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Post by cfrivals on Jan 6, 2018 7:21:59 GMT -5
What you all fail to realize is that a school like HC gets one maybe two shots at capturing the spotlight and taking advantage of it. Remember Penn in the late 70’s, or more recent, Cornell and George Mason. These schools put themselves on the map and have just vanished into NCAA memories. It’s hard to become a memorable program. With that said, we had our chance twice. The failed BE debacle (which will haunt this program for eternity) and the RW run. 2003-2004 we we as hot as I can remember in the worcester area. Games were as electric as I can remember (I was at the constant sellouts in the late 70’s). We were at the top of the PL. That was the time to move to a new conference and upgrade facilities. RW had made comments about that and the horrible travel arrangements in the PL. So what did our great leadership do? NOTHING!! Heck, Ralph had to schedule FBS games to buy scoreboards and a new floor. Where we are today is because of constant mistakes of the presidents and athletic directors. Call it Elitist mentality, Stubbornness, or the “not in the Entertainment Business! That is the main reason Worcester stays away! I am a lifelong Worcester County resident, Worcester public school Student, and Worcester State Graduate. People used to care around these parts, but for the above reasons, they have moved on!
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Post by A Clock Tower Purple on Jan 6, 2018 7:30:55 GMT -5
Just butting in here, but I would bet that HC basketball isn't even among the top 200 topics of interest at the Worcester State campus. At this point, probably not much better in Worcester as a whole. A consistently good HC hoops team playing quality opponents would still draw well in Central Mass. Just spit up my late dinner in laughter. Not even among the top 200 topics of interest among HC students walking up to the student gymnasium on the second floor of the Hart Center. Carmody's moment in the sun came and went so fast that the student body didn't even have time to pretend to notice that we're supposed to be a basketball school. See text you highlighted. Among Worc St. students, not HC students.
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Post by WorcesterGray on Jan 6, 2018 8:40:06 GMT -5
We took three free throws tonight. Three. And in so doing, secured our ranking in FTAs/G as 351st - dead last. On the same subject, interesting to note that other than Karnik and Andree, Lehigh has no interior presence at all - bigs Caleb Sedore, Josh Wolf, and Jack Lieb are all hurt and have played a grand total of four minutes all year, and PF Ed Porter is academically ineligible. Seems like it would have been an ideal opportunity to attack inside to draw fouls, especially when they were playing m2m, which was a good part of the night. Oh, well . . .
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Post by hchoops on Jan 6, 2018 8:46:05 GMT -5
I believe we passed to Jehyve (and Matt) in the low post much more than usual, even occasionally vs their zone. Jehyve’s 10 attempts were high for him, averaging a bit more than 7. He did pass it out a few times even when single covered.
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Post by WorcesterGray on Jan 6, 2018 8:58:30 GMT -5
Jehyve’s 10 attempts were high for him, averaging a bit more than 7. He did pass it out a few times even when single covered.Noticed this as well - also true that when he passes it out, it rarely goes back into him on that possession. Jehyve and his mates need to recognize (with the help of the staff, I'm sure) that he is "the man" offensively and the team has to help him become more assertive. That may be starting to happen. His 10 FGA were exceeded only by the 11 he put up vs. Colgate last week - also noteworthy that he persisted going to the hole even though he was in foul trouble most of the 2nd half.
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Post by nycrusader2010 on Jan 6, 2018 9:06:11 GMT -5
Just spit up my late dinner in laughter. Not even among the top 200 topics of interest among HC students walking up to the student gymnasium on the second floor of the Hart Center. Carmody's moment in the sun came and went so fast that the student body didn't even have time to pretend to notice that we're supposed to be a basketball school. See text you highlighted. Among Worc St. students, not HC students. That was my point. Given how little HC students care, why would Crusader athletics even be on the radar at Worcester State?
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Post by KY Crusader 75 on Jan 6, 2018 9:07:55 GMT -5
I'm only disappointed in a couple of things at this point: 1) I was hoping for some real gradual, collective improvement as the season went on, and that hasn't happened yet, and 2) we haven't yet gone to a more conservative defensive approach. Still, before the season I said (not sure if on the board) that I could live with a 20 loss season if the team was showing signs of ramping up. There's still time (plenty, actually) for that to happen, but I am now in the camp of believing point #2 above needs to happen for that to occur. I am still optimistic about our frosh. If say 4 of them develop as JF has they should be fine. It does seem this year's PL class of newcomers is pretty strong. For those who consider them "an excuse" - if you can find an example of a low major team that had a winning record utilizing 5 frosh over 10 minutes a game, I won't mention the word "freshman" on the board the rest of the year. Here's a freshman who I think is improving: Jacob Grandison First 5 games 117 minutes 28 points (10.1 points per 40) 8/12 on twos (pretty impressive) 4/17 on threes (forcing them, hadn't found his range?) 10 rebounds (3.4 rebounds/40) 19 personal fouls (getting used to faster opponents?) (6.5 PF/40) Last 5 games 95 minutes 36 points (15.2 points/40) 7/12 on twos 7/18 on threes (taking more but hitting at a much higher rate--yes, small sample) 15 rebounds (6.3 rebounds/40--on a team that desperately needs that help) 7 personal fouls (2.9 PF/40) cut his fouls in half Small samples and different opponents--all the usual caveats--but I see him improving, even if the team is not
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Post by possum on Jan 6, 2018 9:37:27 GMT -5
Agree about Grandison seems to be getting more comfortable in system, would put him back in starting lineup in place of Ziggy who is shooting only 25% on basically uncontested shots in 6 games he's started.
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Post by hcpride on Jan 6, 2018 9:39:00 GMT -5
Was pretty easy to see during last year's recruit reports that this was shaping up to be a 4th straight sub-.500 season. No doubt we'll win a few games (as we have done the last four years) and provide grist for statistics and analysis. That being said, Floyd is an option that works v Patriot League opposition - his size and athletic ability is a matchup problem for our in-league opponents. Can't say that about the frosh.
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Post by WorcesterGray on Jan 6, 2018 9:56:40 GMT -5
And another shout-out to Matt Faw, who finally saw significant action on-court alongside Jehyve. MF played a career-high 20 minutes, scored 11 (on 4-7 shooting) and - significantly - committed just a single foul. He subbed in for KC to join JF (who had four fouls at the time) with 11:10 left and HC trailing, 67-51. They played together for the next nine minutes, during which MF had five points, an assist, and a bound - and we cut the lead to six.
Faw is making 52% of his twos, 46% of his threes (by far the best on the team), and is averaging 5+ boards per forty. Imho, his defensive deficiencies would be significantly masked in a conventional zone defense, and he would be less foul-prone as well. He needs to play with Floyd, whether Stevens is ready or not to help off the bench.
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Post by WorcesterGray on Jan 6, 2018 10:03:30 GMT -5
Jehyve’s 10 attempts were high for him, averaging a bit more than 7. Jehyve played the last 12+ minutes of the game with four fouls (fouling out with 10 seconds left) - had 10 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 blocks during that span. Very impressive and mature performance.
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Post by bringbackcaro on Jan 6, 2018 10:19:59 GMT -5
Agree about Grandison seems to be getting more comfortable in system, would put him back in starting lineup in place of Ziggy who is shooting only 25% on basically uncontested shots in 6 games he's started. The substitution patterns don’t make any sense. It’s just Carmody flinging poop at the wall hoping that something will stick, rather than, you know, actually addressing the root causes of our problems.
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Post by possum on Jan 6, 2018 10:24:57 GMT -5
Faw is highly skilled offensive player who I think will be a big time scorer in this league. I would play him alongside Floyd and live with the defensive liabilities. Let's face it this team is not competing for a league championship this year and the most important thing is development of the freshmen. I would play Faw more minutes and hopefully his defense will improve as he gets more experience. It's not like the defense is any good with the others who have been playing.
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Post by bringbackcaro on Jan 6, 2018 10:30:06 GMT -5
Faw is highly skilled offensive player who I think will be a big time scorer in this league. I would play him alongside Floyd and live with the defensive liabilities. Let's face it this team is not competing for a league championship this year and the most important thing is development of the freshmen. I would play Faw more minutes and hopefully his defense will improve as he gets more experience. It's not like the defense is any good with the others who have been playing. It’s not just that he isn’t a strong defender, but that this atrocious defensive system has him running out on much quicker guards around the perimeter and exposes him to a lot of fouls. It’s absolutlely mind boggling that a D1 coaching staff would continue to trot this same crap defense out game after game after game.
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Post by lou on Jan 6, 2018 10:48:02 GMT -5
We often play m4m on OOB plays, usually leading to easy baskets. One example last night I remember. So pretty sure that is not the change we need
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Post by WorcesterGray on Jan 6, 2018 10:54:38 GMT -5
We often play m4m on OOB plays, usually leading to easy baskets. One example last night I remember. So pretty sure that is not the change we need Agreed. But a conventional 2-3 zone, though it will not solve all our problems on the perimeter, will help significantly in the corners (where we are being burned repeatedly) and along the arc for another 8-10 feet (to the point where Andree was torching us last night). It will also help the rebounding and defense in the paint. Best of all, it won't be what we are doing now.
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Post by sader1970 on Jan 6, 2018 10:58:52 GMT -5
I'm no expert but thought that defending in basketball was a learned skill, unlike the "natural" who can shoot lights out. If Matt is not a strong defender, I don't think its his lack of physical ability. He's got the length to do pretty well defensively and we've had plenty slower players in the past that were at least decent on defense. Perhaps that is your point but the "it's not just" that gives me the read that you think he is a naturally poor defender compounded by a bad system. You might be right about the latter but think it is very premature to assert the former.
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Post by rgs318 on Jan 6, 2018 11:00:46 GMT -5
A couple of great quotes from JF:
“We were right there at the end, and we battled back,” Floyd said. “Our defense gave up too many corner 3s and too many 3s to them overall. We have to keep working on our defense.”
“We came out with the same kind of effort the other night, but tonight we were hitting shots,” Floyd said. “It takes time and we’re trying to find ways to win. We were close, but we have to step it up.”
That seems to show the type of leadership the team will need now and in the future...staying positive and working hard to improve the product.
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Post by WorcesterGray on Jan 6, 2018 11:01:18 GMT -5
And by the way . . . A pretty conventional 2-3 zone is what Mike Brennan (a Carmody protege) went to in the 2nd half of the 2014 PLT semi-final, the move which beat us in that game. Maybe the master can learn from the student . . .
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Post by lou on Jan 6, 2018 11:03:11 GMT -5
Had a feel that last night Faw was adjusting better to speed of the college game. Seemed a lot more comfortable, and he's looks pretty confident. Grandy and Butler, same story. Green has always had it, needs to get back to making shots
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Post by bringbackcaro on Jan 6, 2018 11:03:31 GMT -5
I'm no expert but thought that defending in basketball was a learned skill, unlike the "natural" who can shoot lights out. If Matt is not a strong defender, I don't think its his lack of physical ability. He's got the length to do pretty well defensively and we've had plenty slower players in the past that were at least decent on defense. Perhaps that is your point but the "it's not just" that gives me the read that you think he is a naturally poor defender compounded by a bad system. You might be right about the latter but think it is very premature to assert the former. His agility and lateral foot speed are killing him on the defensive end right now. However, you are certainly correct that some coaching would go a long way in helping him develop. A defensive strategy that doesn’t put him in a horrible position would also be a big benefit.
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Post by jflare on Jan 6, 2018 11:24:29 GMT -5
Someone please tell me that we are not headed for 3-27
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Post by Sons of Vaval on Jan 6, 2018 11:27:40 GMT -5
Someone please tell me that we are not headed for 3-27 We will win likely between 4-6 games in the PL, if I had to guess. IMO, this is the worst stretch of games for HC basketball since 1998-99 -- Raynor's final season. One could point to Milan's first season as worse, but most of those losses came in the OOC against decent competition.
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Post by KY Crusader 75 on Jan 6, 2018 11:55:49 GMT -5
Matt Faw has cut back his fouling although it still is too high.
First 5 games: 8.6 PF/40 minutes
Last 5 games= 6.0/40
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Post by jflare on Jan 6, 2018 13:17:28 GMT -5
Someone please tell me that we are not headed for 3-27 We will win likely between 4-6 games in the PL, if I had to guess. IMO, this is the worst stretch of games for HC basketball since 1998-99 -- Raynor's final season. One could point to Milan's first season as worse, but most of those losses came in the OOC against decent competition. I would sign up for that right now
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