ORU Vs. Gonzaga

[ORUTerry]

This team is playing hard but not firing on all cylnders - yet. I was not able to watch the game so I can't comment on specifics - just what I see from the statistics. The team played with poise and did not turn the ball over except for a period in late in the first half. We obviously had trouble with their height/length - surpised we were out rebounded (15) by so much. We are (statistically) one of the better rebounding teams (margin) in the nation. The team is still missing Holdman and his defense/speed. This team is capable - they just need to coalesce.

We need a few days in the practice gym to work some things out - but there are not a lot of open dates in the near future for that.

[SOLO_Gold]

I'll agree that the play prior to him fouling out was more of a flop than a foul, but that frustration was a culmination of ticky-tac fouls called on Tree; including that atrociously missed charge.

Thanks for coming by the board! I know we'd love to play you guys again in the future.

[oruvoice]

Yeah, Tree really messed up. His fifth foul was just plain stupid. Took himself out of the game, gave Gonazaga two points, and the ball. Very well could have been the difference in the game.

That said, he is a really good dude. Just had a rough night and let his emotions hurt the team.

[bballmangc]

I like the emotion he plays with though...how come they don't run any plays for him like they did for Caleb? Seems like he gets the ball more on the high post when he could be getting the ball in a more effective position on the block. Caleb used to get a couple screens on the baseline and get the ball at the perfect time on the block for a quick move that was always two points or a foul. Not saying Tree is Caleb but would be nice to see some low post plays for him. (He had a nice up and under right at the beginning of the game would love to see more of that!)

[oruvoice]

Excellent point and question, bballman.

I guess they don't see Tree as one of the top few scoring options? But, that is just a guess...

[Old Titan]

We're still not playing well.

Name one player on the team who has even MET expectations this season, much less exceeded them.

I think we missed a golden opportunity last night to get a win over a name opponent who is not that great this year and was ripe for the picking in a classic "trap" situation on their schedule.

Same deal this weekend with Xavier: they're not only playing with half a deck; they're missing a couple of aces. It's a real chance to make some noise nationally. Those don't come around that often!

I think this team is capable of great things, if they would simply play up to their potential. The question is, will we step up and do what's necessary to come away with the win?

I'm tired of moral victories - I'm ready for the REAL DEAL!

[bballmangc]

I'd say DBH is playing well up to expectations if you take into account the injuries. I still love DOMO on this team but he has to shoulder a lot of the load and plays a ton of minutes and I think that has a huge effect on his production. I think Craion is back to his old self as well, still amazes me how he scores and is so undersized. Pearson is super streaky would love to have Holdman there as well, Niles is ice cold and seems tentative would love to see him bounce back, Tree tons of potential but needs to start dominating.

[ManiacAlum]

Part of the reason we were killed on the boards is because the officials were allowing their guys to climb over the back the whole game. Sorry, I wasn't going to complain about the calls in this game until I read about Tree "flopping". That's comedy.

There were two flops on And 1's that were terrible (one was the 4th on Tree, where the guy just started falling before contact was made).

Also, who was the foul on when Domo swatted Stockton's layup into the stands?

Anyway, glad to have the opportunity to complain about ref's in a game against Gonzaga. Honestly, things began to even out more later in the game. We stayed in this game shooting 40% from the floor, 60% from the line, getting outrebounded and being in heavy foul trouble. Can't complain too much about that.

The two late treys by Hart and Bell were daggers.

DBH is a beast.

I like that we held a team averaging 76 ppg to 67 in their own building.

I didn't realize GU had only lost 7 times in McCarthey. That's pretty amazing.

ORU put up a good showing against a good team when there weren't too many other games, The Zags have already blown out Notre Dame and Hawaii, and had close games against Michigan State and undefeated Illinois.

I agree, quality game between two good teams.

[Old Titan]

61...58...59...61...68.

That's what we've scored in our last five games - an average of 61.4 points a game, and two of those games were against teams that like to get up and down the floor this year (OU and Gonzaga).

Since when did we become Western Illinois?

I love defense, but didn't we return something like 80-points-per-game between our top six players?

What happened to all that offense?

Is our new emphasis on playing defense also slowing our offense down in the process?

According to StatSheets, we are #312 in the country in Possessions Per Game at 63.6. Fortunately, we've compensated for that low number by averaging 1.06 Points Per Possession, which ranks 95th nationally.

This may sound simplistic, but if we're playing better defense, but we're not directly scoring off our defense (like a Missouri or an Arkansas), I wonder if we should just take more shots, earlier in the shot clock. Or, with such a short roster, at least not expend so much energy working for the same shot late in the shot clock that we could just take earlier.

Whatever the answer is, we're destined to (at best) be in a close game EVERY NIGHT if we are only averaging 61.4 points a game - we need to start putting the biscuit in the basket.

[bballmangc]

Not sure where you got 80+ points we only averaged 74.7 points all last season let alone the top 6 returning.

2010 Season Averages

DOMO - 19.5

NIles - 14.3

DBH - 13.3

Tree 12.1

Rod - 5.6

Craion - 1.5

Total - 66.3

Sub Holdman for Craion - 5.9 instead of 1.5 total = 70.7.

Plus we have no bench even last year we had a few guys coming off the bench for us (Stokes, Morton, McClintock).

For a team that isn't scoring offensive don't you want to play good defense, limit opportunities for the opponent and shoot high percentage shots and shorten the game.

http://www.orugolden...me.htm#TEAM.IND

[Old Titan]

Not sure where you got 80+ points we only averaged 74.7 points all last season let alone the top 6 returning.

2010 Season Averages

DOMO - 19.5

NIles - 14.3

DBH - 13.3

Tree 12.1

Rod - 5.6

Craion - 1.5

Total - 66.3

Sub Holdman for Craion - 5.9 instead of 1.5 total = 70.7.

Plus we have no bench even last year we had a few guys coming off the bench for us (Stokes, Morton, McClintock).

For a team that isn't scoring offensive don't you want to play good defense, limit opportunities for the opponent and shoot high percentage shots and shorten the game.

http://www.orugolden...me.htm#TEAM.IND

Simple: I guessed at Craion's average from TWO years ago, when he was regular and not just gimping around for a couple of games. I think it comes out to around 78 or 79 points, which I referred to as "something like 80-points-a-game".

It wasn't intended to be exact, nor scientific.

It's intended to prove a point: we have guys who are capable of scoring more per game.

And, we can STILL play good defense and rebound, even if we do put up an extra 5-10 shots per game.

I'm not talking about wholesale changes - I'm just talking about stepping up and taking the open shots where you can.

And knocking the darn thing down when you do.

It's what experienced, talented teams do - and isn't that what we are supposed to be this year?

[bballmangc]

I think our depth problems have hurt the shooting and all parts offensively. We have had a lot of open shots we aren't knocking down as we usually do. We will bounce back. Niles will start hitting (he has to right?)

[Old Titan]

I think our depth problems have hurt the shooting and all parts offensively. We have had a lot of open shots we aren't knocking down as we usually do. We will bounce back. Niles will start hitting (he has to right?)

Bottom line: if we don't start making even more of the few shots we're taking, OR, shooting a decent percentage on more shots, then we're going to be in for a really low-scoring year, which will likely result in a nightly struggle to win.

[ManiacAlum]

I would guess a lot of our offensive woes still come from having a patchwork backcourt, and a seemingly doomed PG spot. We haven't had a PG lead the team in assists since Adam Liberty left 4 years ago.

Gonzaga played 9 guys total last night, including 5 guards. Our PG spot is Pearson playing 30+ minutes, and then it's "whoever-can-get-the-ball-across-halfcourt-the-best-that-night" backing him up. That was supposed to be settled this year, but we'll be playing catch-up this year and next.

It does seem like we've been even more deliberate in playing a slow-down game because of depth, we don't run at all, ever. Which makes our rare fast breaks look really awkward.

Everyone's having to do more on offense, plus I don't know if we ever settled on how we're going to play Craion and Roundtree due to DBH's injury. Also, Craion's production was done mostly without Tree and DBH; and vice-versa.

[Old Titan]

Our fast breaks have always been jailbreaks - I don't think we work on transition offense very much.

If we do, we need to change what we're doing: we may lead the country in turnovers and offensive fouls in fast break opportunities.

That being said, I STILL think this team could do some great things, but we've simply got to start paying better, specifically on the offensive end, or else this is going to be a disappointing season in the long run.

[ORUTerry]

This team is still struggling to find itself. None of the players are really playing to their potential and that has to be frustrating to them too. We look a bit out of sorts on offense and I am not sure why. They (coaches and players) have a couple of weeks to figure it out before conference play begins. I think they can do it.

[theeagleman5]

TheEagleman agrees that we have not really played a 40 minute game yet (except maybe UAPB).....would love to see DoMo, Tree, Craion, DBH and Niles all playing well in the same game.....we might need that kind of effort tomorrow even against Xavier's JV team.....the Musketeers probably have enought talent on their bench to be a favorite in this game....I hope the good guys still have some gas in the tank at the end of this road trip and can bring home a victory....big game in Cincinnati on Sunday.....

[ManiacAlum]

Gonzaga up on Arizona by 20 early in the 2nd half in Seattle