(03-06-2014 10:40 PM)DFW Owl Wrote:  I wonder if LT or USM have any chance at an NCAA at-large bid if they lose in the C-USA final and finish 27-7 or 28-6. C-USA btw had 4 teams finish at 13-3 (USM, La Tech, MTSU, and Tulsa) and UTEP at 12-4.

no at-large bids for CUSA so have to win out

(03-06-2014 10:54 PM)techdawg88 Wrote:  

(03-06-2014 10:40 PM)DFW Owl Wrote:  I wonder if LT or USM have any chance at an NCAA at-large bid if they lose in the C-USA final and finish 27-7 or 28-6. C-USA btw had 4 teams finish at 13-3 (USM, La Tech, MTSU, and Tulsa) and UTEP at 12-4.

no at-large bids for CUSA so have to win out

That's a shame. I certainly think the final two both deserve a shot.

Very impressed by Tech. In your face basketball without the theatrics one usually sees with teams who play this style.

(03-06-2014 09:54 PM)GoodOwl Wrote:  Rice: Totals 19-43 7-16 3-11
Percentages 44.2% 43.8% 27.3%

Narrowly missed the statistical curiosity of shooting better from three point percentage than two point percentage, and better for two point percentage than one point percentage.

Thought it was kind of cool that President Leebron tweeted Tamir to say that Leebron couldn't make tonight's game but inviting Tamir to stop by his office.

(03-06-2014 08:33 PM)GoodOwl Wrote:  

(03-06-2014 08:24 PM)Tiki Owl Wrote:  Read the bio of their coach...pressuring man to man defense and dribble drive uptempo offense has paid dividends....now put that in the criteria for our new coach.

I hope so. I don't care what style of play he uses to do it, uptempo, slow-down, whatever. All I care about is that he takes good student-athlete players and wins enough to get Rice to the NCAA tournament as soon a possible, and then keeps us at that level for a while without getting any sanctions. Tired of life at the bottom, wonder what it's like at the top.

Agree with both of you. Because I think pressing defense and up-tempo offense would be the proper strategy for taking good student-athletes and winning. Two primary reasons:

1. The guys you need to win big in the half-court game aren't coming to Rice. Most don't have the grades, and the ones who do will have offers to go anywhere. What we can recruit would be good athletes who happen to be basketball players. The dominant post-up big man and the gym rat point guard aren't coming here; the best strategy to get them is probably to recruit them overseas, and we see how well that worked. We are going to have to recruit contrarian and win with what that gets us. We can get a bunch of 6-5, athletic tweeners. And if that's what you have, then press defense and up-tempo offense would be the way to go.

2. We will always be in a battle for the dollar of the Houston sports fan. Without a huge alumni base, that means we have to entertain to sell tickets. And if we don't sell tickets, we not only lose money, we obviously also lose players to defection. So playing the most entertaining style is the best way to get fan interest and keep talent.

(03-07-2014 07:41 AM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  

(03-06-2014 08:33 PM)GoodOwl Wrote:  

(03-06-2014 08:24 PM)Tiki Owl Wrote:  Read the bio of their coach...pressuring man to man defense and dribble drive uptempo offense has paid dividends....now put that in the criteria for our new coach.

I hope so. I don't care what style of play he uses to do it, uptempo, slow-down, whatever. All I care about is that he takes good student-athlete players and wins enough to get Rice to the NCAA tournament as soon a possible, and then keeps us at that level for a while without getting any sanctions. Tired of life at the bottom, wonder what it's like at the top.

Agree with both of you. Because I think pressing defense and up-tempo offense would be the proper strategy for taking good student-athletes and winning. Two primary reasons:

1. The guys you need to win big in the half-court game aren't coming to Rice. Most don't have the grades, and the ones who do will have offers to go anywhere. What we can recruit would be good athletes who happen to be basketball players. The dominant post-up big man and the gym rat point guard aren't coming here; the best strategy to get them is probably to recruit them overseas, and we see how well that worked. We are going to have to recruit contrarian and win with what that gets us. We can get a bunch of 6-5, athletic tweeners. And if that's what you have, then press defense and up-tempo offense would be the way to go.

2. We will always be in a battle for the dollar of the Houston sports fan. Without a huge alumni base, that means we have to entertain to sell tickets. And if we don't sell tickets, we not only lose money, we obviously also lose players to defection. So playing the most entertaining style is the best way to get fan interest and keep talent.

That is exactly what #5 was for them. A swing man playing both inside and outside. If you look at his offers you would hope that Rice could land a player with those offers providing he qualifies for admission.
http://www.latechsports.com/sports/m-bas...20153.html

I personally think Marcus Jackson can develop into that type of player. He (and Obi) just need to work on getting stronger and keep working on their games (I know Jackson works hard - I've seen him in the gym in the late hours). Obi's offensive game is fine but he needs to work a lot on the defensive end and the conditioning. If both improve at the level that Keith Washington did from last year to this year, I don't think people realize how much talent we might have actually in place next year. If the 6-8 freshman from Florida is any good, then it may even be better than I realize.

Keith has really impressed me this year while Max seems to have lost a notch or maybe teams are playing him tougher without Tamir as a threat?

I was very impressed with the discipline that LA Tech showed on the court. Even when the game was in hand and they spread the floor, they still were able to find an open man when there was 5 seconds left on the clock for an quality shot. How many times do we see teams try to milk the clock and have poor shot selections at the end of the 35 seconds?

They did not run up the score, they were that much better than Rice last night. Their coach substituted quite freely and he went fairly deep in his bench throughout the game. 9 players logged 13 or more minutes in the game. Coach White deserves some consideration for CUSA coach of the year.

(03-07-2014 09:43 AM)texowl2 Wrote:  Keith has really impressed me this year while Max seems to have lost a notch or maybe teams are playing him tougher without Tamir as a threat?

I agree about Max. I thought he made great strides a year ago but hasn't improved much this year. Jackson and Washington continue to make too many turnovers as a result of soft bounce passes.

(03-07-2014 08:46 AM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  I personally think Marcus Jackson can develop into that type of player. He (and Obi) just need to work on getting stronger and keep working on their games (I know Jackson works hard - I've seen him in the gym in the late hours). Obi's offensive game is fine but he needs to work a lot on the defensive end and the conditioning. If both improve at the level that Keith Washington did from last year to this year, I don't think people realize how much talent we might have actually in place next year. If the 6-8 freshman from Florida is any good, then it may even be better than I realize.

So, Braun may have things going in the right direction? Maybe he should get another year.

(03-07-2014 07:41 AM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  1. The guys you need to win big in the half-court game aren't coming to Rice. Most don't have the grades, and the ones who do will have offers to go anywhere. What we can recruit would be good athletes who happen to be basketball players. The dominant post-up big man and the gym rat point guard aren't coming here; the best strategy to get them is probably to recruit them overseas, and we see how well that worked. We are going to have to recruit contrarian and win with what that gets us. We can get a bunch of 6-5, athletic tweeners. And if that's what you have, then press defense and up-tempo offense would be the way to go.

IMO, the problem was not the fact that we had international players but that we had international players recruited by a sleazbag (Morcos) and a racist/insensitive/idiot Athletic Director. These morons would have found a way to screw it up even if we had a slew of Texas players (the less than positive feedback about RG was everywhere)

The international strategy COULD work. I wouldn't discount it based on our experience with it.

(03-07-2014 09:43 AM)texowl2 Wrote:  Keith has really impressed me this year while Max seems to have lost a notch or maybe teams are playing him tougher without Tamir as a threat?

This has been my observation as well...think Max at this stage would have been better as a 6th man spark plug off the bench, but he could certainly improve as he gets older.

(03-07-2014 10:41 AM)Tiki Owl Wrote:  

(03-07-2014 09:43 AM)texowl2 Wrote:  Keith has really impressed me this year while Max seems to have lost a notch or maybe teams are playing him tougher without Tamir as a threat?

I agree about Max. I thought he made great strides a year ago but hasn't improved much this year. Jackson and Washington continue to make too many turnovers as a result of soft bounce passes.

I agree too on both counts. But I think that's correctable.

And no, I don't think Braun should return (and I think talking to him a bit, he even realized that was his final home game last night). But at the same time, this is Karlgaard's first true test. And if he doesn't respond quickly and effectively with a solid hire, I will be very disappointed. And I will be disappointed if the same people who are so eager to point out the other deficiencies in the athletic department don't call out Karlgaard as well.

Hopefully we already have made preparations on the next hire and it will be done quickly as I said.

(03-07-2014 10:57 AM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  

(03-07-2014 10:41 AM)Tiki Owl Wrote:  

(03-07-2014 09:43 AM)texowl2 Wrote:  Keith has really impressed me this year while Max seems to have lost a notch or maybe teams are playing him tougher without Tamir as a threat?

I agree about Max. I thought he made great strides a year ago but hasn't improved much this year. Jackson and Washington continue to make too many turnovers as a result of soft bounce passes.

I agree too on both counts. But I think that's correctable.

And no, I don't think Braun should return (and I think talking to him a bit, he even realized that was his final home game last night). But at the same time, this is Karlgaard's first true test. And if he doesn't respond quickly and effectively with a solid hire, I will be very disappointed. And I will be disappointed if the same people who are so eager to point out the other deficiencies in the athletic department don't call out Karlgaard as well.

Hopefully we already have made preparations on the next hire and it will be done quickly as I said.

Joannie and I were talking about this same thing last night walking to the parking lot. I would hope the plug is pulled right after our last game and that JK already has a list of people he wants to talk to as soon as they finish their season. I think we need to keep Obi and several others and a quick hire would help keep him comfortable at Rice plus give the new coach a chance at the Ky kid.

JVG! JVG!

(03-07-2014 10:57 AM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  And no, I don't think Braun should return (and I think talking to him a bit, he even realized that was his final home game last night). But at the same time, this is Karlgaard's first true test. And if he doesn't respond quickly and effectively with a solid hire, I will be very disappointed. And I will be disappointed if the same people who are so eager to point out the other deficiencies in the athletic department don't call out Karlgaard as well.

Hopefully we already have made preparations on the next hire and it will be done quickly as I said.

Crossing my fingers. And you have no need to fear, FBO. I'll be watching...

(03-07-2014 10:41 AM)Afflicted Wrote:  

(03-07-2014 08:46 AM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  I personally think Marcus Jackson can develop into that type of player. He (and Obi) just need to work on getting stronger and keep working on their games (I know Jackson works hard - I've seen him in the gym in the late hours). Obi's offensive game is fine but he needs to work a lot on the defensive end and the conditioning. If both improve at the level that Keith Washington did from last year to this year, I don't think people realize how much talent we might have actually in place next year. If the 6-8 freshman from Florida is any good, then it may even be better than I realize.

So, Braun may have things going in the right direction? Maybe he should get another year.

That's not even funny.

(03-07-2014 12:40 PM)Tomball Owl Wrote:  

(03-07-2014 10:41 AM)Afflicted Wrote:  

(03-07-2014 08:46 AM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  I personally think Marcus Jackson can develop into that type of player. He (and Obi) just need to work on getting stronger and keep working on their games (I know Jackson works hard - I've seen him in the gym in the late hours). Obi's offensive game is fine but he needs to work a lot on the defensive end and the conditioning. If both improve at the level that Keith Washington did from last year to this year, I don't think people realize how much talent we might have actually in place next year. If the 6-8 freshman from Florida is any good, then it may even be better than I realize.

So, Braun may have things going in the right direction? Maybe he should get another year.

That's not even funny.

Hopefully whoever extended Bob Polk has no influence on this decision now.