|
|
Post by cindycrawford on Dec 7, 2012 23:47:39 GMT -5
MAAC has been wacky. League turned upside down as Jaspers lose to Marist,Fairfieid to Canisius,and the Jewel of the MAAC ,Siena to Rider.
This after SPU beat Iona and Niagara topped Loyola.
Let's continue the trend. I'm out of the place before perennial (2-0) SP whipping boy Duke takes the floor.
|
|
|
|
Post by oldtimer1 on Dec 8, 2012 0:13:56 GMT -5
Cindy...just got back late this evening (Friday). Will be at the game tomorrow and sitting with most of my team.
|
|
|
|
Post by cindycrawford on Dec 8, 2012 15:48:13 GMT -5
Peacocks hung tough against last year's champs ,down only three with 1:10 to go but just did not seem to have enough bullets in their guns. Losing the rebounding by a margin of ten and reverting back to some poor free throw shooting were a part of the problem, but the bench contribution was practically nil. A Tucker layup was the only conversion in their 1-12 while adding ZERO rebounds and three free throws..Prescott ,Jackson and Patterson were all non factors.I thought Patterson looked very much like a frosh in this one.
Highlights for SPU were Yvon's seven point spurt that keyed a 13-0 run at the start of the second half and Burke's pair of thees and energetic all around play.
|
|
|
|
Post by eport on Dec 8, 2012 16:07:30 GMT -5
I don't believe in good loses, but we did show the capacity to hang tough against what may be the best team in the MAAC, despite poor shooting from the field and foul line.
|
|
|
|
Post by spcfan on Dec 8, 2012 17:58:59 GMT -5
Watched it on video feed. Loyola looked just too big as we played our small lineup, Burke at the 4 most of the way.Didn't play Tucker,Desport or Jackson much so we got beaten up on the boards and exploited on the defensive end inside. Conley getting fouled inside but missing his first 5 free throws was a killer in the first half.
After a furious rally to go from down 7 to up around 7 with tough defense and converting Loyola turnovers to fast break opportunities on the other end we went into one of our droughts and lost the lead falling down 7 closing it to one posession but losing out at the end.
I thought the officiating was atrocious,during one key sequence at about 2:35 when we had closed it to 4 pts and should have had the ball and they gave Loyola a timeout keeping possession after the fact when original call was a turnover killed any chance for a late rally.Refs took Ffrench out of the game with 2 quick cheap fouls early in the second half and would not let Desi,Ffrench or Yvon defend against bigger opponents all day since we stayed small at the 3 and 4 almost all game.
I don't like to blame losses on the officials but seemed like they knew going in who was the defending champion and heavily favored.
|
|
|
|
Post by oldtimer1 on Dec 8, 2012 19:34:27 GMT -5
Just returned from the doubleheader. spc fan you couldn't be more right about the officials. Seemed like they wanted to control the game instead of letting the players play. They were equally bad both ways except the two on Blaise killed us. Called two ticky-tack fouls on Blaise, within a minute of each other in the 2nd half. Took him and probably us out of a very winable game. Cindy was right again on our free throw shooting.
The one positive about this is, as some have posted, is that IF Loyola is among the top tier team in the MAAC then we can compete with anyone. Our shortcomings are evident but we have enough to compete well in this league.
A few additional observations:
1) Loyala adjusted to Blaise's penetration from previous games and clogged up the lanes when he drove. Hopefully, Blaise will adjust by hitting the open player.
2) Chris Burke getting stronger and better each game. Started this game but at the #4. Would rather see him at the #3 but that's Yvon's spot. Think they should be used interchangeably. Chris hit two big 3's today as Cindy mentioned. Never will be a shooter ( he's the slasher type) but is decent...just needs some confidence to take thw shot when open.
3) Beginning to get late for Jackson. Plays outstanding defense but has little offense. Rather give Elias a chance unless something happens quick.
|
|
|
|
Post by spcfan on Dec 8, 2012 19:48:50 GMT -5
Agree with you on Elias old-timer. Jackson may still be hampered by his hand injury, but he has no offensive game. Shots didnt fall for Elias but he displayed some nice interior moves. Would rather see us try and develop him. Also would love to see John at least try Tucker and Conley together sometimes against the right opponent.
Burke played well today. Hustled and active on the boards as always. Biggest shortcoming is his size at the 4 both in trying to clear the defensive board and defensively when he's posted inside.
At least this year we're watchable and sometimes fun to watch as opposed to last year when we were non competitive in about half the games.I still like this team.
|
|
|
|
Post by oldtimer1 on Dec 8, 2012 20:11:43 GMT -5
spcfan...agree with your analysis. Burke is a #3 and should play that position for us next year. Guess JD is doing this out of necessity. Again, IMO the best athlete on the floor and not as bad a shooter as some think. He's the slasher type but has hit a few big 3's already this year. Still reluctant to shoot as evidenced by passing up some open looks in the FDU game. Yet, I really like the rest of his game
|
|
|
|
Post by peacockblue on Dec 9, 2012 8:58:28 GMT -5
This is the most balanced the MAAC has been as far as I can remember. A lot of good teams, not any terrible teams, and no clear favorite(s) at this point. It will be interesting to watch Iona and Loyola over the next few weeks as they both will get players back and Manhattan as Beamon becomes healthier.
As for our Peacocks, we will give any team we play the rest of the way a tough game as long as we bring the energy. It will be interesting to see what kind of toll it takes (if any) on a team with very little depth playing seemingly every game down to the last minute.
|
|
|
|
Post by oldtimer1 on Dec 9, 2012 9:40:06 GMT -5
peacockblue...interesting last paragraph. No one has mentioned it previously but JD this year (and last year) substitutes more freely than any other team in the league ( by far!) and most every college basketball coach I've seen. Goes fairly deep into the bench every game and substitutes frequently. Open question is what is the thinking behind this. A few possibilities.
1) It's early in the Season and JD wants to find his ultimate starting five. Not necessarily the five best players but those who play best together.
2) Perhaps he believes in "fresh legs" towards the end of the game and rotates the players for that purpose.
3) Team has always had great unity over the years. Playing deep into the bench ( 7/8 players) contributes to that purpose. I tend to do that early on i.e. giving everyone an opportunity as long as the drop off isn't that great.
4) Perhaps others have an opinion but the fact remains that JD substitutes very freely and often.
Finally, regarding Ferguson, several have asked what's the deal? Speculation ranges from "in the dog house" to " JD doesn't believe he can contribute" For me, I really have no idea. I would only add that pre-season that JD mentioned that Burke coming back from his operation would be ready earlier, Ferguson much later. Thus he could be waiting until he's completely healthy. However, the problem with that theory is that Ferguson has already been put into a game (however briefly). Bottom line is that I have no idea but would like to hear some of other posters take. Ferguson does have some skills and a pretty decent shot not to mention our much needed height. Any speculation?
|
|
|
|
Post by peacockblue on Dec 9, 2012 11:51:49 GMT -5
Ffrench and Washington are averaging 34 and 35 minutes respectively, and when healthy (and out of foul trouble), I would imagine Conley will be seeing about the same amount of minutes. So in my opinion, the reason it seems like we play so many players is the search for consistent contributions and the 3 and 4 spots where there is no clear "starter." If you look at yesterdays game as an example, we had 6 players playing 20+ minutes, and then 3 players around 10 minutes. Similar case in the Iona game as well. I'm not sure from a numbers perspective this differs much from most teams- Iona and Loyola both used 8 players for significant minutes, we used 9.
My point about playing so many close games was that I would imagine it must be draining (mentally as well as physically) to have to grind out each possession on each end of the court for a full 40 minutes. One could also argue this makes the team more mentally tough. It will just be interesting to see the year play out because I don't see us having many "easy" wins this year where we get a big enough lead to relax in the final few minutes.
As for Ferguson, from what I saw in the first half of last year, his height is not a factor because he plays like he's 6'4. I think the only spot he could be used is to provide a quick spark if the offense struggles. I believe in the Siena game last year he hit 3 jumpers in a quick spurt in the 1st half. But JD doesn't play guys who are a liability of defense, and that's what Ferguson is, especially at the 4 (and JD has never given any indication he thinks he could play the 3). Tucker, Conley, and Desport have all shown they are capable of shooting from 15-18 feet, so even in the one area where Ferguson might have an edge, he is not that far ahead of the other 3 guys seeing minutes to outweigh his deficiencies in other areas.
|
|
|
|
Post by loyal on Dec 9, 2012 17:15:23 GMT -5
Too big for us; will either need Jackson to help inside (not looking good) or shoot 45%+ to offset the size of the likes of the Hounds and Jaspers.
Paricuarly disappointing yesterday, as we missed many, many, many wide open looks and FT's. In the last two minutes alone, Chazz missed two wide open threes and Desi and Prescott each missed one wide open three.....and Burke missed a 1-1.
Almost picked off Loyola and stole one, but shooting woes crippled us.
Chazz threw up two wild, civilian like "shots" off drives in addition to missing all his open jumpers. Looked like a frosh. Not sure I saw the positives in Desports game yesterday.
Club played very hard for 40 minutes.
|
|
