Mens - Loyola @ RC - Tuesday 2/11 7pm ESPN+

[Section9.RowD]

Proud of the player effort but nothing about this game makes sense …. Jack A plays like 30 minutes and plays well but might have gotten tired at some point - Walz played great as did Soulis but Soulis doesn’t play after 6 minute mark ... coaching again fails

 

[whampas]

Closing in on 20. You go Mooney.

 

[I-M-UR]

The good news is we didn’t fall in the standings😉

 

[8legs]

did anyone actually think we would win ?

 

[fatherspider]

Down 5 with a minute to go and the Spiders arent even pressuring the basketball to try to get a TO. Let them run 20 seconds off the clock.

 

[72Spider]

But, oh my, did we ever compete!

 

[RichmondNative]

It was a surprisingly entertaining game as it looked like a blowout was in store after the first few minutes. Guys battled back to get within 3 at half and then actually took the lead late in the second half. Roller coaster scoring by both teams made it interesting. Of course, Spiders couldn’t defend the 3 and had trouble with defensive rebounding.

Walz was gassed at numerous times, but battled through as the substitution routine went AWOL. Dusan hurting his knee was a momentum killer and perhaps that was the black cloud for this game.

It was nice to see some solid backdoor makes. But a L is a L and the Spiders have plenty of them.

 

[Eight Legger]

Unlocked a new way to lose: let your opponents shoot 50 threes!

 

[Section9.RowD]

Unlocked a new way to lose: let your opponents shoot 50 threes!

Mind blowing

 

[I-M-UR]

Odd they took 109 shots (44 from 3). Vs our 78. We tied with turnovers 9. They had 5 more OR. They had 2 more steels, 2 more block and we committed 1 more foul. But they took 31 more shots?

 

[SpiderGuy]

Our 3point defense is laughable.

3’s are free.

 

[urfan1]

Odd they took 109 shots (44 from 3). Vs our 78. We tied with turnovers 9. They had 5 more OR. They had 2 more steels, 2 more block and we committed 1 more foul. But they took 31 more shots?

Not sure what you are looking at they took 65 shots to our 60 shots.

 

[I-M-UR]

Not sure what you are looking at they took 65 shots to our 60 shots.

You’re correct I add 3s to total my bad

 

[GKiller]

for sure .. he needs to be starting next year

For who? Why not now at the 4. Maybe us next year if we do that.

 

[Eight Legger]

I like a lot of things about AP, but my god, he is just an awful shooter. Like really bad. Like he really shouldn't be allowed to do anything but attempt layups and dunks at this point. He's 26% from three and 33% overall. How can UConn guy be this bad?

 

[PASpider]

Roche played 29 minutes and had 0 points. Love that instant offense he brings.

 

[spider23]

I like a lot of things about AP, but my god, he is just an awful shooter. Like really bad. Like he really shouldn't be allowed to do anything but attempt layups and dunks at this point. He's 26% from three and 33% overall. How can UConn guy be this bad?

It's interesting how he got such a rep as a shooter. I remember seeing some footage of him as a freshman at uconn and he was bricking away in an empty gym. No tape of him from Greece. But the legend grew.

 

[GKiller]

Postgame press report…

1. Mooney calls this game “worthy of a sellout”. A 6-17 team vs. a solid enough but very unspectacular Loyola. Ok sure.

2. Moon made comment our defense was “exponentially better” with D’Entremont playing. It’s game 25! Of course no follow up from JOC on why an available player who literally played only 10 mins all year now sees 31 mins in a game worthy of a sellout. It would have been my top question but what do I know.

3. Big Mike. Nice game. I like Big Mike & we r better team when he’s active. So well spoken. Said you “only have to win a couple games in March & you’re dancing”. It’s 5 Mike. Look at bracket we’re in last place. Hey it’s right sentiment to always think you have a chance. And I get it’s kinda just an oversimplified line in a presser. The players get passes in those over 20-year Moon. But 5 is a ton & virtually impossible.

 

[Eight Legger]

Yeah, considering that we have won back to back games against D1 opponents exactly once all season, forgive me for not counting on us doing that much more.... let alone winning five straight.

 

[Section9.RowD]

For who? Why not now at the 4. Maybe us next year if we do that.

Yeah - would to see Walz and Soulis on the floor together at times. While Beagle has had some good moments, just doesn't seem he is up to A10 competition.

 

[Section9.RowD]

Postgame press report…

2. Moon made comment our defense was “exponentially better” with D’Entremont playing. It’s game 25! Of course no follow up from JOC on why an available player who literally played only 10 mins all year now sees 31 mins in a game worthy of a sellout. It would have been my top question but what do I know.

Exactly .. and while I think Jack impact was significant, we effectively didn't sub after the 6 minutes mark. I'm sure I'm exaggerating some but pretty sure a few of the guys in OT could have used a breather including Walz.

 

[spider23]

Yes, I remember at start of the season a lot of us were high on Jack. And I get it, we brought in Glou and Dusan, and made the decision to RS Bryson and Jrob - so moon was putting his eggs in that basket. But this guy is a super solid player - that impacts (almost anyway ) winning. It's kind of like my Dji argument. I know sman thinks you have to have 5 big stats guys to win, but plenty of teams have guys that can just do all the little things and you stick them on the court for 25 minutes and they impact winning. I think Jack is that kind of guy, but yes odd that now all of the sudden he is playing.

I will say, who the heck knows what goes on behind the scenes these days. Maybe moon overheard beagle telling someone he was transferring after the year and boom to the bench. Saw some nice action from Walz to White for a couple layups. Soulis continues to look pretty good in his minutes.

Tanner with one minute? hmmm.

 

[CarolinaSpider]

I like a lot of things about AP, but my god, he is just an awful shooter. Like really bad. Like he really shouldn't be allowed to do anything but attempt layups and dunks at this point. He's 26% from three and 33% overall. How can UConn guy be this bad?

AP just seems undisciplined to me but very athletic. To me he should attack the lane more .

 

[spider23]

How can UConn guy be this bad?

Maybe why Hurley threw him out the club?

 

[GKiller]

Yes, I remember at start of the season a lot of us were high on Jack. And I get it, we brought in Glou and Dusan, and made the decision to RS Bryson and Jrob - so moon was putting his eggs in that basket. But this guy is a super solid player - that impacts (almost anyway ) winning. It's kind of like my Dji argument. I know sman thinks you have to have 5 big stats guys to win, but plenty of teams have guys that can just do all the little things and you stick them on the court for 25 minutes and they impact winning. I think Jack is that kind of guy, but yes odd that now all of the sudden he is playing.

I will say, who the heck knows what goes on behind the scenes these days. Maybe moon overheard beagle telling someone he was transferring after the year and boom to the bench. Saw some nice action from Walz to White for a couple layups. Soulis continues to look pretty good in his minutes.

Tanner with one minute? hmmm.

impacting winning...the Goose sends his regards

 

[Gallipoli]

Ooops. Another one down. I am glad I missed the game.

 

[Gallipoli]

Ooops. Another one down. I am glad I missed the game.

Actually, I am sorry I missed it. It went into overtime and they outscored us 22-15 in OT. Looking at the box score, scoring wasn't the problem. It seems to be defense and especially 3-PT defense.

 

[spider23]

Good game from Walz, and good interview. He takes responsibility for the bad (only 2 rebounds), praises teammates, and gives a pretty honest assessment. Him and Soulis give us a couple of really good interior pieces for next season - as would think at least one of them breaks out into a consistent player on offense.

That gives some hope, but really will come down to who we can bring in the portal. Not much conviction that moon will play the game this offseason. Whether due to lack of NIL or just falling back to his long game strategy and relying on the redshirts and freshman.

 

[urmite]

You’re correct I add 3s to total my bad

I hate it when they show total & 3s instead of 2s & 3s.

 

[GKiller]

I will say, who the heck knows what goes on behind the scenes these days. Maybe moon overheard beagle telling someone he was transferring after the year and boom to the bench. Saw some nice action from Walz to White for a couple layups. Soulis continues to look pretty good in his minutes.

Tanner with one minute? hmmm.

The roster is flawed - yes Moon fault - but roster management leaves lot to be desired too as we know. D'Entremont while no saviour sounds like he looked as good as other forwards ( I did not see last night game). but buried. how do u go from no mins to 31 all of a sudden when u were possibly a more efficient player. The guys he could replace haven't done much. Dusan on O but lacks D. Soulis same thing. buried. & proven to be just as good. Now he really needs to play Soulis a lot. but at the 4 some too. Because our 3-headed rotation at 5 is not sustainable imo. if u want all 3 back. & maybe u don't. As 97 has said we could lose anyone off team and be ok. personally I think 1 of Beagle or Soulis will be gone as result of rotation we'll see, and obv with Soulis having 3 more years he's lot more valuable.

I think minimizing Tanner & Beagle mins is right call right now. That's what I'd do. But maybe Moon just figuring that out. And with that said I think Beagle gets a little too much heat. He's shown flashes, hell he rebounded fiercely at Albany but doesn't work here due to Moon approach. So I think Beagle can be a rotational A10 guy but not in rhythm because of disjointed play - 3 man rotation at 5 spot. It's better with 2 guys. But if u play together more with Soulis at F that could help & figure out if all 3 can play together next year. Tanner seems like a deeper bench guy only. I might be jaded with him bc every time I see I think about how we took over Durkin, and that's not revisionist history either.

 

[spiderman]

there's a lot to unpack from this game.

I assume nobody had JD getting 31 minutes on their bingo card? he looked worthy. my only complaint was when he was beaten boxing out on a defensive end free throw. but he was compentent on both ends, he can score around the rim, and I'm already confident with him on the line. I just don't understand how it came to this in game 25 ... when CM's unhappy enough at a forward spot to finally try something out of the box ... but still not trying the promised 2nd big on the floor.

Walz and Beagle are 2 of our 3 most efficient scorers. only Roche is ahead of them. plus Soulis is coming on. the 3 of them are 1-2-3 in rebounding per 40 minutes. Walz and Beagle are 1-2 in assists per 40, for crying out loud. every advanced metric says play 2 of them together. so my only explanation is that CM is afraid of playing them together defensively. which I don't understand without trying it. a 2nd big might offset having 2 undersized guards on the floor together. which bring me to defense ...

we've gone away from a straight man defense. we're switching, or handing off on the perimeter with or without screens. it's almost a zone, but it's still man. and it's back to the old problem we had on defense, where we need smart guys to play together a long time to get it. there are too many communications mistakes being made on the switches. the problem is we're unlikely to have a core playing together for 3 years to perfect it.

we switch to minimize the times our small guards are defending on the inside. it might be kind of working despite the glaring errors, as we held LUC to 65 points in regulation. if we can just stop overhelping on the weakside where we can't recover on the swing pass, mostly Tyne and White last night. and maybe play that 2nd big so we don't give up 13 offensive boards.

anyway ... sorry so long.

 

[97spiderfan]

A couple takeaways from last night:

1. Tanner: Less than 1 minute on the court, throws a ball into the stands, gets yanked to never see the court again. Could be the start of the Mooney memo for him to explore the transfer portal. He hasn't shown one A-10 level starting skill to me yet and a lot of substandard stuff.
2. Soulis: I mentioned after the Duquesne game that I thought a lot of his points were kind of the result of luck. Watching him the last 2 games though, I'm gonna take that back. He is playing with confidence and assertiveness out there, you see it grow the more time he gets. One play, I loved is he got stuffed going in for a big jam, but immediately collected the ball after getting stuffed and jammed it home anyway. He puts his body on the floor too, love that in a player. A lot to like right now from him, he deserves more PT.
3. Beagle: May be the odd man out right now. Soulis is clearly earning more time, Walz as was noted is balling out of offense both shooting and giving assists.
4. Dusan and AP: Mooney loves him some AP, even though he gives us a ton of empty minutes, is really bad shooting the 3 ball and steps out of bounds more times than I thought was possible. Similarly, Dusan is our leading scorer, the one player other teams have to game plan around and Mooney's got him on the bench for large portions of the game. I don't get it with either one.

JD's 30 minutes. If your other wings are giving you crap night after night after night, maybe give the guy who is probably been working his ass off in practice a shot. I'm sure there was a huge message being sent last night with his minutes. Tanner was certainly one of the guys that message was being sent to but probably some of other guys as well.

 

[spiderman]

I bet some of you cringe when Walz misses a fadeaway (because every big guy is always told "don't fade away") but dang if he isn't smooth with that midrange fade! he's got an old school game with the hooks and turn around fades. Ungerer compared him to Dirk, but he doesn't go off one leg. maybe a little bit of Ewing in his game.

between Walz, Soulis and Beagle ... we might have thrown up the most hooks in a game last night since the 70's.

 

[97spiderfan]

Walz's game has been coming on for several weeks. Rebounding has been solid all year, but past few games, we see his offensive game coming along. His 3 ball at the top of circle is a shot we want him to take and yes very clearly he has been working on the fadeaway cause it is pretty pure. The drive to the hoop to end the half was nice too, ain't no one stepping in to take that charge, I'll tell you that.

 

[spider23]

Agree, really liking what I see from Walz last few games. I was very high on him going into season, then down on him for lack of offensive initiative lately. He is showing some very nice moves and confidence. Could really see a big year next year, and as noted need to find a way that him and Soulis are on the floor together.

It seems like a pattern with moon, he just can't figure out things early in the season, or can't translate that to the players. Just like that one game a few weeks in the season when we played much better, and he said in an interview how hard he made it on the team in practice. C'mon guy, you are the $1.5 million man, you get paid to understand and get the most out of these guys.

 

[SFspidur]

I bet some of you cringe when Walz misses a fadeaway (because every big guy is always told "don't fade away") but dang if he isn't smooth with that midrange fade! he's got an old school game with the hooks and turn around fades. Ungerer compared him to Dirk, but he doesn't go off one leg. maybe a little bit of Ewing in his game.

between Walz, Soulis and Beagle ... we might have thrown up the most hooks in a game last night since the 70's.

I definitely had an audible "No, no, no...yes!" moment late in the game when he could have gone up strong but opted to spin away and shoot that fadeaway with nothing but net.

 

[Section9.RowD]

A couple takeaways from last night:

1. Tanner: Less than 1 minute on the court, throws a ball into the stands, gets yanked to never see the court again. Could be the start of the Mooney memo for him to explore the transfer portal. He hasn't shown one A-10 level starting skill to me yet and a lot of substandard stuff.
2. Soulis: I mentioned after the Duquesne game that I thought a lot of his points were kind of the result of luck. Watching him the last 2 games though, I'm gonna take that back. He is playing with confidence and assertiveness out there, you see it grow the more time he gets. One play, I loved is he got stuffed going in for a big jam, but immediately collected the ball after getting stuffed and jammed it home anyway. He puts his body on the floor too, love that in a player. A lot to like right now from him, he deserves more PT.
3. Beagle: May be the odd man out right now. Soulis is clearly earning more time, Walz as was noted is balling out of offense both shooting and giving assists.
4. Dusan and AP: Mooney loves him some AP, even though he gives us a ton of empty minutes, is really bad shooting the 3 ball and steps out of bounds more times than I thought was possible. Similarly, Dusan is our leading scorer, the one player other teams have to game plan around and Mooney's got him on the bench for large portions of the game. I don't get it with either one.

JD's 30 minutes. If your other wings are giving you crap night after night after night, maybe give the guy who is probably been working his ass off in practice a shot. I'm sure there was a huge message being sent last night with his minutes. Tanner was certainly one of the guys that message was being sent to but probably some of other guys as well.

Agree with all of this other than I just think Dusan's defense is so weak at times that it's hard to justify playing even if he can score.

 

[spiderman]

and I want to give credit to the guards. we know Tyne and B Artis have had some struggles offensively. they were both very good last night on that end.