Listening to Mooney’s postgame almost makes me feel sorry for him. The talent differential and most other issues fall on him as the coach, but he just seems to be in over his head.
Forecast for Dayton
- Thread starter UR80sfan
- Start date
KneePad a lot of truth to that in that Cayo missed several point blank, Jake W missed an easy layup, and there were at least 5-6 wideopen, uncontested 3s missed.
Their zone was similar to that 1-2-2 or 3-2 that Tarrant would play and trap and redirect the guards to one side or the other and the off top defender would drop into the middle of zone not allowing offensive player in middle to get it. A few times we got it to Cayo, we did off quick pass from the top to the wing to Cayo in the middle who did make several nice moves to hoop but could not finish.
We were just out of sync with our movement and Flyers were patient in swinging ball around to wait till Grant was pulled outside with coverage and then got one of their big men covered by our guards underneath. 54 shots in the paint, CM are your freaking blind that you don't play the odds to defend the strength of the other team? Their shooting outside was not good, why not defend the paint and make them beat you outside.
This is what I have sensed as well. He just has no idea how to fix things. But, at least he has $14 million to fall back on.
Grant was "on" him. As soon as Cunningham or frankly any big man gets one step on Grant, he just quits on defense and lets them score. I'm sure some of that is to protect him from foul trouble but it makes our interior defense extremely soft and porous.
Agree. So why doesn’t our coach have the team prepared to play a zone defense to try and defend the lane? Make teams beat us by hitting 3s, you know, like Dayton just did to us
Agree completely that the players have to make plays. That is not happening nearly enough.
I think a mentality (something more than a lack of talent) has a grip on this team. It was apparent last season as well. AND, we have seen a piece of it in most of Mooney's teams. It has been much worse the past 2-seasons when the winning has been scarce. I am referring to a "here we go again" losing mindset.
As soon as something goes wrong, the opponent makes a run, or shows some dominance, the Spiders get the wind sucked out of them. The defeatist body language is very telling, and the mindset seems to go straight to "here we go again."
Anybody who has ever played a sport competitively knows that a confident mindset plays a superbly important part in success. When a shooter is on, he feels as though he can't miss. When your confidence is up, good things happen. This is why teams go on spurts and runs. Something good happens, and the mind goes to YEAH baby.
"Here we go again" is a defeatist mindset that leads to lesser performance. When confidence is down shooting is going to be a challenge. The more you miss, the more chance that soon you can't buy a bucket. It gets in your head. Mental mistakes increase, crispness declines, and effort decreases. When we believe that we are going to fail, it is a good chance that we will be correct.
OF COURSE, a lot of the "winner" mindset battle has to take place between the ears of the players. But, a large part of any team with a losing mindset has to be laid at the feet of the coach. The culture, coaching decisions, the language, the preparation, the attitude, and much, much more are on the coach. Some call this mental toughness, but in my belief it is far more comprehensive.
I think a mentality (something more than a lack of talent) has a grip on this team. It was apparent last season as well. AND, we have seen a piece of it in most of Mooney's teams. It has been much worse the past 2-seasons when the winning has been scarce. I am referring to a "here we go again" losing mindset.
As soon as something goes wrong, the opponent makes a run, or shows some dominance, the Spiders get the wind sucked out of them. The defeatist body language is very telling, and the mindset seems to go straight to "here we go again."
Anybody who has ever played a sport competitively knows that a confident mindset plays a superbly important part in success. When a shooter is on, he feels as though he can't miss. When your confidence is up, good things happen. This is why teams go on spurts and runs. Something good happens, and the mind goes to YEAH baby.
"Here we go again" is a defeatist mindset that leads to lesser performance. When confidence is down shooting is going to be a challenge. The more you miss, the more chance that soon you can't buy a bucket. It gets in your head. Mental mistakes increase, crispness declines, and effort decreases. When we believe that we are going to fail, it is a good chance that we will be correct.
OF COURSE, a lot of the "winner" mindset battle has to take place between the ears of the players. But, a large part of any team with a losing mindset has to be laid at the feet of the coach. The culture, coaching decisions, the language, the preparation, the attitude, and much, much more are on the coach. Some call this mental toughness, but in my belief it is far more comprehensive.
If we didn't move the target so much, our 3 pt shooting percentage might improve.
And that's from a guy who has no skin in the game other than being a Dayton fan. He reports on all A-10 schools (as well as Dayton's OOC), and he can see we're bad. Anyone with any sense can see we're bad. A UR grad at work today said he saw some of the game on TV yesterday, and said we we're awful. We're pathetic!
