Lafayette 71, Bucknell 68

carney2 · Joined: 24 Feb 2007 Posts: 1173

A real Jekyll and Hyde performance.

Good "D" for most of the way, but then the final 7-8 minutes settled into the game I expected all along with the Buffaloes clawing back from a 15 point deficit and having a chance on a surprisingly close Hail Mary at the buzzer to tie.

Ya really gotta love Willen. He's All-Rookie, but is he ROY? 137?

Finally saw Pelham in a game. I honestly didn't think he was terribly overmatched, but on TV what can you really see?. Looked a lot better than Koltun as a freshman. He may actually have a future. Why has he gotten so few minutes of developmental time on a team this bad?

Bucknell appears to have a lot of weapons, but they just don't get it done. Behan is a force and freshman guard Cohen looks like the real deal. Their TOs, particularly in the 1st half, were horrendous. They just out and out got their pockets picked again and again. Are their guards that bad? They aren't real big, but how can a team like Lafayette continually beat them inside? Should Paulsen be cashing in his very impressive academic credentials (Phi Beta Kappa from Williams) for a job at a DC think tank and forget about his hoops dreams? They play Navy, American and Holy Cross tough, actually beating the 'saders in Woo, and then come into Kirby and stink the place out. What's going on up there? 137?

HCHolty10 · Joined: 09 Jan 2009 Posts: 10

Willen is not ROY. He's a very good player but, the ROY of the year discussion begins and ends with R.J. Evans.

Long Time Fan · Joined: 23 May 2007 Posts: 30

Xboreturns · Joined: 31 Aug 2007 Posts: 231

It was a much needed win. Solid games by Willen and Gruner. I though Coach O took the air out of the ball a little too soon. Nothing wrong with running it down but you can't wait until there are 5 seconds left to start looking for a shot. If Kari makes his foul shots, its a 8 point game.

The officiating was very uneven. In both halves BU had only 2 fouls with 5 or so minutes left. Brown was being held constantly and every time he pushed the player away, he was called for the foul.

The biggest problem with non-athletic big men is they don't move their feet. They were the biggest players on the court in high school and basically just had to stand there and let the play come to them. Now they're playing against much quicker players who are by them before they move.

In the "I wonder why we can't get better recruits" department, here's another example: BU freshman G Bryan Cohen, who had 15 pts and 4 assists last night, was not accepted by Lafayette admissions who wanted him to prep for a year. Add in LU's Carrington who was denied and we'd be a solid team.

bison137 · Joined: 24 Feb 2007 Posts: 206

Refrider · Joined: 24 Feb 2007 Posts: 63

Speaking of plays after a time out, I thought Lafayette did an extremely good job last night of either getting two points or a foul after a time out was called. The % was high.

Good game.

Now for 808 and the rest of that Lehigh bunch.

Go Pards!

Kiltedpard · Joined: 28 Feb 2007 Posts: 293 Location: Bethlehem, PA

Yes, a win @ Stabler would be sweet. Not optimistic, though, especially the way we shoot on the road.

Go Pards!