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Ever True Junior Posts 255 |
12-20-23 10:04 PM - Post#360757
Procrastinating on some holiday-related responsibilities, so I figured I would fire up the thread for this game a few days early. Feels like this team is dealing with a problem that a number of recent Mike Martin teams have dealt with: Our offense is bad, and our defense is decent, but not good enough to carry us. You could double down on defense with more minutes for Kimo and Ndur, but you would be torpedoing an offense that has been well below D-I average. We've played a 7 man rotation to this point and we have a 3-9 record to show for it. Time to see more of the guards. Hopefully Lesburt, Wrisby-Jefferson, or Paragon get some minutes. Siena is one of the worst teams in D-I - if we can't beat them at home, it will be a long conference schedule. Go Bruno. |
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Bruno PhD Student Posts 1423 |
12-21-23 08:36 AM - Post#360758
Doubling down on defense is sort of an interesting thought. The reality is that this team’s performance profile isn’t real different than it’s been in prior years. KenPom would say since 2017 MM teams have been solid-to-good defensively and below-average offensively. That’s the case again this year. And to your point the defense hasn’t been quite good enough to offset that. This team has been the least efficient offensively in the MM era. Look no further than having one of the higher FT rates with one of the lowest FT %s and the poor shooting from 3. They get to the line more than they ‘should’. But they just don’t make enough of their shots. I honestly couldn’t tell you if that was lack of open looks or personnel, but it is very likely both. Personnel-wise our biggest gap has been the lack of ballhandlers and playmakers in the backcourt. Departures of Pax and Friday have created a vacuum where Lilly just has to handle the ball too much. I don’t mean shooting too much - I mean having to create so much for himself and others. The eye test says Lilly makes way more shots when he’s set up by others, but that’s not most of his shots this year. The forwards handle the ball pretty good but the other guards do not. And yet there’s real talent on this roster, and it’s a team that when the right guys get in rhythm they can beat anybody. But that’s more of a puncher’s chance profile than a sustainable winning one. Re: Siena, they just got back a transfer who is very talented and hard to guard, and he’s only played one game (and had over 20 and 15 vs. Cornell). So before anyone gets comfy know they’re very likely a better squad than KP would have you believe.
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Ever True Junior Posts 255 |
12-22-23 07:42 PM - Post#360815
Kalu was one of the players made available for the post-game press conference today - he had a great answer to a question about the Bears' defensive effort: "When all is going wrong, you can control your effort, control how hard you're going & I feel like we made an emphasis on that today defensively." Trailed by as many as 18 in the second half, but used a 12-2 run, an 11-2 run, and a 15-2 run in the final three minutes to pull out the win. Credit to Kino - he was 0 for 10 from beyond the arc, then hit treys on back to back possessions, including a step back 3PT to give Bruno the lead for good. |
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Bruno PhD Student Posts 1423 |
12-22-23 09:22 PM - Post#360817
It was the best of wins. It was the worst of wins. It was a great win because of the sheer resilience Brown showed to come all the way back, and because of Kino taking over like nothing ever happened and putting them on his back. Offensively at least. It was the worst win of all time because Siena suuuuuuuuxxxxxx you guys. They’re young. They’re athletic. They’re not particularly well-coached. They’re not that good at basketball. Brown had zero juice in the first half. Zero. They let Siena stomp them. And Siena really is maybe the worst team in D1. (Ok maybe not anymore with their new kid who just joined. But they suck.) and we just barely nosed ahead - as if to say “hey. We’re not great. But we can’t lose to these effing guys.” But between genuine Siena ineptitude and Brown creating energy (and executing much better), they got a win. Which is what they needed. But man. The struggle is real.
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