(POST-GAME) Fairleigh Dickinson, Sat., Nov. 20, 6p, FS-2

Today's game was unfortunate.  Perhaps it was a little bit of a hangover from the Indiana game.  We all debated whether these cupcake games could be a blessing in regards to letting the team gel.  I can go either way on that, but when you play like we did today it's not helpful.   We didn't look like a team solidifying offensive routines or beginning to define roles.  Instead, we looked like a team just leaning on a talent advantage.  Thankfully, that advantage was enough to survive about 35 sloppy minutes.  Not sure if we got much out of today's game.

Some individual takeaways:

Wusu is a darn good passer.  

Soriano is going to be really helpful, but he is not a natural shot blocker and will not be a beast in the east. 

Mathis is going to make some big plays for us.  He is also going to land in CMA's doghouse several times this year.

Stanley is raw, but he is going to develop into a fan favorite for sure.  Guy has a great motor.

The guy I can't figure out is Wheeler.  My hunch is he will settle into a role and help us, but I just don't know.  

On to perennial powerhouse St. Francis.




 
 
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We won by 10+, which is what NET caps at. I'll take it.

So far this year:
+10 (H-Mississippi Valley State)
+10 (H-Saint Peter's)
-2 (A-Indiana)
+10 (H-Fairleigh Dickinson)
Total: +28

First 4 games from last year:
+1 (H-Saint Peter's)
+10 (H-La Salle)
+4 (N-Boston College)
-6 (N-BYU)
Total: +9

We went 3-1 both years and the 2 neutral games from last year are offset by the 1 away game from this year. Competition was a bit tougher last year, but this year's results I think have been better overall with regards to NET margins. Tough to say for certain, but personally I'd take this year's first 4 games over last year's.

Solid work overall, on to St. Francis.
 
Just got home from a wedding. Knew the score, so I watched it in a little more than 40 minutes. Dismal performance, but better tonight than against Kansas or Colgate. Missing 2 pieces, and poor shooting night by Champ. Hopefully no one else got hurt, and we move on. But some warts are showing that need to be cleaned up. 
 
It's hard to come away with a lot of positives when a team like FDU worked so hard in the 2nd half to make it a single digit game.   Directly in front of me was the dad of their 2nd best player who was loud and animated but a nice guy and I tried to treat him as a welcomed guest.  His kid played well against a BE team.  Happy for him.

These games are painful to watch even when we are eviscerating a subpar opponent.

My biggest pluses are that:

1. Expected Wheeler to look like a slightly better version of Amar, who was content to play 25 feet from the hoop.  Wheeler is far more skilled and can even take it to the hole.   Hoping CMA  can get him to play inside more.  

2. Mathis can play.

3. Soriano is a beast but raw.   CMA has a block of granite to work with.  Let's see how he develops.

4.  Lots of depth without much falloff in rotation after Champ and Posh.

These games are cheap perfume
  Winning by 30 is like putting  a nice dress on it.  It still stinks.
 
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down by 9 is FDU just under the 4 minute media timeout, says it all to me. A stinker. 

In Norm years and even other years we lose this game.
 
Well, it’s ok to analyze the FDU game and give pardons for sins committed but , the reality is we played very poorly for a BE Team .     I don’t buy the idea that it didn’t matter how we played against a Team that we should beat handily and everything will turn out right once the BE season starts .     Will it ?                                                         A malady of the CMA era is team inconsistency . We rarely put together 40 minutes of quality basketball .  We basically took ourselves out of the Indiana game by a horrid first half . A 20 minute futility that cost us a winnable game against a Indiana Team that might be a mid pack Big 10 team .                                                              If other posters watched any of the other BE games yesterday or during the Gavitt series , it’s apparent that Marquette , Providence , Seton Hall, Creighton and Xavier will be tough opponents , Even DePaul appeared competitive . And , of course , Villanova took apart a ranked  Tennessee team on TV .                                          Does anyone think we are going to plow under any of those teams mentioned ?                               Off yesterday’s performance , I would think CMA and crew should be very unhappy with our quality of BB over 40 minutes .       And , Champ had a off day shooting wise , 7 for 19 or something like that and 1-7 from 3 point range .  We can’t expect 30 out of him every game and do we have enough with Posh and the rest to Win BE games when he has , for him , a less than perfect game ?   We didn’t last March when he was  off against Seton Hall in a second round BE Tourney game . So far , I’m not so sure .  And , CMA needs to tune up the offensive sets , not just rely on Pressure defense to win games .  BE opponents will continue to Zone us .  And , Mike , try and get the team to play with 40 minutes of intensity , not anything less . 
 
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Attendance at Saturday’s game 3,538.
Underwhelming.  Like our team.
 
Knight post=443445 said:
Attendance at Saturday’s game 3,538.
Underwhelming.  Like our team.
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6pm start dissuaded the 4 of us from going.  Will be there at SFU.
 
usguard post=443440 said:
Agree especially on Wheeler although I do nor see him give us much ,hope I am wrong
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You can tell he's still trying to figure out his role.  I think he sees himself as a Champ-type player, but he doesn't have the outside shot that Champ has.  He has skill though but is still too tentative inside.  Has made some nice hustle plays and good passes, so I will take those contributions anyday.
 
With Wheeler, on defense I see real value. Although it has been against bad competition a unit with him and Stanley together has looked very good as a pressing unit. Wheeler is fast enough to chase up top and with his wingspan can really disrupt passing lanes. This defense first unit could be a good way to get Champagnie and Soriano breathing time without things falling apart. 
 
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