and we were flat-out awful. This game was about heart and desire and we showed neither, while West Virginia just buried us. Of their 18 three-point tries, I think we contested two. The rest were ridiculously easy. Every rebound, every loose ball went to WVU. Dominic, who had been brilliant of late, regressed to the DJ of last year, and Jerel and Wes handled the ball as if it were a hand grenade. Fitz never got anywhere near a clear look and was exposed defensively.Terrible game by everyone and hopefully it is just a bump in the road.
What bothered me most were two things:
1. TC was COMPLETELY outcoached, and that shouldn't happen when you've been a head man as long as he had. I remember thinking several times that this is the type of game PRN will bring up forever, and I can't blame him. I know TC has done well against Huggy in the past, so maybe it was payback, but ...
2. I can no longer say anything nice about David Cubillan, so I won't say anything at all. I hope MU does well the rest of his days here, but I hope he has nothing to do with it. His attitude is light years ahead of what it should be.
Quote from: ecompt on January 06, 2008, 08:21:02 PM
2. I can no longer say anything nice about David Cubillan, so I won't say anything at all. I hope MU does well the rest of his days here, but I hope he has nothing to do with it. His attitude is light years ahead of what it should be.
Coobs got flat out smoked today. I've been saying his antics are a bit much. He doesn't have the game to backup any hubris.
Couple of comments:
(1) Agree overall that the team looked uninspired. Agree for the most part that Crean got out-coached, though he did make some sound tactical changes to attack the gimmick defenses. The team simply did not execute properly.
(2) Agree that Cubillan's antics are way over-the-top. He is most definitely not my favorite player and Crean should really reel him in. That said, to completely and utterly disown him is a little "over-the-top" in and of itself, wouldn't you say?
(3) Disagree that James "regressed to the DJ of last year." I didn't see the lackluster play I saw last year, nor the "do it myself" shot selection that made me cringe. James played solid man defense. Offensively, he unfortunately did not get much help. WVU's entire defensive scheme revolved around shutting James down and forcing the action to other players. They executed this extremely well and MU did not respond accordingly. It was tough to do with the foul situation, but guys like Cubillan and Acker have to step it up.
(4) On a side note, Blackledge needs to get more minutes, especially in an alley fight type game like the WVU game. I focused on him when he was in the game, and he definitely did not play all that great. He blew a few assignments and got out-muscled/out-positioned a few times. That said, he added excitement and athleticism. Why he wasn't in when Hayward went down with 2 points, is beyond me. Nothing against Fitzgerald, but Blackledge should be averaging nearly the same PT as Fitz.
Quote from: ecompt on January 06, 2008, 08:21:02 PM
and we were flat-out awful. This game was about heart and desire and we showed neither, while West Virginia just buried us. Of their 18 three-point tries, I think we contested two. The rest were ridiculously easy. Every rebound, every loose ball went to WVU. Dominic, who had been brilliant of late, regressed to the DJ of last year, and Jerel and Wes handled the ball as if it were a hand grenade. Fitz never got anywhere near a clear look and was exposed defensively.Terrible game by everyone and hopefully it is just a bump in the road.
What bothered me most were two things:
1. TC was COMPLETELY outcoached, and that shouldn't happen when you've been a head man as long as he had. I remember thinking several times that this is the type of game PRN will bring up forever, and I can't blame him. I know TC has done well against Huggy in the past, so maybe it was payback, but ...
2. I can no longer say anything nice about David Cubillan, so I won't say anything at all. I hope MU does well the rest of his days here, but I hope he has nothing to do with it. His attitude is light years ahead of what it should be.
Crean may have been outcoached, but it's because Huggins threw something at him that he couldn't possibly have expected. You can't blame him for that.
I've said it before, Crean is a great preparer when it comes to known entities. Given short turnaround time (NCAA) he's teams always seem less prepared -- as our halftime deficits will attest. I think Crean's lack of playing experience hurts him in those situations as he seems unable to make adjustments on the fly or think through situations he didn't watch on film or read in a scouting report.
However...and I can't believe I'm the voice of reason around here...that was just a bad game...no more, no less. I don't blame Crean. I blame the inevitable inconsistency of college kids. It says nothing about our team, its heart or its talent. We had a bad game! It's going to happen.
We will be fine.
Quote from: PuertoRicanNightmare on January 07, 2008, 08:19:51 AM
I can't believe I'm the voice of reason around here...
I can't believe it either.. nor can I believe I am agreeing with you. Wow.. this was a great loss!
Joking aside, a few losses are not always bad. They tell you where you need to improve and knock you down a few notches. That which does not kill you makes you stronger. This team needed a game like this. You could argue that it'd be better to have had that game earlier in the season but, to me, it IS early in the season. The real watermark test will be how we respond going forward. I have no doubt we'll be playing with something to prove and to try to get rid of this bitter taste in our mouths. As PRN says "We will be fine."
As for Huggins.. he has definitely earned some grudging respect in my book of coaches. To install a completely new defense in a few days as effectively as he did is near herculean. I don't have a flattering opinion of him as a person but he is definitely one of the better _game_ coaches in the NCAA.
you cant learn unless you fail at something. I also agree PRN. While Crean was outcoached, it wasn't by the margin that some on this board are claiming. It's a tough loss to take but we will learn from it and rebound. WVU is supposed to be one of the better teams this year and when you play a good team on the road, it's going to be a difficult game to win.
Each coach was outcoached during the game. Both deviated from their original gameplans to counter what the other guy threw at them. The difference was that Huggins' employ of the junk defense trumped Crean and there was no response. Now, when you listen to the press conference it sounds as if Crean and staff put some things in to counter the triangle and two and he bemoaned how long it took for the players to recognize the change. Bob Valvano was right on top of thise during the game and accurately pointed it out.
Also, with regard to my namesake, he is not 100%. He severely sprained his ankle two weeks ago and is playing on one leg. The reason he was rushed back is because Acker is not quite there yet as he is playing off the rust and Christopherson is no help on the defensive end. Coobey will be a lame part unless they can sit him down for a game or two (perhaps even the SH game tomorrow night and get him ready for ND). His shot is off because he can't get any lift or balance on the jump and when your bread and butter ain't reaching the toast it opens up to much criticism.
Quote from: PuertoRicanNightmare on January 07, 2008, 08:19:51 AM
Quote from: ecompt on January 06, 2008, 08:21:02 PM
and we were flat-out awful. This game was about heart and desire and we showed neither, while West Virginia just buried us. Of their 18 three-point tries, I think we contested two. The rest were ridiculously easy. Every rebound, every loose ball went to WVU. Dominic, who had been brilliant of late, regressed to the DJ of last year, and Jerel and Wes handled the ball as if it were a hand grenade. Fitz never got anywhere near a clear look and was exposed defensively.Terrible game by everyone and hopefully it is just a bump in the road.
What bothered me most were two things:
1. TC was COMPLETELY outcoached, and that shouldn't happen when you've been a head man as long as he had. I remember thinking several times that this is the type of game PRN will bring up forever, and I can't blame him. I know TC has done well against Huggy in the past, so maybe it was payback, but ...
2. I can no longer say anything nice about David Cubillan, so I won't say anything at all. I hope MU does well the rest of his days here, but I hope he has nothing to do with it. His attitude is light years ahead of what it should be.
Crean may have been outcoached, but it's because Huggins threw something at him that he couldn't possibly have expected. You can't blame him for that.
I've said it before, Crean is a great preparer when it comes to known entities. Given short turnaround time (NCAA) he's teams always seem less prepared -- as our halftime deficits will attest. I think Crean's lack of playing experience hurts him in those situations as he seems unable to make adjustments on the fly or think through situations he didn't watch on film or read in a scouting report.
However...and I can't believe I'm the voice of reason around here...that was just a bad game...no more, no less. I don't blame Crean. I blame the inevitable inconsistency of college kids. It says nothing about our team, its heart or its talent. We had a bad game! It's going to happen.
We will be fine.
PRN, it's not often that I agree with you, but in this case you couldn't be more right. Spot on.