Game 9: Grand Canyon

Quote from: MCNPA on December 06, 2017, 05:58:38 AM

Sounds like we played sloppy and again didn’t totally put together a  rounded performance.   We need Lovett back and to play much, much better to win Friday.  Our offense has not come together yet.   Sounds like our rebounding wasn’t great today either.   That isn’t gonna cut it because they’ll blow us out Friday.  Time to pick it up.  Needed this win today though.

The Johnnies had a Mike Jarvis 2001-2002 squad feel last night. Played tough defense with only a few short lapses. Everyone chipped in defensively. And we couldn’t throw it in the ocean offensively from anywhere except for our one star guard, who’s awesome.

Team needs Tariq Owens to play better. You can make the case that everyone else played well. He was a mess. Get it together kid! You’re better than that.

+1 ....Defense was very good last night sans the last min were we could not rebound but very good game on that side of the ball and Tariq probably played his worst game in a Johniee Uniform yesterday (Missed Free throws, jumpers, got bullied on boards, could not catch a pass from ponds)...hoping he has a huge bounce back game Friday vs ASU.

Biggest key I see so far is a team that couldn’t defend has now proven to be able to at a high level. They give up less points than any BE team this year. That shows me Mullin is teaching them well. My concern going into the season was player development and tonight was a great example of that. I think we can be a tourney team. These guys are working.

Agree with that. But we have to take better shots. To many 3’s

Based on feedback I received preseason from a friend who attended several practices, Simon is living up to his assessment; great athlete, solid defender, rebounds & makes plays. He is obviously not a great shooter & is really a wing. I agreed early on with Marillac about the latter, but  must say he is a difference maker this season.

Always felt Ponds was best player on team & LoVett a close second. However, Simon complements them well & as noted can make a plays when you need it, be it a steal, rebound or finding guys. That trio would be even more effective passing the ball inside, but our bigs are not blessed with good hands, to be kind.

All in all, great start & if we can get some scoring, rebounding & less fouls from Clark, we can surprise a lot of teams.

Guys like Bash, Simon and Clark need to go to the hoop more and finish and/or draw fouls.  Their outside shooting is valuable when opportune but we have been chucking too much. 

Guys like Bash, Simon and Clark need to go to the hoop more and finish and/or draw fouls.  Their outside shooting is valuable when opportune but we have been chucking too much. 

Agree

I thought the team played really well. Different guys stepped up at different times and collectively never got rattled. I'm not so concerned with rebounding when the other team shot 32 threes and most of their twos were long. They're bound to get some junk boards.

I thought Trimble played a really good 27 min despite not making a shot from the floor. Had some good defensive moments and handled the rock well in the back court. Amar played 3 min and passed up two shots while someone open. That maturity is needed.

Clark got into foul trouble, turned the ball over, yet he still had 10 points in 18 min. He's an important part of this team.

Simon and Ahmed did work on the glass and great to see them hustling.

We lose this game last two years.

I like Clark. But minimal rebounds and fouling out in 18 minutes against a mid major is cause for concern. Should not happen, we are not deep and need him on the floor more and must rebound. Ill take the w and am happy w our record even though this wasnt the prettiest game to watch. Both teams are good defensive teams.

Clark needs to rebound better. People criticizing Simon are crazy. Ponds might be able to make NBA as a point guard. Yesterday sort of reminded me of an undersized D'Angelo Russell. Ahmed drives me crazy. I am now actually surprised when shot goes in or his drives don't lead to a turnover or charge.
A solid big that could get you an easy basket from time to time and another wing that could knock down a three and this team would be dangerous.

Ahmed drives me crazy. I am now actually surprised when shot goes in or his drives don't lead to a turnover or charge.

And yet he averages the fewest turnovers per game of the five starters.

Quote from: Dave on December 06, 2017, 08:04:43 AM

I thought the team played really well. Different guys stepped up at different times and collectively never got rattled. I'm not so concerned with rebounding when the other team shot 32 threes and most of their twos were long. They're bound to get some junk boards.

I thought Trimble played a really good 27 min despite not making a shot from the floor. Had some good defensive moments and handled the rock well in the back court. Amar played 3 min and passed up two shots while someone open. That maturity is needed.

Clark got into foul trouble, turned the ball over, yet he still had 10 points in 18 min. He's an important part of this team.

Simon and Ahmed did work on the glass and great to see them hustling.

We lose this game last two years.

I like Clark. But minimal rebounds and fouling out in 18 minutes against a mid major is cause for concern. Should not happen, we are not deep and need him on the floor more and must rebound. Ill take the w and am happy w our record even though this wasnt the prettiest game to watch. Both teams are good defensive teams.

Bryan must be doing well in practice bc he's certainly getting the minutes, I feel that the staff is expecting on a breakout performance sooner rather than later.

IMO Kassoum should either be starting or getting 15-20 mpg nightly. Given the opportunity his propensity to block shots has been proven, he plays sound, swarming D and rarely turns the ball over.

Quote from: we are sju on December 06, 2017, 12:27:21 PM

Ahmed drives me crazy. I am now actually surprised when shot goes in or his drives don't lead to a turnover or charge.

And yet he averages the fewest turnovers per game of the five starters.

Actually his turnover rate is significantly higher than Lovett's and Ponds' but significantly lower than Simon's and Clark's

Quote from: KJ_Django on December 06, 2017, 01:05:11 AM

Quote from: Celtics11 on December 06, 2017, 01:04:02 AM

Quote from: KJ_Django on December 06, 2017, 01:02:26 AM

Grand Canyon is double teaming a 5'10 sophomore point guard in the post.

They are showing more respect to Shamorie than members of his team's fansite.

Ponds shrink 3 inches?

You think he's 6'1?
I've stood next to him. I'm 6'2 myself.

I’m 6’2 as well. I agree. He’s 5’10.

He's bigger then Lovett so Lovett must be 5"7

Quote from: we are sju on December 06, 2017, 12:27:21 PM

Ahmed drives me crazy. I am now actually surprised when shot goes in or his drives don't lead to a turnover or charge.

And yet he averages the fewest turnovers per game of the five starters.

In fairness I like Lovett who also averages more TO's than assists. Lovett seems to annoy people on here which I think is silly. Ahmed's game bugs me personally. Maybe the stats don't fully support my annoyance but it doesn't make it any less true.

The game thread is truly an enjoyable read.  I prefer to shut the electronics off when I go to the home games or watch the away games on TV.  Commenting on the games throughout can be done by shouting at refs/TV for me.  Commenting throughout is like reading one page of a Dickens novel or Patterson book.  You can always find fault on one page but need to look at the whole work before evaluation.  There will be points where there are screw ups and points of fine play but it is the end result that matters. 

In the GCU game, we were what-6 point favorites?  We won by eight.  We played in a hostile environment for the first time this year and handled the crowd.  Ponds was his usual self, but he probably knew he was going to play 40 minutes and thus paced himself nicely (only shock I had was that he missed 2 FT's as he has been near perfect).  Simon played well and his 8-8 FT's were key.  Vernon of GCU was a monster on the boards but he could do nothing with them, zero points.  Lastly, we accomplished this win without Marcus.

As noted by others, team defense has been vastly improved.  We held GCU to 11 points below the per game average.  Furthermore, through 9 games, we are giving up 10 points less per game- a positive accomplishment.   

One thing I’d like to see more of is getting in the lane. We settled for too many jumpers.

Quote from: Foad on December 06, 2017, 12:30:17 PM

Quote from: we are sju on December 06, 2017, 12:27:21 PM

Ahmed drives me crazy. I am now actually surprised when shot goes in or his drives don't lead to a turnover or charge.

And yet he averages the fewest turnovers per game of the five starters.

Actually his turnover rate is significantly higher than Lovett's and Ponds' but significantly lower than Simon's and Clark's

Actually, what I said was actually correct.

Quote from: goredmen on December 06, 2017, 12:42:05 PM

Quote from: Foad on December 06, 2017, 12:30:17 PM

Quote from: we are sju on December 06, 2017, 12:27:21 PM

Ahmed drives me crazy. I am now actually surprised when shot goes in or his drives don't lead to a turnover or charge.

And yet he averages the fewest turnovers per game of the five starters.

Actually his turnover rate is significantly higher than Lovett's and Ponds' but significantly lower than Simon's and Clark's

Actually, what I said was actually correct.

Actually, what I said is correct as well.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DQYi7xcUEAAuyaQ.jpg:large

Any "per game" stats are pretty useless considering some guys play way more minutes than other guys and some have the the ball in their hands way more than others

I think the other poster is referring to TO's per minute in which case his stats are correct.  I'm sure there's some analytic that could calculate TO's per time of possession in which case Ahmed would likely be leading the team given that the guys with higher TO/game averages handle the ball the lion's share of the time. 

People criticizing Simon are crazy.

He has averaged nearly five turnovers a game our last four games and he barely dribbles. He's given the ball away to the opponent multiple times at the end of two close games and they didn't want it for some reason. He also gets bailed out of bad decisions due to his athletic ability, but will that continue against better teams with better athletes?  I think it's fair to criticize aspects of a player's game and still appreciate the player. Simon is a game saver on the defensive glass, he plays very good D, he passes well 37 minutes at game, he has displayed excellent understanding of his shooting limitations by only taking open set shots from deep, and he has an ability to create off 1-2 bounces.

What he can't do:  dribble and handle the ball in the half court or in close games.

I'd like to see him closer to the basket. I loved  the back to back takes he had off 1 dribble from the FT line. He's a dangerous player from that distance with his athletic ability and length.

Quote from: Foad on December 06, 2017, 01:27:14 PM

Quote from: goredmen on December 06, 2017, 12:42:05 PM

Quote from: Foad on December 06, 2017, 12:30:17 PM

Quote from: we are sju on December 06, 2017, 12:27:21 PM

Ahmed drives me crazy. I am now actually surprised when shot goes in or his drives don't lead to a turnover or charge.

And yet he averages the fewest turnovers per game of the five starters.

Actually his turnover rate is significantly higher than Lovett's and Ponds' but significantly lower than Simon's and Clark's

Actually, what I said was actually correct.

Actually, what I said is correct as well.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DQYi7xcUEAAuyaQ.jpg:large

Any "per game" stats are pretty useless considering some guys play way more minutes than other guys and some have the the ball in their hands way more than others

Ahmed has the ball in his hands more than Simon. He's not the same passer, but he is tasked with creating shots off the bounce more than anyone not named Ponds.

Quote from: goredmen on December 06, 2017, 01:34:47 PM

Quote from: Foad on December 06, 2017, 01:27:14 PM

Quote from: goredmen on December 06, 2017, 12:42:05 PM

Quote from: Foad on December 06, 2017, 12:30:17 PM

Quote from: we are sju on December 06, 2017, 12:27:21 PM

Ahmed drives me crazy. I am now actually surprised when shot goes in or his drives don't lead to a turnover or charge.

And yet he averages the fewest turnovers per game of the five starters.

Actually his turnover rate is significantly higher than Lovett's and Ponds' but significantly lower than Simon's and Clark's

Actually, what I said was actually correct.

Actually, what I said is correct as well.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DQYi7xcUEAAuyaQ.jpg:large

Any "per game" stats are pretty useless considering some guys play way more minutes than other guys and some have the the ball in their hands way more than others

Ahmed has the ball in his hands more than Simon.

No