Bucknell game

glad we won. glad to see some gradual progress on issues such as perimeter defense and the zone was leaps and bounds better. Still very poor shot selection with way too many shots coming from 12-18 feet and of course those 19-20'8" We played better in all three games where we got the ball inside but our guards are still resistant. The irony is that our perimeter shooting gets better when we play inside out.

Those ugly shots totally disrupt any kind of offense and chemistry. If the guards start thinking like playmakers and getting Jakarr and Sanchez involved inside instead of them shooting out or Obekpa setting up high for screens, we could be fund to watch. To the extent this happened we have done well. This complements the shot blocking /offense from defense, which was huge for us in both keeping this game in reach and then shutting them down for a long stretch.
Click to expand...

Couldn't agree more. The fact that Bucknell only had one team foun with about 1:30 left in the game speaks volumes about how we just weren't getting the ball inside.

But overall, I was impressed with the adjustments made and the fact that our guys never lost their composure, even when down by 9.
 
Good game, and a good win. There were some encouraging signs, and there are some glaring developmental needs.

Our man defense was atrocious. It wasn't as though we were getting killed by backdoor cuts, either (though there were a few of those). Basically we just failed to stop the ball. There is work to be done there.

Jordan looked better. He needed to have a game where he did some good things, and I think he will take off from here. Branch was very solid. Harrison's shot has gone AWOL, and if it doesn't come back then our 3 point percentage is going to be woeful all year. Sanchez was solid, and Obekpa played one of his better all around games. His man defense is still a work in progress and so is his offensive game, but he played a much more complete game on both ends of the floor. Dom was Dom. Sampson still seems to be having trouble finding where he fits in, to me.

Phil was the player of the game, and if it wasn't for him this is a 10 point loss. Yes, that is a LMF "I told you so."

Most importantly, I thought Lavin did an excellent job coaching the game. He stayed with the man to man, as bad as it was, as long as the game was in reach. Then he switched to the 2-3 zone late and it shut Bucknell down at a key stretch. Putting Obekpa on the same corner as Ayres when they went to the zone was very effective. Really a good move, playing the zone late and just enough that Bucknell did not have time to analyze and attack it before it was too late.

I also thought that he had an excellent feel for who to play and when to ride the hot hand. The substitutions all made sense.

There is still a long way to go to translate the encouraging signs from this game into something consistent so that we can be competitive with, say Syracuse. But this was definitely a step in the right direction.
Click to expand...


Agreed on everything but especially your point in subs. A lot of posters wondered why Rysheed didn't see the floor in the second half, but your out of your mind if you take Greene out of the game the way he was playing, and you needed Sir Dom on the defensive end. Well coached game by Lavin, great win
 
Hit your freebies, Harrison.

Raftery has jinxed us.
Click to expand...

Yeah what the hell happened to Harrison there, how could he miss a FT? Unreal.

Easyyy Dinkins I`m jk

That 2nd half might have been the best half so far this year. Lets keep it going and roll Monmouth. We all know Artest, Barkley, Postell, Thornton, and Grant would have a game against team like Monmouth way over by halftime. Well it`s time for this group to have that killer mentality and end games by halftime. It`s just the next step if you want to be a true elite team.
Click to expand...

LOL It's cool!

Raftery kept going on and on about Harrison not having missed a FT all season. It just felt like the usual jinx when commentators talk about a placekicker not having missed in 'this many tries' or 'within 40 yards' and a FT shooter not having missed on this many attempts.

I agree, in reference to Monmouth. Let's put the sledgehammer on them and make sure their spirits are done by halftime.

Good job by our group, last night.
 
It was a 3-2 zone in second half. Was at the game last night and my brother in law and I could not figure why we were not pounding the ball inside to Sanchez or Opebka. We could have scored at will with our size advantage. I just don't think as a team that we drive enough to the hole. We seem to live or die at the perimeter.
 
Quite happy with the win. Things were looking ugly there for a while but the defense played amazing the last 10 minutes. I'm still amazed how bad some if our team is at shooting. Greene and Chris O won this game for us. Let's hope the team runs with this!
 
It was frustrating to watch three quarters of the game when you think it was top 100 guys against a team that's in a league that doesn't give out scholarships. On the other hand, Bucknell is really good and well coached.

Unfortunately for them, so are we. Kudos for Lavin and crew.

Kudos also for Greene IV, who's taken his share of crap from posters including yours truly. We'll see how many games it'll take before he's back in the doghouse. Hopefully, he's arrived.

This was a good win against a team that's far from being a cupcake.
 
It was a 3-2 zone in second half. Was at the game last night and my brother in law and I could not figure why we were not pounding the ball inside to Sanchez or Opebka. We could have scored at will with our size advantage. I just don't think as a team that we drive enough to the hole. We seem to live or die at the perimeter.
Click to expand...

There was one play in particular where we ran up the floor and Obekpa sealed his defender, we gave him the ball and he slammed it down easily. I threw my arms out and questioned why we don't do that every time up the floor. We definitely need to pound inside more, right now our offense is to obvious
 
Good game, and a good win. There were some encouraging signs, and there are some glaring developmental needs.

Our man defense was atrocious. It wasn't as though we were getting killed by backdoor cuts, either (though there were a few of those). Basically we just failed to stop the ball. There is work to be done there.

Jordan looked better. He needed to have a game where he did some good things, and I think he will take off from here. Branch was very solid. Harrison's shot has gone AWOL, and if it doesn't come back then our 3 point percentage is going to be woeful all year. Sanchez was solid, and Obekpa played one of his better all around games. His man defense is still a work in progress and so is his offensive game, but he played a much more complete game on both ends of the floor. Dom was Dom. Sampson still seems to be having trouble finding where he fits in, to me.

Phil was the player of the game, and if it wasn't for him this is a 10 point loss. Yes, that is a LMF "I told you so."

Most importantly, I thought Lavin did an excellent job coaching the game. He stayed with the man to man, as bad as it was, as long as the game was in reach. Then he switched to the 2-3 zone late and it shut Bucknell down at a key stretch. Putting Obekpa on the same corner as Ayres when they went to the zone was very effective. Really a good move, playing the zone late and just enough that Bucknell did not have time to analyze and attack it before it was too late.

I also thought that he had an excellent feel for who to play and when to ride the hot hand. The substitutions all made sense.

There is still a long way to go to translate the encouraging signs from this game into something consistent so that we can be competitive with, say Syracuse. But this was definitely a step in the right direction.
Click to expand...


Agreed on everything but especially your point in subs. A lot of posters wondered why Rysheed didn't see the floor in the second half, but your out of your mind if you take Greene out of the game the way he was playing, and you needed Sir Dom on the defensive end. Well coached game by Lavin, great win
Click to expand...

Re. Jordan: He was benched not because of Phil Greene's shooting but because he began the second half with a foul and two turnovers. Lavin saw enough and went with more experience.
There was nothing special about the subbing since both Branch and Jordan were not penetrating and dishing efficiently and not involving the bigs (Jordan at least tried). In fact, Sanchez needed to be out there more considering how small Buckell played with 4 guards!
One week folks complain about our lousy zone defense and now we complain about our lousy man defense. Last night the fact of the matter was lousy ONE man defense! Ayers was allowed a career game because Lavin failed to stick a player to him like glue. As well coached and mature as Bucknell is, they are basically a two man offense. We played lazy man in the first half and the man-to-man needed adjustments which never happened.
As for coaching, I would give Lavin a B- since most of the game we had guys 6'9 on the front line and never ONCE took advantage of it on offense. There were very few feeds or drives inside with Sampson, Sanchez and Pointer all settling for jumpers.
This was a good win against a well coached team picked 4th in the Patriot behind Army. We have a long long way to go to match the discipline St. Francis showed against Syracuse at the Carrier Dome.
Lou was in the house as was the Maven.
 
The other thing about Greene is he just doesn't turn the ball over. He may not be a great playmaker but when so many of our other guys seem to rush things he's always under control and just doesn't turn it over. That's what bother's me about Branch, too many careless turnovers. That last play before the half was a perfect example. Cant have our PG making high risk passes in a situation that calls for holding for the last shot.
 
Our best lineup right now includes both Pointer and Obekpa. It's great that they finished, but Bucknell was able to gain confidence and momentum in the first 10 possessions by making it look like we didn't have defenders on the court. If Pointer's length was bothering Kaspar, and Obekpa was shoving everything right back in their face, from the start the game takes a different tenor. The team just goes when those two are out there and it starts, exclusively, on the defensive end of the floor.

Whether a team executes against it (as Wisconsin and Bucknell did) or not (as Wagner couldn't) our man defense isn't anywhere close. It's not about effort, it's not about athleticism. The technique just isn't there. Ayers, Kaspar, and Fitzpatrick could get any angle they wanted off the dribble, whenever they wanted it. Bucknell ran two plays for the first 27 minutes when we were in man, which have the same features - ball screen and dribble hand-off. We had no answer for it even though we knew it was coming. They probably ran 40 ball screens and I don't know that we had one textbook hard hedge and recover.

The switch to the zone was phenomenal, albeit late, and won us the game. I'm not in favor of exclusively playing zone but rather mixing the defenses. We also need to get better at man and the only way you do that is by playing it. But Wisconsin and now Bucknell have shown us in pointed fashion that we are not at this moment a 40 minute man team.

Great offensive adjustment in the second half. Most every team from now until New Years is going to zone us, and if we settle for the jumpshots they are begging for us to take like we did in the first half last night some of those games will be far more adventurous than they should be. Obekpa didn't get the ball on the block until deep into the second half and treated the defender like a middle-schooler on that dropstep. That is something we could give some outside thought to trying earlier in the game.
 
Maybe I missed something. Everyone is asking why we didn't pound the ball inside. CO and, to a lesser extent, Orlando both tried to post up but Bucknell's zone collapsed inside and really took away any interior scoring. They gave us open jumpers that we consistently missed until Phil caught fire. If we tried to force the ball inside, it would have reaulted in turnovers. Teams know that we are not a good shooting team and Bucknell did a good job taking away the inside post up game and clogging the driving lanes.
 
The other thing about Greene is he just doesn't turn the ball over. He may not be a great playmaker but when so many of our other guys seem to rush things he's always under control and just doesn't turn it over. That's what bother's me about Branch, too many careless turnovers. That last play before the half was a perfect example. Cant have our PG making high risk passes in a situation that calls for holding for the last shot.
Click to expand...


Greene doesn't turn the ball over because he doesn't pass.
When he has it, it's going up.
 
Our best lineup right now includes both Pointer and Obekpa. It's great that they finished, but Bucknell was able to gain confidence and momentum in the first 10 possessions by making it look like we didn't have defenders on the court. If Pointer's length was bothering Kaspar, and Obekpa was shoving everything right back in their face, from the start the game takes a different tenor. The team just goes when those two are out there and it starts, exclusively, on the defensive end of the floor.

Whether a team executes against it (as Wisconsin and Bucknell did) or not (as Wagner couldn't) our man defense isn't anywhere close. It's not about effort, it's not about athleticism. The technique just isn't there. Ayers, Kaspar, and Fitzpatrick could get any angle they wanted off the dribble, whenever they wanted it. Bucknell ran two plays for the first 27 minutes when we were in man, which have the same features - ball screen and dribble hand-off. We had no answer for it even though we knew it was coming. They probably ran 40 ball screens and I don't know that we had one textbook hard hedge and recover.

The switch to the zone was phenomenal, albeit late, and won us the game. I'm not in favor of exclusively playing zone but rather mixing the defenses. We also need to get better at man and the only way you do that is by playing it. But Wisconsin and now Bucknell have shown us in pointed fashion that we are not at this moment a 40 minute man team.

Great offensive adjustment in the second half. Most every team from now until New Years is going to zone us, and if we settle for the jumpshots they are begging for us to take like we did in the first half last night some of those games will be far more adventurous than they should be. Obekpa didn't get the ball on the block until deep into the second half and treated the defender like a middle-schooler on that dropstep. That is something we could give some outside thought to trying earlier in the game.
Click to expand...

Excellent post. Spot on about the defense.

I thought Obekpa and Sanchez played well together, and I think you will see more of that, especially against bigger teams. The problem is that if you do that then you have to choose between Sampson and Pointer, and it makes a big difference in your game.

Dom changed our defensive intensity for the better but one man cannot make up for the other four lacking in fundamentals.

The issue early was that we started 3 guards, which we seem to do all the time. I don't like it. i would start Sanchez, Sampson and Pointer up front, Harrison and Jordan in the backcourt, and take it from there. Phil and Obekpa should get significant minutes off of the bench, and you can go big or small as the game demands along the way.

When you start 3 guards you end up leaving Dom on the bench. When you do that there just isn't enough defense on the floor. You could get there by starting Obekpa over Sanchez, but I wouldn't do that because Sanchez gives you much more all around than Obekpa does on both ends of the floor.
 
Phil Greene 3 games 72 minutes 19 FGAs 4 assists and 0 turnovers
Jamal Branch 3 games 40 minutes 9 FGAs 2 assists and 5 turnovers


I'll take Greene
 
The other thing about Greene is he just doesn't turn the ball over. He may not be a great playmaker but when so many of our other guys seem to rush things he's always under control and just doesn't turn it over. That's what bother's me about Branch, too many careless turnovers. That last play before the half was a perfect example. Cant have our PG making high risk passes in a situation that calls for holding for the last shot.
Click to expand...


Greene doesn't turn the ball over because he doesn't pass.
When he has it, it's going up.
Click to expand...

Totally disagree. He runs the offense and sends the ball where it is supposed to go. If he has an open look he takes it, and when everybody is sitting on their hands and passing the ball back and forth and eventually somebody has to take the damn shot, he does what he has to do.

I have no problem with his shot selection. I'll give you that he's not a pass-first point guard, but that's not his job. That's supposed to be Branch's job.
 
The other thing about Greene is he just doesn't turn the ball over. He may not be a great playmaker but when so many of our other guys seem to rush things he's always under control and just doesn't turn it over. That's what bother's me about Branch, too many careless turnovers. That last play before the half was a perfect example. Cant have our PG making high risk passes in a situation that calls for holding for the last shot.
Click to expand...


Greene doesn't turn the ball over because he doesn't pass.
When he has it, it's going up.
Click to expand...

Totally disagree. He runs the offense and sends the ball where it is supposed to go. If he has an open look he takes it, and when everybody is sitting on their hands and passing the ball back and forth and eventually somebody has to take the damn shot, he does what he has to do.

I have no problem with his shot selection. I'll give you that he's not a pass-first point guard, but that's not his job. That's supposed to be Branch's job.
Click to expand...

Agree here. Greene isn't a point guard. When he is asked to play pg, it was because in the past we didn't have other options. Yesterday, he played shooting guard and did so very well. I think he will be a better player when he isn't in charge or running the offense and being a distributor. I too love Sanchez and Obekpa in there together. Both compliment each other well, especially on defense. I'd like to see us go to Sanchez more in the post on offense. Yesterday was the first time we saw it. The steal by Jordan, no-look to Sanchez was a thing of beauty. Sanchez has a nice hook inside as well. Sanchez played with fire and he will be a huge piece of our puzzle. Hes getting better and more comfortable every game. It doesn't matter that Dom comes off the bench. He's havoc off the bench and is great in that role. In addition, Sampson is more offense-minded.
 
Our best lineup right now includes both Pointer and Obekpa. It's great that they finished, but Bucknell was able to gain confidence and momentum in the first 10 possessions by making it look like we didn't have defenders on the court. If Pointer's length was bothering Kaspar, and Obekpa was shoving everything right back in their face, from the start the game takes a different tenor. The team just goes when those two are out there and it starts, exclusively, on the defensive end of the floor.

Whether a team executes against it (as Wisconsin and Bucknell did) or not (as Wagner couldn't) our man defense isn't anywhere close. It's not about effort, it's not about athleticism. The technique just isn't there. Ayers, Kaspar, and Fitzpatrick could get any angle they wanted off the dribble, whenever they wanted it. Bucknell ran two plays for the first 27 minutes when we were in man, which have the same features - ball screen and dribble hand-off. We had no answer for it even though we knew it was coming. They probably ran 40 ball screens and I don't know that we had one textbook hard hedge and recover.

The switch to the zone was phenomenal, albeit late, and won us the game. I'm not in favor of exclusively playing zone but rather mixing the defenses. We also need to get better at man and the only way you do that is by playing it. But Wisconsin and now Bucknell have shown us in pointed fashion that we are not at this moment a 40 minute man team.

Great offensive adjustment in the second half. Most every team from now until New Years is going to zone us, and if we settle for the jumpshots they are begging for us to take like we did in the first half last night some of those games will be far more adventurous than they should be. Obekpa didn't get the ball on the block until deep into the second half and treated the defender like a middle-schooler on that dropstep. That is something we could give some outside thought to trying earlier in the game.
Click to expand...

Excellent post. Spot on about the defense.

I thought Obekpa and Sanchez played well together, and I think you will see more of that, especially against bigger teams. The problem is that if you do that then you have to choose between Sampson and Pointer, and it makes a big difference in your game.

Dom changed our defensive intensity for the better but one man cannot make up for the other four lacking in fundamentals.

The issue early was that we started 3 guards, which we seem to do all the time. I don't like it. i would start Sanchez, Sampson and Pointer up front, Harrison and Jordan in the backcourt, and take it from there. Phil and Obekpa should get significant minutes off of the bench, and you can go big or small as the game demands along the way.

When you start 3 guards you end up leaving Dom on the bench. When you do that there just isn't enough defense on the floor. You could get there by starting Obekpa over Sanchez, but I wouldn't do that because Sanchez gives you much more all around than Obekpa does on both ends of the floor.
Click to expand...

Agreed completely. I think the 3-guard set is a great option to have, but since we have the personnel I don't know why we go small to start. Especially because Sampson/Sanchez is not a traditional frontcourt. It's a good one, but average-ish size as far as 4/5 goes. Supplementing them with the physical presence of a Pointer at the 3 is a big difference from the 3-guard set.

Obekpa would be the starter left out, but you can't start everybody. He's been very effective off the bench for his entire tenure here, so as long as he gets big minutes that appears to be working. I like Greene off the bench because of the scoring pop he brings, as we saw last night. If we can get last night's scoring from Greene and Friday's facilitating from Branch, these 3 create a very effective bench.
 
Our best lineup right now includes both Pointer and Obekpa. It's great that they finished, but Bucknell was able to gain confidence and momentum in the first 10 possessions by making it look like we didn't have defenders on the court. If Pointer's length was bothering Kaspar, and Obekpa was shoving everything right back in their face, from the start the game takes a different tenor. The team just goes when those two are out there and it starts, exclusively, on the defensive end of the floor.

Whether a team executes against it (as Wisconsin and Bucknell did) or not (as Wagner couldn't) our man defense isn't anywhere close. It's not about effort, it's not about athleticism. The technique just isn't there. Ayers, Kaspar, and Fitzpatrick could get any angle they wanted off the dribble, whenever they wanted it. Bucknell ran two plays for the first 27 minutes when we were in man, which have the same features - ball screen and dribble hand-off. We had no answer for it even though we knew it was coming. They probably ran 40 ball screens and I don't know that we had one textbook hard hedge and recover.

The switch to the zone was phenomenal, albeit late, and won us the game. I'm not in favor of exclusively playing zone but rather mixing the defenses. We also need to get better at man and the only way you do that is by playing it. But Wisconsin and now Bucknell have shown us in pointed fashion that we are not at this moment a 40 minute man team.

Great offensive adjustment in the second half. Most every team from now until New Years is going to zone us, and if we settle for the jumpshots they are begging for us to take like we did in the first half last night some of those games will be far more adventurous than they should be. Obekpa didn't get the ball on the block until deep into the second half and treated the defender like a middle-schooler on that dropstep. That is something we could give some outside thought to trying earlier in the game.
Click to expand...

Excellent post. Spot on about the defense.

I thought Obekpa and Sanchez played well together, and I think you will see more of that, especially against bigger teams. The problem is that if you do that then you have to choose between Sampson and Pointer, and it makes a big difference in your game.

Dom changed our defensive intensity for the better but one man cannot make up for the other four lacking in fundamentals.

The issue early was that we started 3 guards, which we seem to do all the time. I don't like it. i would start Sanchez, Sampson and Pointer up front, Harrison and Jordan in the backcourt, and take it from there. Phil and Obekpa should get significant minutes off of the bench, and you can go big or small as the game demands along the way.

When you start 3 guards you end up leaving Dom on the bench. When you do that there just isn't enough defense on the floor. You could get there by starting Obekpa over Sanchez, but I wouldn't do that because Sanchez gives you much more all around than Obekpa does on both ends of the floor.
Click to expand...

Agreed completely. I think the 3-guard set is a great option to have, but since we have the personnel I don't know why we go small to start. Especially because Sampson/Sanchez is not a traditional frontcourt. It's a good one, but average-ish size as far as 4/5 goes. Supplementing them with the physical presence of a Pointer at the 3 is a big difference from the 3-guard set.

Obekpa would be the starter left out, but you can't start everybody. He's been very effective off the bench for his entire tenure here, so as long as he gets big minutes that appears to be working. I like Greene off the bench because of the scoring pop he brings, as we saw last night. If we can get last night's scoring from Greene and Friday's facilitating from Branch, these 3 create a very effective bench.
Click to expand...

This is just my own theory, but I think we bring Obekpa and Sir'Dom off the bench is because their defensive aggressiveness is a foul risk. I think Lavin likes to bring them in to add defensive intensity first and foremost, and so they can have the energy down the stretch as well as not having foul trouble before the end of the game. While I don't love starting with 3 guards, I think it is more because we haven't yet learned good chemistry on the court with 3 guards. I don't mind guys like Obekpa and Dom off the bench though. I think it is a good idea to save fouls.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top