Btw, saw Scott walking on a crutch coming out of a timeout ... didnt look like he could move very easily at all unfortunately ... just stinks for him but gonna give Kochera a ton of time right of the bat.


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(11-28-2020 08:58 PM)Tribeheart Wrote:  Unfortunately, Monday night will be painful.

I can see 2-6 heading to conference play and I'll be shocked if we win 4 CAA games. ODU is not good and probably wouldn't finish in the top half of the CAA.

It's fine, just get better each week.

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The freshmen look like they're gonna give us a solid core to build on, I actually feel pretty good after that game

(11-28-2020 09:01 PM)Naptown Tribe Wrote:  Kochera is gonna be a stud.

Yuri’s quickness and aggressiveness is something we haven’t seen in a long long time ... yes, he is out of control at times and shoots some ill advised shots at times but he can do things that are going to be incredibly hard to stop in the CAA and this was his first game. When was the last time we had a score first PG with that type of quickness.

Btw, just imagine 3-4 years of Covington and Rice in our backcourt together with guys like Kochera on the wing. Wow.

Says a lot to me about Yuri that Dane had the ball in his hands as a true freshman at PG most of the game. He is willing to live with the growing pains because he knows the raw talent and ceiling are very very high.

Harvey is going to be huge for us this year.


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I have to admit that it is my fervent hope that Covington matures into something other than a "score first PG".

While the execution wasn’t there the whole time, the effort certainly was. I love how we didn’t quit at the end and fought hard the whole way.

Proud of Dane, the coaches, and the team. Keep growing and it’ll be interesting to see what happens this season.


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(11-28-2020 09:16 PM)tribeinexile Wrote:  

(11-28-2020 09:01 PM)Naptown Tribe Wrote:  Kochera is gonna be a stud.

Yuri’s quickness and aggressiveness is something we haven’t seen in a long long time ... yes, he is out of control at times and shoots some ill advised shots at times but he can do things that are going to be incredibly hard to stop in the CAA and this was his first game. When was the last time we had a score first PG with that type of quickness.

Btw, just imagine 3-4 years of Covington and Rice in our backcourt together with guys like Kochera on the wing. Wow.

Says a lot to me about Yuri that Dane had the ball in his hands as a true freshman at PG most of the game. He is willing to live with the growing pains because he knows the raw talent and ceiling are very very high.

Harvey is going to be huge for us this year.


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I have to admit that it is my fervent hope that Covington matures into something other than a "score first PG".

I think Rice is gonna be our true distributor/run the team PG next year and beyond with Covington having a JWF role in our backcourt.

I think Yuri will grow as a passer but he loves to penetrate and attack the rim with his quickness.


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Luke Loewe picked up his first career double-double with 16 points and 10 assists in the Tribe's season opening loss at ODU. #GoTribe https://t.co/W3hVUPiRWL

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Yuri has a skillset that we rarely see in a Tribe uni. Lots of maturing and consistency needed, but he will be a great player.

Kochera lit up the scoreboard, but he’s not gonna shoot 6-7 from 3 every night, so let’s see what his game looks like in other facets. Stone-cold shooter isn’t bad, but we didn’t see what else he brings to the table.

Milkereit seemed off tonight, but his athleticism was clear.

Blair with 10 rebounds. Solid game. Would have had a double double if he hadn’t missed some of those early penetration shots. He’ll reliably stuff the stat sheet in a “quiet” way. I feel really good that I’m walking away from that game not even thinking about Blair as one of our best players. That’s a good sign.

Loewe had a good night. His toughest job this year will be figuring out how to lead these troops to play consistently good basketball on every possession.

Harvey makes a difference when he’s in the game. Wight was a relative liability compared to Harvey, though he was in foul trouble from the beginning. Since Wight got the start, we’ve gotta assume he has shown a lot more in practice, so that’s encouraging. Because based on tonight, it was no question who the better big was - and who should be our starter.

Poor Thornton. I wonder how much better we’d be with him on the floor?

I’m pleasantly surprised coming off of that game. The team is talented. The team can score. We’ll lose plenty of games, but we’ll be fun to watch.


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I loved that game. I mean I wish we had won obviously but I LOVED that game. I really did not expect us to score in the 70s and I was very impressed by the performances from Yuri, Connor, and Mehkel.

I hope that we don't go through such hot and cold streaks the rest of the year but I could see some growing pains.

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Despite the tough loss, like others I feel remarkably positive about the team this morning. Covington is raw but showed tremendous talent...
he may be faster than David Cohn and has the aggressiveness to go with it while Kochera looked like a senior out there. Both showed leadership.
Mehkel's new power body has made him a better player...three blocks & seven rebounds in 25 minutes.

Loewe primed for a big year...ten assists the most since Cohn in a game. And Blair showed toughness and his nose for the ball.

This team has talent, but its youth will run hot and cold and a roller coaster season. But the talent is there.

Dane post game
https://youtu.be/CC5-ufNtAaM

(11-29-2020 07:03 AM)mrjoolius Wrote:  Dane post game
https://youtu.be/CC5-ufNtAaM

Agree with Dane that the team showed great effort and did not rollover and die when we got down 15 points. Like his comments about leadership on the court and his confidence in Conner and Yuri.

Was disappointed that he did not give more credit to Mehkel for a great effort. While Mehkel is not a big offensive threat his D and rebounding more than makes up for it. Dane really needs to rethink Mehkel's role and recognize that he is the starter vs Ben.

(11-29-2020 07:55 AM)wmmii Wrote:  Dane really needs to rethink Mehkel's role and recognize that he is the starter vs Ben.

IMO, Ben is valuable in the rotation, but what Harvey brings is more important for this team to succeed. In my early season opponent watching, the physical play and quickness that Ben struggled with doesn't drop off. In fact, if ODU is any indication of how we handle defensive pressure, high turnovers are going to be the norm again.

In the ODU game:
- I was pleased with how we rebounded as a team. That is very important going forward.

- You can't plan for an opponent to shoot poorly, but I thought ODU shot from range much better than they have shown.

- Freshmen will be fine. There is a huge jump from high school to D1 in the speed that the game is played. It takes time to adjust.

- Speaking of freshmen, Kochera had quite the coming out. I don't expect that marksmanship every game, but he is also much more versatile than a catch and shoot guy.

- Covington will figure things out and get in better control. But man, it's a nice feeling when we have the quickest guard on the court.

- Defense is a major concern. I don't see the quick feet and active hands necessary for consistent disruption. This isn't a new issue for W&M teams. I watched a replay of the Elon vs High Point game and the defenses from both looked like a completely different level than we put out. I'm not sure this is something that is easily correctable without an infusion of better athletes.

- Loewe needs to get a feel for his role. He is best when he let's the game come to him and not trying to force things. Good game for him last night, but I thought he was trying to do too much at times.

- I'm happy for Quinn. I think he did well for us and may have some sneaky double double games this year.

- We have a team that plays like a bunch of freshmen & sophomores. Mainly because we are a team of freshmen & sophomores. There is much to improve on, but not too bad for the 1st day of class.

ODU had not scored 86 or more points, since Feb. 23, 2017. Not a good stat to build on.

(11-29-2020 10:21 AM)Tribeheart Wrote:  ODU had not scored 86 or more points, since Feb. 23, 2017. Not a good stat to build on.

But Dane is a defense guru and Shaver ignored defense. :)

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(11-29-2020 08:11 AM)mrjoolius Wrote:  - I'm happy for Quinn. I think he did well for us and may have some sneaky double double games this year.

I actually would like to see Quinn do less. Love that he's a hustle and rebounds guy but he shouldn't really be leading the team in shots. I also think he'll thrive as defenses shift away from him.

I said it to a friend during the game but Yuri is both first step quick and straight line fast. It's absurd how quickly he can get to the rim. I love that he wants to finish at the rim and I love that he has the confidence to take on 3+ defenders in the process but I'd like to see him start to drive and kick to our open shooters.

As for the scoring, I think the officiating had a lot to do with the point totals. And I truly mean that going both ways. Both offenses looked very out of rhythm to start the game but once the whistles came out the scores began to climb. Didn't really affect the outcome unless you bet the under. Also that's the way it seems games are gonna be called this year so we HAVE to adjust.

My biggest criticism of the game actually goes to Dane I think. He didn't manage the pace particularly well and ODU went on some killer runs. With such a young squad especially I'd want Dane to step in and take more command.

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Interestingly, TeamRankings has W&M in 7th place, with a record of 8.3- 9.7 in the CAA, 11.3- 14.7 overall. That site predicts every team in the CAA finishing with between 7.6 and 11.0 conference wins. With that parity, there's no reason to count us out!

Just realized watching Dane's post game that we were missing Lockdown Loewe last night. It's a different game if we could have slowed down Curry.

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Offensively, there was definite first night confusion/rugged/rough play mix, but I think we do have some scorers and, with time, will find their roles (we do have a depth problem, also, on offense).

Defensively, I have concerns. I don't see enough talent to warrant long periods of straight man-to-man D. We were getting beat regularly by their quickness. We don't really have enough players who can stay in front of their man for any length of time. I thought we were better at slowing them down in our zone, even though they were able to find holes in it and, the way they were shooting last night, we couldn't stay in it long.
I think more practice and more usage of the zone defense, in games, can only help us this season.

Unfortunately, there is no time to work on any of that before next game. Barely time to get the game plan in. Good luck, safe travels, versus the Wolfpack.

Not sure where Scott fits in when he's healthy. I don't want to see him take minutes from Kochera or Covington.