Game Impressions

Canonball · #1 11-19-2008, 11:18 PM

Negatives

Not shooting well at all. We missed 40 out of 63 shots. Many from within 5 feet.
Barely any attempts to get the ball into the low post.
Seem to be playing extra tight on offense.
why?
Playing to quick on breaks in the first half and thinking about it too much in the half court.
Anticipation of the low post entry pass needs to be quicker – by the time we’re thinking about it, it’s to late.
They've got to find a way to just let it flow. Do the bull dance maybe!!

Positives

Defense keeps you in any contest you enter. We are playing inspired defense. The other team must be wondering how you score on us. It’s absolutely tenacious.
Rebounding was dramatically improved and is the reason we win by 20 tonight.
We finally got on our ponies and broke!!!!! It all starts with defense and rebounding.
Offensive glass was outstanding … but you know what it means when you get a lot of offensive rebounds? It was nice to see even if it was because we shot horribly.
9+ minutes for all the scholarship players. We played 12 players 9 + minutes. That’s 2 more players than dsu had tonight. We exhausted the other team.
3 freshman on the court at the same time … and they played that way for quite a while.
CJ found his stride a bit tonight offensively … still bringing the engine like all 3 other games.
Luke stared down an 0-7 night and dropped number 8 squarely in the bottom of the net. They’ll start falling. More importantly Luke didn’t look nearly as lost tonight on defense.
My two favorite nemeses CL and MP … actually had pretty good nights … MP in particular.

POG - Chris Wright ... I'm still amped about that MP - CW off the glass dunk!!

AdamtheFlyer · #2 11-19-2008, 11:22 PM

Good post. Tough to disagree with anything.

To me the defining moment of the night came when CJ went down. All 4 players on the court SPRINTED down the floor to check on him. That's a sign of a close team, a team that is gelling together. I hated seeing CJ go down, and hope that he's ok, but I was simply amazed by the team's reaction to it. That's a team.

allflyernamesaregone · #3 11-19-2008, 11:24 PM

That dunk was amazing, but I don't think BG was too happy with it. Called time out after it and I don't think Chris Wright played the rest of the game. Oh well, I enjoyed it!

murphy10 · #4 11-19-2008, 11:27 PM

Originally Posted by Canonball

Negatives

Not shooting well at all. We missed 40 out of 63 shots. Many from within 5 feet.
Barely any attempts to get the ball into the low post.
Seem to be playing extra tight on offense.
why?
Playing to quick and thinking about it too much.
Anticipation of the low post entry pass needs to be quicker – by the time we’re thinking about it, it’s to late.
They've got to find a way to just let it flow. Do the bull dance maybe!!

Positives

Defense keeps you in any contest you enter. We are playing inspired defense. The other team must be wondering how you score on us. It’s absolutely tenacious.
Rebounding was dramatically improved and is the reason we win by 20 tonight.
We finally got on our ponies and broke!!!!! It all starts with defense and rebounding.
Offensive glass was outstanding … but you know what it means when you get a lot of offensive rebounds? It was nice to see even if it was because we shot horribly.
9+ minutes for all the scholarship players. We played 12 players 9 + minutes. That’s 2 more players than dsu had tonight. We exhausted the other team.
3 freshman on the court at the same time … and they played that way for quite a while.
CJ found his stride a bit tonight offensively … still bringing the engine like all 3 other games.
Luke stared down an 0-7 night and dropped number 8 squarely in the bottom of the net. They’ll start falling. More importantly Luke didn’t look nearly as lost tonight on defense.
My two favorite nemeses CL and MP … actually had pretty good nights … MP in particular.

POG - Chris Wright ... I'm still amped about that MP - CW off the glass dunk!!

I didn't get to see the game because of work...Was this one of CWs better dunks. What was the situation?

Canonball · #5 11-19-2008, 11:33 PM

CW managed to get a steal ... passed it out to MP ... it looked like MP was going to lay it in ... instead he put it up off the glass high ... seemed like CW nearly broke them rim dunking it, thunderous. Beautiful play.

lilrudy4787 · #6 11-19-2008, 11:34 PM

the CW dunk was amazing. literally amazing.

To add...i thought BG did a much better job tonight in subbing and creating a good flow on offense. He was keeping players on the bench for much longer than usual and i felt it helped out the players in being comfortable on the court. Lets hope we see more of this in the future because getting a a good flow is important.

Iguomaniac · #7 11-19-2008, 11:37 PM

Originally Posted by murphy10

I didn't get to see the game because of work...Was this one of CWs better dunks. What was the situation?

MP had an open fast break with CW trailing. MP went up like he was laying it in and threw it high off the glass. CW caught it with two hands and threw it down. It was a nice dunk, but I would say it was much easier than some the ones he throws down in traffic. There were no defenders even inside the three point line.

bcross · #8 11-20-2008, 12:06 AM

Originally Posted by allflyernamesaregone

That dunk was amazing, but I don't think BG was too happy with it. Called time out after it and I don't think Chris Wright played the rest of the game. Oh well, I enjoyed it!

I thought the timeout was more of BG calling off the dogs. I wouldn't see why Wright would be punished for Perry throwing ball off of the backboard to him.

NorthwestFlyer · #9 11-20-2008, 12:42 AM

After that timeout, the Freshman got a whole bunch of the time for the rest of the game, so calling off the dogs is probably a good observation.

swish61 · #10 11-20-2008, 11:09 AM

In response to canonballs original post, I feel that we will always struggle in some facet of the game, in every game we play this year. It might be free throws one game, rebounding the next, turnovers in the next one, 3-pointers won't fall....and so on so forth. We have so many different types of players, that we will see a variety of rotations depending on situations and matchups, and that is why we will struggle in different points of the game during the season, with one exception, and that is defense.
I've been to two games, and watched the other 2 on the net, and almost every minute of these games, the guys were bringing it on defense. That will be our one constant this year, and will really save our necks more than once. Defense wins championships.

shocka43 · #11 11-20-2008, 11:16 AM

Originally Posted by swish61

In response to canonballs original post, I feel that we will always struggle in some facet of the game, in every game we play this year. It might be free throws one game, rebounding the next, turnovers in the next one, 3-pointers won't fall....and so on so forth. We have so many different types of players, that we will see a variety of rotations depending on situations and matchups, and that is why we will struggle in different points of the game during the season, with one exception, and that is defense.
I've been to two games, and watched the other 2 on the net, and almost every minute of these games, the guys were bringing it on defense. That will be our one constant this year, and will really save our necks more than once. Defense wins championships.

You are dead on this one. If defense and rebounding holds against the tougher competition, we will be fine. Any other facet can be offset by D. If the D fails and another aspect does as well, it will be very tough to beat the quality teams we face.

swish61 · #12 11-20-2008, 11:20 AM

Originally Posted by shocka43

You are nuts on this one. If defense and rebounding holds against the tougher competition, we will be fine. Any other facet can be offset by D. If the D fails and another aspect does as well, it will be very tough to beat the quality teams we face.

What I am saying is that I think the defense WILL hold tight in every game. It is our one constant. And I feel that rebounding is a part of defense, and we will rebound very well. And when I said that we would struggle in certain different areas, in different games, I only meant one, or maybe two things, not all at once!

Sea Bass · #13 11-20-2008, 11:32 AM

love the defensive pressure and contested passes. This is what I have been waiting for ... aggressive defense. Said before the season that defense and rebounding would have to carry the team. Hopefully the half court offense will develop and the decision making on the break will improve.

How good will they be? Who knows. Just have to hope the offense gets better and the Flyers can develop some consistent perimeter shooting and a back to the basket post threat.

shapanud · #14 11-20-2008, 11:44 AM

Originally Posted by bcross

I thought the timeout was more of BG calling off the dogs. I wouldn't see why Wright would be punished for Perry throwing ball off of the backboard to him.

I agree. If BG wanted to punish anyone, he would have pulled Perry, not CW. What was CW supposed to do, not dunk it? Gametracker shows that Perry stayed in the game. He did pull CW, but that was probably b/c we were up 25 w/ 4 minutes to play.

shocka43 · #15 11-20-2008, 11:47 AM

Originally Posted by swish61

What I am saying is that I think the defense WILL hold tight in every game. It is our one constant. And I feel that rebounding is a part of defense, and we will rebound very well. And when I said that we would struggle in certain different areas, in different games, I only meant one, or maybe two things, not all at once!

I should have said "dead on"....Not that you are nuts.....

Post changed. lol

Bill McPeek · #16 11-20-2008, 11:49 AM

Every decent team has a personality. Ours is tenacious defense. It will keep us in most, if not all, games. In order to play D like us the kids have to buy into it, it's hard work. It's probably ONE reason BG subs like he does...play hard on the D for a while, then get a rest. The offense hopefully will come around. I thought we played with more patience in the second half against their zone. W are like a thoroughbred that wants to run but doesn't know how to slow it down a bit. We want to go 100 mph in a 50 mph zone. With practice we will recognize when to run and when to show some patience. My biggest concerns are our foul shooting and rebounding.

swish61 · #17 11-20-2008, 11:58 AM

Originally Posted by Bill McPeek

W are like a thoroughbred that wants to run but doesn't know how to slow it down a bit. We want to go 100 mph in a 50 mph zone. With practice we will recognize when to run and when to show some patience. My biggest concerns are our foul shooting and rebounding.

You're right about that. On a dead ball I heard Larry say, not knowing he was still on the air, "jeez Guy's, slow it down!" He was frustrated because they do want to go 100 in a 50 mile zone.
Do Larry and Bucky know we can hear them at timeouts???

Swampy Meadows · #18 11-20-2008, 12:51 PM

Swish:

I asked Larry that very question when I met him at Flanny's after the Gannon exhibtion game.

His answer: of course they do.

That's why you will never hear either of them drop an F-bomb, but they obviously feel liberated enuf to say what they are really thinking...which is what makes it fun.

Bill McPeek · #19 11-20-2008, 01:12 PM

Originally Posted by Swampy Meadows

That's why you will never hear either of them drop an F-bomb, but they obviously feel liberated enuf to say what they are really thinking...which is what makes it fun.

My favorite line, spoken by Bucky, of all time, did not come during a time out but rather during the game itself. It was against Cincinnati a few years at UC when we beat them on their home court for the first time since the Carter administration. When the game's outcome was obvious, Bucky said "I hate the Cincinnati Bearcats!" "I think the big fella will stopping on the way home for a Bud Light." It was certainly not something I would hear on the radio, from an announcer, here on the east coast! Loved it!

NorthwestFlyer · #20 11-20-2008, 02:05 PM

We shot 75% last night 9-12.

Still not great on the season but slighlty better than last year. Keep it up Flyers!

swish61 · #21 11-20-2008, 05:05 PM

I kinda thought Larry and Bucky might know we can hear them, but I'm glad Swampy confirmed it. I like hearing their comments, even "off the record" ones.

Fudd · #22 11-22-2008, 08:48 AM

I have been out of town for the first two games, and I was only able to catch snipets of the 2nd half on the web both times. Last night, I had a chance to watch the full game against Delaware State and came away with these impressions:

1. Our defense is the best I have ever seen it. We have played much weaker opponents, but we are harassing them to no end. On one possession, they heaved the ugliest 3 pointer from 5 feet beyond the arc, and it was their best opportunity of the possession. We have a lot of exceptional individual defenders, and the whole is even greater than the sum of the parts on defense for us.

2. At least in this game, we had trouble making good decisions after the steal on the break. I think everyone has been discussing this already. We just look like we are pushing just a little too hard and too fast. I don't think we are looking for the trailers, and instead taking a heavily contested lay-in. If we had some polish to our break away game, the Delaware State game would have been a more massive rout.

3. I like Rob Lowery a lot. He has a great A/TO ratio right now, and he can shoot. We need guys who are not afraid to shoot. We had an awful lot of shots open up with the loss of the seniors last year, and we need guys to step forward and take them.

4. An easy early schedule is just what this team needs to find it's own style of play. This is a very different strategy of play than we have ever seen at UD. The defense is there, but there is a lot of tuning necessary in the offense and transition games.

5. The "Why can't we get the ball inbounds?" questions will melt away this year as we pick off the other team on a regular basis.

6. Chris Wright looks so tuned up for this style of play. Someone needs to put a highlight reel together on Youtube by the end of the season. It might be 60 minutes long.

7. I love everything about Chris Johnson's game.

8. Our team chemistry looks really good this year. I think that gives us more upside by the end of the season. I think we are going to be very very tough by March.

9. BG is beginning to put up impressive career numbers at UD.

10. I can't wait to get back to the Arena for my first live game of the regular season on Sunday.