Bona

[RichmondNative]

We have plenty of good opportunities ahead.

You may want to consult Mooney on this statement. Sure the calendar has flipped, but Covid is still here and causing cancellations left and right. No one knows how many games are going to be played and if there is going to be an A-10 tournament. I believe the only knowns are the NCAA will have a basketball tournament (can’t survive without it) and a team needs to play 13 games to qualify for it. First step is to have the best possible record in 13 games and hope that is enough. Already dropped 2 at home.....

Long story short, a season is being played unlike any other season. The Spiders started out with the needed preseason hype for a mid-major. That has faded and now the Spiders are back to needing to win the conference (however that is to be defined) to be in the dance.

 

[Captain Anderson]

I think “idiotic” is a stretch. Our OOC hasn’t aged well, only marquee win is looking like a really down year for UK. So what’re we hanging our hat on? Has to be on top finish in A10. Right now we don’t look to be top4 in A10 much less top2 the way we’re playing.

Clearly the sky hasn’t fallen but the team might want to listen to chicken little.

Exactly. All is not lost but two straight home losses as a favorite certainly cast a cloud over what was supposed to be a dominant season. After the Kentucky win we had a lot of chesty folks chiding any Mooney doubters and acting like our ticket was already punched. We saw articles on the billboard and how that moment galvanized our team. But now we are realizing that Kentucky win isn’t a golden ticket and the same issues that we’ve had through the entirety of Mooney’s career (lack of rebounding, relatively poor ft shooting, etc) have not been masked by our veteran team. Still time to have a strong conference season but these guys need to roll up their sleeves and get to work, especially on the defensive end.

 

[Spider B]

The defense would seem better if we were able to grab defensive rebounds. Bonnie won the game because of offensive rebounding g down the stretch. Its killer to play decent defense and have the opponent miss a shot, only for them grab the rebound. Should not happen with this group. Rebounding is a mentality. Only Burton has it.

 

[spider fan]

"Underachievers" is the word that comes to mind. Credit to our opponents, particularly Hofstra and the Bonnies. They were "hungrier" for the "W" than we exhibited.

 

[VT4700]

Oh good another year of just being competitive......that wasn’t the reasonable expectation for a team with this many returning starters

I said 14-4 IC. It is right there again in the quote you copied.

 

[Captain Anderson]

The defense would seem better if we were able to grab defensive rebounds. Bonnie won the game because of offensive rebounding g down the stretch. Its killer to play decent defense and have the opponent miss a shot, only for them grab the rebound. Should not happen with this group. Rebounding is a mentality. Only Burton has it.

The problem is that rebounding has always been a weakness under Mooney’s system and he has even conceded on many occasions that he just wants to limit the damage in that area. Mooney’s beautiful system is great when guys are knocking down outside shots and breaking free for back door layups. There’s little margin for error though when shots aren’t falling because we give up a lot of second chance possessions...particularly in tight games against physical teams (the kind of teams and games you need to beat/win to win the conference or in the tournament). It’s like a football team that doesn’t emphasize tackling...I just don’t see it being sustainable in terms of winning the league or tournament bids...and I think Mooney’s results the last decade have proven that. Just wish we would have the guts to hire someone who would try something different because we know the ceiling with Mooney.

 

[VT4700]

Yeah, I’m gonna go out on a limb and say all of those games (except the SLU games) are easier IF we have Goose. We went 1-1 @davidson and home against Bona, I think we take that without Goose. The sky is not falling yet. We have plenty of good opportunities ahead. Now, if we drop the ball over the next 5-6 games (with or without goose) I’ll eat crow. My post was mostly aimed at people declaring it’s already over and we have to win the tournament, that’s just idiotic.

We heard it all last year too. "The season is over" after we lost to Radford, and then it was over after we lost to St. Louis, then it was definitely over after we lost to VCU and were 5-3 in the conference. I think some people on here just expect us to win every game. It is never about our wins, just our losses.

 

[VT4700]

"Underachievers" is the word that comes to mind. Credit to our opponents, particularly Hofstra and the Bonnies. They were "hungrier" for the "W" than we exhibited.

Both teams can't win a game. It doesn't have to be about who was hungrier. Can't both be hungry? Were we hungrier than Davidson? Were we just hungry 24 times last year, and not hungry 7? Our guys are busting their butts out there. They deserve better on here.

 

[8legs1dream]

one things for sure nobody is hungrier for Mooney than VT4700 😂

 

[spider fan]

A poster or maybe two (will go unnamed because it is no sense in personal jousting) have to dispute almost every post with which they don't agree 100%. With the talent we have there is "no excuse" for losing two games in a row at the Robins Center against Hofstra and the Bonnies. Don't buy into the theory that everyone gets a trophy for showing up; the reason a score is kept because the team with the most points at the end is the winner.

 

[VT4700]

A poster or maybe two (will go unnamed because it is no sense in personal jousting) have to dispute almost every post with which they don't agree 100%. With the talent we have there is "no excuse" for losing two games in a row at the Robins Center against Hofstra and the Bonnies. Don't buy into the theory that everyone gets a trophy for showing up; the reason a score is kept because the team with the most points at the end is the winner.

So, when I post, it's okay for someone to reply and dispute that post and even go into attack mode while doing so, but if I disagree with a post, all heck breaks out and it gets called out. Cool.

 

[Spiders4ever]

So, when I post, it's okay for someone to reply and dispute that post and even go into attack mode while doing so, but if I disagree with a post, all heck breaks out and it gets called out. Cool.

It could be worse, Everyone could have you on ignore.

 

[VT4700]

It could be worse, Everyone could have you on ignore.

Yep. I'm sure plenty already do, but I do like the posts of some on here, and enjoy debating with them, whether we agree or not on a topic.

 

[SpiderRick]

This team needs to go 14-2 from here on out. Looking at the schedule, I don't see that happening. I so hope I'm wrong, these guys deserve a trip to the NCAA tournament.

This group of seniors played with a big chip one their collective shoulders for the past year and a half, right after the billboard. Maybe we should put up another billboard, only this time it should say "We know you can do it, now get your butts moving and go KICK SOME ASS!"

 

[VT4700]

We went 14-4 in conference with Nick, hard to ask for 15-3 without him. I see a lot of good teams out there this year. I just hope we can find a way to get to 14-4. I think we either get to 14-4 and win the regular season, or we win the conference tournament. Maybe even both. I still have a real good feeling about this team.

 

[plydogg]

We went 14-4 in conference with Nick, hard to ask for 15-3 without him. I see a lot of good teams out there this year. I just hope we can find a way to get to 14-4. I think we either get to 14-4 and win the regular season, or we win the conference tournament. Maybe even both. I still have a real good feeling about this team.

We don't have an issue with the team, we have an issue with the coach. There's a huge difference there. The coach has failed for a decade to teach defensive rebounding. He has failed for a decade to teach free throw technique. How many games have we lost because of those two things? Way too many. The inability to teach those things loses us multiple games every year that we should be winning.

 

[fatherspider]

Well Nuance sure is dead by judging this thread. Anyway I think people really underestimated losing Nick and how we are basically an entirely different offense without him. While not a fantastic defender he would block out and rebound. Tyler is the better player IMO, but if we want to become a team that meets expectations, the team is going to have to go through him or use the mismatches he creates. Without Nick, Blake and Gilly don't get the open shots they got last year because they're under 6' and guards can play them just a little bit closer. When Grant gets doubled in the post, he doesn't have Nick for an outlet pass to shoot a 3 that has a better than 50% chance of going in if hes uncovered. Having Nick out there practically eliminated double teams on Grant who went ahead and is easy to score 1v1. He was the quintessential kill switch for sputtering offense.

Defensively, I have no idea why we didn't show really any press down the stretch today. Maybe STB has the ball handlers but I would be willing to take a chance with it. And yes the refs were absolute trash, but we were griping about every call weather it was right or wrong. Perhaps if we spent that much energy on our actual defensive assignments we wouldn't have to worry about how terrible they were. Every time I saw Grant start complaining I just rolled my eyes.

The sky isn't falling, but this is definitely a different team than last years. And if they don't improve the effort defensively outside of Burton most our games will be like this. I have a feeling we will come out on top more often than not, especially when we get Goose back who seems to be the only player willing to stop a guard drive defensively.

Very true... why didn't we press them at some point. It has won us two games so far this year. DAvidson and NorthIowa would have been L's without the press. Then today, in the same situation, we don't press.

 

[whampas]

Very true... why didn't we press them at some point. It has won us two games so far this year. DAvidson and NorthIowa would have been L's without the press. Then today, in the same situation, we don't press.

I was thinking the same thing but looking back our press was most effective with Burton on the point. His foul trouble hurt us in so many ways.

 

[VT4700]

We don't have an issue with the team, we have an issue with the coach. There's a huge difference there. The coach has failed for a decade to teach defensive rebounding. He has failed for a decade to teach free throw technique. How many games have we lost because of those two things? Way too many. The inability to teach those things loses us multiple games every year that we should be winning.

Free throw technique? So, are you saying the coaches taught free throw technique last year, when we shot them well, but did not feel like working on that this year? What about the games where we shot well there? Did the coaches just decide to work on it more before those games? And what exactly do you mean by free throw technique? Did Jacob do something wrong when he missed the front end of a one-on-one? Was it technique? Did the coaches not teach him properly?

As for rebounding, it's sometimes give and take. Sometimes you have to give up a few extra rebounds to prevent other things, like 3 point shots. We have struggled rebounding in the past, and there have been times when I've gotten on the coaches for that, but yesterday Tyler's foul trouble was definitely a factor there., and we do miss Nick there as well. He was a very good rebounder for his size. Also, there were some times when we got some nice second and third chances as well. That does not mean St. Bonaventure's coaches were doing something wrong. It happens. But, all that being said, I think it's fair to worry about that a little bit. If it's an ongoing issue, then it needs to be fixed immediately. But, hopefully this was just one game with Tyler in foul trouble where they got us a few times.

 

[whampas]

Free throw technique? So, are you saying the coaches taught free throw technique last year, when we shot them well, but did not feel like working on that this year? What about the games where we shot well there? Did the coaches just decide to work on it more before those games? And what exactly do you mean by free throw technique? Did Jacob do something wrong when he missed the front end of a one-on-one? Was it technique? Did the coaches not teach him properly?

As for rebounding, it's sometimes give and take. Sometimes you have to give up a few extra rebounds to prevent other things, like 3 point shots. We have struggled rebounding in the past, and there have been times when I've gotten on the coaches for that, but yesterday Tyler's foul trouble was definitely a factor there., and we do miss Nick there as well. He was a very good rebounder for his size. Also, there were some times when we got some nice second and third chances as well. That does not mean St. Bonaventure's coaches were doing something wrong. It happens. But, all that being said, I think it's fair to worry about that a little bit. If it's an ongoing issue, then it needs to be fixed immediately. But, hopefully this was just one game with Tyler in foul trouble where they got us a few times.

Where have you been? Rebounding has been an issue for 16 years. It's not a priority for Mooney, never has been. Watch URI and SLU go to the boards.

 

[PASpider]

Is Dji Bailey redshirting? Has that been officially decided yet?

 

[Eight Legger]

No reason to redshirt, everyone gets another year anyway. Plus he already played so he can't redshirt.

 

[ur2K]

Where have you been? Rebounding has been an issue for 16 years. It's not a priority for Mooney, never has been. Watch URI and SLU go to the boards.

UR is ranked 293 in rebounding margin. It’s not a one game issue.

 

[SpiderGuy]

We don't have an issue with the team, we have an issue with the coach. There's a huge difference there. The coach has failed for a decade to teach defensive rebounding. He has failed for a decade to teach free throw technique. How many games have we lost because of those two things? Way too many. The inability to teach those things loses us multiple games every year that we should be winning.

True to a "T". Reminds me of the expression "old habits die hard".

 

[SpiderGuy]

UR is ranked 293 in rebounding margin. It’s not a one game issue.

Any many years we are in the 300's.

 

[SpiderGuy]

As for rebounding, it's sometimes give and take. Sometimes you have to give up a few extra rebounds to prevent other things, like 3 point shots. We have struggled rebounding in the past

It's not some of tradeoff as you described (rebounds to prevent like 3's). That seems more like playing not to lose as opposed to playing to win.

We have struggled with rebounding as it is not part of the Mooney System and not a priority for years. We have 3 decent sized guys in the starting rotation this year - GG, Cayo, & Burton. Burton is great at rebounding. If Mooney stressed it as opposed to running the opposite way, it would pay dividends.

 

[SouthJerseySpiderFan]

Where have you been?

Don't know for how long, but I believe he lives either 2 or 3 doors down from Mooney.

 

[whampas]

Any many years we are in the 300's.

I just don't get it. You can't score unless you have the ball. Possession is paramount in most sports. Value the ball and go all out to get it. What am I missing that Mooney sees? Princeton>Richmond?

 

[plydogg]

So VT instead of addressing the free throw issues you wrote a paragraph of nonsensical questions that didn’t further the discussion at all. When I was in highschool we were incredible at free throws my junior year because we had to practice them every single day at the “conclusion” of practice. The next year we didn’t do that anymore and our free throw percentage dropped by over 10%.

Basketball isn’t a sport where you just learn something and never practice it again...

 

[VT4700]

Where have you been? Rebounding has been an issue for 16 years. It's not a priority for Mooney, never has been. Watch URI and SLU go to the boards.

I hear you, and a lot is by design. Not all, but a lot. Our lack of offensive rebounding allows us to prevent transition baskets. We are not the only team with this strategy, and looking at our offensive efficiency, it usually works. URI and SLU might get more offensive rebounds, but also might give up more easy baskets. Defensively, we do have some issues at times, but I do not think it has been that dramatic this year. Yesterday hurt us a few times, so we need to work on that if Burton is out. I think we have been pretty good with him in there though.

 

[VT4700]

So VT instead of addressing the free throw issues you wrote a paragraph of nonsensical questions that didn’t further the discussion at all. When I was in highschool we were incredible at free throws my junior year because we had to practice them every single day at the “conclusion” of practice. The next year we didn’t do that anymore and our free throw percentage dropped by over 10%.

Basketball isn’t a sport where you just learn something and never practice it again...

Why wouldn't you practice them anymore the next year? Now, THAT is definitely a coaching issue there. And, why would you think we don't practice shooting them?

 

[SpiderGuy]

NCAA Basketball Stats - NCAA BB Team Total Rebounds per Game | TeamRankings.com

NCAA Basketball total rebounds per game, by team.

www.teamrankings.com

I went back 5 years. Other than last year we were consistently in the 300+ range out of approx 350 schools. That's a good frat to hang in? Use the drop down to pick any year you want and do a CTRL F & type in Richmond to find us.

I'm just not buying the tradeoff that some accept or can find a way to reconcile for playing some sort of prevent defense on a basketball court.

 

[MrTbone]

NCAA Basketball Stats - NCAA BB Team Total Rebounds per Game | TeamRankings.com

NCAA Basketball total rebounds per game, by team.

www.teamrankings.com

I went back 5 years. Other than last year we were consistently in the 300+ range out of approx 350 schools. That's a good frat to hang in? Use the drop down to pick any year you want and do a CTRL F & type in Richmond to find us.

I'm just not buying the tradeoff that some accept or can find a way to reconcile for playing some sort of prevent defense on a basketball court.

There’s a fair bit of data available that suggests rebounding, particularly OReb, is not highly correlated to win%. I think this presumes you aren’t down in the 275-350 range though.

We don’t have to be worldbeaters on the glass, we just have to be adequate. Not surprisingly we posted a very nice record last season and had decent rebounding success.

 

[Captain Anderson]

There’s a fair bit of data available that suggests rebounding, particularly OReb, is not highly correlated to win%. I think this presumes you aren’t down in the 275-350 range though.

We don’t have to be worldbeaters on the glass, we just have to be adequate. Not surprisingly we posted a very nice record last season and had decent rebounding success.

I get the offensive rebounding data and I absolutely understand the strategy of not crashing the offensive glass to prevent transition buckets but we have consistently given up second and third chances to opponents throughout the long Mooney era on defense. Many of those second and third chances are high percentage layups and dunks. I’d just like to watch a spider basketball team where we aren’t just happy to “not get out rebounded too badly”. We’ve had a huge sample size under Mooney and it’s never going to be a strength or more frankly not a major weakness. I don’t understand why we settle for this but that topic has been beaten to death and the administration seems thrilled with the status quo.

 

[MrTbone]

I get the offensive rebounding data and I absolutely understand the strategy of not crashing the offensive glass to prevent transition buckets but we have consistently given up second and third chances to opponents throughout the long Mooney era on defense. Many of those second and third chances are high percentage layups and dunks. I’d just like to watch a spider basketball team where we aren’t just happy to “not get out rebounded too badly”. We’ve had a huge sample size under Mooney and it’s never going to be a strength or more frankly not a major weakness. I don’t understand why we settle for this but that topic has been beaten to death and the administration seems thrilled with the status quo.

Totally concur with this. I wasn’t trying to deflate the importance of rebounding, merely noting that we don’t have to be top50 statistically, we just need to be mediocre. We aren’t even mediocre. When we have been mediocre it tends to translate to wins.

 

[Spider B]

Getting the rebound on defense is a big part of the defensive possession.

 

[VT4700]

NCAA Basketball Stats - NCAA BB Team Total Rebounds per Game | TeamRankings.com

NCAA Basketball total rebounds per game, by team.

www.teamrankings.com

I went back 5 years. Other than last year we were consistently in the 300+ range out of approx 350 schools. That's a good frat to hang in? Use the drop down to pick any year you want and do a CTRL F & type in Richmond to find us.

I'm just not buying the tradeoff that some accept or can find a way to reconcile for playing some sort of prevent defense on a basketball court.

Now do transition points given up. Of course there is a trade off. There is also a trade off with the type of bigs we have had the past 7 years. TJ and Grant are great offensively, but neither could jump very high and neither was going to be a Burton type and snatch a lot of boards. Also, our offensively efficiency has been really good over the years, and a big reason is our play from TJ and Grant at the top, rather than underneath the basket. Sure, maybe our rebounding would be a little better over the years with more of a jumping athlete down there, but wouldn't our offense suffer? And, those that can do that and give you what TJ and Grant give you offensively are usually at a power school and NBA bound. Yes, style of play with our big out front and offensive efficiency matters and very much will affect our rebound stats. I will give up a few rebounds for a guy like TJ or Grant every season.

And, are you just using total rebounds? What about teams that play really good defense and force fewer shots during a game? Won't they get fewer rebounds as a result?

 

[plydogg]

The only “trade off” that I care about is NCAA appearances. No appearances in 9 seasons is not a fair trade to me.

 

[MrTbone]

Now do transition points given up. Of course there is a trade off. There is also a trade off with the type of bigs we have had the past 7 years. TJ and Grant are great offensively, but neither could jump very high and neither was going to be a Burton type and snatch a lot of boards. Also, our offensively efficiency has been really good over the years, and a big reason is our play from TJ and Grant at the top, rather than underneath the basket. Sure, maybe our rebounding would be a little better over the years with more of a jumping athlete down there, but wouldn't our offense suffer? And, those that can do that and give you what TJ and Grant give you offensively are usually at a power school and NBA bound. Yes, style of play with our big out front and offensive efficiency matters and very much will affect our rebound stats. I will give up a few rebounds for a guy like TJ or Grant every season.

And, are you just using total rebounds? What about teams that play really good defense and force fewer shots during a game? Won't they get fewer rebounds as a result?

I don’t think the trade off applies on D which is where we need to be better. Grant, or TJ before him, probably alone weren’t the problem. Our rebounding competence is fairly weak 1-5.

somewhere in here it’s important to remind oneself that wins and losses aren’t typically isolated to a single performance failure. It’s not just poor rebounding. But when you start to compile that with things like poor free throw shooting, a complicated defense that wasn’t suited to our team makeup, and significant recruiting errors, you have to critically evaluate if the path we are on is going to be regularly successful or successful only once in a while.

 

[8legs1dream]

you know what VT, I am finally starting to understand where you are coming from. You make some excellent points there clearly everything is fine. We are doing awesome. Our team is great. The past decade proves that beyond any doubt since of the two guys that you are so hyped up on TJ never sniffed an NCAA appearance and Golden may very well join him in that distinction 👏👏👏