Bonnies vs. Duquesne (Wed. 02/26/20 @ 7:00 pm)

These assholes are going to be out for blood after we outclassed them in front of their (our?) big crowd in Moon a few weeks ago. Always worried about a team that shoots a ton of threes when they come to the Reilly Center. Let's hope we take care of business so we can start talking realistically about a 2 or 3 seed.
 
The Bonnies dominated the boards in the last game, but the Dukes made some unconscious long-range shots, especially by Dunn-Martin. However, Mark Schmidt was a clear winner over Dambrot in the sartorial department. It's not often that happens, but I expect a repeat performance. Also, I don't particularly care for the demeanor (or the flopping) of some of the Dukes, so I am hoping Osun will put them back on their heels with a great shot blocking performance and generally excel in the paint.
 
No grand analysis from me today about the Duqs offense or defense, just some player observations.

Marcus Weathers - whatever we did to stop him last time we need to do again. 0-6 from the field and really a non-factor most the game. He is a very capable scorer and gets to the line a ton. Whoever draws that matchup needs to be careful not to get into foul trouble.

Sincere Carry - Surprisingly struggles against smaller guards. Fordham and Rhode Island have kept him in check better than anyone this year. We don't have that super quick small guy to throw at him but Lofton vs Carry has been a battle in the two meetings they have played. Lofton has had 4 fouls both times and Carry had 3 and 4 fouls, and if memory serves Carry sat much of the first half of the first game last year due to getting two fouls

Michael Hughes - The game within the game between him and OO will be fun to watch. OO has won the first 3 meetings pretty easily, hopefully that continues.

Steele - He is a streaky shooter that was on in our first meeting and on in their last game. I hope that means he is off tonight. He gives them solid backup big minutes and has a different skill set than Hughes so when he is out there the driving lanes open up as OO gets pulled out of the paint to defend on the perimeter.

TDM - lights up the gym when he is on but hasn't been great in their last few road games and wasn't great in the trip to Olean last year, however Carry was injured and TDM had to play more on ball minutes.

One change that would be interesting to try is to move Lofton to TDM and have English check Carry. This might save Lofton from foul trouble and help us get pressure on TDM.

We are on an 8 game win streak vs Duquesne, and with the exception of the game in Olean last year all the games have been 1-2 possession game, I doubt anyone will be leaving early to beat that notorious Olean traffic.

Edits: grammar/spelling
 
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Any word on when the snow is going to start falling tonight? Hoping it doesn't get "bad" until after the game so there are no excuses for a poor turnout.
 
Wanna bet?
No thanks, anyone is too strong a word especially since there is a group behind me that leaves at the U4 almost every game. And I'm holding out hope we win by 10+.
 
No thanks, anyone is too strong a word especially since there is a group behind me that leaves at the U4 almost every game. And I'm holding out hope we win by 10+.
This always amazes me. There are locals who leave at the exact time for EVERY HOME GAME—regardless of score or situation. It is confounding.
 
You know what's confounding? The Bonnies are only 4 point favorites.
 
I think the Bonnies will win, but if I'm wrong--or if any sort of screwjob seems to be unfolding during the game-- I have to get this routine down to properly react:
 
Brutal first half. Winston is playing lights out. Hopefully a few other guys step it up and Duquesne stops making circus act treys
 
This game was lost at the 3pt line and ft line. Terrible on both and duquesne gets a cheap win. Bobby didnt step out on that last one but for fucks sake how many times has court awareness bit him? That last 3 was stupid too. He should have been out right after that
 
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As I've noted before but most have denied: we have great starting 5 and one of weakest benches. Vazquez has gone backwards and coach does not trust him at all. Ikpese is strictly a breather-giver. Bobby, despite claims of "tough defense" by Dr. G, can't shoot, no one has to guard him, and well, the 3 line violations speak for themselves. And no one behind them. Most other teams wheel competent or even good players in and out for entire games..
 
Bobby needs to stop playing. Call it the yips or bad luck, this loss weighs heavy on him and you could tell he was troubled by how poorly he played.

So many key moments down the stretch were in his hands and he’d step out of bounds (3 times) or foul a defender. It was hard to watch but Schmidt also watched and kept him in over others... strange.
 
The Bonnies seem to waste their advantage late in games, but usually manage to tough out a close win. However, we seem to have used all of our nine lives, so now we just need to avoid unforced turnovers and such to close out comfortable wins. The team should focus on nothing but beating LaSalle, but the final game vs. SLU has been calling to me for several months and now it's beginning to shout. Decisions, decisions: time to visit stubhub.com.
 
I want to go on the record today and say if we face the Duqs again I want more Bobby... Big Bobby Carpenter. We were too undersized when they went to Steele and Hughes in the same lineup. Carpenter could be a huge help at the 4 vs more traditional big lineups.

I realize this is a lot like calling for more Chef or Coburn in recent past but those teams didn't have someone actively hurting the team's chance of success, it was more a rest issue.

That said free throws are free and we missed too many to win that game. 63% from the stripe is horrendous for a contending team.
 
it Is maddening that Bobby’s leash has seems to grow while Winstons has, barring rare exceptions, seemed to remain short. Winston had some terrible early possession shots, yes. He also scored 7 straight and was the only one keeping it from getting out of hand in the first half.

We dick around with the Dukes every year. It finally came to bite us.

Free throws were bad, and Duquesne was equally poor in that area. As Jive alludes to, a contender is supposed to use that as their advantage and eek out wins with superior FT shooting at times.
 
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