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The good news is we probably won't be playing Holy Cross....
....in the opening game of the tournament. We are not going to be hosting any games nor will we be playing low seeded teams. The good news is that doesn't matter because anyone can win this tournament but we have to get our shooting confidence back. I am pleased to see very good minutes from our underclassmen players...Mintz and Viskakos. My question is, Viskakos is playing well, makes a great play, and disappears!!???? We can still win the tournament but we have to get our heads back....our hearts never left us!!!
Kiltedpard
Given the remaining schedule and the drop off in 3 pt production, I am not very optimistic that we will win any more games this year. We come out like gang busters in the beginning of the 2nd half, but, can't sustain it. The league first half success gave me too much optimism. A .500 league record at this point in the season probably is about right for this squad. I'm more disappointed we couldn't hold serve on our home court. It looked like a packed house today. Wed. could be ugly. It's BU's last home regular season game and senior day. I hope we keep it respectable.
Sigh!
Go Pards!
RePard
I missed the Good News?
It was a bad loss and a game we could easily have won. We missed some critical FT's again when it mattered. The team kept hustling but we needed to win at home. The playoffs should be wide open this year but having a home game could have been a major advantage. BU also was beaten at home by HC yesterday so they could be ripe for a win, they looked very vulnerable. A big problem is that we don't have the inside game that HC does so we can't take it to them in the paint which is how HC beat them. We will need to make our 3's and stop theirs but based on seeing their play it is a game we can win. Griffin did nothing and our D can do the same.
Xboreturns
I'm not sure why its a "bad loss", is there such a thing as a good loss? It came down to who had the ball last and unfortunately it wasn't us.
I agree with Lafalum, I would like to see Visockas get more minutes. I'd also like to see Gruner look for his shot more.
Statistically, it was a very even game except for the second chance points category where Navy had an 11-4 advantage. There were a couple of scrambles for rebounds under the Navy basket where they scored on second and third shots. One time Schmidt or Detmer grabbed a rebound and the other four players turned their backs and ran up court. The ball was stripped and Navy scored.
We're certainly capable of winning at least 3 of the last four games. For the five senior's sake, it would be nice if they could get a home playoff game or two.
Steve
Regarding the last two games, there's not a big margin between the results of the first matchups -- OT wins at Colgate and Navy -- and last-second losses in the rematches. Although it was great that the team won so many close games in the first go-round through the league, that also showed that we didn't have a big edge over most of the teams. Thus, as we've discovered, we're susceptible to losing close games to any of the other teams. This doesn't mean that we can't beat any of those teams in the playoffs either. The only teams against which we might be at a significant disadvantage in terms of matchups are American and maybe a fully healthy Holy Cross, particularly at their gym.
Like others, I didn't really understand why Visockas didn't play more yesterday, especially after hitting that three-point-play. I agree with Xbo that I'd like to see Gruner look for his shot more. A couple of times yesterday, he was able to create good looks for himself by driving the ball, and I was hoping that he'd look for his shot a little more. Mintz looked for his own shot more yesterday, and he got to the foul line several times as a result. Unfortunately, Brown had an off game with his outside shooting. It was most striking in the first two minutes of the second half, when he was set up for three open shots from just outside the three-point line, and he didn't hit any of them.
The second chance points by Navy really hurt us, especially because, as happened several times in the American game, several of them came on long rebounds where it looked like our players were in better position for the rebound, but we didn't close on the ball well. I really hope we can correct that problem ASAP. Also, I thought Navy did a good job of exploiting our double-teams by passing the ball to the open man for fairly easy baskets on a number of occasions, especially in the first 15 minutes of the first half, when they built their lead. Then, on the game-winner, Sprink showed excellent awareness by passing out of a double-team to a wide-open Colbert, who hit the 12-foot baseline jumper.
Hopefully, the team won't get discouraged by the recent setbacks. We're pretty evenly matched against most of the teams in the conference, so if they can regain their confidence and make improvements in some areas -- particularly defensive rebounding -- we can start to win some of the close contests again.
bison137
Steve wrote:
The only teams against which we might be at a significant disadvantage in terms of matchups are American and maybe a fully healthy Holy Cross, particularly at their gym.
If Holy Cross gets fully healthy, the only possible PL tournament game they wouldn't be favored to win would be a road game at American - and I'm not sure about that one either.
TheTruth
Right now, American is the team to beat whether HC is healthy or not. American's big men are too quick inside for HC. And no one has found an answer to stop their back court recently. Can they be beat? Sure but whomever it is will have to win in Washington DC. Not too many patriot league teams play especially well on the road.
bison137
TheTruth wrote:
Right now, American is the team to beat whether HC is healthy or not. American's big men are too quick inside for HC. And no one has found an answer to stop their back court recently. Can they be beat? Sure but whomever it is will have to win in Washington DC. Not too many patriot league teams play especially well on the road.
I'd have to disagree with all of the above. Holy Cross's biggest edge is their big men - who are far better than those of AU. Clifford is the pre-season POY and Vanderbaan, when healthy, may be the league's best PF. Also Meister is better than any big man on AU's bench. American, in contrast, has gotten little production out of their fours and fives.
As for home/road play in the PL, the home teams right now have won only 45% of the games (19-23).
If fully healthy, I think Holy Cross has a better chance to win the whole thing than does American - even if they have to play at Bender.
TheTruth
We'll have to agree to disagree on this. I agree in a traditional half court offense, HC is much stronger inside. HC has no answer for American's backcourt. Too fast. And American's big men while not skilled are quick leapers and hit the boards hard. And that quickness creates tons of opportunities for second shoots. Plus a couple of their swingmen can hit the open 3. Plus they do defend the perimeter well.
Either American and HC are definitely playing the best basketball in the league. Of course you never know what may happen.
RePard
TheTruth wrote:
We'll have to agree to disagree on this. I agree in a traditional half court offense, HC is much stronger inside. HC has no answer for American's backcourt. Too fast. And American's big men while not skilled are quick leapers and hit the boards hard. And that quickness creates tons of opportunities for second shoots. Plus a couple of their swingmen can hit the open 3. Plus they do defend the perimeter well.
Either American and HC are definitely playing the best basketball in the league. Of course you never know what may happen.
I only give AU a 40% chance of getting to final. Until brackets are set they could run into BU, HC, Lehigh, Navy or us hot. Even Colgate could beat them. Their frontline is NOT their difference maker and if someone either defends their guards or just gets hot from the perimeter they go down.
TheTruth
RePard: Who has successfully defended their guards in the last 3 weeks? Heck even Maryland couldn't.
HC guards are not as quick as they have been in the past. I think American guards and their athletes in the middle are a bad matchup for most teams in the league including HC. Again, their frontcourt is not the most skillful but they are very athletic, physical and hit the boards. Couple with their guard play on the outside.
I could be wrong, not the first time and certainly won't be the last. Plus I like reading everyone else's prediction. Then agian, this year in the league has been extremely tough to predict. Who expected us to have a better league record then HC at this point. I must admit I did forget about Navy who could easily win it as well.
