Taj79 Posted January 24, 2019 Share Posted January 24, 2019 ... was painful, just painful. I don't think I've ever used that definition in describing SLU basketball before. Maybe some of you have but I know I haven't. Painful to me, prior to last night where basketball was concerned, might have been a sprained ankle or a torn ACL. None of that occurred last night but painful is the adjective of the day. I believe our short bench had a lot to do with it. Bess, 37 minutes on a bum ankle. Goodwin and Isabell each with 34. Amazing that with French fouling out and being injured, Hankton only got 6. Fatigue might have been a factor but it is not an excuse. That game was there to be had and Duquesne's follies down the stretch from the free throw line had it ripe for the taking. Observations: their guards blew right by our guys. Carry and Dunn-Martin and even Frankie Hughes all created matchup issues it seemed. Did that necessitate the zone defense? I don't know but that was an abject failure. The zone allowed easy entry passes to Michael Hughes, Marcus Weathers and at least three alley-oops to Eric Williams who all seemed to have free reign to roam the baseline and paint at will. We made Weathers a freaking star. And the guy was terrible --- everywhere except the free throw line. Sometimes I really have to question our basketball IQ. Despite all th ebad we did, we keep weathers to his 10 ppg average and we win. The ghost of Tydus returns. If that wasn't bad enough, up until last night, Gavin Bizeau had scored 6 points all year ... against us 7. Even the announcers were amazed. Netx year, I'll replace Tydus with Gavin in this commentary I'm sure. Twenty-three turnovers. With almost half coming from our ballhandlers Isabell and Bess. And for some of the bonehead TOs by Goodwin, I am surprised to see he only had three in the box score. Seemed like a whole lot more. NEWS FLASH: our guards suck, Careless ball control and protection. That and our lack of foot speed were clearly on display last night. And if Isabell is the de facto point going forward, and guards the opposing point, look out when we see Otis Livingstone, Jalen Crutcher, Marcus Evans, Jon Axel Icelander, Jacob Gilyard, Kyle Lofton and even Justin Mazzula. Mazzula and Isabell will be a trash-talking delight as well. Going to be many long nights in the future as I see it. And you can't sub out Isabell's offense for Thatch's defense on an already-challenged offense scheme. And even Fred got blown by last night a few times too. Twenty nine fouls, to Duquesne's 17. Fix? Homerism? Incompetence? Ten minutes into the game and Ford gets a technical? We were up three at that time. That's either one hell of a insensitive ref or a guy gunning to make his mark. The fifth foul call on French was completely unbelievable. Carry consistently pushed off with his off arm. Williams was allowed to hang all over the rim. But a lot of the fouls were tallied as we made a run trying to catch up. I still believe what got us to that point was careless ball control. DJ Foreman had ten points in the first half. Hasahn French scored the first four points of the game for us. Foreman ended with ten points, and French ended with eight. One being the monster put-back jam. With as weak as Duquesne was down low sans Hughes, why? Why? WHY????? We certainly can't shoot from range, can we (2-for-20 from three). That was a winnable game and the 6 and 0 start with Davidson coming to town Saturday would have been nice. Plus we would have picked up some separation in the standings when VCU and Dayton both lost (everyone awake and paying attention to George Mason right now?). Again, not surprised but was hoping. Do not believe all is lost but can see some better definition and obvious problems moving forward. Short bench. Weak front line. Weak back court. Weak shooting skills. Impressive defense. Impressive Bess. French coming on. CBFan and Matty Light like this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basketbill Posted January 24, 2019 Share Posted January 24, 2019 We needed this. I thought and project that our prior games like Fordham and Lasalle will be microcosms of our season. Torture for the fan, we may well make it through and be on top at the end, but the path is not for the weak of heart. Unfortunately like those games our margin for error is not great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matty Light Posted January 24, 2019 Share Posted January 24, 2019 -We were having our way in the paint in the first half. It seemed we were looking for 3s in the second half--even though we were dominating in the 1st half. -I don't know what is up with some of the passing from our guards. Just careless. Way too many TOs! -The officiating was atrocious. -Hooray for our FT shooting last night. It was nice to see that we were capable of that. -We had 23 TOs, terrible officiating, and shot 10% from 3 and we only lost by 4 at Duquesne (where we do not usually play well). This does not change my outlook for the year one bit, though I am getting more and more worried about JG. It is like the MonStars took over his body. Let's hope Bugs Bunny & Company can bring him back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aquinas Posted January 24, 2019 Share Posted January 24, 2019 I think we are a team that can look really good when the 3s fall and really bad when they dont. Our paper thin depth will coast us anytime we get into foul trouble or pick up an injury. I think those factors make us really hard to predict. GoBills73 and eastsidejoe like this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CBFan Posted January 24, 2019 Share Posted January 24, 2019 Cut the turnovers in half or hit 30 percent from the 3 and the Bills win it is as simple as that. Dug had a boat load of points off turnovers and 30 percent of 20 is 6 and the Bills score 12 more points which makes up the difference in the game. I liked how hard Wiley played last night and that is encouraging as long as Wiley can stay healthy. This was a bad loss similar SIUC, our team will be more focused on Davidson and will improve and put this game behind them. Even with a loss the 4.99 that I pay for ESPN+ is worth it I have not missed seeing a game because of it. Thanks to all the posters that recommended ESPN+ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pistol Posted January 24, 2019 Share Posted January 24, 2019 23 minutes ago, CBFan said: Cut the turnovers in half or hit 30 percent from the 3 and the Bills win it is as simple as that. Dug had a boat load of points off turnovers and 30 percent of 20 is 6 and the Bills score 12 more points which makes up the difference in the game. Except knowing this team, if we'd had 11 turnovers or made 7 or 8 three-pointers, we'd have gone 11-22 from the FT line. That scenario still would've been better than going 19-22 from the FT line and missing all our 3s and turning it over 23 times, but still, this team will always find a way to make the game close and ugly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cowboy Posted January 24, 2019 Share Posted January 24, 2019 -it was in the first few possessions and TI got beat and muddled up in a screen or something and was much closer to the 3pt line than the basket where the Duq player had a layup, I wondered at the time if he was into the game and as the game continued I wondered how is it possible for college players, not just TI, not to be into the game? I am not buying they are tired, they should be in the best physical condition of their lives and just had two days off, if they used those wrong then shame on them -Bess was favoring an ankle, similar to SIUC and similar team result -whoever said on here last night or today all is not lost is correct, we can still have a great season defined by at least getting to the tourney, but the margin on getting there got reduced -we make too many of the same mistakes here in late January as we did in early November, many of us had the expectation or hope that the start of the season might be a bit ragged as we get to know each other, we've had two stinkers, a third will cause me to take a step back -let's beat the crap out of Davidson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clock_Tower Posted January 25, 2019 Share Posted January 25, 2019 Taj Once again, appreciate your post-game insights. Same also to those with comments after watching the game whether in person or on TV. Me? I read this board's game thread and listened to Bob and Earl on the radio. Hopefully, this was just that terrible game for this year that we all just need to forget and move on. For me, just trying to get a better feel for what truly went wrong. From my perspective hearing the radio broadcast and listening to the Coach Ford on the post-game interview, 23 turnovers is what stands out for me. The next day, I read the Post Dispatch article in which Goodwin accepted alot of the responsibility, blamed the loss on too many turnovers and also admitted that he was partly to blame with 3 turnovers himself. In my head, I kept thinking -- if Goodwin had 3 turnovers (more than usual) but played nearly the whole game, then who had the other 20? Initial review of the stats/box score did not say. Now, I found the following: http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/boxscore?gameId=401085634 Disclaimer: I did not watch the game (only listened) and understand turnovers can be subjective, may be more another guy's fault and may actually be wrong. Nonetheless, and with that disclaimer, our 4 Seniors accounted for 18 of the 23 turnovers: Foreman - 5 in 27 minutes Isabell - 5 in 34 minutes Bess - 6 in 37 minutes Wiley - 2 in 15 minutes Compare that to: French - 2 in 23 minutes Goodwin - 3 in 34 minutes Thatch - 0 in 24 minutes Hankton - 0 in 6 minutes Now, because he is our best player, scored 23 points and play the most minutes, I can understand Bess. Foreman? hard to accept. Isabell? shouldn't he have some of the fewest? our best ball handler and an experienced grad transfer Senior? Wiley with only 2 - but had he played 34 to 37 minutes, he was on pace for 5 as well. Now, conventional wisdom tells us that upperclassmen make fewer mistakes - especially in hostile games on the road. Also, that we need experienced players (JUCO's and Grad Transfers) because our youngsters are not quite ready. Sorry, just not buying conventional wisdom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basketbill Posted January 25, 2019 Share Posted January 25, 2019 Bess is the number that leaps off the page to me. He does not turn the ball over much at all. I have to wonder the effect of his ankle, as well as aggressive play with swallowed whistles..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianstl Posted January 25, 2019 Share Posted January 25, 2019 Foreman's numbers stand out the most to me. Because the ball is in his hands less Isabell, Bess or Riley. Foreman turned over the ball on 38.5% of the processions where he touched the ball. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billikenfan05 Posted January 25, 2019 Share Posted January 25, 2019 4 minutes ago, brianstl said: Foreman's numbers stand out the most to me. Because the ball is in his hands less Isabell, Bess or Riley. Foreman turned over the ball on 38.5% of the processions where he touched the ball. I’m a huge Foreman apologist but he’s infuriating me with his mistakes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moytoy12 Posted January 25, 2019 Share Posted January 25, 2019 40 minutes ago, billikenfan05 said: I’m a huge Foreman apologist but he’s infuriating me with his mistakes His hands weren't this bad last year, were they? I really can't remember, but it seems he fumbles the ball (not necessarily leading to a turnover) 90% of the time when he touches it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slufan13 Posted January 25, 2019 Share Posted January 25, 2019 Even last year I thought Foreman was out of control but he just found a way to make it work. He seems like a total scrapper game flow guy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoosierPal Posted January 25, 2019 Share Posted January 25, 2019 22 minutes ago, moytoy12 said: His hands weren't this bad last year, were they? I really can't remember, but it seems he fumbles the ball (not necessarily leading to a turnover) 90% of the time when he touches it. Last season, 32 games, Foreman averaged 19.3 mpg and 1.7 tov/g. This season, 19 games, he is at 19.9 mpg and 1.9 tov/g moytoy12 likes this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clocktoweraccords2004 Posted January 25, 2019 Share Posted January 25, 2019 23 minutes ago, HoosierPal said: Last season, 32 games, Foreman averaged 19.3 mpg and 1.7 tov/g. This season, 19 games, he is at 19.9 mpg and 1.9 tov/g What about the last 5 games, Foreman rarely had the ball when Gordon was on the roster Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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