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(12-07-2016 10:29 PM)Blazer85 Wrote:  

(12-07-2016 10:22 PM)The Answer UAB Wrote:  I really hope our defense is better. We won't be above mediocre all year if we don't improve that. To shoot 73% and only win by 11 is kind of weird. I guess it was all the TOs. This is still not a disciplined or fundamentally sharp team.

Agreed, but a lot of our turnovers are having the lack of fundamentally sound "ball handlers." Watts and Baxter are probably our most consistent ball handlers, but that's not saying much. Losing Norton was big on many levels: lost crispness in offensive execution, lost a consistent perimeter scoring threat, and worse ball security leading to turnovers and easy points for the opponent (just to name a few). I knew Norton was a big part of our success, but I think we are seeing just what a key he has been.

Very true, but I think a lot of it is just being careless. A lot of the turnovers aren't from missing a great point guard. They are from simple carelessness.

We also didn't really recruit any point guard depth. We were relying on a guy with a history of an ACL tear in high school to be our only true point guard. We played with fire and got burned.

I think this is the best we've played all year. While we turned it over way too much, our shooting % is largely due to very good interior passing which is a bit of an anomoly. No we aren't going to shoot it that well every night, but we shared the ball and attacked the basket tonight. We also (at least for tonight) corrected the most glaring team weakness of perimeter defense for the most part.

Let's break the win/loss cycle at Memphis.

(12-07-2016 10:29 PM)Blazer85 Wrote:  

(12-07-2016 10:22 PM)The Answer UAB Wrote:  I really hope our defense is better. We won't be above mediocre all year if we don't improve that. To shoot 73% and only win by 11 is kind of weird. I guess it was all the TOs. This is still not a disciplined or fundamentally sharp team.

Agreed, but a lot of our turnovers are having the lack of fundamentally sound "ball handlers." Watts and Baxter are probably our most consistent ball handlers, but that's not saying much. Losing Norton was big on many levels: lost crispness in offensive execution, lost a consistent perimeter scoring threat, and worse ball security leading to turnovers and easy points for the opponent (just to name a few). I knew Norton was a big part of our success, but I think we are seeing just what a key he has been.

Yep. Although we still need to cut down on carelessness. A fair amount of the turnovers wouldn't even involve Nick when you have Cokely or Lee making a poor pass.

Our FG % was so high, in part, actually because of SFA's tight defense. Whenever we didn't turn it over, we were either able to slip some backdoor cuts for easy layups or pass to a wide-open player when they tried to trap/double team us.

Whatever the case, we took advantage of what they gave us. So that's the sign of a mature team. While you would love to impose your will, great teams make adjustments. I'm still optimistic about the season, largely because we are (finally) a mature team and because CUSA isn't showing much signs of life outside of MTSU, Charlotte, and maybe ODU.

If we could close out these last 4 OOC games with wins, that's not a terrible OOC resume. Still not likely to be at-large worthy though unless GW, SFA, Memphis, and Texas have strong seasons.

RPI jumps 33 spots after the big road win to...178

What are the changes we get an at large bid to the NCAA tournament? (He wrote while laughing his tail off)

Serious answer to your non-serious question:

-Win out OOC
-Go 16-2 in CUSA and win it
-Make it to the conference semis

At that point, might as well just win the whole FN thing. These OOC wins are to keep us from avoiding a 15 seed

Don't get ahead of yourselves. We have to beat MTSU. They look like they've carried over momentum from one year to the next, something we haven't done ..

(12-07-2016 11:32 PM)The Answer UAB Wrote:  Don't get ahead of yourselves. We have to beat MTSU. They look like they've carried over momentum from one year to the next, something we haven't done ..

MTSU has definitely looked like the class of this conference. I still believe UAB is somewhere in that second tier with Rice, ODU, and La Tech. But let's be honest, this conference will come down to the 3 days in Birmingham in early March. We just need to finish in the top 4 and hopefully avoid possibly playing MTSU until the finals.

(12-08-2016 12:04 AM)BlazintheATL Wrote:  

(12-07-2016 11:32 PM)The Answer UAB Wrote:  Don't get ahead of yourselves. We have to beat MTSU. They look like they've carried over momentum from one year to the next, something we haven't done ..

MTSU has definitely looked like the class of this conference. I still believe UAB is somewhere in that second tier with Rice, ODU, and La Tech. But let's be honest, this conference will come down to the 3 days in Birmingham in early March. We just need to finish in the top 4 and hopefully avoid possibly playing MTSU until the finals.

I agree. MTSU plays Vanderbilt this week. That will say a lot about them to me.

We should have a good chance to win the CUSA tourney, and I believe we will get significantly better as the season rolls on.

Don't have the bandwidth to read this whole thread so excuse me if already discussed.

After watching the replay. Team effort.

Seeing Darling and Smallwood in the game early...I think the team fed off that.

Good move and great defensive minutes from those guys.

Struggling to figure out why Madison doesn't get more minutes or a start.

Great win to shake off the Auburn game.

"I told the team before the game, this is going to be a team win," UAB head coach Robert Ehsan said on postgame radio. "We need everybody."

Champlin's report:

http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2016/...iver_index

Our AL.com road coverage consists of Drew listening to the radio...

(12-07-2016 10:03 PM)antblazer Wrote:  Did we actually defend the 3 better or did they just miss wide open shots? They shot 25% from beyond the arc.

I wasn't able to see the game

Defended better. We didn't have 4 guys collapsing on the lane and then running back out to try to get to a shooter

That happens some but we tend to get guys caught in ball screens. This blaming "Blockingham" is silly. When you watch the games back and slow them down you see exactly what we are doing wrong.

Drew Champlin@DrewChamplin
This was the No. 2 SportsCenter top play

https://twitter.com/UAB_MBB/status/80669...24/photo/1

(12-08-2016 09:53 AM)ATTALLABLAZE Wrote:  That happens some but we tend to get guys caught in ball screens. This blaming "Blockingham" is silly. When you watch the games back and slow them down you see exactly what we are doing wrong.

I wasn't really blaming blockingham...but when people drive, our guards fall WAY too deep into the middle of the lane, and when the ball gets kicked they jump out toward the wide open guy they just left (I also agree about the ball screens)

(12-08-2016 12:05 PM)LairDweller Wrote:  

(12-08-2016 09:53 AM)ATTALLABLAZE Wrote:  That happens some but we tend to get guys caught in ball screens. This blaming "Blockingham" is silly. When you watch the games back and slow them down you see exactly what we are doing wrong.

I wasn't really blaming blockingham...but when people drive, our guards fall WAY too deep into the middle of the lane, and when the ball gets kicked they jump out toward the wide open guy they just left (I also agree about the ball screens)

That's on me. I still stand by that we are/were getting killed by the pass out of the double team/block attempt because of poor rotation to the man the double teamer is leaving.