"Don’t look now, but last season’s Patriot League champions are starting to get it together.
Coach Jeff Jones had to be wondering if an awful nonconference performance followed by an uninspired start to league play meant doom for his band of upstarts, but the Eagles have seemingly put it together...
...Can American do it again? Jones insists it’s a different team that last season’s group that hoisted a league championship banner.
But with Moldoveanu and Lumpkins in the frontcourt and a defense that knows how to make plays and win ballgames, the Eagles’ chances for a repeat might not be so bad after all...
...Quote To Note: “We are not the defending champs. It’s such a different team. This team has nothing to do with last year other than the name on the jersey. We don’t think in those terms.”—American coach Jeff Jones, to the Allentown Morning Call, when asked if his team was overconfident heading into the thick of conference play. - I take some exception to this quote, by the way. These players are not the defending champs, but you better believe that this TEAM, with AMERICAN on the front of its jerseys, is the defending champ. That should, and I think does, mean a lot to these players. If you don't think that's motivation for these players, I think you're wrong. They don't want to be the guys who mess up the streak. The successes of the past two seasons have to be in the back of their minds, and they're playing like a team with a fire lit under their asses. Until we're told we can't play again, THE PATRIOT LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP DOES GO THROUGH OUR EAGLES.
Season Recap: The Eagles are really putting it together following an awful first half. Stephen Lumpkins and Vlad Moldoveanu comprise perhaps the league’s best frontcourt, and Nick Hendra has done a nice job quarterbacking American’s rotation. The team is using much of the same approach as last year’s conference-title winning team, a pressure defense with a smart, measured offense. The Eagles took off in league play last year, and they appear to be right on schedule in 2010.
Roster Report:
• Riley Grafft has been relegated to the bench following poor play in January. Grafft saw 15 minutes of playing time against Lafayette, scoring only two points. - They are paying some attention it seems; Riley's minutes have really fallen off with Vlad in the game. They're right, by the way, for the most part Riley hasn't played great. He was clutch in the Lafayette game, but he'll need to step it up the rest of the way for us to find continued success.
• The Eagles have used seven starting lineups this season. Junior Nick Hendra is the only Eagle to start every game.
I'll be back soon to give you an open letter!
Pro deo et patria and GO EAGLES!
He has been called unatheletic. Bill commented that his shot was ugly and mirrored his shot but check the stats he leads the team in three point percentage and the Eagles have done nothing but win a high percent of games when he plays over 10 minutes a game. In three of the recent wins the AU analysis confirms it was his three point shot that sparked the final push where AU never relinquished the lead and went on to win the game. He is your x factor.
ReplyDeleteIf you're talking about Joe Hill (and I'm pretty sure you are), I don't disagree with your analysis, I think you're right (though I do maintain his shot is ugly). But I didn't talk about Joe Hill in this post...Joe is the X factor right now, I agree.
ReplyDeleteLet's be honest here Vlad is THE difference maker with a lot of help from Lump. Munoz is playing with much more confidence and limiting turnovers. Simon is a steady force and Nick has been more up than down lately. Since conference play began Hill, Riley and Luptak have all made timely contributions. Good teams come together and put role players in position to help the team win games. Let's have a big turnout Saturday. Go AU!
ReplyDeleteAnd the game is cancelled...I'm guessing postponed until Super Bowl Sunday.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure I agree that a fire is lit underanyone's ass. I think the players are playing with more restraint now, which is a very good thing. At the start of the season, they tried to run befor they could walk.
ReplyDeleteNow it is a question of being able to *freelance* little by little so that they can avoid long stretches without scoring. Freelance is the name Pete Carrill gave to his Princeton offense. It means that, within your structure, you react to how the defense plays you. It isn't planned, becuase you don't know how the defender is going to play you. Our players need to slowly recognize and take advantage of weak decisions on their part. We are at the stage now where Nick Hendra, once fearless, looks to be afraid to put the ball on the floor when he sometimes should. But this will take some time to sort out. You can't rush it.
What I meant by a fire being under their asses is that we're at least seeing some passion now. It looked like they were going through the motions at the beginning of the PL season. Now when they hit a big shot, everyone gets fired up.
ReplyDeleteOtherwise I agree with your analysis, Steve
Let's not coronate Joe Hill as the next Adam Morrison. He averages probably somewhere around 5 shots a game, not shots made but shots taken, so he makes a good percentage because he can not get off shots that are contested in any way beuase of his shot and release. If you have a shooting guard playing a lot of minutes, he needs to be able to be more of a threat to shoot the ball more than 3-5 shots a game and not just pass the ball around the perimeter.
ReplyDelete