Get Mooney a contract exten$ion!
- Thread starter MolivaManiac
- Start date
Lol, he blew it on so many levels, but the kids saved his A$$
I agree, when we win it has nothing to do with Mooney, and when we lose it is all Mooney's fault.
His on court coaching tonight might not have been stellar but he did a great job in the locker room getting the guys mentally prepared to play this game, especially after having the rough patch to start the conference schedule.
He made mistakes no doubt, but good devision to spread floor in OT's as our guards dominated and we're too quick for GW.
The players saved Mooney big time tonight. The offense-defense that took us out of rythym at the end of the game and then having your best player foul out intentionally at the end of the game and then not to foul on the next possession. If your intentionally fouling fine but you take terry out in that situation.
Post game presser with Black and Beck that is on the Spider website is one of the best Mooney has given. Good line was when the question of fouling at the end of regulation when we had 3 point lead and we chose to foul the first time but not the second and GW hit the tying 3 and CM said with a laugh words to the effect of you know we have screwed up that situation both ways in previous games.
During his postgame comments on espnu with craig he explained that they fouled the first time up 3, then rolled the dice the 2nd time by not fouling and the kid banked it in at the buzzer. Davis was in the kids face so not like it was an uncontested freebie
Just saw the brief interview on ESPN.com. Mooney looked terribly relieved. He was undoubtedly feeling pressure last night.
Also was shocked at the 3 that sent the game into OT. Man. That is a soulcrusher. Kudos to all for withstanding that.
Finally - not sure why TD took that long 3. Sure glad it went in!
Also was shocked at the 3 that sent the game into OT. Man. That is a soulcrusher. Kudos to all for withstanding that.
Finally - not sure why TD took that long 3. Sure glad it went in!
Yes very appropriate thread title because of the low keyed even keeled understated non reactive nature of the overwhelming majority of message board posts.
Mooney had some great calls in the game last night, fouling on the 1st potential OT 3 and then not fouling on the 2nd one to mix it up. Guy hit an unbelievable shot and the rim was strangely forgiving. Refs for both teams were not very good, they called ticky tack stuff for several minute stretches and then let everything go for other stretches. I thought that Lonergan should have gotten a technical at some point during the night for his antics and constant pining for phantom calls.
What bothered me was I know Mooney had good instructions for fouling at the end of the game and through OT and Terry was dumb to foul the guy with 4 already. Then TJ and Marshall Woods fouls were unnecessary, especially Marshall's. I didn't like Marshall's reaction after either sort of a dumb smile. He should have let the guy go at that point.
I thought Julius Johnson put in some good minutes for us as well, showed a lot of energy and I thought called out the defensive switches pretty well. He did miss some bunny layups though. Our rebounding was just atrocious, as usual but I thought hit new lows in regulation. I know GW has a big team, but jeez. I thought Picozzi had a great nugget of talking about a conversation with Coach Mooney before the game that he was very nervous about GW's size inside and that certainly displayed itself.
Now the big issue is we just played double OT and have to turn around and go Olean, NY after SDJ, Fore and Wood playing heavy heavy minutes in a double OT game. Looked like DT was limping at the end of the game as well due to one knee (maybe tied to his back again?). At least with Coach smartly keeping Terry out of a lot of action in the 2nd half (the announcers couldn't figure out why he was sitting). Left him on the bench as we maintained our lead for a good stretch. They couldn't figure it out but I figured it was saving for Sunday's quick turnaround. With that and his foul out, Terry should be fine for Sunday. TJ should be OK too as he didn't start to play defense until OT.
What bothered me was I know Mooney had good instructions for fouling at the end of the game and through OT and Terry was dumb to foul the guy with 4 already. Then TJ and Marshall Woods fouls were unnecessary, especially Marshall's. I didn't like Marshall's reaction after either sort of a dumb smile. He should have let the guy go at that point.
I thought Julius Johnson put in some good minutes for us as well, showed a lot of energy and I thought called out the defensive switches pretty well. He did miss some bunny layups though. Our rebounding was just atrocious, as usual but I thought hit new lows in regulation. I know GW has a big team, but jeez. I thought Picozzi had a great nugget of talking about a conversation with Coach Mooney before the game that he was very nervous about GW's size inside and that certainly displayed itself.
Now the big issue is we just played double OT and have to turn around and go Olean, NY after SDJ, Fore and Wood playing heavy heavy minutes in a double OT game. Looked like DT was limping at the end of the game as well due to one knee (maybe tied to his back again?). At least with Coach smartly keeping Terry out of a lot of action in the 2nd half (the announcers couldn't figure out why he was sitting). Left him on the bench as we maintained our lead for a good stretch. They couldn't figure it out but I figured it was saving for Sunday's quick turnaround. With that and his foul out, Terry should be fine for Sunday. TJ should be OK too as he didn't start to play defense until OT.
As stated by others during the in-game thread, Mooney made many decisions that could have put this one in the loss column. Fore, Wood, and S. Jones wouldn't have it! Congratulations to those players for winning this one.
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Much easier going to NY after a win than a loss. That should give them plenty of energy for STB game.
So he blamed it on Davis not fouling? I dont get it. We fouled with 9 sec left first time. Then our guys had much time to foul before any chance of them getting off a shot and we played back. Ahhh I think that seems fishy coach.
That sounds like a guy that is shooting from the hip and doesnt have a clear sense of whats right or not. Foul up 3 with 9 left then wing it? If u think it was the right decision the first time, its is the right decision the second time. Amazing the guys fought past that. Great job!!!
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This is what I like to call a "fools gold" game. We come away with a good win on the road against a good team, but really the only reason we won this game is because we shot lights out. If you told any coach in America right now before any game - your going to shoot 60% from the field, 57% from 3 about 70% from the line - they would bet house for a win. And yes- we did win, but in double OT.
It does not change who we are as a team and our main weaknesses. Which are
1) No depth - we play 7 guys no matter what. It will be interesting to see how the guys respond after a long game like this late at night and turnaround to play in Olean on Sunday afternoon. Our lack of depth might not be an issue in some games, but when it comes A10 tourney time and probably having to play 3 or 4 games in a row - it will defeat us.
2) Defense is poor. Our only way to win is outscore people. We gave up 20 offensive rebounds last night. GW did not shoot well at all, and yet - even with us shooting lights out - it was a close game that goes to double OT. Any other year - with us shooting that good, this is an easy 10-15 point win. With this team - its a nailbiter that goes to OT.
3) Wood is all or nothing. I said it after the Fordham game and stand by it. I don't think it matters if you start him or not. He is either going to be on fire or be ice cold. Which to mean screams bench player. Let him come off the bench - if he hits a few early shots, you ride him the rest of the game. If he misses and can't find the stroke early - don't put him back in the game, other than knocking down 3's - he brings nothing else to the table.
I expect us to have probably 2-3 more games like this the rest of the year. I said before the game - I still think we get to about 8-9 wins in the conference. But this doesn't change who we are - a middle of the pack A10 team on the NIT bubble.
It does not change who we are as a team and our main weaknesses. Which are
1) No depth - we play 7 guys no matter what. It will be interesting to see how the guys respond after a long game like this late at night and turnaround to play in Olean on Sunday afternoon. Our lack of depth might not be an issue in some games, but when it comes A10 tourney time and probably having to play 3 or 4 games in a row - it will defeat us.
2) Defense is poor. Our only way to win is outscore people. We gave up 20 offensive rebounds last night. GW did not shoot well at all, and yet - even with us shooting lights out - it was a close game that goes to double OT. Any other year - with us shooting that good, this is an easy 10-15 point win. With this team - its a nailbiter that goes to OT.
3) Wood is all or nothing. I said it after the Fordham game and stand by it. I don't think it matters if you start him or not. He is either going to be on fire or be ice cold. Which to mean screams bench player. Let him come off the bench - if he hits a few early shots, you ride him the rest of the game. If he misses and can't find the stroke early - don't put him back in the game, other than knocking down 3's - he brings nothing else to the table.
I expect us to have probably 2-3 more games like this the rest of the year. I said before the game - I still think we get to about 8-9 wins in the conference. But this doesn't change who we are - a middle of the pack A10 team on the NIT bubble.
Mooney's justification was that the second time, with the amount of time left on the clock he figured we'd have to foul twice more to run out the clock. And with GW's good foul shooting and strong rebounding (and our unsaid foul shooting weakness), he was worried about pulling off the foul shot trade successfully three times in succession.
And they certainly got a lucky bounce(s) on that three.
And they certainly got a lucky bounce(s) on that three.
Storyline has not changed - we hit 3's and free throws we win, we don't we lose. So from a purely spectator point of view we don't know which team is going to show up?
Mooney got saved big time, he fouls up three with 15 seconds then allows a guy to tie the game without fouling....someone was looking out for him
I'm a Mooney supporter, but last night killed me. My friends can barely watch the games they are so frustrating and had last night gone awry I don't know if I could subject myself to feeling so crappy about our results anymore and might have found something else to do next time we had a televised game.
The Bad:
-The timeout to ice the shooter/set up a play whatever (2nd to last in regulation). I hated it when it happened. When Shawdre had to burn our last timeout to avoid the jumpball/turnover I had the sense of dread the lack of T.O.s would be our undoing. We had a tough time inbounding right afterward. Ugh... these guys are experienced and good enough sideline instructions should suffice rather then burning a T.O. If it was to ice... t.o.s too precious at that point. Bad call.
-Terry Allen 5th. He had no business being on the court for that. Also the concept of immediately fouling after they get past half-court (i know the Kendall Anthony play last year) but that's lost on me. GW had 9 seconds and was going to set up their offense. They weren't looking to just pull inside half court. Play defense for a couple of seconds/until a pass is made to three point line... Hack as it comes not after they catch. Simple. Teach that. As for not being able to get Terry in as Obama's bro in law said for offense? What? We foul. We sub. Horrible oversight.
-I don't mind the not fouling today on the last shot as much as I did last night. They were expecting contact so he switched it up... fine. He hit a miracle and we played good three point D. We are just cursed in those situations. Still, when you allow your p.o.y. candidate to foul out you are almost obligated to not "roll the dice." Had it been say Trey's fourth the possession before the second outcome is a lot more palatable but in that context just... ugh.
-No change of looks. The 1-3-1 switch up was terrible for GW but we ran good a little bit in that space to start the second half. Not sure their defense was the reason for that. We just executed. I like the idea of what Lonegran was trying. It astounds me how infrequently we surprise an offense with a new look just to mess with them. Pressing or token pressure isn't enough. Mooney needs to add something to his bag of tricks in spots to disrupt rhythm. Even if we are 95% his staple defense every once in a while try to unsettle an offense by showing up in 1-3-1 or man to man or whatever. Hate to invoke Dean Smith again but he did that so effectively. Just out of nowhere maybe only for one or two possession show something else.
The Good
-A road win
-OT performances when team had to jell in Allen's absence
-Flashes of how good we can (should) be, and several really good defensive stops (also included are when we didn't rebound but we forced bad shots). We just need to play like that for 40 minutes.
-Free throw shooting by some of the kids
-Great job by the kids stepping up and closing out a tight game. I thought this year we'd be better at that. Turns out until last night we were worse. I hope how little respect the TV crew gave us adds to the incentive enough to make a run. They practically said "Richmond" like we were some sort of Fordham caliber team (looking at the league standings no wonder). Love our team, think they are capable of so much more.
Final Analysis:
Tom Coughlin time. We need to go on a run. We need a splash in the postseason(s) (NCAA berth, New York in N.I.T., A10 Championship/Finals... something). Do one of those and I'm still a Mooney supporter. Don't? Ugh.
The Bad:
-The timeout to ice the shooter/set up a play whatever (2nd to last in regulation). I hated it when it happened. When Shawdre had to burn our last timeout to avoid the jumpball/turnover I had the sense of dread the lack of T.O.s would be our undoing. We had a tough time inbounding right afterward. Ugh... these guys are experienced and good enough sideline instructions should suffice rather then burning a T.O. If it was to ice... t.o.s too precious at that point. Bad call.
-Terry Allen 5th. He had no business being on the court for that. Also the concept of immediately fouling after they get past half-court (i know the Kendall Anthony play last year) but that's lost on me. GW had 9 seconds and was going to set up their offense. They weren't looking to just pull inside half court. Play defense for a couple of seconds/until a pass is made to three point line... Hack as it comes not after they catch. Simple. Teach that. As for not being able to get Terry in as Obama's bro in law said for offense? What? We foul. We sub. Horrible oversight.
-I don't mind the not fouling today on the last shot as much as I did last night. They were expecting contact so he switched it up... fine. He hit a miracle and we played good three point D. We are just cursed in those situations. Still, when you allow your p.o.y. candidate to foul out you are almost obligated to not "roll the dice." Had it been say Trey's fourth the possession before the second outcome is a lot more palatable but in that context just... ugh.
-No change of looks. The 1-3-1 switch up was terrible for GW but we ran good a little bit in that space to start the second half. Not sure their defense was the reason for that. We just executed. I like the idea of what Lonegran was trying. It astounds me how infrequently we surprise an offense with a new look just to mess with them. Pressing or token pressure isn't enough. Mooney needs to add something to his bag of tricks in spots to disrupt rhythm. Even if we are 95% his staple defense every once in a while try to unsettle an offense by showing up in 1-3-1 or man to man or whatever. Hate to invoke Dean Smith again but he did that so effectively. Just out of nowhere maybe only for one or two possession show something else.
The Good
-A road win
-OT performances when team had to jell in Allen's absence
-Flashes of how good we can (should) be, and several really good defensive stops (also included are when we didn't rebound but we forced bad shots). We just need to play like that for 40 minutes.
-Free throw shooting by some of the kids
-Great job by the kids stepping up and closing out a tight game. I thought this year we'd be better at that. Turns out until last night we were worse. I hope how little respect the TV crew gave us adds to the incentive enough to make a run. They practically said "Richmond" like we were some sort of Fordham caliber team (looking at the league standings no wonder). Love our team, think they are capable of so much more.
Final Analysis:
Tom Coughlin time. We need to go on a run. We need a splash in the postseason(s) (NCAA berth, New York in N.I.T., A10 Championship/Finals... something). Do one of those and I'm still a Mooney supporter. Don't? Ugh.
I disagree wood brings nothing else to the table. Him and taylor played the same minutes last night and he got twice as many rebounds. He also was solid on D on many occasions interrupting shots and giving help in the post. Its a myth that he isnt as good or better than others on D end.
So then why foul with 9 seconds left? That make no sense. So he first fouls w 9 left and doesnt expect to have to foul a number of more times? Once you foul early like he often does, Cal game, you know you put yourself in position to need to foul again.
He didn't expect or want TA to be the one to deliver the first foul to prevent a three point shot. After TA fouled out we were down to only one dependable free throw shooter and lost our best rebounder as well. Since our ability to rebound and shoot free throws was compromised by TA fouling out we had to change our strategy.
As many have said on here in the past, you have to develop your game plan around your personnel. Mooney had to change his game plan on the fly due to TA fouling out.
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Yes - he grabbed 7 rebounds, but when you play 36 minutes and the opponent misses nearly 50 shots, someone has to get some rebounds. Wood is bad on defense - no doubt about it. But in reality - the whole team is bad on defense, so you could make the argument - lets really try to outscore people then. Forget defense - lets try to score 100 points each night, shoot 25+ 3's a night, run up and down and create more possessions and see what happens.
No. From the context thought he was referencing past end game situations. I did not see him blaming Davis at all.
I think part of the idea was they were expecting it the second time, see KA last year in the same game, that if they were just looking to put it up when we fouled, we'd out think them by not fouling. Instead they hit the miracle. As I stated previously, similar to you, I'd be more on board with this had we not just let out star player foul out.
Also, not sure why we have to foul immediately, burn some seconds then foul. GW is looking for a good shot not just any shot until the very end. It's a bit of game of chicken but coach your kids in these situations, as they arise enough, to play it well if you going to be a foul first coach.
Btw, conversely to your first point, maybe he's just protecting his player and TD was supposed to foul. Looked like Davis on the bench was explaining to Allen why he didn't foul. Certainly looked like he was justifying something. Anybody else see that?
GW shot 75 times to our 55 shots. Mostly due to turnovers and rebounding of course. Guess we were more efficient. We had to shoot lights out to barely win that game. We have very little margin of error due to lack of D and rebounding. Very happy for young men that worked hard for this win. I would like to see that level of intensity from now on.
GW shot 37% for the game. I think our D was actually pretty good. Yes, we needed to shoot 60% to win because of rebounding and turnovers, but I'm pleased with how well we handled a very physical team on the defensive end, even with the refs doing their best to force us into a lineup of Pistol, JJ, Kovien, PF, and Moran.
Good stuff. Great to get a well desrved win. Guys really hustled & played hard.
Pretty obvious we won because we shot light out...the bread & butter I alluded to earlier this week. We usually go as our 3 point shooting goes. Tonight is was good...thanks MW!
The lack of rebounding will always bother me, as it adds to our limited room for error. Tonight it was offset by our good shooting. But we've seen what happens this season when 1) shooting % is low and 2) the rebounding is typically low. How many times did you hear ESPN commentator say, "Another GW offensive rebound"?...all to often for 2nd & 3rd chance points. Better rebounding (amongst other things) and we win in regulation. Also heard the commentator say after we take a shot, "All white jerseys around the rim". Sorry but I'll never stop believing that a different rebounding philosophy on offense and more boxing out / more agressive rebounding on defense would only benefit us.
GW is certainly a big and strong interior-focused team, and Mooney said rebounding was his biggest cause for concern. (Their +6.2 margin on the year is solid.)
We were only -8 against them, so not terrible, but when you consider the fact they missed 47 shots and we only missed 20 on the night, we should have been better. We did clean it up a bit after the first half after they'd beaten us 11 to 7 on our own boards.
We were only -8 against them, so not terrible, but when you consider the fact they missed 47 shots and we only missed 20 on the night, we should have been better. We did clean it up a bit after the first half after they'd beaten us 11 to 7 on our own boards.
