We embarrassed ourselves out there tonight. Terrible effort. Lavin didn't coach a good game either. Bad lineups, we don't press enough, our guys played with no guts. How do we let Reynolds get 16 rebounds and the PG get 10 assists? We crapped the bed. They didn't wnt it and played like pu$$ies...
Wow I think we should send someone to PA to make sure MCNPA is ok. When he starts to lose hope....
Not sure why everyone is going crazy, they play ver good D and we struggle on offense. Team played hard. We can't shoot. Those of us that watched the game saw the stat of what their D did to Cotton and Durham. If Harrison struggles who else can hit an outside shot? Our starting two guard hasn't scored 10 points in a game in about 2 months, Jordan's jumper is a work in progress and none of our three's can shoot threes which is pretty ironic.
Yesterday wasn't the killer, it was some of the early losses.
Did you want to discuss the first DePaul game then? What did you expect to be discussed this morning? The Crimean War? The hotly contested election of 1876? Tilden was robbed.
No I understand, the only thing I have an issue with is the Schizophrenic identity on this board. I have been mentioning that despite how well we have been playing that those early season Lavin induced lineup craziness could come back to haunt us. This thought was shouted down with "why worry about that, just enjoy the ride". Then we lose to two teams that are better than us and even MCNPA is about to commit Hari Kari.
The last two losses would have been acceptable had we played better ealy. You shocked we lost these two games?
I'm rarely shocked when they lose. I'm shocked that they were so uninspired last night. I wasn't surprised they were a little tight early but was shocked they came out flat in the second half and played timidly. I wasn't shocked that Lavin had no answers and reverted to his deer in the headlights no clue shuffling players out willy nilly try and catch lightning in a bottle style of coaching. I'm surprised that he chose to play the game without his best players on the floor. Starting Branch. Why. Benching Obekpa. Why. I thought that lesson had penetrated his thick skull.
I can't justify not starting Jordan, as you say, it appeared that was a lesson already learned. But at the end of the night Jordan had played 30mins and had 4 fouls. How much more could he have played? Do we win this game if Jordan plays 3 more mins at the expense of Branch?
I don't think "we" do.
I fu$7ing hate Lavin. Truthfully. I think he's a fraud, and is only interested in being the face of the program and not in getting his hands dirty in the nuances of teaching and coaching. I also think he's either become lazy on the recruiting trail or has made an incredibly misguided tactical decision to ignore this class in favor of 2015.
But we didn't lose last night because of Lavin's in-game coaching. I am quite sure of that.
His best players played the most minutes, and there was no sight of the scrubs, walkons, or token white-guys who ate up minutes at the expense of victories earlier this season. And while I can't read minds, it didn't surprise me that he pulled Obekpa after Shitstainbrook scored 8pts in the first 3mins. I would've done the same thing.
Should Obekpa have been reinserted earlier, and given a chance to redeem himself? Yea, I think so. Especially when Xavier started playing volleyball with offensive rebounds. But he was at least partially hurt, he played no defense to start the game, and then when he came in later he committed a turnover and shot a 22foot jumper. I can't blame Lavin for not giving CO 30 mins last night.
If Lavin is to be faulted for last night's game it should be for the lack of development over the course of the season.
The aspects of the game that can be drilled-ad naseum in practice... like guarding the pick and roll, moving without the ball, and setting proper screens .. they look like shit. And that's a problem for which Lavin should be held accountable.
But nothing he did in-game last night cost us a win.