RE: Tribe CAA Quarters Game Thread- Tribe vs Elon
I just watched the Flosports replay of the game. Here are some post-mortem thoughts:
1. Why didn't Luke Loewe get a plaque for CAA All-Defensive team during the pre-game ceremonies where Nate raked in all the hardware?
2. The crowd was absolutely tremendous and very into the game. I estimate that it was at least 95% W&M. They did everything possible to cheer the team on and will them to victory. I have attended CAAT games in Richmond, Charleston, and DC (but never made it to Baltimore) and that was the most supportive crowd. I think the small venue size contributed to that -- the noise was packed into a smaller enclosure (which is what the league wants but I still favor an 8000 seat venue for the CAA tournament just so all Tribe fans can get tickets). The only crowd that I have ever experienced that was more supportive was the game against UNC in 1977.
3. The stoppages in play were just too, too long. They seemed much worse in person than watching on Flo (of course, on Flo, I could fast forward!). They were absolute momentum killers at several points. Many of the breaks were right before foul shots and, of course, several times the player would miss the first shot.
4. At the 11:50 mark of the first half, with the score 17-11, Fischer put the second team in. I understand that in a 3-game tournament that you want to give your starters periodic rests ---- but in this case the deficit was already 6 and W&M had finally got some momentum going (getting the score from 13-2 to 17-11 meant the Tribe had gone on a 9-4 run). So why not just sub in one or two guys at a time? The subs played almost 2 whole minutes.
5. The officiating was bad, especially the oldest, shortest, fattest (but not baldest) official. The foul on Loewe at 2:31 of the first half was egregious. He barely even touched the screen-setter. Plus, it seemed like Elon got the advantage on fouls being called continuation plays whereas W&M did not. The offensive foul on Nate at 9:36 of the second half was bad enough that even the announcers thought that it was wrong. So, sure, a good team adjusts to how a game is being called ...but that really applies to a game in which the calls are being called the same both ways. If things are one-sided then it is hard to adjust. Not blaming the loss on the officials by any means, just that it was another hurdle that the Tribe had to overcome.
6. Here is what I do blame the loss on:
A. A slow start. That has been the Achilles Heel all year.
B. Allowing Elon to balloon the lead from 4 to 10, then 9 right before the half.
C. Not going to "bombs away" shooting 3's quickly enough at the end? Maybe.
D. Woods played absolutely great defense on Knight from about the 4:00 mark to the 2:00 mark in the second half. Knight made two turnovers during that crucial stretch when the lead keeping going from 4 to 7. Woods also had a great offensive game (20/15) so he had to be the player of the game. Poser also played very well against Knight. His hook shot over Knight was very successful.
E. Lastly, good luck for Elon, bad luck for W&M. For example, Poser (a 41% FT shooter) had one free throw bounce directly up in the air about three feet but still came down through the net. Likewise, many posters have said that Elon outhustled the Tribe for rebounds (yes, there was some of that) but some others of those rebounds just happened to carom right to the one Elon player standing among four Tribe players. Just the luck of the bounce in some cases. Both live and after watching the replay, I give the Tribe players 100% credit for effort. The slow start was just the killer.
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Tribe CAA Quarters Game Thread- Tribe vs Elon
