We couldn't play UABs game. Had to rely on perimeter shooting... which we couldn't do.
We need more depth. More accuracy. More size.
But the effort was there.

Calls were bad but not just against Rice. Even on a night where Evans sat with foul trouble, Egor couldn't hit anything, and no one guy had a really good game we stood our ground fairly well.

The team is definitely not down on themselves or their situation. Each game provides opportunity to learn and to improve. The improvement in Quez, Cashaw, and Drone has been good to see.

The second half was interesting.

A 10-0 Rice run in the first 4:14 brought the Owls to within 2 (42-44).

Rice led 47-46 after a 5-2 mini-run over the next 1:20.

But, then ...

UAB outscored us 8-5 over the next 2:24 (52-54) and then 7-0 over the next 4:13 to extend their lead to 9 (52-61).

The rest of the game was nearly even (18-21 in UAB's favor).

"To win we have to shoot 3s," Coach Rhodes said in the post-game interview. "The guys make them in practice. They have to do it when they're on stage." (Especially on the road.) "It's hard to win when your best shooter (Egor) goes 1-for-12" (for 3-pointers).

The Owls missed an astonishing number of open looks from the perimeter against UAB. Koulechov was the most visible offender but it was painful to watch most of the team from beyond the arc. Given the rebounding disparity (35 to 50), the poor shooting doomed the team last night. If Rice hits 35% to 40% of their shots from the 3 point circle, the game is completely up for grabs.

The most frustrating part of watching the Owls play for the past several years (both Braun and Rhodes eras) is the lack of attention to rebounding and blocking out the opponent after a shot. I believe the coaching staff emphasizes getting back on defense after a shot to the extent that Rice never seems to out-rebound an opponent. I know that size matters, but so does fundamentals in blocking out as well as the desire for the ball. I also recognize that the increased number of 3-point shots by the offense increase the odds of long rebounds and boxing out under the rim is not always an effective strategy when that occurs.

I am glad Amir Smith got in the game, even thought it was only for 2 minutes. Despite the rust and his 2 fouls, he did not back down against UAB's "bigs". It would be great to find between 8-10 minutes a game for him during the rest of the season to help his game develop. Since they did not red shirt him, he needs to continue to get game experience.

I have the game on DVR and haven't had a chance to watch yet. It was surprising (but good) to see a box score with 5 players in double-digit scoring. It seems like everything except 3-point shooting (and sometimes rebounding) has improved since the beginning of the year. Look at the 3-point shooting in recent losses:
UAB - 6/34 (17.6%), 12-point loss
Marshall - 9/34 (26.5%), 4-point loss
NT - 8/24 (33%), 11-point loss
UTSA - 7/25 (28%), 5-point loss
UTEP - 5/20 (25%), 1-point loss
Inc Word - 8/25 (32%), 6-point loss
S. Alabama - 7/23 (30.4%), 7-point loss

Rice didn't shoot well in any of those losses, and shot particularly poorly in 4 games. Rice certainly beats UTEP with just slightly better shooting, and maybe Marshall and UTSA. And obviously all those other games would go down to the wire with a few more makes. Rice is down to 29.9% as a team on the season and opponents are shooting 41%. Last season Rice shot 36.2% and held opponents to 34.9%. Losing Gearhart (39.9%), Jackson (39.7%), and Peera (51.1%) has obviously hurt.

One positive has been Cashaw. He was 2/15 on 3-point shots during the first 6 games but is 22/54 since then! We need him taking 12 a game if he keeps making them. Unfortunately, Koulechov has gone the opposite direction.

Maybe time for a practice with 75% of the time dedicated to 3-point shooting and 3-point defense?

(01-22-2016 10:38 AM)mrbig Wrote:  Maybe time for a practice with 75% of the time dedicated to 3-point shooting and 3-point defense?

Agreed. Our three-point defense has been poor for the last five years at least. We're not able to rotate quick enough on defense or leave too much space on the perimeter because we're afraid we're going to get blown by on a quick step to the basket. That's what I saw a lot of in the Marshall game.

(01-22-2016 10:50 AM)westsidewolf1989 Wrote:  

(01-22-2016 10:38 AM)mrbig Wrote:  Maybe time for a practice with 75% of the time dedicated to 3-point shooting and 3-point defense?

Agreed. Our three-point defense has been poor for the last five years at least. We're not able to rotate quick enough on defense or leave too much space on the perimeter because we're afraid we're going to get blown by on a quick step to the basket. That's what I saw a lot of in the Marshall game.

Rhoades made a comment about that in postgame radio. He said they were making them in practice but not on the main stage (games). I think this is more of a confidence/leadership issue related to our extreme youth. That shows in basketball a lot more as there are fewer players on the team overall. Combined with our severe depth issues, it is tough to overcome. Look at Bishop last season vs this one. I like the kid, but for some reason he's not feeling it like he did at times last year, and has not seemed to progress offensively as much as might have been anticipated. There's still time this season.

I'm actually respecting the heck out of what Rhodes did with Gearhart last season.

Also, Max had a poor game shooting last night. It is going to happen, but that was also a bit of the difference.

On plus side, we had a couple of double doubles in te same game, and it's been a while since that happened. Some good and some bad to take away from this game. Like I observed before, this feels like a year 1 redo. I really think the foundations being laid by Rhoades are the right ones, and we will see a much improved team next year. But this team can still work to progress to a level where they become a dangerous tourny team come conf tourney time. They are still easy to root for, despite the current results.

Just finished watching the game on DVR; does anyone else think that Coach left Evans and Drone on the bench too long after their third fouls? Rice was close when they went out, and the lack of depth really showed. I know the school solution in to take them out with three fouls until about ten mins left in the second half, but when your bench is as shallow as Rice's this year, it seemed like a huge momentum killer at a key time in the game. When Evans did come back he was totally cold, turned the ball over and missed most of his remaining shots.

(01-22-2016 01:14 PM)johncatworth Wrote:  Just finished watching the game on DVR; does anyone else think that Coach left Evans and Drone on the bench too long after their third fouls? Rice was close when they went out, and the lack of depth really showed. I know the school solution in to take them out with three fouls until about ten mins left in the second half, but when your bench is as shallow as Rice's this year, it seemed like a huge momentum killer at a key time in the game. When Evans did come back he was totally cold, turned the ball over and missed most of his remaining shots.

Yea I was yelling at the TV that Evans should go back in when UAB went up 5. I'd rather him foul out than sit on the bench and miss more time. Drone I don't mind so much because he has to sit anyway for breathers. Quez is a little better on defense I think unless someone really tries to body him up. He rotates quicker and seems to get a hand on the ball more often.

The game was over for the players when they let UAB get 4 rebounds in a row and tip it in. Looked like we were out of gas and tired of missing shots all night. I liked that Rhoades called a timeout immediately and got on their case.

(01-22-2016 10:38 AM)mrbig Wrote:  I have the game on DVR and haven't had a chance to watch yet. It was surprising (but good) to see a box score with 5 players in double-digit scoring. It seems like everything except 3-point shooting (and sometimes rebounding) has improved since the beginning of the year. Look at the 3-point shooting in recent losses:
UAB - 6/34 (17.6%), 12-point loss
Marshall - 9/34 (26.5%), 4-point loss
NT - 8/24 (33%), 11-point loss
UTSA - 7/25 (28%), 5-point loss
UTEP - 5/20 (25%), 1-point loss
Inc Word - 8/25 (32%), 6-point loss
S. Alabama - 7/23 (30.4%), 7-point loss

Rice didn't shoot well in any of those losses, and shot particularly poorly in 4 games. Rice certainly beats UTEP with just slightly better shooting, and maybe Marshall and UTSA. And obviously all those other games would go down to the wire with a few more makes. Rice is down to 29.9% as a team on the season and opponents are shooting 41%. Last season Rice shot 36.2% and held opponents to 34.9%. Losing Gearhart (39.9%), Jackson (39.7%), and Peera (51.1%) has obviously hurt.

One positive has been Cashaw. He was 2/15 on 3-point shots during the first 6 games but is 22/54 since then! We need him taking 12 a game if he keeps making them. Unfortunately, Koulechov has gone the opposite direction.

Maybe time for a practice with 75% of the time dedicated to 3-point shooting and 3-point defense?

Rice is tied for 329th (out of 351) in 3-point percentage (29.9%). This means that, for every 10 3-point attempts, Rice scores 9 points. Their 2-point percentage is 52.2%, which results in 10.44 points for every 10 attempts. For this particular team, the conclusion is that they should abandon the 3-point shots in favor of 2-point attempts.

Team FG statistics.

Braun used to sit Kazemi way too much when he would get in slight foul trouble and it would drive me nuts. 100% agree that I would rather see the guy (Evans in this case) foul out than lose the game with him on the bench!!!!

Thanks for the stats WRC...it confirms what most of us who have seen the majority of the games think. Down the stretch I would like for Connor to joing Evans with the bulk of the outside shots and would want Egor to assume the inside role Seth played last year. As it is we need Egor inside for rebounding (a job he has done pretty well this year) and with a scoring threat inside maybe the defenses won't be able to blanket our 3 pt shooters as much.