University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (11/20/17)

[Mean_Green09]

1 minute ago, BillySee58 said:

Yeah, at home it's definitely a game we need to be able to win, even in year 1, but it wasn't a team that we were expected to steamroll. Key is that we get better from it and not regress. Benford's D2 loss was coming off of 3-straight Sun Belt Championship game appearances and all 5 returning starters. This is a lot different situation. Still a bad loss, but nowhere near the coaching disaster that loss signaled.

Well if Duffy & Smart don’t go 2-14 from downtown we probably win. 

Also no need for Lawson & Smart to be shooting 7 combined 3’s

[GrandGreen]

UTRGV is a better team than many of you think, they were significantly higher ranked than NT.  This was nothing like Benford's loss to Alabama Huntsville.  

I know losing Gibson hurt, but playing Woolridge the whole game in a fast paced game like this will take its toll.   Lawson also looked like he ran out of gas, had 9 rbs in the first half and only a couple in the second half.  If you are going to play a 4 guard offense, you should be a lot quicker than the other team.  Tonight they definitely were not.  

NT keeps playing like this and they are going to see a lot of zone defenses.   NT shot 17% from three tonight, and I think because of fatigue couldn't score close either.    Defense is better, but this team seems as confused on the offensive end as last years. 

 

[Mean_Green09]

1 minute ago, Andrew said:

I would trust Cooley on this. I’m not sure I agree with him, but he knows what he is talking about. 

Naw. 

Yeah he’s a basketball knowledge guy, but he’s wrong here. 

Why should I? I studied UTRGV some. I felt the teams were comparable. 

[BillySee58]

18 minutes ago, Andrew said:

Any news on the Russians eligibility?

When you say shooter do you mean a post shooter, because without Temara we won’t have much of a post presence. 

I don't know his status, but I expect we will know by semester's end, before the San Diego/Georgetown road trip that we will know.

When I say shooter, I mean shooter. I think we can make do with Lawson playing a lot of 4, Tikhonenko, Zach Simmons, Jahmiah Simmons, and Arikawe can handle the post but we need shooters. Gibson coming back should help, too.

[BillySee58]

22 minutes ago, Mean_Green09 said:

Well if Duffy & Smart don’t go 2-14 from downtown we probably win. 

Also no need for Lawson & Smart to be shooting 7 combined 3’s

Exactly. With Gibson out, and Tikhonenko not active yet, Duffy and Smart can't afford to both struggle from 3. At least not this much.

[Andrew]

7 minutes ago, BillySee58 said:

I don't know his status, but I expect we will know by semester's end, before the San Diego/Georgetown road trip that we will know.

When I say shooter, I mean shooter. I think we can make do with Lawson playing a lot of 4, Tikhonenko, Zach Simmons, Jahmiah Simmons, and Arikawe can handle the post but we need shooters. Gibson coming back should help, too.

Is Jahmiah more like a Roger Franklin type? I figure we would use Holston in the post before Lawson. I like Woolridge, Smart, Lawson, Holston, and Temara starting. 

[Mean_Green09]

15 minutes ago, BillySee58 said:

I don't know his status, but I expect we will know by semester's end, before the San Diego/Georgetown road trip that we will know.

When I say shooter, I mean shooter. I think we can make do with Lawson playing a lot of 4, Tikhonenko, Zach Simmons, Jahmiah Simmons, and Arikawe can handle the post but we need shooters. Gibson coming back should help, too.

Lawson is more of point 4. A lot of motion offenses that have the 4 taking the ball out require the 4 to be able to dribble like Lawson. I don’t think Jahmaih is a post guy. More of a slasher. 

 

[BillySee58]

12 minutes ago, Andrew said:

Is Jahmiah more like a Roger Franklin type? I figure we would use Holston in the post before Lawson. I like Woolridge, Smart, Lawson, Holston, and Temara starting. 

Yeah, that's the comparison I have used. A little more athletic, but not quite as developed post moves. Lawson has been playing the 4 most of his minutes. Doesn't mean he plays the post. My point is, between the 4-guard lineups Mccasland likes to use, Tikhonenko, Jahmiah Simmons, Zach Simmons, and Arikawe next year, I'd rather fill Temara's spot with a good shooter, regardless of position, than a traditional post.

Mccasland's Arkansas State team was able to have success last year by going small because they shot the ball well from three and still managed to outrebound their opponents. This year, with Tikhonenko and Gibson out, and guys like Duffy and Lawson struggling, we are sacrificing size and not getting payoff in the three-point department, and we're getting outrebounded.

If we're going to go small, and have Woolridge at point and Lawson in the game, then the other two perimeter players need to be good three-point shooters. Having Holston on the court at the same time as Woolridge and Lawson is rough and allows the defense to date those guys to beat them from deep.

[BillySee58]

9 minutes ago, Mean_Green09 said:

Lawson is more of point 4. A lot of motion offenses that have the 4 taking the ball out require the 4 to be able to dribble like Lawson. I don’t think Jahmaih is a post guy. More of a slasher. 

 

Right. He's playing the 4 in a 4-guard lineup. My point is, when you break down the rotation, he's going to take a chunk of the minutes at the 4 both this year and next year.

And I disagree on Jahmiah Simmons from what I saw of him playing at Arkansas State and his high school film. He plays primarily down low, like a traditional 4, on both ends of the court. He can slash because he is pretty athletic, but if he's in the game I'm not calling it a 4-guard lineup and it won't look/operate like one. 

[CMJ]

There's no way this was worse than Alabama-Huntsville.  But I also really didn't think we'd lose this one.  Last year, sure...we were very bad.  But, I figured we'd be much improved this season.  UTRGV was similarly bad to us last season after all, and McCasland has had a track record for quick turnarounds.

[Ben Gooding]

Uh, Uh...U-T-R-G-V.....

 

[greenminer]

11 hours ago, CMJ said:

There's no way this was worse than Alabama-Huntsville.  But I also really didn't think we'd lose this one.  Last year, sure...we were very bad.  But, I figured we'd be much improved this season.  UTRGV was similarly bad to us last season after all, and McCasland has had a track record for quick turnarounds.

You know that bball cliche, your team will probably win a few it shouldn't win and lose a few it shouldn't lose?

I don't buy the notion that this is a sign that McCasland is bad at what he does or was a bad hire.  This is probably one we will lump into the loss-we-shouldn't-have-had category.  Every coach has them.

Edited November 21, 2017 by greenminer

[Andrew]

27 minutes ago, greenminer said:

You know that bball cliche, your team will probably win a few it shouldn't win and lose a few it shouldn't lose?

I don't buy the notion that this is a sign that McCasland is bad at what he does or was a bad hire.  This is probably one we will lump into the loss-we-shouldn't-have-had category.  Every coach has them.

I agree. This isn’t the end of the season. This is the type of game we need to win if we are going to have success this year, but it was a learning experience. Best to get these out of the way before conference play. 

[Ben Gooding]

14 minutes ago, Andrew said:

I agree. This isn’t the end of the season. This is the type of game we need to win if we are going to have success this year, but it was a learning experience. Best to get these out of the way before conference play. 

I can't see this team having success unless our definition of success is different. 

We got smoked on the road by Nebraska, came home and struggled vs Bethune Cookman, and then got easily beaten by UTLPEGTY. Those are 3 pretty poor performances. I think it's safe to say this will be a transition year full of that coach cliche, "adversity." 

[golfingomez]

this valley boy is happy for the hometown university. 

I also don't think last night's game comes anywhere close to Benford's disastrous start

[KRAM1]

59 minutes ago, Ben Gooding said:

I can't see this team having success unless our definition of success is different. 

We got smoked on the road by Nebraska, came home and struggled vs Bethune Cookman, and then got easily beaten by UTLPEGTY. Those are 3 pretty poor performances. I think it's safe to say this will be a transition year full of that coach cliche, "adversity." 

“Easily beaten”? We were ahead 90% of the time. Lost late when we couldn’t handle their zone, tried to shoot over the top of it and went cold as ice as shooters.

Should we have won? Absolutely.

”Easily beaten”...not so much!

[Ben Gooding]

39 minutes ago, KRAM1 said:

“Easily beaten”? We were ahead 90% of the time. Lost late when we couldn’t handle their zone, tried to shoot over the top of it and went cold as ice as shooters.

Should we have won? Absolutely.

”Easily beaten”...not so much!

I saw a a scoreboard pic of a 10 point lead with 1:2something left to play. That's pretty easy. it's a beat down given the opponent,  UTOPQAIU. 

[KRAM1]

2 hours ago, Ben Gooding said:

I saw a a scoreboard pic of a 10 point lead with 1:2something left to play. That's pretty easy. it's a beat down given the opponent,  UTOPQAIU. 

That’s like saying, “I saw the movie Dunkirk...I know all I need to know about WWII”. 😂😂

And, just FYI...not me giving the downvote on your reply post.  🤔

Edited November 21, 2017 by KRAM1

[Matt from A700]

Last night was a sucker punch. So now who do we beat on the road in nonconference to make up for it?

[Ben Gooding]

1 hour ago, KRAM1 said:

That’s like saying, “I saw the movie Dunkirk...I know all I need to know about WWII”. 😂😂

And, just FYI...not me giving the downvote on your reply post.  🤔

haha very true. 

But still. Not looking good at this point. 

 

I'm not saying GM was a bad hire. I just think that there's going to be a bit of a struggle this year. 

[BillySee58]

1 hour ago, Matt from A700 said:

Last night was a sucker punch. So now who do we beat on the road in nonconference to make up for it?

After Rogers State, hopefully Grambling and Mcneese.

[aztecskin]

23 hours ago, Mean_Green09 said:

Well if Duffy & Smart don’t go 2-14 from downtown we probably win. 

Also no need for Lawson & Smart to be shooting 7 combined 3’s

This game was largely that -- missed shots -- and that is a very basketball problem that happens. As @BillySee58  posted,  we are missing some other shooters and a guy that can break down the zone. It was not a good loss but I'm not overly concerned. 

[Mean_Green09]

9 hours ago, Ben Gooding said:

I can't see this team having success unless our definition of success is different. 

We got smoked on the road by Nebraska, came home and struggled vs Bethune Cookman, and then got easily beaten by UTLPEGTY. Those are 3 pretty poor performances. I think it's safe to say this will be a transition year full of that coach cliche, "adversity." 

Didn’t really struggle against Bethune-Cookman. We got smoked in the first 8 mins at Nebraska. Last 32 mins NT was the better team. We didn’t get easily beat by UTRGV. 

We don’t have a bunch of good players that can easily overcome chemistry issues. I don’t believe you can throw a team together at the mid major level of 7 new players and expect things to run smoothly. It’s not going to happen. So no matter how good GMac is we are going to struggle early. But if he is a good coach then we should see progression. 

[Mean_Green09]

27 minutes ago, aztecskin said:

This game was largely that -- missed shots -- and that is a very basketball problem that happens. As @BillySee58  posted,  we are missing some other shooters and a guy that can break down the zone. It was not a good loss but I'm not overly concerned. 

We have a guy who can break down the zone. We probably haven’t practiced much zone offense yet. Anytime you hit a team learning the motion early in the season with a zone it’s going to confuse them. 

[aztecskin]

2 hours ago, Mean_Green09 said:

We have a guy who can break down the zone. We probably haven’t practiced much zone offense yet. Anytime you hit a team learning the motion early in the season with a zone it’s going to confuse them. 

Yeah I meant missing another guy.