ORU at North Dakota State

[Old Titan]

2 minutes ago, ORU82 said:

Bradley trying to attack the basket on offense in the last couple minutes killed us.

Was in complete denial that a bigger, stronger player was guarding him, and drove baseline and forced an off-balance shot THREE TIMES against a double team during their run and crunch time.

When Jalen pulls up in traffic and gets squared up for a jumper, he's pretty tough (if he has or creates space).

But driving down the lane, or along the baseline, he is an absolute train wreck, and as a senior in late January of his final season, he's likely beyond any hope of learning from his mistakes.

[ORUJason]

This team could use a Korey Bilbury type guard who could drive to the hole or hit a 3 point shot.  Jalen has the confidence to play like Korey, but he doesn't have quite the height or athleticism to consistently pull it off.  However, there are times when Jalen has made a key bucket on a drive that didn't look like it had a chance.

Kris Martin seems to me like the type of player who could develop into a Bilbury type player, but he doesn't seem to have the confidence yet to play that way.

I think they went away from Albert offensively after he had 2-3 turnovers in a row in the 2nd half. I can understand that.  We lost the lead due to several key turnovers, some questionable calls, and the return to the defensive collapse that occurs with the 4-guard lineup.

I agree that Eman needs more playing time.  He gets rebounds and put backs that can stop the bleeding when we enter a scoring drought.  However, Eman has so much potential, but outside of rebounding, I don't see Eman tapping into that potential yet very often when he is on the floor.  The coaching staff has got to figure out how to get more out of him.

In a game like this, if you get just a few more contributions from Eman and Kris Martin, you win the game.  Albert can't do it all by himself.  We need several players making contributions to get the win.

Nonetheless, I still think we can go at least 5-3 in the 2nd half of the conference season and at least get to an 8-8 record based on our current level of play.  It would have been really nice to win this game.

[Old Titan]

Martin is nowhere near a Billbury-type when it comes to putting the ball on the floor and driving to the basket.  It's not just confidence, it's strength and explosiveness, which he lacks.  I think his future lies simply in catch-and-shoot or crossover-and-fall-away jumpers.

Let's face it, none of the guards played well in the 2nd half:  Bradley was probably better than the rest, but it was a pretty low bar being set by Martin, Young, Anderson, and Harris.

If just one of them had stepped up late and made plays of which they are capable, we might not be having this conversation and would instead be talking about how great it was to break this year-long road losing streak.

 

[theeagleman5]

Betting against ORU on the road teased with the over is $$$ in the bank....this team just can't close a game out because of our poor guard play....not sure why Coach Sutton refuses to play McDaniel and Eman.....go with the kids who will be here next season...give them some experience....this is just plain stubbornness.....but TheEagleman has given up trying to figure out....get ready for more head scratching on Saturday afternoon vs. IPFW who rolled IUPUI by 30 last night......

[theeagleman5]

ORU up 53-41 midway thru the 2nd half...from that point on we got outscored 40-18.....geez......seen enough of Bradley and Young....just get the ball to Albert and Martin....play Eman and McDaniel a little more.....TheEagleman has to believe that like me, the Sutton Bros. had big money on NDSU and the Over.....

[ORUIsbig]

It was hard to see Kyan on the NDSU bench. Made me sad.