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mat1992

MBB falls to Wake Forest 74-64 in the NIT

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11 minutes ago, Tiger93 said:

Not a great way to end a really positive season (I am referring to the last two games we played). That felt like the first time since the Monmouth game that a team just came out and buried us. To our credit, we never gave up and the Chase Paar missed layup felt like a point where it was early enough in the second half that we could have got it down to nine and made it interesting. We missed a lot of those opportunities, but I am not going to pretend like we ever had a chance of winning this game. Wake was much better than us and ran us off the court in the first half.

I am very interesting to see VCU-Wake because Wake's press break was the most pathetic I have seen this year. They struggled with some of that against BC. We talk about this every year, but I really would like to be a team that presses more if possible. It has worked well in spells and we had decent personnel for it this year. I don't think we can do 40 minutes of it, but I would like to use it more if possible. 

The poor play from Terry Nolan Jr. in the conference tournament carried over to the first half, but he seemed to have a much stronger second half as part of the pressure that we are applying. Still, he took some awful shots and was 3-15 from the field. I get that Skerry wants him to inject energy off the bench, but I have not really understood why Nolan Jr. isn't starting right away when he helps be a better team in so many ways when he is engage and playing well (which he has not been the last three games). 

Once again, I really liked the way Charles Thompson played but the more I watch the more I think a major goal for us next year would be to continue to get some transfers/players that can take the scoring load off of Thompson and Timberlake. Both guys are at their best when they can score by the chances they get in the offense. We are a worse team, when we forcing it and relying on them to be scorers. Charles' development has been unbelievable, but I think some next steps in his evolution would be quicken up his post moves and improve his handle enough so he is a threat to take it quickly and decisively to the basket in one-on-one matchups. His post moves can take a long time to develop and can sometimes slow down the offense. 

This was a great season, but two very dissatisfying games to build on and get better from. Time to grind, get some high quality transfers from the portal, and keep moving in a positive directions. 

When you stop to think about it, it’s remarkable we kept the final score respectable, given that Nolan, Timberlake and Rizzuto combined to shoot 7-33 from the field. I hope Skerry uses the game as a teaching moment, in terms of needing to bring in 1 or more guys who can create their own shot off the dribble when necessary. Not surprisingly, Wake was more athletic, which resulted in us settling for a lot of 3’s. Would have been interesting to see what would have happened if Paar had made that layup, which would have cut lead to 9, with plenty of time left, but you can’t deny that the better team won. No shame in losing to those guys by 10, on the road. Needless to say, this is a critical off-season in terms of what new players are brought in for this coming fall 

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It’s interesting that how for so many years we begged for shooters (mainly three point). We finally found a few and now we’re wondering what it would be like to have a slasher like Brian Fobbs, Marcus Damas or Moto with those shooters.

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10 minutes ago, mat1992 said:

It’s interesting that how for so many years we begged for shooters (mainly three point). We finally found a few and now we’re wondering what it would be like to have a slasher like Brian Fobbs, Marcus Damas or Moto with those shooters.

Which bears out why we need a combination of outside shooting and a slasher. Other than Nolan, this year’s team was heavily weighted towards jacking up 3’s, which is fine, when they’re falling. When they’re not, like last night, then you’re in trouble 

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9 minutes ago, TSU88 said:

Which bears out why we need a combination of outside shooting and a slasher. Other than Nolan, this year’s team was heavily weighted towards jacking up 3’s, which is fine, when they’re falling. When they’re not, like last night, then you’re in trouble 

We’ve always had slashers but other than Hairston, never really had a point guard that defenses had to worry about them creating off the dribble and finishing. 

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