St Louis game - A different view

[UR80sfan]

The team played their hearts out last night and I would especially like to single out Grant Golden. Grant played through pain and gave us everything he had. It is extremely difficult grabbing rebounds with a broken finger and this was the difference in the game. With a healthy Grant we would have won the game. Grant is one of the top centers ever to play for U of R. His injury is a big deal for the team. Hopefully, we can over come it and still win the A10 Tournament.

 

[Eight Legger]

Always an excuse. We had a healthy Grant for every other game this year. We still got embarrassed by VCU, Hofstra and Lasalle. With a healthy Grant last night, we would have found other ways to lose like we always do in the most important games of the season.

 

[I-M-UR]

If I recall correctly that one errant pass from Grant to Cato that went over Cato heads was a one handed pass from Grants damaged hand. Otherwise he played pretty well considering

 

[ur2K]

The first 10 minutes of the 2nd half, Grant got us back in the game. Second 10 minutes, the coach has to figure out a way to get someone who can rebound and play defense with 2 hands in the game more.

 

[8legs1dream]

Would we have been able to better COMPETE with a healthy Grant? Sure.

But I don't see how you can guarantee a Spider victory had he been 100%. We have lost plenty of games we should have won or needed to win with him at 100%.

 

[spider fan]

Personally like Grant and he did well with his finger injured. Talking machine Seth Greenberg was very complimentary. However that is a "side story" to the fact that we lost the game we needed and should have won.

 

[MrTbone]

I think it’s noteworthy that the team played hard and didn’t give up. It certainly would have made a difference had Grant been healthy. We shot well from 3 and ok from 2, poor from the line. Turnovers were low enough and we turned them over enough.

You take all that and have to start figuring out why the loss. Obvious consideration is rebounding margin, -20. That’s brutally bad. But more importantly, we just can’t stop teams. We are not built to stop teams with good interior players and if we pack it in and they hit threes which SLU did then we are screwed.

Its not a criticism of the players. It’s a scheme criticism which ends up sounding like a criticism of the players because we aren’t built to play anything different than our scheme. Love our players but that was a predictable outcome given how we play.

 

[Eight Legger]

They shot 65% in the second half. SIXTY FIVE PERCENT! And our coach said we played a great defensive half. Completely separated from reality. He lives in his own fantasy land and he's forcing us to live there too. Stop the insanity.

 

[spider23]

I have a very low tolerance for pain myself, so I kind of get it with Grant - can't the medical and training staff shoot it up and tape it to the next finger to stabilize it?

Anyway, do you remember former VCU coach Sonny Smith. My hs coach told me how he was playing on an all star team that was playing a circuit of games, and Sonny broke his arm and taped some type of canister to it so he could continue the games. I called Sonny's radio show when I was in school at UR , and he laughed and verified the story. And I believe him!

Anyway, yes, every single season we have more excuses than results.

 

[SpiderGuy]

They shot 65% in the second half. SIXTY FIVE PERCENT! And our coach said we played a great defensive half. Completely separated from reality. He lives in his own fantasy land and he's forcing us to live there too. Stop the insanity.

I saw Mooney's quotes about that in the paper today. He must have been commenting on a different game than was on TV. I had to read the lines twice to make sure he said what I thought he did. Just really bad observation or spin on his part. It amazes me how weak our defense is, and he keeps on keeping on. Same ole same ole with the same ole results. How many times down the court were we out of position for easy layups or dunks? So frustrating.

 

[Not-A-Homer]

Golden's injury is not the reason the Spiders lost this game. They lost because the team performed poorly in the last 4-minutes, and they were especially bad in the last 2-minutes. Virtually no poise, and no-one who was able to step-up and will the team to victory when it counted the most.

The final 4-5 minutes of a tight game are win or lose time. If you outperform your opponent at winning time you get the W. That didn't happen, again.

Mooney coached teams have a significant history of underperforming in the last few minutes of a game. That is primarily on the Coach.

 

[UR80sfan]

I have a very low tolerance for pain myself, so I kind of get it with Grant - can't the medical and training staff shoot it up and tape it to the next finger to stabilize it?

Anyway, do you remember former VCU coach Sonny Smith. My hs coach told me how he was playing on an all star team that was playing a circuit of games, and Sonny broke his arm and taped some type of canister to it so he could continue the games. I called Sonny's radio show when I was in school at UR , and he laughed and verified the story. And I believe him!

Anyway, yes, every single season we have more excuses than results.

Relative to Grant, I heard from someone high up in the organization, that they wanted to shoot Grant up and numb his finger before the game. However they would only do it by a hand surgeon, which does not travel with the team. I highly respect that view. My guess is he played without a shot, but will have one before the games in Richmond.

 

[Eight Legger]

What was the reason he went 2-11 against VCU and missed every close shot he took? Was it a pre-injury?

 

[3genspider]

Relative to Grant, I heard from someone high up in the organization, that they wanted to shoot Grant up and numb his finger before the game. However they would only do it by a hand surgeon, which does not travel with the team. I highly respect that view. My guess is he played without a shot, but will have one before the games in Richmond.

IF accurate, sounds like poor planning.....not a surprise

 

[PhillySpider]

Always an excuse. We had a healthy Grant for every other game this year. We still got embarrassed by VCU, Hofstra and Lasalle. With a healthy Grant last night, we would have found other ways to lose like we always do in the most important games of the season.

While I concur that Grant's willingness to give it a go was noble, the post above is correct about the game and the team in general. . Another excuse of which their always is one. As a reminder, VCU beat SLU in what was a very important game for both teams without Hyland. They didn't make excuses - - they just got it done! We did not!

 

[Eight Legger]

Yesterday was a game we had to win. HAD to win. No other options existed. And of course we didn't. Everyone on this board knew that we would lose.

If we win Monday, we are the third seed in the a10. Guess who the second seed will be? Guess who we have never beaten in the a10 tourney? I wish I had $100,000 to bet on VCU in that game so that I could make something close to the amount of money Mooney will pull from being mediocre in what was supposed to be our best year ever.

 

[Not-A-Homer]

The team played their hearts out last night and I would especially like to single out Grant Golden. Grant played through pain and gave us everything he had. It is extremely difficult grabbing rebounds with a broken finger and this was the difference in the game. With a healthy Grant we would have won the game. Grant is one of the top centers ever to play for U of R. His injury is a big deal for the team. Hopefully, we can over come it and still win the A10 Tournament.

I will not down Golden's grit to play with the injury. Give him credit for his effort. He demonstrated that you can play through it.

However, based on your comments it doesn't sound as though you have ever played basketball with a broken finger. I'm quite sure that many on this board have. As stated by Mooney, this is a pain tolerance issue for the player. When someone whacks your hand (blocking a shot for instance) it hurts like hell. The pain avoidance also can make you a bit stand-offish about two-handed rebounding, catching a hard pass, or using that hand for defense. It is painful when jarred.

When the break is on the non-shooting hand, it is not debilitating to your shot. Minor impact, yes. Major debacle to your offensive performance, no. When the break is on your shooting hand, much different offensive impact.

If Golden gets a shot to numb him up, we should see minimal to almost no impact at all. He should have had one last night.

 

[CarolinaSpider]

If I recall correctly that one errant pass from Grant to Cato that went over Cato heads was a one handed pass from Grants damaged hand. Otherwise he played pretty well considering

No he also threw one over wide open Burton head on sideline in the last 90 seconds

 

[CarolinaSpider]

Relative to Grant, I heard from someone high up in the organization, that they wanted to shoot Grant up and numb his finger before the game. However they would only do it by a hand surgeon, which does not travel with the team. I highly respect that view. My guess is he played without a shot, but will have one before the games in Richmond.

I dislocated my right ring finger in two places moving furniture. The ER doc had to numb it to be able to maneuver the finger for X-rays and splinting. Those shots to reach the nerve to deaden the finger are no fun. The full numbing effect takes 30 minutes and does last several hours. Now when they reset my finger, I was extremely grateful for the painful shot which they did once on both sides of the finger. Cannot straighten finger but can grip a golf club so what is more important.

 

[ChoppinBroccoli]

Yesterday was a game we had to win. HAD to win. No other options existed. And of course we didn't. Everyone on this board knew that we would lose.

If we win Monday, we are the third seed in the a10. Guess who the second seed will be? Guess who we have never beaten in the a10 tourney? I wish I had $100,000 to bet on VCU in that game so that I could make something close to the amount of money Mooney will pull from being mediocre in what was supposed to be our best year ever.

I'm pretty sure Mooney will make more than $100,000 this season.

 

[Eight Legger]

Indeed he will. But if I wagered$100k, I'd end up with more.

 

[urmite]

Indeed he will. But if I wagered$100k, I'd end up with more.

There is a bookie giving 13 to 1 odds to a wager that we will lose to VCU in the STU in the A-10 Tournament?
Bet $1 that we will, and it pays $13? I need to find this guy for all my bets. (That I don’t make...no, would never do that,...it would be wrong)

 

[Eight Legger]

Ha, I would empty my life savings on that one. No, I meant I would end up with more than I wagered, not more than Mooney makes in a year. None of us are that lucky to be so well rewarded for 14 years of underperformance.

 

[ChoppinBroccoli]

EL is telling us he makes 1.2 million a year.

 

[Eight Legger]

At this rate, I'll be fortunate to make it from this point forward in my lifetime.

 

[Gallipoli]

The team played their hearts out last night and I would especially like to single out Grant Golden. Grant played through pain and gave us everything he had. It is extremely difficult grabbing rebounds with a broken finger and this was the difference in the game. With a healthy Grant we would have won the game. Grant is one of the top centers ever to play for U of R. His injury is a big deal for the team. Hopefully, we can over come it and still win the A10 Tournament.

Great points.

 

[SpiderRick]

One offensive rebound. ONE.

That's all you need to know about this team [edit] and the coaching philosophy

 

[GKiller]

Played our hearts out...OR maybe we just made a run. Because what I find a little interesting is that when other teams do that to us regularly the response is well the other team is always going to make a run nothing u can really do that’s college bball.

When we do it it’s oh what heart & effort. And that’s per Mooney.

It’s like covid. When we r coming off pause it’s what a remarkable challenge we r rusty etc. yet when we have the covid advantage we rarely see it help us - i.e. bona Hofstra Duquesne. And we were also consistently told the disruptive nature of this season would be a clear advantage for our veteran team who has played together long time.

Lot of contradictions in place. Lot of excuses. Also some flat out lies told just look at home game SLU fiasco & scheduling stuff.

But no accountability.

 

[KWeaver]

I will tip my cap to GG for sure for playing through it. I have done it and it hurts like hell. Had a reminder playing softball this year going to dive for a catch, and bent my finger back pretty badly. I couldn’t hold a bat very well later. Still hurts now. It served as a reminder for me. Great heart, grant.

that said, we have no depth. We have nobody stepping up. We don’t play well in big games. SLU wasn’t going to let us leave that gym with a victory because of our knucklehead leadership calling for them to forfeit when we couldn’t get our shit together.

 

[DTSpider]

I’m just tied of losing and excuses. We have an excuse for everything. I just want to win again. It’s been way too long. I don’t care who coaches us.

 

[kneepadmckinney]

I will tip my cap to GG for sure for playing through it. I have done it and it hurts like hell. Had a reminder playing softball this year going to dive for a catch, and bent my finger back pretty badly. I couldn’t hold a bat very well later. Still hurts now. It served as a reminder for me. Great heart, grant.

that said, we have no depth. We have nobody stepping up. We don’t play well in big games. SLU wasn’t going to let us leave that gym with a victory because of our knucklehead leadership calling for them to forfeit when we couldn’t get our shit together.

Ok but did you just decide to swing the bat with one hand? What if you knew you were the most important player, and the game was going to get you to the championship if you won? Would you swing with one hand?