Pard4Life
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There are 347 DI teams......and yahoo ranked the Pards 339! Many publications have us dead last in the PL. One picked Army third! Are we really going to be that bad? It seemed like we made strides last year...
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carney2
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Re: There are 347 DI teams... | Pard4Life wrote: | | ...and yahoo ranked the Pards 339! Many publications have us dead last in the PL. One picked Army third! Are we really going to be that bad? It seemed like we made strides last year... |
This program's a train wreck. I dread that moment in late November when this disaster is all we have to talk about - and now you've got me going in September. Man, am I depressed.
We made "progress" last year because we had one good freshman recruit. If we could do that every year we'd have 4 real players and thus a program. Alas, this year's frosh appear to be same old, same old, so we will return to circling the bowl. Does anyone recall when O'Hanlon's contract is up? If memory serves me correctly it is one year after my basketball induced suicide.
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carney2
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Have I missed something or are there truly only 3 freshmen on this year's roster? It looks like two more big guy "projects" (translation: they do not make a sound when they applaud) and yet another of those "gamer" guards that we love so dearly.
Do I sound jaded? Oh, I didn't mean to.
My depression knows no limit. I wish it were mid-March when this torture will be over.
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sasquatch
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I am continually amazed at the big men bashing, do you really think that a 6'8" to 7 footer that has a high skill level and hi GPA/SAT is going to be successfully recruited by a PL team? These types are the big name conference property, David Robinson being the, in recent memory, exception and he was considerably shorter when he signed with Navy. The PL big men do tend to be "projects" that will not contribute till they are upper classmen because if they were all that as freshman they would be playing in the ACC/SEC/Big Ten etc.
Provided everyone stays healthy, this team will be better than last year. It appears that Gruner and Kari are on a mission to see that it happens.
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carney2
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| sasquatch wrote: | I am continually amazed at the big men bashing, do you really think that a 6'8" to 7 footer that has a high skill level and hi GPA/SAT is going to be successfully recruited by a PL team? These types are the big name conference property, David Robinson being the, in recent memory, exception and he was considerably shorter when he signed with Navy. The PL big men do tend to be "projects" that will not contribute till they are upper classmen because if they were all that as freshman they would be playing in the ACC/SEC/Big Ten etc.
Provided everyone stays healthy, this team will be better than last year. It appears that Gruner and Kari are on a mission to see that it happens. |
All that you say is true. My point: there are projects and there are Lafayette projects.
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Lafalum
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| carney2 wrote: | | Have I missed something or are there truly only 3 freshmen on this year's roster? |
Am I correct in that Fran's staff is virtually all new. That may say something about the state of things. Remember these are the guys that are supposed to be beating the bushes for recruits.
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bison137
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| sasquatch wrote: |
Provided everyone stays healthy, this team will be better than last year. It appears that Gruner and Kari are on a mission to see that it happens. |
If someone steps up at PG and runs the team efficiently, I can see improvement. If not, it will be a struggle. Andrew Brown - even when not shooting well - was one of the most important players in the league the past two years.
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Kiltedpard
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Andrew Brown - even when not shooting well - was one of the most important players in the league the past two years.[/quote]
Two years ago, yes. Not last year. Stop Brown and you stopped LC. Sadly, most teams did. He also had a so so shooting year compared to prior campaigns.
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bison137
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| Kiltedpard wrote: | | Andrew Brown - even when not shooting well - was one of the most important players in the league the past two years. |
Two years ago, yes. Not last year. Stop Brown and you stopped LC. Sadly, most teams did. He also had a so so shooting year compared to prior campaigns.[/quote]
Yes, his shooting was not as good last year, although I think a good part of that was attributable to the team having graduated five key seniors from the 2007-08 season - which left him with far fewer open shots in the LC games that I saw. In those games, LC was clearly a weaker team when he wasn't on the floor - even if he was not shooting well.
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sasquatch
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Brown while a quality player and person presents a unique problem, the offense revolved around him. This season a more balanced attack with Kari, Willen and Mintz and perhaps a sophomore to be named later providing the scoring will be the norm rather than the exception it was last season.
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Kiltedpard
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Re: There are 347 DI teams... | Pard4Life wrote: | | ...and yahoo ranked the Pards 339! Many publications have us dead last in the PL. One picked Army third! Are we really going to be that bad? It seemed like we made strides last year... |
I certainly hope we are better than 8 teams! Good God, that is depressing!
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The Maroon
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Re: There are 347 DI teams... | Pard4Life wrote: | | ...and yahoo ranked the Pards 339! Many publications have us dead last in the PL. One picked Army third! Are we really going to be that bad? It seemed like we made strides last year... |
At the very least we have completely gotten out of this "class" of program at least for a while. I know if any coach or player will tell you publically they could care less about computer rankigns and such---but I have been around programs that are at or near the bottom of those rankings and it DOES get into your psyche.
We're now 2-1 with a nice road win last night. This team is a strange mix--there are a few guys who are DEFINITELY scholarship players who I don't think we'd have if we didn't have scholarships and a couple of guys (who are also on scholarship) who I think are worse players than what we had 5 years ago.
Overall though, ASSUMING WE CAN KEEP THESE KIDS AROUND, the health of this program is at the very least solid.
I think I've done it before...but in case I haven't....I'm eating humble pie for all my cracks about the Toronto Jewish league.
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Pard4Life
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Wow, 4-1. Not bad for the eighth worst DI team. Alot of decent midmajors on the schedule will surely reveal or strength this year.
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carney2
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Re: There are 347 DI teams... | carney2 wrote: | | This program's a train wreck. I dread that moment in late November when this disaster is all we have to talk about |
Yesterday I ate turkey. Today I eat crow.
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TheTruth
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I watched the 2nd half of the Georgetown game on MASN. Georgetown went on a big run to start the 2nd half and put the game away within the first 5 minutes. The announcers (Georgetown's) had very positive things to say about lafayette. They couldn't believe we were picked to finish last in the Patriot League.
Also there was a significant size difference between our players and georgetown's. It was not just height. Their players were much thicker. Should be a decent season if we can keep up with the shooting.
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Kiltedpard
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Wow! You guys are scaring me with all this positive talk! I think a winning season would be great. I think it is doable, but, we still need to see someone step up in a crunch situation and make a big shot. We needed it last night and it wasn't there.
Still encouraged though!
Go Pards!
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Xboreturns
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What the hell are you talking about? We made a lot of big shots, clutch shots. Were you even at the game? There were seven ties, seven lead changes. There were big shots all night. Do the names Kari and Mower mean anything to you? What about Gruner's 3 clutch foul shots to tie the game with less than 30 seconds left?
This game was decided under St Pete's boards. They had 18 offensive rebounds to our 10. They had 19 second chance points to our 4. They had 28 points in the paint to our 12.
I'm never happy with a loss but I was happy with the way we battled under the boards. St Pete's is the kind of team we've had trouble with, quick and athletic inside. We just couldn' get that one rebound we needed or the one bounce we needed.
Another tough game at LaSalle on Thursday.
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Steve
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St. Peter's GameSt. Peter's offensive rebounds, not an inability to hit a clutch shot, cost us this game. A couple of more stats in addition to those cited by Xbo: (1) in the second half, almost half of St. Peter's points (15 of 32) came after offensive rebounds; and (2) St. Peter's had almost as many offensive rebounds (1 as we had defensive rebounds (21). In a close game, those numbers are very difficult obstacles to overcome. As far as clutch shots, we didn't miss a shot from the field or the line in the last two minutes, and, as Xbo mentioned, Gruner hitting all three foul shots with just under 30 seconds left was huge.
St. Peter's was very quick -- probably one of the quickest teams we'll face all years. They also had pretty good height, a lot of 6'6" swing players. They're a good defensive team, and we struggled at times on offense due to their quickness and length. We did have good success early in the second half hitting some three pointers against their 1-3-1 zone. It was pretty tough to get the ball inside to Mintz against the 1-3-1, although I would have liked for us to get the ball inside more when they switched to man-to-man later in the second half. I did think the team showed good heart in battling back after St. Peter's opened up a 7 point lead early in the second half and when they went up by 4 with about 1:20 left. However, we have to do a much better job on the defensive boards if we want to win many more games this season.
By the way, the dunk by Benbow off the feed from Gruner was as impressive a dunk as I've ever seen by a Lafayette player. I can't believe it isn't included in the highlights from the TV broadcast.
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Kiltedpard
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[quote="Xboreturns"]What the hell are you talking about? We made a lot of big shots, clutch shots. Were you even at the game?
No, I watched on tv and those ft's were big. Fran's teams have always shot free throws well. It's almost a given. My point is that if the kid doesn't run out at him, it's ball game.
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Kiltedpard
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Re: St. Peter's GameBy the way, the dunk by Benbow off the feed from Gruner was as impressive a dunk as I've ever seen by a Lafayette player. I can't believe it isn't included in the highlights from the TV broadcast.[/quote]
Yes, agreed, the dunk was impressive!
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