Matt Becht (former D2 target in the portal) with only 2 points vs VCU

97spiderfan said:

It is always amazing how they go into hiding whenever their savior does his 56% percent act. Yet, those of us are here through thick and thin are not "real" fans.

Bucknell is gonna be a lot tougher than anyone thought when the season started and that is not some reflection on Bucknell either; just us.

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My goodness, taking a jab at people on here who support our coach, our players, and our program? How dare us, right? Geez, where are we? Well, I'm right here. Let me ask where are some of you guys when we have success? The board has way less messages when we win. Way less.

As for the game, I will say what I said after the Marist game. I am way more concerned about our offense than defense. We are gonna have a hard time scoring this year. We were 3-21 from 3 and took way too many mid range 2s last night. Way way too many. Very few guys can create their own shot. Without better 3 point shooting, the defense will continue to make things hard for our bigs and hard for us to get to the basket and draw fouls. I won't get into each player now, but a lot of guys need to play a lot better for us to have success.

Spider Bob79 said:

Also, in the first half (the only one I watched), I saw several times Beagle on the pick and roll. Beagle was wide open rolling to the basket and they never threw the ball to him! Maybe the second half was different.

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I saw quite a bit of that as well - guy was open and we couldn't make the pass. Then guy was not really open and we forced the pass and TO. Hopefully some of that due to just lack of guys playing together and will improve with time.

No where to go but up - I hope.

OK, I was ready to go in a different direction when Boston College was talking to Mooney, so all the years run into each other. But when we went 10 years in a row with no NCAA it was "All is Well" at Richmond. Believe me, I am used to it and more just amused now. And let's say Mooniocrity retired. Hardt would probably hire his buddy Paulsen wherever he is now. So we will just hope that we can find the secret sauce this year.

Oh and 13-0. Super start for KA!

Also, in the first half (the only one I watched), I saw several times Beagle on the pick and roll. Beagle was wide open rolling to the basket and they never threw the ball to him! Maybe the second half was different.

SpiderTrap said:

... but they drove the ball, caused some fouls to be called - and they shoot 30 free throws to our 13.

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not that it's the reason we lost, but a bunch of those foul calls were ridiculous. this is D1 college basketball. it's not a foul every time there's contact.

So far my worst fears coming through: Last year was an abberation - Mooney had three tough minded athletic/defenders/rebounders in Dji, Bigs, and Harris - which drove the defensive mindset. Which seemed to have been instilled somewhat by Boyden the year before.
Now our team seems to have zero identity - other than Hunt - and he can't do it all. Hunt and King were tough hard nosed defenders last year too - and Quinn used his size well.
It's early, but the interviews and messaging I hear from our fearless mooniocrity scream lack of urgency.

Never thought offense would be our problem this year - but here we are scoring 48 against a bad Charlotte team. You can expect to have cold shooting nights at some point, but that is when your defense kicks in - and this team looks like it will struggle on defense. Or - when your shooting is struggling, try something different - like go down low or drive to the hoop and try to draw fouls and get to the free throw line. That is what Charlotte did - they were not shooting any better than us - but they drove the ball, caused some fouls to be called - and they shoot 30 free throws to our 13.

Also - I never in my life have complained about offensive rebounding with this team because it is just not part of the Mooney system. BUT - in this game, we missed 30 shots, and only got 2 offensive rebounds. That is unbelievable.

Some things to note from a personnel standpoint. Where are Soullis and GW3. Especially in a game like this, when your just looking for a spark - do you try something different and throw one of them out there, see what you get. Especially at the end of the first half where we went 8 minutes and scored 3 points.

bright side, I actually thought our defense was fine. or at least it was the least of our problems last night.

offensive "flow" was awful. maybe that does take time? guys we're clogging things up for each other which didn't happen last year.

shooting was just abysmal despite open looks. 3-21 from 3, 5-13 from the line? and we took a bunch of those pull up midrange shots that the analytics hate ... and missed them like the analytics project.

Dusan was impressive early. don't understand him yelling at Walz for passing the ball back to him though ... which went through his hands. Beagle made some nice moves. gotta see the cutters though. that's the whole purpose of him getting the ball on the elbow. be patient there.
Hunt did Hunt things ... except from the foul line.
AP blocked a shot and stayed under control.
that about exhausts any positives. to state the obvious, we're not very good right now.

spider23 said:

A forward looking AD department would have pursued him when Kyrie and KD fired him or any of the years since. May have had a shot a couple years ago.

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No chance. When Brooklyn let him go, it was inevitable he was gonna get another NBA head coaching job. Kenny was locked into the NBA and not going anywhere. Also, we went 24-7 the year Brooklyn let him go. And, you said we should have hired him any year since? I know you like to get on Hardt, but come on, you can't say he should have fired a coach after going 24-7 in 2020, or 2022 when we won the A-10 tourney and a dance game, or last year, when we won the A-10 regular season title. Our roster has issues this year, and we are off to a terrible start, and it seems fine to be frustrated with this year so far, but keep it real here.

Advice from a friend who has watched his school's team fail annually-Get the hope over with early. Now we can relax.
I watched the first half on tv then went out. It was a tremendous display of offensive futility by both teams. At least Charlotte could hit foul shots- the difference in the first half. What hurts the most, beyond no offense, is watching our team take a three and start running the other way. There were tons of opportunities to grab an offensive rebound. So depressing to think nothing has changed over all of these years with the Spiders' offensive rebounding strategy-actually- no strategy-just "get back!"

It is always amazing how they go into hiding whenever their savior does his 56% percent act. Yet, those of us are here through thick and thin are not "real" fans.

Bucknell is gonna be a lot tougher than anyone thought when the season started and that is not some reflection on Bucknell either; just us.

97spiderfan said:

Where are all of the Mooney shaft polishers today. You know the guys telling us about how good the players looked in the offseason, how awesome our NIL is, and how all of the NIL guys love Moondog. Damn, if I were writing big checks to pay players, I might want some better outcomes than this. And thank god, Hardt wrapped Mooney up with an extension last year to fend off of the other big time programs coming after him.

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They are in the emergency bunker waiting for the all clear alert to sound if we are able to sneak past Bucknell on Saturday.

Where are all of the Mooney shaft polishers today. You know the guys telling us about how good the players looked in the offseason, how awesome our NIL is, and how all of the NIL guys love Moondog. Damn, if I were writing big checks to pay players, I might want some better outcomes than this. And thank god, Hardt wrapped Mooney up with an extension last year to fend off of the other big time programs coming after him.

I'm beginning to think our OOC was more of an intentional decision by the coaching staff, rather than the message we have been told, that they couldn't do any better.

All of the people who came after Trump in the deep state will deserve Matt Gaetz.

KE Spider said:

Wood, once again, did not vote for Prez, only down ticket. Defend him, only, when warranted against a hate crazed mob which has totally lost reason apparently.

Your foreign policy calculus overlooks the totally botched and humiliating withdrawal from Afghanistan and allowing Iran to get back into the oil export market which spawned Mid East turmoil and Ukraine That is on Biden. He owns those disastrous decisions and the hell that has been reaped from them.

Our adversaries watch not only what we say and do, but who delivers it and how. Can you describe a weaker visual of American power than Biden? Please, I'll wait.

Bumbling, confused, often incoherent, falling off bikes, stumbling up stairs, turning to shake hands when no one is there, frequently not knowing how to exit the stage (deeper meaning here too), his debate performance, sucking on a baby's foot and biting the leg of another at Halloween Party. Our adversaries have been on the march bc the World, friend and foe, can see no one has been at home in the US for a few years.

Some good as you point out, overwhelmingly bad, in toto a disaster.

And incredibly, got over 14 million primary votes for a shot at another term.

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Yes, I can describe a weaker visual of American power, and its Trump. Why do you think Putin, Orban, and Kim Jung Un wanted Trump to win the election? Trump might walk better than Biden, but he can be manipulated and our adversaries, as well as our allies, know it. Trump said in Helsinki he believed Putin over the American intelligence community. Putin posts nude pictures of Melania on state run Russian TV and Trump has no response at all because he's scared to death of Putin for some reason or reasons. Trump says he and Kim Jun Un "fell in love" and wrote each other beautiful "love letters". Trump has called Putin's invasion of Ukraine brilliant. Trump did not shore up alliances with NATO members and in the Pacific when he was President.

And you keep referring to the Afghan withdrawal. Trump's withdrawal from Syria was not good (although no American lives were lost), and unlike the Afghanistan withdrawal, none of our Syrian human assets were saved. Trump ordered an immediate evacuation of Afghanistan after he lost the Presidency and it was only his generals who prevented it by refusing to follow his order. Our adversaries know this, and know that now Trump won't have anyone around to tell him no, so they are thrilled that Trump is back.

Very good reason we have this weak a$$ schedule.

Gallipoli said:

Gaetz is an amateur compared to Merrick Garland. What is good for the Goose is good for the gander.

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Why do you get fooled by this nonsense? Biden didn't even fire David Weiss, the DOJ attorney hand picked by Trump and Barr to prosecute Hunter Biden and the fictitious "Biden Crime Family". Typical right wing lie.

G you again keep falling for fake news, I have a distant family connection still working there as an attorney from Clinton forward.

will we win against D1 competition this year, LOL. unbelievable.