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Post by Commissioner on Nov 8, 2024 9:25:14 GMT -5
It seemed like we kept it close for about 10 min, then things blew up on us, but then at least we steadied ourselves and kept it to a 15 point deficit until it ballooned a little more at the end. That’s my review from following it on the ESPN app which was the best I could do last night. f That's basically spot on. It could have been closer, but the Titans missed a bunch of free throws in the final quarter of the game, and went stone cold from the floor, going without a field goal for over 9 and a half minutes (0-12 in that span). Some of that was good defense by the Ramblers, but the Titans also missed a few layups and open looks in there. We've now seen this at the close of the Wayne State exhibition, during Cleary's rally in the first half of that game, and twice last night: the team has streaks in which they sort of fall apart at both ends. I think this is largely just inexperience--watching the Cleary game live and last night on ESPN+, it seems that when a couple things go wrong the doesn't panic, but it rushes things, starts trying too hard to cover the mistake with a quick bucket or steal, and as a result they get sloppy. It's incumbent on the staff and on Lovejoy as the floor leader keep that from happening, but Lovejoy seems a bit prone to that tendency too. Part of the reason Detroit stayed even for the first 10 minutes was that Loyola made a bunch of unforced errors. Once they got going they were On simply the better team. I see a lot of potential in the Titans. I think Sunday's game with Niagara will be our first with a team that we might say is evenly matched. The Eagles were picked to finish 8th in the now 13-team MAAC. In other words, you'd expect them to also be a sort of lower middle-of-the-pack team in the HL. A loss will be a bit depressing; a win will suggest that we can and will, at least at home, pick off other Horizon teams. |
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Post by Commissioner on Nov 8, 2024 9:28:41 GMT -5
I missed the first quarter of the game following online, seemed like a lot of early season mistakes were being made in the first half. Second half started out promising, seems whatever conversation or adjustments were made helped in the Second half. We played with them or were leading for a majority of the Second half, and then towards the half our shooting dried up a bit and defense let up a bit to let them get back to growing their lead again. Some promising things to take from the box score, Nate Johnson looks like he could develop into a nice player, as coach mentioned, free throws have to get better. A lot of young guys played tonight, so expect growing pains. It is curious to me why some of the older guys are not playing, Hurst, Kuac not starting, Tchikou, etc. Geeter, Tchikou, and Hurst--three guys I think everyone assumed would be core rotation players--combined for 11 minutes last night (all from Geeter). And a fourth, Kuac, only played 16. Two weeks ago I would have guessed those four would between them account for 100 minutes or more. |
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Post by akhorey on Nov 8, 2024 10:54:55 GMT -5
I missed the first quarter of the game following online, seemed like a lot of early season mistakes were being made in the first half. Second half started out promising, seems whatever conversation or adjustments were made helped in the Second half. We played with them or were leading for a majority of the Second half, and then towards the half our shooting dried up a bit and defense let up a bit to let them get back to growing their lead again. Some promising things to take from the box score, Nate Johnson looks like he could develop into a nice player, as coach mentioned, free throws have to get better. A lot of young guys played tonight, so expect growing pains. It is curious to me why some of the older guys are not playing, Hurst, Kuac not starting, Tchikou, etc. Geeter, Tchikou, and Hurst--three guys I think everyone assumed would be core rotation players--combined for 11 minutes last night (all from Geeter). And a fourth, Kuac, only played 16. Two weeks ago I would have guessed those four would between them account for 100 minutes or more. Kuac has been productive when he’s on the floor just a few defensive lapses last night kept his minutes low. Geeter hasn’t been awful but just no impact plays to keep him out there long. |
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Post by royaloakdave on Nov 8, 2024 11:01:02 GMT -5
I missed the first quarter of the game following online, seemed like a lot of early season mistakes were being made in the first half. Second half started out promising, seems whatever conversation or adjustments were made helped in the Second half. We played with them or were leading for a majority of the Second half, and then towards the half our shooting dried up a bit and defense let up a bit to let them get back to growing their lead again. Some promising things to take from the box score, Nate Johnson looks like he could develop into a nice player, as coach mentioned, free throws have to get better. A lot of young guys played tonight, so expect growing pains. It is curious to me why some of the older guys are not playing, Hurst, Kuac not starting, Tchikou, etc. Geeter, Tchikou, and Hurst--three guys I think everyone assumed would be core rotation players--combined for 11 minutes last night (all from Geeter). And a fourth, Kuac, only played 16. Two weeks ago I would have guessed those four would between them account for 100 minutes or more. Likewise, I had assumed that Geeter, Tchikou, Hurst, and Kuac would play a combine total of at least 100 minuets per game. Evidentially during practice the new arrivals to the squad are displaying solid skills, lots of energy, and a high basketball IQ. I'm especially surprised that Tchikou isn't playing, I'm wondering if he's still trying to adapt to the system after missing Summer practices while focusing on school. |
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