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BisonRoadWarrior Professor Posts 5203 
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01-17-20 11:40 PM - Post#296931
Funk and Moore expected to play https://bucknellbison.com/news/2020/1/17/mens-b ask... |
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BisonRoadWarrior Professor Posts 5203
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01-17-20 11:45 PM - Post#296932
“Bison Men Entertain Lehigh Saturday Night.†Let’s hope not. Bucknell used the same language ahead of the home loss to Navy. |
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Old Bison Masters Student Posts 619 |
01-18-20 09:39 AM - Post#296945
BRW, as long as we don’t go back to the length of shorts in the old days it shouldn’t be traumatic 😂🙠|
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jkrun80 Postdoc Posts 3305 |
01-18-20 09:55 AM - Post#296948
The snow has started in Lewisburg. Hopefully Lehigh is already on their way. |
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JimK_LU72 Freshman Posts 41 |
01-18-20 10:34 AM - Post#296950
The snow has started in Lewisburg. Hopefully Lehigh is already on their way. They went up last night. |
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Bison137 Professor Posts 16147 
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01-18-20 11:26 AM - Post#296951
“Bison Men Entertain Lehigh Saturday Night.†Let’s hope not. Bucknell used the same language ahead of the home loss to Navy. If it makes you feel better, prior to that game the last time they “entertained†another team, the Bison ended up with a double digit win over holy cross.
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BisonRoadWarrior Professor Posts 5203
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01-18-20 01:05 PM - Post#296955
“Bison Men Entertain Lehigh Saturday Night.†Let’s hope not. Bucknell used the same language ahead of the home loss to Navy. If it makes you feel better, prior to that game the last time they “entertained†another team, the Bison ended up with a double digit win over holy cross. |
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Bison137 Professor Posts 16147
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01-18-20 08:29 PM - Post#297045
Bison defense is horrific - but fortunately Lehigh not taking advantage of it. Six straight times BU ended up with a guard defending 6-11 Lynch. Due to the Automatic switch. Then twice in a row Paul Newman trying to guard All-PL Jordan Cohen on the perimeter. Ad nauseum. Teams are allowed to create any matchup they want every time down court. Fortunately Brett Reed it is no rocket scientist.
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Bucknellbisonfan21 Masters Student Posts 548 
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01-18-20 08:41 PM - Post#297047
Nice to see Ellis playing pretty well again. |
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HuskyColonial PhD Student Posts 1976 |
01-18-20 08:43 PM - Post#297048
Bucknell goes up 10 at the 3:37, has momentum with Ellis and Spear playing lights out, and Davis subs in 4 players. Explain that to me. Anyone. |
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LewisburgLocal Freshman Posts 24 |
01-18-20 08:44 PM - Post#297049
I feel Spears is going to become a very exciting player to watch in the future. |
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HuskyColonial PhD Student Posts 1976 |
01-18-20 08:44 PM - Post#297050
No. He’s a Doctor. |
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HuskyColonial PhD Student Posts 1976 |
01-18-20 09:28 PM - Post#297052
Spears should be starting. |
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nh2032 Sophomore Posts 185 |
01-18-20 09:29 PM - Post#297054
Over who? Bruce? |
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Bison137 Professor Posts 16147
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01-18-20 09:31 PM - Post#297057
Spears should be starting. Spears does a lot of good things but he has some major flaws as well. No jump shot. Can’t dribble with his left hand poor footwork when trying to stay in front of a forward. I like him better as an energy guy off the bench.
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MrPhillie Postdoc Posts 2757 
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01-18-20 09:42 PM - Post#297059
Lehigh shooting very poorly overall including 18% from 3, we are out-rebounding them by five and yet they still have a good chance to win. Oh yeah, turnovers. As far Spear starting, not sure where you’d put him. He’s having a good game but why doesn’t he do this every game? Ellis is playing like a completely different player. In 1 1/2 years I’m not sure I ever saw him put the ball on the floor to the basket. Tonight he’s done it several times. |
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HuskyColonial PhD Student Posts 1976 |
01-18-20 10:03 PM - Post#297060
Ellis is playing improved defense too. Did a switch go on for him perhaps? He and Spear are bringing serious value to this club now. |
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HuskyColonial PhD Student Posts 1976 |
01-18-20 10:04 PM - Post#297061
Good points. He doesn’t have a position right now to start. |
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Old Bison Masters Student Posts 619 |
01-19-20 09:39 AM - Post#297070
He has a position - 4 man (who can also Back-up at 5) The two best performing lineups right now don’t have Funk in them. He needs to pick it up. Started the year pretty well. Best thing about taking Newman out of the mix was it got him out of Meeks way on the interior and more importantly got Bruce out of his way on the perimeter. Now it’s up to ND to stop John from his natural propensity/talent at junk ball (fade-aways, turn-arounds, double-spin moves and whatever he does on that move in the lane that becomes an automatic travel call). He’s so much better letting the game come to him. I would love to see a lineup where we go 2-3 with Newman and Bruce and Spear on the wings with Jimmy and Avi up top. Not sure how we would score with that lineup so you couldn’t employ for other than tactical defensive purposes. I would like to see Saeed Nelson go 90’ and get a layup in 8-9 seconds through that. Unfortunately it puts both Newman & Spear on the floor in tight games where you need to shoot fouls. OH I DIVERSE (that’s what practice is for) - - - small ball is the only way for us to go offensively. Don’t know how we can score with Colgate at Coterall in 100% MTM. We need to control tempo better with them but what do I know. I do know however that that ball hand off from the 1 to the trailing 5 is the worst basketball play I have ever seen. It sucked when we were dropping off to Nate and Zach. Brought this up early in the year and was mortified to see we dusted it off twice last night. It produces two automatics; travel violation and a license for John to launch a 30 footer (as if we need to increase shot license) with 26 tics on the shot clock. We can do better than that. |
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HuskyColonial PhD Student Posts 1976 |
01-19-20 12:04 PM - Post#297076
Based on his promising play as a freshman, I never expected Newman to be so ineffective as a junior. At the start of the American game, he made a little 10 foot hook shot with his opposite hand and swished it for the first bucket of the game. We didn’t go down low again for at least 8 minutes. Some of you may know this as well but are respectful and courteous to our student athletes. I want to know what our coaches, who have 3 scholarships, said to AT when he came to orientation at 300 pounds. I would have lost my s****. |
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BisonRoadWarrior Professor Posts 5203
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01-19-20 05:26 PM - Post#297096
I feel Spears is going to become a very exciting player to watch in the future. With his blocks and jams, he’s bringing a lot of excitement already. At American and last night, I was impressed with how many times he gets his hand on the ball defensively. Many pass deflections and dribble interruptions, and I think the stat-keepers may have missed a few times when he got at least a finger on a shot attempt. |
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Old Bison Masters Student Posts 619 |
01-19-20 06:17 PM - Post#297099
HC, not an unreasonable question. I don’t have a good answer (nor do I have any internal feedback) for you. Without the kid deciding to make some revolutionary changes in lifestyle and work ethic it doesn’t appear the program will get a high ROI. After the 4-5 star level recruiting is a very funny thing. Bucknell has enjoyed extraordinary success in this regard. How much is attributable to prescience and judgement vs good luck is hard to assess. Kids that became tremendous players here were not highly recruited by others and it’s either a curious Malcolm Gladwell event or a phenomenal job at assessment. Kids like Lee, Badmus, Bettencourt, Muscala, Willman, Haas, Fouland, Brown, et. al. are extraordinarily hard to find and project. It’s a little bit science (kids from successful HS programs and select known competitive leagues) and a little bit art (kids like above who may be outside that profile). It’s not easy when your higher charted offers don’t matriculate. I will offer that I said very early in the year that I thought Spear was a “wasted scholarship†as a freshman and thought he was the most improved kid in the program from freshman to sophomore year. I had the same early feeling with respect to Meeks and clearly Ellis who’s a total enigma to me but seems to have gained a little more confidence as of late. A kid like Rhodes has the energy and the body that you like with skills you need to be able to project. Will those skills eventually evolve you can only hope. If it were easy everyone would be successful and that’s not the case. ND is running the program and needs our confidence and support and likewise with respect to the kids. I liked our effort at AU and I just have to throw out last night as a case of playing down. Very different equation tomorrow night with little to no assurances that we will perform well. Why you have to play the games😃. One game at a time and we see how we go. PL is proving a lot more palatable than OOC. |
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Bison137 Professor Posts 16147
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01-19-20 07:14 PM - Post#297101
The two best performing lineups right now don’t have Funk in them. He needs to pick it up. Started the year pretty well. Best thing about taking Newman out of the mix was it got him out of Meeks way on the interior and more importantly got Bruce out of his way on the perimeter. Now it’s up to ND to stop John from his natural propensity/talent at junk ball (fade-aways, turn-arounds, double-spin moves and whatever he does on that move in the lane that becomes an automatic travel call). He’s so much better letting the game come to him. I would love to see a lineup where we go 2-3 with Newman and Bruce and Spear on the wings with Jimmy and Avi up top. Not sure how we would score with that lineup so you couldn’t employ for other than tactical defensive purposes. I would like to see Saeed Nelson go 90’ and get a layup in 8-9 seconds through that. Unfortunately it puts both Newman & Spear on the floor in tight games where you need to shoot fouls. I do know however that that ball hand off from the 1 to the trailing 5 is the worst basketball play I have ever seen. It sucked when we were dropping off to Nate and Zach. Brought this up early in the year and was mortified to see we dusted it off twice last night. It produces two automatics; travel violation and a license for John to launch a 30 footer (as if we need to increase shot license) with 26 tics on the shot clock. We can do better than that. 1. Funk last night was clearly still suffering from flu symptoms. It was obvious early he had no energy, and the coaching staff shouldn't have used him nearly as much as they did. He ended up playing 22:30 and had no FG's, no rebounds, no assists, and three turnovers (all in a two minute span in the second half). After those three turnovers, they finally took him out with seven minutes remaining - never to return. But he should never have been asked to play major minutes. Funk had one of his best games of the year versus Holy Cross a week ago - just before the flu. Had 17 points (5-11 on twos, 2-4 on threes, 1-1 on FT's, and 7 rebounds at the defensive end). Also had a good one the week before that in the win at Lafayette. So my lineup would certainly have Funk in it - once he is fully healthy. 2. Agree on the hand-offs to Spear, at least if he is going to ever attempt to put the ball to the floor. When he tries to go to the basket in that situation, it is a sure travel. Having said that, he is 7-15 this year on threes, and 9-20 (.450) in his career. He shoots them better than FT's. Hard to believe but true. As for Meeks' three point attempt, that was something the staff wanted him to take. They are big on trying to get two-for-ones at the end of the half, and often signal to try to get a quick shot. Meeks missed - but it wasn't a terrible percentage shot - and it would have enabled them to get the ball back for the final shot of the half. 3. Having a defense with the three shot-blockers at the back of a zone would be interesting in the right situation - but as you say, it would be dangerous to use it in most situations because of the total inability of Spear and Newman to make a FT. In any event, we won't ever see it, since I don't think ND will ever play a zone again. Even if it's not a zone with those three, I wish ND would have a zone just for a tactical change-up on one or two key possessions. Over the years, I have seen dozens of PL teams suddenly switch to zone on a key possession, with generally good results. Typically their opponent is surprised, wastes half the shot clock trying to organize their offense, and then gets a forced shot.
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Bison137 Professor Posts 16147
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01-19-20 07:31 PM - Post#297103
HC, not an unreasonable question. I don’t have a good answer (nor do I have any internal feedback) for you. Without the kid deciding to make some revolutionary changes in lifestyle and work ethic it doesn’t appear the program will get a high ROI. The sad thing is that he DID make a revolutionary change prior to his junior year in high school. Dropped about 45 pounds and went from being a mediocre player to a very good one. During his junior year, a couple of articles noted the following: 1. Crystal Lake 2019 center Alex Timmerman is in the best shape of his career. The 6’8†post looks like a different person having lost a ton of weight and being much more mobile on the interior. Skilled back to the basket post that has improved his mobility. 2. Timmerman: "Everyone has been telling me you have the skills, but where you play will depend on what you do with your body. I said it was time. Got a trainer and I have been lifting and running. Really the biggest thing was changing my diet. That was what helped me lose the weight.†3. Timmerman: “Over the years, a lot of people were saying, ‘You have the talent, you’ve just got to get your body in shape, That’s going to determine where you end up playing (in college)'. I thought it was time to focus on it.†The 6-foot-9 junior lost 45 pounds over the offseason, slimming down to 245 pounds. Timmerman worked out at TNT in McHenry . . . There wasn’t much cardio involved, outside of the running Timmerman did on the basketball court. He said it was more of a focus on weightlifting and eating right. “I was eating bad food,†Timmerman said. “They taught me what to eat, when to eat and helped me lift. I lifted a lot, and I ran in basketball.†In the picture accompanying one of the articles, he looks like an entirely different person: https://www.prephoops.com/2018/05/recruiting-re por... Or here: https://www.nwherald.com/2018/02/11/high-schoo l-bo... Fwiw, on his HS roster, he was listed at 245 lbs as a junior and 250 as a senior. According to an article, he was 290 as a soph. And now 294 at the start of this season.
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Old Bison Masters Student Posts 619 |
01-19-20 08:31 PM - Post#297106
137, no arguments from me but as I said on many occasions prior I just go with what I see...I don’t know anything about AT’s history or even a lot about Funks statistics. Some games I actually forget to even look at the box score after a game. My only tactile sense of the game and hence my sentiments is through my eyes. HC is horrible and LC not much better. That was the worst LU team I’ve seen in decades. Our TEAM defense has been significantly better while Funk hasn’t been on the floor (that’s my sense...a +\- film breakdown may prove me totally wrong), Just like our offense improved with Bruce off it in the short term. Very tough trying to figure out who’s gonna show up today as opposed to what units look less slow, more energetic and more inclined to mud wrestle. I like Funk and if your ran the totality of my posts it would support that. I didn’t mean to count the kid out. I’ve been wrong in the past and will be wrong in the future. I will be much more impressed if we do better with him on the floor at Gate and if he plays well. In fact, I’ll be the first to acknowledge that he looked better and we now have a luxury of riches. Would make me quite happy. |
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Old Bison Masters Student Posts 619 |
01-19-20 09:00 PM - Post#297108
Didn’t realize we were going 2 for 1 on the Meeks jumper but don’t agree it’s not a bad % shot. I don’t remember one conversion this season on that option. More likely result is it comes out high and leads to a run out. It’s a crappy play |
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Scotty-14 Sophomore Posts 156 |
01-20-20 03:07 PM - Post#297124
Does anyone think AT's weight could be an asset? From what we have seen this season, he has showed the ability to move well for his size and do a variety of positive things. Not saying that getting to 270 would hurt but losing so much weight can sometimes have more negative consequences than positive. I remember Charles Barkley talking about how he had to find his "right weight" and that at one point he lost too much weight and felt weak. |
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Bison137 Professor Posts 16147
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01-20-20 04:04 PM - Post#297125
From what I have seen, I think his weight is definitely a liability. Footwork seems very slow. Has trouble staying in front of his man any time there is a quick spin move or drop step. Commits almost 9 fouls per 40 minutes and does not have a very high rebound rate I think it kind of speaks for itself when he admits his play was affected by his weight as a HS soph and that he got a lot better after losing 45 pounds. I think 255 would be about the right weight if he hopes to play much. He does show flashes of ability that might allow him to help the team if he got in shape.
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MrPhillie Postdoc Posts 2757
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01-20-20 06:01 PM - Post#297130
“Move well for his size†is far different from moving well or moving well to be effective. Each person should be who they want to to be but I think there is some obligation and responsibility to be the best and most effective you can be when you are receiving almost a quarter million $ in education. If coaches believe that his current weight is his most effective playing weight, then who am I to criticize. |
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Old Bison Masters Student Posts 619 |
01-20-20 07:13 PM - Post#297132
Guys, you can only play D1 🀠at 294 lbs if you’re c. 7’4â€. At 6’8†I would suggest dropping 50 as a potential start. This is what can happen when you compose too wide a classification around “big guys who can shoot†|
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HuskyColonial PhD Student Posts 1976 |
01-20-20 09:29 PM - Post#297144
I would have rescinded his scholarship. |
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DoCtoR62 Masters Student Posts 463 |
01-21-20 04:13 PM - Post#297165
If coaches believe that his current weight is his most effective playing weight, then who am I to criticize. You are MrPhillie. |
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