83-63, final.

Harrison with his best game (11 points, 4 boards in 14 minutes). Egor only one of our big 3 who shot well (20 points, 6 boards). Cashaw with 6 points and career high 13 boards. Lott with 9 points, 4 boards, 3 assists. Quez with 5 pts, 6 boards, 4 assists, 3 steals in 18 minutes.

(12-21-2016 09:42 PM)Viejobuho Wrote:  Looking forward to Evan's Christmas break= reset to old form...

Can't tell what has happened in last few games: his shooting (even his free throw) went off or he started to look for pass first.

I like him better as a scorer vs distributor.

I don't think we can win in conference with him scoring 10 points a game on less than 40% shooting.

I think the coaches have done a very good job of recruiting/managing playing time and getting a rotation in order. But the key to the season may be them figuring out how to correct his slump.

Not a good overall effort tonight by the team. There were a few players who played well but overall, I'd say that was our worst effort at home this season.

We went nearly 6 minutes without scoring adding to kind of a blah night with way way too many turnovers many of which were unforced. I think the team is a bit worn down from coming right out of finals and traveling to Pitt and having to leave early the next morning then games Monday and Wednesday.

Evans was handling the dual scorer/PG role earlier this year but the last few games he has really struggled shooting the ball and that has led to some bad turnovers and a good bit of frustration. Hopefully the break and more meaningful conference games will get him back on track.

Cashaw had a 13 rebound night following getting 10 on Monday night.

I thought as we got more of the non-starters in they tried to do too much which led to the sloppy play.

BTW I saw about a half of the women's game tonight and thought they looked better against their NAIA opponent than the men did. I believe they've equaled their entire win total from last year?

I agree that this was Harrison's best game of the season. He is a skilled offensive player who needs to learn his defensive positioning and improve his footwork to earn more minutes at the 4/5. During the game, Coach Rhodes seems to be more tolerant of turnovers than either Coach Braun or Coach Wilson. I think that the current coaches believe it is a byproduct of the up-tempo offensive scheme that is being run (my personal observation and impression). He certainly spends more time talking to players on court and when they come off the court during a substitution about their defensive positioning. He rarely seems to pull a player during the game because of an offensive turnover, but he is quick to yank someone if they are not putting full effort on the defensive side of the court or if they are in the wrong position.

The free throw situation is really ugly right now. I do not know who I want to have the ball in their hands when it comes to crunch time. Right now, my first choice is Marcus Jackson, but beyond Marcus,....

It is going to be interesting to see what the player substitution pattern will be once the Owls hit conference play. Lott and MLE are the only sure substitutions right now and Perhaps Meyer if Douglas is cleared to play again and regains the starters minutes at the 5.

Good wins against mediocre competition. I hope we improve the competition next year. Now it becomes interesting.

(12-22-2016 01:21 AM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  BTW I saw about a half of the women's game tonight and thought they looked better against their NAIA opponent than the men did. I believe they've equaled their entire win total from last year?

The women looked good late but you must have missed their slow start in the first quarter.

Good to be able to complain about a game we led by thirty, emptied the bench and won by twenty.

Looking forward to conference. Hope coach told them to shoot 10,000 free throws over the holidays

(12-22-2016 11:52 AM)Kayjay Wrote:  I agree that this was Harrison's best game of the season. He is a skilled offensive player who needs to learn his defensive positioning and improve his footwork to earn more minutes at the 4/5. During the game, Coach Rhodes seems to be more tolerant of turnovers than either Coach Braun or Coach Wilson. I think that the current coaches believe it is a byproduct of the up-tempo offensive scheme that is being run (my personal observation and impression). He certainly spends more time talking to players on court and when they come off the court during a substitution about their defensive positioning. He rarely seems to pull a player during the game because of an offensive turnover, but he is quick to yank someone if they are not putting full effort on the defensive side of the court or if they are in the wrong position.

The free throw situation is really ugly right now. I do not know who I want to have the ball in their hands when it comes to crunch time. Right now, my first choice is Marcus Jackson, but beyond Marcus,....

It is going to be interesting to see what the player substitution pattern will be once the Owls hit conference play. Lott and MLE are the only sure substitutions right now and Perhaps Meyer if Douglas is cleared to play again and regains the starters minutes at the 5.

Harrison looked solid. Hopefully it's a case of the system finally making sense to him because his upside is significant.

I wouldn't worry too much about the free throws. We're way better than most teams (including ODU our next opponent). Egor is usually very dependable too at the line although he was way off against St. Thomas.

We are better than average free-throw shooting team by about 2 percentage points. An average D1 team this season shoots right around 70 percent from the line.

Another fun fact I found on kenpom.com is that our free-throw DEFENSE is one of the worst in the country-- other teams are hitting over 75% from the line against us!! One would think that might regress toward the norm, and that it might also make it seem like our FT% was worse it is. (But it has tailed off the last few games I believe)

The "free throw defense" reminds me of a That's Jake cartoon where the guys ask the hulking Bubba, "you've played every sport known to man... what's the toughest?"

Bubba replies, "Golf."

The guys are incredulous. "How could golf be tougher than football or rugby or..."

(Picture of Bubba leaping in front of a golfer teeing off) "I played defense."