(02-23-2017 10:48 PM)Frizzy Owl Wrote:  

(02-23-2017 10:44 PM)HawaiiOwl Wrote:  

(02-23-2017 10:40 PM)ranfin Wrote:  

(02-23-2017 10:24 PM)owlatheart Wrote:  

(02-23-2017 10:10 PM)Frizzy Owl Wrote:  The team doesn't seem to like or understand Rhoades' purpose in endlessly passing the ball around the arc. Sometimes it seems he's doing it for the sake of doing it instead of setting up a shot.

precisely

The coach can't shoot the ball.

Geez!
We have gone from what, 5 wins ~3 years ago to nearly 20, and sooo many whines!

It was a bad game and it included a trend of the last several games. It's also worrisome that the players seem unenthusiastic and aren't having fun.

They were at the end. I think we are just going to have to live or die by the 3. We know we can shoot at a high percentage. Law of averages says we get hot going into the tournament

Yes it was an ugly win and there have been a lot of them this year. But you know what that means - it means we're winning a lot of games. I give Evans a ton of credit for playing in a lot of pain and making a huge shot when it meant the most.

I do think the coaches didn't do a good job of preparing Rice defensively. And it's bothersome that we continue to rely on just the main two guys - and with Evans hurting tonight, it was pretty much just Egor at times on the offensive end. Hopefully Marcus is a quick healer and he's back at full strength for La Tech.

Marshall and Western Kentucky both lost tonight so neither of those teams will be on a hot streak when we play them on the road next week.

(02-23-2017 10:39 PM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  

(02-23-2017 10:24 PM)owlatheart Wrote:  

(02-23-2017 10:10 PM)Frizzy Owl Wrote:  

(02-23-2017 10:07 PM)owlatheart Wrote:  To repeat, these consistent scoring droughts are VERY disturbing............and have become prevalent

The team doesn't seem to like or understand Rhoades' purpose in endlessly passing the ball around the arc. Sometimes it seems he's doing it for the sake of doing it instead of setting up a shot.

precisely

That was one ugly game; one in which we had absolutely no right winning. It's also the first game in the Coach Rhoades era in which I place the blame largely on him. He was flat out out-coached tonight. Sure, we couldn't hit an outside shot if our life depended upon it, but Coach stuck with the same offensive scheme the final 10 minutes of the game, despite the fact it had no flow whatsoever, and was not working...at all. We weren't even passing the ball around the parimeter. It was VERY hard to watch. We built the 17-point lead (with 14 minutes to go) by going inside to Meyers and driving. I can understand giving Meyers a rest, but he never returned to the court once he sat at around the 13 minute mark. I also don't understand that when USM went on their initial run with Adams, Martin, Jackson, Lott and Evans on the court, why he left them in for as long as he did; thereby allowing USM to gain confidence and momentum, and cut the deficit to 3 points. Only then did he take Martin and Adams out. He also left the same guys on the court for the last 5+ minutes of regulation, as well as the entire overtime. Not only were they likely exhausted, but they were producing either offensively or defensively.

We have not played well in 3+ weeks now, despite winning 6 games during that stretch. I cringe to think what LaTech will do to us Saturday night the way we're playing right now. We need to snap out of it, and quickly, with four tough regular season games remaining....but after enduring tonight's game, I've lost my optimism. I still don't understand how/why Coach made almost no adjustments over the final 13 minutes of tonight's game despite the fact that nothing was working-- offensively or defensively.

To use the question marks you love so much ??? Martin didn't play at all tonight. At least he was dressed out after being in street clothes during the last homestand.

(02-23-2017 11:25 PM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  

(02-23-2017 10:39 PM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  

(02-23-2017 10:24 PM)owlatheart Wrote:  

(02-23-2017 10:10 PM)Frizzy Owl Wrote:  

(02-23-2017 10:07 PM)owlatheart Wrote:  To repeat, these consistent scoring droughts are VERY disturbing............and have become prevalent

The team doesn't seem to like or understand Rhoades' purpose in endlessly passing the ball around the arc. Sometimes it seems he's doing it for the sake of doing it instead of setting up a shot.

precisely

That was one ugly game; one in which we had absolutely no right winning. It's also the first game in the Coach Rhoades era in which I place the blame largely on him. He was flat out out-coached tonight. Sure, we couldn't hit an outside shot if our life depended upon it, but Coach stuck with the same offensive scheme the final 10 minutes of the game, despite the fact it had no flow whatsoever, and was not working...at all. We weren't even passing the ball around the parimeter. It was VERY hard to watch. We built the 17-point lead (with 14 minutes to go) by going inside to Meyers and driving. I can understand giving Meyers a rest, but he never returned to the court once he sat at around the 13 minute mark. I also don't understand that when USM went on their initial run with Adams, Martin, Jackson, Lott and Evans on the court, why he left them in for as long as he did; thereby allowing USM to gain confidence and momentum, and cut the deficit to 3 points. Only then did he take Martin and Adams out. He also left the same guys on the court for the last 5+ minutes of regulation, as well as the entire overtime. Not only were they likely exhausted, but they were producing either offensively or defensively.

We have not played well in 3+ weeks now, despite winning 6 games during that stretch. I cringe to think what LaTech will do to us Saturday night the way we're playing right now. We need to snap out of it, and quickly, with four tough regular season games remaining....but after enduring tonight's game, I've lost my optimism. I still don't understand how/why Coach made almost no adjustments over the final 13 minutes of tonight's game despite the fact that nothing was working-- offensively or defensively.

To use the question marks you love so much ??? Martin didn't play at all tonight. At least he was dressed out after being in street clothes during the last homestand.

Sorry, meant #35 Harrison.

(02-23-2017 10:39 PM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  I cringe to think what LaTech will do to us Saturday night the way we're playing right now.

I hope Coach had a scout in Denton tonight to see how North Texas played even with LaTech in the first half (tied 32-all). And then we play at least that well ... for BOTH halves. (The Meek Green lost the second half tonight, 53-35.)

UPDATE (from the Conference BB):

(02-23-2017 10:07 PM)Doots4Dawgs Wrote:  

(02-23-2017 10:02 PM)winston70 Wrote:  

(02-23-2017 10:01 PM)Doots4Dawgs Wrote:  

(02-23-2017 09:57 PM)NTTHOR Wrote:  Tie game at the half...tech has a coach that coachs and adjust...north Texas has the dumpster fire crap that is benford...

He is usually very impressive with his adjustments for the second half.

The 1-3-1 D started late in the 1st half killed UNT hopes and we actually started playing some decent offense too

Yeah, Ive noticed multiple times this season where we'd adjust and gain some momentum right before half. And he's just had some pretty dominant second halves.

(02-23-2017 10:11 PM)BeliefBlazer Wrote:  1-3-1 has been such a killer D for so many teams this year.

Does Rice ever press? My sense is that the team is pressing less than the past 2 seasons, despite having more depth an athleticism. If my sense is correct, has anyone asked Coach Rhoades why this is the case? Seems like a team that thrives off of high energy would try to use defense to create some energy. And I thought that in-your-face-defense was going to be a hallmark of Rhoades' coaching style?

Positives (from the box score):
(1) MLE played 28 minutes, with only 3 fouls. Perhaps he has finally turned the corner? Averaging 23 min/game over the last 8 games, with 3.5 fouls/game. Much better than he was doing early in the season.
(2) Only 12 turnovers. Rice has definitely decreased turnovers compared to the first 2/3 of the season.
(3) 12 offensive rebounds as a team
(4) An ugly 1-pt overtime win is better than an ugly 1-pt overtime loss.

Negatives (from the box score):
(1) Rice only 5/27 (18.5%) on 3-pt shots. For a team that is very reliant on its shooting, easy to see what happens if they shots do not fall. Koulechov (2/7), Evans (0/8), and Jackson (2/8) all cold on the same night.
(2) Blowing huge 2nd-half lead to a poor opponent at home.
(3) Rice was out-rebounded, 42-41.

(02-24-2017 12:11 AM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  Sorry, meant #35 Harrison.

I'm still bullish on Harrison's potential but he has a long way to go on the defensive end of things. I do think they should have gone back to Meyer in the second half although he probably would have fouled out based on how quickly he was picking up fouls. The more I see of Meyer, the more I like his offensive skills. He has a very nice touch around the basket and is much quicker getting his shot off than Drone (although he had one rough sequence in the first half when he put up an airball and then fouled on the rebound).

And I'm not sure why we didn't put in Drone last night unless he's hurt. Hopefully he is healthy enough to start Saturday night as I do think he's earned himself a senior start in his final home game.

(02-24-2017 07:42 AM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  

(02-24-2017 12:11 AM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  Sorry, meant #35 Harrison.

I'm still bullish on Harrison's potential but he has a long way to go on the defensive end of things. I do think they should have gone back to Meyer in the second half although he probably would have fouled out based on how quickly he was picking up fouls. The more I see of Meyer, the more I like his offensive skills. He has a very nice touch around the basket and is much quicker getting his shot off than Drone (although he had one rough sequence in the first half when he put up an airball and then fouled on the rebound).

And I'm not sure why we didn't put in Drone last night unless he's hurt. Hopefully he is healthy enough to start Saturday night as I do think he's earned himself a senior start in his final home game.

From the preseason practice I sat in on, I have been impressed with Meyers low posts moves. He knows how to get positioning (despite lacking in bulk size), has excpetional hands (the opposite of Drone) and his footwork is text book. He needs to add 10+ lbs of muscle to allow him to better defend the low post, but I has the potential to be a very potent inside threat for us....assuming we take advantage of it. Again, given our woefully stagnant offense the final 11 minutes of last night's game, it's a head scratcher why he was not put back in.

(02-24-2017 08:28 AM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  

(02-24-2017 07:42 AM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  

(02-24-2017 12:11 AM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  Sorry, meant #35 Harrison.

I'm still bullish on Harrison's potential but he has a long way to go on the defensive end of things. I do think they should have gone back to Meyer in the second half although he probably would have fouled out based on how quickly he was picking up fouls. The more I see of Meyer, the more I like his offensive skills. He has a very nice touch around the basket and is much quicker getting his shot off than Drone (although he had one rough sequence in the first half when he put up an airball and then fouled on the rebound).

And I'm not sure why we didn't put in Drone last night unless he's hurt. Hopefully he is healthy enough to start Saturday night as I do think he's earned himself a senior start in his final home game.

From the preseason practice I sat in on, I have been impressed with Meyers low posts moves. He knows how to get positioning (despite lacking in bulk size), has excpetional hands (the opposite of Drone) and his footwork is text book. He needs to add 10+ lbs of muscle to allow him to better defend the low post, but I has the potential to be a very potent inside threat for us....assuming we take advantage of it. Again, given our woefully stagnant offense the final 11 minutes of last night's game, it's a head scratcher why he was not put back in.

I would give Meyers more playing time than he has had this season. I would for sure have put him back in last night. But that wasn't the basic problem last night. The basic problem was inability to hit open shots.

(02-23-2017 09:51 PM)Frizzy Owl Wrote:  

(02-23-2017 09:50 PM)NoodleOwl Wrote:  WTF??!

?

Sorry for the brevity - that was mainly in reference to going from up 15 when I tuned in the game to tied at the end of regulation. Also posted shortly after the travel called on Evans in the backcourt with 20 seconds left.