Dayton game and observations

[Billikan]

First of all , my hat is off to Ian who played a fantastic game. Over the last two weeks he has really stepped up and played much better. Like the other two of the big three, he had some down games and we stuggled. He seemed really "up" and focused. Nice game Ian!

Second, it seemed like every time I looked Luke was getting every rebound that Ian did not get. He reminded me of Jeff Harris or Donnie Dobbs tonight--playing much bigger and tougher than his size. 14 rebounds is incredible! He missed some open shots but he really played a nice game.

Kevin started hot and then went ice cold. Some of the shots were contested or off the dribble so they were not all easy but he also missed some wide open standstill jumpers. What a shame that we could not hit a couple of shots down the stretch.

I love Tommie but--and it might be because of his toe injury--he seems to have the funk that Ian had about 7 games ago. He looks unfocused and has very little energy. Last summer he spent huge hours on his shot and it paid off. He now needs this summer to really work on his overall strength and his focus with the ball. That soft blooper pass in overtime when we had a chance to win was a killer. I hope his toe heals up soon because we have little chance if he does not contribute more.

If we had won the game that last second shot by Danny would have been a classic to remember. After Tommie turned it over for a layup I thought we were dead but Danny hit a miracle shot. Too bad it did not result in a win.

Those two last second losses on the road against good teams show we can play with anyone but we need to close the deal. After the crucial turnover that cost us the game against UMass I was surprised to see the coach put the ball in Tommie's hands for the last 10 seconds and I thought that even before he turned the ball over. Brad's loyalty is well known and it may be one of his greatest personal positive traits but it is something that burns him from time to time. I am sure he wanted to be loyal to Tommie and demonstrate that he trusted him in spite of the UMass turnover but it sure came back to bite us.

These last two games are telling as to our season. We came up a little short but we were resilient and with a break or two and a few calls by the refs we could have won about 5 more games. But the bottom line is the players have to close the deal and we fell short. An 18 win regular season is the best in about 10 years but we all wanted more. Maybe we can find it in us to pull off a miracle. I have my doubts that we can win 4 in 4 days but if Tommie can heal and we can hit a few shots, and Ian plays like he did tonight--a lot of ifs!-- we have a chance.

[Omnipotent]

SLU.. and Soderberg just can't get it done. They beat Lasalle, Richmond and Dayton at home and everyone thinks they should get some sort of pass. They lose to every quality opponent!!! Slu is 8-8 in a BAD CONFERENCE!!! They have nothing to get excited about on the recruiting front at all. They are 17-11 against D1 teams and this was supposed to be their year!! I don't understand how anybody can say that SLU has been succesful this year. They don't play any of their recruiting class this year and the players they do have are at best ok.

People will say that they don't have the budget to win.. They have one of the top 3 budgets in the A-10. Their needs to be a change please!!!

[Taj79]

... not that there is anything wrong with that, hope srpings eternal. However, I would have thought that with three all A10 performers back, in a relatively weak conference year, we would have had more "lock" than "luck."

Duquesne in the AC seems nice. They are on a downward role and the revenge factor is there. Ought to be interesting. Then UMass. Hey, you want to legitimize ourselves? Beat all the "toughies" inthe tournament. That would be redemption for a somewhat lost season.

[huzzah]

It seems we repeated the Umass error by putting the ball in TL's hands. However, rather than blame the player, it is the lack of a pg that hurt. To this point, we have not recruited a pg, so that is disturbing. We also, to gain ball possesion, fouled the leading free throw shooter in the A10. As the game announcers pointed out we should have used a trap on him, forcing him to pass to a weaker free throw shooter. We also had 13 turnovers to Dayton's 5. The lack of a pg hurts. Coach Brad please recruit a point guard.

[3star_recruit]

I felt like I had been punched in the gut after this loss -- I can only imagine how Brad and the kids feel. The Sandoval kid hasn't been able to hit the broad side of the barn all season and he picks this game to hit 4 threes? Our late 2nd half jumpers kept rimming out, over and over again, when we could have pulled away. And of course the play that was a microcosm of our season: Dayton throws up an air ball that falls right into a Dayton player's hands, we force a miss, can't get the rebound and then foul the shooter with 1.6 seconds left. He drains them. We really must have pissed the basketball gods off.

All the kids can do is pick themselves up, dust themselves off and get back after it, a process they must be intimately familiar with now. And in the offseason the staff absolutely has to sign an impact point guard and a power forward.

[billiken_roy]

great points 3 star.

i kept saying the same thing every time sandoval made a shot.

and the number of in and out shots by lisch and meyer last night was just distressing. those fall more often than they did last night for luke and kevin.

[slufanskip]

I'm not picking on you Huzzah .... but I remember almost unanimously Tommie being considered a pg on this board. Tommie is the pg of this team. He got lacksidaisical again. That pass was lazy and bad. I don't know why Tommie is beyond ctiticism when he screws up. He needs to work on his ball handling, but Tommie has the vision to be a very good pg. We should't forget he is a sophmore. I would bet on Tommie working hard on his handles and coming back better next year.

This is what I want to see next year

1. TL, DP

2. KL, DB, MR (or MR passing DB)

3. LM, AM or MR

4. New Juco, new freshman

5. Bryce, AK

That would make our freshman class AM, MR, Juco4, Freshman 4 or 5 and play AK at the 4.

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[huzzah]

We are not on opposite sides here. TL has improved dramtically from his freshman year. I would think he harbors NBA or foreign ball ambitions, so he will have the motivation to improve his ball handling skills and I think we will see this next year. Not withstanding these comments I think we still should recruit a pg. Because the pg handles the ball so often and is involved in so much, it is an injury prone position. I just do not have confidence in Polk to fill in a secondary role. The pg position takes a certain mental aptitude and Polk does not seem to display that. He backs down when faced with a competitor and he is undersized. TL was doing this also, backing down when faced with a defender, but last nite he seemed more in the attack mode. If he improves his ball handling, we will be fine, but we need a back up and a guy that can take over until TL fully develops. We need a floor general, a person that can drive and score, can bring the ball up court against presssure, and we need fewer turnovers. Did you notice Polk sat on the bench during the OTs?

[Iggy]

Kramer Soderberg will be our point guard the year after next. He'll be a four year starter.

[slufanskip]

I don't disagree, but I don't think our need at the pg is greater than our need for 2 bigs.

If Luke plays the 4 again next year, Brad will have security move my seat by the 5th game of the season.

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