The unofficial online home for fans of the Old Dominion University Monarchs. Part of Collegiate Sports Nation (CSN).

(11-01-2012 10:59 PM)devyanks90 Wrote:  

(11-01-2012 10:34 PM)vbundy Wrote:  i noticed there were no names on the back of the jerseys.

I think we were expecting Mt. Olive to bring different uniforms. We were wearing road jerseys today.

That was by design. Ed Miller said we were wearing our new road blues, one of three uni combos for this season.

Where was Stuart?

(11-01-2012 11:31 PM)TedHead Wrote:  Where was Stuart?

He was there. He even played a few minutes, just not many.

So it's pretty much what we all thought........our backcourt is quite good (although very young with Palmore and Bacote getting big minutes, our front court has some potential with Painter but is EXTREMELY thin (both literally and figuratively) with Larsen and Wright as the other two main 4/5's and we have another project big man that could go either way in Anichebe.

I certainly will give Anichebe every chance to develop the way Frank the Tank did and the way Vasylius did under Blaine's leadership, but man, wouldn't it be nice if for just ONCE, we could get a freshman that was ready to play in the frontcourt from day one? I know, I know, those guys don't come to programs like ODU, the McAdoo's and Finney Smith's go to big time programs, but we landed Dahi and he was a pretty solid freshman.
Loughton and Lee were both solid freshman but of course they came from overseas with pretty much zero other offers. So I guess the answer is, no we can't get a freshman center who is ready from day one lol.

Let's just hope Anichebe learns a lot this year or we are going to be in TROUBLE next year. I do love our backcourt and if Blaine has any common sense at all, he will run a 4 guard lineup like Murray State, VCU, Butler and quite a few other successful mid majors have done recently to take advantage of our strengths. We certainly can't pound the ball inside on teams this year.

But I do think we can play and even win some games we probably shouldn't have any right winning if we run a full court press, 4 guard lineup with Palmore, Bacote, Batten, Hill, possibly Clark rotating in as the 3 guards with Ross switching in and out as a 5 and PAinter getting 30+ every game as a 5 with Wright spelling him or if we really have to, matching up with Painter and Wright as bigs inside (although I really hate that idea because neither one of them were really bangers).

VCU used tall, athletic guards to run and gun teams to death in order to overcome their lack of size (yeah they had Haley, but he sucked/sucks) and Skeen was a matchup nightmare that we really don't currently have, but we do have a very athletic big in Painter who does have a jumper and can present problems and we have just as skilled and athletic guards as VCU did, although they do appear to be much younger this year.

Basically, I'm not expecting great RESULTS, I just want to see Blaine show me that he is capable of changing up styles based on what he has managed to recruit for this program. We absolutely cannot bang and bang like we have for the last couple years with our roster as it is currently assembled. We just cannot freaking do it.

So hopefully he decides to change things up permanently this year (and not just tinker with different lineups every now and again like he did last year) and try and run teams out of the gym. In my opinion, it is our only shot of doing anything other than maybe making a CBI or CIT. Just being honest.

"ODU shot a blistering .661 (39-59) from the floor" is a stat line I like to read! Wish I could have made the game last night. Won't be making many this season sadly.

Thanks for the thoughts/updates on game.

(11-01-2012 09:00 PM)EverRespect Wrote:  

(11-01-2012 08:57 PM)Fatalisk Wrote:  How did Palmore look?

I was impressed. Lightyears ahead of any PG we have seen in the last 6 years.

Palmore did look very good. Totally in command, and appeared to me to be always on the lookout for multiple options, not just the set play that had been called. When nothing materialized, he was not at all afraid to take it to the rim.

The only only slight concern was the 2 (or maybe it was 3) cross-court passes in the second half that turned into easy picks for the defender. I don't know if he just lost sight of a defender who was cheating into the lane or perhaps if the fault was with the intended pass recipients who didn't step into the pass. Either way, I am sure that will be an easy adjustment to address.

(11-02-2012 07:53 AM)Cr8n Wrote:  "ODU shot a blistering .661 (39-59) from the floor" is a stat line I like to read! Wish I could have made the game last night. Won't be making many this season sadly.

Thanks for the thoughts/updates on game.

They also hit their free throws in the second half. Another positive sign.

The lack of rebounding needs to change, though. That was my biggest concern. MOC got quite a few second chance points.

(11-02-2012 07:55 AM)AdoptedMonarch Wrote:  

(11-01-2012 09:00 PM)EverRespect Wrote:  

(11-01-2012 08:57 PM)Fatalisk Wrote:  How did Palmore look?

I was impressed. Lightyears ahead of any PG we have seen in the last 6 years.

Palmore did look very good. Totally in command, and appeared to me to be always on the lookout for multiple options, not just the set play that had been called. When nothing materialized, he was not at all afraid to take it to the rim.

The only only slight concern was the 2 (or maybe it was 3) cross-court passes in the second half that turned into easy picks for the defender. I don't know if he just lost sight of a defender who was cheating into the lane or perhaps if the fault was with the intended pass recipients who didn't step into the pass. Either way, I am sure that will be an easy adjustment to address.

I left at halftime so I missed those mistakes. There will be more mistakes I am sure. One thing I did see on two occasions were no look bullet passes from the lane a la Bobby Hurley. in the '80s. This was something Drew never even did. I don't want to put the cart before the horse, but I was very impressed with what I saw from Keenan in the 1st half.

Nothing gets me more pissed off than watching people miss free throws. No coach should let their guys leave practice until they hit 9 of 10. But.. even if you practice it falls on the kids in game. Don't want to start that topic. =]

(11-02-2012 08:29 AM)Cr8n Wrote:  Nothing gets me more pissed off than watching people miss free throws. No coach should let their guys leave practice until they hit 9 of 10. But.. even if you practice it falls on the kids in game. Don't want to start that topic. =]

This is supposed to be a good FT shooting team (according to Miller). They were mediocre last night, but it is tough to judge in a meaningless game with a huge lead. I'm not a basketball player, but I do shoot a lot of pool and darts, which I would imagine is similar to FT shooting in that it is 75% focus. I would like to think there will be more individual focus in a tighter game that counts. We'll see.

Agreed. Block everything out and let muscle memory take over. Hell, I think Paul Webb camp free throws were drilled into our heads even at 12 years old?

But! Great news.

we haven't had a good FT shooting team in years. we aren't going to have one this year. Thats just the way it is and I've gotten used to it.

(11-02-2012 09:58 AM)ODU_NYG Wrote:  we haven't had a good FT shooting team in years. we aren't going to have one this year. Thats just the way it is and I've gotten used to it.

I have faith these guards will hit the free ones.

You know if are shooting 66% from the floor and nearly 50% from behind the arc, I'm not worried if we are shooting 50% from the FT line. It doesn't matter at that point. However, if we are shooting 30% from the floor and 20% from 3 point land, we better be shooting 80%+ from the FT line.