ODU Postgame

[Chris Datres 425]

Eh, I might buy the first game jitters stuff if this wasn't an experienced team.  What they showed in Canada and the exhibition against Bucknell must have been night-and-day compared to what they showed tonite.

[mat1992 2,254]

Even experienced guys get nervous Chris. You could tell in the first five minutes. We're on the road and not playing in Canada, where the games didn't matter. We played like crap against Bucknell in the first half but our athleticism and strength took over in the second half. That wasn't going to happen against ODU. But overall, guys like Keith, Morman, and Starr have to play better as seniors. They also have to show more poise. Maybe that's where we miss JD, who could produce and lead. Mike is more of a quiet leader but EK has to step in to Davis' shoes and those are big shoes to fill.

It's just one game but you also saw where the loss of Moto and Davis impacted our frontcourt on offense. Hopefully Gorham can make up some of the difference.

[Moleman 1]

Gorham looked so improved in that Bucknell exhibition match, so I'm surprised at his stats  (didn't see game tonight) vs ODU. It sounds like their frontcourt was perhaps bigger and/or simply outplayed ours..

But bottom line in this one - looks like Martin and Morsell came prepared, but the rest were just incapable. Whether it was rust, nagging injuries, nerves, bad matchups, hostile environment or what, who knows. Ek's probably the best driver this season, so I'd say he was the one to get the ball to - if we can beg borrow or steal a feeder competent enough to dish.

[TSU88 1,074]

Glass half full=despite everything, we had a chance to win at the buzzer vs a quality team on the road. 

Glass half empty=absent ZM & Morsell, the rest of the team scored 17 points. That’s dismal.

One thing this underscores is the problem at PG, both this year & maybe next. Starr is, well, no star, but it’s his job this year, for better or worse. Prophete didn’t even play last night, did he? Who then is the backup PG? If it’s Prophete, one would think he would have gotten in the game. As for next year, Starr will be gone. So, who’s the PG? A freshman? Prophete? A JUCO? Prophete was a prolific scorer in HS; did he even play PG? 

While it’s only one game, can we extrapolate that we’re going to struggle mightily against teams with good frontcourts? I don’t have a ton of confidence in Thomas, & Gorham is a forward, not a center. EK, as someone posted earlier, is a Swiss Army knife, not a power forward. I like Tunstall a lot, but we’re not likely to get any significant scoring out of him. 

[tualum 108]

Ahhh. Skerry ball begins...

[mat1992 2,254]

3 hours ago, TSU88 said:

Glass half full=despite everything, we had a chance to win at the buzzer vs a quality team on the road. 

Glass half empty=absent ZM & Morsell, the rest of the team scored 17 points. That’s dismal.

One thing this underscores is the problem at PG, both this year & maybe next. Starr is, well, no star, but it’s his job this year, for better or worse. Prophete didn’t even play last night, did he? Who then is the backup PG? If it’s Prophete, one would think he would have gotten in the game. As for next year, Starr will be gone. So, who’s the PG? A freshman? Prophete? A JUCO? Prophete was a prolific scorer in HS; did he even play PG? 

While it’s only one game, can we extrapolate that we’re going to struggle mightily against teams with good frontcourts? I don’t have a ton of confidence in Thomas, & Gorham is a forward, not a center. EK, as someone posted earlier, is a Swiss Army knife, not a power forward. I like Tunstall a lot, but we’re not likely to get any significant scoring out of him. 

Prophete is a point guard but the adjustment to this level is tough. Look how long it took Zane and he's still adjusting. He's not incredibly quick so he just can't get past people at this level. But at some point, if you have no confidence in Van Rolle, Prophete needs to play some because Jordan McNieill has never played the position and it shows. Especially when you look at next season with nobody returning at point guard other than Prophete.

[Tgr4life 170]

Nerves are an unacceptable excuse. When you are a scholarship basketball player at Division 1 level, you need to be ready as soon as the whistle blows! These guys have played hundreds of AAU games that would determine of they get a scholarship. If you get nervous you should be playing for the Towson Club basketball team.   In the end, the only games that really matter are played in March. There are twenty some exhibition games to get ready for the conference championships. 

[mat1992 2,254]

So you are basically saying players should never get nervous before games because they played a hundred freakin' AAU games. One of the greatest of all time, Bill Russell, used to get nervous and threw up before games. Maybe if he played AAU that wouldn't have happened. I'm not excusing the second half performance. It was atrocious offensively. Not excusing point guard play. Or frontcourt offense. That has nothing to do with nerves. It just showed at the beginning of the game.

[Tgr4life 170]

Not what I am saying at all. While Bill Russell would get nervous...when, for one of the very few times, he did not play to his ability, he never used "nerves" as an excuse. You can be nervous, but one needs to have the ability to still play to their ability, make good decisions and follow game plans. Being nervous is not an excuse for mental mistakes and poor decision making. 

[TigerNation 49]

It’s game one, we have a lot more games ahead of us. Go tigers !!!