a third option where we control the game from tip to buzzer. (I hope I'm wrong).
It is refreshing to read actual basketball analysis. I dont know why, but I feel strangely confident about tonight. The Bonnies have hit their stride and I think OO can dominate down low. Unless Davidson is on fire from 3 (which seems to happen every time we play them), I like our chances to win and cover.
 
"JAG" has taken a step back this season. Against bad teams he goes wild. Against good teams he puts up turds that smell so bad even bonafide wouldn't sniff twice.

I think we fall safely in the "good" territory. So hopefully we can shut down McKillop's annual white guy bona killer. Brajkovic is a solid center but no match with Osun. Hopefully shoon stays out of foul trouble and shuts down the rim so English, Lofton and Welch can shut down the perimeter.

That's, in a nutshell, our gameplan every game but can't be stressed enough against these guys. Don't let Grady, or more importantly, Lee, get anything open from deep.
 
I get respecting an opponent, but all this praise is over the top. Bonnies will roll tonight.
Perhaps, but it is this perspective that typically leads to the knee jerk overreactions when the Bonnies come out of the gate slowly.

Davidson is a hard team to “roll” because of the rate at which they can make perimeter shots. Just give me a Winn by any margin.
 
I had forgotten about the game at the RC on 1/2/16, but I hope we get a replay tonight. As usual, the Wildcats were hot from outside, hitting 11 of 26. The Bonnies also attempted 26 threes and, thanks to Jaylen Adams' 5 for 8 performance, we made 9 and had only a 6 point deficit in that category. However, the Bonnies won the board battle (38-33) and the inside shooting and free throw battles to coast to a comfortable 97-85 win. Jay was very good at drawing fouls and converting the opportunity to points: 11 for 11 at the FT line. This team has not been good at drawing fouls or impersonating Dion Wright, but we've got more players who can reliably drain threes.
I recommend that we lobby the A10 to make this matchup the first game of the season in future years. Both teams are plagued by starting the season slow, so at least one of us should be able to get a win instead of losing to some MAC, MAAC, or similar quality Quadrant IV opponent.
 
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I don’t have any real gripes about Davidson. Our kind of program, classy coach, small private school. They are a perfect fit for the ideal A10.

It would just be nice if they could not bury repeated perimeter daggers into our collective chest for once.

Yeah, they are 5-6 from 3 so far. Bastards.
 
At the U4 in the first half, Davidson has missed 9 shots and we've made 9 shots. Not sure anything else needs to be said...
 
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