Seems like every team we play makes a much better percentage of 3's against us than their season average. Could be that part of our defensive game is lacking.
We have a very interesting team. If they don't clean up the lazy passing, sloppy ball handling and poor shot selection we are going to be disappointed, losing to teams that we should beat. BUT, this team is really scrappy with enough talent that we will have some surprising wins and a great ride. I really enjoy watching them.
Didn’t quite have the A game, but Richmond played us tough as well. Just a good solid W overall. Not a cupcake. Probably some possessions we were napping on D for the coaches to harp on when they watch the film. I remember one in particular: Clayton had his back turned to his man on an out of bounds, ended up an easy catch and shoot 3 off an inbound.
Is it just me or does Pullin seem to play better when he doesn't start? I'm not trying to argue if he should start or not but makes me wonder. Richard has been up and down as well but I think he sometimes plays better when he starts verses not starting and being less effective off the bench. Thoughts???
My guess Master Doug must have checked the TV rating before the game and with the low ratings decided to keep it quiet today. He likes to show his authority in prime time.
We have to win these games. Richmond lost to Northern Iowa. But we took care of business. Just win baby.
Nice win considering Kugel and Clayton were both off. Richard and to a lesser extent Pullin picked them up. Glad to have Micah back and having that extra big really makes a difference on the boards. On our last possession, I was hoping for a turnover to retain another +20 board margin. It looks like Golden has plenty of options to go with the hot hand, but for us to play at our best, Samuel looks to be the MVG so far.
Pullin seems to me to be the only guy on the team who doesn’t play sloppy at times. I think that he needs to start and to be on the floor as much as possible. We can survive sloppiness against the Richmond’s of the world but not against SEC competition.
I say it is an absurd campus. I live pretty close to it and visit quite frequently. You walk around and see all the infrastructure and think "this is like a smallish version of UVa or a small Ivy League school. And then you find out how many students attend there: Less than 4,000! How in the H__L does a university that limited in attendance get so many opulent buildings? Mainly it is because the Richmond elite adopted it and has sunk enormous money in their direction over many years. And as an aside, that is where Earl Hamner, the guy who was behind The Waltons TV show (and is essentially John-boy) went to school. John-boy went to "Boatwright University", which is the name of the main road that enters the campus from the street network. I am not sure of any other connection of the name to the campus.
Upon Further Review... Well, another tune-up game in the books. Still a lot of work to be done before the SEC grind. The ball movement remains fits and starts. Methinks we are going to have to live with it until February or so. It is what it is. I am SO glad that Richard seems to have gotten his offensive yips under control. When he is hitting 3s and driving to the basket, he is a damn good piece to have out on the court. Samuel, again, is THE pickup by Golden this season. I can not fathom this team without him in the tough games. Amazing we have him. Clayton seems to be a "fits and starts" player also. How he can be so dominant (Merrimack) and so meh (Richmond) is a mystery. Pullin I think is okay with being the first off the bench. That way Richard can be in and I guess he and Golden get to chat while the game begins and get set up for how the game is flowing. The defense is both nice and confounding. Again, I think we are going to have to wait until February before all the parts truly mesh. It is what it is. Kugel is going to lose game minutes if he does not get out of his emotional funk. I know this is too early, but he is reminding me of Jason Marshall in football: he thinks he just needs to show up and everyone will just fawn over his "skill". He has to stop reading the W-L record of the team he is playing and decide to play damn basketball. I know there are players of some caliber on just about every team, but he gave up WAY too many easy baskets to his player cutting to the basket. If he thinks he is Scottie Pippin because his posse tells him he is, I will only say that he is indeed Scottie. Scottie Lewis. Please.....STOP IT! I hate to say it, but I am afraid that the Rishwain idea, while intriguing, is officially over for the remainder of the season. Too many moving parts to mesh in this team to give him valuable minutes. If he hasn't crossed a line, I would redshirt him. Same way for Aberdeen, although if there was a couple of injuries in the back court, I could see Golden changing course and removing his. And to that, I am afraid that either way, Arerbeen will transfer after this season. It is the way it works these days. I had hope.
Florida is #30 in KenPom. Wasn't expecting that. Michigan isn't the high-quality opponent I expected: losing record, #56.
I mentioned that in my post. Who can forget the '04's and how they constantly made the focus sign by tapping their their noses with their hands vertically across their faces. This team needs to learn that.
Ole Miss is 8-0 but KenPom hates them: #96. Why? Schedule is #294. We are #56, 4th hardest SEC schedule.
I really like the way the announcer pointed out how we didn't even look like we were trying to score and we almost put up 90. Production can come from so many places, makes us hard to game plan against. Still a lot to clean up. Opp fg% seems to always be too high. I don't 'feel" like our defensive efficiency is where it should be based on our size and athleticism, but maybe the stats don't bear that out.... Great to see WR finding his stroke. If our opponent doesn't have an athletic big with size, Samuel is gonna eat. If he can shoot 3s at >35%, he's gonna be rich. Riley Kugel, international man of mystery. That we have a Micah, Condo, Haugh, Tyrese rotation makes me giddy. It's just an endless wave of talented strong bigs.
Oh, and one last observation: Joe Kleine needs to retire. I realize he is working the rubber chicken circuit and not prime time, but still the heart may say yes but his mind and mouth say nope.
