Mens: @ Umass Sat 1/4 noon ESPN+
- Thread starter Section9.RowD
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Scheduling gods did us a favor to start conf play. Earlier I used “sloppy” to describe Mass. Can I change to “bad and ugly’?
And you guys laughed when I said we would win 7 league games...
Great job and showed a lot of heart and emotion. Au revoir Mass - enjoy Toledo and Akron.
Great win for the spiders! UMass is not a good basketball team and we had a slow start to the game, but glad to see us fight back.
Positives of the game:
- We fought hard this game
- Minimized turnovers (8)
- 90% from FT line
- 12 offensive rebounds and kept the rebounding battle close overall with UMass (32 for us & 35 for them)
Negatives:
- Not a negative per se but for a team that is not statistically an average or above average 3 point shooting team, we sure like to shoot the 3 a lot. 52% of our shots were 3’s and we only made 31%. We have to be more than a one-dimensional team on offense if we want to do well in conference play.
On to George Mason who looks very good this year and historically always plays well against us.
Positives of the game:
- We fought hard this game
- Minimized turnovers (8)
- 90% from FT line
- 12 offensive rebounds and kept the rebounding battle close overall with UMass (32 for us & 35 for them)
Negatives:
- Not a negative per se but for a team that is not statistically an average or above average 3 point shooting team, we sure like to shoot the 3 a lot. 52% of our shots were 3’s and we only made 31%. We have to be more than a one-dimensional team on offense if we want to do well in conference play.
On to George Mason who looks very good this year and historically always plays well against us.
After winning 3 division 1 OOC games and losing to the likes of Bucknell and W&M and getting thoroughly smacked at home by a bad FGCU team, I didn't see how this team could win many games in the A10. Missed the GW game, but caught this one. The team looks both horrible and good in stretches.
First 6 minutes, UMass had 20 points, on pace for 130+ points. UR defense was atrocious, guys walking into easy shots with zero resistance. UR missed a ton of 3s this stretch, and (lol) offensive rebounding saved the game from getting really out of hand early.
UMass is so, so bad though - Frank the Tank may be the worst coach in the league, clearly can't be a winning coach without paying really high level guys to play for him, and also seems like a total jerk which is just an untenable combination of bad characteristics for a coach. They would just throw the ball off of each other for turnovers, unforced. And allowing UR to dominate you on the offensive glass should be cause for immediate dismissal. Their zone was also brutally lazy.
Glad that my 1-17 prediction was wrong!! Still have low expectations for playing teams that play defense and know how to dribble and pass the ball. But it should say something about the A10 or about how this team was coached in the OOC if UR can win games in the A10 but couldn't beat the sisters of the weak on the OOC schedule.
First 6 minutes, UMass had 20 points, on pace for 130+ points. UR defense was atrocious, guys walking into easy shots with zero resistance. UR missed a ton of 3s this stretch, and (lol) offensive rebounding saved the game from getting really out of hand early.
UMass is so, so bad though - Frank the Tank may be the worst coach in the league, clearly can't be a winning coach without paying really high level guys to play for him, and also seems like a total jerk which is just an untenable combination of bad characteristics for a coach. They would just throw the ball off of each other for turnovers, unforced. And allowing UR to dominate you on the offensive glass should be cause for immediate dismissal. Their zone was also brutally lazy.
Glad that my 1-17 prediction was wrong!! Still have low expectations for playing teams that play defense and know how to dribble and pass the ball. But it should say something about the A10 or about how this team was coached in the OOC if UR can win games in the A10 but couldn't beat the sisters of the weak on the OOC schedule.
I agree 100% but will take Walz over Beagle anytime. Walz needs to hold ball near shoulder height vs bringing
up from his waist where he gets it stripped.
also, clearly UR's best offensive trait is making FTs. The emphasis should be on driving and falling to the floor on every shot like DLo does. Get to the line 40 times a game and they can win the league.
Richmond wins - confidence is building. This was probably the best possible start schedule wise UR could have asked for to the A10. Got GW at home, and even though they had good record - it was a soft record. Then get a bad UMASS team on the road. UR wins on the road, gives them some confidence heading back home to Mason. Mason will be a tough game and we always seem to play them close (similar to Davidson) no matter what year it is and how either team is doing. But this is certainly a game the Spiders can keep close and win.
I am telling you - UR will win 9-10 A10 conference games this year and it will be all positivity for the future coming out of the Robins Center.
I am telling you - UR will win 9-10 A10 conference games this year and it will be all positivity for the future coming out of the Robins Center.
We are tied for first place with SLU. vcu losing at Loyola and about to fall deeper into a tie for last.
These 2 wins coincide with Tanner playing more like we hoped he would.
Tanner did some nice things - I noticed a little jab step, shot fake, dribble move. He still didn't have all the quickness to get all the way to the rim though - needs to work on going all the way once he has a man beaten even by the littlest margin. Dusan seems able to do this and I wouldn't describe him as lightning quick, he just knows how to use that advantage and not let the defender recover. Part of it is confidence. But Tanner finished very well on the and-1 in the first half, another positive sign.
Mooney seems to be figuring out how to split Dusan and Tanner to hide Dusan's defense without eliminating his offense.
Agree re Dusan- it's the move he did with Golden when Grant was getting 25m a game instead of 30+ (Grant's redshirt junior year?) - play him enough to let him cook bc Grant could step on a court and score immediately, but sub him enough to not let him get exploited in extended consecutive minutes.
The A10 is not a strong a league. Still expect VCU, Dayton, and looks like the Bonnies to rise to the top. St. Louis I think will be a tough out the more experience they get together. But after that - your going to see a lot of close games. Which is why I think this team getting 9-10 conference wins is not as crazy as everyones thinks.
Trap, seeing about 6 games we should have a good chance to win. That gets us to 8. If you want to give me the under on 9.5 conference wins I'm in.
it's a classic A10 hallmark to have teams completely tank the OOC, then to have those same dogs torpedo the top teams immediately.
OOC is by far the most important aspect of the schedule because of this - Dayton last year was a prime example, and still they only lost to other good A10 teams, no dogs. Because there are always plenty of dogs in the A10, it's a conference that can never get its stuff together, because of the vast disparity in how much some schools care, or the resources they have. It's why this year (and previous) was massively frustrating OOC - it counts now more than ever and the team is now (maybe) only getting its sea legs after 3 months of practicing and playing together.
OOC is by far the most important aspect of the schedule because of this - Dayton last year was a prime example, and still they only lost to other good A10 teams, no dogs. Because there are always plenty of dogs in the A10, it's a conference that can never get its stuff together, because of the vast disparity in how much some schools care, or the resources they have. It's why this year (and previous) was massively frustrating OOC - it counts now more than ever and the team is now (maybe) only getting its sea legs after 3 months of practicing and playing together.
Anyone with access to deeper stats than me - I'd be curious to know Dusan's first half vs. second half scoring average. He seems to really get it going late after slow starts.
Again 2017-2018…
2-10 OOC 9-9 A10 including 2-0 VCU
Really? All positive? How much is Mooney paying you. No motter how much itsa bargain for him. You certainly can spin wheat into whiskey.
Trap is simply providing the group think stance that emits from the powers that be at Richmond. Look how bad this team is and Mooney somehow coaxed 8 conference wins out of them. And he didn't even pick these players, the NIL collective bought them.
Good to see Tanner and Walz have better games.
Though someone needs to show Tanner tapes of Dji and Bigs playing D. I saw one straight line drive in the 2nd half where his man went straight to the rim and he basically stepped aside. One slide to the left would have at least helped a little.
Good to see Tanner and Walz have better games.
Though someone needs to show Tanner tapes of Dji and Bigs playing D. I saw one straight line drive in the 2nd half where his man went straight to the rim and he basically stepped aside. One slide to the left would have at least helped a little.
Totally agree about the A10. As I have said before, it is a “balanced” league with a bunch of similarly capable teams. I still think 7 conference wins is the high water mark, but I of course will be rooting for better. Always want the players to be the best they can be and 20 years of history tells us what we can expect.
Just finished watching the replay. A couple of thoughts:
1. Any road win is a good win ... and I thought we played solid for the most part. Great game from Walz.
2. Kudos to the Umass announcers.... very professional and a nice tribute to Beck.... their play by play guy legit got choked up talking about him.
3. Umass is horrific bad. I legitimately can't believe how bad... and this is the worst Frank Martin team I have ever seen. They don't do anything particularly well and don't do any of the things that he's particularly interested in well at all.... and he didn't seem terribly upset about it.... which was also bizarre to me.
1. Any road win is a good win ... and I thought we played solid for the most part. Great game from Walz.
2. Kudos to the Umass announcers.... very professional and a nice tribute to Beck.... their play by play guy legit got choked up talking about him.
3. Umass is horrific bad. I legitimately can't believe how bad... and this is the worst Frank Martin team I have ever seen. They don't do anything particularly well and don't do any of the things that he's particularly interested in well at all.... and he didn't seem terribly upset about it.... which was also bizarre to me.
Very interesting take on number 3. I watched about half of a Umass game in person earlier this season. And had basically the same conclusion on their level of play just terrible play all around. Like they all just showed up at the playground and picked sides. In that game Frankie was beside himself all game though, all over every player and ref in site. He may just be defeated now. Despite ties to Umass (i think?), maybe his family is tired of Amherst, he probably dislikes NIL, and they are moving to a worse conference. He probably is actively looking/hoping for an escape hatch. Could be a train wreck of a season for them.
No why should I? Why should anyone? CM is a joke. So we are suppose to be excited at the prospect of a 11 or 12 win season with no hopes of postseason play just so Mooney can claim he is in a rebuilding year and saves some face. No thanks.
I didn't say anything about CM, say something positive about the school the players or anything.
8legs1dream
Graduate Assistant
beating up on another A10 basement dweller shows we should be able to separate ourselves from that bunch if we continue like this. Seeing GW give Dayton the business makes me look at our win against them in a whole new light as well. Keep the momentum building, 2-0 sitting atop the A10!
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