Keenan Henderson Posted December 12, 2021 Share Posted December 12, 2021 Maybe things will change but right now it seems that Coach Mills will only play Lufile if DJ or Lacis is in foul trouble. DJ was in foul trouble against Houston Baptist, so Coach was almost forced to play Lufile. Today Lacis picked up a couple of early ones and then Lufile played some minutes. Same in the OK State game. Herron only comes in the game to foul people or if the game is out of hand. Hope I am wrong but have a feeling Coach will only play Lufile or Herron if he is forced into it. Maybe more losses will force him to but not sure what else would. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theeagleman5 Posted December 12, 2021 Share Posted December 12, 2021 TheEagleman was ticked off about the loss until i saw all the devastation from tornadoes in Arkansas, Illinois and Kentucky on the news....kinda puts basketball in perspective.... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eagle88 Posted December 12, 2021 Share Posted December 12, 2021 Here are a few thoughts I have about the game yesterday. My 2 grandsons and I really enjoyed sitting behind the ORU bench along with other Golden Eagle fans. As I was sitting there looking up at their banners I noticed that MO State made the Sweet 16 back in 1999 which I had remembered. That is MO State's greatest basketball accomplishment. Last year we had a special year after going through 98% of the the year without any of us fans thinking we had a good shot of making the NCAA tournament never mind going to the Sweet 16. It seems to me at this point in our season we are mirroring last year without KO and the addition of some new players. I guess my point is this. Can the coaching staff and players figure out how to replicate what they did last year? Like what we did last year and what MO State did way back in 1999 it is tough to not only make the tournament never mind make a big run. I am still trying to wrap my mind around the magical ingredients that led to our success and I know we are all hoping the same thing will happen again this year! The season is far from over. I believe we have the coaching staff and players to do it again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EagleManiac Posted December 12, 2021 Share Posted December 12, 2021 My thoughts on the game: - Offensively, this game felt like early November basketball. Both teams had long stretches that reminded me of pick up basketball with random guys thrown together who had never really played together before. - Hate to say it but I thought Max was a liability for good chunks of the game. Silly turnovers, getting back cut by his man, poor offensively until the last few minutes of the game. I almost felt like he was trying to limit his shots to get other guys involved? Anybody else feel this way? - Speaking of Max, I noticed a couple of strong defensive moments and a few lazy ones. He's definitely become a better ball defender. He's stronger and for the most part does not allow his man to get to the bucket. On the other hand, I've seen way to many mental lapses where he gets caught ball-watching and a back-cut leads to an easy bucket. It's hard to stay mentally locked in for every single play when you're playing 40 minutes. - DJ is unstoppable with that turnaround jumper. Would love to see him get the ball more often on the block. - Carlos and Kareem continue to impress me. They just don't really ever make mistakes. As I've said before, they both need to be encouraged to be more aggressive in putting the ball in the basket. Need to get these guys to take some of the defenses attention off of Max. 15 hours ago, Old Titan said: Particularly frustrating to watch Missouri State turn the tide with multiple baskets right through Lacis and Weaver in the paint with Lufile and Herron wasted yet again on the bench. - AMEN ^^^ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORU40 Posted December 12, 2021 Share Posted December 12, 2021 A few things really jumped out at me yesterday: *We ran our high pick a lot in the first half and got the switch we wanted and posted up either Lufile or DJ- getting the mismatch the play is designed to create- with the (liberally listed) 6'-2" 176 Ib. freshman guard Haney giving up 5-6 inches and we could not execute- the post player didn't seal off the defender and the post entry passes were terrible. Haney a 6' freshman guard had 4 steals in the game and 2 or 3 of them were deflecting post entry passes into much bigger players that should have been point blank shots with great opportunities to draw fouls! We have to improve that, teams are trying to run us off the 3 point line and switching that high screen so the play design is working, but our bigs have to seal and we have to make good entry passes. When we did get it inside to DJ in the 2nd half he hit a couple turn arounds, but we need to get our bigs going to the basket- lets add some shot fakes and drop steps and get to the hoop and draw some fouls and be inside for O rebounds. * We had 16 turnovers and 5 assists. That's not going to get it done. 5 assists is 1 every 8 minutes of play!! We did not have a player with more than 1 assist! We have to get past this shoot first mentality!! We have so many possessions where there are no passes- particularly from our back up guards- Phipps and McBride were 4-13 from the field combined with 1 assist and 4 TO's. *It appears from yesterdays close game on the road that coach is going to basically a 6 man rotation- the 5 starters and Phipps- since McBride and Lufile both got about 6 minutes each. I personally don't think that is our best line up, it's concerning that Herron is getting no real playing time and Lufile and McBride are getting minimal minutes and Phipps is getting as many minutes as anyone except Max?? From what I'm seeing on the court that simply makes no sense to me from a basketball stand point! To me basketball is about a lot more then just shooting 3's, it's the little things that teams do that wins games( defense/help defense, boxing out/rebounding, setting good picks/ sealing off the defender in the post and giving the passer a good target, shot selection-not always settling for the 3 point shot and attacking the basket, making the extra pass/making the right pass at the right time to right spot/hit the post player on the hand he has up because he's holding the defender off with the other arm, diving for loss balls, etc...). Right now it looks like when we shoot our 3's well at home against average/below ave. opposition we have a chance to win, but unfortunately when we play on the road or a neutral court and games slow down (think conference tourney) we struggle! Hopefully, we will make some adjustments, keep working hard and continue to improve! Go Eagles!! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keenan Henderson Posted December 13, 2021 Share Posted December 13, 2021 Last year the big question was how the Eagles will improve on defense. We waited for about 25 games and saw little improvement but then in March they finally turned the corner and went on their historic run. This year the big question has been how can Lufile and Herron fit in with the small ball/three-point shooting lineup? Right now, that is Coach Mills big strategic move to figure out for the conference season and beyond. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keenan Henderson Posted December 13, 2021 Share Posted December 13, 2021 Just listened to the Coach's radio show from about six days ago. Mills said Lufile was not playing much because he still did not know the offensive plays and also because his mother passed away. They have been getting him some grief counseling on campus and in Tulsa to help him recover from the loss. Interesting show if you get a chance to listen on the ORU Sports Network. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Titan Posted December 13, 2021 Share Posted December 13, 2021 22 hours ago, EagleManiac said: - Carlos and Kareem continue to impress me. They just don't really ever make mistakes. As I've said before, they both need to be encouraged to be more aggressive in putting the ball in the basket. Need to get these guys to take some of the defenses attention off of Max. I think Trey Phipps getting 20-to-30 minutes a game has totally messed with them, offensively and defensively. They aren't afforded enough consecutive minutes to get in any groove. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EagleManiac Posted December 13, 2021 Share Posted December 13, 2021 Poor Trey hasn't gotten much love on this board. Can't disagree with the general consensus, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Titan Posted December 13, 2021 Share Posted December 13, 2021 55 minutes ago, EagleManiac said: Poor Trey hasn't gotten much love on this board. Can't disagree with the general consensus, though. He's really smart, plays HARD and aggressively, and in reality does not make many mistakes. I understand (to a certain point) why Coach Mills has confidence in him. I just think that, in his current state of development, he's simply over-matched physically. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keenan Henderson Posted December 13, 2021 Share Posted December 13, 2021 Just throwing it out there and not judging anyone but could it be that Coach Mills plays Trey a lot because of his dad? Maybe he feels the pressure to play Trey because of what his dad has meant to the ORU program throughout the years. Could be way off but it is worth discussing. Not trying to offend anyone so hold your fire (smile). When I was at the CSU game, you could just sense that the Rams felt they had an advantage when Trey checked in. Coach Mills likes shooters and that is Trey's strength. The rest of Phipps game does not really pop or knock you over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Titan Posted December 13, 2021 Share Posted December 13, 2021 8 minutes ago, Keenan Henderson said: Just throwing it out there and not judging anyone but could it be that Coach Mills plays Trey a lot because of his dad? Maybe he feels the pressure to play Trey because of what his dad has meant to the ORU program throughout the years. Could be way off but it is worth discussing. Not trying to offend anyone so hold your fire (smile). When I was at the CSU game, you could just sense that the Rams felt they had an advantage when Trey checked in. Coach Mills likes shooters and that is Trey's strength. The rest of Phipps game does not really pop or knock you over. If it's possible Trey's playing time is predicated by something other than giving ORU the best chance to win, one might consider it has as much to do with Trey reminding Coach Mills of himself as a young player, as opposed to young Mr. Phipps being ORU basketball royalty. Come to think of it, Coach Mills also played diminutive crown prince R.J. Fuqua a lot, even when he too seemed to have been thrown into the deep-end of the pool a little too early. Coincidence? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Cornelius Posted December 14, 2021 Share Posted December 14, 2021 I don't understand why the first player off the bench isn't a big. The outside shooting just isn't good enough to impose our style on opponents and playing small just gets us wrecked on defense. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EagleManiac Posted December 14, 2021 Share Posted December 14, 2021 53 minutes ago, Dr. Cornelius said: I don't understand why the first player off the bench isn't a big. The outside shooting just isn't good enough to impose our style on opponents and playing small just gets us wrecked on defense. The shooting will improve. I do agree that we need better big rotation. And obviously the Max, Trey and Mcbride combination does not work - particularly when you've got Lacis and Weaver as your "imposing" front line. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Titan Posted December 14, 2021 Share Posted December 14, 2021 14 hours ago, Dr. Cornelius said: The outside shooting just isn't good enough to impose our style on opponents and playing small just gets us wrecked on defense. I love this observation; to me it seems spot on. But, after listening to Coach Mills on his radio show Monday night, I'm convinced that he is committed to small ball. It's ironic; I remember getting frustrated with Scott Sutton for always changing his line-ups to match-up with particular opponents: "C'mon, Coach - impose your will! Make THEM adjust to YOU, for cryin' out loud!!" And now, we have a coach trying to do just that (dictate to the opponent), yet I find myself thinking "C'mon, Coach - get a big in there to guard their big; get all those short guys off the floor - make some ADJUSTMENTS, for cryin' out loud!!" Hey, maybe these schemes aren't the problem - maybe it's me?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.