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After Mooney’s time out at 5:04 in the 1st period we saw what this team is capable of.

UR80sfan

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Jan 28, 2018
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Many of you have done a great job of describing how bad our team played to start last night’s game, which was painful to watch. I think it was an aberration based on nerves from playing in front of a large crowd for the first time in 18 month, bad luck, where we missed almost all of our 3 pointers and they couldn't miss and poor play by our team.

After Mooney’s time out at 5:04 in the 1st period with the Spider down 33-19, we got see the true potential of this team, where we absolutely destroyed them over the next 25 minutes by a score of 51 to 27 (by 24 points which is equivalent to 38 points over 40 minutes) . It was one of the most dominant showings I have seen the team play. Our defense was terrific and the offence was run like a well-oiled machine. We also had great contributions from Wilson, Grace and Crabtree off the bench. I am very confident that in future games will we also benefit from the play of Baily, Koureissi.

It was very impressive that this team was able to not panic and make adjustments. 5 years ago we would have lost this game by 30. Focusing on the whole game does not tell the true story of how good this team can play. It is going to be a fun season to watch.
 
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I'm obviously glad we came back and won, but I didn't feel that stretch was super dominant. NCCU is a bad team and had a lot of unforced turnovers. We also had way more turnovers than a team this experienced should have at home against a garbage opponent like that, and we didn't look too crisp offensively even during that run. But hey, we won. A lot of teams seemed to have problems last night against weaker opponents (vcu and uva among them). Hopefully we come out Friday and play like we mean it.
 
I don't feel like our defense was that super.

In the second half - NCCU got open looks, they just didn't make any and in the first half, they couldn't miss. We didn't shoot well - especially from 3. And we got zero production from the bench again.

I agree - it was game 1, some nerves were set in and the good news from this was - We won, and it was only the first game. Utah State will be a tougher test, but I don't think we get a real test for our team until Drake (first true road game) and then Maryland.
 
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Many of you have done a great job of describing how bad our team played to start last night’s game, which was painful to watch. I think it was an aberration based on nerves from playing in front of a large crowd for the first time in 18 month, bad luck, where we missed almost all of our 3 pointers and they couldn't miss and poor play by our team.

After Mooney’s time out at 5:04 in the 1st period with the Spider down 33-19, we got see the true potential of this team, where we absolutely destroyed them over the next 25 minutes by a score of 51 to 27 (by 24 points which is equivalent to 38 points over 40 minutes) . It was one of the most dominant showings I have seen the team play. Our defense was terrific and the offence was run like a well-oiled machine. We also had great contributions from Wilson, Grace and Crabtree off the bench. I am very confident that in future games will we also benefit from the play of Baily, Koureissi.

It was very impressive that this team was able to not panic and make adjustments. 5 years ago we would have lost this game by 30. Focusing on the whole game does not tell the true story of how good this team can play. It is going to be a fun season to watch.
The time out was a decision by a veteran coach who knows his team. He got them refocused on the game, he got them calmed down and then he switched defenses in the last 3 minutes of the 1st half. From that point, the Spiders forced a lot of turnovers in the first half and into the 2nd half. Our guys went on a 33-8 run.
 
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Our defense was really good last night. Several possessions, we played the full 30 seconds causing them bad shots at the end of the shot clock. And, it's hard to say they helped us with 21 turnovers, when we had 13 steals. It was our defense that caused the turnovers, and many of the steals led to easy points for us.
As far as bench production is concerned, we got really good production from our bench. It's not about scoring. Those that expect our bench to score a lot need to realize that when one of our bench guys is in the game, we still often have four better scoring options on the floor with them. Our bench is just not going to score that much and we don't need them to. But, they can still do all the other things to help us win games, and they did great with that last night.
 
I agree our bench does not need to give us scoring, but at times they will - and I think based on what we saw last year and lack of scoring against NCCU - that fear is warranted. But again it is just one game - so I will hold judgement until later in the season. But after game 1 - our bench gave us 57 minutes, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 5 fouls, and 7 points.

What is probably more telling is that Gilyard played all 40 minutes. Sherod played 20, but I expect that to increase as the season progresses. My expectation based on how Mooney subs - as the season rolls on - expect to see less of the bench. Burton and Cayo can play more, and I think Golden is good right around 30 and I would not be surprised if Sherod gets near 30 minutes by the A10 season rolls along.
 
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The time out was a decision by a veteran coach who knows his team. He got them refocused on the game, he got them calmed down and then he switched defenses in the last 3 minutes of the 1st half. From that point, the Spiders forced a lot of turnovers in the first half and into the 2nd half. Our guys went on a 33-8 run.
That seems unlikely. We were down 19-33, then up 47-40. It was 51-44 with 10 minutes left.
That would be 28-7 & 32-11?
 
Seems we think of Wilson as Gilyard's backup, so thought it was interesting that Wilson had the most bench minutes even with Gilly playing all 40. Came at the expense of Dji, but it's just one game, so we'll see how things develop moving forward.
 
yeah, played a lot of 2 last year also.

I think coach is very high on Wilson and wants him on the floor especially for his defense. but if you don't take Jacob out, there's only one other spot for him. plus Mooney's shown an affinity for the 2 PG set over the years.
 
Many of you have done a great job of describing how bad our team played to start last night’s game, which was painful to watch. I think it was an aberration based on nerves from playing in front of a large crowd for the first time in 18 month, bad luck, where we missed almost all of our 3 pointers and they couldn't miss and poor play by our team.

After Mooney’s time out at 5:04 in the 1st period with the Spider down 33-19, we got see the true potential of this team, where we absolutely destroyed them over the next 25 minutes by a score of 51 to 27 (by 24 points which is equivalent to 38 points over 40 minutes) . It was one of the most dominant showings I have seen the team play. Our defense was terrific and the offence was run like a well-oiled machine. We also had great contributions from Wilson, Grace and Crabtree off the bench. I am very confident that in future games will we also benefit from the play of Baily, Koureissi.

It was very impressive that this team was able to not panic and make adjustments. 5 years ago we would have lost this game by 30. Focusing on the whole game does not tell the true story of how good this team can play. It is going to be a fun season to watch.
We were at home against a MEAC team with 10 new players, playing their first game together, while we have the most tenured team in all of college basketball and you are glad we were able to put together slightly more than a half of dominating basketball against them.

We came out not ready to play and they did, that should never happen with a team as experienced as our and a team as inexperienced as their with the talent differential between a Meac squad and an A-10 squad.
 
We were at home against a MEAC team with 10 new players, playing their first game together, while we have the most tenured team in all of college basketball and you are glad we were able to put together slightly more than a half of dominating basketball against them.

We came out not ready to play and they did, that should never happen with a team as experienced as our and a team as inexperienced as their with the talent differential between a Meac squad and an A-10 squad.

We came out slow. So what? Could we have looked better the opening 15 minutes? Yes. But did we win the game? Yes.

Sit back and appreciate the comeback we just witnessed and the incredible leadership by Gilyard to go above and beyond in this game. We’re going to have bad halves, every team does. Even in the NBA. But you can’t let 15 minutes of play decide the entire season.

If you’re out on this team then there’s the door, don’t let it hit you on the way out. But you’re going to miss a season that I’ll be telling my kids about one day
 
I'm obviously glad we came back and won, but I didn't feel that stretch was super dominant. NCCU is a bad team and had a lot of unforced turnovers. We also had way more turnovers than a team this experienced should have at home against a garbage opponent like that, and we didn't look too crisp offensively even during that run. But hey, we won. A lot of teams seemed to have problems last night against weaker opponents (vcu and uva among them). Hopefully we come out Friday and play like we mean it.
Our scouting report will be much better from here on out. We had to feel our way in this game. You are being far too hard on the team.
 
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We came out slow. So what? Could we have looked better the opening 15 minutes? Yes. But did we win the game? Yes.

Sit back and appreciate the comeback we just witnessed and the incredible leadership by Gilyard to go above and beyond in this game. We’re going to have bad halves, every team does. Even in the NBA. But you can’t let 15 minutes of play decide the entire season.

If you’re out on this team then there’s the door, don’t let it hit you on the way out. But you’re going to miss a season that I’ll be telling my kids about one day
Ply, I was there last night. Will be there pretty much every home game. And yes, I'm a bottom line guy, we got the W and that is all that matters. Gilly was great.

But can we please not put lipstick on a pig? That was an ugly game against an inferior opponent. We play like that in probably 85% of our future games, that is a loss and then people are right fully pissed (including you).
 
Ply, I was there last night. Will be there pretty much every home game. And yes, I'm a bottom line guy, we got the W and that is all that matters. Gilly was great.

But can we please not put lipstick on a pig? That was an ugly game against an inferior opponent. We play like that in probably 85% of our future games, that is a loss and then people are right fully pissed (including you).
I’m sure you were a player or a coach before?
 
Ply, I was there last night. Will be there pretty much every home game. And yes, I'm a bottom line guy, we got the W and that is all that matters. Gilly was great.

But can we please not put lipstick on a pig? That was an ugly game against an inferior opponent. We play like that in probably 85% of our future games, that is a loss and then people are right fully pissed (including you).
I agree we shouldn’t put lipstick on a pig, just think it’s not yet time to send the pig for slaughter lol. I was incredibly panicked last night I’ll be completely honest. Suppose I’m just choosing to discard this one as an anomaly. But if it happens again Friday then it certainly changes things.

Sorry I was a bit harsh on you there
 
I agree we shouldn’t put lipstick on a pig, just think it’s not yet time to send the pig for slaughter lol. I was incredibly panicked last night I’ll be completely honest. Suppose I’m just choosing to discard this one as an anomaly. But if it happens again Friday then it certainly changes things.

Sorry I was a bit harsh on you there
No worries. My reaction is to the truthers who ALWAYS put lipstick on a pig to make Mooney look good. I just like people who call a spade a spade and don't let agendas colors the way they see things. I don't like Mooney one bit, but if we play well, he is gonna get his rightful credit for that. Likewise, if we don't he is going to get his rightful criticism. So, I'm not giving him an attaboy for calling a timeout because we came out as flat as pancake like last night.
 
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You were panicked because we have seen that game before not go our way. Im not sure what people like garter expect. CM has lost the benefit of the doubt because he hasn't taken us to the NCAA in a decade. We have pretty much the same players playing this year that had a disappointing last year where expectations were not met. I hope this year is different, but Spider fans everywhere are on edge. A decade is forever ago in college basketball!
 
I think Wilson was the difference maker last night. His stat line doesn’t show it. But his on ball defending is what sparked this teams run.

Gilly is great, but sometimes he takes too many unnecessary chances. They end up putting his teammates into bad positions. I get that he had 7 steals and most led to easy points. But he also missed many times on overplaying for the steal and those misses led to as many easy baskets for the opponent.

Wilson didn’t take those unnecessary chances and he was able to shut down their main ball-handler. That kept his teammates in good positions and it led to a lot of bad shots and turnovers that didn’t show up on Wilsons stat line.

It was obvious why Mooney had Wilson on the primary ball-handler when Wilson and Gilly were in the game together. I also think his controlled defensive pressure forced mistakes and that Gilly has a knack for picking off. Even though it creates some size mismatches at the 2, I would like to see this lineup moving forward.
 
I think Wilson was the difference maker last night. His stat line doesn’t show it. But his on ball defending is what sparked this teams run.

Gilly is great, but sometimes he takes too many unnecessary chances. They end up putting his teammates into bad positions. I get that he had 7 steals and most led to easy points. But he also missed many times on overplaying for the steal and those misses led to as many easy baskets for the opponent.

Wilson didn’t take those unnecessary chances and he was able to shut down their main ball-handler. That kept his teammates in good positions and it led to a lot of bad shots and turnovers that didn’t show up on Wilsons stat line.

It was obvious why Mooney had Wilson on the primary ball-handler when Wilson and Gilly were in the game together. I also think his controlled defensive pressure forced mistakes and that Gilly has a knack for picking off. Even though it creates some size mismatches at the 2, I would like to see this lineup moving forward.
Gilly did have one good move on the primary ball handler. Gilly was behind him, thought that when he turned he would lead with the ball, but he led with his head, and got a finger in the eye on An attempted steal.
 
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I'm obviously glad we came back and won, but I didn't feel that stretch was super dominant. NCCU is a bad team and had a lot of unforced turnovers. We also had way more turnovers than a team this experienced should have at home against a garbage opponent like that, and we didn't look too crisp offensively even during that run. But hey, we won. A lot of teams seemed to have problems last night against weaker opponents (vcu and uva among them). Hopefully we come out Friday and play like we mean it.
How do u know nccu is a bad team? 1st game....let's see how their season plays out first....maybe they become a tourney team and this ends up being a good win...way too soon to label anyone.
 
Our scouting report will be much better from here on out. We had to feel our way in this game. You are being far too hard on the team.
Besides this team has no track record of playing together..tough to scout.
 
yeah, played a lot of 2 last year also.

I think coach is very high on Wilson and wants him on the floor especially for his defense. but if you don't take Jacob out, there's only one other spot for him. plus Mooney's shown an affinity for the 2 PG set over the years.
Agreed. Was hoping to see more of dij. Like his length at guard (and looked like he hit the weight room over the summer in the limited minutes we saw him).

Did notice he was used at end of half/game for defensive purposes, so maybe that will be his role this year? Obviously hard to extrapolate based off of one game, but there’s a lot of competition for the 1-3 spots this year, especially when Goose comes back.
 
Did notice he was used at end of half/game for defensive purposes, so maybe that will be his role this year? Obviously hard to extrapolate based off of one game, but there’s a lot of competition for the 1-3 spots this year, especially when Goose comes back.
There's zero competition at the 1 if Gilly is going to play 40 every night, which makes it even tougher at the 2 and 3.
 
Four years ago we started by getting blown out by Delaware after being down by 30 in the first half (and followed that with a 33 point blowout to Jacksonville St). Three years ago we lost to Longwood in the first game. Two years ago in the first game we beat St Francis in overtime only after scoring the last 12 points of regulation. All of these games were at home with the same players and the same coach. I mean, how much motivation do you need to come out ready to play? And people are wondering why some lifelong Spider fans were panicked when we were down by 14 in the first half to a MEAC team?
 
We came out slow. So what? Could we have looked better the opening 15 minutes? Yes. But did we win the game? Yes.

Sit back and appreciate the comeback we just witnessed and the incredible leadership by Gilyard to go above and beyond in this game. We’re going to have bad halves, every team does. Even in the NBA. But you can’t let 15 minutes of play decide the entire season.

If you’re out on this team then there’s the door, don’t let it hit you on the way out. But you’re going to miss a season that I’ll be telling my kids about one day
Did you just Bob Black a true fan?

I still find it mind boggling that anyone thinks we can afford to casually dismiss longtime fans and donors to the program.
 
I think you missed his point. Donors or no donors, who needs "fans" who just want to give not only the coach, but also the players crap over and over again, when we are only 1 game in, especially after a win. It's like they hope the slightest thing can go wrong so they can get on here and let our team have it. Why do they even watch if our team, win or lose, makes them so miserable all the time?
 
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There's zero competition at the 1 if Gilly is going to play 40 every night, which makes it even tougher at the 2 and 3.
And, Gilly has proved for 4+ years now, he does not need rest. He does not get tired at the end of games, and he does not wear down at the end of the season. Why take him out just to take him out? He is one of those players that can go on a 5-0 run in less than a minute by himself with a 3, and a steal/layup. He is just too valuable. If it looks like he could use a minute or two, give it to him, otherwise keep him on the floor.
 
I think you missed his point. Donors or no donors, who needs "fans" who just want to give not only the coach, but also the players crap over and over again, when we are only 1 game in, especially after a win. It's like they hope the slightest thing can go wrong so they can get on here and let our team have it. Why do they even watch if our team, win or lose, makes them so miserable all the time?
I didn’t miss the point. And if that’s your take, you fundamentally misunderstand their perspective, which is that there is a long pattern of these types of performances. As fans of the “program”, they have every right to question this and aren’t obligated to accept that this is the best we can do.

Yes it was a win, yes there were bright spots. But its pretty reasonable to question why we go down 14 in the first half to a MEAC team with our most experienced lineup in history. For anyone to then suggest a fan asking those questions should take their fandom elsewhere is arrogant as f. I mean come on. Ply has since responded and all seems well so it’s a moot point now.
 
Oh, I don't know T..if you want to go there, I guess you could also question how UVA, a #1 seed full of talent and experience, could be down 14 in the 1st half to Gardner Webb in the 1st round game of their title run. It happens. Opponents make some 3s. The favorite misses open 3s. It happens. And, last night, it was only 15 minutes out of a 1200+ minute regular season. Doesn't always have to mean bad coaching or bad playing by the players when this happens.
 
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I'm obviously glad we came back and won, but I didn't feel that stretch was super dominant. NCCU is a bad team and had a lot of unforced turnovers. We also had way more turnovers than a team this experienced should have at home against a garbage opponent like that, and we didn't look too crisp offensively even during that run. But hey, we won. A lot of teams seemed to have problems last night against weaker opponents (vcu and uva among them). Hopefully we come out Friday and play like we mean it.
I disagree about the turnovers. NC Central had 21 turnovers and 13 of them were because of our steals, and we caused a few other turnovers with excellent defense. I don't think it is accurate to say they had a lot of unforced turnovers, as if we had nothing to do with them. And, we only had 11 turnovers, with 9 from Sal, Grant, and Grace, meaning everyone else, including Jacob with 0, had a combined 2. Bigs will have some turnovers down low, and the good thing about them and not our guards turning it over, is that usually the turnovers from bigs do not lead to easy buckets at the other end. We got way more easy baskets off of turnovers than they did, and overall, we absolutely dominated the turnover battle. I think we would take +10 there every game, regardless of the opponent.
 
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I have to agree with SpiderRick to a point, but his point also suggests that we are learning from our season opener mistakes (said slightly tongue in cheek) because the end result of the first game gets progressively less worse. Big loss, less of a loss (I think--I don't remember), win in overtime, bad first half/win the game.
 
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We came out slow. So what? Could we have looked better the opening 15 minutes? Yes. But did we win the game? Yes.

Sit back and appreciate the comeback we just witnessed and the incredible leadership by Gilyard to go above and beyond in this game. We’re going to have bad halves, every team does. Even in the NBA. But you can’t let 15 minutes of play decide the entire season.

If you’re out on this team then there’s the door, don’t let it hit you on the way out. But you’re going to miss a season that I’ll be telling my kids about one day

I know I’ve been very negative on this board the past few weeks after the start we’ve had and really got into it yesterday. I just want to remind everybody that I said this after the win over NCCU. I was all in and told 97 off for being negative, but the issues he brought up were serious issues that have persisted. I was the one ignoring our issues, ignoring bad stretches of play, and having blind faith. It’s why I’m so frustrated.
 
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