Without doing any research, my impression is that Davidson does two things really well that we’ve struggled with the last few years. 1) they win at home at a high rate and 2) they don’t drop many games to teams they should beat.
Are we better without Grant/Blake?
- Thread starter 97spiderfan
- Start date
I think the call is early when you see a starter struggling. Give him some bench time to get his head right.
This gives the bench some run to see if it’s their night. If it’s not (and most often it won’t be), go back to the regular rotation.
Starters shouldn’t feel like they get the time by right. Having bench guys push them and nip at their heels is a good thing.
(Also, I’m not saying that our starters feel that way because I obviously don’t know their mind sets. But as an outsider, I know that Mooney is always going to lean heavy on his starters/upperclassmen).
Nick almost single handedly beat VCU and Davidson last year. Coaches fear those guys that can score 12-15 points in 3 or 4 minutes. That’s what he did several times. He spreads the floor and makes someone guard him. No one cares where Goose, Grace or Sal are on the floor. They just sagged in on Grant. Also we lost one of our best rebounders. Nick gave us 5 or 6 coveted and almost nonexistent UR rebounds. Grace and Sal think you are telling them to go snipe hunting when asked to rebound.
Nick was a solid rebounder, but we replaced him with Tyler, our best rebounder on the team. I think losing Nick hurt the team in shooting and leadership.
Underperforming teams often have something in common. Several have alluded to problems with team chemistry on this forum this year. I think it obvious that this year's team had some issues in the locker room. You could see and feel it in their performance. The stats of the mainstays decreased in many places. Lack of enthusiasm on the bench (that many have commented on) could have been an unintentional public indicator.
I know of at least 1 problematic thing that I was asked to keep confidential. There are several other indicators that we could speculate on. Since I am not in the locker room, or in daily contact with the team, I won't expound on pure speculation at this time.
Multiple personalities, each person has their own goals and motivations. Sometimes a group blends really well together, and the chemistry is great! Sometimes not. Feeling "less than ecstatic with all my teammates" is the main reason that I have suggested that none (Cayo might be an outside possibility) of the seniors will come back. Time will tell.
I know of at least 1 problematic thing that I was asked to keep confidential. There are several other indicators that we could speculate on. Since I am not in the locker room, or in daily contact with the team, I won't expound on pure speculation at this time.
Multiple personalities, each person has their own goals and motivations. Sometimes a group blends really well together, and the chemistry is great! Sometimes not. Feeling "less than ecstatic with all my teammates" is the main reason that I have suggested that none (Cayo might be an outside possibility) of the seniors will come back. Time will tell.
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Well we had Goose and Crabtree, but both ended up getting hurt and missing significant time. Then had nobody to replace them. Losing our best player and the 2nd and 3rd guys off the bench had a bit more impact than most here are willing to admit.
