Going Positive

[MU82]

I know it's difficult for many to do, but I'm gonna talk about the things that went right in our first Big East win and first victory over a P5 team ...

++ Huzzah ... Gold started over Hamilton! Ben still struggled with the outside shot, but he played some good interior D, grabbed 5 offensive rebounds, made a few inside buckets, and fought through injury and numerous falls to play 32 minutes.

++ The whole team had great activity most of the game. Didn't hang heads after X took the late lead.

++ Shaka ran, and the players executed, two perfect inbound plays that led to 5 quick points.

++ Won the rebounding battle 47-34, which had a lot to do with the outcome.

++ Not sure what the stats will say, but it felt like our players finished at the basket better in this game than most others, especially in the first half.

++ Aggressive offensive play by Ross and Parham. I know some were down on Royce early in the season, but he has mostly played pretty well as his PT increased, and I think he has a bright future; 14 points, 8 rebounds and a block in 36 hard minutes tonight. Chase filled up the stat sheet (and yes, I know it included 8 turnovers.)

++ Survived James being in foul trouble and Jones being injured. Didn't get much offensively from Norman, but he battled on the boards and on D. When Nigel did play, he was very aggressive; he finished with 10 points, 6 assists, 4 rebounds and 2 steals.

++ Three big 3s from Stevens and two from Owens. They confidently stepped into their shots. Adrien is gonna be a good player for us.

++ We were never gonna go 0-20, folks. Ain't gonna go 1-19 or 2-18 or 3-17, either. There are too many winnable Big East games out there, and we'll win a few of them. Still not good enough, obviously, but any win is a good win!

[Markusquette]

Ben has been fighting this year. Man his shot sucks but I give him credit for the hustle. He gets banged up a lot but keeps getting up.

Agreed on activity and lineup/rotations. Hamilton's one shining moment making a layup was overshadowed on the next couple of series iirc.

Parham's steady ascent from the start of the year is probably the most promising thing other than Nigel's quick impact. He's been more in control lately and coming up with some timely baskets. I think he will be a very solid player by the time he's a senior and we'll miss him.

Also agree on Adrien. Showing some flashes of shooting and athleticism. A bit of Stevie in him on defense at times. Phillips doesn't seem ready to contribute yet and not to beat a dead horse but the front court will continue to be a glaring issue without a solid newcomer next year (even besides Pearson).

[BCHoopster]

Has anybody seen Nash Walker shoot before the game? He has to be better than what we saw tonight, hard to believe that they do not need help right now.  I understand the redshirt bs, which I hate. Understand Sheek being 17, the other two I do not.

[BM1090]

Has anybody seen Nash Walker shoot before the game? He has to be better than what we saw tonight, hard to believe that they do not need help right now.  I understand the redshirt bs, which I hate. Understand Sheek being 17, the other two I do not.

Nash just got here. There's no way he understands the offensive or defensive schemes. You'd be wasting a year for 15 games in a season where the team isn't good.

Militic I can understand the frustration, even if I don't agree. There's no way Nash should be playing right now.

[Spaniel with a Short Tail]

[tower912]

An ugly win is better than an ugly loss.
Royce, DO, AS, and NJjr are the future. 

[milwaukee expat]

An ugly win is better than an ugly loss.
Royce, DO, AS, and NJjr are the future. 

And Clark.  He is literally forcing Shaka to play him.  I don't know how bad he looks in practice but every minute he is out there he is productive.  He and DO and Royce = that is alot of length I would love to see those three on the floor together for a good stretch...

[pbiflyer]

And Clark.  He is literally forcing Shaka to play him.  I don't know how bad he looks in practice but every minute he is out there he is productive.  He and DO and Royce = that is alot of length I would love to see those three on the floor together for a good stretch...

I was confused why he didn't play more in the second half. Chase seems to focus on him. Positive sign.

[CTWarrior]

I think we did a lot of things well last night, including defending for a good chunk of the game, rebounding and overall energy.  Our inability to shoot from anywhere (the lane, the foul line, beyond the arc) overcomes (undercomes?) a large number of positive things.

Very happy for the guys that they got a win under their belt.  Hopefully, they'll play a little looser moving forward.

[tower912]

They continue to shoot the right shots.  Need to get better at making the right shots.

[Shooter McGavin]

An ugly win is better than an ugly loss.
Royce, DO, AS, and NJjr are the future. 

Yep.  Add three portal players and the RS and True freshman could be good in a hurry. 

[connie]

The rebounding was a huge positive.

[Vander Blue Man Group]

Xavier hit three 3s in about a minute to get right back into the game.  Usually takes us a half or more to hit that many. 

Stating the obvious but it's such a disadvantage.

Hopefully we can add a shooter via the portal and Miletic, Walker, and Phillips can improve enough defensively to provide that threat next season (can't count on that, though).

[rgoode57]

It was an ugly win against another not-very-good team, but at least it was a win. I have to give Gold a ton of credit. He is getting the hell beat out of him every game, but keeps getting up. His outside shot has gone south, but he is doing a lot of other good things. I was also glad to see Stevens have a really solid game. Was also glad to see Shaka not start Hamilton. I guess he has to play a few minutes here and there, but it is ugly when he gets on the floor. Clark seems to be coming along - do not understand why Shaka does not give him longer runs unless Clark just does not have the stamina.

[CTWarrior]

They continue to shoot the right shots.  Need to get better at making the right shots.

On the 3 point shots particularly, we miss so badly (way short, a foot to the right or left, clanging off the side of the rim) that it is hard to understand from D-I players.

I get the layups to a degree, because often we are taking 3 footers with defenders between us and the basket, often smaller guys trying to shoot over or around bigger ones.  A lot of our "missed layups" are difficult, defended shots that never had a reasonable chance of going in.  We do miss too many easy ones, too, but not the 14 a game number always reported.

Finally, and not to pile on, but watching Tre Norman shoot foul shots, the surprise wasn't that he only went1-4 last night, but how did he ever make 8-10 using that form before last night?

[Big Papi]

On the 3 point shots particularly, we miss so badly (way short, a foot to the right or left, clanging off the side of the rim) that it is hard to understand from D-I players.

I get the layups to a degree, because often we are taking 3 footers with defenders between us and the basket, often smaller guys trying to shoot over or around bigger ones.  A lot of our "missed layups" are difficult, defended shots that never had a reasonable chance of going in.  We do miss too many easy ones, too, but not the 14 a game number always reported.

Finally, and not to pile on, but watching Tre Norman shoot foul shots, the surprise wasn't that he only went1-4 last night, but how did he ever make 8-10 using that form before last night?

100% agree with everything you said here. 

I purposely missed watching the UConn.  First time I ever purposely missed watching a game. 

There were more than a few occasions I mentioned how bad can you be when you have been playing basketball your entire life.  Tre with his flat shot as a junior is inexcusable.  Not knowing the rules of the game you play is inexcusable, looking at you Phillips.  This team is so hard to watch.

It's amazing how shot selection goes completely in tank when we are in a tight game and the game clock goes under the 5-minute mark.

[MU90620]

100% agree with everything you said here. 

I purposely missed watching the UConn.  First time I ever purposely missed watching a game. 

There were more than a few occasions I mentioned how bad can you be when you have been playing basketball your entire life.  Tre with his flat shot as a junior is inexcusable.  Not knowing the rules of the game you play is inexcusable, looking at you Phillips.  This team is so hard to watch.

It's amazing how shot selection goes completely in tank when we are in a tight game and the game clock goes under the 5-minute mark.

I don't think it's an abandonment of shot selection standards as much as it is a general tightening up and no one wanting to take the big shot. Which results in horrible shots late in the clock that look like bad shot selection but have to be taken

[MU82]

And Clark.  He is literally forcing Shaka to play him.  I don't know how bad he looks in practice but every minute he is out there he is productive.  He and DO and Royce = that is alot of length I would love to see those three on the floor together for a good stretch...

Good call on Clark. Needs to get more minutes at that spot, some playing alongside Gold, some alongside Parham.

I like that Shaka is trying to find spots for Phillips, but Owens seems ahead of him in most facets right now.

Add three portal players and the RS and True freshman could be good in a hurry. 

Agree. Even two starter-level transfers, alongside this season's top 3-5 players, Sheek and Egbuonu, and you're talking about a team that will do plenty of winning next season.  Few if any are pushing for Shaka to rebuild the team annually through 5-10 portal players.

[wadesworld]

Has anybody seen Nash Walker shoot before the game? He has to be better than what we saw tonight, hard to believe that they do not need help right now.  I understand the redshirt bs, which I hate. Understand Sheek being 17, the other two I do not.

Good lord.

[Jay Bee]

Nash just got here. There's no way he understands the offensive or defensive schemes.

Yeah, all of our guys getting minutes understand the schemes inside and out!

[Shooter McGavin]

Good call on Clark. Needs to get more minutes at that spot, some playing alongside Gold, some alongside Parham.

I like that Shaka is trying to find spots for Phillips, but Owens seems ahead of him in most facets right now.

Agree. Even two starter-level transfers, alongside this season's top 3-5 players, Sheek and Egbuonu, and you're talking about a team that will do plenty of winning next season.  Few if any are pushing for Shaka to rebuild the team annually through 5-10 portal players.

On your Phillips comment I mostly agree at this point but Owens looked lost at the beginning of the year,  Owens is definitely earning more time now.

As for Phillips.  I wish when he went into the game they would run a play to go to him immediately to shoot a three.  Even an out of bounds play when they have the chance.  I'd like to see him get more looks from three.

As far as shooting in general for this team our passing has been terrible this year.  Wide open shooters are not getting passes in the shooting pocket.  They are reaching for the ball, barely corralling it and the defense has more time to adjust causing the shots to be rushed and really not that good.  Definitely doesn't help the shooting percentage. 

[Viper]

I know it's difficult for many to do, but I'm gonna talk about the things that went right in our first Big East win and first victory over a P5 team ...

++ Huzzah ... Gold started over Hamilton! Ben still struggled with the outside shot, but he played some good interior D, grabbed 5 offensive rebounds, made a few inside buckets, and fought through injury and numerous falls to play 32 minutes.

++ The whole team had great activity most of the game. Didn't hang heads after X took the late lead.

++ Shaka ran, and the players executed, two perfect inbound plays that led to 5 quick points.

++ Won the rebounding battle 47-34, which had a lot to do with the outcome.

++ Not sure what the stats will say, but it felt like our players finished at the basket better in this game than most others, especially in the first half.

++ Aggressive offensive play by Ross and Parham. I know some were down on Royce early in the season, but he has mostly played pretty well as his PT increased, and I think he has a bright future; 14 points, 8 rebounds and a block in 36 hard minutes tonight. Chase filled up the stat sheet (and yes, I know it included 8 turnovers.)

++ Survived James being in foul trouble and Jones being injured. Didn't get much offensively from Norman, but he battled on the boards and on D. When Nigel did play, he was very aggressive; he finished with 10 points, 6 assists, 4 rebounds and 2 steals.

++ Three big 3s from Stevens and two from Owens. They confidently stepped into their shots. Adrien is gonna be a good player for us.

++ We were never gonna go 0-20, folks. Ain't gonna go 1-19 or 2-18 or 3-17, either. There are too many winnable Big East games out there, and we'll win a few of them. Still not good enough, obviously, but any win is a good win!

(There are too many winnable Big East games out there, and we'll win a few of them.) ...which one's do you anticipate as W's? At seasons start I predicted 9 BE wins, with a possibility (if the ball bounced our way) of 11. I'm down to a prediction of 3 at this point.

[BM1090]

Yeah, all of our guys getting minutes understand the schemes inside and out!

lol, fair

[BCHoopster]

Nash just got here. There's no way he understands the offensive or defensive schemes. You'd be wasting a year for 15 games in a season where the team isn't good.

Militic I can understand the frustration, even if I don't agree. There's no way Nash should be playing right now.

So if DWade showed up on campus and had 19 games to play, he could not pick up the nuances of hoops, come on!

[jfp61]

So if DWade showed up on campus and had 19 games to play, he could not pick up the nuances of hoops, come on!

BC.... famously.... yes