Very cold, rainy, soaking, dark winter morning in the 'Burg...a miserable Sunday weather wise.
Just about perfect after last evening's debacle at a stunned Kaplan Arena.

I continue to have solid belief, as others on these boards have stated, in this team and, especially, in their talent and in our coaching staff.

But it appears, at least to me, that a reassessment is needed in the full week between right now
and next Saturday afternoon's home game. The team's mental state needs to be addressed...
the awkward passing, the sometimes loss of concentration, and some guys getting down mentally on the court.

But I especially want to discuss one area:

*The point guard situation needs both reassessment and perhaps change. Our two point guards right now appear to be frozen out there, rote in their execution. The opposition knows they are not going to shoot very often and there is little threat of penetration, drives to the basket from them. Opponents almost ignore them while we have the ball. Is it time, and is it possible, for L.J. Owens out there at point guard? He certainly has the speed, the defensive ability, and the offensive potential both outside and penetrating.

I know the folks where we sit, many of them longtime attendees of our home games and fairly
savvy basketball followers (including two former Tribe captains) have been discussing this.

What do others on this board think?

Things need to be shaken, not stirred with these guys. From Tony's post-game comments, I'm sure that there will be some shaking going on this week.

There is a wide range of emotional and motivational issues to address, so it's tricky. You have everything from guys frozen from being afraid to make a mistake to trying to do more than they are capable of because they don't trust anyone else to come through to having lost confidence.

I would hope that the players take it upon themselves to have a player only meeting. I would hope that Tony has individual meetings with the 5 non-freshmen that have been regularly in the rotation for 1 on 1 talks.

These guys need to trust themselves, each other, the coaches and the system. They need to hustle more as Audige and Owens do, and they need to be in both physical and mental condition to compete, whether or not things are going their way. And lastly, the friggen passing needs to improve beyond second year high school level.

I've always thought that the point guards are a problem. I know Shaver wants Loewe to be his guy, but it isn't working. As long as Shaver has been coach we've had solid or spectacular players in this position. Not now. I still like Owens in that position which would be like when Thornton ran point. I would even consider Pierce running point on offense. There's a week to get this figured out, but my guess is that Loewe will still start.

Combined, our point guards are averaging 4.9 points, 3.5 rebounds, 4.4 assists, 2.4 turn overs, shooting a combined 36% from the floor, 20% from 3, and 35% from the free throw line. Terrible.

FWIW, Luke played strong defense against some great players over the past two games. It doesn't show up in his stat line, though.

I also think the confidence/concentration/etc stuff is a little overplayed here. We had a soul-draining loss to one of the top teams in the conference on Thursday, and the problems we had against Northeastern compounded the despair from the Hofstra game. A week lets the coaches address those concerns completely. Also, those are 2 of the top 3 teams in the conference, Delaware notwithstanding. We should expect to have a harder time in those games than against lesser teams.

Seems like our PGs are playing not to get benched. That hurts aggressiveness (eg lack of penetration) and leads to indecisiveness (eg poor passing).

Owens deserves a start at the point. Just try it for one game, Tony, and let's see what happens.

(01-13-2019 10:27 AM)WM Beancounter Wrote:  Owens deserves a start at the point. Just try it for one game, Tony, and let's see what happens.

Yes, and the Elon game would be a good game to try it (a home game against a team picked lower in the league).

(01-13-2019 12:50 AM)Tribester Wrote:  Perhaps Paul is regressing because he is a SECOND YEAR LAW STUDENT!

2nd year isn't that hard. The real stress is in the 1st year when you're adjusting, then the end of your 3rd year if you don't have a job lined up.

(01-13-2019 10:14 PM)Rocco Wrote:  

(01-13-2019 12:50 AM)Tribester Wrote:  Perhaps Paul is regressing because he is a SECOND YEAR LAW STUDENT!

2nd year isn't that hard. The real stress is in the 1st year when you're adjusting, then the end of your 3rd year if you don't have a job lined up.

I thought it was 1st year scare you to death, 2nd year work you to death, 3rd year bore to death.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

(01-14-2019 10:10 AM)LeadBolt Wrote:  

(01-13-2019 10:14 PM)Rocco Wrote:  

(01-13-2019 12:50 AM)Tribester Wrote:  Perhaps Paul is regressing because he is a SECOND YEAR LAW STUDENT!

2nd year isn't that hard. The real stress is in the 1st year when you're adjusting, then the end of your 3rd year if you don't have a job lined up.

I thought it was 1st year scare you to death, 2nd year work you to death, 3rd year bore to death.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

By 2L year you're in a routine and know what's expected of you. There's a lot of reading but it's manageable. I got really good at NCAA Football during my 2L year.

(01-13-2019 10:27 AM)WM Beancounter Wrote:  Owens deserves a start at the point. Just try it for one game, Tony, and let's see what happens.

During the Tony Shaver show last night Coach said they will be working Owens at the point a little bit during this week’s practices. He said that Owens is a combo guard but that learning two positions in this offense is difficult.

Good. He needs to play more minutes

(01-15-2019 11:02 AM)Tribe32 Wrote:  Good. He needs to play more minutes

You are correct about that. I don't know if he's a better ball handler, distributor, or floor general, but he's at least equal as a defender and he can score outside and creates opportunities in the paint.

I didn't post during the game Saturday because it was evident things were off the rails the whole second half.

"We have played at Northeastern's pace the entire game. We will lose 9/10 times when that happens"

I agree with the above post which was posted during the Northeastern game at Kaplan LAST January. Ultimately, this year's game was very similar. Northeastern, like Hofstra, is a veteran team with solid coaching which rarely beats itself(exception last March when they blew the CAA tourney championship v Charleston). To beat Northeastern, you have to start fast, get a lead and play solid basketball. They are almost impossible to come back on because they get good looks on the offensive end while fully draining the clock. It would not surprise me if they again reach the final in March.
Remember, nearly 1 year ago this week, the students returned and watched the Tribe get destroyed at home in 2 straight losses. Some work and shakeups are needed, but last season's team was able to rally to play much better basketball down the stretch than they played in January. I think our most effective 5 players are Owens, Audige, Knight, Pierce and Milon. But, we will still need Rowley, Loewe, Scott, Blair, and Harvey for times during each game. Even Jihar can still play a role if he can find his 3 point stroke. 3-3 is not where we hoped to be, but a winning streak beginning Saturday would get the Tribe back in the race.

(01-14-2019 05:50 PM)Rocco Wrote:  

(01-14-2019 10:10 AM)LeadBolt Wrote:  

(01-13-2019 10:14 PM)Rocco Wrote:  

(01-13-2019 12:50 AM)Tribester Wrote:  Perhaps Paul is regressing because he is a SECOND YEAR LAW STUDENT!

2nd year isn't that hard. The real stress is in the 1st year when you're adjusting, then the end of your 3rd year if you don't have a job lined up.

I thought it was 1st year scare you to death, 2nd year work you to death, 3rd year bore to death.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

By 2L year you're in a routine and know what's expected of you. There's a lot of reading but it's manageable. I got really good at NCAA Football during my 2L year.

re NCAA Football: Were you playing, watching, or video-gaming? (For the record, had I gone to law school, my video-gaming would have been on the original Nintendo Entertainment System.)

(01-15-2019 03:42 PM)ScottyB757 Wrote:  

(01-14-2019 05:50 PM)Rocco Wrote:  

(01-14-2019 10:10 AM)LeadBolt Wrote:  

(01-13-2019 10:14 PM)Rocco Wrote:  

(01-13-2019 12:50 AM)Tribester Wrote:  Perhaps Paul is regressing because he is a SECOND YEAR LAW STUDENT!

2nd year isn't that hard. The real stress is in the 1st year when you're adjusting, then the end of your 3rd year if you don't have a job lined up.

I thought it was 1st year scare you to death, 2nd year work you to death, 3rd year bore to death.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

By 2L year you're in a routine and know what's expected of you. There's a lot of reading but it's manageable. I got really good at NCAA Football during my 2L year.

re NCAA Football: Were you playing, watching, or video-gaming? (For the record, had I gone to law school, my video-gaming would have been on the original Nintendo Entertainment System.)

Video gaming. And watching. If not for football I'd have made law review.