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Post by lou on Jan 30, 2021 18:40:37 GMT -5
I agree...I was thinking give it Faw for the W
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Post by hc17 on Jan 30, 2021 18:50:01 GMT -5
It’ll be interesting to see how Nelson adjusts the style as we progress through his tenure. While his comments suggest he wants to play an up-tempo, pressing game, I wonder if, for the time being, he is pressing so frequently to compensate for half-court defense. Clearly, it’s an area where we are currently limited from a personnel perspective (Mike & Louth not ready). This is compounded by Faw’s tendency to foul all of the time. I know the stats suggest he is a great shot blocker, but if I’m an opposing coach and have average to above average big, I’m abusing HC on the block in that match-up. I think it’s fair to say he isn’t protecting the paint or altering too many shots. May provide some insight into what we’re seeing from Nelson this year. Take it for what it is...
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Post by timholycross on Jan 30, 2021 19:01:33 GMT -5
I disagree with the board here on the choice of play with 9 seconds to go in regulation down 2. That said, I give tremendous credit to Gates for making a clutch play....and yes IMO he was fouled. Here's why I disagree. What is my goal as coach going into the final play? TO WIN THE GAME. My goal as the coach there is NOT to get it into OT. Another 5 minutes against an experienced heavy favorite is not what I would have wanted. So.....with that said....I would have sent it into Gates, had him make one quick move to draw a crowd....then kick it out to any of three players who would all be beyond the 3 pt line....RJ.....Butler....or Faw for a three point shot. If it goes in, we WIN. If it doesn't, we lose. Here's the percentages as I see it. 1) The Nelson choice: 50% chance Gates hits the shot and 20% chance we win in OT. OVERALL CHANCE OF WINNING THE GAME: 10% (.50 x .20) 2) Shoot a three choice: Maybe a 25% chance it goes in. OVERALL CHANCE OF WINNING THE GAME: 25% Many will disagree with these percentages and I understand and respect that. But in my mind, if your goal is to WIN THE GAME, you shoot a three there and hope your player makes it. Our 3 point shooting has been so out of sorts the last few games, I don't know if at that stage of the game 25% is a reasonable estimate. In general, I'm with you. See it all the time in football, especially college ball; teams that shouldn't play for overtime and in overtime teams go for a tie when they ought to try for 2 and either end it or lose.
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Post by WorcesterGray on Jan 30, 2021 19:13:10 GMT -5
I would have sent it into Gates, had him make one quick move to draw a crowd....then kick it out to any of three players who would all be beyond the 3 pt line....RJ.....Butler....or Faw for a three point shot. You know, there was another Holy Cross player on the floor at the time, right? He was the only one on the floor who had actually made a three-pointer in the second half. He would have drawn the least amount of attention from the Colgate defense. And he has a better 3FG% than Matt Faw.
I think I would have considered kicking it out to him, too.
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Post by Sons of Vaval on Jan 30, 2021 19:18:42 GMT -5
Statistically, our 3 point shooting, 4-18, was a killer From two, we were 21-54, pretty good. 39% 2PT FG is bad. Like, worst in the country over the course of a season kind of bad.
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Post by Sons of Vaval on Jan 30, 2021 19:24:07 GMT -5
1970, not sure I agree with your percentages.
HC erased a 15 point deficit to force OT. You could argue that we had all of the momentum at that point in the game. Maybe it would have been a coin flip going into OT. I certainly don’t think it would be as low as 20%. I’ll have to see what Pomeroy had the percentages at.
Nelson can’t be put at fault for getting Gates a great look and sending the game to OT.
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Post by cmo on Jan 30, 2021 19:39:07 GMT -5
Another factor in the “go for he win / tie” debate is foul trouble.
If Gates, and some other starters, had 4 fouls, then it’s tougher to win in OT. However, Gates had 1 PF, and no other starter had more than 2.
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Post by hchoops on Jan 30, 2021 20:30:18 GMT -5
Colgate did not double team Gates on his drive to prevent him from kicking it out to 3 point shooters, even bad ones, which could have lost the game for them. If we had posted him up, I doubt they would have changed their strategy. In fact, if you look at the video below, #15 had the choice to help or stay with the corner shooter. He gave a half hearted effort to help. Getting Gates the ball at the right elbow was a very good decision, whether he made it or not.
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Post by longsuffering on Jan 30, 2021 20:59:34 GMT -5
Gates executed an "and one" play to win the game with his foul shot. The refs just didn't call the foul. Any kick out pass in that frenetic situation deducts another 10-20% off the chances of winning due to the handling of and the defending against the pass and catch and three point shot. Actually Gates might have been more surehanded in going for the lay-up at that stage of the game than flawlessly executing a kick out pass to the right open player.
Nothing makes you feel more ineffectual than watching a pass in traffic be deflected or be slightly off target forcing a guarded player to heave a brick from an awkward position and then hearing the horn blare.
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Post by KY Crusader 75 on Jan 31, 2021 0:31:05 GMT -5
RJ has been looking to score more often in the last 4 games--much bigger part of the scoring now.
First 5 games: 146 minutes 21 Points 5.8 points per 40 minutes 1-9 on 2 pt attempts 5-12 on threes 5.8 FGA per 40 4-6 on free throws 23 assists 12 turnovers 10 rebounds 4 steals 11 personal fouls
Last 4 games: 134 minutes 45 Points 13.4 points per 40 minutes 10-18 on 2 pt attempts- taking a lot more twos and has been making them 4-11 on threes-- no real change there 8.7 FGA per 40 13-15 on free throws--getting fouled a lot more---on those 2 point drives to the basket 19 assists 13 turnovers 5 rebounds 3 steals 12 personal fouls
I don't know the causal factors: more confident now,? has adjusted to college game? has been told to shoot more? In any case I like what I have been seeing from RJ
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Post by hc6774 on Jan 31, 2021 6:23:07 GMT -5
I agree...I was thinking give it Faw for the W might the play have been to have RJ take the shot, if not open, get the ball to Gates... does RJ get the assist?
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Post by Non Alum Dave on Jan 31, 2021 6:30:30 GMT -5
I'm still trying to accept 25 shots, 0 fouls drawn. Any metrics for that? Poor Tommy Gun would have gone out of his mind calling that game.
Well, the good news is that was probably the best Saturday effort of the season so far. So, what will today bring - another competitive game, or will today look more like a typical Saturday game (blowout).
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Post by WorcesterGray on Jan 31, 2021 8:01:59 GMT -5
Telegram story.
WORCESTER – On Wednesday morning Holy Cross coach Brett Nelson was showing his team film of Boston University, HC’s originally scheduled opponent for this weekend. By lunchtime that day, when Nelson found out the Crusaders would instead be hosting Colgate for two games, HC shifted gears quickly. “We talk about being flexible,” Nelson said. “With the pandemic, you never know what each day is going to bring.”
HC’s home-and-home against Boston University was postponed as BU athletics is in a department-wide pause through the end of the month due to a rise in positive COVID-19 tests as the campus repopulates for the spring semester.
Colgate, meanwhile, was supposed to play at Army this weekend, but those games were postponed due to a positive COVID-19 test result within the Black Knights’ Tier 1 personnel.
Holy Cross and Colgate moved their Feb. 13-14 to this weekend.
The Raiders averaged 95.5 points against HC in a two-game sweep Jan. 16-17 in Hamilton, N.Y., so the Crusaders emphasis Saturday was obviously to try and slow Colgate’s high-scoring attack.
Holy Cross (2-7) trailed Colgate by as many as 15 in the second half, but battled the Raiders into overtime, before falling, 74-63, the Crusaders' fifth straight loss.
The Raiders (6-1) came in averaging 90 points per game, which ranks fourth in the nation, and shooting 51 percent from the field. HC held Colgate to 43 percent shooting. Holy Cross' R.J. Johnson heads to the hoop even while being defended by a Colgate player.
“Our guys had a defensive mindset,” Nelson said. “I challenged them through that this week and they really bought into that. This was by far our best defensive effort of the year, especially our half-court defense. Colgate is a terrific team, and they got us in transition in the first half that led to easy baskets, but our half-court defense was pretty good, and in the second half, it was a battle back and forth.”
Senior guard Austin Butler and junior forward Gerrale Gates led Holy Cross over the final four minutes of regulation. Freshman guard R.J. Johnson’s defensive rebound led to a Gates basket that brought the Crusaders within two with 44 seconds left. After Colgate’s Jack Ferguson missed a 3-point attempt with under 10 seconds to play, HC called a timeout to set up a play for Gates, who took it inside for the tying basket.
“I’m always confident with what Coach calls,” Gates said. “He always puts people in position to make plays. He called my number and I felt like I could make a play to send it to overtime.”
The Crusaders held Colgate senior guard Jordan Burns, the preseason Patriot League Player of the Year and the Raiders’ leading scorer, in check for the first 40 minutes. He scored all 13 of Colgate’s overtime points and finished with a team-high 21.
“There’s a reason he’s been one of the best players in this league for a while now,” Nelson said, “and he made some plays for them.”
Gates finished with 24 points, for his fourth straight game with 20 or more, and 11 rebounds. Butler also posted a double-double with 11 points and 13 rebounds. Johnson added 13 points.
Colgate opened the game on an 11-0 run.
After a timeout just 3 minutes in, the Crusaders began their battle back. Led by Gates and Johnson, and Butler’s block, steal and layup, HC closed the gap to a point on Johnson’ 3, and tied it at 21 when freshman Bo Montgomery went in for a layup off a pass from Butler.
“We had to keep responding,” Butler said.
Colgate outscored HC, 15-5, over the final seven minutes of the first and built the lead back to double digits — 36-26 — at halftime.
Freshman center Jeff Woodward’s basket underneath put the Raiders up, 46-31, with just under 14 minutes left in the second half.
HC hung in, and Montgomery’s 3 cut Colgate’s lead to six with 6:09 to play.
Later, after Montgomery had a shot blocked, Butler grabbed the ball and layed it in to make it 61-57. On the next two trips to Colgate’s end, Butler came down with a defensive rebound and sophomore Ryan Wade made a steal, but the Crusaders didn’t convert after either stop. Johnson’s defensive rebound led to the basket by Gates that made it 61-59 with 44 seconds left.
“We just try to keep fighting,” Gates said. “That’s our motto, keep attacking don’t stop. We just tried to string together good possessions on offense and defense. We had to find a way to keep them under their season average. Now, we have to figure out what we need to do at the offensive end to be able to beat them.”
The Crusaders shot 35 percent from the field.
The teams meet again at 5 p.m. Sunday.
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Post by thecrossisback on Jan 31, 2021 8:30:05 GMT -5
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Post by trimster on Jan 31, 2021 9:45:59 GMT -5
Another strong defensive showing today would be a nice step forward for this program.
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Post by efg72 on Jan 31, 2021 12:24:25 GMT -5
Perhaps the defense was better yesterday, and perhaps it was the beneficiary of Colgate shooting 15% from 3 on some open looks?
The best part of the play yesterday was the way they fought to come back from 15 down. They can build on that and better understand that being down big, does not necessarily mean done
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