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We stunk it up today. Can we put it behind?

S

SFP

New member
The league play begins and we probably feel like we all know what this team is about! So let's hear it!

1) Without an inside game we are toast! The inside game will open our outside game period. MS does not scare anyone. I'm still not sure what DC has done to be on the bench so much. Anyone care to share it with me.

2) DR needs to be healthy if we want to be .500 in the Valley with or without a biggie playing well.

3) TW is GREAT!!! Plays his heart out every game and has some hops.

4) Would love to see AW play agressive every game and every play.

5) Our D needs a lot of work. We can not shut down a good team for any extended time when we really need to. We should be OK in the Valley but if we are looking at winning a game if we make the tourney this will need to be addressed.

6) We have not been running to many fast breaks this year. Why? Well we need somone to get rebounds consistantly and block shots. We also are not getting to many easy baskets but sure as hell giving them up.

7) JC needs to shoot a mid-range jumper off his dribble. Everyone is making him dribble he needs to make them pay and right now he hasn't. Fix the inside game then he can go back to being a straight up shooter.

8) JL has a lot of work in front of him but I believe we can do it! It's just not going to be as pleasant of a season that most of us thought but winning the Valley is possible. Right now though I'd rather win the Valley Tourney then the regular season.
 
The problem is that there have been multiple instances in which we have 'stunk it up' (Loyola, UIC, etc) and we're not improving or learning from it.
 
I think I'd rather win the tourney than the season too (right now).

2 reasons:

1) We KNOW we are in

2) We get a better seed.... like an 11-12-13 instead of an 8 or 9. ;)
 
We have some problems, but 8-10 days off between nearly every game this month is not helping this team at all. We were seeing progress every game when we were playing every 3-4 days. We're seeing regression by playing every 8-10. That's over now, hopefully our regression is too.
 
BB good point! One thing that is disturbing though is that JL with time usually prepares the team as well as any coach in the country. Look at the game plan he had for Kansas 2 years ago. This team can only get better and hopefully they will be able to develop the chemisrty needed to compete for the title in MVC this year.They will need to mesh better if we have any hope. I have not seen the other teams play this year but it is still the valley and any team can beat any team any night especially if all the pistons are not working together.
 
SanFranciscoPete said:
Look at the game plan he had for Kansas 2 years ago.
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SFP, JL and staff only had 3 days to prepare for Kansas. I seem to recall they watched film and saw how nobody in the B12 then defended like they did in the MVC... and they didn't cu down passing lanes... and it was kinda like, well - gotta go with that, nothing else we can do with the time we had.
 
SanFranciscoPete said:
BB good point! One thing that is disturbing though is that JL with time usually prepares the team as well as any coach in the country. Look at the game plan he had for Kansas 2 years ago. This team can only get better and hopefully they will be able to develop the chemisrty needed to compete for the title in MVC this year.They will need to mesh better if we have any hope. I have not seen the other teams play this year but it is still the valley and any team can beat any team any night especially if all the pistons are not working together.
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I agree, but sometimes too much time to prepare is a bad thing. Basketball is such a game of momentum and rhythm, sometimes you just need to go and play. When we were playing every 3-4 days, you saw strides both individually and as a team. We aren't seeing those strides anymore. The defense and turnovers are a legitimate concern. I don't care how talented a team supposedly is, if you turn it over and don't defend, you won't win.
 
MacabreMob said:
Suppose, after the hangover of no NCAA.... I'd warmly welcome a thumping of UIUC in C/U in the NIT.

;)
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I guess. My goal every season though isn't to beat UIUC. It's to get our name on millions of office brackets, internet pools, and pick 'ems come tourney time. That kind of name recognition and exposure is priceless. NIT unfortunately isn't. Without DR, we aren't even an NIT team. I really hope this doesn't end up being a Phil Gilbert type of injury. Those ruin seasons. :cry:
 
BradleyBrave said:
I guess. My goal every season though isn't to beat UIUC. It's to get our name on millions of office brackets, internet pools, and pick 'ems come tourney time. That kind of name recognition and exposure is priceless. NIT unfortunately isn't. Without DR, we aren't even an NIT team. I really hope this doesn't end up being a Phil Gilbert type of injury. Those ruin seasons. :cry:
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With this fan base, attendance, dollars, and support, we deserve so much more!
 
BradleyBrave said:
I guess. My goal every season though isn't to beat UIUC. It's to get our name on millions of office brackets, internet pools, and pick 'ems come tourney time. That kind of name recognition and exposure is priceless. NIT unfortunately isn't. Without DR, we aren't even an NIT team. I really hope this doesn't end up being a Phil Gilbert type of injury. Those ruin seasons. :cry:
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Oh BradleyBrave - I hope I didn't confuse anyone from my prior post.

Yes - my aspirations/hopes/EXPECTATIONS are the dance EVERY year - no matter the seed, no matter the opponent, no matter the outcome.

But if it is gonna be an NIT.... I'd enjoy a thumping on UIUC in the NIT (cause they will keep it Regional and we will have to hit the road for the "bigger" conference getting the better seed).
 
At some point of each season, most teams have to go through a test of will and this year's team is now in that period.

Last year, the team went through a trough after they let Illinois off the hook. The team kind of hung its head and proceeded to lose to Tenn Tech and then got tattooed by Michigan State. But, through renewed determination, they found themselves against Wright State and went on to play solidly the rest of the year.

While there are new players on the squad from last year, I think the other set of new faces that need to find themselves is the coaching staff. DR has been hurt for two weeks and did not practice much this week. I did not see a team prepared to play without DR. Not just the players, but the coaching staff will also need to step it up 110%. JL needs to get innovative and put the best "group" of players on the floor, not necessarily the best 5 individual players.

These are good players and we have a good set of coaches ... this team is capable of putting it together. The last two games have reset and grounded most everyone's expectations for the year, so the team has the opportunity to start anew.
 
SanFrancisco Pete is exactly right as without an inside game we will not win a lot of games as the good teams continue to guard us around the perimeter which makes it hard for our 3 point shooters to get open shots; we need to change our offense to more of an inside out by using a true post player in the lane with his back to the basket instead of having him outside setting screens and cutting to the basket as the opposing teams just switch off their man to guard our 3 point shooters and then we struggle to get a decent shot.
 
Grassman said:
With this fan base, attendance, dollars, and support, we deserve so much more!
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Grassman I think you need to relax a little bit. I have been reading posts of yours on other pages and all you do is rip the Braves to pieces. How can you call yourself a fan when you don't show any faith in them?

Sure non-conference play didn't go the way we want it to. Things happen sometimes. We are now moving into the 2nd season which is Conference season. Since we basically have no resume for the time March Madness comes around, we obviously need to win the MVC tourney. We can find a way to do this and turn this whole season around. If the Braves go on a win streak all of the sudden all these posts will change to how JL did such a good job bringing this team around, and how we are going to make the tourney, and how everybody always had faith in this team. If you are going to be one of these people then show a little faith. It is said that with our fan base, attendance, dollars, and support we deserve more? Remember these are college students and right now they just need to figure out what kind of team they are. We know how the Braves can play because we have seen it. It is time for them to figure it out. Are they the team that came out last night or are they the team that came 4 minutes and 11 seconds away from beating MSU?
 
The way I see it, we have an inside game but they just can't make any shots unless it's dunks, with the exception of DC of course. Maybe Les is saving DC for Conference play and trying to "hide" his ability LOL. At this point in the season, were no worse than last year. Our scoring average is somewhat the same and we have flaws this season just like last year. Last season it was the rebounding which killed us almost every game. This year it's the lack of inside play and the newcomers but at least the rebounding is solved. As of right now, we blew 1 of 3 chances to get to da big dance. The 2nd chance starts Saturday. Will Les and gang show up or will they dwindle into the corner, we shall see.

Jason
 
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