We have work to do

Coach wanted a barometer game early in the season....i think we found out a lot about the team, the most important beinf that we have a ways togo before we are a ncaa team.   That being said, i think the team last year gets totally waxed by st marys. 

I really like the pressure which provided for some fast break opps, but certainly not aa many as wed like, esp in the second half.   Fast breaks will be very impt, bc with our players, i just neversee us being a very good halfcourt team, no matter how good our sets are. 

Dwaynepolee jr is a breath of fresh air for this program.  Very athletic, finishes well,long arms which allow him to steal some passes, and even a nice touch.   Baldi may have nailed it on the head that he will soon be our best player (if hes not already).

I actually thought justin burrell did very well, especially for only practicing for the last six days since returning from injury.  Made some really strong post moves, some of which did not go in, some which were cut short bc he got fouled.   I really liked him face up and take a tim duncan bank shot, that barely missed.  He will be a focal part of our offense, imo, and a key to the season, bc hes our only real shot at a post game...i dont see any of the other big men succeeding on offense down low.

Kennedy seemed a little lost in the new offense, and needs to be more aggressive.   Hardy cant create that well for himself, or at least couldnt tonight, and we need to do a btter job of getting him open. 

Id like to see more of paris horne.  No comment either way yet.

Brownlee seems like perhaps he was doing better in practice than he will in game....my theory is that sean evans is really kind of lost and out of plqce on d a lot, and prob has allowed brownlee to look better in practice....but hopefully im wrong on both of them.   

Despite the loss and very frustrating second half, i was encouraged by the game.   We looked like a real team for once, and played stifling d for the first three quarters of the game.   Hopefully this provides early dividends, and what we learn here will lead us to victory in the great alaska shootout. 

What I thought of individual performances last night...

Polee - Had a very good first game.  Gave us scoring we desperately needed with many guys having off game shooting.  That said he forced a few shots and made a few freshman mistakes but that is to be expected.

Brownlee - Non-existent out there tonight.  It simply was a forgettable performance for him and one would honestly not remember if he even played.

Kennedy - Not a good game for our leader.  He never got into the swing of things offensively and sometimes seemed to be just watching.  He was bothered by the larger defender and didn't look to take the bigger player off the dribble.

Hardy - His shot wasn't falling and when that happens he really doesn't bring much else to the table.  His dribble drives are only effective if the other team is over playing his jumper and there was no reason to do that last night.

Boothe - He had a very good first half.  He was blowing past his defender and had a couple of very easy layups.  Went down in the 2nd half and when he was on the bench St. Mary's made their run.

Burrell - Decent game for being sidelined most of the preseason.  He made some nice post moves and was calling for the ball in the post but in classic JB style missed a couple bunnies.

Evans - What can I say he just looks bad.  He doesn't understand the zone defense, his closeouts on shooters are slow and when he goes to cover the man at the high post he doesn't move his feet and got beat to the basket two times.

Stith - Other than Boothe getting hurt in the second half he had no business being in the game.  He jacks threes at terrible times in the offensive sets and is not ready to play at this level.  I understand he scored for us tonight but I simply don't like his game and don't like when he is on the floor but maybe it's just me.

Horne - As with other guys Horne's performance was forgettable.  Played some decent defense but other than that not too much to say.

After being pissed off for 4 hrs one positive I think I can take away from the game is 23-27 from the stripe that's 85.2% when is the last time we shot that well???

If DJ and Hardy are going to shit the bed, we're going down.

You have to wonder if these guys know what it takes to win? They are always on the wrong end of games like this.

Coach wanted a barometer game early in the season....i think we found out a lot about the team, the most important beinf that we have a ways togo before we are a ncaa team.   That being said, i think the team last year gets totally waxed by st marys. 

I really like the pressure which provided for some fast break opps, but certainly not aa many as wed like, esp in the second half.   Fast breaks will be very impt, bc with our players, i just neversee us being a very good halfcourt team, no matter how good our sets are. 

Dwaynepolee jr is a breath of fresh air for this program.  Very athletic, finishes well,long arms which allow him to steal some passes, and even a nice touch.   Baldi may have nailed it on the head that he will soon be our best player (if hes not already).

I actually thought justin burrell did very well, especially for only practicing for the last six days since returning from injury.  Made some really strong post moves, some of which did not go in, some which were cut short bc he got fouled.   I really liked him face up and take a tim duncan bank shot, that barely missed.  He will be a focal part of our offense, imo, and a key to the season, bc hes our only real shot at a post game...i dont see any of the other big men succeeding on offense down low.

Kennedy seemed a little lost in the new offense, and needs to be more aggressive.   Hardy cant create that well for himself, or at least couldnt tonight, and we need to do a btter job of getting him open. 

Id like to see more of paris horne.  No comment either way yet.

Brownlee seems like perhaps he was doing better in practice than he will in game....my theory is that sean evans is really kind of lost and out of plqce on d a lot, and prob has allowed brownlee to look better in practice....but hopefully im wrong on both of them.   

Despite the loss and very frustrating second half, i was encouraged by the game.   We looked like a real team for once, and played stifling d for the first three quarters of the game.   Hopefully this provides early dividends, and what we learn here will lead us to victory in the great alaska shootout. 

Have not seen the game yet, but by looking at the box score four things jumped out at me.
1. Polee seems to have a green light. Freshman took the most shots.
2. How did the Malik's score that many points? Boothe got hurt?
3. 7 boards a nice start for Burrell
4. Despite all the chatter Brownlee's boxscore represents how I saw him last year.

what i took from the game? dunlop is gonna flip out. and dj and dwight is gonna need probaly one more game to get confortable with the staff which is normal. i liked how boothe played. and i dont think they could have won that game. i think maybe later on in the year they could have

Really liked the zone defenses and presses, although the 1-3-1 will leave us susceptible to the corner 3 where #11 absolutely scorched us from.  Polee really was impressive and is an absolute athletic freak.  However, he did seem to force a lot in the second half not sure if that was a product of no one else on the floor doing anything or just experience.  Offensively we looked completely lost at times.  While it is nice to see them running offensive sets for the first time in three years that weave offense, while creating movement, is relatively pointless if no one is gonna look to score.  DJ was a complete non factor.     

After being pissed off for 4 hrs one positive I think I can take away from the game is 23-27 from the stripe that's 85.2% when is the last time we shot that well???

Wow didn't realize def an improvement over previous years.

If DJ and Hardy are going to shit the bed, we're going down.

You have to wonder if these guys know what it takes to win? They are always on the wrong end of games like this.

As much as I don't want to bash our kids on here, or overreact after one game, I gotta agree.  Do they understand the game has two halves?  They played well enough to carry a lead into the half and then start the 2nd, what 2-16 from the field.. unacceptable.  It's the 'Nova and WV games all over again.   

This saint mary's team was prime for the taking, 14 tos & no one really giving them much offensively outside of #11, and we just let it slip through our fingers.  A W this morning would have looked great on our season resume.  I’m just really disappointed right now.

what i took from the game? dunlop is gonna flip out. and dj and dwight is gonna need probaly one more game to get confortable with the staff which is normal. i liked how boothe played. and i dont think they could have won that game. i think maybe later on in the year they could have

Why don't you think they could have won.  All Hardy has to do is hit two 3's and its our game.  I know its not as simple as that but we lost by two possessions and Hardy, DJ and Brownlee (3/5 of the starters) went a combined 2-15.

We are going to need to establish consistent scorers. The starting 5 might still be a work in progress.

This looks like a team that has some talent, but is still searching for its identity.

Poles is our leading scorer? What does that say for the talent level of our 9 seniors?

We are going to need to establish consistent scorers. The starting 5 might still be a work in progress.

This looks like a team that has some talent, but is still searching for its identity.

Poles is our leading scorer? What does that say for the talent level of our 9 seniors?

I agree that we need consistent scorers, but I think Polee being the leading scorer was due more to other guys having bad games than him being our best player.  The problem I see is that we have about 5 guys who on any night can be our leading scorer but last year we could never get 2,3 or 4 guys hot in the same night.  We don't have a guy that is going to carry us every night and lead the team in scoring and because of that the offense sets have to produce points for whoever is in the game.  Scoring is going to be a problem for us again this season, the addition of actual offensive sets is going to help but we just don't have a group of talented scorers.  The team will rebound from this lost by beating up on Columbia and hopefully grow and gain some confidence as the season goes on. Also, I see the starting line up changing soon with the addition of Burrell and subtraction of Brownlee.  Maybe Brownlee had an off game but I saw nothing last season that lead to all the praise from Lavin and although he played well in the exhibition I think that was do to the lack of competition.  I think he is a good bench player not a Big East starter and focal point of the offense.

I understand it's the 1st game and we are a different team as far as mentality goes, but I'm already getting tired of everyone saying "we" the fanbase- have a lot to be optimistic about. While this may be true, it's one of those old excuses I don't want to hear when we could have won this game.

I told everyone after the exhibition game, the zone is new it's good but against good competition it'll get burned. Steindl was in the corner all night wide open, the rotation just isn't crisp. I think they went to a man-to-man defense too late.

It's funny because a bunch of us were analyzing SMU's 1st game and how poorly they shot from the FT line and went 8-29 from 3...yet against us they shoot 77% from the line and 40% from 3.

DJ being MIA made me very angry, he is our leader, you need to make something happen.

Hardy wasn't aggressive, there were no screens or double screens set to try and get our shooters open, it's going to be tough to win like that.

I completely agree with KJD, Stith who scored well, but mostly in garbage time, shouldn't be on the floor in this spot. The 3 he took made me throw my hat at the TV.

I just hope the travel and what not doesn't take a toll against Columbia tomorrow, I don't think I can stomach a loss to Columbia.

DJ being MIA made me very angry, he is our leader, you need to make something happen.

The announcers credited the job that steindl did on defense against him.. ESPN lists steindl as 6'7 180 (St Mary's website says 195).. the competition from big east SF's will be twice as good defensively.  We need DJ to step his game up if we are to have any shot of being an NCAA team.

what is quite easy to do is to look at DJ shooting 1 for 5 and Hardy 1 for 6 in the box score and be disappointed.  it maybe SMC's players and stlye that does this.  Looked at the boxscore from the Nova game (yes Samhan was dominant) and saw that Scotty was 2/11 and Corey was 3/13.  Maybe SMC had something to do with our performance.  Nova shot 36% for the game; we shot 40%.

we need to consider the impact of "time traveling" on the team.  Also the floor of SMC's gym looked like MSG when the Rangers play.  I am glad no one got hurt on that floor.  Remember Hardy's attempt late in the game when almost feel as he tried to stop and shoot. 

what is quite easy to do is to look at DJ shooting 1 for 5 and Hardy 1 for 6 in the box score and be disappointed.  it maybe SMC's players and stlye that does this.  Looked at the boxscore from the Nova game (yes Samhan was dominant) and saw that Scotty was 2/11 and Corey was 3/13.  Maybe SMC had something to do with our performance.  Nova shot 36% for the game; we shot 40%.

we need to consider the impact of "time traveling" on the team.  Also the floor of SMC's gym looked like MSG when the Rangers play.  I am glad no one got hurt on that floor.  Remember Hardy's attempt late in the game when almost feel as he tried to stop and shoot. 

I don't disagree but all of what you said is EXCUSES.  We have had 6 years of excuses and I understand there is a new staff and all that goes with that but this team is full of seniors, it is now or never.  So NO more excuses

Tale of Two Cities:

It was like Nolan Richardson's Razorbacks (us) against Pete Carrill Tigers (them).  A gambling, high risk, full court pressing defense, trapping zone,  looking to run at every chance against a sound, stay at home, make them beat you from the outside, man-to man, run 35 seconds of clock with crisp ball movement offense.  Very interesting match-up.

- Strong debut for Pole vault who was surprisingly our best player right away in only his first start.  I'm glad I picked him over next years models as my choice in Hollywoods highest impact recruit thread.  Shot only 6 for 16, however and one was a highlight reel soaring breakaway jam and the other was a beautiful up and under reverse layup.  So only 4 for 14 from more than two feet from the basket.  Very promosing and exciting still.

- Prez got his butt kicked by a Foster drinking, shrimp on the barbie, 99 pound weekling from down under.  Destroyed our best player with his man to man.  Shocking!

- This defense will take big time conditioning and a lot of energy.  D-buckets had an open 3 look at the end of the first and barely caught iron.  I think DJ and Dwight shot poorly due to fatigue with all they added running they now have to do on D.  Hopefully they get used to it.  Malik II was thriving in this system but eventually succolmbed to dehydration/leg cramps in San Francisco in November?  He had a good game as did Malik III who had the best game of his career despite what you guys are writing about him.  They are going to have to be in amazing shape for this to go.  This style is fun to play but a lot of hard work.

- Hilton didn't play enough while this system seems taylor made for him.  No sign of Dele as we went small the entire evening.

- Hollywoods techinical hurt us big time as we were up 6,  and had  just forced an offensive foul. They cut it to 4 on the T and we never got it back to 6 again.  Might hve been the game changer.  The replay made him look stupid as it was a very obvious inadvertant elbow and a good no call.  As many techs in one half as Norm had in 6 years.

- I liked the 2 am start time.  I'm a regular night owl.

See you all tomorrow.  The 40 minutes of hell should rattle the Lions more than it did SM.  It's very entertaining basketball at least.

I don't kno if anyone else notice this but the team didn't look comftorble out there..it seemed like they couldn't catch their footing and couldn't get a grib on the ball.
  Other than that there is a lot to work on but I feel if we opend the yr w/ this game last yr we would have lost by 20 or more...polee is gonna be a special player especially if he gets a little more touch on that midrange fade..the offense was ugly...dj needed to create something off the dribble n get to the free throw line to get his confidence back..I personally would have liked to see coker in instead of evans in on some possesions...I think that the team will take a lot from this game and will end up as a positive when we look at it at the end of the yr...I think we will b ok...u guys have to remember this is the FIRST game of the yr...vs a pretty good opponent..not liu st francis we played a sweet 16 team that beat nova by 15 last yr and who returnd 3 starters...relax

The court was dreadful, I noticed it all game. So many slips, falls and unable to get a solid base, either they were sweating profusely or that court sucks...

GUYS  1 game relax

The court was dreadful, I noticed it all game. So many slips, falls and unable to get a solid base, either they were sweating profusely or that court sucks...

It was a hockey rink.

GUYS  1 game relax

  yup