UNC- ASH

Relax guys. This is a super young team that doesn't have the skill just yet. Branch was only pegged to go 8-12 minutes tonight for a reason. The reality is that Sanchez was the guy this team needed to avoid losing to teams like UNC-A and USF while the youngins matured.

Things will only get better and this team can still improve to the point where they are an NCAA tournament team by Feb/March.
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I wish I could agree with you Marillac, but the "team is young" and "we will get better" are old Norm Roberts lines.
FOUR of the FIVE guys that played well under coach D have regressed to date. If Branch was "pegged to play 8-12 minutes" then Lavin is "throwing games".....plain and simple. The proof of that is that he had our two worst ball handlers and decision makers out there at the end of the game. No Branch! No defensive adjustments to stop their one man attack.....nada!
Lavin is not seeking any input during game situations from his coaches. This loss is demoralizing not only to the fans but to the players, like Branch and Gift, who are asked to sit and do nothing to help this team. If Lavin is looking for early season losses to "teach the team a lesson" then he should have stopped with the emabarassing loss to San Fran in front of his family.
The last ten minutes of this game I had to wonder if Branch made the right decision to transfer. For the coaches (collectively) to not see the lack of court leadership and awareness in those last 10 minutes and have the 2 smartest players glued to the bench, amounted to coaching malpractice.
Phil Greene sucks at the PG position.....plain and simple! Those last few offense plays and turnovers with D'Lo and Greene were telegraphed from the bench by poor coaching and horrible substitutions.
If this is the future of the Catholic 7, we do not need to spend $2 million on staff and may as well bring Billy Singleton back along with his current coach who at least instills a work ethic in his players that is absent in our group thus far.
The coaches and players all need to look very closely in the mirror and decide if they are satisfied with what they see. If they are, then this will barely be a .500 season. With the hype fading and the recruiting going into a lull, we may be losing fans by the 100's by February.
I dread the Villanova and Cincy games!!!
 
Class of 72 by TKO over Marillac in round one. Saying Marrillac's excuses for the team sounds like Norm Roberts is very apropos-Lavin is coaching like Norm.
 
I cant see this team finishing with a winning record this season. Almost no team in Big East that is a sure victory for us this year.


Really missing dunlap
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Keady needs to step up to the plate to replace Dunlap// I am just sick of all this losing
 
Our fanbase can be ridiculous. First you guys go nuts over Christian Jones, no everyone wants to jump ship because a bunch of first and second year players jump off to an 8-4 start. Relax!

Jamal Branch had two assists and FOUR turnovers tonight in just 13 minutes. Greene had fours assists and only one turnover. It's not like Lavin benched a kid that was tearing it up. I expect Branch will get there quickly, but he certainly wasn't there his first time out.

There are so many guys that are trying to find their roles on this team. Pointer, Garrett, Greene, and Bourgault all need to carve out their respective niches. This team has to gel. Bourgault has been playing, what, five games? Now Branch is inserted for the first time. I think this will be a different team in a few weeks time. 8-4...disappointing, but nobody expected us to be any better than 10-2 at this point.
 
here is CR Greens take on Howland and UCLA, Does it sound familar could be applied to this team.

For the Record, UCLA is 8-3 on the year. They've won their last two games by 42 and 19 pts (and the game before that, they knocked off Texas, which just shellacked North Carolina). One of their losses (a bad one) was by 2 points, as their 3 frosh, 1 first year transfer lineup didn't hold onto an 18 pt lead with 12 minutes left in the game - took the foot off the gas, and couldn't get the engine restarted - somehting newcomers learn to do as the season goes on.
 
Jamal Branch had two assists and FOUR turnovers tonight in just 13 minutes. Greene had fours assists and only one turnover. It's not like Lavin benched a kid that was tearing it up. I expect Branch will get there quickly, but he certainly wasn't there his first time out.
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Did you watch the two point guards in this game, or are you just going by the numbers (and I tend to be a numbers guys too, at time)? One of the reasons Branch committs TOs, is because he is actually trying to make things happen out there. I don't think the ball movement was better all year, then in the first half when he was leading the break. Yes, only 2 assists, but set up a lot of plays. A lot of times, he gave it to the guy who got the assist, so there was a contribution there. Yes, he will turn it over some, but the number of positive plays we will get from him should more then make up for that, IMO.

Greene just stood there running the weave until the shot clock hit 10. Nobody got the ball in the right spots. The 4 assists he had, quite frankly suprised me. Harrison made a couple of wild shots early in the second half, I think Greene got credit on both of them.

Trust me, Branch is the supieror player RIGHT NOW.
 
Missed my first game of the season-was going to watch on espn3 replay but now will not bother. talked to a friend of mine who agreed with many of the points many of you have already made. One thing I just have to say-it is time to admit that Dom and Amir were vastly overrated coming out of high school and IMO are actually below average BE players. I'll leave it to others to continue to sing their praises. If it isn't enough to watch them play just look at their numbers.
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I hate to talk badly about Dom and Amir bc they both appear to be very good kids. But I have been thinking the same thing. From what we have seen to date, they are both below average big east players. If either of them turn out to be as productive as Paris Horne, I would be thrilled. Just goes to show that recruiting rankings don't mean everything. Dom and Amir have plenty of time to have solid careers, but I've seen plenty of less heralded kids come in better-prepared to contribute than them.

I think they would benefit from some better ball movement. I'm so sick of seeing d-lo go one on five. We are playing selfish ball.
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As I have indicated before Pointer and Garrett have no shots; both scored on layups in high school. Amir got his points underneath with putbacks while Dom had layups on steals and fast breaks. It's obvious Lavin needs to bring in athletes who can shoot.
 
This game will be a lesson just like Fordham was two years ago.

When Branch was on the court there was some great ball movement. He will only make this team better.

Stop acting like Norm is still here. We are 8-4 we have a tough conference play ahead and those teams are gonna underestimate us. We are holding onto the well. Blocking shots and have two great talents in Harrison and Sampson. If Marco can get over the two threes a game hump he can help. This team is going to a tournament this year. It might be the NIT but, anything can happen this team can get hot and if they gel together who knows.

The chemistry will come and I think it is sooner then most of the people on this board do.

We need to crash the boards everyone. Follow your shot fundamentals but, that is an easy fix and we have a long time until the next game. This is going to eat at this team before the next game. I hope it gives them a chip in their shoulder that they will carry around all year. Plenty of time and plenty of talent. Don't give up yet because when you give up defeat is on its way and this team learned that today. The fans should too.
 
Our fanbase can be ridiculous. First you guys go nuts over Christian Jones, no everyone wants to jump ship because a bunch of first and second year players jump off to an 8-4 start. Relax!

Jamal Branch had two assists and FOUR turnovers tonight in just 13 minutes. Greene had fours assists and only one turnover. It's not like Lavin benched a kid that was tearing it up. I expect Branch will get there quickly, but he certainly wasn't there his first time out.

There are so many guys that are trying to find their roles on this team. Pointer, Garrett, Greene, and Bourgault all need to carve out their respective niches. This team has to gel. Bourgault has been playing, what, five games? Now Branch is inserted for the first time. I think this will be a different team in a few weeks time. 8-4...disappointing, but nobody expected us to be any better than 10-2 at this point.
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You either didn't watch the game or you're a distant relative of Phil Greene to make that kind of statement. Which one is it?

The offense flowed much better with Branch on the floor. He could have had 2-3 more easy assists if it wasn't for poor finishes and fouls at the rim by Jakarr. It was actually the first game this season where our bigs were getting easy baskets and transition attempts. If you watched the game, Branch made ONE bad turnover (the blind pass to Marco). Marco was wide open, so chalk that up as another potential assist.

Please save the "niches" talk. Absolutely no one can find a niche for themself when they're constantly being shuffled in and out of the lineup with no rhyme or reason. Very easy to repeatedly knock Christian Jones when he gets put in the game and yanked right back out after one offensive possession. Maybe you'll crack a smile on your face when he enters his name on the transfer list.

I expect these kind of issues from some coach who just came up from the high schools ranks. Not from a staff with this kind of experience.

Watching this team week after week just makes me wonder what do they actually do in practice.

No plays are run during games so that can't be it.
3 guys go up for blocked shots.
No one boxes out.
The matchup zone looks more like a foot race to cover space.

This team looks like a glorified AAU team.

Time to take off the rose colored glasses and call it how it is. We're being sold on a team that is something that it is not and it is tiring at this point. Recruiting high-level players means nothing when you can't teach them how to break the natural habits that they had when they dominated in high school.
 
Relax guys. This is a super young team that doesn't have the skill just yet. Branch was only pegged to go 8-12 minutes tonight for a reason. The reality is that Sanchez was the guy this team needed to avoid losing to teams like UNC-A and USF while the youngins matured.

Things will only get better and this team can still improve to the point where they are an NCAA tournament team by Feb/March.
Click to expand...

I wish I could agree with you Marillac, but the "team is young" and "we will get better" are old Norm Roberts lines.
FOUR of the FIVE guys that played well under coach D have regressed to date. If Branch was "pegged to play 8-12 minutes" then Lavin is "throwing games".....plain and simple. The proof of that is that he had our two worst ball handlers and decision makers out there at the end of the game. No Branch! No defensive adjustments to stop their one man attack.....nada!
Lavin is not seeking any input during game situations from his coaches. This loss is demoralizing not only to the fans but to the players, like Branch and Gift, who are asked to sit and do nothing to help this team. If Lavin is looking for early season losses to "teach the team a lesson" then he should have stopped with the emabarassing loss to San Fran in front of his family.
The last ten minutes of this game I had to wonder if Branch made the right decision to transfer. For the coaches (collectively) to not see the lack of court leadership and awareness in those last 10 minutes and have the 2 smartest players glued to the bench, amounted to coaching malpractice.
Phil Greene sucks at the PG position.....plain and simple! Those last few offense plays and turnovers with D'Lo and Greene were telegraphed from the bench by poor coaching and horrible substitutions.
If this is the future of the Catholic 7, we do not need to spend $2 million on staff and may as well bring Billy Singleton back along with his current coach who at least instills a work ethic in his players that is absent in our group thus far.
The coaches and players all need to look very closely in the mirror and decide if they are satisfied with what they see. If they are, then this will barely be a .500 season. With the hype fading and the recruiting going into a lull, we may be losing fans by the 100's by February.
I dread the Villanova and Cincy games!!!
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Sad But I said early on if we.have a .500 season.we would be doing good Now do not .see that happening
But..who knows Dissappointed to say the least
 
Our fanbase can be ridiculous. First you guys go nuts over Christian Jones, no everyone wants to jump ship because a bunch of first and second year players jump off to an 8-4 start. Relax!
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What part of a blow out loss to mid weight the University of SanFrancisco and a loss with squandered 17 point lead to mid weight UNC Ashville don't you understand to be bad things?
 
Maybe not.
.
Wow was that a horrible play by Harrison. WTF? This team can't cover anyone off the bounce.
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Key point I said weeks ago they all get beai of the dribble Defense is bad rebounding bad See some big double digit
losses in BE play if we do not show batter
 
Asheville is much more competitive than you guys think,. Atkinson had 26 against 3 different defenders in a 2 point loss at ranked NC State. Johnnies were prepared to win but could not bury them. Later when the tide turned they hit big shots and made the stops that killed St. John's. This one will brew for a week and then it's on to Villanova.
 
What doesn't make sense to me is why Harrison is guarding Atkinson for most of the 2nd half. That was the main reasons we lost.

Branch obviously has an extremely high basketball IQ, but to me he did not seem like he was up to game speed. I'm hoping this is because he hasn't played in a year but I don't think think he is going to be a savior that all of us are hoping.
 
Our fanbase can be ridiculous. First you guys go nuts over Christian Jones, no everyone wants to jump ship because a bunch of first and second year players jump off to an 8-4 start. Relax!
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What part of a blow out loss to mid weight the University of SanFrancisco and a loss with squandered 17 point lead to mid weight UNC Ashville don't you understand to be bad things?
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Could we lose every Big East game? oNLY KIDDING .but the thought did cross my mind lately
 
This is an embarrassing loss.
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Stop with the copouts; coaching had nothing to do with the loss. We don't play hard, which is what defense and rebounding are about. On offense, we don't share the ball. That is on the players....we are certainly not a well coached team because the players aren't getting it but Lavin, Keady, etc, did not get stupid over the off-season.
 
This is an embarrassing loss.
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Stop with the copouts; coaching had nothing to do with the loss. We don't play hard, which is what defense and rebounding are about. On offense, we don't share the ball. That is on the players....we are certainly not a well coached team because the players aren't getting it but Lavin, Keady, etc, did not get stupid over the off-season.
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Completely disagree with you

If the players aren't playing hard (which has been the case the entire season on defense), then it is a reflection on the coaching staff

There should never ever be a question of effort on the floor
 
UNC Asheville's first win against a Big East opponent. What a disgrace! I know that UNC Asheville is agood team but SJU had a double digit lead in the secon half. How do you give up 46 points in the paint? This team needs Gift. I'm not saying that he's an All American type player but they need his tough interior defense, his rebounding and intensity.
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No, they need Obekpa and Sampson to stop trying to both block every shot, The two most overrated stats are blocks and steals because attempts at both can break a defense down. That is what we see consistently. And it's not on them entirely by any means. all of you who want to proclaim our backcourt so great ignore the fact that neither Greene nor Harrison or Pointer either can, or maybe are not committed to, keeping anyone in front of them. This team is not very good, we have talent, but they are not committed as players to play together and smart right now.
 
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