owlatheart
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RE: Men's basketball opens season against St. Leo
With this many new players, I can't say I'm too displeased
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11-06-2018 10:02 PM |
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cr11owl
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RE: Men's basketball opens season against St. Leo
(11-06-2018 09:34 PM)elw4796 Wrote: Live and die by the three. No way to dress this up, though. Pretty poor performance. We'd probably be losing by double digits if it weren't for Rob.
We’ve definitely gone a little cold here in the 2nd half. And we could and probably should beat this team by 15+. But I’m a little more optimistic. Other than 1 stretch of 3 minutes after Ako’s technical we’ve played better defense than I can remember from last year. We’ve forced more turnovers than I remember from any game last year.
Parrish might be the guy that drive to the bucket when we go on droughts and get fouled. We didn’t have that last year. Mullins had a couple nice drives too. Naaja didn’t decide he could slash
Martin looks way more confident as I said before.
Williams finds more offensive rebounds than anyone last year.
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11-06-2018 10:02 PM |
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elw4796
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RE: Men's basketball opens season against St. Leo
(11-06-2018 10:02 PM)cr11owl Wrote: (11-06-2018 09:34 PM)elw4796 Wrote: Live and die by the three. No way to dress this up, though. Pretty poor performance. We'd probably be losing by double digits if it weren't for Rob.
We’ve definitely gone a little cold here in the 2nd half. And we could and probably should beat this team by 15+. But I’m a little more optimistic. Other than 1 stretch of 3 minutes after Ako’s technical we’ve played better defense than I can remember from last year. We’ve forced more turnovers than I remember from any game last year.
Parrish might be the guy that drive to the bucket when we go on droughts and get fouled. We didn’t have that last year. Mullins had a couple nice drives too. Naaja didn’t decide he could slash
Martin looks way more confident as I said before.
Williams finds more offensive rebounds than anyone last year.
Yeah, I wrote that at about our lowest point in the game. Really pleased with the response when it became a 2 point game.
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11-06-2018 10:05 PM |
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OldOwl
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RE: Men's basketball opens season against St. Leo
Nice win playing a poor team.
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11-06-2018 10:38 PM |
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Fort Bend Owl
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RE: Men's basketball opens season against St. Leo
Back from the game. I thought the student turnout wasn't bad. The regular Rice crowd was poor but it was election night so I'll give them a pass.
I think we're better than last year. There is no question the newcomers are better, but they are going to be rough at times too. Really pleased to see the improvement from Martin. St. Leo wasn't a bad team - they had as much talent as I've seen from the bad CUSA teams of the past. I'm not sure I like how we bring the ball up court - we seem to have issues handling the press. Parrish flashes some NBA-type moves but he's still feeling his way around the court.
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11-06-2018 10:55 PM |
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cr11owl
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RE: Men's basketball opens season against St. Leo
(11-06-2018 10:05 PM)elw4796 Wrote: (11-06-2018 10:02 PM)cr11owl Wrote: (11-06-2018 09:34 PM)elw4796 Wrote: Live and die by the three. No way to dress this up, though. Pretty poor performance. We'd probably be losing by double digits if it weren't for Rob.
We’ve definitely gone a little cold here in the 2nd half. And we could and probably should beat this team by 15+. But I’m a little more optimistic. Other than 1 stretch of 3 minutes after Ako’s technical we’ve played better defense than I can remember from last year. We’ve forced more turnovers than I remember from any game last year.
Parrish might be the guy that drive to the bucket when we go on droughts and get fouled. We didn’t have that last year. Mullins had a couple nice drives too. Naaja didn’t decide he could slash
Martin looks way more confident as I said before.
Williams finds more offensive rebounds than anyone last year.
Yeah, I wrote that at about our lowest point in the game. Really pleased with the response when it became a 2 point game.
Didn’t finish my thought there. Naaja didn’t start slashing until late in the year. Think we’re going to see more of it this year which I like.
A lot more athletic this year. If we shoot well I think we can beat almost anyone in conference.
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11-06-2018 11:01 PM |
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Tomball Owl
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RE: Men's basketball opens season against St. Leo
Just home from the game. I really enjoyed the energy of the Rice players. Martin and Adams looked to have matured into real leaders on the floor. None of the newcomers played with a deer-in-the-headlights approach. Yes, there were mistakes, but learn from them. I like the Owls quickness and 10 man rotation. No one seemed winded at any point, enabling the Owls to finish strong. Williams had a nice game. I was also impressed with the defense and quickness of Mullins. Heck all the newcomers were quick. I love that the Owls were contesting almost every shot, a big change from last year. Yes St. Leo is a DII school, but one I think the Owls would have struggled with last year.
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11-06-2018 11:25 PM |
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ExcitedOwl18
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RE: Men's basketball opens season against St. Leo
Pretty good night for C-USA basketball ball led by LA Tech winning @Wichita.
WKU up @Washington (halftime).
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11-06-2018 11:28 PM |
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elw4796
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RE: Men's basketball opens season against St. Leo
Just watched the game and love the energy on the bench. Think that was missing last year. Obviously the bigger test will be to see our resolve and cohesiveness when things get tough, but this feels more like a team than last.
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11-06-2018 11:34 PM |
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Tiki Owl
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RE: Men's basketball opens season against St. Leo
Student section was about 75% full and there were students sitting in the lower west side. There were 12 or so in front of Club 103.
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11-07-2018 12:18 AM |
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cr11owl
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RE: Men's basketball opens season against St. Leo
(11-07-2018 12:18 AM)Tiki Owl Wrote: Student section was about 75% full and there were students sitting in the lower west side. There were 12 or so in front of Club 103.
Hopefully we keep winning our home games and they keep coming. Think this will be a fun group to watch. Lots of energy as mentioned before, never looked tired tonight.
Really need more community support though. Tudor is so much better full.
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11-07-2018 12:25 AM |
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Tomball Owl
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RE: Men's basketball opens season against St. Leo
With all the new faces playing significant minutes tonight, Coach Pera has to be happy with only 12 turnovers.
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11-07-2018 12:31 AM |
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cr11owl
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RE: Men's basketball opens season against St. Leo
(11-06-2018 10:55 PM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote: Back from the game. I thought the student turnout wasn't bad. The regular Rice crowd was poor but it was election night so I'll give them a pass.
I think we're better than last year. There is no question the newcomers are better, but they are going to be rough at times too. Really pleased to see the improvement from Martin. St. Leo wasn't a bad team - they had as much talent as I've seen from the bad CUSA teams of the past. I'm not sure I like how we bring the ball up court - we seem to have issues handling the press. Parrish flashes some NBA-type moves but he's still feeling his way around the court.
I think Ako had the ball swiped from behind once but I don’t remember any other issues bringing the ball up the court? We almost lost it another time but it was put off St Leo. Pera obviously wants to push it. They didn’t full press much but we broke it when they did I think and had no backcourt violations.
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11-07-2018 08:02 AM |
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ranfin
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RE: Men's basketball opens season against St. Leo
(11-07-2018 08:02 AM)cr11owl Wrote: (11-06-2018 10:55 PM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote: Back from the game. I thought the student turnout wasn't bad. The regular Rice crowd was poor but it was election night so I'll give them a pass.
I think we're better than last year. There is no question the newcomers are better, but they are going to be rough at times too. Really pleased to see the improvement from Martin. St. Leo wasn't a bad team - they had as much talent as I've seen from the bad CUSA teams of the past. I'm not sure I like how we bring the ball up court - we seem to have issues handling the press. Parrish flashes some NBA-type moves but he's still feeling his way around the court.
I think Ako had the ball swiped from behind once but I don’t remember any other issues bringing the ball up the court? We almost lost it another time but it was put off St Leo. Pera obviously wants to push it. They didn’t full press much but we broke it when they did I think and had no backcourt violations.
There were a few head scratching turnovers, but overall ball handling is improved. This team is just more athletic, quicker and taller than last year’s group. Looks like we can successfully use ten guys. Maybe time to start pressing a bit?
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11-07-2018 08:50 AM |
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Kayjay
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RE: Men's basketball opens season against St. Leo
There was a great deal to be pleased with coming out of this first game. Robert Martin really showed up as a floor leader, he took smart shots and broke up what could have been an ejection against Ako Adams in the 2nd half. Tim Harrison played within his skill set although he still got into foul trouble which limited his minutes. Chris Mullins played with real energy and Williams, despite his funky set shot had a double double and played "above his size" in the paint. Josh Parrish was able to provide a big offensive boost when the team most needed it by driving the lane and getting the foul call...and sinking his free throws! Even thought Trey Murphy was only 1-5 during the game, he has great form from beyond the arc and he will find his groove on the court. If you watched the shoot-around before the second half, he did not miss a shot from behind the arc, in fact, his shots did not even hit the rim. He also was not selfish on the court, he passed up a couple of shot opportunities to give his team-mates a better look at the basket. That was impressive for a freshman.
I have a couple of concerns, Payton Moore's eyes are often focused on the ball when he is dribbling instead of looking at the entire court. Drew Peterson's outside shot is pretty flat, which means he will have days where the ball will simply not go thru that bucket. There were still a number of times where the defense was not in the right position to challenge a shot, but overall it seemed much better than last year.
This team has not played anyone with D-1 talent yet, but this team should be a great deal of fun to watch this season.
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11-07-2018 09:07 AM |
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waltgreenberg
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RE: Men's basketball opens season against St. Leo
I think the relatively low turnover total marks the biggest improvement from last year when we averaged 15+ per game, and often had double digit TOs by half time. Two things I'd like to see: (1) Parrish being more aggressive on offense and looking for his shot more, and (2) Williams spending more time offensively in the lane where he has a very pretty and effective mini-sky hook from both his left and right hands. As others have pointed out, his jump shot is awkward to say the least, and when he plays outside we lose his offensive rebounding ability. He very much reminds me in style of play of the Middle Tennessee forward and first team all-conference player from a couple years back. He is extremely active and always seems to be around the ball on both offense and defense, and he plays smart, avoiding stupid fouls.
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11-07-2018 09:30 AM |
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cr11owl
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RE: Men's basketball opens season against St. Leo
(11-07-2018 09:30 AM)waltgreenberg Wrote: I think the relatively low turnover total marks the biggest improvement from last year when we averaged 15+ per game, and often had double digit TOs by half time. Two things I'd like to see: (1) Parrish being more aggressive on offense and looking for his shot more, and (2) Williams spending more time offensively in the lane where he has a very pretty and effective mini-sky hook from both his left and right hands. As others have pointed out, his jump shot is awkward to say the least, and when he plays outside we lose his offensive rebounding ability. He very much reminds me in style of play of the Middle Tennessee forward and first team all-conference player from a couple years back. He is extremely active and always seems to be around the ball on both offense and defense, and he plays smart, avoiding stupid fouls.
I think Parrish had 2 fouls early which probably limited his aggressiveness. Super athletic though, he can really get up there.
Agree on Williams. Has a knack for finding the ball on rebounds.
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11-07-2018 09:44 AM |
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Tiki Owl
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RE: Men's basketball opens season against St. Leo
I don’t think most teams will be able to press us this year. We have so many players that dribble they all can’t be covered. And in Peterson and Martin we have two bigs we can get the ball into and they can dribble some before passing the ball...no getting doubled and tripled in the corner.
Loved the slash to the basket by Mullins several times last night. He appears to be as quick as Evans was.
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11-07-2018 01:46 PM |
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Fort Bend Owl
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RE: Men's basketball opens season against St. Leo
(11-07-2018 08:02 AM)cr11owl Wrote: (11-06-2018 10:55 PM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote: Back from the game. I thought the student turnout wasn't bad. The regular Rice crowd was poor but it was election night so I'll give them a pass.
I think we're better than last year. There is no question the newcomers are better, but they are going to be rough at times too. Really pleased to see the improvement from Martin. St. Leo wasn't a bad team - they had as much talent as I've seen from the bad CUSA teams of the past. I'm not sure I like how we bring the ball up court - we seem to have issues handling the press. Parrish flashes some NBA-type moves but he's still feeling his way around the court.
I think Ako had the ball swiped from behind once but I don’t remember any other issues bringing the ball up the court? We almost lost it another time but it was put off St Leo. Pera obviously wants to push it. They didn’t full press much but we broke it when they did I think and had no backcourt violations.
We've had Peterson have to bring it up quite a bit already. That's fine but for some reason, they don't seem to want to have many guys around helping Adams or Moore bring it up the court even when facing a full court press. We basically have four guards and all but Adams are first year Owls. I think we'll have issues against a solid full court press.
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11-07-2018 05:02 PM |
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ranfin
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RE: Men's basketball opens season against St. Leo
(11-07-2018 05:02 PM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote: (11-07-2018 08:02 AM)cr11owl Wrote: (11-06-2018 10:55 PM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote: Back from the game. I thought the student turnout wasn't bad. The regular Rice crowd was poor but it was election night so I'll give them a pass.
I think we're better than last year. There is no question the newcomers are better, but they are going to be rough at times too. Really pleased to see the improvement from Martin. St. Leo wasn't a bad team - they had as much talent as I've seen from the bad CUSA teams of the past. I'm not sure I like how we bring the ball up court - we seem to have issues handling the press. Parrish flashes some NBA-type moves but he's still feeling his way around the court.
I think Ako had the ball swiped from behind once but I don’t remember any other issues bringing the ball up the court? We almost lost it another time but it was put off St Leo. Pera obviously wants to push it. They didn’t full press much but we broke it when they did I think and had no backcourt violations.
We've had Peterson have to bring it up quite a bit already. That's fine but for some reason, they don't seem to want to have many guys around helping Adams or Moore bring it up the court even when facing a full court press. We basically have four guards and all but Adams are first year Owls. I think we'll have issues against a solid full court press.
One reason I’d like to see us use the press is that practicing it also helps our guys learn to handle it.
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11-07-2018 05:04 PM |
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