He's darn near perfect, but. . .

[Gazoo]

No game is coached perfectly in retrospect, and in the moment it's nearly impossible. So I'm not complaining. Archie is incredible.

But I do disagree with a couple of Archie's decisions last night.

The first is that Sam only played 7 minutes. Now, Sam is a bad matchup against most A10 teams. They often don't have a big and Sam is left looking silly guarding someone 20 feet from the rim. But last night I think Sam should have subbed in every time the following happened:

1. VCU shot a FT. AM did this a couple times and we got each rebound without drama (unlike every other FT we rebounded by tipping it 3 or 4 times), but we also lost possession a couple of times because we couldn't rebound a FT. Sam is big enough that Cox and Tillman can't just walk through him.

2. Out of every timeout where VCU had the ball. They were going to run a play for Cox. It's why they called the timeout to being with: get the ball to Cox. Sam did a really admirable job of making their bigs take tougher shots (except the time he inexplicably fronted Cox). It's not like Sam is a shut-down defender for a guy like Cox, but, he did better than most when given the chance head-to-head, and he's got enough of a big body to clear some space for rebounds unlike Mikesell. Or just foul the bejeezus out of him. Sure, they could pull Sam away from the basket but pick your poison.

3. Any time Mikesell was on the floor. God bless Mikesell and what he's done for us this year. Really, he's done a great job, no complaints for an undersized sophomore. But VCU is a HORRIBLE matchup for him. Play him 20+ minutes against Richmond, but this is Mikesell's "Sam Miller" game. It's just not his game.


The second decision I disagreed with was taking the air out of the ball against the zone. At about the 11:00 mark we were up 12 and rolling. They went zone. We starting playing tentative and milking the clock, which resulted in the following sequence:
-TO (shot clock)
-TO (DD dribbling the ball across the half court line and passed it directly to the guys in black)
-TO (DD)
-TO (shot clock)
-Missed 3 at the end of the shot clock + rebound and 1/2 FT by Cunningham
-TO (Charles Cooke 30 feet from the rim)
-Block by Cooke and breakaway layup by KD (God bless that man)
-Missed 3 by Cooke

At this point, we were still somehow up 6, but with only 68 points and 6:15 to play we had gone over 5 minutes and scored only 3 points. By the time the game got decided by FT's at the 0:16 mark, we had scored only 6 more. We went 11 minutes and scored only 9 points.

Let me reiterate: Miller is one of the top coaches in the country. I'm not a better coach than him. But I really think we could have done a better job with these 2 items, and my need to if we meet VCU again on a neutral floor.

	Richmond UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND Founded in 1830, the private liberal arts university in the Commonwealth boasts 2,800 students in 57 majors within its picturesque 350-acre campus. The Robins School of Business is one of the Top-20 business schools in the country. Nickname is the Spiders and are fellow A10 Conference members.

[steve]

Originally Posted by Gazoo No game is coached perfectly in retrospect, and in the moment it's nearly impossible. So I'm not complaining. Archie is incredible. But I do disagree with a couple of Archie's decisions last night. The first is that Sam only played 7 minutes. Now, Sam is a bad matchup against most A10 teams. They often don't have a big and Sam is left looking silly guarding someone 20 feet from the rim. But last night I think Sam should have subbed in every time the following happened: 1. VCU shot a FT. AM did this a couple times and we got each rebound without drama (unlike every other FT we rebounded by tipping it 3 or 4 times), but we also lost possession a couple of times because we couldn't rebound a FT. Sam is big enough that Cox and Tillman can't just walk through him. 2. Out of every timeout where VCU had the ball. They were going to run a play for Cox. It's why they called the timeout to being with: get the ball to Cox. Sam did a really admirable job of making their bigs take tougher shots (except the time he inexplicably fronted Cox). It's not like Sam is a shut-down defender for a guy like Cox, but, he did better than most when given the chance head-to-head, and he's got enough of a big body to clear some space for rebounds unlike Mikesell. Or just foul the bejeezus out of him. Sure, they could pull Sam away from the basket but pick your poison. 3. Any time Mikesell was on the floor. God bless Mikesell and what he's done for us this year. Really, he's done a great job, no complaints for an undersized sophomore. But VCU is a HORRIBLE matchup for him. Play him 20+ minutes against Richmond, but this is Mikesell's "Sam Miller" game. It's just not his game. The second decision I disagreed with was taking the air out of the ball against the zone. At about the 11:00 mark we were up 12 and rolling. They went zone. We starting playing tentative and milking the clock, which resulted in the following sequence: -TO (shot clock) -TO (DD dribbling the ball across the half court line and passed it directly to the guys in black) -TO (DD) -TO (shot clock) -Missed 3 at the end of the shot clock + rebound and 1/2 FT by Cunningham -TO (Charles Cooke 30 feet from the rim) -Block by Cooke and breakaway layup by KD (God bless that man) -Missed 3 by Cooke At this point, we were still somehow up 6, but with only 68 points and 6:15 to play we had gone over 5 minutes and scored only 3 points. By the time the game got decided by FT's at the 0:16 mark, we had scored only 6 more. We went 11 minutes and scored only 9 points. Let me reiterate: Miller is one of the top coaches in the country. I'm not a better coach than him. But I really think we could have done a better job with these 2 items, and my need to if we meet VCU again on a neutral floor.

And AM should have had Pollard out of the game after his 3rd foul right after the VCU guy made his first FT.I know he wanted to get him after the first official TO but that did not come until around 15:20 mark and we know what happened..

	Richmond UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND Founded in 1830, the private liberal arts university in the Commonwealth boasts 2,800 students in 57 majors within its picturesque 350-acre campus. The Robins School of Business is one of the Top-20 business schools in the country. Nickname is the Spiders and are fellow A10 Conference members.

[sheg]

If they had called a foul when Cooke got decked on the breakaway, Pollard wouldn't have picked up his fourth foul right there.

[N2663R]

With Pollard, Cunningham, Williams, Mikesell all with serious foul trouble, I was very impressed that Archie and the balance of the team held on to enough of a lead for a long enough period of time to win this game. Archie may have realized his mistake with Pollard too late, but he found away around it. That's what great coaches do.

[CT Flyer]

Not sure we were taking the air out of the ball against the zone, I think we didn't do a good job of figuring it out and the offense got out of sync. It was a good coaching move by Wade that worked. And the announcer said Wade told him before the game that he would probably have to use the zone more than he really wants to against UD because he is a man-to-man guy, but he knew playing us man to man would be difficult.

[UDDoug]

Personally, I think they took the air out of the ball more to shorten the game because of the front court foul trouble. If they don't limit possessions, they might have had Cooke playing center.

[Gazoo]

Originally Posted by CT Flyer Not sure we were taking the air out of the ball against the zone, I think we didn't do a good job of figuring it out and the offense got out of sync. It was a good coaching move by Wade that worked. And the announcer said Wade told him before the game that he would probably have to use the zone more than he really wants to against UD because he is a man-to-man guy, but he knew playing us man to man would be difficult.

I think what the announcer said was that they wanted to play man but after halftime they were realizing they had to play zone to counter what we were doing. Then we got tentative instead of AM getting the guys to continue to attack. Either way AM needs a better answer for that if there's a next time.

Coincidentally, Sam is a really good shooter against the zone. . .

[steve]

Originally Posted by CT Flyer Not sure we were taking the air out of the ball against the zone, I think we didn't do a good job of figuring it out and the offense got out of sync. It was a good coaching move by Wade that worked. And the announcer said Wade told him before the game that he would probably have to use the zone more than he really wants to against UD because he is a man-to-man guy, but he knew playing us man to man would be difficult.

If you're talking about at the beginning of the 2nd half, UD did pretty darn well against the zone. Outside of the first turnover by Pollard they hit 5 of their next 7 shots via layups, a 3, and a couple short jumpers in the lane..Looked to me like UD expected ot and was ready as they spaced out well and attacked...

[ud69]

Did not like the play called for Mikesell at the end of the first half to finish at the rim. At least it looked like a set play for him. There was little chance for him to finish inside all night - let alone at the end of the half. My guess is that Archie was trying to outsmart Wade by going in an unexpected direction. I would have even taken a play for Mikesell to try a 3 at the end of the half over that inside play.

It was also obvious that Archie was going to ride Scoochie the entire second half - no Crosby. Scoochie was obviously getting tired about the 8 minute mark. To try and give Scooch a breather without subbing for him, Archie had Cooke and Baby "D" bring the ball up the court a few times. Baby "D" had a bad turnover trying to do that. Had to go back to Scooch. Of course Baby "D" had a monster trey about that same time also. It was just a time to suck it up and play.

[CE80]

Did DD and CC bring the ball up the court by design or did VCU force that by denying Scooch?

[Gazoo]

Originally Posted by CE80 Did DD and CC bring the ball up the court by design or did VCU force that by denying Scooch?

They forced it, but, normally SS doesn't allow that to happen. Looked to me like SS was tired and let them get away with it until DD (some people's idea of a backup PG) threw the ball and hit the VCU player right in the numbers with a pass. Then SS said "screw this" and took over from there out.

[Smitty10]

Originally Posted by Gazoo They forced it, but, normally SS doesn't allow that to happen. Looked to me like SS was tired and let them get away with it until DD (some people's idea of a backup PG) threw the ball and hit the VCU player right in the numbers with a pass. Then SS said "screw this" and took over from there out.

I think that most teams are smart enough to know to just let Scooch bring the ball up without extending too much energy because he's going to get the job done no matter what. But VCU wasn't going to let it happen and were double teaming him up the court. At that point I think SS figured if he just took that double team with him and let CC and DD or KD bring the ball up, it would save a lot of time and energy(which as you said it seemed he was running out of and we weren't going to have Crosby in the game at that point).

[UDDoug]

VCU forced it, but I also think Archie was ok with Cooke or Kyle bringing it up (maybe not DD after he perfectly led Brooks(?) for a break away) to get Scoochie some rest.

[UDDoug]

Originally Posted by steve If you're talking about at the beginning of the 2nd half, UD did pretty darn well against the zone. Outside of the first turnover by Pollard they hit 5 of their next 7 shots via layups, a 3, and a couple short jumpers in the lane..Looked to me like UD expected ot and was ready as they spaced out well and attacked...

That's why I think pulling the ball out and running clock was more by design to shorten possessions. If they attack and don't limit possessions, I think Archie feels he might have had 4 guys foul out with 8 minutes left.

[C-time]

Originally Posted by ud69 Did not like the play called for Mikesell at the end of the first half to finish at the rim. At least it looked like a set play for him. There was little chance for him to finish inside all night - let alone at the end of the half. My guess is that Archie was trying to outsmart Wade by going in an unexpected direction.

I think Mikesell forced that shot worrying about the clock. He had Cooke wide open for a 3 in the opposite corner and plenty of time to make one more dribble and kick it out to Cooke.

[San Diego Flyer]

I thought we attacked the zone, got the ball to the middle (mostly Kendall) and then had marginal success executing from that point. We didn't just pass it around the perimeter and chuck something up. We had such a field day in the first half with their man defense so we knew what was likely to come.

For all the damage Mo was doing to us in the second half, we tied them and didn't fold.

VCU had what seemed like 5 possessions in a row the last 3 minutes of the game while they were 2 points down and failed miserably. They had as many issues executing as we did. It was a rough game to try anything smoothly for both sides.

[Jeff]

Originally Posted by steve And AM should have had Pollard out of the game after his 3rd foul right after the VCU guy made his first FT.I know he wanted to get him after the first official TO but that did not come until around 15:20 mark and we know what happened..

I think it was a message to KP and the team. "You're a senior, and a leader, figure out how to get through this without picking up #4." It didn't work. If he pulls him, and they go on a 10-0 run, the comments roll the other way. The problem wasn't #4 foul. It was also 1,2, & 3.

[steve]

Originally Posted by Jeff I think it was a message to KP and the team. "You're a senior, and a leader, figure out how to get through this without picking up #4." It didn't work. If he pulls him, and they go on a 10-0 run, the comments roll the other way. The problem wasn't #4 foul. It was also 1,2, & 3.

I disagree with you. The officials were calling it very tight and KP picked up a couple of those fouls being very lazy. I really believe he was coming out at the official TO after his 3rd foul but stoppage didn't happen until the 15:20 mark or so..He picked up his 4th immediately so your theory, imho, just doesn't fly here about 2nd guessing...UD held a 10 point lead until the 10 minute mark so they only lost 2 points (12 to 10) in the 5 plus minutes that KP was out for his 4th foul.AM rolled the dice here and it backfired....

[steve]

Originally Posted by C-time I think Mikesell forced that shot worrying about the clock. He had Cooke wide open for a 3 in the opposite corner and plenty of time to make one more dribble and kick it out to Cooke.

I agree in a normal situation but simply not enough time for a marginal player in Mikesell (and most players for that matter) on a set play with under 6-7 seconds on the clock by the time he caught it and made a move to have enough savvy and wherewithal to try to find another player on the opposite end of the court.

I did not like the play call out of the TO especially the way Cox and Tillman defended the interior that first half unless AM was trying to get another foul on one of their BIGS...

[steve]

Originally Posted by UDDoug That's why I think pulling the ball out and running clock was more by design to shorten possessions. If they attack and don't limit possessions, I think Archie feels he might have had 4 guys foul out with 8 minutes left.

And I agree with you...I was just referring to their real success going against that zone early on in the 2nd half and building the lead back up to 12 points from the 7 point halftime lead they had....Take time off the clock, try to find a seam or hit a perimeter shot, and limit possessions at least until they could get Pollard back in the game..

[FLYER5]

How Archie's team wins 9 straight conference games with major minutes coming from Baby D, Crosby, Mikesell, and Sam, is unbelievable. To me what he does with the 'regular' troops is what is so impressive.

[CT Flyer]

Originally Posted by Jeff I think it was a message to KP and the team. "You're a senior, and a leader, figure out how to get through this without picking up #4." It didn't work. If he pulls him, and they go on a 10-0 run, the comments roll the other way. The problem wasn't #4 foul. It was also 1,2, & 3.

Here's what Archie had to say about it:

“That was bad,” Miller said. “I should have got him out with 26 seconds left to go before the media timeout. He was going back down on offense, so we figured we could get one possession out of him. Really poor move on my part.”

[Flyer 86]

Pretty much agree Gazoo. IF Sam had been playing more in the last 5 games, you're likely right. He'd have been the right guy, in the right game!
But he hasn't had or seen much floor.

Was X Williams really not in much or at all the last 8 minutes. I seem to think that's the case. Perhaps not beefy enough for the 3 bigs (adding Hamdi in there, he killed us the last 5 minutes).

Thought Josh played pretty well.

Mikes definitely struggled, but then again Mo Allie even blocked Charles Cooke once or twice.

So, quite the physical team this VCU. And as announcers commented, have become more finesse than trapping the last 2 to 3 years. And they can't shoot from outside, so they are limited.