If there was ever a moral victory... Great effort against a Top 10 ranked team in hostile environs. Without question our best game of the season, and a very encouraging omen for things to come (if not this season then next).

(12-29-2014 04:23 PM)ChicagoOwl (BS 07) Wrote:  What got us in the end was UT having a 2+ inches and 15+ lbs advantage at every position. It's miraculous we kept it as close as we did. Hats off to our guys. What an effort.

+1

Wasn't expecting us to play ranked Texas this close. Not yet. Excellent effort and hopefully, with next years recruits, we will be able to win ones like this

My biggest hope for this season is that the basketball team would show more signficant in-season improvement than a typical team, both because the team was young (true freshman adjusting to the speed of the college game) and because the team was adjusting to a new coaching staff.

Team seems to be playing better coming out of finals break. If this is some true development, then maybe the team will be surprisingly competent during the upcoming CUSA schedule. Would certainly be nice, after watching the team drop quite a few close, winnable games so far this season. Rice should at least have a chance to win their first CUSA game at home against UTSA. UTSA is 4-5 overall, but lost to Washington State by 20 (Rice only lost to Washington State by 2).

We lost, but this is encouraging.

A good sign indeed. A few stats that jump out. FG and 3pt FG percentages were close (we were shooting better from 3 until the end.). FT's a huge discrepancy we were 5/6 and UT was 17/28 as I said before we have to do a better job at getting to the line. In the end this was the difference in the geame. Rebounds as expected went to UT 39-25 and offensive boards 18-8. Assists close with Rice having 11 and UT 14 (this is an area where I think we will continue to improve). Steals 11 to 6 in favor of the Owls...this is Rhoades Ball. Turnovers 16 each..I am ok with 16 as long as we force the same number.

Monster game by Seth. I have thought that Seth has been overlooked during his time at Rice because of his inconsistency in scoring but his versatility of being able to play inside and out is huge. It looks like he is really liking the change in coaching. We still need Max to shoot better. Again today he was only 2/11. Rivers had a nice game but Mency struggled after having several good games.

Let's see if we can pick up two wins this weekend. We should be favored Friday vs UTSA and a dog vs UTEP on Sunday. It is frustrating how the schedule puts us at home so much when the students are gone. Until the alums/fans start coming these games will be tough without crowd support. The students so far have done their job. One thing to note with UTEP is that they have played mostly at home and are 0-2 on the road.

Score?

(12-29-2014 10:28 PM)Almadenmike Wrote:  Score?

65 - 55 final, but it was Rice ball at 53 - 51 with 2:30 remaining. We then proceeded to misfire on 3 consecutive 3's while UT converted...and then they paraded to the foul line the final minute.

(12-29-2014 10:30 PM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  

(12-29-2014 10:28 PM)Almadenmike Wrote:  Score?

65 - 55 final, but it was Rice ball at 53 - 51 with 2:30 remaining. We then proceeded to misfire on 3 consecutive 3's while UT converted...and then they paraded to the foul line the final minute.

They paraded to the line all game.

(12-29-2014 03:32 PM)DFW Owl Wrote:  Down 2 with less than 4 minutes left we had two missed 3's that would have given us the lead. Things fell apart after that.

Holy crap. We left Austin at about 11:00 to visit family on the way back to Dallas. With kids stuff scheduled for this afternoon, we couldn't have made the game anyways, but it hurt to miss the game when it turned out we were so close (poor planning on my part played a part, too). Well, done, Owls!

(12-29-2014 10:30 PM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  

(12-29-2014 10:28 PM)Almadenmike Wrote:  Score?

65 - 55 final, but it was Rice ball at 53 - 51 with 2:30 remaining. We then proceeded to misfire on 3 consecutive 3's while UT converted...and then they paraded to the foul line the final minute.

Few minor corrections...66-55 final. Also Rice's missed 3's were with more time left...one under 5 minutes and two a bit under 4 minutes. UT got rebound of last missed shot and started their late scoring run with FT at 3:19 and a 3-pt play at 2:50.

(12-29-2014 06:08 PM)mrbig Wrote:  My biggest hope for this season is that the basketball team would show more signficant in-season improvement than a typical team, both because the team was young (true freshman adjusting to the speed of the college game) and because the team was adjusting to a new coaching staff.

We aren't as young as I was thinking we might be. Today, 96 of 200 minutes were played by junior, seniors, and grad student.

sophs drone and jackson played 56.

We have 8 freshmen on the team. Only 4 of them got in the game, and only 2 (Rivers, Mency) played more than 4 minutes.

Couple of questions to ponder in setting expectations for improvement next season:

1. Are mency and rivers good enough to at least be role players on an above average team?

2. How good do we expect to the transfer from ASU to be?

3. Is any of our incoming recruits thought to uniquely talented relative to the current roster?

Excellent effort. Nice showing. Could not see it. Longhorn channel will not be available until 1/12015 on Direct tv

1) I'd say Mency is definitely good enough to be a role player on an above average team... I think with Rivers, the sample size is too small.
2) I expect Koulechov to be better than Green, perhaps a potential replacement for Gearhart.
3) Marquez Letcher-Ellis will be an immediate game changer, and I think Cashaw and the other guy will play significant minutes right away.

Any sighting of Davis? Still on the roster........

(12-29-2014 11:44 PM)ExcitedOwl18 Wrote:  1) I'd say Mency is definitely good enough to be a role player on an above average team... I think with Rivers, the sample size is too small.
2) I expect Koulechov to be better than Green, perhaps a potential replacement for Gearhart.
3) Marquez Letcher-Ellis will be an immediate game changer, and I think Cashaw and the other guy will play significant minutes right away.

I know it's just a brief glimpse, but what I saw of Koulechov from the preseason practice session put on for season ticketholders, he would be the best player on this year's team, hands down. Certainly the best outside shooter, and he was not afraid to take it to the basket. Far superior to Green, IMO.

I think all three of our 3- and 4-star commits will be starters next year, or at least amongst our top 6 - 7 players. Certainly, Drone, Gercy, Mency and Jackson will also be in the mix and get significant playing time, but I would expect Koulechov and our 3 elite newcomers to all be starters from the get-go.

(12-30-2014 09:06 AM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  

(12-29-2014 11:44 PM)ExcitedOwl18 Wrote:  1) I'd say Mency is definitely good enough to be a role player on an above average team... I think with Rivers, the sample size is too small.
2) I expect Koulechov to be better than Green, perhaps a potential replacement for Gearhart.
3) Marquez Letcher-Ellis will be an immediate game changer, and I think Cashaw and the other guy will play significant minutes right away.

I know it's just a brief glimpse, but what I saw of Koulechov from the preseason practice session put on for season ticketholders, he would be the best player on this year's team, hands down. Certainly the best outside shooter, and he was not afraid to take it to the basket. Far superior to Green, IMO.

I think all three of our 3- and 4-star commits will be starters next year, or at least amongst our top 6 - 7 players. Certainly, Drone, Gercy, Mency and Jackson will also be in the mix and get significant playing time, but I would expect Koulechov and our 3 elite newcomers to all be starters from the get-go.

very encouraging.