Tough loss

[sdspider]

Up 11 good teams find a way to close it out on senior night. Not for lack of effort TJ played an amazing game. Just couldn't stop Smith down the stretch he single-handedly brought them back into the game.

I like it when Shawndre is more aggressive he tends to play better. However because of Allen and Cline I don't think he has the opportunity to play that way all the time.

 

[Eighth_Leg]

Another disappointing loss in a year full of them

 

[SpiderK]

Up 11 good teams find a way to close it out on senior night. Not for lack of effort TJ played an amazing game. Just couldn't stop Smith down the stretch he single-handedly brought them back into the game.

I like it when Shawndre is more aggressive he tends to play better. However because of Allen and Cline I don't think he has the opportunity to play that way all the time.

Allen choked it at the FT line. Plain and simple. Best this team can do and still lost at home.

 

[NewURfan]

It's not because of TJ and TA it's because CM. If we had a true coach that can make adjustments be open to versitlity and actually coach talent not conform the talent we may win just a bit more. Simply out coached tonight again.

 

[Spider B]

This loss sums up the season perfectly. We find ways to lose. Very disapointing year at the Robins Center.

 

[MrTbone]

I will accept blame for this loss. I shifted over two seats in my row when we were up by 11 and things went downhill from there. Superstition is a bi+€h.

 

[SpiderK]

I will accept blame for this loss. I shifted over two seats in my row when we were up by 11 and things went downhill from there. Superstition is a bi+€h.

T you know better than that!!!!

 

[SpiderTrap]

This is a loss that reminds me of recent UR teams under Mooney, especially the past two seasons. Get a good lead in the 2nd half, just not able to close it out. Not saying being up 10 with about 10 minutes to play is a lock, but you should win more of those games than lose them, and I feel like the past 2-3 years, even if we were up 10 with 5 minutes to play - I got a feeling we will find a way to lose.

 

[SpiderK]

This is a loss that reminds me of recent UR teams under Mooney, especially the past two seasons. Get a good lead in the 2nd half, just not able to close it out. Not saying being up 10 with about 10 minutes to play is a lock, but you should win more of those games than lose them, and I feel like the past 2-3 years, even if we were up 10 with 5 minutes to play - I got a feeling we will find a way to lose.

I totally agree. We started giving away the free throws, Mooney wouldn't call time out, and then we started settling for 3's when our guys got a case of the tight ass. Same ole story every time!!!

 

[97spiderfan]

having TJ out of the game for several key possessions down the stretch didn't help either. Mooney is like a crack addict when it comes to his late game offense-defense subs.

 

[SpiderK]

having TJ out of the game for several key possessions down the stretch didn't help either. Mooney is like a crack addict when it comes to his late game offense-defense subs.

He never understood his defensive subs have been terrible for 4 years. He got some bad crack.

 

[Eight Legger]

Kind of ironic how Dayton couldn't hit a free throw in the first half and couldn't miss down the stretch. And we were the opposite in both halves. TJ is a true warrior. Sure are lucky that he chose to recruit us or else I can't imagine where we'd be now or next year.

 

[SpiderK]

All you guys mock me, but this team will be better next year. It's almost physically impossible for it not to be.

 

[Stork3]

Observations:

1 - We didn't quit down the stretch. Hit a bunch of free throws tonight in the second half. We at least kept up with Dayton. Missing wide open threes and missing KEY free throws were the daggers.

2 - Our defense, against a pretty good team (22-6) gave them fits toward the end of the first half and for the middle of the second half. We made it hard for them in the first half.

3 - Since we lost by a point, any observer sitting where my buds and I sit can tell you that there were enough bad calls, all of them against us, that it was a factor in our loss. Had the referees not collectively sucked my groin, we could have won the game. They were so bad on the up-in-the-air-swat-the-ball-and-hang the player and throw him to the ground calls that were totally not called. Gee. A normal night for the referees and we win. It really is that simple.

4 - When the season is finally (mercifully) over, we won't have to watch Coach and his Chinese fire drills to get his best defenders in, then is offensive players in, then..... you know the rest. Deion and Trey graduate. Let's hope Coach doesn't find yet ANOTHER way of keeping TJ's scoring on the bench while our team is behind.

5 - We trapped them and stole an inbounds pass - great play! Why do we not employ that strategy at the ten-minute mark of the second half? It puts them on notice that they had better not make a mistake. It gives them a preview of what is to come, so that they can worry about it. But we still wait too damn long to employ this. Coach - whip it out there at the seven-minute mark in the second half - then we won't lose an 11-point lead.

6 - After a great deal of prayer and supplication, I have concluded that Coach will not call another timeout, ever. Ever.

7 - Proud of their attitudes tonight. Let's hope for two or three deep in Brooklyn.

 

[MidloTrader]

Unfortunately, same old story of playing "not to lose" instead of continuing to push tempo, which is what got us the lead. Playing some press couldn't have hurt either, but until we have a 9-10 man rotation, that just means we'd miss more layups, leave shots short with dead legs, and have even more D lapses.

Definitely out-coached and agree the offense-defense subbing hurts us more than it ever helps. Can't wait to have 5 guys on the court next season at one time who could be shooting threats (hopefully, 1 will actually want to be "the guy" who makes those critical, late game shots, goes for contact to get a whistle on the "other guy", and actually makes FTs down the stretch). Otherwise, we'll see even more double and triple teaming TJ, which occurred in 2nd half tonight.

Hey, the good news today is that we're still #1 O in the nation for baseball and we won again. Go Spiders!

 

[Spideroldie]

+! Have to agree with Spider K on this one. Our three incoming freshmen should be able to contribute more, as 1st year players, than our seniors did this year. The expectations will be low, for some, but I am hoping the incoming guys, and our seniors-to-be, will be setting very high expectations for themselves. And, I'm hoping the coaching staff will play the 5 most talented guys, regardless of experience, and that means 2 or 3 of our new guys play, now.

 

[PhillySpider]

In many ways the most frustrating loss of them all because it's shows how little it might take Ina few areas for things to very different result wise. But in the end it's all tha same stuff over and over. We shoot 53% and commit 5 turnovers. It should be almost impossible to lose that. We find a way by letting other team shoot 58% and pound us on the boards. Both are just like every night. Nice double digit lead but then we get our nightly offensive drought and watch them pass us right on by. Time outs? Nope- As always. Big FT misses? Check that off too!

Play with the lead like we are scared- - yup, we covered off that one too. Looking for the big play at a crucial moment that never comes? X that box too. I mean it's just awful right down to seeing play aWalk on and it's because he is truly our next best option!

 

[SpiderGuy]

This is a loss that reminds me of recent UR teams under Mooney, especially the past two seasons. Get a good lead in the 2nd half, just not able to close it out. Not saying being up 10 with about 10 minutes to play is a lock, but you should win more of those games than lose them, and I feel like the past 2-3 years, even if we were up 10 with 5 minutes to play - I got a feeling we will find a way to lose.

Reminds me of the NIT game against Miami last year where we had huge lead and couldn't close. In that game weren't we up by 18 and blew it? Seems that may have set the stage for this year where we had leads deep in the 2nd half in several games and couldn't hold. What does it take to break the pattern? There's just too much of a common denominator for this to be repeating too frequently. Is there some sort of psycholgical aspect to closing out games, or is it a combination of other ingredients?

 

[whampas]

53 points in the second half. Nothing else needs to be said.

 

[Hanca]

Refs were not the problem. Called game allowing physical contact throughout. Fans in stands have no angle and most of the complainers never watch for body contact, only hand contact. UR got beat because CM remains inflexible.

 

[64Spider]

Offense: Run the weave near mid court for 20 seconds. Someone finally makes a move to the basket and gets within inches of the rim only to pass out to someone who has to fire up a prayer with under 5 seconds left. Long rebound almost hits one of our guys in the head but he doesn't see it because he has turned to run down court.

Defense: Play very tight defense long enough to forget that other team has 5 players. Other teams fifth player only has to stand under basket or in the corner til ignored then take a wide open shot.

 

[spiderman]

that was a great game last night. I know many of you feel jipped. yes, you deserved a win. but we played great. we can point to a couple of plays that cost us but we're not going to make every shot or foul shot or even dunk. offensively, we were terrific against one of the best defenses we'll see. we had 5 turnovers all game. we just didn't shoot well from 3.
defensively? I know. that's a lot of points and a really high shooting percentage. I thought we let them get inside a little too much in the 2nd half. we weren't quite as quick and we had been. but really, Scoochie and Cooke made plays/shots. they were very good.
our big 3 all gave it everything. they're awesome. I thought Trey was great this game, and please don't come back with the stats. some of the plays he made were huge. not taking some shots didn't hurt us at all. we want TJ, TA and SDJ taking most of the shots. Deion played well, too.
Dayton was #15 until Pollard got hurt. they're a great team. barely better than us last night.

 

[97spiderfan]

[QUOTE Defense: Play very tight defense long enough to forget that other team has 5 players. Other teams fifth player only has to stand under basket or in the corner til ignored then take a wide open shot.[/QUOTE]

So, true on our defense. I don't know how many times last night, the guy in the corner was left wide open. They should have put a chair down there, so they could have eaten a sandwich while waiting for the ball to make its way over to them. Also killed us on dribble penetration, but again that's not new either.

 

[spiderman]

Khwan didn't rotate correctly to the corner in the late one I remember. maybe that's one of those things why they say experience is needed in this defense. man in the corner cut to the basket bringing someone (Terry?) with him. The guy on Khwan's wing dropped to the corner. Khwan stayed high like he was playing the top of a 2-3. Ball went to the corner, shot up before Khwan could get there. guy made a shot. similar thing happened just before halftime.

 

[MrTbone]

that was a great game last night. I know many of you feel jipped. yes, you deserved a win. but we played great. we can point to a couple of plays that cost us but we're not going to make every shot or foul shot or even dunk. offensively, we were terrific against one of the best defenses we'll see. we had 5 turnovers all game. we just didn't shoot well from 3.
defensively? I know. that's a lot of points and a really high shooting percentage. I thought we let them get inside a little too much in the 2nd half. we weren't quite as quick and we had been. but really, Scoochie and Cooke made plays/shots. they were very good.
our big 3 all gave it everything. they're awesome. I thought Trey was great this game, and please don't come back with the stats. some of the plays he made were huge. not taking some shots didn't hurt us at all. we want TJ, TA and SDJ taking most of the shots. Deion played well, too.
Dayton was #15 until Pollard got hurt. they're a great team. barely better than us last night.

s-man, generally agree, although one area of weakness in how we played was related to what I'll call secondary scoring. Our top three scorers outscored their top three, 72-62. We got beat by the other guys, 23-12. I'm not pointing an individual finger at TD/DT/MW/KF/etc., but we have to get more than 12 points out of our other starters and bench players. That's 103 minutes of playing time generating only 12 points, or 0.1 ppm. Conversely, Dayton had 23 points in 94 minutes for their other guys, or 0.24 ppm. This game is probably a good example of a case where you can maybe get only so much out of your most efficient offensive guys without having players 3-8 also contribute.

 

[fan2011]

This was the 4th A10 game where we allowed our opponents to shoot 50%+ from 3. If we held these opponents to 45% each, still an incredibly high 3FG%, we would have won many of these games (SJU, URI, Dayton). If we held teams closer to our 3FG% defense of previous years (30%) we would have won ~7 more games this year.

 

[gospidersgo]

I felt like last night was an instant replay of so many games this year. Offense plays great, defense good in spurts but largely not good, build a lead mid 2nd half and then it starts slipping, missed critical free throws, way too many offense/defense subs, save all timeouts for last 2 minutes, etc. It's like we have to check each of these boxes off every game almost regardless of the opponent, very frustrating.

On the bright side last night TJ is the clear cut leader of this team now in every way and is poised for a monster senior season. Julius didn't really contribute much on offense but I noticed him playing some fairly tough d and I'm glad he's getting some good experience even if it is late in the season. I love Khwan's athleticism and effort, he will be on sportscenter top 10 several times in his career.

I'm in agreement with you K, we will be a better team next year.

 

[I-M-UR]

Refs were not the problem. Called game allowing physical contact throughout. Fans in stands have no angle and most of the complainers never watch for body contact, only hand contact. UR got beat because CM remains inflexible.

I don't think the refs changed the outcome but I do think the calls were strange. And it makes sense that the conference would want Dayton to win and stop their slide to a lower seed. (I know tin hat thinking)

 

[Eight Legger]

Offense: Run the weave near mid court for 20 seconds. Someone finally makes a move to the basket and gets within inches of the rim only to pass out to someone who has to fire up a prayer with under 5 seconds left. Long rebound almost hits one of our guys in the head but he doesn't see it because he has turned to run down court.

Defense: Play very tight defense long enough to forget that other team has 5 players. Other teams fifth player only has to stand under basket or in the corner til ignored then take a wide open shot.

If anyone were to write a book about our season this year, first, WHY WOULD ANYONE DO THAT?! But second, this could be the entire book. You nailed it.

 

[64Spider]

Regarding the A10 refs......check out the article in the TD where Will Wade comments on A10 officiating. What does everyone think.
I think there should be a response from the league but I also think it's a very calculated move by WW. It will be interesting to see how the remaining VDU games are called. I hope it backfires on them.

 

[PhiDeltaSpider]

If anyone were to write a book about our season this year, first, WHY WOULD ANYONE DO THAT?! But second, this could be the entire book. You nailed it.

Here are my thoughts on last night's game: 1. Mooney's inflexibility and coaching emphasis and philosophy will always be a negative factor in any game so we might as well get used to it. His poor coaching is a given which sometimes can be overcome and sometimes not. 2. Our guys played their hearts out and deserve major credit for their effort. 3. This was one of those rare instances where I truly believe the refs cost us the game. They were very poor (all three of them), and unfortunately, we were hurt much more by their ineptitude than Dayton. I don't see a conspiracy, only incompetence. 4. We caught Dayton at the worst possible time. I do not believe they could play any better than they did last night. We played very well too and still came up short. Very few, if any, teams in the country would have beaten the Flyers last night. Bottom line: kudos to the Spiders for a great effort.

 

[fan2011]

Here are my thoughts on last night's game: 1. Mooney's inflexibility and coaching emphasis and philosophy will always be a negative factor in any game so we might as well get used to it. His poor coaching is a given which sometimes can be overcome and sometimes not. 2. Our guys played their hearts out and deserve major credit for their effort. 3. This was one of those rare instances where I truly believe the refs cost us the game. They were very poor (all three of them), and unfortunately, we were hurt much more by their ineptitude than Dayton. I don't see a conspiracy, only incompetence. 4. We caught Dayton at the worst possible time. I do not believe they could play any better than they did last night. We played very well too and still came up short. Very few, if any, teams in the country would have beaten the Flyers last night. Bottom line: kudos to the Spiders for a great effort.

So a team that was ranked #15 in the country plays their best possible game and we lose by 1 therefore Mooney is an inept coach? Is it possible to lose a game and not have it be due to bad coaching? Or is the definition of bad coaching on the board losing a game, no matter who we are playing?

 

[97spiderfan]

A. Dayton is not #15 in the country
B. I bet if you ask Dayton, they will tell you that they didn't play "their best possible game". There A game probably beat us by double digits.
C. We are at home on senior night, that should and did give us a huge momentum advantage
D. We allowed them to shoot 50% from 3 and nearly 60% from the game.

So was the loss on Mooney last night, sure you can make a good argument that it was not. Dayton is the better team and just straight up beat us. As were the other 13 teams that beat us this year as well, but again that is not on the coach.

And I will still love to hear your explanation on the coaching strategy of having TJ on the bench for several key possessions under the 4 minute time out. TJ was not in foul trouble, was having a career night, Dayton could not stop him, but during crunch time when we need buckets, he is sitting on the bench.

 

[fan2011]

A. Dayton is not #15 in the country
B. I bet if you ask Dayton, they will tell you that they didn't play "their best possible game". There A game probably beat us by double digits.
C. We are at home on senior night, that should and did give us a huge momentum advantage
D. We allowed them to shoot 50% from 3 and nearly 60% from the game.

So was the loss on Mooney last night, sure you can make a good argument that it was not. Dayton is the better team and just straight up beat us. As were the other 13 teams that beat us this year as well, but again that is not on the coach.

And I will still love to hear your explanation on the coaching strategy of having TJ on the bench for several key possessions under the 4 minute time out. TJ was not in foul trouble, was having a career night, Dayton could not stop him, but during crunch time when we need buckets, he is sitting on the bench.

I am not saying that Dayton is a top 15 or that they played their best game. I said they were at one point ranked #15 and the poster I was responding to said they played their best possible game and then said we lost because of Mooney's bad coaching. I was trying to understand his logic.

In my estimation, if a team was at one point ranked #15 they are probably pretty good. If a team that was ranked #15 played their best possible game they would be very, very difficult to beat. This is a team that beat Iowa and Vanderbilt away, their best is extremely good. To lose by a single point to such a team playing at such a level would not be something I would call bad coaching. I speculated that if this loss was attributed to bad coaching, then any loss, no matter who it was against would be attributed to bad coaching. To see if my speculation was correct I asked: "Is it possible to lose a game and not have it be due to bad coaching?"

I am not saying I agree with any of the postulates, I am just trying to understand the logic.

 

[sdspider]

Give Dayton credit they hit big shots to bring themselves back and then close out the game with free throws.

Now onto the defense. I know it's not going to happen but Mooney should give serious consideration about an overhaul of our scheme in the off-season. Younger guys do not pick up the D quick enough so it will be a rough year next year. Heck three seniors on the floor two of which are supposed to be defensive players and look at our stats. they speak for themselves. The offense has been fine even without Davis and Taylor. So if we are trading two defensive specialists for two or three freshman or underclassmen on D, how can anyone expect our D to be better?

 

[Eight Legger]

If that is the best Dayton can play, they will be lucky to win a game in the NCAAs. They played a nice game, but they missed a ton of FTs, gave up a ridiculous number of interior points to a team that isn't an interior-based team and allowed 84 points to a team that didn't make many three-pointers. And they're supposedly one of the best defensive teams around?

Of course we deserve credit for a lot of that, too.

I don't think the officiating really mattered. It sucked, but they called a lot more fouls on Dayton than they did on us. I agree that some of the ones they missed seemed pretty egregiously against us, but if Terry makes two more FTs, we win.

And yes, it is possible to play a pretty good game and just lose. The problem is that when you lose SEVEN home games and SIX league home games, people are rightfully pissed. For every home game we lost, it made the rest of them that much more critical to win. Obviously as of a few weeks ago, none of this mattered, so I am not THAT pissed because I already know who we are and wasn't expecting anything from us once we lost to Davidson at home. But that's where the anger and frustration comes from. If you're going to lose to Mason at home, you damn well better "fix" that by winning a game like Dayton.

 

[fatherspider]

So a team that was ranked #15 in the country plays their best possible game and we lose by 1 therefore Mooney is an inept coach? Is it possible to lose a game and not have it be due to bad coaching? Or is the definition of bad coaching on the board losing a game, no matter who we are playing?

No Fan. Its that this same outcome has happened about 10 times over the last two years. The other coach adjusts and CM never does. They plAy better down the stretch and we dont. This team constantly has lost games that were there to be won and lost over the past 5 years. Its a pattern and there is only one common denominator. If this was an isolated incident then you have a point but its not so your point has little validity.

 

[fan2011]

No Fan. Its that this same outcome has happened about 10 times over the last two years. The other coach adjusts and CM never does. They plAy better down the stretch and we dont. This team constantly has lost games that were there to be won and lost over the past 5 years. Its a pattern and there is only one common denominator. If this was an isolated incident then you have a point but its not so your point has little validity.

This article from 2 years ago speculates Mooney was the 4th best in the country at coaching in the final minute of a game:

http://kenpom.com/blog/index.php/weblog/entry/whos_the_best_in_game_coach

 

[WebSpinner]

one can nit pick or complain or bitch and moan about it but we lost a number of close games which could have made this season special and we did beat some solid teams which tells me we were very, very close. still contend that this team did not have the chemistry, leadership, to win those games and that is why we are not dancing.

 

[I-M-UR]

one can nit pick or complain or bitch and moan about it but we lost a number of close games which could have made this season special and we did beat some solid teams which tells me we were very, very close. still contend that this team did not have the chemistry, leadership, to win those games and that is why we are not dancing.

Close but now we start virtually all over, this isn't the pros where a team can add a few players to the existing team and get over the hump. You add coaching to the top of your list; chemistry, leadership etc. and I'll agree but coaching is still number one.