In the first half AU effectively set picks for the ball handler, and we got a few unobstructed drives to the basket. Hendra went all the way to the basket once, and got fouled on two other occassions. McCormack got all the way to the basket. Even Luptak!
So when the second half began, I was pretty sure we would try to take advantage of the fact that Army was letting us drive to the basket on the pick.
I didn't see us set another pick for the ballhandler until 8:34 left in the game, late in a possession, when Moldoveanu set a pick for Luptak. Twice in one game Luptak gets all the way to the basket!!!
So I was disappointed in that aspect of the game. We seemed incapable of recognizing this weakness and forcing Army to play us differently.
Moldoveanu and Lumpkins towered over Army. Their play down low was big, especially when their 'center' Springer went out of the game - which was almost the entire game.
Hence and Ellis for Army both had great games. They are the best tandem I've ever seen at Army, and any team in the PL would be lucky to have them. One of them should wind up first team all-PL.
I think it's going to be tough for Hence or Ellis to get 1st team All-PL unless Army finishes in the first division (which I don't expect). If they fall back in the pack, then Hence seems a likely pick for 2nd team. Ironically Simmons is actually their leading scorer but he is weak defensively and does not have the all-around game of the other two.
Assuming good health, there appear to be three locks for 1st team: Vlad, McCollum, and Muscala. IMO the top candidates for the last two spots are Mintz, Keister, and Sugars - with Hence, Shazier, and Lumpkins having a shot depending on how their teams do. Also possibly Beinert if HC finishes near the top and Keister doesn't do enough to make the team (which is partly dependent on the status of his achilles problem).
The big news Wednesday was Simon (Wayne, not McCormick) getting some playing time. This is a major development. And the fact that WSII played well (three assists in six minutes) likely means he'll see more time in the next couple of games. If he plays, and plays well, at HC and Navy, he'll probably get into the rotation. I don't expect WSII to play more than 10 minutes a pop, but those could be crucial minutes. If we have an actual threat at PG who can draw the defense and get into the paint, we're a totally different team, and much harder to guard.
We'll see how it goes. But this could be really big. And it puts the lie, finally, to the notion that JJ simply refuses to play freshmen. (Of course, anyone who was paying attention would see he played Mercer as a freshman, and Munoz as a freshman. But why let facts get in the way of a good rant?) When they earn playing time in practice, they get out on the court. Not before.
Some things I've noted form the box score: http://www.aueagles.com/sports/m-baskbl/2010-11/files/aumbb19.htm
We outscored Army 28-16 in the paint. 43% of our points were from the paint while 26% of Army's points were from the paint.
Army was held to 35.4% on threes and 36.5% from field goals (FG:19-52, 3PT:6-13, FT: 18-22).
Moldoveanu had a double/double with 21 points and 11 rebound while Lumpkins also contributed 16 points and 9 rebounds.
Army scored 18 points in the first 10 minuets and 44 in the remaining 30.
The starting lineup played 37, 36, 34, 33, and 29 minuets.
We went 15 of 29 from the charity stripe.
My impressions from the game:
I think initially we came out with some fire to do some things on offense but we lacked attention and effort on defense. Army used this to get an 18 to 13 lead but then we clamped down on defense the rest of the way and it pulled it out for us.
We played our physical defense and the refs were letting the players play a lot more then usual and I think that worked to our advantage. We wore out the Army players with our defense and the results showed on both sides on the game.
We relied on post play from Lumpkins with Hendra and Luptak driving into the lane on offense. Moldoveanu took (seemingly) most of the jumpers but opportunities for him were created by the inside play of Lumpkins, Hendra, and Luptak.
Overall, I think that, when we steeped up the attention and effort on defense, we were in charge of the game. It was kept close primarily because we weren't hitting free throws. Army got back into the game because we missed a couple of threes while they hit a couple of theirs and was hitting their free throws. Vlad's clutch free throw shooting is what clinched it but we were clearly the better team for all but the first quarter of play.
I don't think I've seen Jeff Jones rely so heavily on the starting lineups as he did this game. Our bench only provided 31 minuets (out of 200 in the game) from 4 players: the only games that come close are 48 against Randolph-Macon and Howard, 37 against Florida, 42 against UMBC, and 47 against Colgate. While I can only speculate on why, I wouldn't be surprised if Coach Jones is sending a message to our starters that if he is starting them, he needs them to lead and to play hard the whole game.
And the most telling Army game statistics from Ben's comments, in my view -- the free throw shooting. Note, too, in that regard that some of those misses were off the front end of one and one's. We normally shot a little over 70% from the line, so 15 of 29 is not up to par.
Don't understand why we have changed from the formula that gave us our best OOC record since the 1980's. We have simply played terrible in our conference games. I think Jones has panicked. Based on the way we have played we will lose at Holy Cross. Jones has absolutely no creativity on offense. Lehigh and Bucknell offenses are much more advanced. We barely won against a 1-13 Colgate and a poor Army team. Things don't look good.
Exactly how have we "changed?" We played an excellent game against Lehigh and won, and a bad game against Bucknell (and we probably wouldn't have won that night even if we'd played well; they were lights out). We weren't great against Colgate (who just beat Lehigh Wednesday) but we won on the road, and we played a solid if unspectacular game against a much improved Army team. (We were, I acknowledge, horrible at the foul line against the Cadets.) We're second in the PL with a chance to solidify that at HC on Saturday.
People tend to forget that even when we went 13-1 in the PL in '09 we had a half-dozen nailbiters--by two over Bucknell, by one at Navy, by five against Navy at Bender, by eight at Lehigh, etc. We haven't played as well as we did in the Cable Car tournament but we're still 3-1. It's conference play, folks. You're going to play close games. We stunk last year and the only games we were really dominated in were the Lehigh games.
Cross is a big game, no doubt. But we could play well there and lose. We have before. Hopefully we have a big performance in us, but if we lose, it's not the end of the season.
WAYNE!!!!
ReplyDeleteIn the first half AU effectively set picks for the ball handler, and we got a few unobstructed drives to the basket. Hendra went all the way to the basket once, and got fouled on two other occassions. McCormack got all the way to the basket. Even Luptak!
ReplyDeleteSo when the second half began, I was pretty sure we would try to take advantage of the fact that Army was letting us drive to the basket on the pick.
I didn't see us set another pick for the ballhandler until 8:34 left in the game, late in a possession, when Moldoveanu set a pick for Luptak. Twice in one game Luptak gets all the way to the basket!!!
So I was disappointed in that aspect of the game. We seemed incapable of recognizing this weakness and forcing Army to play us differently.
Moldoveanu and Lumpkins towered over Army. Their play down low was big, especially when their 'center' Springer went out of the game - which was almost the entire game.
Hence and Ellis for Army both had great games. They are the best tandem I've ever seen at Army, and any team in the PL would be lucky to have them. One of them should wind up first team all-PL.
I think it's going to be tough for Hence or Ellis to get 1st team All-PL unless Army finishes in the first division (which I don't expect). If they fall back in the pack, then Hence seems a likely pick for 2nd team. Ironically Simmons is actually their leading scorer but he is weak defensively and does not have the all-around game of the other two.
ReplyDeleteAssuming good health, there appear to be three locks for 1st team: Vlad, McCollum, and Muscala. IMO the top candidates for the last two spots are Mintz, Keister, and Sugars - with Hence, Shazier, and Lumpkins having a shot depending on how their teams do. Also possibly Beinert if HC finishes near the top and Keister doesn't do enough to make the team (which is partly dependent on the status of his achilles problem).
The big news Wednesday was Simon (Wayne, not McCormick) getting some playing time. This is a major development. And the fact that WSII played well (three assists in six minutes) likely means he'll see more time in the next couple of games. If he plays, and plays well, at HC and Navy, he'll probably get into the rotation. I don't expect WSII to play more than 10 minutes a pop, but those could be crucial minutes. If we have an actual threat at PG who can draw the defense and get into the paint, we're a totally different team, and much harder to guard.
ReplyDeleteWe'll see how it goes. But this could be really big. And it puts the lie, finally, to the notion that JJ simply refuses to play freshmen. (Of course, anyone who was paying attention would see he played Mercer as a freshman, and Munoz as a freshman. But why let facts get in the way of a good rant?) When they earn playing time in practice, they get out on the court. Not before.
Did JJ make any comments about Wayne Simon yesterday in the Press Conference following the game?
ReplyDeleteCoach said he was looking for a spark off the bench and he liked some of the things he saw on the court from Wayne.
ReplyDeleteSome things I've noted form the box score: http://www.aueagles.com/sports/m-baskbl/2010-11/files/aumbb19.htm
ReplyDeleteWe outscored Army 28-16 in the paint. 43% of our points were from the paint while 26% of Army's points were from the paint.
Army was held to 35.4% on threes and 36.5% from field goals (FG:19-52, 3PT:6-13, FT: 18-22).
Moldoveanu had a double/double with 21 points and 11 rebound while Lumpkins also contributed 16 points and 9 rebounds.
Army scored 18 points in the first 10 minuets and 44 in the remaining 30.
The starting lineup played 37, 36, 34, 33, and 29 minuets.
We went 15 of 29 from the charity stripe.
My impressions from the game:
I think initially we came out with some fire to do some things on offense but we lacked attention and effort on defense. Army used this to get an 18 to 13 lead but then we clamped down on defense the rest of the way and it pulled it out for us.
We played our physical defense and the refs were letting the players play a lot more then usual and I think that worked to our advantage. We wore out the Army players with our defense and the results showed on both sides on the game.
We relied on post play from Lumpkins with Hendra and Luptak driving into the lane on offense. Moldoveanu took (seemingly) most of the jumpers but opportunities for him were created by the inside play of Lumpkins, Hendra, and Luptak.
Overall, I think that, when we steeped up the attention and effort on defense, we were in charge of the game. It was kept close primarily because we weren't hitting free throws. Army got back into the game because we missed a couple of threes while they hit a couple of theirs and was hitting their free throws. Vlad's clutch free throw shooting is what clinched it but we were clearly the better team for all but the first quarter of play.
I don't think I've seen Jeff Jones rely so heavily on the starting lineups as he did this game. Our bench only provided 31 minuets (out of 200 in the game) from 4 players: the only games that come close are 48 against Randolph-Macon and Howard, 37 against Florida, 42 against UMBC, and 47 against Colgate. While I can only speculate on why, I wouldn't be surprised if Coach Jones is sending a message to our starters that if he is starting them, he needs them to lead and to play hard the whole game.
Benjamin Arthur Schwab
And the most telling Army game statistics from Ben's comments, in my view -- the free throw shooting. Note, too, in that regard that some of those misses were off the front end of one and one's. We normally shot a little over 70% from the line, so 15 of 29 is not up to par.
ReplyDeleteDon't understand why we have changed from the formula that gave us our best OOC record since the 1980's. We have simply played terrible in our conference games. I think Jones has panicked. Based on the way we have played we will lose at Holy Cross. Jones has absolutely no creativity on offense. Lehigh and Bucknell offenses are much more advanced.
ReplyDeleteWe barely won against a 1-13 Colgate and a poor Army team. Things don't look good.
Exactly how have we "changed?" We played an excellent game against Lehigh and won, and a bad game against Bucknell (and we probably wouldn't have won that night even if we'd played well; they were lights out). We weren't great against Colgate (who just beat Lehigh Wednesday) but we won on the road, and we played a solid if unspectacular game against a much improved Army team. (We were, I acknowledge, horrible at the foul line against the Cadets.) We're second in the PL with a chance to solidify that at HC on Saturday.
ReplyDeletePeople tend to forget that even when we went 13-1 in the PL in '09 we had a half-dozen nailbiters--by two over Bucknell, by one at Navy, by five against Navy at Bender, by eight at Lehigh, etc. We haven't played as well as we did in the Cable Car tournament but we're still 3-1. It's conference play, folks. You're going to play close games. We stunk last year and the only games we were really dominated in were the Lehigh games.
Cross is a big game, no doubt. But we could play well there and lose. We have before. Hopefully we have a big performance in us, but if we lose, it's not the end of the season.