Once again, longtime reader but new post-er. Forgive me if I sound like a noob.

Anyone have thoughts on the Jacksonville game? This will probably be one of the biggest games of the season for us. Hopefully the draw will be good, we've got the students pretty fired up. Any pre-game thoughts/predictions?

(02-05-2010 12:40 AM)SNIURB06 Wrote:  Once again, longtime reader but new post-er. Forgive me if I sound like a noob.

Anyone have thoughts on the Jacksonville game? This will probably be one of the biggest games of the season for us. Hopefully the draw will be good, we've got the students pretty fired up. Any pre-game thoughts/predictions?

Glad to hear the students are getting fired up. I hope really hope they show up and are involved. It makes a difference.

Jax is clearly favored to win. They were better and deeper in the post than I thought they would be the first time around. They rebound very well too. Hopefully, we've learned to play a full 40 minutes as we stayed with them for 30 minutes or so last time then the wheels came off.

You have to keep Ben Smith under control. You won't shut him down, just keep him from dominating. As always, it's easier when you shoot well. We could shoot well and still lose though. We did not have great shooting stats against ETSU and still won. I don't see that happening tonight. If we win we have a shot at a top 2 seed. If we lose, we don't. I'm really looking forward to seeing if we've improved enough to take them down to the wire.

(02-05-2010 11:45 AM)BluBare Wrote:  

(02-05-2010 12:40 AM)SNIURB06 Wrote:  Once again, longtime reader but new post-er. Forgive me if I sound like a noob.

Anyone have thoughts on the Jacksonville game? This will probably be one of the biggest games of the season for us. Hopefully the draw will be good, we've got the students pretty fired up. Any pre-game thoughts/predictions?

Glad to hear the students are getting fired up. I hope really hope they show up and are involved. It makes a difference.

Jax is clearly favored to win. They were better and deeper in the post than I thought they would be the first time around. They rebound very well too. Hopefully, we've learned to play a full 40 minutes as we stayed with them for 30 minutes or so last time then the wheels came off.

You have to keep Ben Smith under control. You won't shut him down, just keep him from dominating. As always, it's easier when you shoot well. We could shoot well and still lose though. We did not have great shooting stats against ETSU and still won. I don't see that happening tonight. If we win we have a shot at a top 2 seed. If we lose, we don't. I'm really looking forward to seeing if we've improved enough to take them down to the wire.

Agreed. As always with Belmont, when we're shooting well we play great. When we aren't, we get frustrated and over anxious, hence, bad shots and passes and everyone wanting to be a Justin Hare-esque hero (moment of silence). I think if we have good momentum from the ETSU and Cambell victories, plus well fought game against DLU. With the addition of a great crowd and atmosphere, this could be a big win for us. Here's hoping for a shut down to the Dolphins 10 game streak!

We have to play a smart game. I think we can win this game for sure but turnovers will be the key. We are a pretty decent rebounding and defensive team....plus I think there is a little ill feeling towards the way the last two times we played them ended, so it should be a good matchup tonight. Im stoked for this game

It's great to hear that the students are fired up. I'm very excited about this game, it's about time we beat Jacksonville. Should be a fun atmosphere too.

(02-05-2010 01:07 PM)Bruin2014 Wrote:  It's great to hear that the students are fired up. I'm very excited about this game, it's about time we beat Jacksonville. Should be a fun atmosphere too.

They have some of the same DLU characteristics that give us trouble. A potentially dominant scorer on the perimeter and very good bigs. They can also crank up the pressure on defense. This game is problematic for us. However, we are really growing. I think that we are more well-suited to compete in the post and handle pressure D than we have been in the past due to better size and athleticism.

I really want to see Jordan Campbell step up. He was really, really turning into a potentiall all-conference player before his injury last year, and he's never returned to form. They guy has the goods in shooting, handling, passing, defense, etc. I want to see him taking it to the rack more. If he can get back to form, we are a force down the stretch and in the tourny (we may be anyway).

This is the first game I missed at home this year. I'm out of town and unable to attend, but my family sent me reports during the game.

This really knots up the top of the league and makes the remaining weekend games really interesting.