Quote:3 Observations
1) I usually keep these about ODU, but I wanted to give MTSU their due. That's a very tough team. They will be a serious threat to win a tourney game for the third year in a row. They are big and they are tough. They pushed, pulled, and did whatever they had to do to get rebounding position, and I admire that. On top of that, they clearly have established a winning culture. In crunch time, Giddy and King made big plays. My hats go off to them.
They got away with a lot. I respect that about as much as I respect VCU hack-a-thons. I do respect the winning culture, but that crap they pull on the boards is not basketball and shouldn't be tolerated.
Quote:2) I get that fans are upset about the loss, and maybe more so that it feels like it has been forever since the Monarchs won a big game. But, you absolutely cannot ask for more effort from the guys. They gave everything. MTSU is a tourney quality team. Despite the flaws, the Monarchs showed last night that they are right on the cusp of that.
Agree with this. Effort was not lacking and ability is there. We have as good of a chance to win the CUSA tournament as we have over the last 5 years. We have the athletes and the talent.
Quote:3) Shooting. In the end, basketball is a game about putting the ball through the hoop. We just don't do it well enough. Some might argue that it's because we're not deep enough, but I'd argue that we're just not good enough to do it on a consistent basis. We missed some really good looks early in the game (I think specifically of our first or 2nd possession of the game where Trey gets the ball in the post, gets doubled, and kicks a beautiful pass to the opposite wing where Ahmad is wide open), and we couldn't make them then. Ahmad's shot is flat. BJ and Xavier both rushed their first attempts from deep. I would have loved to see Hueitt or Godwin get a run for a chance to knock down some shots, but last night's game called for some grown ass men, and I'm not sure they would have been able to physically handle it.
Disagree with the statement that we just aren't good enough. I believe, much like FTs, it is mental. We know BJ can hit them consistently. He did so for the first 15 or so games this year. We know Caver can. He had a good stretch last year where he did it. We may need to look ate investing in a sports psychologist or someone that can get these kids in the right mental state.
Also sitting near courtside last night I saw why Hueitt and Godwin are not getting minutes. The chemistry between BJ, Caver, and Haynes is about as good as I have ever seen in a backcourt at ODU. When Green was in, it was gone (on both ends of the court). We simply cannot afford to take any of the 3 starting guards out of the game but for a couple of spot minutes and there just aren't enough of them to go any deeper than Green. The way the 3 are playing together, if they can get into the right mental zone to hit their shots, we will win the CUSA tournament.
Two Questions
Quote:1) What adjustments can the players/coaches make to get over the hump? It's clearly not a matter of effort. But, is it a confidence thing? A concentration thing (the three bungled fast breaks nearly killed me)? Is it time to throw the young guys into the fire? I'm not sure I have the answer, but Jones and company have one month to figure it out.
See above. No way to we throw the freshman into it unless we are in the midst of an easy win. Need to figure out the mental side. I was fine with the bungled fast breaks. Only 2 were truly bungled and 3 others were reversed on BS charge calls (2 on Porter and 1 on Caver) that cost us as many as 8 points (2 of those should have been "And 1".
For much of the game, first half especially, we were
only scoring on fast breaks because we could not score in the half court against that set defense. We had to take our shots when they were there, and in my opinion, we ran the fast break very well all in all.
Quote:2) Here's the big question: how will the Monarchs respond on Saturday night? UAB is a really talented team, especially on the offensive end. The Monarchs better be ready to play right at tip off.
I would assume we respond as we did after losing to WKU. UAB is a tough team, but this is a game we should find a way to win as we did against Marshall. If we don't respond, I fear we are going to hit a rough patch that we may not recover from as it is critical we continue to have something to play for. Once you "check out" it is much more difficult to get that chemistry back and without that chemistry in place, any efforts of total team improvement will be for naught. As of now, we are still only 1 game back with another shot at WKU. While we need help and running the table is unlikely, at least there is a chance to take the regular season. Losing on Saturday would make it almost impossible and require more help than could be expected.
Quote:One Prediction
1) At this point, the only thing that really matters is positioning for the CUSA Tournament. The Monarchs have to finish in the Top 4 to have a realistic shot. This UAB game looms LARGE after the emotion of last night. If the Monarchs can find a way to take care of business at home, I'd be pretty confident about finishing in the Top 4 and having a puncher's chance in Frisco.
What matters is improvement to the point of winning the tournament. Top 4 is not and should not be the goal. Top 4 is pretty much a given with Marshall losing last night and top 3 is probable, barring the wheels falling off completely. We cannot practice and play with the goal of preventing a meltdown. UAB and Marshall are not going to run the table and we have a 2-game lead on both. We need to practice and play with the goal of crushing WKU and MTSU in the tournament. To achieve the goal of getting to that point would mean beating down everyone else on the way there, one game at a time, in more impressive fashion each time.
