Fairfield is not a good team. Not sure how the beat Texas A&M. That said, we won and did so on the road with no fan support. We need to find someone who can consistently score outside of the two bigs. Loewe seems like he may be that player. Blair, Ayesa, Hermanovskis, Williams aren't the answer. Scott?

(12-08-2019 07:14 PM)Tribe32 Wrote:  Fairfield is not a good team. Not sure how the beat Texas A&M. That said, we won and did so on the road with no fan support. We need to find someone who can consistently score outside of the two bigs. Loewe seems like he may be that player. Blair, Ayesa, Hermanovskis, Williams aren't the answer. Scott?

Ayesa could be the scorer if his D can be consistent for playing time

(12-08-2019 07:14 PM)Tribe32 Wrote:  Fairfield is not a good team. Not sure how the beat Texas A&M. That said, we won and did so on the road with no fan support. We need to find someone who can consistently score outside of the two bigs. Loewe seems like he may be that player. Blair, Ayesa, Hermanovskis, Williams aren't the answer. Scott?

Agreed, Fairfield isn't a good team. But, they have managed to lose 7 of their games by 4 or less points. They struggle to score, but I believe they are a decent defensive team and our poor shooting wasn't exactly an accident. True Road wins are difficult in D1 basketball. Pocket it, and move on.

Great defensive game by Loewe. I thought Barnes was solid throughout too. He has quick hands that lead to steals, even if credited to others.

AVV and Nate are an unstoppable force when they consistently touch the ball and we run our offense.

Still lots to prove, but we have the talent and togetherness to be a 20-win team. Unbelievable given expectations to start the year.


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(12-08-2019 08:04 PM)mrjoolius Wrote:  Agreed, Fairfield isn't a good team. But, they have managed to lose 7 of their games by 4 or less points.

This stat can sometimes become skewed for various reasons. Today is a good example. W&M was winning by 7 until Fairfield canned a desperation heave at the final buzzer to pull the margin within 4.

(12-08-2019 10:09 PM)Zorch Wrote:  

(12-08-2019 08:04 PM)mrjoolius Wrote:  Agreed, Fairfield isn't a good team. But, they have managed to lose 7 of their games by 4 or less points.

This stat can sometimes become skewed for various reasons. Today is a good example. W&M was winning by 7 until Fairfield canned a desperation heave at the final buzzer to pull the margin within 4.

I spouted that statistical nugget because I heard the announcers say it on the broadcast. Looking at Fairfield's 7 losses, only 3 were within 4 points. Over the 7, Fairfield lost by 8 on average.

(12-08-2019 10:09 PM)Zorch Wrote:  

(12-08-2019 08:04 PM)mrjoolius Wrote:  Agreed, Fairfield isn't a good team. But, they have managed to lose 7 of their games by 4 or less points.

This stat can sometimes become skewed for various reasons. Today is a good example. W&M was winning by 7 until Fairfield canned a desperation heave at the final buzzer to pull the margin within 4.

Semantics

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From the Fairfield message board:

"Just back from the game.......Their defense was just stifling. We struggled in the second half to get any type of open look for our shooters. #12 did an unbelievable job on Landon and we had little room inside to drive. We did the most we could against a quality team."

"We played hard. We may not play a better defensive team than W&M the rest of the way."

That's refreshing for a Tribe team.

I believe our offense will get better, as Dane stated preseason that they expected a lot more, come conference play, when they will have put more into the playbook. Getting Scott back will be a big lift to the rotation. I expect Scott to greatly enhance our ability to get the ball in Knight's and Van Vliet's hands where they can threaten in the post.

During the spring someone wrote that we might not even field a team this year and most of us almost felt that he was right. Today we sit at 7-3 with 4 road wins. And...we have not lost a game against a team that we should have beaten. There is something to be said for that.

I would just like to thank these guys for giving us hope.

(12-08-2019 11:37 PM)WMTRIBE75 Wrote:  And...we have not lost a game against a team that we should have beaten.

Ahem. I'd argue that we should have beaten Oklahoma. We led for all but about a minute in that game. To your point though, we weren't "expected" to win.

(12-08-2019 07:14 PM)Tribe32 Wrote:  Fairfield is not a good team. Not sure how the beat Texas A&M. That said, we won and did so on the road with no fan support. We need to find someone who can consistently score outside of the two bigs. Loewe seems like he may be that player. Blair, Ayesa, Hermanovskis, Williams aren't the answer. Scott?

Why so masochistic? No one is acting like we beat Duke. Winning on the road is NEVER a time to dampen the accomplishment. It's a big deal for this team.

Winning in these MAAC gyms is never easy. Our past record would show that.

(12-09-2019 07:30 AM)Sitting bull Wrote:  

(12-08-2019 07:14 PM)Tribe32 Wrote:  Fairfield is not a good team. Not sure how the beat Texas A&M. That said, we won and did so on the road with no fan support. We need to find someone who can consistently score outside of the two bigs. Loewe seems like he may be that player. Blair, Ayesa, Hermanovskis, Williams aren't the answer. Scott?

Why so masochistic? No one is acting like we beat Duke. Winning on the road is NEVER a time to dampen the accomplishment. It's a big deal for this team.

Winning in these MAAC gyms is never easy. Our past record would show that.

Not sure what you are reading into my post. I was just saying that it was hard to see how they beat A&M, that we beat them on the road with no fan support, and that we need to find a consistent third offensive player. Those are all just statements of opinion/fact. Nothing negative about the team/players.

(12-08-2019 09:49 PM)ColonelEbirt Wrote:  Still lots to prove, but we have the talent and togetherness to be a 20-win team. Unbelievable given expectations to start the year.

This is where I am as well.

Nine months ago when Tony was fired, half the team entered the transfer portal, and Nate was testing the NBA waters, I thought we were in for single-digit wins. I knew the new head coach was going to have to battle just to get a full roster of D-I players come November.

Much respect to Dane and his staff, and to the players who stuck around or joined the program since. Nothing shabby about 7-3 through our first ten, especially given most of our games have been on the road.

(12-09-2019 09:36 AM)A Quest Called Tribe Wrote:  

(12-08-2019 09:49 PM)ColonelEbirt Wrote:  Still lots to prove, but we have the talent and togetherness to be a 20-win team. Unbelievable given expectations to start the year.

This is where I am as well.

Nine months ago when Tony was fired, half the team entered the transfer portal, and Nate was testing the NBA waters, I thought we were in for single-digit wins. I knew the new head coach was going to have to battle just to get a full roster of D-I players come November.

Much respect to Dane and his staff, and to the players who stuck around or joined the program since. Nothing shabby about 7-3 through our first ten, especially given most of our games have been on the road.

I really like the way that these guys play as a team and maintain an even keel throughout the game. We clearly know who our best players are but I see no display of egos on the court. it appears that the guys really like each other and they seem to be having fun.

I really pray for the return of a healthy Thornton Scott and look forward to everything that he will add to our team. Not only does he give us a legitimate 3 point shooter who other teams will have to account for but prior to his injury he was showing the ability to get into the lane, dish to our bigs when the opportunity presented itself, and hit that 12 footer if his defender dropped off. Anything that he can do to help Nate and Andy get better looks inside can only make us better. And Dane also made a point in one of his interviews that Scott's absence has hurt us on the defensive end of the court also.

No insight, but I'm guessing the plan is to insert a healthy Scott at the start of conference play against Elon on 12/30. It would be nice to get him back just after Goucher/exams for the 12/19 St Joe's game. Allow him a couple OoC games to work back into the flow.

Not sure on the specifics of his injury but we are approaching the 1 month mark since he's been out(he was hurt sometime in the 3 days between Hampton and Oklahoma). Certainly the team has performed its best this year when Scott was playing. It's exciting if we can get back the Scott from the beginning of the year to pair with the Luke Loewe that has emerged in his absence. Get that 5th shooter into the lineup and move Hamilton back to his role of defender and spark plug coming off the bench.

(12-09-2019 08:25 AM)Tribe32 Wrote:  

(12-09-2019 07:30 AM)Sitting bull Wrote:  

(12-08-2019 07:14 PM)Tribe32 Wrote:  Fairfield is not a good team. Not sure how the beat Texas A&M. That said, we won and did so on the road with no fan support. We need to find someone who can consistently score outside of the two bigs. Loewe seems like he may be that player. Blair, Ayesa, Hermanovskis, Williams aren't the answer. Scott?

Why so masochistic? No one is acting like we beat Duke. Winning on the road is NEVER a time to dampen the accomplishment. It's a big deal for this team.

Winning in these MAAC gyms is never easy. Our past record would show that.

Not sure what you are reading into my post. I was just saying that it was hard to see how they beat A&M, that we beat them on the road with no fan support, and that we need to find a consistent third offensive player. Those are all just statements of opinion/fact. Nothing negative about the team/players.

I didn't take anything negative about the players from your post.

I just thought - after a very nice win - your first response of "Fairfield is not a good team" seemed very odd. I just found that a negative way to respond to another road win.

(12-09-2019 11:06 AM)mrjoolius Wrote:  No insight, but I'm guessing the plan is to insert a healthy Scott at the start of conference play against Elon on 12/30. It would be nice to get him back just after Goucher/exams for the 12/19 St Joe's game. Allow him a couple OoC games to work back into the flow.

Not sure on the specifics of his injury but we are approaching the 1 month mark since he's been out(he was hurt sometime in the 3 days between Hampton and Oklahoma). Certainly the team has performed its best this year when Scott was playing. It's exciting if we can get back the Scott from the beginning of the year to pair with the Luke Loewe that has emerged in his absence. Get that 5th shooter into the lineup and move Hamilton back to his role of defender and spark plug coming off the bench.

I seem to recall Dane saying that Thornton incurred the injury early in the year and aggravated it during the Hampton game. I agree that it surely would be great to get him back before conference season starts so that he could work his way into playing shape. It would also give us another player who we could use to defend our old nemesis Daly when we play St Joe's.

One of the best ever. No question.

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(12-09-2019 11:44 AM)Tribal Wrote:  One of the best ever. No question.

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Yep.
Still early, but if the season ended today, he is the conference player of the year. No discussion. Don't even bring up Riller. Nate is leading the nation in double doubles.

So far this year, the team has played as expected with surprises to the upside. Definitely missing Scott. Hoping they hold him out until he is fully healed, so he doesn't go thru this again.

Having him in the line-up for St. Joe's and St. Francis would be nice, but rushing things a bit if it is a high ankle sprain (I have no knowledge).

Having Scott fully healed and playing with the rust knocked off vs. Hofstra on 1/2 would be my hope. We miss him at both ends of the floor, with the exception of sophomore type passes from time to time.