Love ya Rowdy, but how many teams respond well to having 3 starter out?
The Official Beat the Saint Mary's Gaels in Albany in the NCAA Tournament Thread
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duncanlamb
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This. You guys play a very physical style of offense the runs defenders endless screens for all 30 seconds each possessions. The fact that some of our players were tugging their shorts late into the first half says it all..SMC wore VCU down.
RowdyPkunk
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First off, it's different 3 players being out with injury, then 1 being injured and 2 being in foul trouble. BIG DIFFERENCE.
2nd of all if we had other guys ready to play.... when Deloach and or Johns got their first fouls we coulda substituted one of them (Lawal/Fermin) in so they (johns/deloach) didn't pick up a 2nd foul so quick.
I also completely understand the notion of trusting your players.... but you also gotta look out for the best interest of the team. And you never know how a ref or group of refs are going to call a game. You also never know when an injury is going to happen.
So here's my question.... if you dont think it's worth putting time into giving guys like Lawal & Fermin mins, or Banks minutes in the regular season.... then how can you possibly trust them to come in and provide quality mins in a big game situation like a conference tournament or a post season game. If PJ Byrd had been given more mins that season behind Evans... maybe we beat Rhody in the A10 tourney that year and who knows what happen from there. If Lawal & Fermin had been given more minutes in the regular season... maybe yesterday... they come in an provide a spark outta no where for the team... who knows.
Also as a player you're supposed to remain ready at all times right? Well how can you be confident in your abilities or believe in yourself.... if the coaches don't believe in playing you until they absolutely have to?
And now you factor in NIL and the transfer portal.... if your coach can't even find time for you in a regular season game.... people are gonna bounce even faster now.
We are not Duke, Kentucky, Kansas, or any P5/6 school thats gonna get Top 50-100 recruits without breaking a sweat... or that can simply say... "Oh well, on to the next player". We're not even close to Gonzaga level either. And we should not try to be a team where we rely so heavily on one or two players..... we didnt beat Duke in 07 solely because of Maynor. We didnt go to the Final 4 solely because of Jamie Skeen or Bradford Burgess. We didn't win the A10 Tournament in 2015, solely because of Treveon Graham.... No we won those games because of great coaching and a great TEAM effort.
Absolutely agree it's worth putting time into guys like Lawal and Fermin. In fact both of those guys got minutes early. I think that was a good move, some on here didn't. JJ played 18 minutes before fouling out, never mind that the SMU 4 and 5 guys were fouling just as much and not getting called as much, Shriver got a lot of run which we had done much of the season, but he could not handle Bowen. When Johns was in trouble we weren't left with a lot of options. The minutes Fermin and Lawal played they were okay, just a bit too slim to compete well with the Gaels' broad shoulders.
I'm not sure how you get guys ready to play bigger than their weight except they need to work this off season, that is too late for yesterday.
Then Ace goes down. Ace could still have been a difference maker. He had worked hard to get everyone else involved, but when he had decided to take things in his own hands a few times, SMU hadn't shown they could stop him.
Right now, after watching a second time, I'm still steamed both SMU bigs didn't foul out. They certainly committed as many fouls as our guys. Just a lot of no calls.
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He just needs to chill. So keyed up he misses dunks.
CrozetRam
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Two No. 1 seeds have been bounced already. This tourney is whack. But what happened to us was kinda logical. That was a solid team and we played poorly. Wouldn’t have matttered if we were from the A10, Big 10 or CAA. Play poorly and lose your best player and the odds are not good.
I was really disappointed in our crowd yesterday. It was pretty lame. I was there. A few of us stood and cheered at different times. Maybe 10% of us. The vast majority of our fans and sat and watched. No clapping. No cheering. It was like they were at the opera. Granted some of them are in their 70s and 80s so i get not getting up to cheer regularly. But there were plenty of younger fans who showed no emotion or support other than sitting and watching. I get that some people just want to watch the game. I am like that sometimes. I know some of the players families are like that. Our crowd was nowhere near as enthusiastic or as loud as they were in Brooklyn. When our team needed support the most, after Ace went down, the majority of our fans just sat and watched. This isnt the first NCAA game i have been to that our fans were like this. St Mary's fans were very loud and supportive. Even in the first half, when it was a see-saw game our fans did not show much support or enthusiasm. It was really disappointing. I wish the older fans with a lot of $$ that just sit and watch would let some younger fans attend for a change. We only got 350 tickets. That probably eliminated 90% of our donor base from being able to buy tickets. The most important game of the year and most of those that attended acted like they were at the opera.
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Just got back from Albany and catching up on the threads.
A few observations:
1) I heard many fans from different schools question why we are having an NCAA regional game at MVP in Albany. I agree. Outdated arena. Not to offend anyone from Albany, but checked that place off my list of places I never planned to visit.
2) There should have been more VCU fans at the game. 7 1/2 hour drive? St Marys fans seemed to outnumber us. They took up the whole area behind the St Marys bench. If you didn't like the crowd support and you didn't come, come next time. If you didn't like the crowd support, and you came, bring more friends next time.
3) The St Mary's players looked like physical specimens. They were jacked. Most weren't taller, but looked liked they owned the weight room. Playing the pack line, it made a difference.
4) We need to remember we have a young team. Other than Johns, our bigs are Fr, Fr, So. We have great potential but bigs take time to develop. Maybe another transfer portal find will help...Hey you guys...may need to throw money at some NIL cash...
5) We need to learn to rebound better and shoot better from the free throw line.
6) When Ace went down...it noticeably sucked the life out of us. I caught myself looking at the sidelines for Ace instead of watching the game. I can't imagine it didn't affect the team. How much does he mean to the team? Look at the start of our season.
7) As I was driving back home and reflecting...I thought...do I really want to do this again??? The time, the expense, the trouble...Heck yeah I do!!! I went, they lost, I went home... But I would not want to miss the opportunity to be there when they win....
8) What a great year. Can the ending be better? Yes. But what a great story. What a fun team to watch. Can't wait for next year!!!
A few observations:
1) I heard many fans from different schools question why we are having an NCAA regional game at MVP in Albany. I agree. Outdated arena. Not to offend anyone from Albany, but checked that place off my list of places I never planned to visit.
2) There should have been more VCU fans at the game. 7 1/2 hour drive? St Marys fans seemed to outnumber us. They took up the whole area behind the St Marys bench. If you didn't like the crowd support and you didn't come, come next time. If you didn't like the crowd support, and you came, bring more friends next time.
3) The St Mary's players looked like physical specimens. They were jacked. Most weren't taller, but looked liked they owned the weight room. Playing the pack line, it made a difference.
4) We need to remember we have a young team. Other than Johns, our bigs are Fr, Fr, So. We have great potential but bigs take time to develop. Maybe another transfer portal find will help...Hey you guys...may need to throw money at some NIL cash...
5) We need to learn to rebound better and shoot better from the free throw line.
6) When Ace went down...it noticeably sucked the life out of us. I caught myself looking at the sidelines for Ace instead of watching the game. I can't imagine it didn't affect the team. How much does he mean to the team? Look at the start of our season.
7) As I was driving back home and reflecting...I thought...do I really want to do this again??? The time, the expense, the trouble...Heck yeah I do!!! I went, they lost, I went home... But I would not want to miss the opportunity to be there when they win....
8) What a great year. Can the ending be better? Yes. But what a great story. What a fun team to watch. Can't wait for next year!!!
MobileMunchies
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Thank the both of yall for your support of them and your honest first-hand account/assessments.
BaNgMyPrOgRaM
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Already said my piece on it. Won't say any more it just makes me angry. Okay, just this. If it was called the same for both teams both their bigs would have fouled out. That's all.
Oh and I'm not VCU77, oops.
BaNgMyPrOgRaM
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Yeah but, and I liked your observation, but were you at the game? That's what I wanted to know from someone there.
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So Bangmy?… I say… I did not have the advantage of replays, but the first half I thought it was a rock fight and I was optimistic that they were not calling it tight. We are a better second half team. IMHO they got a few more calls in the second half than we did…but we could have beat them…with Ace, better rebounding and better FT shooting. We needed to bring our A10 championship A game with everyone engaged…we didn’t, we lost…
BaNgMyPrOgRaM
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That's what i thought watching from home. Thanks for you reply. And thank God the V.I. is not following my every post now. I haven't missed his presence here.