The unofficial online home for fans of the Old Dominion University Monarchs. Part of Collegiate Sports Nation (CSN).

(03-09-2018 07:56 AM)EverRespect Wrote:  

(03-09-2018 07:43 AM)Obiwan Wrote:  You guys are ridiculous - it’s March Madness so yeah let’s get ready to watch our boys expecting to lose ??? Is that what every higher seed thinks going into the NCAA tourney? It’s college basketball on a neutral court ...

Yep. Just last week, UAB ran WKU off their court. Last night, WKU returned the favor. We ran LT off their own court in Ruston. Last night, we were fortunate to survive. That's why they play the game. Hopefully JJ put together a better plan that can be a winner if we execute it. Definitely need to be more aggressive on both ends of the floor.

That was my line of thinking .. essentially it’s going to come down to setting the flow and tempo. Need Haynes to be a contributer . Need Caver to be a court general .. keep Trey’ attitude in check and man up in the post without flying elbows. Finally a sister sleege themed “we are family” from the Stiths and we got it. Just can’t play like the away game and let WKU come out swinging to go up by 20 or like the early season Temple game . Those are the only two games that we never had a chance . We play best when we keep it manageable with very few slumps in offense (meaning 8+min droughts)

Tough, but winnable game. We should have had them in Norfolk and the result at their place was not indicative of what we are capable of.

(03-09-2018 12:46 AM)odu09 Wrote:  

(03-09-2018 12:16 AM)mturn017 Wrote:  Is there a way to watch CBS Sports online? Is it on Sling or FUBO or something else I can sign up for a free trial or something?

YouTube tv has it and you can do a free 7 day trial. Just remember to cancel

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You the man!

(03-09-2018 12:16 AM)mturn017 Wrote:  Is there a way to watch CBS Sports online? Is it on Sling or FUBO or something else I can sign up for a free trial or something?

It's on fubo tv

You are right Obiwan, that's why you play the game! I'm just trying not to let myself be disappointed later! Our group, after we played WK at home thought they were the best team we saw all year.

We will need the whole squad to play big in this one.. Caver, the Stiths, Haynes and Porter needs to play like a 6'10" big man. Might need a couple three from Godwin too.
Also, same as last game. Can't have foul trouble, hold the turnovers down, hit foul shots and play Monarch D.

Im glad we got our bad game out of the way and got the win. Now its WKUs turn to have a bad game.

Time to win when it counts the most. Hope WKU thinks this will be easy

(03-09-2018 02:22 AM)Petey Hodge Wrote:  Honestly, I'm a bit worried about this one...

First, our guys will be excited to hear that MTSU lost. May get a little complacent.

BUT, our guys know WKU will keep us from "looking past anyone"

Even if we sneak by, I got a bad feeling if we make the final... but, one game at a time!

The western guys will be happy to hear that too. I think that fact is a push for both teams. It all comes down to who wants it more, who executes better, can you make shots. I do find it interesting that coach Stith last night after the game mentioned that one of the biggest keys to this game is going to be guarding Johnson. He specifically said that Brandan was up for the task. Be interesting to see how physical Brandan is with Johnson from the start of the game.


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Friday 4:00 in Frisco: Western Kentucky (23-9, 15-4 CUSA).

Last game: Five days after losing at UAB by 28, the Hilltoppers blitzed the Blazers 98-70 in Frisco. WKU finished the first half with a 16-2 run to lead 46-35. They then shot 62% in the second half (60% for the game) in the rout. WKU also hit 19-22 FTs and committed only 6 TOs in their near-perfect performance (they were only 5-14 3s). Despite the score WKU only played 6 players 10+ minutes. Taveion Hollingsworth led the Hilltoppers with 22 pts (8-12 FG), Darius Thompson had 20 (9-13 FG), Lamote Bearden (7-11 FG) and Justin Johnson (7-13 FG) 19 pts each.

Starters (CUSA reg seaon stats)
F Justin Johnson (6-7 245 Sr). 35.5 min.; .519 FG (26-56 3s); .552 FT; 9.9 RB; 16.8 pts
F Dwight Colby (6-9 245 Sr). 29.1 min.; .596 FG; .795 FT; 8.2 RB; 1.8 blocks; 12.4 pts
G Darius Thompson (6-4 190 Sr). 35.4 min.; .454 FG (33-81 3s); .739 FT; 4.6 RB; 4.8 assists; 14.2 pts
G Taveion Hollingsworth (6-2 165 Fr). 35.0 min.; .467 FG (17-57 3s); .822 FT; 3.4 RB; 12.8 pts
G Lamonte Bearden (6-3 170 Jr). 26.6 min.; .512 FG (6-26 3s); .797 FT; 1.5 RB; 3.5 assists; 10.6 pts
Bench
G Josh Anderson (6-6 180 Fr). 16.5 min.; .592 FG; .569 FT; 2.3 RB; 7.5 pts

Balanced, great shooting team that can exploit almost any defense. WKU finished #1 CUSA FG% and FTs/game, #2 pts/game, #3 scoring margin, steals and blocks/game.
Justin Johnson #9 CUSA pts/g, #1 RBs/g, #2 FG%
Dwight Colby #4 RBs/g and blocks/g
Taveion Hollingsworth #5 FT%
Darius Thompson #4 A/TO, #9 assists/g
Lamonte Bearden #5 steals/g

Warren Nolan site has us winning 71-70

Johnson has so much range, and can get to the hole if you crowd him that he's a really tough match for Brandan -- or anyone. I don't know that I wouldn't double him sometimes, get the ball out of his hands. Just show him some different looks. But I'm no coach and frankly don't know the downside to that strategy other than the open man hitting 3s

(03-09-2018 09:01 AM)jumpshooter Wrote:  Johnson has so much range, and can get to the hole if you crowd him that he's a really tough match for Brandan -- or anyone. I don't know that I wouldn't double him sometimes, get the ball out of his hands. Just show him some different looks. But I'm no coach and frankly don't know the downside to that strategy other than the open man hitting 3s

Doubles down low is an acceptable approach if your big is in foul trouble. The idea is to let him pass out of it to not entice a foul. If not, you let him defend one-on-one.
Johnson's strength appears to be when he is driving. Less so with back to basket. But that is no secret as you can say that about a lot of players.

They've shot over 60% against us in two games. Why not open in a 1-3-1. Make them adjust.

(03-09-2018 09:01 AM)jumpshooter Wrote:  Johnson has so much range, and can get to the hole if you crowd him that he's a really tough match for Brandan -- or anyone. I don't know that I wouldn't double him sometimes, get the ball out of his hands. Just show him some different looks. But I'm no coach and frankly don't know the downside to that strategy other than the open man hitting 3s

No you are right. Defensively, the way to beat WKU is to force them to hit from the outside. Bearden and Hollingsworth have really bad % from 3. You have to make them hit outside shots and keep them out of the lane. If they are hitting shots, then you tip the cap and try to match them offensively. Stansbury has no control over these guys. If they get down big or their shots aren't falling, Stansbury will lose them.

Offensively, we have to have one of our better shooting nights tonight. We are not going to dominate them on the glass and Coleby and Johnson can defend Porter and Stith. Porter getting Coleby into foul trouble would be huge. Pray that Randy shoots well from the outside. I think BJ settled in last night and will have a good performance today. It cannot be all Ahmad. We have to play our best game of the year to win tonight. You will know how this game is going to go in the first 5 minutes.

The boys have got this. No better time to get that signature win we've been hearing about all year. It's our time.

Man, I hope you are right FTL!

Let's win by 25. Give my heart a break without breaking it

(03-09-2018 07:56 AM)EverRespect Wrote:  

(03-09-2018 07:43 AM)Obiwan Wrote:  You guys are ridiculous - it’s March Madness so yeah let’s get ready to watch our boys expecting to lose ??? Is that what every higher seed thinks going into the NCAA tourney? It’s college basketball on a neutral court ...

Yep. Just last week, UAB ran WKU off their court. Last night, WKU returned the favor. We ran LT off their own court in Ruston. Last night, we were fortunate to survive. That's why they play the game. Hopefully JJ put together a better plan that can be a winner if we execute it. Definitely need to be more aggressive on both ends of the floor.

I think, with them, we have to deviate from our typical defensive strategy a bit. We need to trust our bigs to hold their own in the post, and we need to focus on taking perimeter scoring away from them. We have to find a way to guard Johnson out beyond the three point line and try to make him a post, something we have struggled with against opposing bigs that can shoot all year. If we do not make defensive adjustments, we likely will see a similar result to what happened in Norfolk.

We can beat them, but it is going to require a different approach defensively, and a solid game offensively.

^^^^^ Yep.