(12-06-2017 09:23 PM)tribeinexile Wrote:  

(12-06-2017 09:16 PM)WM Beancounter Wrote:  

(12-06-2017 08:51 PM)tribeinexile Wrote:  2-0 vs. A10.
2-0 vs. C-USA.
2-0 vs. MEAC.

Who would have called that?!

Did I miss a win over another A10 team?

Somehow I got it in my head that ODU was both a C-USA and an A10 team. Senior moments come more often these days for some reason.

Meanwhile, fans from Shenandoah were wondering (very briefly) if they had moved up to Div I and joined the A-10!

(12-06-2017 09:16 PM)Tribeheart Wrote:  Like Charlie's idea that he hoped there would be another CAA CAA chant up at OSU. Take note Ohio alums.

Sorry, but it's a ridiculous idea; obviously Charlie didn't get it about why it is funny AT George Mason. Moreover, Ohio State has probably never heard of the CAA and, if they ever mentioned it at all, they would be like those ESPN/CBS idiots who still refer to the "Colonial" league.

(12-06-2017 09:02 AM)Tribal Wrote:  One of their posters offered this tidbit: mason has only beaten one team this season when their opponent scored more than 70 points in regulation and that one win was a miracle. If we shoot even close to 50%, we will beat them by double digits. I believe mason is favored by a few points.

I think Nathan is going to have another career night if the refs let the guys play. Big IF.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

You should frame this one. Only thing off was double digits. If we could shoot in the first half, you'd have hit on everything.

(12-06-2017 08:49 PM)LeadBolt Wrote:  Way to go TRIBE!

This is a sweet win and an RPI booster as well as a confidence boost as well.

Your right, Live RPI shows us moving up to 116. Great win!!

(12-06-2017 09:14 PM)mrjoolius Wrote:  

(12-06-2017 09:06 PM)WM Beancounter Wrote:  What a great road win, and the ceiling is high for this group. Only going to get better.

Looking over the box score, these things concern me a bit...
1. Rowley with a big zero tonight.
2. Two bench points total.
3. Once again, the freshmen get no court time. This is becoming a trend.

It's a win. I'm not concerned with anything right now

It would be great for the freshman to get some burn, but save foul trouble, I want Cohn, Burch, & Milon on the floor. I agree, getting bench help would be awesome. But W&M isn't alone there. Many teams I've watched aren't going more than 7 or 8 deep. Rowley has always been streaky. I've never counted on him as a scorer. He is more of an icing on the cake player. I value his energy, hustle, and intelligent play.

Rowley is important in that it's nearly impossible for all 3 shooters to be off. Him in the rotation lets us give Pierce a rest and Tot to spell a guard without losing our spacing on the floor.

7 or 8 is a lot more manageable for a coach. I'd love to get Loewe & Williams more run, but that will only happen in games where we're not fighting for our lives the whole way. Coach Shaver has always required freshmen to play their way into the lineup, even Omar & Daniel. The real issue we've got with our bench is that we're getting very little scoring right now, but Paul certainly has the ability to drop 10 on any given night. I don't see any other scoring there, though.

(12-06-2017 11:07 PM)Tribeheart Wrote:  Team is finding an identity and that's fun to watch. Players know their roles. We have a coach who knows how to use the pieces and make effective in-game adjustments. Sum is greater than the parts, and those parts are pretty good at what they individually do. Love to see them get one attention getting win to let them know they can be pretty good, if they keep working hard, and sharing the ball.

Still have that late game dagger shot by Burchfield burned in my brain. He had no hesitation. Milon is starting to play to his potential. Confident players, confident team.

Sent from my SM-N910V using CSNbbs mobile app

Shooter's mentality: When you're hot, shoot. When you're cold, shoot until you're hot.

By George, they still don't get it...all about them:
http://giantkiller.co/2017/12/06/video-g...liam-mary/

Sent from my SM-N910V using CSNbbs mobile app

WE held a team to 27% from 3 point land... that's gotta be the lowest against a D1 team in a while

First of all, if I'm dreaming please don't wake me up!

Last evening was a gritty road win performance from a team that is learning how to play together
and features some very talented players. We played sensational defense in the second half with Tony masterminding a variety of shifting defenses.

Knight is something else: he played the entire second half with three fouls and yet just dominated.
His foul shooting improvement in unprecedented (as is the entire team's foul shooting).
And Matt Milon showed all his skills ...three point shooting combined with some wonderful passing and
making his own shot with a couple of dagger driving layups. He was something else.

Pierce had a poor night shooting but more than made up for it with nine rebounds and five assists.
Cohn played 37 minutes, never let up and had seven of his eleven points in the second half comeback.
And what more can you say about Connor Birchfield...hits the final minute three, never hesitating despite a poor shooting night.

I'm not worried about Rowley...he was 0 for 3 shooting but had several rebounds and played strong defense. And Tot drew plaudits from Tony (see his post-game remarks) with a key basket and two great assists.

Do we dare hope Saturday?

GMU coach post game: "They are a real handful to guard.....creates a dilemma, you got four guys spacing the floor who can really shoot the three and you got a monster inside."
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_f...age-6&_rdr

Sent from my SM-N910V using CSNbbs mobile app

(12-07-2017 07:04 AM)BigTribe3 Wrote:  Pierce had a poor night shooting but more than made up for it with nine rebounds and five assists.

Pierce showed as much mental toughness as I've ever seen last night. He was having a really rough go of it, the sequence where he dribbled off his foot was particularly painful, but he snapped back and found big ways to contribute down the stretch. I thought his ability to clog passing lanes toward the end of the game was clutch for our defense.

(12-06-2017 11:55 PM)Tribeheart Wrote:  By George, they still don't get it...all about them:
http://giantkiller.co/2017/12/06/video-g...liam-mary/

Sent from my SM-N910V using CSNbbs mobile app

I was amused when they said that the Mason sophomores scored only 4 points. The Tribe sophomores scored 56! Keep it coming, keep it coming!

The Tribe is now shooting 80.9% from the free throw line, 5th in the NCAA. The team's improvement on the line, from last year, is amazing. I'd like to know what Shaver did in the off-season to improve their free throw shooting. Obvious answer is that they are practicing free throw shots more, but I be there is more to it than that. Hope Jay & Charlie ask him that question in one of their interviews ...

(12-07-2017 01:14 PM)Pete24 Wrote:  The Tribe is now shooting 80.9% from the free throw line, 5th in the NCAA. The team's improvement on the line, from last year, is amazing. I'd like to know what Shaver did in the off-season to improve their free throw shooting. Obvious answer is that they are practicing free throw shots more, but I be there is more to it than that. Hope Jay & Charlie ask him that question in one of their interviews ...

Just guessing, but I think it's mental. It sounds like this group has really come together...no egos, no confirmed superstar...that's probably much less stressful on the staff and players. They look like they're having a lot of fun out there.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

(12-07-2017 01:29 PM)Tribal Wrote:  

(12-07-2017 01:14 PM)Pete24 Wrote:  The Tribe is now shooting 80.9% from the free throw line, 5th in the NCAA. The team's improvement on the line, from last year, is amazing. I'd like to know what Shaver did in the off-season to improve their free throw shooting. Obvious answer is that they are practicing free throw shots more, but I be there is more to it than that. Hope Jay & Charlie ask him that question in one of their interviews ...

Just guessing, but I think it's mental. It sounds like this group has really come together...no egos, no confirmed superstar...that's probably much less stressful on the staff and players. They look like they're having a lot of fun out there.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

My private diary begs to differ. It's chockablock full of cut out pictures of Nathan Knight with little hearts drawn around them and me practicing writing "Mr. Zablenoise Knight" over and over.

(12-07-2017 01:14 PM)Pete24 Wrote:  The Tribe is now shooting 80.9% from the free throw line, 5th in the NCAA. The team's improvement on the line, from last year, is amazing. I'd like to know what Shaver did in the off-season to improve their free throw shooting. Obvious answer is that they are practicing free throw shots more, but I be there is more to it than that. Hope Jay & Charlie ask him that question in one of their interviews ...

Last year Whitman, Dixon, Prewitt and Knight shot 75% of the free throws for the team.

Whitman: 59%
Dixon: 87%
Prewitt: 64%
Knight: 59%

Three of those guys are gone, and combined those 3 took ~14 FTs a game, making nearly 10 of them. This year Knight's taken almost 45% of the team's free throws and he's draining them. Add in Cohn, Milon and Pierce and that's 81% of the team's attempts.

Knight: 80%
Cohn: 86%
Pierce: 88%
Milon: 100%

Cohn has 22 attempts, Pierce 17 and Milon 11. Pierce only had 27 attempts last year so I'm not sure we have a true idea of his FT shooting abilities yet. Cohn was an 83% shooter in 2016 before shooting 73% last year and 79% as a freshman, so it's not outlandish to think he's an 80%+ FT shooter and last year was the down year. I'm sure I'll be called a bad fan and hater for thinking Milon won't continue to make 100% of his attempts but I'm okay with that. He did go 14-14 at BC so maybe he is the greatest FT shooter to ever live.

Last year Whitman/Knight averaged a combined 8.4 FT attempts/game. This year Knight's averaging 8.1 attempts/game. I'm skeptical that there's a team-wide improvement since we're dealing with a lot of small numbers for just about everyone, but it sure looks like Knight's a lot better at it and that's what is making the biggest difference. Knight could miss his next 20 free throws and still be shooting better than he did last year.

(12-07-2017 02:07 PM)Rocco Wrote:  Last year Whitman/Knight averaged a combined 8.4 FT attempts/game. This year Knight's averaging 8.1 attempts/game. I'm skeptical that there's a team-wide improvement since we're dealing with a lot of small numbers for just about everyone, but it sure looks like Knight's a lot better at it and that's what is making the biggest difference. Knight could miss his next 20 free throws and still be shooting better than he did last year.

How about Knight clanking that one free throw off the glass and in late in the game yesterday? I could see him smiling about it from the nosebleed seats. You know what they say, "the more you practice, the luckier you get."

Rocco with excellent stats as usual. Free throw shooting really helps in close games. Oliver's shot notwithstanding, we are not even in the ODU game if they shoot a higher FT percentage and we don't. Tribal is probably onto something as well. The guys appear to be all in together and all of them look like they are having fun. Would love to see them carry this into conference play. I like the fact that David, Nathan, Matt, Connor and Justin play the same whether they get 20 shots or 5. David's interview kinda of hinted at that. But, the level of development between freshman year and this year for Knight and Pierce is astounding! I just hope we continue to sneak up on a few more teams for as long as we can. Kudos to Tony and the staff for the 4 young men coming into next year, too. If they can find a good big man to back up Nathan for next year, look out. But, on to Columbus....

GMU board is in full meltdown. Amazed at how rival fans think that a team picked to finish 10th in a bad A10 year are still above a loss to a CAA team at home. Tempted to post a message: Get used to it because you won't win in Williamsburg next year either. Might as well stop playing us, so, you can protect yourself from reality. CAA CAA CAA.


Sent from my SM-N910V using CSNbbs mobile app

(12-07-2017 02:07 PM)Rocco Wrote:  Milon: 100%

Cohn has 22 attempts, Pierce 17 and Milon 11. [Milon] did go 14-14 at BC so maybe he is the greatest FT shooter to ever live.

Cool. I noticed Milon was making them but I didn't know he was 100% for his college career (hmm, maybe he was 100% in high school, too?). So if we need a big three Milon can either chuck it up or drive into the lane for three points the old fashioned way.

Nathan was an adventure at the free throw line last year so it is gratifying that he obviously was practicing in the offseason.

I have made a running joke out of it ("it's simple: make free throws, win games; miss free throws, lose games") but it really is true. Teams that can consistently hit their free throws can consistently win. Take away our good FT shooting thus far and what would our record be? Before someone asks me to provide substantiating data about FTs, let me just say this: I have seen and listened to enough Tribe games over the years to definitively know that we have LOST many, many games that we coulda/shoulda won if we had been able to shoot free throws better. I remember very well on the original W&M board (on the W&M site) that I used to rail about it very loudly when Rick Boyages was the coach.