ORU vs. Duke

[Otis 83]

1 hour ago, dbl78 said:

(And yes, I am suggesting that Coach Mills get on the phone with Matt Painter and schedule a game - it would be beneficial to both programs.)

 

As I was reading your post I was thinking "this is the perfect set up for a crack about playing Purdue" and you ended on that very not.  Well played.

Also, I completely agree with your assessment of the game against Memphis in Dallas.  I was there as well and you nailed it!

[ORUJason]

I am sure that both the players and coaches would handle their game plan/approach differently if they had it to do over again.  There are several things that ORU did very well during their 17-game winning streak that I did not see them doing vs. Duke.  For such a senior laden team, I was surprised, even with the challenges that Duke presented, that ORU seemed to go away from some things that had made them successful during their late-season run.

Both Max and Isaac would drive, stop, and pop with mid-range jumpers that often went in.

Both Max and Isaac would, from the 3 point line, do a quick side step or back step to open up a quick 3 point shot.

Instead, it seemed like our approach was just to drive to the basket and either get rejected or have to alter our layups just enough that we missed them.

Defensively, the entire team seemed off their game and gave up many easy buckets and put-backs, including giving Duke the drive right down the baseline.  It was almost as if they were trying to do something different on defense than they had done during their run and weren't comfortable with the changes they had made.

I understand that Duke's height, speed, and athleticism posed some challenges, but some of these mistakes on defense were more foundational and uncharacteristic.  If we hit a few of those layups that we missed in the first 8 minutes of the game and didn't uncharacteristically break down on defense and give up some easy buckets, such as off of an inbounds play literally right under the basket, it could have been a different game.

Once you are down 13-0 or 15-0, whichever it was, then trying to climb back up that hill against a team like Duke is a huge challenge.

ORU did start to make offensive adjustments and found some cutters on the back side for a few layups.  Also, ORU had to simply make more shots because they were rarely in position to get an offensive rebound against the height of Duke's starters.  It was one and done almost every time down the floor.

I have nothing but absolute appreciation for this entire team and coaching staff because this has been an amazing season.  If any of our seniors want to return, we will welcome them back with open arms.  What a tremendous group of players who represented both themselves and ORU so well.  We definitely have some unfinished business heading into next year.

 

[TrueBlue82]

Three point shooting percentage for the tournament to date is 30.6%, whereas the NCAA average for this season was 33.8% for ALL teams, not the 68 in the bracket (a 30.6% performance would’ve ranked 337th of all 363 D1 teams). 
 

There’s no doubt in my mind that the new over-inflated ball impacted ORU’s performance on Thursday night in Orlando.  Starting the game 0-12 from the field, Max with five sloppy turnovers, and ORU at one point shooting 3-24 from beyond the arc were all anomalies to our play over the course of the season.  I know that the counter argument is that Duke had to play with the same basketball, which is completely accurate. However, Duke is not a “live by the three, die by the three” offense, and ORU definitely is. 

[Otis 83]

Why on earth should we be listening to Mark Few who has been stuck in the same job forever?  If he had any brains he'd leverage a deep NCAA run into a better job.

[ORUFan2009]

It took several days to even discuss this loss..... There... i've discussed it, now let's never bring it up again. 

[Old Titan]

4 hours ago, TrueBlue82 said:

Three point shooting percentage for the tournament to date is 30.6%, whereas the NCAA average for this season was 33.8% for ALL teams, not the 68 in the bracket (a 30.6% performance would’ve ranked 337th of all 363 D1 teams). 
 

There’s no doubt in my mind that the new over-inflated ball impacted ORU’s performance on Thursday night in Orlando.  Starting the game 0-12 from the field, Max with five sloppy turnovers, and ORU at one point shooting 3-24 from beyond the arc were all anomalies to our play over the course of the season.  I know that the counter argument is that Duke had to play with the same basketball, which is completely accurate. However, Duke is not a “live by the three, die by the three” offense, and ORU definitely is. 

I've never seen so many shots wedge between the rim and the backboard as this college basketbal season (which proves they're under-inflated).

And then there's this - never seen it before in my six decades; can't say it never happened to Dr. Naismith with the peach baskets at the Springfield YMCA:

 

 

[tmh8286]

4 hours ago, Otis 83 said:

Why on earth should we be listening to Mark Few who has been stuck in the same job forever?  If he had any brains he'd leverage a deep NCAA run into a better job.

Have you ever been to Spokane? You'd have to run me out of there at the end of a pitchfork if I were in his place, too. I had hoped to settle in Spokane after graduating from ORU, but God had other plans for us.

[SonofaLegend]

10 hours ago, Old Titan said:

I've never seen so many shots wedge between the rim and the backboard as this college basketbal season (which proves they're under-inflated).

And then there's this - never seen it before in my six decades; can't say it never happened to Dr. Naismith with the peach baskets at the Springfield YMCA:

 

 

How do we get more games on the schedule with these balls? But seriously, there did appear to more going on than "nerves" as Max simply lost the ball multiple times which I have almost never seen. 

[ORUTerry]

Gonzaga’s Mark Few blasts new basketball being used in NCAA tournament

Link: https://clutchpoints.com/march-madness-news-gonzagas-mark-few-blasts-new-basketball-being-used-in-ncaa-tournament

 

Why the NCAA is using new, bright orange basketballs for March Madness

link: https://www.sportingnews.com/us/ncaa-basketball/news/march-madness-basketballs-bright-orange-new/pksbjqzu9hz1tfn8aogkf49v

[Otis 83]

22 hours ago, Otis 83 said:

Why on earth should we be listening to Mark Few who has been stuck in the same job forever?  If he had any brains he'd leverage a deep NCAA run into a better job.

17 hours ago, tmh8286 said:

Have you ever been to Spokane? You'd have to run me out of there at the end of a pitchfork if I were in his place, too. I had hoped to settle in Spokane after graduating from ORU, but God had other plans for us.

So he also has no ambition?  smh   

[tmh8286]

7 minutes ago, Otis 83 said:

So he also has no ambition?  smh   

He’s a fly fisherman. Have you ever flyfished? It can rob the ambition from any man, if he’s not careful!

[Keenan Henderson]

At the end of the day, we all wanted to beat Duke and shock the world.  Duke has the pick of the best players (mostly 5 stars and a few 4 stars), while ORU has mostly 2 stars and a few 3 stars players.  Duke should be at a higher level then ORU.  Even if the Eagles had a special night and knocked off the Blue Devils, who would win in a best of 7 playoffs?  No doubt Duke would.  I guess that is why I was not shocked when Duke was at another level then ORU.  They should be.

[ORU82]

I guess than that the Mountain West, WCC, ConfUSA and Atlantic East Conference (FDU) have far superior programs than what either the Summit or we have because San Diego State is still playing, both St. Mary's and Gonzaga made it way farther than we did, FAU made the Final Four in only their second year, and even FDU knocked off a No. 1 Seed Big 10 Champion team.  But hey, we are ORU and apparently we have NO EXPECTIONS regarding our athletic programs in general or the MBB team in particular.  Just make the Big Dance and who cares if we get humiliated in the first round.  Bottom line, quit making excuses and step up to the plate.

[ORUSwagger]

25 minutes ago, ORU82 said:

I guess than that the Mountain West, WCC, ConfUSA and Atlantic East Conference (FDU) have far superior programs than what either the Summit or we have because San Diego State is still playing, both St. Mary's and Gonzaga made it way farther than we did, FAU made the Final Four in only their second year, and even FDU knocked off a No. 1 Seed Big 10 Champion team.  But hey, we are ORU and apparently we have NO EXPECTIONS regarding our athletic programs in general or the MBB team in particular.  Just make the Big Dance and who cares if we get humiliated in the first round.  Bottom line, quit making excuses and step up to the plate.

I am with you. Well said.

[Texasgrip]

ECHO-ECHO-ECHO-Echo-echo.....

[Keenan Henderson]

I never said have no expectations.  Just saying Duke is a better team then ORU, that's all.  No shame in that.

[Dr. Cornelius]

1 hour ago, ORU82 said:

I guess than that the Mountain West, WCC, ConfUSA and Atlantic East Conference (FDU) have far superior programs than what either the Summit or we have because San Diego State is still playing, both St. Mary's and Gonzaga made it way farther than we did, FAU made the Final Four in only their second year, and even FDU knocked off a No. 1 Seed Big 10 Champion team.  But hey, we are ORU and apparently we have NO EXPECTIONS regarding our athletic programs in general or the MBB team in particular.  Just make the Big Dance and who cares if we get humiliated in the first round.  Bottom line, quit making excuses and step up to the plate.

Duke with two mobile 7 footers and bigger guard was a bad matchup. It's really not more complicated than that.

Yes, schools that fund their basketball programs 3 or 4x what ORU is able to have advantages. Not really sure how that is news. 

 

[Old Titan]

Duke is Duke. 

They’re on TV more than “Leave It To BEE-VAHHH”!