a half from a young team that really highlighted its overall issues.

[jordoo]

Yes it was one baaaaaaaad half and as I've said all season we will learn and improve but wow if you are scouting us watch that half because it was a microcosm of our team this year and its weaknesses.

This board it pretty knee jerk after games but another watch tomorrow will still yield the same things. We need to learn our lessons because that was everything bad about Nova 2nd half except the refs weren't nearly as bad although they still swollowed the whistle quite a few times while rewarding tech on every wild drive.

That's how it is on the road in today's crappily called NCAA when you have the big lead. The refs play to the crowd more than ever (I almost miss Higgins and his love of the call that the crowd hated . . . . . Almost) and we simply have to be smarter and tougher. Mental and physical strength as there are things open on offense whenever one thing is taken away. We found it when we weren't in headless chicken mode.

FT's really guys!!!!!

I am hoping for a post nova like bounce back. (Yes I know we won)

Sorry if this has all been covered but I just got to watch half 2 in full on DVR.

 

[RF2044]

So... what happened in the second half? Did we relax coming out of the locker room, with such a big lead? Did our players think the game was won at halftime? Did we get out coached? Are we not mentally tough? Was it bad calls?

 

[upperdeck]

I dont think we played all that bad the 2nd half other than the scoring part.. wide open shots, probably 5-6 no calls down low and we missed a ton of short shots and tip ins as well as ft's. i think it was VT playing better magnified us not playing as well.. cooney had a 3 rim out that would have stopped the bleeding with about 10 to go and it would never have been in doubt.

 

[jordoo]

So... what happened in the second half? Did we relax coming out of the locker room, with such a big lead? Did our players think the game was won at halftime? Did we get out coached? Are we not mentally tough? Was it bad calls?

I think Buzz tried to protect his young Biggs but we cut them up so bad he said screw it and basically had the big push Rank on every catch while he also ran a smaller guy underneath. We recognized the oprnning early but missed the shots and weren't patient. That seemed to have everyone go kind of crazy when we couldn't buy one. They also played Ksleb to pass which he never adjusted to. Plus the full court trap which we only made them pay for once.
Buzz went old school BE zone offense and they got hot. The moving screen to create a drive with the aggressive "post of Rak" which was actually z foul most times to clear that side of the lane.

Other than that our own mistakes and lack of execution plus adjustments were pretty obvious. But we missed a lot of good shots and seemed to panic.

 

[BludOrange]

A lot of forearms and shoulders thrown into Rak's lower back to clear him out of the lane on rebounding opportunities and also when trying to seal him off when tech was on offense.

 

[SoBristol]

When JB sits Joseph & McCullough, we are not a young team. Rak, Cooney & Gbinije are in their 4th years; Patterson 3 years out of high school, Roberson a soph. VT is a young team, and its best inside player was suspended.

We got exposed when VT elevated its efforts in the second half. We won, but let's stop with the excuses about being young. We have to get better.

 

[BludOrange]

Tech's former walk-on with the Bill Murray's hairdo in "Kingpin" kept them alive when he drained two lucky 3's from beyond NBA range in the final minute, one with a hand in his face. It always seems like one of our opponent's lesser players has their best game vs us. However if the kid was smart and truly wanted to beat us, he would've banked one of them 3's in. As we always lose when the opponent banks in a miracle 3 in the final minute.

 

[jordoo]

When JB sits Joseph & McCullough, we are not a young team. Rak, Cooney & Gbinije are in their 4th years; Patterson 3 years out of high school, Roberson a soph. VT is a young team, and its best inside player was suspended.

We got exposed when VT elevated its efforts in the second half. We won, but let's stop with the excuses about being young. We have to get better.

How about inexperienced instead of young then? Cooney an Rak are our most experienced guys and they are in new rolls. How much on court experience do Tyler, Ron, Chris & Kaleb have?

Were we expossed like Virginia and Notre dame? It happens every day in college to good teams.

 

[Eagles20]

When JB sits Joseph & McCullough, we are not a young team. Rak, Cooney & Gbinije are in their 4th years; Patterson 3 years out of high school, Roberson a soph. VT is a young team, and its best inside player was suspended.

We got exposed when VT elevated its efforts in the second half. We won, but let's stop with the excuses about being young. We have to get better.

I agree no excuses. Might not be young by age, but one could argue young in experience when it comes to a road ACC game. Outside of Cooney and RAK the others didn't play much in the ACC last year. Have to play better and knock down open shots and free throws.

 

[SoBristol]

Yes, Patterson & Roberson did not play a lot last season, so there is that. But it is 14 games into the season & we were playing a team that is much younger than SU.

Losing leads is pattern, and it isn't obvious there is a solution. The guard play -- from Cooney & Gbinije as much as anyone -- becomes shaky under pressure. But it's a win --

 

[RF2044]

When JB sits Joseph & McCullough, we are not a young team. Rak, Cooney & Gbinije are in their 4th years; Patterson 3 years out of high school, Roberson a soph. VT is a young team, and its best inside player was suspended.

We got exposed when VT elevated its efforts in the second half. We won, but let's stop with the excuses about being young. We have to get better.

Out of our seven player rotation, we have four players with little or no collegiate experience. Joseph and McCullough are freshman. Neither Patterson nor Roberson played appreciable minutes last year. Thus, four out of seven are largely inexperienced. And generally speaking, inexperienced teams struggle on the road. [For the record, citing Patterson's prep school year isn't a very compelling point to make]. The other three are fourth year guys who have played a lot.

Lets hope that today's game is both a character builder and a teaching point for our coaching staff about not going into coast mode at halftime.

 

[SoBristol]

Out of our seven player rotation, we have four players with little or no collegiate experience. Joseph and McCullough are freshman. Neither Patterson nor Roberson played appreciable minutes last year. Thus, four out of seven are largely inexperienced. And generally speaking, inexperienced teams struggle on the road. [For the record, citing Patterson's prep school year isn't a very compelling point to make]. The other three are fourth year guys who have played a lot.

Lets hope that today's game is both a character builder and a teaching point for our coaching staff about not going into coast mode at halftime.

Yes, let's hope. But we need to get past the excuses that we are "young" or inexperienced. It is 14 games in -- and it becomes an issue of talent and getting better. A lot of college teams play two freshmen in their top 7. Most teams have second year players who moved into starting roles to replace those who graduated or left early.

Look, the hard truth is we have challenges at the ball-handling spots and that weakness has been exposed in second halves of games. We have experience (and age) there in Cooney & Gbinije. We have 4th year leadership on the floor that many teams do not have. Our experienced guys need to play better in the clutch.

 

[bballbeadle]

I don't know what Buzz is like inside the locker room, but based upon his court side "demeanor," I would hazard a guess that during halftime he shouted, danced, pleaded, climbed up the side of the wall and hung from the rafters, did a King Kong imitation swatting away defenders, and sang "Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory" in four part harmony. He did something in that locker room that lit a fire under his team. We can and will make fun of him, but those kids came out of the gate second half believing they could win.

 

[wolfeisland]

I don't know what Buzz is like inside the locker room, but based upon his court side "demeanor," I would hazard a guess that during halftime he shouted, danced, pleaded, climbed up the side of the wall and hung from the rafters, did a King Kong imitation swatting away defenders, and sang "Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory" in four part harmony. He did something in that locker room that lit a fire under his team. We can and will make fun of him, but those kids came out of the gate second half believing they could win.

I think you nailed it. He puts on a show and his players can't help but buy into it. Also remember, he's played against us and our zone before and knows how to break it. I was always nervous when we played Marquette for this very reason.

 

[Jack Hall]

Yes it was one baaaaaaaad half and as I've said all season we will learn and improve but wow if you are scouting us watch that half because it was a microcosm of our team this year and its weaknesses.

This board it pretty knee jerk after games but another watch tomorrow will still yield the same things. We need to learn our lessons because that was everything bad about Nova 2nd half except the refs weren't nearly as bad although they still swollowed the whistle quite a few times while rewarding tech on every wild drive.

That's how it is on the road in today's crappily called NCAA when you have the big lead. The refs play to the crowd more than ever (I almost miss Higgins and his love of the call that the crowd hated . . . . . Almost) and we simply have to be smarter and tougher. Mental and physical strength as there are things open on offense whenever one thing is taken away. We found it when we weren't in headless chicken mode.

FT's really guys!!!!!

I am hoping for a post nova like bounce back. (Yes I know we won)

Sorry if this has all been covered but I just got to watch half 2 in full on DVR.

Imo we are at our best this yr when we attack like we did against villa and vt in the first halfs. When we get a big lead and get passive it just leads to paralyzing indecision (Kaleb especially, McC, Trob , even G look confused when we get passive on offense or go into slow down) imo. We were like two completely teams in the two halfs yesterday. It certainly doesnt help in the 2nd halfs that we have a short bench. Some of it is on JB tho, it seems whenever we get a big lead we get more conservative on offense, it didnt work against villa and it didnt work against vt. You get a 22 pt lead attacking and taking shots early in the shot clock, not always a good idea to get away from that and imo that is partially just how JB coaches. The poor defense is just letting up and a lack of effort, that is on the players . But on offense imo this team is much more effective when they dont over analyze and they just play fairly aggressive and attack and thats probably typical of a team that has above average athleticism but hasnt developed above ave basketball IQ yet.

 

[orangefan13]

So... what happened in the second half? Did we relax coming out of the locker room, with such a big lead? Did our players think the game was won at halftime? Did we get out coached? Are we not mentally tough? Was it bad calls?

Pretty much what Jack was saying.

We are bad against pressure defense right now. 8 for 21 shooting the entire second half 17 points. With maybe 2 freethrows unto they started fouling us on purpose with 3 mintues left.
VTech and nova switched to a pressure defense the second half. And once they started scoring their momentum hit and lasted a whole half.

When you have momentum against you a entire half its painfully clear your lacking offense.
It was more us losing then vtech winning.

pressure defense negates half court transition (of which we are really good at) and thats where these 1st half second half myths are coming from. What some people aren't seeing is its like playing 2 entirely different teams. In half court transition ball you create what you want, but when the defense starts playing you tight you have to create against what the defense gives you.

 

[stuckinbig11]

So... what happened in the second half? Did we relax coming out of the locker room, with such a big lead? Did our players think the game was won at halftime? Did we get out coached? Are we not mentally tough? Was it bad calls?

bunnies that did not drop, free throws missed, two 3s by Cooney that did not count because the refs had called a foul elsewhere off the ball

 

[br801]

So... what happened in the second half? Did we relax coming out of the locker room, with such a big lead? Did our players think the game was won at halftime? Did we get out coached? Are we not mentally tough? Was it bad calls?

It seemed the offense early in the second half went cold after they collectively began to hoist shots early in the shot clock and miss some makeable put-backs. After squandering most of the lead by the 6 minute mark, they righted the ship nicely and opened up a seemingly comfortable 11-point lead with about 2 minutes left, only to allow Va Tech back in with some putrid free throw shooting. Perhaps this team's shaky performance closing out games has gotten into their heads. I don't think it was about coaching or bad calls; I think it was more about inexperience and execution, both of which can be addressed.

 

[RF2044]

Yes, let's hope. But we need to get past the excuses that we are "young" or inexperienced. It is 14 games in -- and it becomes an issue of talent and getting better. A lot of college teams play two freshmen in their top 7. Most teams have second year players who moved into starting roles to replace those who graduated or left early.

Look, the hard truth is we have challenges at the ball-handling spots and that weakness has been exposed in second halves of games. We have experience (and age) there in Cooney & Gbinije. We have 4th year leadership on the floor that many teams do not have. Our experienced guys need to play better in the clutch.

Not so much about you directly SoBristol, but I'm really tired of having people call facts "excuses." I didn't make any "excuse" in my post above. The fact of the matter with our rotation is that four of our 7 players haven't played before this season. These four just had their first conference game yesterday--a road game. Big deal about 14 games--they're just beginning the difficult portion of the schedule now, and there is bound to be ups and downs while they get acclimated. And for players like Patterson and Roberson and Joseph and McCullough, who aren't battle tested, there is going to be inconsistency and variance until they gain experience and can be trusted to execute better. That's just the way it is. 14 games is barely anything--especially when you're talking about those games being the preseason portion of the schedule.

It would be an "excuse" to still be talking about their inexperience being a factor in February, March, or the post-season. By then, those four players won't be "rookies" anymore, given the heavy dose of minutes they'll receive throughout the course of the season.

But you're right--our experienced players need to be better in the clutch. Cooney, Gbinije, and Rak all missed critical free throws that would have turned the game into a double digit win. That can't happen.

 

[SoBristol]

Not so much about you directly SoBristol, but I'm really tired of having people call facts "excuses." I didn't make any "excuse" in my post above. ...
But you're right--our experienced players need to be better in the clutch. Cooney, Gbinije, and Rak all missed critical free throws that would have turned the game into a double digit win. That can't happen.

It is more a matter of how someone tries to explain why this team has struggled in the second halves of games, after strong first halves. "Facts" that we are "young" or 4 of our top 7 are "inexperienced" are overstatements, but don't explain much. (Ennis was young & inexperienced, but effective in the clutch.) And I don't see that those claims explain what this team needs to do to play better in the second halves of games. Why, for example, did Cooney come out strong in the first half, but not so much in the second half? Did we move the ball as well in the second half? Did we get the ball to Rak in good position?

 

[RF2044]

It is more a matter of how someone tries to explain why this team has struggled in the second halves of games, after strong first halves. "Facts" that we are "young" or 4 of our top 7 are "inexperienced" are overstatements, but don't explain much. (Ennis was young & inexperienced, but effective in the clutch.) And I don't see that those claims explain what this team needs to do to play better in the second halves of games. Why, for example, did Cooney come out strong in the first half, but not so much in the second half? Did we move the ball as well in the second half? Did we get the ball to Rak in good position?

That's because you are looking for causality, where it might not exist. And it isn't an "overstatement" at all--it is factual information, you just choose to downplay it.

Cooney didn't play as well in the second half because the entire team offensive concept broke down. His performance would have looked a lot better had not two second half three pointers he made gotten wiped away by BS whistles.

 

[Oakland]

We are inexperienced. We lost 3 starters and a 4 yr backup from last season. Here is a database that lays it out - we are tied for 61st least experience team. Of course this fact does not negate hard truths.

http://statsheet.com/mcb/stattracker/experience/teams

Yes, let's hope. But we need to get past the excuses that we are "young" or inexperienced. It is 14 games in -- and it becomes an issue of talent and getting better. A lot of college teams play two freshmen in their top 7. Most teams have second year players who moved into starting roles to replace those who graduated or left early.

Look, the hard truth is we have challenges at the ball-handling spots and that weakness has been exposed in second halves of games. We have experience (and age) there in Cooney & Gbinije. We have 4th year leadership on the floor that many teams do not have. Our experienced guys need to play better in the clutch.

 

[two3zone]

We are inexperienced. We lost 3 starters and a 4 yr backup from last season. Here is a database that lays it out - we are tied for 61st least experience team. Of course this fact does not negate hard truths. http://statsheet.com/mcb/stattracker/experience/teams

That doesn't tell the whole story though, out of just the P5 we're 15th, compared to the other P5 teams we're plenty experienced.

 

[SoBristol]

That's because you are looking for causality, where it might not exist. And it isn't an "overstatement" at all--it is factual information, you just choose to downplay it.

Cooney didn't play as well in the second half because the entire team offensive concept broke down. His performance would have looked a lot better had not two second half three pointers he made gotten wiped away by BS whistles.

What I would look for are ways for this team to get better. Next time out, what should Cooney & Gbinije do in the second halves of games so we don't let big leads get away? "Entire team offensive concept"?
I downplay "young" and "inexperienced" because whatever we have, we can't change it. And, when we have 3 seniors on the court, we have as much experience as we need.

 

[RF2044]

What I would look for are ways for this team to get better. Next time out, what should Cooney & Gbinije do in the second halves of games so we don't let big leads get away? "Entire team offensive concept"?
I downplay "young" and "inexperienced" because whatever we have, we can't change it. And, when we have 3 seniors on the court, we have as much experience as we need.

Pretending that issues don't exist because we "can't change it" isn't a very convincing viewpoint. No offense, but there is very little in your post that makes sense.