The Downside (Colgate)

[SWC75]

- I was hoping we’d beat Colgate in basketball by more than Florida State beat us in football. Nope. Not close Florida State was too good and so was Colgate, who is much improved over recent years.


- Three games: 10, 11 and 11 three pointers scored by the other team. Yeah, they took 87 shots to do it but that’s 36.7%, way, way too high for our defense. Last year we gave us a phenomenal 28.4%. But that was with tall, veteran defenders out front.


- We shot the ball as if it was bigger than the basket. We were 18 for 44 inside the arc, 38.6%- we were 55.3% in the first two games. We were 7 for 24 from the arc, which is too many three point attempts against a team like Colgate that shouldn’t be able to handle us inside and is 29.2% - we were 33.3% coming in, and an absurd 12 for 28 from the line - we had been 68.3%. All told we thrust the ball towards the basket 120 times and watched it clang away 76 times.


- Trevor Cooney is 3 for 15 and 1 for 9 from the arc since his big night vs. Cornell.


- Michael Gbinije was 5 for 12 from the line tonight. Jerami Grant was 2 for 6- and 2 for 8 from the field, his first bad game in quite a while.


- DaJuan Coleman and Rakeem Christmas, playing against a team that couldn’t possibly have matched up with them scored 2 points in a combined 30 minutes.


- CJ Fair had 4 more turnovers. He now has 15 in three games. And he’s a “move without the ball” guy, not a ball hog.

 

[Libero2]

Out of all of that, CJs turnovers drive me the most crazy. Which so far is a combination of bad luck, poor circumstances, and him trying to do to much at times, particularly early in each half. I think he has it in his head, if he waits for the right moment (as he has in the past) we will be down a whole bunch against a real team, and it will be too late. Of which I need to say, he might well be right given how poorly everyone else is shooting on the whole so far. So he is trying to work through the kinks now so that when he has to be at his best in a few days/weeks he will be ready with his increased role.

That's and the ridiculous 42% free throw shooting on 28 shots. For god sakes that's 16 points left at the line unacceptable. If we get half of those back, we are up in the upper 70s and this isn't even a game in the second half.

 

[shermstheman]

I'm thinking all of the warts are correctable but for one.. G and Jeremy have the form to shoot free throws well (Jeremy had a good streak last year at one time). CJ's turnovers should go down as he gets used to being the man. If Tyler (or someone other than CJ) can hit 3's it will open up Trevor. If G and Tyler drive the lane it will open up everyone. I think all of this will happen. The one concerning thing is the D at the top of the zone. Cuse is getting slammed by 3's there and the 2 T's aren't going to grow any taller. We will see a lot of G there.

 

[VaBeachOrFan]

- Trevor Cooney is 3 for 15 and 1 for 9 from the arc since his big night vs. Cornell.

Trevor Cooney rushes his 3-point shots. Tyler Ennis does not.-VBOF

 

[SWC75]

I'm thinking all of the warts are correctable but for one.. G and Jeremy have the form to shoot free throws well (Jeremy had a good streak last year at one time). CJ's turnovers should go down as he gets used to being the man. If Tyler (or someone other than CJ) can hit 3's it will open up Trevor. If G and Tyler drive the lane it will open up everyone. I think all of this will happen. The one concerning thing is the D at the top of the zone. Cuse is getting slammed by 3's there and the 2 T's aren't going to grow any taller. We will see a lot of G there.

T and T are listed at 6-2 and 6-4, which isn't bad. But are they?

 

[billsin01]

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DaJuan Coleman and Rakeem Christmas, playing against a team that couldn’t possibly have matched up with them scored 2 points in a combined 30 minutes.

This. Just tremendously disappointing, IMO. It's early and I don't feel like fans should be flipping out but that kind of performance by those two is deflating.

As for cj's turnovers, those are going to happen when you are by far the top option. They are asking him to create and I agree with you, that's not ideal for cj's or the team. But it's the reality until Grant emerges a bit more and maybe ennis/cooney smooth things out.

 

[HarrisonJBounel]

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- DaJuan Coleman and Rakeem Christmas, playing against a team that couldn’t possibly have matched up with them scored 2 points in a combined 30 minutes.

After seeing them, I can't honestly agree. Give some credit to the Colgate bigs. Ethan Jacobs, 6'11", was pretty mobile, smart, and tough. He moved his feet well and always seemed to be in good position. Kept his hands high and didn't leave his feet. Our bigs aren't offensively savvy enough to beat a guy like that. And their forwards played good D as well, doubling and switching, playing tough and smart.

 

[Madbiker]

I'm thinking all of the warts are correctable but for one.. G and Jeremy have the form to shoot free throws well (Jeremy had a good streak last year at one time). CJ's turnovers should go down as he gets used to being the man. If Tyler (or someone other than CJ) can hit 3's it will open up Trevor. If G and Tyler drive the lane it will open up everyone. I think all of this will happen. The one concerning thing is the D at the top of the zone. Cuse is getting slammed by 3's there and the 2 T's aren't going to grow any taller. We will see a lot of G there.

I don't think the poor perimeter defense is due to height of our guards as much as to less quickness up top. They are just giving shooters too much space. That and Tyler coming to the realization that unlike in high school players at this level can make the 3 pt shot 2 feet behind the line. You have to get up in their grille. I hope he gets that soon.